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

"Um... do you remember the day I disguised myself as a light bulb repairman and sneaked into your house? It was that policewoman surnamed Liang who helped me," Xiao Yao told Shen Jie.

"What...she's Zhang Zhengkai's father's person, why would she help you?" Shen Jie exclaimed in surprise, "A double agent?"

Xiao Yao actually had similar doubts in his heart, but he didn't say them out loud, and instead pondered them silently.

He didn't understand why Zhang Zhengkai's father would do this. Wouldn't the reasonable thing to do have been to find a reason, such as the need for studying abroad or further education, to take Shen Jie for a full body check-up, and at the same time, a gynecological examination?

As long as the doctor is someone Zhang Zhengkai's father trusts during the examination, is that enough?

It's impossible that he doesn't even have a doctor he trusts.

Furthermore, even if he completely disregarded Shen Jie's feelings, his actions were indeed the simplest, most direct, and convenient—but why did he send a forensic doctor in the first place?

Xiao Yao believed there could only be one explanation: he sent Liang Yanan because she was his confidante, the kind he could trust completely.

Given this, the possibility of Liang Yanan betraying her own side is relatively small.

"Why would she help you? What did you say? No, how did you meet her and get in touch with her?" Shen Jie fired off a barrage of questions.

"Don't rush, don't rush." ​​Xiao Yao held his forehead, more to tell himself not to rush than to tell Shen Jie to rush.

He recounted everything to Shen Jie—from his and Yu Bo's visit to Zhou Qi at the hospital, to their encounter with Liang Yanan, to how he followed her, how they got into a fight, to Yu Bo recognizing them as old classmates and old flames, and all the way back to how, after returning from Dongru, he frantically searched for Shen Jie's address, how Liang Yanan contacted him, claiming to be willing to help, and what conditions she proposed in exchange—

"Wait a minute," Shen Jie couldn't help but interrupt Xiao Yao halfway through: "So you told Yu Bo the secret of the Shadow World without her knowing?"

“How could that be?” Xiao Yao quickly explained, “Father Yu said she could be trusted and authorized me to make this deal with her—after the deal was done, it was Yu Bo herself who contacted her with the information.”

Shen Jie was slightly displeased: "Are you habitually shifting responsibility to others again?"

“Ask Yu Bo yourself!” Xiao Yao stood up abruptly.

Shen Jie clenched her fist and tapped it against her chin: "So now that forensic doctor knows about the Shadow World?"

“If Father Yu hasn’t broken his promise, then I’m afraid so,” Xiao Yao said.

The two were silent for a while, then Xiao Yao sat down again.

Zhang Zhengkai's father's confidant, who would never have appeared earlier or later, suddenly appeared at this moment, approaching Father Yu under the guise of an old classmate, and gaining his trust under the pretext of helping to rescue Shen Jie, in order to obtain information about the Shadow World...

If we take a more conspiratorial approach, was forcing Shen Jie and his son into marriage, and having my father-in-law lock Shen Jie in the house, also a way to lure out the snake?

No, that doesn't quite add up either...

Xiao Yao felt increasingly uneasy and frightened.

"I need to talk to Brother Bo about this," Xiao Yao said.

"..." Shen Jie wanted to say something, but she didn't, and just nodded slightly.

Xiao Yao originally intended to call at dawn, but thinking that there was no time to lose, he immediately took out his phone and called Yu Bo. He called twice but no one answered, so he had to send a text message first, briefly explaining the situation.

At this point, Shen Jie was naturally in no mood for a date. As she stood up, she used her feet to half-float on the wooden deck, carving out a three-bedroom, one-living-room structure: "Hey, where are my shoes? Where did you throw my sandals after you took them off?"

"Oh right, the shoes." Xiao Yao quickly took out the plastic bag containing the pair of Dior leather shoes: "Surprise! The surprise of finding them again!"

"These really are my lost shoes!" Shen Jie held the pair of little leather shoes in her hands, examining them from all angles for a while: "How did you get them out of there?"

"It came out on its own." Xiao Yao recounted how he discovered the shoes and how he secretly smashed the mirror after Gao Sijun left.

Shen Jie hugged her arms and shivered violently.

“Otherwise, why would I text you and Yu Luying?” Xiao Yao explained, “That’s why I told you two to be careful of the mirrors in the room.”

Shen Jie: "Have you told Brother Bo about this?"

Xiao Yao: No, I haven't had time to think about it yet.

Shen Jie: "Tell him right away."

So Xiao Yao sent Yu Bo another text message.

"Let me help you put on your shoes," Xiao Yao said after sending the text message.

"You're still in the mood for this?" Shen Jie finally found the sandal in the corner of the ship's deck. Instead of changing into her leather shoes, she threw them back into the plastic bag, untied the strap of the other sandal, pulled off both of her silk stockings, and put the sandal back on.

The girl, carrying a plastic bag, stood up, put her bag on her back, and stuffed the socks in her hand into Xiao Yao's pants pocket. The latter then casually hooked his arm around the girl's slender waist and lowered his head.

Shen Jie narrowed her eyes slightly and tiptoed lightly.

"Chu mi! ^.<"

It was late at night, and the two waited by the roadside for a long time but couldn't hail a taxi or find a place to rent a tandem bicycle. Walking back was even more impractical, so they had no choice but to ride the three-seater bicycle back.

Fortunately, the car was still there.

It's easy to imagine how heavy the bike is when two people are riding a three-person bike. Xiao Yao was pedaling hard in front, while Shen Jie sat in the middle, pedaling hard to help Xiao Yao share some of the pressure.

After all, it's a rural area with limited streetlight coverage. Many sections of the road were poorly lit, and the trees on both sides of the road swayed in the night wind, creating a ghostly visual effect.

Shen Jie recalled what Xiao Yao had just said about the "person" hiding in the mirror and throwing shoes out. She was scaring herself, and the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became.

She didn't want to tell Xiao Yao, afraid of revealing her weakness again, so she simply let go of the handles, leaned forward, and hugged Xiao Yao's waist tightly.

Although Xiao Yao was also worried, he quite enjoyed spending time alone with Shen Jie on this midsummer night by the sea—can August even be considered midsummer? Oh well, who cares.

Xiao Yao released the dragon head handle on his left, reached back, and gently grasped Shen Jie's left hand, which was resting on his waist, along with the back of her hand.

"Ride your bike carefully!" the girl said. "Watch where you're going! Don't look at me, why are you looking at me!"

“It’s not my fault—who gave you such good looks? Who allowed you to? Who approved you? Did the country allow it?” Xiao Yao said.

"You made a mistake, I'll correct it." Shen Jie went along with him, spouting meaningless drivel: "Tsk, watch your step! There's a car coming!"

Xiao Yao turned back and pedaled hard on his bicycle while humming the tune of "Lightning Troops Marching Forward" through his nose.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang~~~"

"Hey, Gouzi, sing me a song!" Shen Jie said.

“Okay, what do you want to hear?” Xiao Yao said.

"That day in the field, the day the three of us were together, didn't you say you were going to sing 'Starry Night'?" Shen Jie reminded him, "You know, that one from the musical 'Les Misérables'..."

“I can’t sing that now,” Xiao Yao told Shen Jie. “It’s all in English, so I have to look at the lyrics, and I’m not in good breath control while riding my bike.”

"Tch," Shen Jie said, "By the way, I remember Javert was a villain, always persecuting the protagonist. Why do you like him?"

“Little girl, you don’t understand,” Xiao Yao replied casually, “Hey, why don’t you sing for me?”

"What's the rush? I haven't even started practicing the song you requested yet."

“No,” Xiao Yao said, “I’ll just sing the songs your vocal class teaches, and I’ll check on your class’s teaching results.”

“I don’t want to,” Shen Jie said. “You’ll laugh at me again in a minute.”

After Xiao Yao swore he wouldn't laugh at her, Shen Jie cleared her throat: "Ahem, ahem!"

"Clap clap clap clap," Xiao Yao said, clapping his hands.

Singing can definitely help when you're scared walking at night, right? Shen Jie wondered.

"..."

"Sing!" Xiao Yao urged.

"If I could sing a complete song, it would be an expression of gratitude and praise to You. You comforted me in my suffering and gave me wisdom in my moments of confusion. Although I cannot sing a complete song, I still want to express my gratitude to You..."

Xiao Yao held his breath and listened, even slowing down the pace of his pedaling. To be honest, he hadn't heard this song before and couldn't judge how off-key Shen Jie was, but overall, she at least sang the tune, and it wasn't bad.

Shen Jie's voice is naturally clear and pleasant, so as long as she can sing in tune, it won't be too bad—but her vocalization and breath control are still a bit lacking, making her sound a bit like a kindergarten child singing, struggling to catch her breath.

"Skylark, singers, would you sing for me the praises of God's unparalleled beauty? I would listen with my ears, I would resonate with my heart... 'de de de de de de de, de de de de de,' I forgot the rest, I'm not singing anymore."

"Clap clap clap clap," Xiao Yao said, "It sounds nice."

"Really? Are you kidding me?" Shen Jie said happily.

“Really, really,” Xiao Yao said, “It’s just that there’s still a problem with your vocalization. You sing using your diaphragm, not your throat. If you don’t control your breath well, it will be like this, like you’re out of breath…”

"That's because I was riding my bike, okay!" Shen Jie said, feigning anger. "You're so annoying!"

"Overall, it was fantastic!" Xiao Yao quickly pulled back, "Do you know how I felt listening to you sing?"

"How does it feel?" Shen Jie asked.

“I feel like I’ve become that,” Xiao Yao sang the last six words in the same tune Shen Jie had just sung: “The lark in the sky~ I feel so light, even this car doesn’t feel so heavy.”

"Do you know why this car became lighter?" Shen Jie said in a sinister and eerie voice.

"Why?" Xiao Yao asked without any suspicion.

“Look back,” Shen Jie said mysteriously, “there are three people riding it now, how can it not be light?”

"Grandpa!" Xiao Yao felt a chill in his heart, a sharp pain in his ankle, and his body tilted to the left on its own. Then, amidst Shen Jie's screams, he watched helplessly as the asphalt road rushed towards him.

--split line--

Xiao Yao limped into room 1503. Gao Sijun was still awake, tirelessly playing his GBA.

"The hotel staff asked me to tell you that you have to pay for the broken bathroom window." As Gao Sijun spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the small screen.

"Okay, I'll pay, I'll pay, I'll pay," Xiao Yao continued, limping to his bedside. "Do you have any mercurochrome?"

“Oh dear—no, really,” Gao Sijun said. “What’s wrong with you?”

"It's nothing, I just fell pretty hard while riding my bike," Xiao Yao said. "Just a few scrapes."

Gao Sijun suggested that Xiao Yao knock on Doctor Yang's door, but Xiao Yao politely declined.