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

Yu Luying couldn't help but purse her lips and chuckle to herself.

"Sigh, she's been very polite to you, you..."

“Look, that’s where the problem lies,” Yu Luying interrupted him. “In your heart, we are not equal. You are the man, the backbone of this relationship. You should strive to treat everyone equally, and even if you can’t, you should try your best to achieve that goal.”

Chapter 273 Shen Jie was completely bewildered

2023-07-22

Xiao Yao was taken aback; he had never really thought about this question before.

In his mind, the fact that Yu Luying and he were able to maintain this ambiguous relationship was entirely due to the grace and blessing of Her Majesty Queen Mary.

Based on this, he didn't think there was any room for negotiation.

The will of Heaven is unpredictable. If Shen Jie were to issue an order one day demanding that he break off his friendship with Yu Luying, he could still resist. But if she only wanted them to be friends again, even if he wanted to rebel, he would not have the legal advantage.

To be fair, it wasn't that Xiao Yao was henpecked or henpecked, nor was it because he thought a son-in-law had to listen to the young lady; it was simply because of this matter—in plain terms, he was in the wrong.

Whether it's canon law or secular law, the principle of matching pots and lids is a basic principle in modern society, and there's not much to argue about.

Even though Shen Jie and Yu Luying have gotten into such a mess, Shen Jie hasn't asked him to break up with Yu Luying yet. In Xiao Yao's opinion, Shen Jie is already being too magnanimous. He doesn't really understand why Yu Luying is raising her voice and calling for equality at this time.

Whether it was due to the symbiotic relationship or not, Yu Luying was able to detect Xiao Yao's thoughts. She said, "Actually, there's not much need for you to try to keep me here. Can't you feel it? Shen Jie's attitude is already very clear. She's just too embarrassed to say it outright and is waiting for you to realize your mistake."

Xiao Yao: "..."

Yu Luying: "Are you really low on emotional intelligence, or are you just unwilling to face it?"

“Of course I know she has some ulterior motives,” Xiao Yao said, lowering his voice. “But she has pride and doesn’t want to change her mind so easily. Why would you deliberately provoke her?”

“I just want to provoke her, I just want to provoke her,” Yu Luying said. “Can’t you see? When I went there today, the way she acted as if she didn’t belong in the family, she took off her coat and crawled onto the bed, she just wanted to force her to tell you to break up with me.”

"??? Are you out of your mind?" Xiao Yao said angrily, "Even if we want to break up, you can just say so. And ultimately, this is a matter between the two of us. Why do you have to go and bother her? She's so pitiful."

“Because I know,” Yu Luying lowered her head and said in a whisper, “I know you’re a persistent pest. I can’t handle you, I can’t beat you, I can’t get rid of you, and I can’t compete with you in terms of who has no bottom line. I’m so unlucky to have you in my life—if I ask you to break up, I can basically forget about it. Look, it’s just like this now. Only if Shen Jie really opposes it can she control you and make the breakup a reality.”

Xiao Yao opened his mouth, but couldn't think of what to say, so he deliberately and forcibly tried to touch Yu Luying's head and pinch her cheek with a cheeky grin.

“Oh, right,” Xiao Yao suddenly remembered something, “how did you know about her before you came here today, Shen Jie, she…”

Before he could even articulate his question, Yu Luying already knew what he was going to ask: "I... I accidentally overheard your conversation with your sister—you and Shen Jie."

"What? You were eavesdropping on our conversation?" Xiao Yao's expression changed.

“I swear, I promise,” Yu Luying said urgently, “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, it was just some snippets of conversation that suddenly popped up on their own… from my ears, no, directly into my brain…”

“OK, OK, OK, I don’t listen to other people’s oaths, but I’ll believe yours,” Xiao Yao raised his right palm: “Tell me what you heard.”

“How do I remember the exact words? I just remember the general idea…” Yu Luying recalled: “What, I abandoned my wife and children for you—abandoned my father and family, can’t you be a little more devoted to me? Your phone screen is full of pictures of her, what does that mean? What did you two do in the countryside? Am I the mistress? Anyway, that’s all, just snippets of words, without any beginning or end, I just suddenly heard it.”

"What else did you hear?" Xiao Yao's expression turned serious. "Context? What?"

“No,” Yu Luying shook her head and said, “Even if I did, I forgot, or I didn’t hear it clearly. Either I didn’t hear it clearly, or it was something unimportant.”

Xiao Yao frowned and thought for a long time, but he couldn't recall the context of that conversation. So he decided to stop thinking about it and, holding Yu Luying's arm, said to her, "I've already told you before that I will treat you well and respect you. Feel free to make any requests you have and communicate with me more. I will try my best to help you get what I can. Just don't act crazy and provoke her again. In a couple of days, when you two have calmed down, I'll step in and host a dinner party so you two can meet and reconcile."

“I don’t want to,” Yu Luying blurted out.

"Yeah, right, it'll be during the Dongqi summer camp. Anyway, we're all going," Xiao Yao said to himself.

“Refusing to settle,” Yu Luying said.

“What does your scripture say again, um, um, um,” Xiao Yao bent his right index finger and tapped his temple, “something about you going to the altar to offer a sacrifice, and on the way, you remember that you and your enemy haven’t reconciled yet, so you put down a gift in front of the altar, go and reconcile with your enemy first, and then come back to offer a sacrifice—I can’t recite the original text, but that’s roughly the meaning.”

Yu Luying remained silent.

"Doesn't your scripture also say—"

"Shut up, Master!" Yu Luying said angrily, "We haven't finished talking about our business yet."

"Go ahead and say it, no one's stopping you from saying it," Xiao Yao said casually.

Yu Luying softened her tone and slowly said, "Actually, one of the important reasons why my sister, Shen Jie, pushed you to my side was that she was about to go to the United States to study. She was afraid that you would be alone in China without anyone to take care of you, and she was also afraid that you would be deceived by bad women, so she wanted me to help accompany you."

Xiao Yao: "..."

Yu Luying continued, "I know this logic is a bit strange, but that's what she told me that day. Now she can't go to the US, and she can't go anywhere else. She can only be with you every day, so she must have changed her mind and wants to have you all to herself. Moreover, even from my perspective, from a girl's perspective, Shen Jie has given up so much for you, much more than that. Shouldn't you be devoted to her by now?"

“No,” Xiao Yao said, “You keep saying you treat her like an enemy, but in the end you’re still thinking of her.”

“…” Yu Luying said, “Even though we’ve had such a bad falling out, she didn’t tell you to dump me right now, did she?”

Xiao Yao: "..."

"Really?" A barely perceptible hint of nervousness appeared on Yu Luying's face.

"Not yet," Xiao Yao told Yu Luying. "It suddenly occurred to me that Shen Jie's inability to leave must have been a big blow to you too. I could have stayed with you for eight years—"

“Don’t be so self-righteous,” Yu Luying said, her expression unreadable, neither shy nor angry. “Who wants to play house with you and waste eight years of their youth on you?”

Xiao Yao knew she was just being stubborn, so he scratched the back of his head and said, "Sigh."

“I know very well,” Yu Luying said somewhat sadly, “If it really comes down to making a choice right away, a choice between two options, given the current situation, you definitely won’t choose me, not even with a second thought.”

Xiao Yao could only respond with silence.

“You keep saying you care about me,” Yu Luying said sadly, “but we both know in our hearts that I am just a substitute for you.”

Xiao Yao opened his mouth, but before he could make a sound, Yu Luying slapped his hand over his mouth: "Don't rush to refute. It's a fact that you completely ignored me and left me aside during the two days Shen Jie came."

“Even if an important guest comes to the house, a friend coming from afar, we still need to be a little busy,” Xiao Yao forcefully pulled away the jade hand covering her mouth. “Besides, if I remember correctly, I saw her halfway through meeting, and then she ran out to see you, just like now, also by a small river—”

“Then she told me all about her,” Yu Luying continued, “You know that was my mom’s birthday that day? She invited you to her house for dinner, but you didn’t go.”

"You called me that!" Xiao Yao exclaimed in shock, "You never told me it was your mother's birthday! You only said your mother invited me to your house for dinner, and I said we could reschedule for another day. If you had explained things to me clearly—"

"If I explain things clearly to you, you'll go, right? Leave your Shen Jie behind and come celebrate my mom's birthday? Would you?"

Xiao Yao tilted his head and thought for a moment.

"Alright, stop thinking about it, you won't." Yu Luying stood up and strolled leisurely towards the riverbank. Her feet sank into the clear, cool lake water, and her cotton socks, which had just been dried by her body heat, were immediately soaked again: "You won't."

“I…” Xiao Yao said.

"You said you'd come to my house for dinner another day, but since that day, when have you actually come? How long has it been since my mother last saw you?" Yu Luying turned around, her clear eyes calmly fixed on Xiao Yao.

"?!" Xiao Yao exclaimed in astonishment, "Weren't we busy rescuing Shen Jie? We've been trying to find a way to rescue Shen Jie ever since then, and it hasn't even been a few days, has it?"

"Shen Jie, Shen Jie, Shen Jie." Yu Luying repeated the name: "Xiao Yao, can't you realize at all? When you're focused on finding Shen Jie, you completely ignore me."

Xiao Yao: "?!"

“Isn’t that right? Think about it yourself,” Yu Luying said.

Xiao Yao fell into deep thought.

From the moment Shen Jie returned home until after she left, he devoted himself entirely to the final operation to save her. First, he infiltrated the skyscraper alone, then he contacted Liang Yanan, infiltrated the West Suburb Garden, and even Shen Jie's bedroom, all the way to the final group rescue operation...

“During those days, you didn’t even glance at me; your mind was completely focused on that. Not only did you not contact me, but when I contacted you, you would reply very slowly and give me all sorts of perfunctory answers. Once you came to me, I knew there was only one thing going on: to get me to do chores.”

Xiao Yao: "...Hmm."

“I know that saving Shen Jie is the most important thing, and there are priorities. I’m not that unreasonable,” Yu Luying said, softening her tone. “But this feeling of being completely ignored…”

“Yu Luying, listen to me,” Xiao Yao stepped forward and placed his hand on the girl’s shoulder. “If you were the one being kidnapped and Shen Jie was the one next to me, I would also devote myself wholeheartedly to rescuing you. I wouldn’t have much time for her and would order her around to do all sorts of things to save you. By the way, when you were trapped in Teacher Yao’s mirror, that’s what Shen Jie and I did. You can ask her if you don’t believe me.”

"Really?" Yu Luying's expression softened. "I don't believe it."

“You have to believe me,” Xiao Yao said confidently. “Of course, I admit that I did lose my composure and neglect your feelings. I… I will reflect on my actions.”

This wasn't just to appease Yu Luying; Xiao Yao had indeed realized that Yu Luying was right, and he felt he needed to think about it.

Is my affection for her already "unworthy" of my position?

But a person's libido is ultimately limited...

Actually, everything had already been said, but Yu Luying still couldn't help but repeat herself: "Anyway, I just feel like I'm superfluous. From the moment she went missing to the entire rescue process, and even after she was rescued, I felt utterly superfluous. You told me to report to you morning and night, but you gave one of your phones to Shen Jie and the other to Shen Tianyun, without even telling me that you wanted to say good morning to me. And then your daughter ridiculed me again. Is that really necessary?"

Xiao Yao thought to himself, "Didn't I already say that?"

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, it's my fault, I will definitely reflect on it seriously—how about I write you a self-criticism?"

Yu Luying stood still: "No need. Anyway, I think it's best for us to keep our distance and remain friends..."

"Alright~~~ It's starting again. It's getting late, let's hurry home," Xiao Yao coaxed her gently. "Here, let me help you put your shoes on, little Yu Luying~"

Yu Luying was still standing in the water when she twisted her body.

"Can being friends solve the symbiosis problem? If we're friends, won't our various behaviors immediately affect each other? Then I'll respect your opinion." Xiao Yao grabbed Yu Luying's hand and pulled her towards the shore: "Our symbiosis has strengthened recently. I know you just want to communicate your dissatisfaction with me. I've listened to everything, and I will definitely change."

"The symbiosis has been strengthened, isn't that because your relationship has become closer?" Yu Luying asked rhetorically.

Xiao Yao, ignoring the question, continued, "Besides, if you break up with me, how are you going to explain it to your mother? Will you have to pretend to be someone you're not in front of her? Isn't that exhausting? Is it really necessary?"

"How dare you mention my mother?"

"And besides, do I have to put on a show for you? Guess whether I'll act or not?"

"Are you threatening me?" Yu Luying clenched her small fists.

“How could I dare?” Xiao Yao squatted down. “Here, let me put your shoes on for you—it seems like she’s never received this treatment.”

"If you still want to be with me, I need you to do one thing for me." Yu Luying pouted and said, "No bargaining allowed."

"What is it? Tell me." Xiao Yao looked up.