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

The grilled blackfish was served.

The grilled blackfish has an enticing golden-yellow exterior, with crispy skin that shimmers slightly in the sun. The inside of the fish is pure white and delicate, exuding an irresistible freshness.

A rich aroma of spices filled the air, making one's mouth water. The grilled blackfish was evenly coated with lemon, garlic, and fresh herbs, which permeated the fish during grilling, releasing an irresistible fragrance.

Let's pray first.

Every bite of grilled blackfish is a delightful sensory experience.

The outer skin of the fish is roasted until crispy, with a slight caramel sweetness. One bite releases a burst of juice from the inside, filling your mouth with the fresh, delicious flavor of freshwater fish. The freshness of herbs and lemon intertwines with the intensity of garlic, creating a unique flavor while preserving the original taste of the fish.

This grilled blackfish had a crispy exterior and tender interior, and was also rich in spice flavor. Xiao Yao and Shen Jie both praised it highly and enjoyed it very much.

"Isn't it delicious?" The proprietress of Jinsha Hotel happily wiped her hands on her apron. "If you like it, come and eat here again!"

“Later I told him,” Shen Jie said to Xiao Yao, “Although you can’t understand, I can tell you that I’m doing this for your own good.”

"How pitiful," Xiao Yao commented.

"Who are you calling pitiful?" Shen Jie raised her eyebrows.

“You’re pitiful, you’re pitiful,” Xiao Yao quickly said. “That bastard made you fall, I’ll teach him a lesson sooner or later—I’ll deal with him next time I see him.”

"Forget it, forget it," Shen Jie said. "Don't get yourself into this mess."

At that moment, Xiao Yao's phone started vibrating on the table—it was Yu Luying calling.

"Hello?" Xiao Yao said.

"Hey..." Yu Luying drawled, "You didn't invite me to eat grilled fish, did you?"

"Call, call, call," Xiao Yao said quickly, "We're at the Sands Hotel, come on over."

“Xiao Yao.” Shen Jie lowered her eyelids.

"Hmm?" Xiao Yao put down the phone and asked, "What's wrong?"

“If you dare to betray me,” Shen Jie said, “I’ll have Uncle Johns throw you into the Yellow River.”

"Sink," Xiao Yao said. "It must sink, sink it hard."

Chapter 345 A Symbiotic Distance of Five Meters

2023-10-05

Xiao Yao had once heard a saying: "There are only individuals who betray their class, not those who betray..."

What was it again? I can't remember.

Anyway, Xiao Yao was always sleeping during political class.

In short, this statement means that while it's true that some landlords' foolish sons joined the revolution, they were ultimately a minority.

For example, Xiao Yao now feels a bit sorry for Zhang Zhengkai from the bottom of his heart.

Logically speaking, you harassed my woman and even caused her to fall, so I should treat you as my enemy and find a way to kill you.

But Xiao Yao just couldn't bring herself to hate him.

"Little sister." Xiao Yao reached out with his chopsticks and picked up a large piece of crispy fish skin and fish meat, stuffing it into Shen Jie's bowl.

"What did you call me? It's toxic," Shen Jie said.

“Little sister,” Xiao Yao asked Shen Jie, “If I told you to be nicer to Zhang Zhengkai, would you listen to me?”

"Are you crazy?" Shen Jie replied without hesitation. "Why should I be nice to someone who ruined my family?"

"Your father isn't dead yet," Xiao Yao thought.

Ah, it feels so good to be able to think whatever I want without worrying about having my thoughts overheard.

In the Nobel Prize-winning novel "Quo Vadis," the protagonist Lycia extends a hand of forgiveness and love to Vinicius, the male protagonist who has been relentlessly pursuing her and nearly caused her family's ruin. This gesture leaves Vinicius bewildered and deeply moved, leading him to take the first step towards converting to Christe.

Of course, Xiao Yao still knew the saying, "Advising someone to be generous will get you struck by lightning."

Yu Xiaoyao himself had three reasons for wanting to persuade Shen Jie to be magnanimous.

The first layer was something he absolutely refused to admit to Shen Jie: the feeling of kinship. Zhang Zhengkai reminded him of his past self... and the foolishness that had not completely faded from him to this day.

The second layer is the victor's condescending sympathy and pity for the loser who eats the dust. Xiao Yao believes that if he were a protagonist in a novel, he certainly wouldn't be the decisive type. After all, the other party no longer poses a threat to him and has even provided unexpected assistance multiple times…

I'm actually a pretty good person.

The third layer is his own expectations of Shen Jie.

At first, I was attracted to Shen Jie, mainly because of her beauty and wealth (x).

However, there was also a part of it: Xiao Yao recognized her kindness. That kind of simple and gentle persona, where "my deceased mother taught me from a young age to extend kindness to others."

At least for Xiao Yao, the pigeon-like qualities of a beautiful girl really appealed to him.

Xiao Yao tapped the table lightly with his knuckles, deciding to adopt a more pragmatic approach for the time being.

“I think,” Xiao Yao said slowly, “that the conditions Kai Zi proposed are quite good. They can make you reconcile with your father, which is a real deal. In other words, you get the empty title of a friend.”

"Huh?" Shen Jie said.

"On QQ, it's fine to add him back. As long as you don't chat every day, he said he wouldn't bother you anymore—QQ calls and stuff are just a gesture, just to make him feel better, it's like he wants to leave you with a lingering thought. I'm not talking about that kind of lingering thought—"

"Make up for what? My dad doesn't want me anymore, do you expect me to go back and fawn over him?" Shen Jie retorted, "You're quite magnanimous. Even the Leshan Giant Buddha would have to come down and invite you to sit on it."

“You should say it’s called having Christe’s heart as your own,” Xiao Yao said, pretending to be serious. “To be honest, it has little to do with my magnanimity.” The boy told Shen Jie, “What father really doesn’t want his own child? What father really doesn’t forgive his own child? Don’t you want to reconcile with your family at all? I don’t care. It would be best if you lived in my house for the rest of your life. That would make me the happiest. But I can’t not consider you.”

Shen Jie remained silent.

"So you're finally thinking of me." Then, the girl said with some relief, "But, isn't there a perfect example of a father abandoning his child, silly girl?"

"As for me, as long as you don't spend all your time chatting on your phone with him, or meet up with him alone for meals or movies, I really don't care," Xiao Yao said to himself. "You know what cultural confidence is, right? This has nothing to do with the Leshan Giant Buddha. It's my absolute confidence in myself and my absolute trust in you—this doesn't need much explanation, does it?"

"Hmm..." Shen Jie remained silent.

"No matter what, this person sacrificed himself to save your life, don't you acknowledge that?" Xiao Yao said.

The boy recalled a sentence he had read in a book: "The way he treats the restaurant staff now is the way he will treat you in the future."

In other words, if you treat others so ruthlessly, will you treat me the same way in the future?

"Isn't your use of the simple past tense a bit incorrect?" Shen Jie pointed out.

"Let me say something unpleasant again," Xiao Yao said, "If an ant bites you through a leather boot, do you have to crush it to death? Leave a way out for others, so you can meet again in the future. If you push someone too far, who knows what they might do—why does this smell like gasoline?"

"There's no smell of gasoline at all," Shen Jie whispered. "This ant bit me so badly..."

"Do as you please, it's your own business after all," Xiao Yao said, leaning back strategically. "I was just saying, I don't care."

“Besides, I’ve already told him,” Shen Jie said. “I lied to him and said that we’ve done *that* many times…”

“If a guy likes you, you don’t need to lie to him on purpose; he’ll lie to himself,” Xiao Yao said. “Just tell him that you used those words and tactics to discourage him, and he’ll believe you—he doesn’t know what we’ve actually done. People always believe what they want to believe. Why would he drag you to the hospital for a checkup?”

Upon hearing the words "go to the hospital for a check-up," Shen Jie's face fell.

Xiao Yao realized he shouldn't have brought it up and quickly raised his hands in apology.

Shen Jie lowered her head and didn't say anything more. She just picked up the fish skin from the square bowl, but didn't eat it. She just stirred it with the tip of her chopsticks.

“Even if the Zhang family agrees to annul the engagement, my dad will never forgive my rebelliousness… These are two different things,” Shen Jie said. “He simply can’t do it; he’s just messing with me.”

Xiao Yao sniffed twice: "Really, there's a strong smell of gasoline in this restaurant, can't you smell it?"

Shen Jie sniffed her nose carefully: "Really, there isn't any. You didn't smell the scent that Silly Girl smelled, did you?"

“No way,” Xiao Yao muttered, frowning. “The sense of smell isn’t that sensitive unless you’re deliberately trying to smell it.”

“Like this…” Shen Jie said.

"Otherwise, I'd be smelling your stinky feet every day," Xiao Yao joked. "Wouldn't she have gone crazy by now?"

“That’s true,” Shen Jie said, “—You’re the one with stinky feet!”

"Cat paws, cat meat cushions." Xiao Yao turned and called to the proprietress of the Jinsha Hotel, "Proprietress, why is there such a strong steam..."

Before he could even utter the word "oil," Xiao Yao fell backward, but luckily the back of the sofa caught him.

The boy clenched his teeth, his whole body convulsed, and he foamed at the mouth.

"Oh dear!" The proprietress of the Sands Hotel was greatly alarmed and immediately picked up the phone to dial 120.

Shen Jie stopped her with a gesture, calmly stood up, and took out her own phone to call Yu Luying.

"Beep—beep—beep—beep—beep—beep—beep—"

After a long wait for the notification tone, Yu Luying finally answered the call.

It was a male voice.

"Hello—?" the man said.

"Don't speak, listen to me," Shen Jie said quickly, "How far are you from the Sands Hotel, her original destination?"

“About a kilometer,” the man said anxiously. “The guest had an epileptic seizure, and I’m about to take her to the hospital. Are you her family member?”

“Yes,” Shen Jie said, “Don’t take her to the hospital. Take her to the Sands Hotel immediately, which is the original destination.”

"But..." the man seemed to want to argue.

"No buts!" Shen Jie commanded with an unquestionable queen-like aura, "It's only one kilometer. Get her here right now. I have medicine here. I'll take responsibility for any problems that arise. If you don't get her here, you're responsible!"