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

"As a result, as a result, I almost did it yesterday... I feel like reason and morality are empty to me, and only desire is my master."

"I don't want to be that kind of person. I want to be a gentleman, a good person, a knight, someone who can restrain his behavior with reason and principles, and a responsible person."

Father Li spoke up: "Since you know there's no future, why did you develop a romantic relationship with him?"

“This is a complicated issue,” Xiao Yao told him. “Actually, I have a fiancée, and my girlfriend and my fiancée both know about each other and they both agree to it. In fact, it was the two of them who privately agreed to be together with me and the other person before they came to tell me.”

“…This is wrong, it can’t be done,” Father Li told Xiao Yao.

“I know,” Xiao Yao said, “Father, you know, my current girlfriend’s mother is incredibly kind to me, so incredibly kind. She says she treats me like her son, and she keeps talking about what will happen after we get married. You know, whenever she says that, I feel terrible. I just think about how heartbroken… how disappointed she would be if she knew the truth… I… I don’t know how to say it. I feel like I’m not human. I can’t face her. I really hope that what she says about what will happen after marriage is true, that it will all happen, but I know perfectly well that I’m actually lying to her…”

“Father, I really want to treat her like my mother. I really want to marry my girlfriend and her daughter, but I can’t, because I can’t betray my fiancée.”

“Hmm…” Father Li’s face contorted in pain: “This fiancée you’re talking about…”

Xiao Yao didn't listen to the priest, but continued on his own: "And now I still feel sorry for my grandfather. Before he passed away, my grandfather wrote me a letter, picked out the names for the children, and told me to set off firecrackers at his grave when I got married so that he could go to see my great-grandfather—but I ended up marrying into his family. How can I face the ancestors of the Xiao family?"

"To be honest, Father, I never cared about these things before. What's the difference between marrying a wife and marrying into the family? To me, having a wife was enough. I didn't care if I married into the family, and I didn't care whose surname the children would take. But today, after seeing my grandfather's letter, I suddenly realized how selfish I had been, and suddenly I didn't want to marry into the family anymore."

"If I marry into the family, I'll be letting down my grandfather; if I don't, I'll be letting down my fiancée..."

Chapter 225 Her feet couldn't possibly smell that bad.

2023-06-05

On the way back to Shanghai, Yu Luying asked Xiao Yao, "What did you say to the priest? It lasted a full 45 minutes, and I could tell Father Li looked like he was about to cry!"

"Huh?" Xiao Yao said, "Was his expression that scary? I couldn't see it."

“Didn’t we already learn how to confess in class?” Yu Luying said, “Go through the Ten Commandments, the Four Rules, and the Seven Deadly Sins one by one, and concisely state what you did and how many times you did it. Uncle even specifically told us not to go into too much detail and not to ramble on. Have you forgotten all of that?”

"Ah... haha," Xiao Yao said, "I guess, I guess I was distracted at the time?"

"Tch." Yu Luying pouted, rolled her eyes at him, and turned her gaze back to the car window.

"Oh right, you haven't told me yet," Xiao Yao glanced at Yu Lihua in the first three rows, then leaned close to Yu Luying's ear and said slyly, "How did you... suddenly appear outside the door this morning and knock on it from the outside?"

“I saw the missed calls later this morning; they were from both you and my mom,” Yu Luying explained.

"hold head high."

"Later, when you two entered the building, didn't you greet Shuyi very loudly? I heard it."

"Ah? Ah."

"Tsk—what, can't you remember?" Yu Luying reminded him, "My mom also told you, 'Wow, this little girl is quite pretty.'"

“I remember now,” Xiao Yao said. “And then?”

“Then I rushed out the door,” Yu Luying recalled. “When I saw that you two were already going upstairs, I quickly climbed up the ladder to the roof.”

"ladder?!"

“Isn’t there a ladder?” Yu Luying said.

"You dared to climb that ladder? It's so scary..."

"What's there to be afraid of climbing? You're afraid to climb?" Yu Luying asked curiously.

"What a joke, what wouldn't I dare to do?" Xiao Yao said.

This reminded Xiao Yao of when he was in junior high school in the county. There was a very tall iron gate leading from the playground to the county gymnasium. The gate had many sharp spikes on it, which looked frightening.

One day, as he watched two boys casually and skillfully climb over the iron gate, chatting and laughing, he was secretly admiring their "impressive skills" when two girls slowly walked over.

These two girls looked like quiet, well-behaved, and good students. One of them was even wearing a long skirt. Xiao Yao wondered how they were going to get over there, and then he stared at them dumbfounded. They were oblivious to everyone else, and they walked over with ease and conversation.

Yes, that's how it was back then.

After arriving at the new Shanghai Railway Station, Xiao Yao ate pan-fried dumplings with Yu Lihua and her daughter Yu Luying, and then took a taxi to send them home.

Xiao Yao offered to pay the fare and accompanied the mother and daughter out of the car. His original intention was just to walk a little further with Yu Luying and say a few more words, but Yu Lihua thought he wanted to go upstairs, so she took him upstairs without any reservations.

After putting down his things and exchanging a few pleasantries, Xiao Yao managed to stuff only 70 sesame seed cakes into the refrigerator with great effort. Yu Lihua instructed Xiao Yao to take the rest home and store them himself.

This is truly...unbelievable...

Yu Lihua sensed that Xiao Yao had something to say, so she went outside and started making a lot of noise in the public restroom between floors.

Little Apple sat on a high-backed chair at the dining table, one leg crossed, making a phone call with her flip phone.

“No,” she said, closing the flip cover of her phone. “It’s off now.”

"Is it turned off..." Xiao Yao muttered to himself.

He took out his own phone and made a call. Sure enough, he heard a message on the other end of the line: "Hello, the number you dialed is currently switched off."

……

"Don't worry, let's wait and see," Little Apple said softly, peeling a small apple.

“It will be another 48 hours before we can file a police report,” Xiao Yao said bitterly.

After Xiao Pingguo finished peeling the apple, he was about to take a bite when Xiao Yao naturally reached out and took the apple from him, opening his mouth and making a particularly crisp sound.

The sweet juice filled his mouth, but Xiao Yao couldn't taste it at all; he was only thinking about what to do next.

A bitter feeling welled up in my heart.

Little Apple started peeling a second little apple: "Um, Xiao Yao."

"Ok?"

Little Apple glanced at the wall clock, then hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

"Yeah, I know it's too late." Xiao Yao said "I know," but his buttocks remained rooted to the chair.

"I'm sorry, my mom and I are both tired," Little Apple said softly and apologetically.

"It's okay, how about a hug?" Xiao Yao stood up and stretched out his arms.

The girl didn't get up; she just sat in the chair and reluctantly stretched out her arms to hug him back.

Xiao Yao lowered his head to kiss her, but Little Apple simply turned her head away.

"What happened? Didn't we make up?" Xiao Yao was a little annoyed.

“My mom’s here,” Little Apple explained.

Xiao Yao didn't believe things were that simple, but it wasn't the right time or place to delve into the matter, so he could only straighten up dejectedly: "Then, I'll go back?"

"Cheer up," Little Apple said.

She put down the fruit knife in her hand, gracefully lifted one foot, and gently took off the gray cotton sock. Then, she switched legs and took off the other one.

Her movements were incredibly delicate, almost like dancing. The girl gently stroked the ankle of her gray cotton socks with her slender fingers, on which were embroidered cute cartoon bear patterns—Little Apple slowly pulled down the socks, revealing a pair of exceptionally delicate, white, and slender ankles.

The girl carefully folded the gray cotton socks neatly, then took Xiao Yao's hand with one hand and placed the socks in his palm with the other.

Xiao Yao paused for a moment, then gently grasped the still-warm socks, as if he were grasping Little Apple's heart.

"Can you relax now?" Little Apple smiled and said, "Stop overthinking, okay?"

"Okay, thank you." Xiao Yao nodded, then suddenly wanted to show off again: "But, I haven't gotten 80 points yet."

"I might not have time to tutor you for the next few days..." Little Apple carefully chose her words, "so I'll give you the 80-point reward in advance."

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?" Xiao Yao asked.

“Hmm,” Yu Luying subconsciously stroked her smooth arches with her hand. Xiao Yao felt a ticklish, tingling sensation on the soles of her feet. “One reason is that I’m tired and want to rest for a few days. The other is that I do have some things to take care of.”

"Okay," Xiao Yao said, "What's up?"

The boy asked the question casually, but the girl lowered her head, gently stroking the soles of her feet, and remained silent.

Xiao Yao was a little unhappy—what, is there something you need to hide from me?

However, he didn't show it.

Outside the door, footsteps echoed on the wooden spiral staircase, gradually approaching the room where Xiao Yao was.

No matter how you look at it, those footsteps sound like Yu Lihua's.

Urged on by Yu Luying, Xiao Yao quickly packed up the socks.

"Auntie, I'll head back now—" Xiao Yao called out as he turned around.

"Okay, okay." Yu Lihua put down the full plastic basin in her hand: "Be careful on your way back."

--split line--

Xiao Yao returned to his home after several days' absence and went straight to his daughter's room.

"Chang Sheng, Chang Sheng! I brought you some super delicious sesame cakes, I'll bake them for you on the stove—hey, where are you?"

Xiao Yao paced around the room a few times, scratched his head, went out, returned to the photo room, opened the small refrigerator, and frantically stuffed dozens of sesame cakes into it.

Shen Jie has been gone for some time, so no one has been buying groceries, and the refrigerator is still quite empty.

After stuffing all the cakes into the pancakes, Xiao Yao returned to his daughter's room and sat on her bed waiting for her.

...Wait, what is this?

On the girl's pillow, he saw a small envelope.

The envelope is made of a thick pink paper folded into a cute heart shape, with a row of delicate flower patterns along the edge, each flower adorned with a touch of glitter.