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

During this time, Daiyu kept talking to Xiao Yao, complaining that Yan Xiao wasn't answering his calls again. As Xiao Yao listened to Daiyu list Yan Xiao's faults, such as being hot and cold, unpredictable, and disappearing all the time, he secretly scoffed, "You've all achieved perfect harmony in life, why are you still bothered by such trivial matters? When we get to the 'evil Yin' part, you'd better repent properly." Then he thought that he didn't really have the right to criticize her, so he glanced at Yu Luying and then looked away.

Yu Luying sat in the corner of the room, holding a book in both hands, her eyelids drooping, motionless, her mind seemingly lost in thought.

After class, Yu Bo, as usual, prepared to take Xiao Yao, Yu Luying, Daiyu, and others to level up, but Xiao Yao declined on the grounds of feeling unwell. As a result, the day's exploration was once again temporarily canceled.

"Liang Yanan made an appointment with you? Tonight?" Yu Bo was a little surprised: "When I mentioned this to her, she wasn't so enthusiastic—come here for a moment."

Yu Bo hooked his arm around Xiao Yao's neck and pulled him into the back garden: "I reckon if she says she'll help you, she might not do it for free."

"What do you mean? You want money?" Xiao Yao was taken aback.

"Of course she doesn't want money—maybe she wants to get some information from you," Yu Bo guessed. "Information for information, you know."

“I thought you two were old friends—good friends?” Xiao Yao said.

“She’s definitely a good friend,” Yu Bo said, “but the adult world, tsk, is always very complicated. She’s no longer the student I could see right through, and there are many things we can’t just tell her. The fact that she bypassed me and contacted you directly must have her reasons.”

"I thought you were the one who gave her my number."

"Your number isn't a secret—just be careful, keep your mouth shut, and contact me anytime if anything happens."

"I understand," Xiao Yao replied verbally, but his mind was filled with doubts.

Instead of having lunch at the church, Xiao Yao and Yu Luying walked home under the scorching sun. Just as they arrived at Yu Luying's building, they saw Yu Lihua preparing to go out to buy groceries.

On a whim, Xiao Yao volunteered to accompany Yu Lihua to buy groceries.

Yu Lihua was somewhat surprised, but did not refuse. So Yu Luying went up by herself, while the mother and daughter went to the nearby vegetable market.

The market was still the same as he remembered from his childhood (though it wasn't a market at all): wet, dirty, and chaotic. Xiao Yao had never liked going to the market with his mother since he was little, and now he couldn't go with her even if he wanted to.

He helped Yu Lihua carry one plastic bag after another, carefully avoiding the sewage on the ground. Watching Yu Lihua bargain with people, he also gained a lot of fun from the everyday life of the city.

They chatted while buying groceries, and when they got back, Xiao Yao helped Yu Lihua pick and wash the vegetables, and assisted her while she cooked. Although it was almost one or two o'clock in the afternoon when they ate, Xiao Yao felt more like a member of the family than a guest.

"What did you learn in class today?" Yu Lihua asked Xiao Yao during lunch.

“The Seven Deadly Sins,” Xiao Yao said.

“It’s the Seven Deadly Sins,” Yu Lihua corrected. “The Seven Deadly Sins is a mistranslation by foreigners. The Seven Deadly Sins themselves are not sins, but rather the causes that give rise to sins…”

“Oh yes, yes, yes,” Xiao Yao said, “Brother Bo said the same thing.”

"Have you memorized the Seven Deadly Sins?"

"Uh, pride? anger? jealousy? laziness? gluttony? No, no, what's that called, Taotie?... Uh, and, and..."

"Mom, what are you doing?" Yu Luying said unhappily, "People are eating."

"Tsk, I see you don't care at all about Xiao Yao's faith status," Yu Lihua said with dissatisfaction.

"Mom, have you heard a joke?" Yu Luying pouted.

"what?"

“There was a family who were Buddhists, and they required their daughter to find a Buddhist boyfriend as well.”

"And then?" Yu Lihua asked.

"Then, then their daughter found a boyfriend, and their family insisted that the man be a Buddhist."

“That’s normal,” Yu Lihua said.

Three months later, the mother asked her daughter, "Has your boyfriend become a Buddhist?" The daughter cried and said, "Yes, he has become a Buddhist. He has become a monk."

"Pfft—" Xiao Yao shook his head, spitting the rice in his mouth onto the floor. He apologized hastily and went to get a winnowing basket.

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it,” Yu Luying said.

“It’s not that Auntie’s comment is too funny,” Xiao Yao said, “I really believe it, I can’t take it anymore, those three words really hit me hard, I really believe it…”

Yu Luying frowned and glanced back at him, and Xiao Yao quickly shut his mouth.

Fortunately, Yu Lihua didn't mind, but just sighed, "Yes, none of us in the family could have imagined that the person who would 'believe so much' in the end would be your Uncle Bobo."

"Uncle Bobo was a hooligan when he was in school, right?" Xiao Yao asked.

"It is now too," Yu Lihua said, feigning annoyance.

The three of them laughed together.

After lunch, Xiao Yao helped Yu Lihua clean up. As they were cleaning, she started rambling on again.

The gist of the rambling was that he first praised Xiao Yao's progress, saying that he could help his mother with chores, and then went on to say that he lacked self-care ability in the past and needed to improve further. He also said that after getting married, he couldn't leave everything to his wife. He repeated the same old clichés over and over again.

In the past, whenever Yu Lihua said things like "what will happen after you get married" in front of Yu Luying, Yu Luying would interrupt her mother, pretending to be shy but actually angry, and force her to change the subject.

But today, contrary to his usual behavior, he replied, "I was thinking about this issue yesterday as well."

"What's the problem?" Xiao Yao and Yu Lihua asked.

“Looks like I really will have to marry this guy,” Yu Luying said, pursing her lips shyly and lowering her head as she mentioned the word “marriage.” “Otherwise, how will he survive? He probably doesn’t even know where he keeps his underwear. If no one takes care of him…”

"Tsk tsk, listen to this," Yu Lihua said. "I truly love my daughter."

Xiao Yao was somewhat astonished. Of course, he knew where his underwear was, but what surprised him was that Yu Luying would say such seemingly critical, yet actually tender and affectionate words.

It was still in front of Yu Lihua and himself.

"If he marries some rich girl, she won't take care of his life. He'll be in big trouble then..." Yu Luying chuckled.

Huh? What do you mean by that?

Doesn't the young lady's house have maids or servants...?

“Yes, that Shen guy you had before—” Yu Lihua continued naturally, but was glared at by Yu Luying and shut up.

After helping the mother and daughter clean up, Xiao Yao originally wanted to go home for a nap, but at Yu Lihua's enthusiastic invitation, he ended up taking a two-hour rest on their sofa.

This was the first time Xiao Yao had slept at Yu Luying's house.

He still sleeps with the mother and daughter.

Of course, this "together" refers to the time period.

He felt a sense of relaxation, and the longer he stayed in the pavilion, the more comfortable he became.

"It's almost dinner time, where are you going?" Yu Lihua asked him with some surprise.

“He made plans to meet a friend yesterday, Mom, please don’t ask so many questions,” Yu Luying answered quickly.

When Xiao Yao arrived at the place Liang Yanan had specified, it was dusk.

This is a fairly upscale Western restaurant, but there aren't many customers. Liang Yanan, dressed exactly the same as when they met at the hospital that day, stands out here.

Upon meeting, without any pleasantries or conditions, Liang Yanan pushed a small piece of paper over from the dining table: "This is the address of the person you are looking for."

"Thank you." Xiao Yao glanced at the words on the note; it wasn't anywhere he'd been in the last couple of days. He silently memorized the address but left the note on the table. He wondered why Liang Yanan hadn't just texted the address yesterday, instead of insisting on meeting him and delaying for another day. Surely she wasn't just trying to rip him off with a steak? If that were the case, things would be better.

Despite having various doubts in his mind, Xiao Yao didn't ask them aloud, lest he be impolite. After all, Liang Yanan was Yu Bo's elder.

"You can order now, I've already ordered what I want to eat," Liang Yanan said, pushing the menu over to me.

"Auntie, you... cough, sister, you order, I'm fine with anything." Xiao Yao said politely while flipping through the menu.

“Little brother, let me ask you,” Liang Yanan pushed up her tinted glasses, “where did you learn your kung fu skills from?”

Xiao Yao's hand holding the menu trembled slightly involuntarily.

Chapter 234 Shen Jie will be here soon, where are you?

2023-06-16

*This chapter is also known as "I Know She Knows I'm Lying"

"Little brother, your sister asks you, where did you learn your kung fu from?"

"Kung Fu? What kung fu?" Xiao Yao raised his head in feigned surprise. "Ah, you mean that? Sigh, I don't know any kung fu. I've just become an expert through long illness. I'm just showing off my limited skills in front of you."

Liang Yanan squinted behind her tinted glasses, but Xiao Yao couldn't see it.

She realized that Xiao Yao wasn't telling the truth—however, she didn't dwell on the matter.

"Your well-done ribeye." The steaming steak was placed in front of Liang Yanan by the waiter, who then expertly unfolded a large napkin and held it in front of her.

The inverted hemispherical metal cover was lifted, and the sizzling beef on the hot plate released an enticing aroma.

"Look...it looks delicious," Xiao Yao said with an awkward smile.

Liang Yanan did not pick up the knife and fork in front of her, but asked the waiter to bring her... a pair of chopsticks.

Seeing Liang Yanan awkwardly using her left hand to pick up the steak with chopsticks, Xiao Yao said that it would be easier to use a knife and fork if her hand was not convenient.

“I never choose the easiest path, and I don’t like to use a knife at the dinner table.” Liang Yanan finally picked up the steak with her chopsticks and took a satisfied bite.

Xiao Yao suddenly thought of her current and past professions, felt a chill run down her spine, and quickly shut her mouth.

After a brief silence, Liang Yanan spoke.

You know I'm not actually that familiar with you, right?

Xiao Yao nodded knowingly. He also realized that this matter couldn't be resolved with just one Wang Steak.

"So I also hope you can do me a favor, which is to answer a few questions."

Xiao Yao continued to nod.