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

Looking at her profile, Xiao Yao suddenly realized that she was actually still a child. Although she was very pretty and cute, and always presented herself as strong and mature, her short, small body and childlike face revealed the fact that "she was a child who evoked pity."

Xiao Yao thought, "I really want to protect her for the rest of my life."

Shen Jie knew he was watching her, but she ignored him completely, focusing on eating her noodles and occasionally tapping her phone. Her fierce roommate also noticed him watching her and gave Xiao Yao a warning look.

Xiao Yao suddenly found it very interesting, realizing that he was enjoying the role-playing fun of being a "one-sided lover" or a "sr" – after all, it was a state he was very familiar with, and the thought of being able to secretly meet with Shen Jie on the beach at night filled him with an indescribable sense of happiness and the novel and exciting feeling of playing dumb to deceive others.

We're an old married couple, we need to find some romance... wait, what do you mean, an old married couple? We've only known each other for one, two, or even three months, not even three months yet, we're still in the honeymoon phase!

"Hmph!"

Xiao Yao heard a somewhat deliberate cough and looked in the direction of the sound. He saw Yu Luying and Zhou Qi sitting together—the latter sitting to the left of the former, while the former pulled out the chair to the right of Xiao Yao.

I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush, Little Apple.

Xiao Yao carried the plate of food towards her.

I know that we're also in the honeymoon phase.

Whether or not Yu Luying caught this thought, a blush quickly spread across the girl's face.

Suddenly, Xiao Yao stopped.

Yu Baolu's words were like a discordant note suddenly emitted by a piano, striking his heart heavily.

The thought that getting too close to Yu Luying would damage her reputation made Xiao Yao want to take a plate and find some ribbonfish to eat together.

Of course, this was just a fleeting thought. Soon, Xiao Yao continued walking with a beaming smile and sat down next to Yu Luying.

Yu Luying had changed into a pure black cello performance dress, wearing white socks and Crocs. The white socks looked somewhat grayish, making Xiao Yao suspect that she hadn't changed them at all, but it also seemed like she had.

"Didn't you say you were going to perform the cello on stage?" Xiao Yao peeled half of the shrimp shell and took a bite, but Yu Luying slapped his hand away.

“Oh yes, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.” Xiao Yao put down the shrimp and drew a vertical and a horizontal line on his chest: “Lord, bless us and the food you have given us, and we thank you for all that you have given us. Glory be to the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

Just as Xiao Yao was muttering to himself, Yu Luying had already placed all the shrimp from Xiao Yao's plate in front of her, so Xiao Yao had no choice but to start eating from the meat.

"Didn't you say you were going to perform the cello on stage?" Xiao Yao asked again.

“Yu Luying finished her performance a long time ago, and you’re only just arriving late,” Zhou Qi replied on Yu Luying’s behalf.

"That's such a pity," Xiao Yao said sincerely while enjoying his meal. "I was really looking forward to it—I told you before, Yu Luying, I only started liking you because of your cello performance at the school anniversary celebration—"

"Eat your shrimp." Yu Luying peeled a shrimp and, before even dipping it in vinegar, tossed it into Xiao Yao's mouth: "Our classmate is still here, what are you saying?"

Only after feeding her did she realize that this action was even more embarrassing, so she lowered her head and gently tapped the table twice with her little fist.

"What's the big deal?" Xiao Yao chewed on the shrimp in his mouth and said without thinking, "Zhou Qi isn't some outsider—"

He only got halfway through his sentence before realizing that his relationship with Zhou Qi was neither "close" nor "good," but rather complicated and hard to explain. So he swallowed the rest of his sentence along with the shrimp.

As they were talking, Yu Luying had already skillfully peeled a second large shrimp, poured a vinegar dish for Xiao Yao, soaked the shrimp in the vinegar, and placed it in front of him.

"I really envy you two." Zhou Qi expressed his sincere envy upon seeing this scene.

“There’s nothing to regret,” Yu Luying said while peeling shrimp. “If you want to see me play the cello, I’ll take the cello out later and play it for you alone.”

"Great!" Xiao Yao was overjoyed: "Could you help me borrow a guitar from the hotel or the church? I'll take it with me."

"Okay, let me ask for you." Yu Luying tossed another large shrimp into the vinegar dish.

She peeled one shrimp, and Xiao Yao ate one. If he ate a little slower, he couldn't keep up with her peeling speed. As a result, the vinegar dish in front of Xiao Yao soon had several peeled shrimp piled up, while on the table in front of Yu Luying, there was a large pile of shrimp shells.

As Xiao Yao ate the peeled shrimp, he felt happy and temporarily put aside the unpleasantness brought by Yu Baolu. He then began to hum along softly to Lu Ziya's piano music.

"The most beautiful blessing in this life is to know the Lord Iesu, the most beautiful blessing in this life, ahhh! It is—"

"Sing first, then eat!" Yu Luying gently tapped Xiao Yao's head with her chopsticks. "No, eat first, then sing."

Just then, Xiao Yao suddenly felt a chilling wind of unknown origin.

The gaze seemed unfriendly.

The boy looked up and gazed toward the piano, his eyes meeting Xu Qingwei's.

Xu Qingwei glanced coldly at the shrimp in his vinegar dish, then turned her face back to look at her phone.

Chapter 287 Waltz Under the Stars

2023-08-06

*This chapter is also known as "Dusurie and Kanu Dancing".

After dinner, Xiao Yao immediately wanted to take the girls to the beach to see the stars, as planned, and also to tell her about the "Meiyu Group". However, Yu Luying said she wanted to participate in some Taize event first.

What's Taize? It seems Shen Jie also said she wanted to go with her roommate.

Then you guys are Thai.

Xiao Yao originally wanted to talk to Brother Bo about Yu Baolu, but after inquiring, he learned that "Taize" was actually being managed by the old man Yu Bo. He was also a bit tired, so he decided to go back to 1503 to take a nap.

“No way, you come to summer camp and you don’t participate in any of the activities. All you do is freeload, eat, drink, play, and sleep!” Yu Luying said, trying to drag him to participate.

Xiao Yao had no choice but to comply.

The large room where the Taize prayers were held was dark, carpeted, and required you to take off your shoes before entering; it was packed with people.

The faint smell of stinky feet permeating the air stirred up Xiao Yao's nostalgia, reminding him somewhat of his computer classes in elementary school.

In the darkness, each person held a small candle in their hand. The combined candlelight provided light for the room and made each person's face half-lit and half-hidden in shadow.

At the very front of the room stood a large Byzantine-style statue of the Virgin Mary, next to which was a similarly Byzantine-style statue of Iesu. Xiao Yao quite liked this style.

"Praise the Lord, for He is good; praise the Lord, Alleluia..."

Holding the small candle that had been distributed to him, Xiao Yao shielded the flickering flame with one hand as he followed Yu Luying and Zhou Qi through the crowd sitting on the ground. He then joined them in sitting cross-legged in an open space.

He didn't really like the cryptic atmosphere and gave up trying to find Xu Qingwei in the crowd. Not knowing what to do, he just sang along for a few rounds without really understanding what was going on, and became increasingly drowsy.

"Praise my Lord! Praise my Lord! Alleluia, all the world and all the peoples..."

The same melody and the same two lines of lyrics were sung monotonously over and over, creating an excellent hypnotic effect. Soon, Xiao Yao lowered his head and stopped moving.

When he woke up, the building was brightly lit and deserted—the event was over. Xiao Yao felt refreshed and even walking felt lighter when he stood up.

"I slept so well. I feel more refreshed than when I slept in a hotel bed. It's so relaxing," Xiao Yao thought.

Checking his phone, Xiao Yao met up with Yu Luying, Daiyu, and Zhou Qi at the front entrance of the Sheng'ai Hotel.

Honestly, I said I was going to take Yu Luying to the beach to see the stars, why did these two third wheels insist on coming along?

“We also want to see the stars,” Zhou Qi chuckled. “We’ll leave as soon as we find a place, and we won’t cause you any trouble.”

"It's okay, we can all watch it together," Yu Luying said, though her words didn't reflect her true feelings.

Please, don't be polite with them in a place like this. What if someone takes it seriously?

There were many stars in the sky, and the four of them searched for a suitable observation spot together. Gradually, they wandered further and further away from the main path and ended up on a small path in a field.

The path was lined with straw that was about the size of a person, and on a dark and windy night, it was rather frightening.

“Brother Yao, you were snoring loudly when you were doing Taize,” said Daiyu.

"No way," Xiao Yao said somewhat awkwardly, "I didn't even know I snore when I sleep."

“They hit,” said the ribbonfish, “and they hit it really loudly. You can ask them if you don’t believe me.”

Zhou Qi tried to smooth things over for Xiao Yao, saying, "Xiao Yao is probably just tired from traveling today, right?"

“Hmm,” Yu Luying replied absentmindedly, “I know that Xiao Yao doesn’t snore when he sleeps.”

After saying that, he noticed the three of them staring at him with strange expressions, so he said, "What's wrong—oh dear!"

It was only then that she belatedly realized that these words were indirectly telling everyone that she and Xiao Yao had slept together.

"Oh no, that's not it!" Yu Luying froze instantly, as if struck by lightning, stamping her feet repeatedly, wishing she could swallow her tongue whole: "No, that's not what I meant!"

The ribbonfish quickly replied, "We all know you didn't mean that."

He tried to smooth things over, but he couldn't help but laugh, so he covered his mouth, turned his face away, and laughed at the tall reeds.

Xiao Yao kicked out, but not very hard, and landed on the ribbonfish's butt.

Yu Luying finally figured out how to explain: "The reason I know is that Xiao Yao usually sleeps on his desk in class and never snores!"

“Yes, yes, we all understand,” said the ribbonfish. “Yingying, don’t explain anymore. Explaining is just covering up. There are no outsiders here.”

"Shut up, you motherfucker," Xiao Yao kicked the fish's butt again, this time with force: "You dare call Yingying that? -- Take it back, take it back, she didn't say anything, did you hear anything just now?"

"I didn't hear you," the ribbonfish quickly replied.

Zhou Qi said, "There was only the sound of the wind through the reeds."

"Ugh, this is so annoying," Yu Luying said, both embarrassed and scratching herself, stomping her foot. "Are we not going to find another place to look at the stars?"

"Keep looking, keep looking, and keep going."

The four continued on their journey. To ease Yu Luying's embarrassment, Xiao Yao took the initiative to start a conversation: "By the way, Zhou Qi, why are you here?"

"What kind of question is that?" Zhou Qi turned around, put his hands behind his back, and walked backwards. "Why can't I be here? Oh, so you guys are allowed to come and have fun?"

“No, that’s not what I meant,” Xiao Yao waved his hand and said, “What I meant was, we’ve been classmates for a year, and I’ve never heard of you or your family being religious or having any connection with the church.”

"And what about you two?" Zhou Qi looked at Xiao Yao and Daiyu and said, "When I was in the hospital, I was very weak, both physically and spiritually."

Xiao Yao and Yu Luying recalled Zhou Qi's past experiences, and both felt a pang of sadness. They both thought that after Zhou Qi was hospitalized following the destruction of Teacher Yao's pedestal, they had completely forgotten about her, which was... not good.