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

For example, she didn't know how to play rock-paper-scissors and thought it was a game of hand-to-hand combat.

This clumsy cuteness sparked laughter and delight, and touched the hearts of every male guest present.

"Come on, let me teach you." Tang Xuewei rolled up his sleeves.

"She's still as bold and unrestrained as ever," Xiao Yao thought to himself as he silently watched Tang Xuewei.

"You don't need to teach her, I'll do it." Then, Xiao Yao stopped her.

"One point! Two good points! Three stars! Four seasons!"

"Come on, sister-in-law, have a drink!"

Everyone was happy to be able to drink with the beautiful young woman from Shanghai whom we had just met.

Fortunately, they still had some manners. Logically speaking, Yu Luying should drink a third of a glass at a time, but in reality, she only sipped a little, only a quarter or even a fifth. She drank a glass of wine four or five times, and no one complained to her.

"Point 1! Two good! Three stars! Four seasons! Six in a row! Clever seven! Eight horses!"

Xiao Yao personally poured wine for his woman.

He picked up a bottle of chilled beer, deliberately positioned the bottle neck towards the bottom of the glass, and poured quickly and forcefully. The golden liquid cascaded down the bottle neck without touching the glass, rapidly filling the entire glass.

The glass wasn't just filled with beer—foam began to overflow from the rim, flowing onto the table and forming a small white ocean, like snowflakes dancing in the moonlight.

After all the foam dissipated, only a few drops of beer remained in the plastic cup. The remaining snowflakes slowly adhered to the rim of the cup, like a thin white veil, lingering in front of Yu Luying along with the aroma of the beer.

Curly-haired Old Tang saw through Xiao Yao's evil scheme and couldn't help but protest loudly, but his protest was drowned out by the shouts of the crowd.

"Point 1! Two good! Three stars! Four seasons! Six consecutive! Clever seven! Eight horses! Nine fast!"

Curly-haired Old Tang tilted his head back and gulped down a large glass, then let out a rather exaggerated "ah"—burp!

"Bravo!" Cheers erupted from the crowd.

Amid the enthusiastic atmosphere, Tang Xuewei, who had been drinking orange juice, also joined the group, making Xiao Yao wonder if he should have entrusted their safety to her earlier.

“Old Xu,” Yu Luying smiled slightly, shaking the empty glass in her hand, “Old Xiao told me that in your county high school, students study until 10:30 every night and only have two afternoons off a week. Is that true or false?”

"Of course it's true!" Xu Ruiyi, Tang Jiaxin, Zhang Lei, and Tang Xuewei answered in unison.

“Uh, okay,” Yu Luying said.

Xiao Yao knew that when male students got together, the only two topics were always the same: women and games, or perhaps games and women.

Xiao Yao didn't know what the female students always talked about when they got together, but he guessed that men were one of them.

Xiao Yao also knew that when male and female students got together, one of the eternal topics was "criticizing the school".

Yu Luying's question opened the floodgates for criticizing the school, with everyone lamenting why they couldn't study in Shanghai.

“But, hiccup,” Xu Ruiyi said, “there’s a particularly low section of the back wall of the school. Tang Jiaxin and I often climb over it at night, but it’s a hassle. If the security guards catch us, we get punished, and then we have to climb back to the dormitory at night…”

The conversation didn't linger on school-related issues for long; instead, everyone asked Xiao Yao to tell them his love story with Yu Luying, and who pursued whom.

"Nonsense, of course I pursued her." "Nonsense, of course he pursued me." "Nonsense, of course Lao Xiao took the initiative." Xiao Yao, Yu Luying, and Xu Ruiyi spoke at the same time.

Xiao Yao wanted to argue, "Didn't you confess your love to me at the entrance of the War Film City?" But after thinking about it, he said nothing and just ate his meat in silence.

Yu Luying began to display her literary talent, vividly telling Xiao Yao's friends about their "love story".

She said that she noticed Xiao Yao when he performed the guitar and sang "Those Flowers" during military training, but her family was very strict and did not allow her to date, so she did not think much about it.

Xiao Yao deduced that this part was taken from Zhou Qi's story.

Then, she talked about how the two became good friends, joined the literary society together, were both key members of the poetry society, and how they appreciated each other's poems.

This part is basically true.

Then, Yu Luying told the story of how Xiao Yao confessed his love to her in class, but Wang Ming intercepted the message and the whole class praised her for it.

The crowd started clamoring, some saying they wanted to go to Shanghai to beat up Wang Ming, others laughing at Xiao Yao for being so stupid.

“I’ve already beaten them up twice,” Xiao Yao told everyone.

“Xiao Yao, how come you haven’t improved at all since you came to Shanghai?” Tang Xuewei, his face flushed (from drinking), turned to Yu Luying and said, “He was like this in junior high school.”

Yu Luying said that she originally wanted to agree, but the matter made her feel strange, so she deliberately avoided Xiao Yao, and then talked about how Xiao Yao had been pestering her.

Everyone laughed and said that Xiao Yao was a scoundrel and should be punished with three more cups.

Xiao Yao frowned slightly.

Then, Yu Luying changed the subject, saying that she had been pestered by him for months and that she liked him anyway, so she decided to go with the flow and agree. At this point, Xiao Yao slowed down his advances.

It turns out that in December, Xiao Yao met a super rich heiress from somewhere. Except for being a little short, she was almost perfect.

Although Xiao Yao insisted that he and the rich young lady were just brothers, Yu Luying still felt unprecedented pressure and anxiety.

In the end, the girl took the initiative and invited Xiao Yao to watch a movie with her on Christmas Eve.

Xiao Yao gladly accepted the invitation.

At the entrance of the war film city, Yu Luying confessed her feelings to Xiao Yao, summoning all the courage she had ever had.

Xiao Yao was surprised, then immediately hugged her, and the play ended.

When Yu Luying said "it took all the courage of her life," something seemed to flash in her eyes. Xiao Yao knew that at least this sentence was sincere, and that feeling was genuine.

Amid cheers from the crowd, Xiao Yao casually put his arm around Yu Luying's shoulder, and the latter obediently leaned against the young man.

Tang Xuewei also showed an expression of "envy".

Xiao Yao savored this story of artistic re-creation, where truth and falsehood were intertwined.

You have me I have you.

It is both bizarre and reasonable, coupled with sincere emotions, making it impossible for the listener not to believe it.

In this story, both the male and female protagonists are extremely concerned with saving face.

No, that's not all.

Xiao Yao suddenly realized that this was the love story that screenwriter Yu Luying had envisioned, the one that belonged to her.

Or rather, it's an idealized, distorted version of their story.

A story that could have been, and should have been, even better.

It's like a novelist reinterpreting certain personal experiences in a different form, adding their own hopes and wishes.

It was as if by doing so, "he" and "she" could live happily together forever in a parallel universe of another dimension.

Xiao Yao felt a little sad, so he hugged Yu Luying's arm even tighter.

“I’m done talking, it’s your turn,” Yu Luying said in a slightly tipsy voice, “Xu Ruiyi, how did you become Xiao Yao’s buddy?”

While asking the question, he held the empty cup and pointed at the other person with one finger.

Xu Ruiyi rolled up his sleeves, giving him a look that said, "You've made me wide awake now that you're talking about this," but Xiao Yao didn't like the topic at all.

"Aren't Xiao Yao and I classmates?" Xu Ruiyi said, "Once, he was with one of our classmates..."

"Then after school, I kicked him in the bike shed, sending him flying and knocking over a row of bikes..."

Seeing Xiao Yao glare at him, Xu Rui added, "Of course, I didn't get the better of him either; I got slapped several times in the face..."

This is not true.

"After that fight, later..."

"We became friends after a fight, and somehow we ended up being friends..."

"Later I told him that from now on, no one in our county's junior high school will dare to mess with you..."

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Xiao Yao thought he could go home, but the group was clamoring to move on to the second half of the game.

Tang Xuewei suggested going ice skating, Tang Jiaxin wanted to go to karaoke, and Xu Ruiyi wanted to go to a dance hall.

The final conclusion was to go to a bar.

These guys had just drunk a bellyful of Qingniao Pure Draft Beer, yet they still dared to drink baijiu (Chinese liquor) – while looking up at the Asian Cup football match playing on the hanging TV, they also started a deep-sea bomb challenge.

"Deep Sea Bomb" is actually a special cocktail. It's made by filling a glass two-thirds full with beer, then placing a small glass filled with whiskey or vodka inside, submerging the small glass in the beer to completely fill the glass. This method of drinking, and this type of cocktail, is called "Deep Sea Bomb."

In short, it can be summed up in four words: out of control, courting death.

Xiao Yao knew the danger and dared not touch her. He thought of making an excuse to urinate, but Yu Luying was fearless and didn't ask him anything. She just tilted her head back and drank it.

"Great!!" This bold act naturally drew cheers.

"You... that's enough, don't go too far," Xiao Yao warned Yu Luying in a low voice.

"I...I'm fine." Yu Luying wrapped her arms around Xiao Yao's neck, lowered her head and pecked him on the lips, her eyes full of intoxication.

The reason she was looking down was because Xiao Yao was standing on the ground, while she was sitting on a high stool.

"You're alright, but... I'm in trouble." Xiao Yao felt that he needed to exert a little effort to stand up straight on the ground.

He struggled against the dizziness and the blurriness and darkness that occasionally assaulted his vision.

Damn, my head hurts a little...

The cello melody drifting down from the small stage in the bar, Xiao Yao couldn't tell if it was good or bad, he only felt that the sound was somewhat ethereal and distant, as if it came from another world.

Perhaps it was because he drank too much beer, or rather, because he drank too much beer, but Xiao Yao always felt the urge to urinate.

He staggered into the bar's men's restroom, leaning against the bar counter. He relaxed by the urinal, but before he could even pull up his pants, he couldn't help but press his hands against the tiled wall, as if he was about to vomit.