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

Because a girl screamed from outside the wardrobe door.

"what--!"

Xiao Yao's heart tightened. Without thinking, he kicked open the closet door and rushed out of the closet.

Chapter 205 My First Night with Shen Tianyun

2023-05-24

Xiao Yao's heart tightened. Without thinking, he kicked open the closet door and rushed out of the closet.

The door thudded with a dull thud as he grew impatient.

Xiao Yao looked quickly toward the direction from which the sound came and saw a figure covered with a towel, trembling and curled up at the foot of the bed.

Hearing Xiao Yao enter, the person lifted a corner of the blanket, revealing Shen Tianyun.

Shen Tianyun was wearing a large T-shirt, her eyes were red and swollen, her face was covered in tears, she hugged her knees tightly, her whole body was trembling, and she was holding a book in her right hand.

"Tianyun, what's wrong?" Xiao Yao rushed to the girl's bedside and asked anxiously.

He tried to get closer to his daughter, attempting to calm her down: "Are you sick?"

Xiao Yao reached out to touch Shen Tianyun's forehead, but the girl turned her head away.

She looked up, her eyes still filled with fear.

Shen Tianyun's voice trembled: "Are you crazy? You scared me to death!"

Xiao Yao was completely confused, thinking to himself, "I just knocked on your cabinet door and you screamed like a ghost. Is this my responsibility?"

"No, what happened?" Xiao Yao was completely confused.

"It's nothing! Get out!" Shen Tianyun shouted, "I've just been afraid of thunder since I was a child."

"thunder?"

Xiao Yao turned around and looked at the mist outside the window.

He couldn't see the flash of lightning, nor could he hear the wind, rain, or thunder, but he could see that the dining table was soaked, the glass window was opening and closing, and he could hear the sound of the window frame colliding.

Xiao Yao straightened up, rushed to the dining table, and forcefully closed and locked the window.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Daddy's here." After locking the window, Xiao Yao ran to Shen Tianyun's bedside and squatted down, trying to comfort her.

Unbeknownst to Xiao Yao, at that very moment, another deafening clap of thunder echoed outside, and lightning ripped across the sky.

Tianyun's heart suddenly raced, and the book slipped from her fingers, falling onto the bed with a soft thud.

"Ah—!" she screamed in terror again, her whole body trembling.

The flashing lights outside the window made her feel helpless and afraid.

Xiao Yao slowly approached Shen Tianyun, carefully extending his arms, wanting to gently embrace her.

But he dared not.

The rebuke I received when I tried to steal a kiss from Tianyun last time is still vivid in my mind.

How dare the boy cross the line again?

Unexpectedly, Shen Tianyun grabbed her arm and placed it on her shoulder.

“Uh…?” Xiao Yao said.

Then, the girl tilted her round head and rested it against Xiao Yao's chest.

“Uh,” Xiao Yao said.

He placed his right knee on his daughter's bed, and the slipper on his right foot fell to the ground with a "thud," followed by his left knee and the slipper on his left foot.

The boy knelt stiffly on Tianyun's bed, embracing the girl in his arms in a very awkward posture.

The girl's body was still trembling slightly, and tears kept flowing.

Xiao Yao gently stroked her hair and softly comforted her, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm here—why don't you come sleep at my place?"

"No, it stinks over there," Shen Tianyun said, choking back tears.

Xiao Yao held Shen Tianyun tightly, feeling her trembling body and the moisture from her tears. His heart pounded in sync with her emotions; he could sense her fear and unease.

Shen Tianyun raised her tear-streaked face, and Xiao Yao used his bent index finger to wipe them away little by little.

"Little Daddy," Shen Tianyun said, her voice still choked with sobs, "He/She doesn't want me anymore... How could he/she do this to me..."

Who is he/she? Is he/she a boy? Xiao Yao immediately became alert.

But he didn't press her for details. He simply stroked her back gently, trying to offer her some comfort: "TA doesn't want you anymore, but I want you—I'll always want you."

“They all don’t want me anymore, they’re bullying me…” Shen Tianyun continued in a dreamlike voice.

"Who is it?" Xiao Yao's fist hardened instantly: "Who dares to bully you? I'll beat them all to a pulp! Let me tell you, my fighting skills are pretty high now."

This isn't Huo Pang. If he could break through this fog of time, Xiao Yao would rush out and do it without hesitation.

"I tried so hard... but I still failed..."

Shen Tianyun's breathing gradually calmed down, and her trembling gradually subsided.

In Xiao Yao's arms, that long-lost sense of security gradually filled her heart.

“Dad, do you know,” Shen Tianyun said, omitting even the word “little” this time, “when I was little, you would hold me like this and lull me to sleep during every thunderstorm.”

"I can do it now," Xiao Yao thought.

The boy whispered, "Yunyun, don't be afraid. Daddy will always be by your side to protect you. Thunder is just the sound of the sky; it won't hurt you—and the gossip of those who don't care about you won't hurt you either."

In fact, he himself didn't believe the nonsense that followed the dash, but he still forced himself to continue: "Believe me, everything will be alright."

Shen Tianyun listened quietly to Xiao Yao's words, gradually relaxing her body and completely surrendering herself to the young man's embrace.

The girl closed her eyes, feeling the boy's body temperature and heartbeat, as if this embrace could soothe her inner unease and fear.

Xiao Yao held Shen Tianyun tightly in his arms. He could feel the warmth of her body. Her presence in his arms was so fragile yet precious.

The boy continued to gently stroke the girl's hair: "Tianyun, I love you."

The girl shuddered, a movement that reminded him of Yu Luying: "Hmm."

Time seemed to stand still.

"You... what's wrong with you all of a sudden?" Finally, Shen Tianyun let go of Xiao Yao's embrace and asked with a flushed face, "Just to check if I stayed out all night again so I can tell my mom?"

"No, I have to go back to Sujiang tomorrow—the water pipe in our old house burst, and the neighbor's house next door and downstairs also got blown up. They've been calling your grandpa non-stop," Xiao Yao explained.

“Grandpa,” Shen Tianyun corrected earnestly.

"Oh well, whatever, inside or out." Xiao Yao felt a little annoyed.

"Xiao Yao".

"Call Dad."

"Xiao Yao's father."

"Hey."

"You really need to be nicer to your mother," the girl said, placing her hands on Xiao Yao's shoulders with utmost seriousness. "Your mother loves you so much, treats you so well, and has sacrificed so much for you. Please don't be fickle again and let her down, okay?"

Xiao Yao did not answer Shen Tianyun's question directly, but instead asked her, "Which Shen Jie are you talking about?"

"Is there a difference?" Shen Tianyun told Xiao Yao, "There's only one mother, and only one father."

"I understand," Xiao Yao replied earnestly and playfully.

“I have a little gift for you,” Shen Tianyun said as she got out of bed and walked to a drawer. “I found it by accident while I was tidying up my room today.”

"What is this... a marriage certificate?" Xiao Yao took the red booklet in disbelief.

The boy opened the bright red hardcover, revealing slightly yellowed pages inside. It bore the marks of time—but not particularly long ago.

The marriage certificate was issued on June 30, 2010. The two young people in the photo looked to be only 15 or 16 years old, with innocent and naive smiles on their faces. The boy wore black-rimmed glasses and a white shirt, while the girl's jet-black hair fell straight down like a pencil. The white shirt hugged her slender figure, subtly revealing her youthful innocence.

The red curtain as a backdrop adds a festive atmosphere.

"So good!!!" Xiao Yao exclaimed, "Isn't this photo taken a couple of days ago, no, at the end of June, when the three of us—just the two of us—went to Navara Wedding Photography in Qingpu District?"

“I don’t know,” Shen Tianyun said, sitting on the edge of the bed, her two strong legs swinging back and forth. “Anyway, it does look a lot like the two of you now.”

"What happened in 2010?" Xiao Yao was bewildered. "Didn't you say we'd get married when we were thirty—do you ever tell the truth, kid?"

"Don't you understand, little daddy?" Shen Tianyun wasn't angry; her tone was innocent. "Your future, my past, has been changed."

Xiao Yao held the marriage certificate in his hand, staring blankly at it for a long time.

June 30, 2010, was the day I turned 22.

According to current Chinese law, the legal marriage age for men is 22 years old.

In other words, on the very day he was eligible to get a marriage certificate, Shen Jie couldn't wait to drag him to get it.

Or perhaps, he couldn't wait to drag Shen Jie to get their marriage certificate.

Anyway, their wedding date was moved up considerably.

Not only that, they also pasted a photo taken at Navarra Wedding Photography at the end of last month on their marriage certificate—as far as Xiao Yao knows, Navarra has not yet sent the photo over, but it has already appeared in his daughter's room.