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

What's worse is that Yu Luying is clearly still bothered by last night's incident. If he can't resolve this issue before returning to Shanghai and completely ease and normalize the bilateral relationship, he worries that he will face obstacles everywhere after returning to Shanghai.

Shen Jie's disappearance made him restless, but in the current situation, even if he returned to Shanghai, he didn't know what he could do or where to look for her—perhaps, he could discuss it with his daughter?

However, with such a large Yu Lihua standing right in front of him, Xiao Yao clearly didn't have any choice.

After packing their luggage, Xiao Yao accompanied the Yu mother and daughter out the door.

I learned from Brother Bo that the nearest Catholic church to Dongru is in the neighboring Fangbing Town, which is neither too close nor too far, only about ten kilometers away.

Xiao Yao wanted to persuade his mother-in-law to give up, but Yu Luying seemed quite eager to go as well, so he had no choice but to embark on the pilgrimage together.

Fortunately, Fangbing's direction and Shanghai's direction are on the same side, so they can directly get on the bus from Fangbing back to Shanghai, which is quite convenient.

Xiao Yao suggested that perhaps Xu Ruiyi could drive them, and Yu Lihua readily agreed, but Yu Luying refused to cause any more trouble for the Xu family.

After studying it for a while, the final conclusion was that we should take the bus.

The three of them walked out of the Party School gate, and Yu Lihua went into a supermarket convenience store to buy some supplies.

Yu Luying turned around twice with her hands behind her back and took out a bag/a pair of skin-colored pantyhose.

"Why would you buy this?" Xiao Yao asked, puzzled.

When it was time to pay the bill, Yu Luying leaned over and beckoned to Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao walked over, and she rummaged through his shirt pocket for a long time, then reached into his pants pocket, searching the left side and then the right.

"What exactly are they trying to do?" Xiao Yao couldn't help but whisper.

The boy glanced at Yu Lihua, who was comparing brands and prices in the corner. Fortunately, she was so focused that she didn't notice him.

In the end, Yu Luying took out a 20-yuan bill and three or five coins to pay the bill.

"Why are you buying this?" Xiao Yao couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Are you out of money?"

“I have money,” Yu Luying replied expressionlessly, “This is what you owe me.”

?

"No," Xiao Yao said unhappily, "Everyone was partly responsible for the incident. Impulsiveness is a matter between two people, especially since you were the one who started it. I didn't actually do anything, so why did you—"

He had just said "What are you doing?" when he realized he had spoken out of turn and instinctively covered his mouth.

"Not pretending to have amnesia anymore?" Yu Luying looked at him, still expressionless.

So are you angry with me right now?

Yu Luying shook her head: "No, I'm just angry with myself."

Just as Xiao Yao was about to speak again, he saw Yu Lihua walking over with the things she wanted to buy in her hands. So the two of them tacitly shut their mouths and gave each other a smile.

Since the three of them couldn't take a rickshaw and couldn't hail a taxi, Xiao Yao suggested walking to the bus station, but in the end, they still used two rickshaws to solve the problem.

Yu Lihua naturally wanted to ride in the same car as her daughter, but Xiao Yao also wanted to sit with Yu Luying.

"Auntie," Xiao Yao asked, forcing a smile, "How about Yingying and I ride in the same car?"

Yu Lihua was somewhat surprised—she was amazed by the boy's boldness, but also somewhat taken aback by his "clinginess".

“Okay,” Yu Lihua said with a kind smile after only a moment’s hesitation, and got up to get out of the car: “Please sit down.”

Unexpectedly, Yu Luying grabbed her mother and said, "Don't go, I'll sit with you, let him ride in a car by himself."

Yu Lihua insisted, forcing her daughter to ride in the same car as Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao cast a grateful glance at Yu Lihua.

On the rickshaw, Yu Luying was forced to sit close to him. Xiao Yao tried to coax her all the way, but Yu Luying avoided the topic and claimed that she was fine—she just wouldn't let him hold her hand or hug her. Any physical contact would cause her to bounce away, and she was also depressed and wouldn't speak to him.

A three-kilometer bike ride is no match for a woman who's determined to stay silent with you. Before you know it, you've arrived at Dongru Bus Station.

Luckily, there was a bus to Shanghai in ten minutes that would pass through Fangbing Town.

--split line--

The bus to Fangbing Town—or rather, the bus that passes through Fangbing Town—was not too crowded.

In fact, at a glance, two-thirds of the seats are still empty.

Yu Lihua sat in the first row, while Yu Luying was semi-forced to sit with Xiao Yao in the second-to-last row.

Look, such a wonderful mother-in-law, you couldn't find one even with a lantern, Xiao Yao thought gratefully.

He had been pestering Yu Luying for quite some time without any significant breakthrough, so he had to shift his attention to other things.

"Call Shen Jie for me," Xiao Yao said to Yu Luying.

"What is it now?" Yu Luying's tone was slightly impatient. "Why are you here again?"

“She’s missing,” Xiao Yao said succinctly.

Yu Luying took a deep breath and was about to say something when Xiao Yao interrupted her: "This time it has been almost 24 hours, which is unprecedented. The last time she contacted me was around 11 a.m. yesterday."

As he spoke, he took out his phone to show Yu Luying.

Yu Luying didn't seem very interested in watching, and directly took out her phone and dialed Shen Jie's number.

The girl frowned, held the phone to her ear for a few seconds, then brought it back to her face, dialed again, and then held it to her ear for a few more seconds.

“Out of service area,” Yu Luying told Xiao Yao, “Both times it was out of service area.”

"...Why did you change the wallpaper?" Xiao Yao knew this wasn't the time for "important matters," but he couldn't help it—in fact, he couldn't bear it any longer.

"What wallpaper?" Yu Luying replied coldly.

"The wallpaper on your phone, the one with the two of us."

"Oh, I just switch them around every few days when I have nothing to do," Yu Luying said casually.

"Change it back," Xiao Yao said firmly.

Yu Luying sighed, her body stiff and straight, not moving an inch.

Xiao Yao realized that now was not a good time to conduct this kind of "obedience test": "Never mind, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Yu Luying snapped her phone shut.

“We need to talk,” Xiao Yao said.

"I'm sleepy, I didn't sleep well last night." Yu Luying closed her eyes and leaned her head back in the chair.

Xiao Yao grabbed one of her arms and helped her up.

"You're hurting me," the girl warned him, then glanced at Yu Lihua's back, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"Don't you want to stay together?" Xiao Yao blurted out angrily, "You want to break up too, right?"

As soon as he said it, Xiao Yao regretted it. He realized that under these circumstances, it seemed even more inappropriate for him to take the initiative to make such a negative suggestion.

Fortunately, Yu Luying didn't say "Yes, I want to break up" or "Fine, let's break up then," but instead said "Whatever!"

Limited strengths?

After saying those three words, the girl leaned back and closed her eyes to rest.

……

Although Xiao Yao was extremely anxious, he knew that he couldn't keep pushing her.

He grasped Yu Luying's hand and closed his eyes to rest, trying to calm his chaotic state of mind.

Fortunately, Yu Luying did not shake off his hand this time.

Fortunately, she spoke to him after only a few minutes.

“Xiao Yao,” Yu Luying suddenly turned her head and said, “What happened yesterday is in the past. I have no intention of leaving you, okay?”

"OK, thanks."

"But I also have times when I need quiet, times when I want personal space, times when I want to be by myself—"

"I admit, I acted impulsively last night, okay?" Xiao Yao said urgently. "First, you made me drink too much, so my mind wasn't quite clear. Second, at first, I thought I was dreaming. Third, think back, didn't I stop on my own initiative? I thought about how I might hurt you, so I stopped. Fourth, there's—"

Actually, the third point is basically taking credit for something else—if he hadn't been drunk and unable to perform, he might have caused a major disaster. Fortunately, Yu Luying herself had a vague memory of the details of what happened that night, and through symbiotic perception, she sensed that Xiao Yao did indeed have some self-discipline and a willingness to pull back from the brink at the time, so she believed it to some extent.

"Thank you, Big Rabbit." Yu Luying nodded to Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao judged that the other party's tone was not perfunctory or sarcastic, but rather seemed sincere, so he kept quiet.

His "four-fold" was meant to remind the other party again that "you started it." Logically speaking, this detail is indeed worth mentioning, but bringing it up risks escalating the argument and could easily provoke the other party into anger. Therefore, Xiao Yao was unsure whether he should bring it up again.

The song goes, "When you're together, remember to let her twist the truth, and when she's right, pretend you're oblivious." Xiao Yao wasn't sure whether to believe it or not, but since Yu Luying had said "thank you" so earnestly, he decided to leave that aside for now.

……

"You want to go and repent, right?" Xiao Yao suddenly asked Yu Luying.

"What should that be called again?" Yu Luying asked Xiao Yao.

"Ah, I remember now, confession, the sacrament of confession." Xiao Yao bent his index finger and tapped his head: "Confess!"

“Right.” Yu Luying gave Xiao Yao a somewhat forced smile.

“To be honest,” Xiao Yao said, “don’t you feel strange talking about your private matters and secrets with strangers?”

"How could that be? This is a sacrament—are you dozing off during your catechism lesson?"

“No, no, I understand the reasoning—but if I want to go back to Shanghai for confession, why not just do it there?” Xiao Yao said.