You're my wife, don't doubt it!

"Why are there so many Christians, both Protestant and Catholic?" Xiao Yao wondered.

"So, is your mindset of always putting others first and trying to meet their expectations also influenced by your mother?" Xiao Yao asked her.

"Hmm, it'll probably have some connection," Shen Jie replied casually, while paddling with her hand.

"Then... if it's Protestantism, can we go find a pastor..." Xiao Yao searched his meager religious knowledge in his mind and then found it in Yu Luying's memory.

"Hmm~" Shen Jie made a denial sound through her nose: "I asked, and they said they don't pray for the dead."

"what……?"

"Doggy, you tell me," Shen Jie nuzzled against Xiao Yao, "a good person like my mother must have gone to heaven, right?"

Xiao Yao thought to himself, "How would I know? I don't even know if that place exists." But he answered firmly, "It must be."

Shen Jie smiled and sat up, water gushing down her wet clothes: "Alright, it's getting late, shall I give you a back scrub?"

"Okay, thank you." Xiao Yao turned his back without any politeness.

Shen Jie took a bath sponge, carefully applied shower gel, and started scratching Xiao Yao's back: "Doggy, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."

Xiao Yao sat in the water, comfortably enjoying his wife's service—he didn't like Shen Jie asking questions in that tone, he felt it was distant, but he also felt he shouldn't dwell on it, so he only answered with one word: "Ask."

"Do you love me?" Shen Jie then asked.

"Pfft—" Xiao Yao's mouth was empty, but this was the first thing he could think of and the first thing he did.

Xiao Yao himself couldn't remember how many times he had said "I love you" to Shen Jie. At first, the girl would just reply with "Yeah, I know" to brush him off. Later, her way of brushing him off was greatly upgraded to "Me too," which made him feel much better.

However, it was amazing when I first heard it, but it gradually became just a formality.

But it's really rare for someone to ask you, "Do you love me?"

It was as strange as when she just told herself, "You mustn't let me down."

Xiao Yao decided to turn around and look her in the eyes to answer her properly, but as soon as he turned around, the girl pressed him down again: "Don't move."

With no other option, Xiao Yao had to maintain his posture with his back turned and his butt sticking out, and honestly answer, "Love."

"Why?" Shen Jie's tone indicated that she was serious when she asked the question, rather than flirting.

"Does love need a reason?" Xiao Yao shrugged. "Okay, I remember now, it does for you."

He suddenly remembered that this wasn't the first time Shen Jie had asked him a similar deadly question. The day Shen Jie gave him the "friend zone" treatment, she had asked him, "What do you like about me?"

What was my answer back then? It's been so long, I've forgotten.

"Can I not answer this question?" Xiao Yao mustered his courage and fought back.

"Why?" Shen Jie's tone was indifferent, but she increased the pressure on her hand.

“Because I think this is the kind of question girls use to make things difficult for boys,” Xiao Yao told her. “Essentially, it’s the same as ‘If I and your mother fell into the water, who would you save first?’”

"If I and your mother fell into the water, who would you save first?" Shen Jie asked with a smile.

"I'll save you," Xiao Yao replied without hesitation.

You know how my mom treated me and what she did.

"SEE? Answering questions isn't that hard. So what do you love about me?" Shen Jie persisted.

……

What is it about me that I love?

I love that you're beautiful, but what if I meet someone even more beautiful in the future?

I love your talent, gentleness, kindness, and so on, but these qualities are not unique.

I love that you scrub my back, I love that you're good to me, I love that your family is rich... Even if I think these things a little bit, I can't say them out loud.

This kind of problem is simply unsolvable; it's a logical trap unique to women.

"Ugh!" Xiao Yao cried out in frustration, "Aren't there any options?"

"No." Shen Jie started rinsing the shower gel off Xiao Yao's back with the showerhead—was the water a bit too hot?

"Give me a range," Xiao Yao wailed.

"Ugh, I just want to know if you like me for who I am, or if you only like me because I'm your future wife," Shen Jie said impatiently.

Xiao Yao understood. So that's what you were planning.

"So what do you hope for?" Xiao Yao asked her.

"I don't want to hear sweet talk, just tell me the truth," Shen Jie put down the showerhead and turned off the water. "Why are you so insincere when I ask you questions?"

"..." Xiao Yao shut his mouth tightly and fell silent.

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me, then forget it." Shen Jie pouted and sat down in the water wearing her dress.

"Wife," Xiao Yao pondered for a long time before slowly speaking, "Do you remember? The first time you rejected me on the phone, you asked me a question: 'If you were a short, chubby guy with dark skin and a round face, would I still be so happy?' You also said that I would despair about the rest of my life. Do you remember?"

"I don't remember," Shen Jie said with an embarrassed look on her face, thankfully Xiao Yao couldn't see it: "Why do you keep remembering these things?"

“I didn’t answer your question directly then, but now I can give you the answer,” Xiao Yao turned to look at Shen Jie and said, “When I was in elementary school, I read a novel. I’ve forgotten the name and the plot, but I remember it was set in medieval Europe, and the male protagonist said something like this to the female protagonist—”

“Because you are the wife God has given me, it is my duty to love you,” Xiao Yao said, looking into Shen Jie’s eyes.

“Uh…” Shen Jie said.

"Although I've never believed in God before, I really love this line. I think it's a beautiful and touching declaration. It's like in 'The Legend of Sword and Fairy,' when the Witch Queen asks Li Xiaoyao, 'Li Xiaoyao, I ask you, do you truly love Ling'er?' Li Xiaoyao replies..."

“She is my wife, of course I love her,” Shen Jie said quietly.

"?" Xiao Yao was dumbfounded: "You've played this too?"

"Who hasn't played such a famous game?" Shen Jie scoffed.

"So, you know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Understand."

“So listen to me,” Xiao Yao said, placing his hands on Shen Jie’s shoulders. “Wife, even if you’re not that pretty, rich, smart, gentle, or good at fighting, I will still love you just the same.”

"……Um."

"Because you are the wife God has ordained for me, loving you is my duty." Once again, Xiao Yao declared this with deep affection.

"No..." Shen Jie lowered her head, her expression unreadable. After thinking for a while, she pressed on, "I just want to know, if Yunyun hadn't come to thirty years ago, and we had met in a different setting, would you still like me? Would you still pursue me?"

Xiao Yao fell silent.

A hint of nervousness appeared on Shen Jie's face.

Xiao Yao simulated in his mind for a long time: "Is it possible for me to like you? I think it is possible, but it depends on the depth and breadth of our interactions, as well as some coincidences; as for whether I would pursue you... I can only say that I cannot completely rule out that possibility, but considering the overall situation in the simulation..."

Shen Jie slapped the water angrily with both hands: "Damn it, all I wanted to hear was you say you liked me, that you would pursue me, is that so difficult? All this rambling..."

Xiao Yao paused for a moment: "I want to tell you the truth. If you were in our school, I probably would have fallen for you, but I probably wouldn't have pursued you. Because you're too perfect, the distance between you and me... is just too far. So I wouldn't dare to pursue you, nor would I dare to let you know that I like you. I would probably just watch you from afar, and then care about everything related to you. I might read what others are saying about you on the school's online forum; I might sit in a corner of the school auditorium, watching you host on stage, and then feel a longing in my heart; I might look at your photo in the display window when I pass by the teaching building every day; I might cut out your photo from the school newspaper next to your essays or the outstanding student stories, and put it under the glass table at home, occasionally secretly kissing it..."

"Ugh, you're such a pervert!" Shen Jie exclaimed.

“If we weren’t in the same class, we wouldn’t see each other usually. Then, during the final exams, I happened to be assigned to the same exam room as you, and I would secretly turn around to look at you,” Xiao Yao continued, “Maybe I’ll name a character in an online game after you; maybe many years after graduation, I’ll still think of you, and I’ll tell my friends that my high school crush was named Shen Jie. Although I didn’t talk to her much, I still liked her a lot. Maybe after I start working, I’ll still go to your blog, or QQ space, or some other social networking site to see your updates and how you are doing… but that’s all…”

“Dog…” Shen Jie seemed somewhat moved.

"Shen Jie, I know I'm completely unworthy of you. Being with me has made you suffer. Ever since my parents divorced, I've been like... in Yunyun's words, a salted fish lying flat, just giving up completely. It's you, it's you as you are now, who have given me the motivation to strive for something better. I want to become a better version of myself, to be worthy of you, to give you happiness..."

"Whether you are my wife or not, as long as God has allowed me to meet you, I will always, always love you..." Xiao Yao's voice choked slightly.

Shen Jie covered Xiao Yao's mouth with her own.

I think I passed the test, right?

"Alright, alright, sweetie." Xiao Yao gently stroked the girl who was nestled against his shoulder like a kitten. "Shall I rub your back too?"

“Don’t be so self-deprecating,” Shen Jie looked up at him with her bright eyes, “The distance between us isn’t that far, really. Now that I’m here to help you, I can definitely make you a very, very outstanding boy—even more outstanding than you are now.”

"Yes!" Xiao Yao nodded vigorously.

……

"Let me rub your back for you?" After a few minutes of cuddling and silence, Xiao Yao repeated it again.

"You're up to something again?" Shen Jie deliberately frowned. "Wasn't that enough?"

"I can never have enough for you," Xiao Yao said gently, "but right now I really just want to rub your back. Don't you think that's sweet and comforting?"

Shen Jie bit her lower lip and muttered, looking down, "You just want to see me..."

Xiao Yao innocently pointed to Shen Jie's long dress, which had become see-through due to being soaked: "Of course I want to see—but I've already seen enough, okay?"

"You—!" Shen Jie stomped her foot, splashed in the water, and scratched her back. "Then you have to promise me—"

“I promise you, I’ll only rub your back today,” Xiao Yao interrupted her.

Shen Jie turned around hesitantly, her right hand trembling slightly with nervousness as she unbuttoned the first button below her neck.

--split line--

After taking a shower, both of them were exhausted.

Shen Jie ordered Xiao Yao to turn around, take off her still-dripping underwear, change into the white silk pajamas she had brought, and climb into bed.

"Doggy, how much longer are you going to do this?" Shen Jie leaned against the giant cat-shaped cushion, stretching out her hands to Xiao Yao: "Come here quickly, I want you to sleep with me~~~"

"Wait a minute," Xiao Yao said with a wry smile, "If you don't let me hang your skirt up to dry, what will you wear tomorrow?"