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

He held back.

He was worried that if he vomited inside, Yu Luying would vomit outside.

He absolutely did not want Yu Luying to embarrass herself in front of her friends.

When he returned to the bar counter, he found Yu Luying's bar stool empty, and his heart tightened, wondering what had happened.

"Where is my wife?" Xiao Yao asked Xu Ruiyi, his eyes red and his breath coming in heavily.

"Don't rush, don't rush, it's up there." Xu Ruiyi seemed quite lucid, as expected of someone with a large capacity for alcohol. He clapped his hands and laughed, then pointed with his finger to "up there."

The so-called "above" actually refers to "above the stage," and the so-called "stage" is just a small rectangular protrusion against the wall, only a few centimeters higher than the ground, covered with a scarlet carpet.

If you step on it, you will hear the dull thud of hollow wood beneath your feet.

Yu Luying wore a light green long dress, the hem of which gently brushed against her slender legs. She paired it with dusty white stockings and blue space-age slippers, showcasing a casual yet unique style of dressing. The young girl sat elegantly on the small stage, playing a gleaming cello.

Yu Luying's posture was graceful and relaxed: she leaned slightly to the side, letting the cello rest against her stomach. Her hands held the bow with delicate skill, gently manipulating the strings. The young woman's expression was slightly tipsy, her eyes revealing a sense of rapture and absorption.

Her temperament seemed to blend seamlessly with the music, radiating a unique charm. The confidence and composure she exuded were captivating. Her playing conveyed a pure and profound emotion, as if each note carried a story from the depths of her heart.

Xu Ruiyi, Tang Jiaxin, Zhang Lei, Tang Xuewei, and their friends were all captivated by Yu Luying's piano playing—they watched her intently, their faces filled with amazement and admiration. Yu Luying's performance gave them a wonderful and unique enjoyment; every note stirred ripples in their hearts.

Xu Ruiyi smiled and clapped his hands, finally feeling a pang of jealousy towards Xiao Yao; Tang Jiaxin's eyes flashed with admiration as he lowered his head and downed another cocktail; Zhang Lei and Tang Xuewei were immersed in Yu Luying's musical world, their hearts touched by her music, as if their emotions were intertwined with hers; the two brothers Xiao Yao couldn't name were whispering amongst themselves, neither of them willing to take their eyes off Yu Luying on stage.

On the stage of this small bar, Yu Luying's piano playing became the focus. With her beauty, temperament and talent, she conquered everyone's hearts, moving and captivating them.

When the song ended, the eight people walked out of the small music bar.

Zhang Lei's mother urged her to go home quickly, so Xu Ruiyi prepared to take her home first. The two brothers whose names he didn't know also said they wanted to leave first. Just when everyone was about to scatter like monkeys falling from a tree, Tang Xuewei and Yu Luying were still not satisfied and clamored to go dancing. Curly-haired Old Tang also agreed.

"Hey, that's enough already," Xiao Yao whispered, reminding Yu Luying again.

"No!" Yu Luying shouted, "I want to dance! You...you teach me to dance!"

What the heck? You're having too much fun, aren't you? Xiao Yao frowned.

“In that case,” Xu Ruiyi patted Xiao Yao on the shoulder, “you guys go first, I’ll take Zhang Lei home and come right back.”

"You've already drunk so much, don't drive," Xiao Yao earnestly advised.

“Look at me, I’m perfectly fine, I can even walk in a straight line,” Xu Ruiyi said. “Hey, I’ll drive really, really slowly, don’t worry.”

Chapter 219 The Spirited Young Girl Yu Luying? (Part 2)

2023-06-01

Stepping out of the music bar, the cool, fresh night air greeted me.

Xiao Yao took a deep breath, trying to clear his alcohol-numbed brain for a moment, but it only triggered a violent cough.

"What are you doing? Are you having an asthma attack?" Tang Xuewei patted him and affectionately slapped his elbow on Xiao Yao's left shoulder.

Want to go back to your ex now? Too late.

Xiao Yao sneered inwardly, calmly pushing Tang Xuewei's hand away from his body, and said nonchalantly, "No, it's too stuffy inside, the air is better outside."

Originally, Lao Tang and Lao Tang wanted to go to a dance hall, but Xiao Yao objected, saying that the outdoor air was better and would help them sober up. So the four of them walked four or five hundred meters along the sidewalk next to the green belt and arrived at the open-air dance floor near Dongru County Experimental Primary School.

This open-air dance floor is free of charge and purely for public benefit; it's basically a descending platform near the artificial lake in the county government compound. Every summer, people bring several large floor-standing speakers to play dance music here—essentially, it's square dancing.

However, the square is mainly used for ballroom dancing, especially for couples. The typical pattern is that after two or three ballroom dance songs, a high-energy square dance performance will follow – songs like "Love Contract".

As a spontaneous, non-commercial activity by the townspeople, it has indeed created some business opportunities: there are vendors selling soft drinks, glow sticks, balloons, headbands that light up, and even shoes for children that sparkle when they run.

On a side note, Xiao Yao only heard the term "square dancing" after he went to Shanghai, because people in Dongru call it "collective dancing," which proves that the people in the small town have a strong sense of collectivism.

In any case, this open-air dance floor is truly "suitable for men, women, young and old". From the elderly and uncles to junior and senior high school students and even younger children, you can find them all here. In essence, this is a public place for the townspeople to cool off in the summer.

When Tang Xuewei and her group of four arrived, it was just time for the "group dance." Excitedly, she grabbed Lao Tang with one hand and Xiao Yao with the other, rushed into the dance floor, and found three empty spots in the neatly arranged square formation that resembled a calisthenics exercise.

There were three of them because Yu Luying refused to join. She smiled, shook her head, and declined Tang Xuewei's attempts to pull her in and urge her on. She simply leaned against the railing by the lake and said, "I'll take pictures of all of you."

Xiao Yao suddenly remembered that when he attended Yu Bo's catechism class, the old almanac from 1912 said that "excessive indulgence in dance is a sin." He also remembered that last night on the balcony, Yu Luying expressed a similar view to him that "dancing in public is shameful." So he spoke up to stop Tang Xuewei and told her not to force her to do something she didn't want to do.

"Follow me as I recite the first clause of our love pact: you must gladly accept all my commands, be my driver, my delivery person, and my ATM."

Tang Xuewei seemed to be an expert in this area, which inexplicably reminded Xiao Yao of Shen Tianyun. He began to clumsily follow Tang Xuewei, raising his hands, kicking his legs, clapping, and spinning around. Although his movements were not very standard, he was just doing it for fun.

Xiao Yao thought that jumping around occasionally was quite fun, at least it was lively and exciting, but Shen Tianyun's enthusiasm was still hard to understand. However, hobbies are something that shouldn't be forced to be understood.

"Follow me and repeat the second part of the Love Pact: tell white lies without batting an eye, say that she is perfect in every way, that she is beautiful no matter what, and swear to love her for life without regret."

Xiao Yao suddenly realized that the fun of square dancing is not actually in the dancing itself, but is essentially a social activity.

Since this activity is popular in 2034, it's understandable why my daughter is so enthusiastic about it, as she considers it a major social activity with her classmates and friends.

Thinking back to the night before he left Shanghai, when Shen Tianyun inexplicably told him something like, "They don't want me anymore, they all don't want me anymore," Xiao Yao felt a deep unease and secretly decided that he must find his daughter and ask her about it when he returned to Shanghai.

"When you're together, remember to let her twist the truth, and when she's right, pretend you're oblivious; let her nag and complain, spoil her until her heart is as tender as water, and between reality and illusion, you'll feel like you're floating on air..."

Xiao Yao suddenly felt a strong sense of aversion and disgust towards the lyrics of the song.

Actually, he knew this song from elementary school and even sang it in junior high. At that time, he didn't think much about it or realize it was a problem.

But today, doesn't this sound exactly like the "cuckold" or "simp" that Shen Tianyun's era talked about?

As a popular aesthetic culture, what kind of values ​​is this instilling in men?

The thought that his generation, especially Xiao Yao himself, had been poisoned by this kind of cultural thinking and taken many detours made the young man feel an uncontrollable sense of nausea, and he wanted to smash the speaker with his fist.

"Screw it... I'm not jumping anymore," Xiao Yao shook his hand and walked towards the lakeside railing where Yu Luying was leaning.

Wait a minute, where did Little Apple go again?

After spinning around a few times and searching everywhere, and even after the dance was over, Little Apple finally came running over with a pair of glowing, long rabbit ears in her little feet.

Ah, yamete yamete.

Little Apple ran up to Xiao Yao and, without caring whether he liked it or not, put the glowing rabbit ears on him with her heels off the ground, just two centimeters away.

"So cute!" Little Apple clapped her hands and laughed, "Big bunny!"

Xiao Yao cooperated by sticking out his upper front teeth and pressing them against the bottom of his lips.

Tang Jiaxin and Tang Xuewei also gathered around, praising the rabbit ears as perfectly matching Xiao Yao's personality.

After a group dance, there were two ballroom dances. Xiao Yao, wearing rabbit ears, leaned against the railing by the lake with Yu Luying, watching Curly-haired Lao Tang and Tang Xuewei dance.

During this time, Xu Ruiyi actually changed to a very intimidating motorcycle, looking like a biker gang member from a comic book.

“These ears suit you very well,” Xu Ruiyi said.

“This is called a slow waltz,” Xiao Yao explained to Yu Luying as he watched. “The one we just saw should be a slow waltz. Slow waltz and slow waltz are the simplest, beginner-level ballroom dances… Wait, is that Shuyi?”

"It seems so, Shuyi!" Little Apple raised her hand to greet the child.

"Shuyi" is the little niece who stays at "Uncle Zhou's" house downstairs in Xiao Yao's house. She can be considered Xiao Yao's half-childhood sweetheart. Yesterday afternoon, Yu Luying even tutored her in math homework.

The child, wearing a light blue short-sleeved T-shirt, brown shorts, flesh-colored stockings that went past his ankles, and nude plastic sandals, was dancing a slow waltz with a chubby boy with a chubby face who was wearing a county junior high school uniform.

"Sister Yingying, Brother Yaoyao!" Shuyi greeted them, then disappeared into the crowd with the chubby boy.

"...Should we let my Uncle Zhou know?" Xiao Yao asked jokingly, stroking his chin.

"You traitor!" Yu Luying glared at him.

"Just kidding," Xiao Yao laughed. "I'm not going to be a bad guy."

After the slow waltz ended, the classic fast waltz "Love in the Dust" rang out in the square—a song that Xiao Yao and Yu Luying both particularly liked, and also one of Lao Lang and Gao Xiaosong's signature songs.

Just as Xiao Yao was about to ask Yu Luying if she wanted to learn to dance, offering to teach her, Tang Xuewei ran over and extended her hand to Xiao Yao.

Just as Xiao Yao was about to subconsciously refuse, Yu Luying pushed him from behind: "Go ahead."

Before the boy could react, Tang Xuewei had already grabbed his hand and skillfully hooked her other arm around his shoulder, leading him toward the center of the "dance floor".

"That day, at dusk, snow began to fall, and sorrow bloomed across the hills, waiting for youth to fade away..."

Xiao Yao felt the warmth from Tang Xuewei's hand and a strange sense of unease welled up inside him.

A hint of provocative smile appeared in Tang Xuewei's eyes. She began to sway her body lightly, her steps forming the elegant steps of a waltz—her movements were as graceful as flowing water, each movement precise and agile.

Xiao Yao tried his best to keep up.

He slowly began to relax his body and immerse himself in the dance, and the two began to coordinate their steps.

The so-called "starting to coordinate" means at least not falling, stepping on, or being stepped on.

Xiao Yao and Tang Xuewei's bodies intertwined and spun around each other.

I still remember inviting him to dance years ago, but he refused. I've long forgotten the reason, but I remember it was just polite and proper. Now he's taking the initiative to invite me, which is quite different from before.

"If you hadn't gone to school in Shanghai," Tang Xuewei whispered in Xiao Yao's ear, "would you still have continued to pursue me?"

Xiao Yao smelled the alcohol on the girl's lips and chuckled softly.

"The beginning and end of a relationship are beyond our control; the depth of our feelings is beyond our control." The young man replied politely and appropriately, "Some people, once missed, are gone forever; while others, only exist after we've missed them."

"Mm." Tang Xuewei nodded and didn't say anything more until the dance was over.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Curly-haired Old Tang, oblivious to the situation, invited Little Apple to dance, to which she smiled and shook her head, saying, "I don't know how to dance this kind of dance for two."

"It's alright, I'll teach you," Old Tang said, patting his chest.

"Get out of my way," Xiao Yao walked over and elbowed Old Tang in the waist. "If you want to teach me, why don't you teach me yourself?"