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

Just as I was thinking about this, a soft rustling sound of water entered my ears.

This sound made Xiao Yao very uncomfortable. In his familiar sleeping environment, the sound of water was usually associated with a leaky faucet or a chamber pot.

Xiao Yao sat up and looked toward the bathroom—since you have to pass through the reception room to get to the bathroom, you can't actually see the bathroom door from this angle, but thanks to the large mirror in the room, Xiao Yao saw the bathroom with the light on behind the frosted glass, and the sound of water was coming from inside.

The boy threw off the blanket and was shivered by the cold. Looking down, he realized that he was completely naked except for his underwear.

Xiao Yao shrank back under the covers, teasing himself for letting the air conditioning in the room run like it was free.

Okay, the water and electricity costs have already been calculated at several times the original price, so there's no way to avoid paying them if I don't use them.

Come to think of it, this scene feels strangely familiar... like I've experienced it in some kind of hall before?

Behind the frosted glass, the sound of water rustling and the rising mist revealing light, suggests a faint, ethereal figure behind it, like a divine manifestation.

"Hello! Hello!" Xiao Yao called out to the person in the bathroom, "Shen Jie!"

No one answered.

Xiao Yao threw off the covers again, got out of bed, tiptoed to the bathroom, and then yanked open the frosted glass door.

Then, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The person inside screamed, "What are you doing! Get out!"

Just as Xiao Yao was about to close the door and leave, Shen Jie turned the showerhead in her hand, and hot water sprayed all over Xiao Yao.

"What are you doing! It's hot!" Xiao Yao roared.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Shen Jie quickly put the showerhead away. "Wait a minute, you should get out of here!"

Xiao Yao shook the water off his body like a dog: "I'm thirsty, I want to find some water."

"Tsk, you really are—" Shen Jie complained as she turned off the showerhead. The two of them stared at each other, one inside the other.

"Let me have it," Shen Jie said.

"Ah." Xiao Yao stood to the side, watching Shen Jie tiptoe out of the bathroom and rush into the bedroom. A moment later, she came running back with a can of ice-cold Sprite in her hand: "Here!"

"The phone, where's the phone?" Xiao Yao took the jar from the girl's hand.

"What else do you want? Tell me everything at once!" Shen Jie said angrily.

Xiao Yao thought for a moment: "That's all."

Shen Jie ran to get the phone from him, then closed the frosted glass door and went inside.

Xiao Yao stood at the bathroom door, drinking an iced Sprite while calling Yu Luying.

I was going to send a message, but I decided to call instead.

“Hello…” Yu Luying answered the phone immediately.

“Me,” Xiao Yao said.

"What are you doing..." Yu Luying complained as soon as she opened her mouth, "It's burning me."

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," Xiao Yao apologized repeatedly, "It wasn't my question—I didn't mean to."

"Are you two still in the western suburbs?" Yu Luying asked him.

“Okay,” Xiao Yao said.

"Is it past check-out time?" Yu Luying asked.

"I don't know, what time is it?" Xiao Yao asked Yu Luying.

"It's past three o'clock, isn't it?" Yu Luying said.

“Then it must be past check-out time,” Xiao Yao said.

Yu Luying: "..."

Xiao Yao: "..."

Yu Luying: "Is there something you need?"

Xiao Yao: "Shen Jie's current condition may indeed be a little not very good."

Yu Luying: "Mm."

Xiao Yao: "I'm afraid I might need to comfort her a little intensely later. Is that convenient for you? Do you mind?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Hello? Did the call drop?" Xiao Yao glanced at the phone screen and put the receiver back to his ear.

"Don't go too far." Yu Luying said weakly, and hung up the phone before Xiao Yao could reply.

Xiao Yao sensed that Yu Luying wasn't very happy. After thinking for a moment, he didn't call her again. He simply put his phone on the coffee table and went to open the frosted glass door to the bathroom.

Then they discovered that this time, the door was locked.

"Mommy, open the door, open it quickly, I want to come in," Xiao Yao sang.

"I won't open it, I won't open it, the kitten isn't back, the door can't be opened." Off-key singing came from the bathroom.

"Open the door quickly!" Xiao Yao shouted.

"Aren't you annoying? I can't even take a shower peacefully!" Shen Jie complained loudly.

"I can't hold it in anymore, I need to go to the toilet," Xiao Yao said.

“You’re annoying!” Shen Jie said.

After waiting another three seconds, Xiao Yao heard a "click" and the door lock opened.

The boy dashed inside.

……

……

……

"Hey, what's wrong with you today?" Shen Jie complained, giving him a push.

"Nothing happened," Xiao Yao replied without hesitation. "Isn't it said that absence makes the heart grow fonder?"

"You couldn't hold it in any longer, so you rushed to get me out? I'm not in the mood today!" Shen Jie told Xiao Yao, "I don't even know where I'll be sleeping tomorrow."

“Hey, what are you saying?” Xiao Yao said, “As long as I, Xiao Yao, am alive, I will never let you be all alone on the streets as a homeless person.”

“Yes, the two of them go begging together, becoming a pair of chivalrous beggars,” Shen Jie teased.

……

……

……

"Don't do anything reckless," Shen Jie complained. "Do you want to make me feel like a lunatic for eight days, like last time?"

"Of course I don't want to, I'm just as scared," Xiao Yao said. "By the way, I just saw something there..."

"I don't want to!" Shen Jie shouted. "What's wrong with you today? You've been talking to yourself the whole time!"

……

The girl half-squatted down and applied shower gel to Xiao Yao's calves.

She turned her face away with a livid expression, her cherry-like lips pressed tightly together.

Then, she rinsed the shower gel foam off her hands and covered her mouth with her two small palms crossed: "Xiao Yao, are you getting cocky? If you want to die, you don't have to do it this way."

"What's wrong? Are you really angry?"

“No—” Shen Jie blurted out, “Yes, I’m really angry.”

The bathroom door opened, and two people walked out one after the other. Shen Jie stood in front of the large dressing mirror and wrapped her wet hair with a white towel.

The two embraced and fell together onto the enormous bed, which was only slightly smaller than the bed in Shen Jie's own bedroom.

Xiao Yao whispered something in Shen Jie's ear, and the girl rolled over and lay face down on the bed. She groped around the edge of the bed for a while and finally pulled out a pair of wrinkled socks.

These are the socks Shen Jie wore during her triumphant escape yesterday; they clearly hadn't been washed yet.

The curtains were drawn tightly, and although it was afternoon, the room was as dark as midnight.

Xiao Yao casually turned on the small lamp on the bedside table.

Shen Jie had already put on one bluish-gray lace-trimmed ice silk sock on her slender feet and was putting on the other one.

Five tiny toes were wrapped in cotton socks, making them look hazy and cute.

The girl put on the other sock, stretched out her toes, and playfully wiggled her five toes up and down right under Xiao Yao's nose.

Xiao Yao buried his face in the socks, the toes and heels smelling of leather mixed with sweat.

The boy was taking deep breaths when he suddenly heard Shen Jie call him, "Husband."

"Hmm, what's wrong?" Xiao Yao gently stroked the instep covered by the transparent silk.

"In the future, what are your plans..." Shen Jie asked him softly, "How will you kill me?"

Xiao Yao suddenly raised his head.

Although it was the sweltering summer, Xiao Yao felt as if he had been doused with well water from head to toe upon hearing these words, a chill that penetrated to the bone.