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

Despite repeated attempts to persuade her to "be more relaxed," the elderly woman wouldn't listen.

Shen Jie was too embarrassed to tell her grandmother, "Xiao Yao and I are already full from eating grilled fish, you can eat by yourself."

So she forced another meal on him.

She was so full that she felt dizzy and sleepy, and kept burping.

No, if this continues, it'll turn into an orange cat...

Even if Xiao Yao doesn't say it, he'll definitely be secretly disgusted.

After that, her soul will be stolen by that silly girl, the White Bone Demon.

Actually, there's no need to make a promise, since they're already in a state of "never to be apart" right now.

Shen Jie was consumed by jealousy.

They're a perfect match, a match made in heaven. What am I, a monster, supposed to do in the middle?

I really want to pack up and go home right now, immediately.

I am just joking.

After helping her grandmother clear the dishes, Shen Jie nestled into Shen Tianyun's warm little nest.

My daughter hasn't come back yet.

I don't believe you'll be back at school late at night.

The mother cat lay on her kitten's bed with her rear end sticking out, holding a magnifying glass and carefully searching for any signs of wrongdoing or clues.

There's nothing else to worry about, but I'm afraid that the parents aren't setting a good example and are leading their children astray.

Shen Jie initially thought of rolling up her daughter's bedsheets and washing them, but she quickly abandoned the idea.

First, she doesn't know how to wash bed sheets.

Secondly, Shen Jie knew what it meant to try to cover up something only to make it more obvious, and what it meant to try to hide something obvious.

There shouldn't be any problem.

There shouldn't be any major problems... right?

Shen Jie put down the magnifying glass and rubbed her sore back.

"Mom, what are you doing?" The sudden girl's voice startled Shen Jie.

"No, no, I didn't do anything!" Shen Jie, feeling guilty, picked up the magnifying glass and hid it behind her back.

"What's that smell in this room?" Shen Tianyun closed the bedroom door, walked to the window, pulled back the curtains, and opened the glass window: "If you're home alone, open the window for me and let some air out."

"Oh! Oh! Okay! I understand!" Shen Jie nodded vigorously.

Wait a minute, between the two of us, who's the mother and who's the son?

"Where is that person?" Shen Tianyun asked casually, her gaze falling on the feet that Shen Jie was sitting on. "What's that on your feet? On your socks?"

"What what is that?" Shen Jie panicked.

“Red, with paint on it? Several spots.” Shen Tianyun said as she moved closer to Shen Jie, startling the latter so much that she knelt on the bed and hid her two hind paws behind her back.

"It's not paint!" Shen Jie shouted. "It's mercurochrome, red ink!"

“Eh—” Shen Tianyun said.

"What's wrong with you, kid?!" Shen Jie suddenly flew into a rage: "Look at the time! Why are you only coming back now? It'll take you a whole day and night to get back to school! Didn't you tell the adults you weren't coming home for dinner? Do you know how long your great-grandmother, maternal grandmother, and paternal grandmother have been waiting for you to eat?"

I didn't wait even a minute.

Recalling this incident, Shen Jie's cheeks are still burning hot, and her small body wrapped in a blanket is twisted into a maggot.

What does "died on the spot" mean?

Shen Tianyun probably still doesn't understand why her stepmother suddenly got so angry with her and scolded her so harshly.

I hope she never understands...

Could she already be suspicious?

Ahhh! No!

After hastily "criticizing and educating" her daughter, Shen Jie hurriedly returned to 2004, quickly took off her dirty socks and threw them into the laundry basket, and then went to chat with Xiao Yao's grandmother.

I watched TV with her, something like "Oriental 110," and chatted with the old lady for about two hours.

This behavior, to a small extent, filled the void of security in the girl's heart.

This is because it reinforces and confirms the official status of "the granddaughter-in-law chosen by her grandmother".

"The church needs him to stay there," Grandma asked. "Then why don't you go with him?"

Why not? Oh, because I have no status or position over there.

"Did he bring any spare underwear or clothes?" Grandma continued, "Do they have towels, toothpaste, and a toothbrush over there?"

Grandma, being an elderly person, would doze off after the news broadcast and get up at 4 a.m. to do her morning exercise—she stayed up with Shen Jie until after 10 a.m. before finally giving up and kicking her out.

That said, Xiao Yao's performance tonight was quite good.

Perhaps afraid that she would overthink things, he kept texting and chatting with her all night, showing concern and care.

Guess you know the truth.

After 10 o'clock, Xiao Yao simply made a phone call, and the two of them lingered on the phone until 11:30.

Shen Jie used to be annoyed by Xiao Yao's clinginess, but now she only feels that he is not clingy enough.

"How did I become like this..." Shen Jie lamented.

That wasn't me.

After this epic memoir and a jumble of thoughts, Shen Jie finally drifted off to sleep.

At night, the room was plunged into deep darkness, with only faint moonlight filtering through the curtains, creating soft, silvery patches of light.

Shen Jie, lying in bed, suddenly woke up from her dream, her heart pounding.

Her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness and she began to make out the outline of the room.

A strange, dark figure stood prominently at the head of her bed.

She stood there, silently watching her, as if she were an uninvited guest, a ghost that had descended in the dead of night.

The outline of the shadowy figure was indistinct; only the figure of an old woman could be seen, with a hunched back and long white hair that seemed to drift around like mist.

Shen Jie felt a chill run down her spine as her heart pounded wildly in her chest, and her throat felt as if it were blocked, preventing her from making a sound.

She tried to move, but her body seemed to be bound by an invisible force, unable to move.

The girl's eyes were fixed on the dark figure, trying to find a clue, trying to know what exactly was on her bedside table.

The silence in the room was broken only by Shen Jie's breathing, while the dark figure remained standing still.

At this moment, every nerve in Shen Jie's body was on edge.

The shadowy figure reached out its hands toward her neck.

--split line--

Xiao Yao suddenly woke up, feeling a little flustered.

A quiet atmosphere permeated the room, with only the faint moonlight spilling onto the floor and illuminating a corner of the simple bedroom.

Facing Xiao Yao's bedside was a Byzantine-style icon of Jesus—unlike the typical image of the gentle shepherd Jesus, this image depicted Jesus as solemn and dignified, with slightly downturned lips and eyes as wide as copper bells, looking towards Xiao Yao.

Under that admonishing gaze, tinged with a hint of reproach and a touch of pity, Xiao Yao felt a little uneasy.

He recalled what Li Teng had mentioned in class: Byzantine icons usually emphasized divinity more than humanity.

"Lord, I was wrong." Xiao Yao readily confessed his sins and stood at attention to accept the beating.

"Stop using your supernatural powers, there's really no way to get past five meters," Xiao Yao continued.

Jesus remained silent, staring at him with a reproachful look in his eyes and a downturned mouth, showing no other expression.

Xiao Yao turned his head away. On the wall next to him was still a Byzantine-style mosaic, depicting the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus and wearing a headscarf.

The Virgin Mary's face no longer held her usual compassion—not entirely absent, but mainly reproach.

Looking at Xiao Yao's reproachful expression, she reminded Xiao Yao of the restrained look his mother gave him when he made a mistake as a child.

Damn it, Yu Bo, you did this on purpose, didn't you? You absolutely did it on purpose, didn't you?

"Mom, I was wrong, please don't be angry," Xiao Yao said to the Holy Mother.

The issue of symbiosis is not as simple as just shortening the distance to 5.3 meters.

This time, it's a full amplification of the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

If he doesn't concentrate, he can easily see the afterimages of what Yu Luying's eyes are seeing.

She heard the sound of a pin dropping to the floor, as if it were inside her ear.

I could smell the stench emanating from the roots of wildflowers hundreds of meters away.

I could feel her saliva flowing in her mouth and taste it.

He felt a slight sting when a thorn on the bamboo mat where Yu Luying was sleeping touched the girl's skin.