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

"Someone's knocking on your door?" Shen Jie heard something too.

"Ah—" Xiao Yao was about to open the door when he heard a voice from inside the room say, "Hey, coming!" Suddenly, everything went black.

Yu Luying flung open the bedroom door leading to the dining room: "Coming, coming!"

Then he opened the door for Uncle Zhou and stood at the door to exchange polite greetings with him.

Xiao Yao felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

“No, no one knocked on the door,” Xiao Yao said with difficulty. “It was someone from next door who was knocking. My door was open. I just opened it to let some air in. This old house has been uninhabited for a long time, and it smells bad.”

As Xiao Yao spoke, he darted onto the balcony, afraid that Yu Luying would come and call him again, and quickly fastened the door latch.

Xiao Yao was filled with regret because he had to tell more lies to cover up one lie.

Fortunately, Shen Jie did not continue to make trouble, but said, "That's fine then. Go have dinner, I'm hanging up."

Xiao Yao wasn't sure if she believed him or just saw through him, so he tentatively asked, "Then... will you call me again before you go to bed?"

Shen Jie paused for three seconds before replying, "Okay."

Xiao Yao put down the phone, his legs trembling uncontrollably, his heart pounding wildly.

More than fear, he also felt a sense of moral unease about himself.

He even had an urge to call back immediately, confess the truth to Shen Jie, and express his genuine remorse.

Perhaps this way, Shen Jie will look at me with more respect.

“Big Rabbit,” Yu Luying knocked on the balcony door behind Xiao Yao, “What are you doing hiding in there? Uncle Zhou is inviting us to his house for dinner.”

“They’re here,” Xiao Yao said, composing himself. “Big Sheep.”

The two of them had dinner at Uncle Zhou's house next door.

Uncle Zhou's name is Zhou Weidong. He was born in 75 and is 13 years older than Xiao Yao. He is now approaching thirty.

The newly pasted "囍" character on the wall indicates his newlywed status.

The bride's surname was "Song," and she appeared to be a gentle and virtuous woman.

"Is the food here to your liking?" Aunt Song warmly placed a piece of food on Yu Luying's plate.

“I can eat it, I can eat it,” Yu Luying replied hastily. “Auntie’s cooking is very delicious.”

“I cooked the dishes,” Zhou Weidong said with a smile. “Knowing you’re from Shanghai, I specially added two extra spoonfuls of sugar to each dish.”

Uh……

Yu Luying wanted to explain, "Uncle Zhou, we in Shanghai don't put so much sugar in our dishes," but after thinking about it, she said, "Thank you for your trouble, Uncle Zhou."

After enjoying the meal and drinking a couple more glasses of baijiu, Zhou Weidong, after inquiring about a lot of interesting anecdotes about life in Shanghai, jokingly asked the two of them if they had already come up with names for their future child.

"Are you sick?" Aunt Song scolded in Dongru dialect, "Cut your food, you're a high school student."

"Uncle Zhou," Xiao Yao asked calmly, "have you picked it up yet?"

Zhou Weidong revealed a "I've been waiting for you to ask" expression: "Neither of us is in a hurry. We are both still young and need to work hard in our careers. Dongru County is a model county for family planning. We are both in the system, so we will definitely only have one child. So there's no rush, no rush."

"But I've come up with a name for it," Zhou Weidong continued.

"You've had too much to drink, why are you telling these things to outsiders?" Aunt Song scolded.

"Whether it's a boy or a girl, how about a single name like 'Song'?" Zhou Weidong suggested.

"Zhou Song?" Xiao Yao complimented, "What a nice name. Uncle Zhou likes the Song tree."

“That’s right,” Zhou Weidong said. “The pine tree symbolizes strength, courage, and perseverance. It’s a large tree that withstands the test of wind and rain; its growth is slow but steady, signifying patience and perseverance. The pine tree also represents wisdom and longevity because its lush foliage provides shade and protection…”

Xiao Yao covered his mouth with his right hand, slowly rubbing it to cover up his secret yawn.

After dinner, Xiao Yao wanted to take Yu Luying out for some fun, but Yu Luying declined, saying she was "too tired."

“And it’s so dark outside,” Yu Luying said, standing on Xiao Yao’s balcony with her hands on the railing. “There are hardly any lights on, it looks so scary.”

"What's so scary about this?" Xiao Yao said dismissively. "It's just that the Party School doesn't turn on the lights to save electricity. It's still quite lively outside—don't really think this is some rural place."

"What fun things are there to do when we go out?" Yu Luying asked, pouting.

Xiao Yao thought about it for a while and couldn't figure out what was fun.

At least for the time being, you won't find anything, not even the most amazing things.

"How about we go to the lakeside terrace to do square dancing?" Xiao Yao suggested. "It's quite lively, with lots of young people, and it's a lot of fun. Unlike Shanghai, where it's mostly old men and women dancing."

“Big Rabbit, you take after your daughter?” Yu Luying turned around and laughed, leaning against the balcony railing with her elbows.

"What are you talking about? My daughter takes after me." Xiao Yao nudged her and said, "So, are you going or not? Are you going or not?"

"Forget it," Yu Luying laughed. "Even if you go, I'll just watch you dance—I can't dance in public, it's too embarrassing."

Upon hearing the words "dancing in public," Xiao Yao's expression turned uneasy again.

"What's wrong?" Yu Luying asked him.

"It's nothing," Xiao Yao said. "Your sister messaged me this afternoon, saying that a while ago, someone filmed me dancing with her on the bridge at T University and posted it online. It seems to be getting a little viral now?"

"Huh?" Yu Luying was taken aback. "When did you two go to T University?"

"That time, we were testing the symbiotic limit distance, weren't we..."

“Oh, right, right,” Yu Luying said, “What’s wrong? Becoming an internet celebrity is a good thing. Go to the internet cafe tomorrow and show it to me too.”

"Tsk," Xiao Yao said, "I'm fine, it's just that your sister is worried about her parents seeing this."

“No way,” Yu Luying said, “The internet is so vast, how could it be such a coincidence?”

"That's not wrong," Xiao Yao said, sounding a little unsure.

“Hey, big bunny,” Yu Luying suddenly shook Xiao Yao’s arm, “I want to eat watermelon.”

"Eat." Xiao Yao reached out to pull the balcony door open. "I'll go buy some for you."

"I want it iced," Yu Luying said.

"Okay, okay," Xiao Yao said. "It's iced."

As a result, Yu Luying said that she would be scared to be alone in the house, so the two of them put on their shoes and went out together.

“It’s so dark outside at night…” Yu Luying clung tightly to Xiao Yao, looking around as she spoke.

"Are you afraid of people or ghosts?" Xiao Yao asked her with a smile.

"What's there to be afraid of about ghosts?"

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Xiao Yao said. “There are security guards inside the Party School, and people of unknown origin can’t get in.”

“I saw you swagger in during the day,” Yu Luying pointed out.

“That’s facial recognition; the security guards all recognize me,” Xiao Yao told Yu Luying.

“Oh…” Yu Luying said.

When the two entered the Party School's playground, there was finally a street lamp with a pale white light.

The streetlight cast very long shadows of the two of them holding hands.

Standing at the entrance to the playground, the two enormous shadows of the two people could cover the flower bed all the way up.

Yu Luying clung tightly to Xiao Yao's arm, her eyes fixed on the two black figures on the ground, which seemed like endless lines.

The shadows stretched across the ground like thin, black ropes, intertwined and intricate. Xiao Yao's shadow was tall and straight, like a protective shield, while Yu Luying's shadow was slender and delicate, overlapping with his.

Yu Luying gazed at the extension of the two shadows, loosened her tightly clenched arms, and gently placed her hand in Xiao Yao's hand. The two shadows intertwined to form a connected pattern.

"How wonderful it would be if the future could be as long and long as this shadow," Xiao Yao thought.

Yu Luying nudged Xiao Yao's arm, and Xiao Yao cooperated, forming a heart shape with the two of their arms.

Next, they used their fingers to make the shapes of a rabbit, a sheep, a dog, and a cat.

Xiao Yao truly admired Yu Luying's imagination and her hands-on skills.

"By the way, there's something I need to tell you," Xiao Yao said.

"Ah."

"Didn't Shen Jie call just before dinner?" Xiao Yao said.

"Ah."

Xiao Yao briefly recounted the contents of the phone call and instructed Yu Luying not to reveal the secret to anyone.

"What?!" Yu Luying suddenly became unhappy: "Why did you lie to her like that? Wouldn't that make me... I'd become..."

“Sigh, I also think that’s not good,” Xiao Yao scratched his head and then Yu Luying’s arm. “I just blurted it out without thinking, because I was afraid she would get angry.”

“She’s going to get really jealous. She shouldn’t have made that request to me in the first place,” Yu Luying said angrily. “We agreed on the principles of openness and transparency. I even spoke up for her at the Turkish bath, telling her not to let things end up like we couldn’t even be friends anymore. She kept saying, ‘No, no…’”

"Oh dear, don't blame Shen Jie," Xiao Yao said. "If you have to blame someone, blame me."

"It's all your fault!" Yu Luying scolded, "You lying child!"

Xiao Yao wanted to say, "If you hadn't gotten jealous even when I took a picture of a clam for her, I wouldn't have stayed away from her all afternoon and let her act like this, which is why I subconsciously lied." He opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

Since he could tell that Yu Luying wasn't really angry, he smiled and hugged her, preparing to say a few words to tease her.

Just then, Yu Luying's phone rang.