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

When the two girls returned, an awkward atmosphere had already filled the three of them.

Silence filled the room; no one knew what to say, and everyone wore expressions of embarrassment and confusion.

When Yu Luying returned, she had already taken off her socks and trousers. She jumped onto the bed like lightning, darted under the blanket, and disappeared from Xiao Yao's sight. Shen Jie, on the other hand, took off her T-shirt and used a wet wipe to clean below her collarbone.

Xiao Yao coughed twice, breaking the silence: "Um, shall we go to sleep?"

"Hmm." Shen Jie said gently, "We have to get up early to eat sesame cakes this morning, otherwise we really won't have another chance."

"Haha, yeah." Xiao Yao chuckled twice. "Pancake."

Yu Luying didn't speak, biting her lower lip tightly, her face filled with intense shame and unease.

She didn't lie down next to Xiao Yao anymore, but instead slept with Shen Jie, pushing Xiao Yao to the side.

Little Apple was covered in sweat, her hair, damp with sweat, clung limply to her forehead, her body was weak and powerless, and her heart was still pounding violently.

The girl felt confused and helpless, unsure how to deal with this awkward situation.

Shen Jie held Yu Luying in her arms and whispered something gently in her ear, as if to comfort her. Every now and then, she would take out a new wet wipe and wipe her forehead or other parts of her body.

"Alright, time for bed," Shen Jie announced. "That concludes our dare last time. From now on, no one will..."

"I...I'll go turn off the TV!" Yu Luying covered her ears.

Xiao Yao got out of bed, turned off the black and white TV, and then turned off the light.

Darkness enveloped the entire room.

Xiao Yao hoped nothing bad would happen.

"et ne nos inducas in tentationem" is the second line of the Lord's Prayer, meaning "Do not lead us into temptation," or "Do not lead us into despair."

Lord, I am a sinner—no, I am a born man.

“It’s not just your responsibility.” Yu Luying’s voice rang out from the bottom of her heart.

Xiao Yao was overjoyed: "You're not angry with me anymore?"

The only response he received was deathly silence.

Xiao Yao turned around and hugged Shen Jie, while Yu Luying hugged her from the other side.

Xiao Yao felt twice as much Shen Jie.

"Go to sleep, don't overthink it," Shen Jie said. "Weren't we supposed to have a secret meeting with a big shot from Brother Bo's organization this morning?"

"Mm," Xiao Yao said.

"Oh, okay, okay," Shen Jie said, as if she were speaking to Yu Luying.

“No matter what happens, we will always be good partners, won’t we?” Shen Jie said.

"Yes," Xiao Yao quickly replied.

After a long while, he finally heard a soft, almost inaudible "hmm" from Little Apple, so soft that he wondered if he was hallucinating or if he was simply hearing Yu Luying's inner thoughts.

Chapter 331 It's my fault, I was too greedy.

2023-09-21

Just as dawn was breaking, Xiao Yao was dragged out of bed by Shen Jie.

The girl was still wearing the same shoes, socks, and trousers as yesterday; she had simply changed into a yellow T-shirt.

"What are you doing?" Xiao Yao asked sleepily.

"Let's go eat some sesame seed cakes," Shen Jie whispered in Xiao Yao's ear.

"It's so early, they're probably still lighting the stove," Xiao Yao said.

The two called Yu Luying several times but she didn't respond. They guessed she was deliberately staying in bed, so they sent her a text message saying they would be back in a bit, and then tiptoed out the door.

Before leaving, Xiao Yao took the frozen orange juice drink that he had prepared yesterday from the refrigerator.

After hailing a rickshaw at the entrance of the Party School, Shen Jie said after settling in, "Looks like Silly Girl is going to ignore you for a while."

“I’m used to it,” Xiao Yao shrugged. “He acts like a middle school student, so pretentious.”

“You’re only about a hundred days older than middle school students, right? Sometimes I feel like it’s because I’ve been too good to you,” Shen Jie said meaningfully, “that’s why you can’t understand girls’ feelings.”

How come it's already been over a hundred days?

"No, no, I understand," Xiao Yao quickly said. "I do bear some responsibility for what happened last night, but I feel that ignoring people all the time isn't a solution."

“Yesterday was the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, a big holiday, and you saw how much she valued it—but then you pulled this stunt at the last minute, she definitely can’t accept it, and she’s definitely starting to doubt herself,” Shen Jie said.

“Now that you mention it, I remember everything,” Xiao Yao accused half-jokingly. “You were the one who started it last night, weren’t you? The culprit.”

"Yes, yes, I repent. It was my fault. I was too generous." Shen Jie said calmly.

“Uh, that’s not what I meant,” Xiao Yao said.

“Brother Bo told me something that left a deep impression on me,” Shen Jie said. “When God questioned Adam about why he ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam’s first reaction was to shift the blame to Eve.”

"So, it really was Adam's wife who tricked him into eating it, wasn't it?" Xiao Yao asked cautiously.

"So Adam shouldn't have taken responsibility?" Shen Jie said, "You keep saying that the Bible says men should be the leaders and wives should obey their husbands, but what about the responsibilities the Bible gives to men? What about men's exemplary leadership? What about their ability to resist corruption? Where are the father's broad shoulders?"

“Well said!” Xiao Yao quickly said, “It is necessary to make a deep repentance.”

“We are husband and wife,” Shen Jie said. “Being expelled from Eden together is what we deserve, but involving Little Apple is our sin.”

“The Sparrow Clan,” Xiao Yao said.

"You dared to be so insolent in front of me last night," Shen Jie said, narrowing her eyes and feigning annoyance.

"Uh..." Xiao Yao had no choice but to say, "It was my audacity that led me to commit this heinous crime, I deserve to die."

"I just think it would be too pitiful if we both got angry and ignored you," Shen Jie continued, half-jokingly, a smile playing on her lips. "You should know better."

"You know what's good for you, you know what's good for you." Xiao Yao took the opportunity to back down, gently patting Shen Jie's shoulder and neck.

As they spoke, they arrived at the sesame seed cake shop, which was packed with people. The temperature wasn't very high this morning, so Xiao Yao found Shen Jie a comfortable spot in front of the electric fan and brought out some iced drinks that he had prepared beforehand, serving her attentively.

Shen Jie ate quite happily, but she didn't eat much of the pancake. She did drink two or three bowls of the local tofu pudding, which meant she didn't drink much of the beverage that Xiao Yao had prepared in advance.

It turns out that the local sesame seed cake shops only sell tofu pudding in the morning and not in the afternoon.

Shen Jie told Xiao Yao that the sesame seed cakes were delicious and that she liked them very much, but Xiao Yao suspected that she was just trying to make him happy. However…

But let's leave it at that.

Yu Luying called, saying it was getting late and she was afraid she wouldn't make it in time, so she had already gone to the long-distance bus station and asked Shen Jie to meet her there.

"Damn, you're just talking to yourself. We still have luggage left at home," Xiao Yao said.

“Yu Luying said she took it all with her—never mind, let’s not worry about it,” Shen Jie thought for a moment and said, “Anyway, it’s at home, not in a hotel, so it won’t get lost. Time is really tight, so let’s hurry up and get there first.”

When they arrived at the bus station and met up with Yu Luying again, Xiao Yao found that Xiao Pingguo's attitude towards him was not particularly cold, which was better than he had imagined.

Although her gaze was evasive and her expression was ambiguous, she always clung to Shen Jie's back (unfortunately, she was taller than Shen Jie and couldn't hide), avoiding direct contact with Xiao Yao—but at least when he spoke to her, she still responded properly.

Good morning, Yingying.

"Waaaaah! Good morning!"

"...Did you sleep well last night?"

"...It's alright!...It's okay, so-so, alright."

“Uh,” Xiao Yao said.

Shen Jie gently tapped the back of Xiao Yao's hand.

Yu Luying wore a long dress today, and the same sneakers she wore yesterday, along with black ankle socks—I don't know if they were the same ones as yesterday.

It should be... unlikely, right?

On the bus to Dongqi, Shen Jie and Yu Luying sat together as usual, while Xiao Yao was sent to the back to find a seat and take a nap.

After getting off the bus, on the way to the Saint Love Hotel, Shen Jie showed Xiao Yao the MMS message sent by Daiyu on her phone.

Those are photos of Daiyu, Chen Lu, Long Ge, and a group of others being baptized yesterday at the Sacred Heart Church across from the school, but Bo Ge is not in them.

"That's great," Xiao Yao said casually.

“Daiyu complained to me,” Shen Jie told Xiao Yao, “that the few of us who didn’t attend the ceremony weren’t true brothers.”

"It's really not good." Xiao Yao nodded. "Hey, Little Apple..."

"Whoa!" Yu Luying jumped back instinctively like a startled deer.

"How annoying," Xiao Yao thought to himself.

It makes it seem like I really did something to you.

"Does that level mean nothing to you?" Xiao Yao asked Yu Luying when he heard her thinking this.

No, I… Xiao Yao thought.

Yu Luying covered her ears with both hands, as if that would prevent Xiao Yao's thoughts from being transmitted.

When the three children arrived at the entrance of the Saint Love Hotel, it was already past 9:30.

Xiao Yao, who was more than forty minutes late, was prepared to be scolded by Brother Bo, but Brother Bo didn't say anything and just told the three little ones to get in the car.