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

The convenience store owner said, "Young man, would you like another bottle?"

Zhang Zhengkai turned back and walked deeper into the alley, raised his right hand, waved to the proprietress with the back of his hand, leaving behind only a dashing and unrestrained silhouette.

"Unrestrained my foot!" Zhang Zhengkai knew in his heart that he was trapped by his own obsession.

The boy put the headphones back on the back of his head.

"Do you know what it feels like to miss someone? It's like drinking a glass of ice-cold water, and then, over a very long time, letting each drop condense into a hot tear..."

Zhang Zhengkai walked to an intersection in the alley, turned in with practiced ease, and stood in the shade of a sunshade.

The alleyway where Xiao Yao lives has two entrances.

However, no matter which entrance or exit you take, you will definitely pass through this place.

As long as he doesn't doze off, he definitely won't miss anything.

That's about right.

"Do you know what it feels like to forget someone? It's like appreciating a cruel kind of beauty; and then, in a very soft voice, telling yourself to be strong..."

Zhang Zhengkai listened intently to Jing Gangshan's voice streaming through his headphones, nodding and humming softly, "Do you know~ do you know~ do you know~~~"

Then he suddenly shut his mouth.

If Shen Jie and that other person overhear this, wouldn't it alert them?

Zhang Zhengkai raised his head, his big eyes observing the second-floor window.

The curtains were drawn back, and through the clear glass window you could see... well, you could only see a statue of Jesus that was literally "shelved."

This is Zhang Zhengkai's fourth visit. The last time the curtains were drawn, and the time before that they were open.

All indications suggest that the two of them live here, or at least that this place is inhabited.

The boy let out a long sigh.

"Do you know, do you know, do you know the taste of loneliness? Loneliness is because you miss someone..."

Zhang Zhengkai took off his headphones in frustration and then turned off his Walkman.

A couple of days ago, I went to the Xiahai Temple to calm my mind and met a master whose Dharma name was "Shihui". I gave him a few words of advice.

The master said that there are eight sufferings in life, namely, "birth, old age, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, hatred that lasts too long, not getting what you want, and being with those you hate".

Having suddenly fallen victim to the dual sufferings of "separation from loved ones" and "unfulfilled desires," I must say, the pain is unbearable.

Following the master's advice, Zhang Zhengkai began to imagine what Shen Jie would look like a hundred years from now.

No matter how beautiful or charming a woman is, after a hundred years, she will be nothing more than a skeleton.

Zhang Zhengkai closed his eyes, deeply imagining what Shen Jie would look like a hundred years from now. On the canvas of his mind, a bleak image appeared: a withered skeleton, the white bones clearly visible, arranged neatly like ancient teeth. Her once full face had faded away, leaving only the remnants of skin on her skull, pale and shriveled.

Shen Jie's long hair, too, faded under the ravages of time, turning into dust in the wind. The eye sockets beneath her skull, once bright and piercing, are now empty and lifeless. A century of vicissitudes has stripped her of all her beauty and vitality, leaving only a heartless skeleton, as if silently telling the story of life's fragility and brevity.

Zhang Zhengkai deeply felt the fragility and impermanence of life. The master's words about "not getting what you want" and "being separated from loved ones" were etched even more profoundly into his heart at this moment. He silently prayed that Shen Jie could cherish her time in this life and leave no regrets, because after a hundred years, everything would become the past, leaving only a lifeless skeleton.

……

Even if she turns into bones, she's still adorable.

"Damn, I'm hopeless," Zhang Zhengkai thought.

To break free from attachment to self...

A short, short-haired girl strolled leisurely across the intersection of the alleyways, and Zhang Zhengkai's heart jumped into his throat.

After finally seeing the girl's face clearly, he was half disappointed and half relieved, and retreated back under the awning.

Thinking back to our first meeting, it doesn't feel like it was that long ago; it feels like it was just yesterday.

Zhang Zhengkai recalled that dance party; it was on a night when the lights were just coming on.

Well, it was a high-society ball.

This could be considered their first encounter. Was it really an encounter? A first meeting, whatever.

I was sitting in a corner of the ballroom, drinking a glass of 82 Sprite, watching her dance alone in the center of the dance floor.

She looked like a lonely musical note with her eyes closed.

In Zhang Zhengkai's imagination, he was on an empty street, counting her disordered footsteps...

A group of boys and girls ran past Zhang Zhengkai, laughing and making a ruckus, interrupting his daydream.

It's so annoying.

One of the little girls gave him a wary and strange look, as if he were looking at a bad guy.

"I'm not a bad person," Zhang Zhengkai thought.

He gave the little girl a warm smile, but she immediately turned and ran away.

Ugh, really.

In short, what we're talking about is that feeling of falling in love with someone for the first time, that innocent and budding excitement. Even now, when we recall it, we can still feel it vividly, as if it were right before our eyes. We can feel that warm glow, and it makes us smile involuntarily.

Thinking back to his own, or rather, her, current situation, Zhang Zhengkai's lips drooped again.

Sadness flows like a river.

A thin, bespectacled old man rode past Zhang Zhengkai on a dilapidated bicycle, the wheels hitting the raised stone slabs and making a sound.

Zhang Zhengkai just couldn't understand Shen Jie's choice.

In terms of looks, she was much prettier than Xiao Yao; in terms of figure... she still had great potential; in terms of family background, there was not much to say; and in terms of talent and humor, she was far ahead.

In short, aside from being a bit taller and older, Xiao Yao has no advantage over me in any way.

What is it about him that makes Xiao Shenjie so devoted to him, and not just a casual relationship, but someone who is willing to turn against her father, run away from home, and live in his house?

His eyes are blind! His brain is full of West Lake water!

Why West Lake? Never mind, it's not important.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhengkai couldn't help but feel resentment towards his father and Shen Hongsheng, especially Shen Hongsheng.

Shen Hongsheng actually gave up like that, which Zhang Zhengkai did not expect.

He didn't give up on the marriage, but rather... his daughter?

They knew perfectly well where their daughter was, but they didn't send anyone to look for her.

They even said things like, "If it's going to rain, it's going to rain; if a daughter wants to get married, let her be."

Friend, please help me out. Is this how you act as a father?

In fact, when Zhang Zhengkai first learned that Shen Jie had gone to the Dongqi Summer Camp under an assumed name, he immediately decided to go and arrest her.

As a result, he was locked in the house by his own father.

The father even threatened to break his own legs if the girl from the Shen family went to see her again.

Since both sets of parents have this attitude, the marriage is obviously off the table.

Zhang Zhengkai has lost his last shred of "legitimacy".

However, to be fair, her father had already done everything he could for her.

How many fathers in the world would push for such a grand marriage just to fulfill the childish wish of their son, a middle school student?

Zhang Zhengkai knew that he had no reason to blame his father anymore.

The only thing to blame is Shen Jie's foolishness and willfulness; after all, she is still young.

And then there's Xiao Yao.

Zhang Zhengkai was not a saint; he could not suppress his hatred.

As the ancients said, the hatred of killing one's father and the resentment of taking one's wife are nothing less than this.

The hatred of having one's wife stolen is considered a crime on par with the hatred of killing one's father.

But powerless hatred solves nothing.

Two boys who looked like high school students, wearing tank tops and sweating profusely with basketballs tucked under their armpits, walked past me.

Calm down, be patient, and think carefully about how things gradually developed into this way.

At first, although Shen Jie politely rejected his confession, she was still polite, friendly and patient with him.

Later, perhaps there was something wrong with my approach to pursuing her; I was being a bit too clingy. The other person could sense it and became noticeably impatient.

But overall, they were always very polite to me and never showed any hostility.

However, because the situation remained stagnant, Zhang Zhengkai switched to another track.

When she had just urged her father to arrange a marriage with the Shen family, according to Shen Hongsheng's feedback, his daughter was not very opposed to it.

In Shen Hongsheng's own words, Shen Jie was a person who "understands the bigger picture" and "knows her place."

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Shen Hongsheng was exaggerating or lying.

However, after this matter was informally put on the agenda, Shen Jie's attitude towards him did not worsen; on the contrary, it subtly improved.

Zhang Zhengkai was a little unsure whether this was just a man's illusion, but he was certain that she hadn't gone astray.

When did her attitude make a complete 360° turn?