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

"Ah, thank you, Meiyu..."

Xiao Yao said goodbye to Meiyu and followed her directions to the 24-hour convenience store. Since he didn't plan to buy cigarettes, he didn't mention Meiyu again.

He took mosquito coils and a few cans of chilled carbonated drinks. When he paid the bill, he felt it was a bit expensive; the mosquito coils were clearly overpriced, and he regretted not mentioning the jade.

He glanced at the cigarettes on the shelf behind the male clerk on the night shift, and pretended to suddenly remember something, saying, "Oh right, Sister Meiyu asked me to get her a pack of cigarettes."

"Oh." The expression on the night shift male clerk's face, which had previously resembled menstrual irregularities, disappeared, and he became much more friendly. He turned around, took a pack of cigarettes from the shelf, glanced at the mosquito coils Xiao Yao had taken, picked them up, went to the shelf outside the counter, and brought back another type of mosquito coil.

"This works well." He handed the newly arrived mosquito coils to Xiao Yao and then recalculated the bill.

I bought an extra pack of cigarettes and actually saved 5 yuan.

Just as he returned to the bar on the second floor, he heard Shen Jie standing at the bathroom door calling him: "Xiao Yao, come here."

The boy looked in the direction of the sound and saw Shen Jie clutching the trousers she had worn during the day with a look of anger on her face. His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately sensed something was wrong.

Xiao Yao steeled himself and nervously stepped forward: "What's wrong? I bought mosquito coils, the best ones in the store, and I also bought some drinks. Do you want some?"

Shen Jie stretched out her palm—and sure enough, there were two white socks on it.

Although they were called white socks, they were actually quite grayish: one sock inside out, the other inside out, both were dry and wrinkled, and seemed to have shrunk, making them look a bit small. Many parts of the socks were pilled and turned inside out, and Xiao Yao even noticed a small hole that he hadn't seen during the day.

"Whose?" Shen Jie asked him.

Xiao Yao opened his mouth.

Why do I keep making this kind of mistake? Last time it was when Yu Luying saw me carrying Shen Jie's socks, and this time...

He answered in a low voice, with a rather self-righteous air, "Who else could it be..."

"Fine," Shen Jie sneered, "You're not that old, but your tastes are getting increasingly eccentric. And you still say you didn't sneak any food?"

"?" Xiao Yao said, "What are you talking about? Let me explain, okay?"

Xiao Yao began to explain incoherently and at an extremely fast pace.

It turns out that when Xiao Yao was helping Yu Luying put on her shoes by the river, Yu Luying took off her wet socks, wrung them out, and wiped her little feet before putting them into her shoes to avoid getting the inside of her sneakers wet.

These poor little socks, which had been ruined and used as rags, were about to be thrown away by their owner. Xiao Yao couldn't bear it and rescued them, insisting that they could still be worn after washing them. He said he would take them home to wash, and that's how they ended up in his pocket.

Xiao Yao thought to himself, "I didn't expect there to be holes in it. It seems there's no hope of saving it."

“I’ve already told you,” Shen Jie said after listening carefully to his explanation. “Don’t explain. I don’t want to hear it, I don’t want to argue with you, and I don’t want to know what you did outside or what your reasons were—but at least don’t bring back anything you’ve touched.”

Xiao Yao couldn't help but blurt out, "What filthy thing? One minute you're calling me a little bitch, the next you're calling me filthy thing. Can't you show some respect? They've been working tirelessly for you, both inside and outside the palace, to rescue you."

He regretted it as soon as he said it; he acted impulsively, and a fight today is probably inevitable.

Just as she was about to back down, Shen Jie spoke first: "Get anxious? Was I wrong to say these socks were dirty? What do you mean by 'saving me by your side'? If I hadn't gone to save her, she would have already turned to dust in your Teacher Yao's palace."

“So,” Xiao Yao said, “you two have a life-or-death bond, and your sisterly affection is so deep, how can you turn against each other because of a lousy man? You should find a chance to make up quickly.”

Shen Jie slapped the two wads of socks into Xiao Yao's hands: "Let that rotten man wash the dirty stuff himself, I'm not going to wash it for him." After saying that, she picked up Xiao Yao's trousers and went back to the bathroom.

"What are you doing? Washing my clothes?" Xiao Yao peeked out.

"Yes, young master, you saw it all." Shen Jie put both of their clothes into the washing machine while taking out laundry detergent.

"Light-colored clothes and dark-colored clothes should be washed in separate batches," Xiao Yao reminded her.

"I understand," Shen Jie said.

"How do you know how to use a washing machine, Miss?" Xiao Yao walked behind Shen Jie and gently wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Is a washing machine some kind of high-tech thing that I can't learn how to use? It's annoying." Shen Jie poured laundry detergent into the washing machine.

"No, I'm just really touched, really," Xiao Yao said sincerely.

"It's good that you know what's going on," Shen Jie whispered.

He was moved not only by Shen Jie's serious dedication to learning the duties of a "servant," but also by the fact that despite her resentment, she didn't argue or engage in a cold war with him, and even continued to try to fulfill her duties as a "wife." At the same time, he also felt a sense of unease, fearing that the balloon might burst one day and the situation would spiral out of control.

"Go back and light the mosquito coils, go to sleep first, I'll take care of things here." Xiao Yao said, "I'm really sorry about today, I hope you know I didn't mean it, and that you know I love you."

"Alright, alright. Remember to take a shower. I left your underwear over there."

After Shen Jie returned to her room, Xiao Yao washed and hung their clothes to dry in the hallway. He thought about it and then became a little worried about safety, but couldn't find a solution for the time being.

I didn't wash Yu Luying's socks, but after taking a shower and changing her underwear, I carried a plastic basin back to room 202.

The mosquito coils were already lit, and Shen Jie had taken a shower, but she hadn't gone to sleep yet. When she saw Xiao Yao come in, she responded.

"Are there still mosquitoes?" Xiao Yao asked, looking around.

"It seems there aren't any left," Shen Jie told Xiao Yao.

Before Shen Jie could finish speaking, Xiao Yao suddenly felt a pain in his calf. He quickly reached out to swat it, only to find... a flea? A louse? Or something else?

"Is this a flea?" Shen Jie asked, but she hid in a corner and didn't look at the tiny insect in Xiao Yao's hand.

"Probably, I don't know, this stuff is the most annoying. Maybe we should talk to the landlady during the day and ask her to get us a new set of bedding."

"Where would she get new bedding for us? Is she going to replace the well-fed ones with the hungry ones? Stop making a fuss." Shen Jie turned over and went back to sleep.

Xiao Yao reached his hand inside Shen Jie's pajamas and gently scratched her smooth skin with his short nails.

The boy didn't know whether fleas and lice were the same thing or two different things. He had never caught lice before, nor did he know what fleas actually looked like. He just thought of the encounters the protagonist group experienced in the small inn during their journey to Sanlu University in the novel "Fortress Besieged".

How much more lost am I now compared to Fang Hongjian back then?

Well, it's still better this way. At least I have "Miss Shen" and... But where does "Miss Shen's" future lie?

Her predetermined life has gone off track because of me, and I should be responsible for her, but I have no idea how to be responsible or how to take on her future.

She shouldn't be sleeping in a place like this, enduring mosquito bites.

Thinking about this, my heart felt like a floating duckweed, and I couldn't cheer up.

……

For some reason, the image of that girl in fishnet stockings who called herself "Meiyu" suddenly popped into my head.

The name reminded him of "Wang Meiyu," whom Fang Hongjian and his companions encountered on their journey to Sanlu University.

"A little higher, a little to the left, a little to the right, yes, harder, no, a little more to the left..." Shen Jie commanded in a weak voice.

The unpleasant noise from next door had subsided, and the annoying buzzing of mosquitoes had gradually disappeared. Listening to Shen Jie's breathing and the clanging of the freight train passing by on the tracks, Xiao Yao's consciousness slowly began to fade.

Xiao Yao's scratching motions gradually slowed down until he stopped.

Perhaps disturbed by the train, the barking of dogs could be heard from both near and far.

Xiao Yao felt that his body suddenly started to itch.

...This is really terrible.

In his hazy state, he also heard the sharp whistle of a train, a sound that always made him yearn to go to some unknown distance.

I want to go with her... I want to go with them to that unknown, distant place.

Can the two of them ever get back together?

Where will Shen Jie's future lead?

Xiao Yao fell asleep.

When he woke up, it was already daylight—oh no, it was still pitch black, which gave Xiao Yao a sense of unreality regarding the passage of time.

The girl in his arms had vanished. He fumbled around for a while before finally finding his phone; it was already past 2 PM.

Using his phone's flashlight, Xiao Yao found the light switch and turned it on. He was then genuinely startled by the Syrian war-damaged interior environment.

"Is she... really that bad?" Xiao Yao sat cross-legged on the bed, muttering to himself.

This girl tends to go to extremes when doing things. How much does this little hotel cost per day?

Walking down the long corridor, Xiao Yao immediately saw Shen Jie sitting at the bar, wearing a tank top and slippers, her bare legs dangling from the bar, holding a pen and scribbling on two sheets of paper.

"Who are you writing to?" Xiao Yao asked casually.

“Other men,” Shen Jie replied without looking up.

Before Xiao Yao could speak again, a burst of cheerful girlish laughter came from the side.

The boy then realized that the other person sitting at the bar with his back to him, a woman with messy long hair, wearing a tank top and bare legs, looked like Meiyu.

“Beautiful jade…?” Xiao Yao asked hesitantly.

"Hi." Meiyu turned around, yawning and rubbing her eyes as she greeted him.

Xiao Yao suddenly remembered the cigarettes he bought yesterday, and quickly took them out and handed them over: "Thanks for yesterday."

"Oh, how did you get to know Meiyu? You even know what kind of cigarettes she smokes?" Shen Jie looked up when Meiyu generously accepted the cigarette. "He's the kind of person who, no matter where he goes, always tries to befriend young girls first."

“That shows he’s good at interpersonal relationships and has a lot of charm,” Meiyu said with a smile. “In your Shanghai dialect, we would call it a good gimmick.”

Xiao Yao scratched his head and said, "Forget it, I'm good at creating buzz—by the way, I was just about to ask you that question, how did you get to know Meiyu too?"

The boy didn't get the answer he wanted; the two girls just looked at each other and giggled together.

"Damn it, what's so funny?" Xiao Yao thought with dissatisfaction.

Xiao Yao was already used to Shen Jie's adaptability.

He was not opposed to it, nor did he intend to interfere with Shen Jie making new friends.

In fact, his first impression of Meiyu herself wasn't bad, but when he thought about her special professional identity, it wasn't that he looked down on her... yes, he did look down on her and didn't want Shen Jie to have too much contact with women who worked in this profession.