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

"What landline is ringing?" Shen Tianyun replied, looking completely bewildered, "Nothing."

"Think about it again, try to recall," Xiao Yao said urgently. "Did the phone ring at night? Did I answer a call and talk for quite a while? — Ah, actually, it wasn't that long."

“No,” Shen Tianyun confirmed with certainty, “I didn’t hear anything, I didn’t see anything, everything is normal—what’s going on?”

September 3rd happened to be a Friday. Grandma bought pan-fried buns and came back. Xiao Yao then told Grandma with a troubled look that no one could eat them all.

Fortunately, Shen Tianyun was there, and she benefited greatly—or rather, she solved this big problem entirely. Although she didn't particularly like pan-fried dumplings, she and her grandmother still managed to finish enough for five people.

The three little ones sat on the table eating things that most people in inland China couldn't afford, such as Fuling pickled mustard tubers and tea eggs, and drinking plain porridge.

"Regular fasting?" Grandma said with a smile, "That's a good habit. Hello Yaqi! Xiao Yao usually eats too much, is picky about food, and doesn't like to exercise!"

Xiao Yao lowered his head and shoveled down two mouthfuls of plain porridge: "Shen Jie."

"Hmm?" Shen Jie answered in a clear and bright voice.

"Do you have a Shanghai Pudong Development Bank card?" Xiao Yao asked.

"Yes," Shen Jie said. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm..." Xiao Yao said, "It's like this, I had a dream last night..."

“I have accounts at almost every bank,” Shen Jie added. “Is there anything special about Pudong Development Bank?”

"Well... actually, not really," Xiao Yao said.

His gaze fell on the telephone on the armrest of the sofa.

Unlike mobile phones, most landline phones in this era did not have caller ID.

So much so that when merchants are selling new telephones, they will even promote "caller ID" as one of the features.

For example, that cheeky TV commercial that goes, "Hey, Xiaoli?"

Moreover, this feature isn't something you get just by buying a phone with caller ID; you have to pay extra to have it activated by the telecom company.

Grandma Xiao Yao's landline phone is one of the oldest models—a push-button type, at least it's not a rotary dial type, but it's absolutely impossible to check the call records.

The boy tried hard to recall the phone call from the previous night. The feeling of etherealness and reality coexisted. If he felt it was real, it was like a dream; if he felt it was a fleeting dream, it suddenly felt incredibly real.

"Grandma, could you check the call records with the telecom company when you have time this month?" Xiao Yao suggested.

"What are you doing?" Grandma said, "Oh no, what time is it? You three—you four are running around. Jie Jie, why don't you ride in my car?"

Grandma made no attempt to hide her favoritism towards Shen Jie.

Shen Jie still has a plaster on her neck and bandages wrapped around her arms. Although her injuries are not very serious (basically, they are just broken skin), she still looks—in her grandmother's words, "hanging upside down" (note: very scary).

When the three little ones returned home last night, Grandma was quite alarmed by Shen Jie's bandaged injury. She only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that it was just a scratch.

When pressed about the cause of their injuries, the three children gave vague and evasive answers, so their grandmother kindly refrained from asking further questions.

However, this does not mean that the elderly person has forgotten about this matter.

Her insistence on delivering the package in the morning was also a subtle hint about safety considerations.

In the end, Xiao Yao firmly rejected him.

To put it bluntly, if there were no safety concerns, Grandma could be asked to deliver it.

But given the current situation... if something else were to happen and the old lady were to suffer another mishap, wouldn't we be willing to die for her?

The four children said goodbye to their grandmother and went off to school separately.

Xiao Yao suddenly realized that this was the life he had once fantasized about and longed for.

Even scenarios that I wouldn't dare to even fantasize about.

I lived with Yu Luying and Shen Jie. We did our homework and ate dinner together in the evening, went to school together during the day, and came home together in the afternoon...

In this situation, we should raise a toast.

However, the wine had a slightly bitter taste.

After all, Xiao Yao could tell that Shen Jie and Yu Luying were only superficially friends.

Yu Luying and he became "friends" again.

Whether they're friends or not, in this symbiotic relationship, there's not much difference besides the formalities; it's just a matter of whether they can hold hands.

Moreover, they are still officially a couple in public.

Falling...

It would be impossible for Xiao Yao to feel no resentment, regret, or dissatisfaction.

But what can he do?

Shen Jie's attitude was quite clear, and she had already given herself to him without reservation...

It was foggy that morning, and visibility wasn't very high.

The fog reminded Xiao Yao of the view outside Shen Tianyun's room window, though it was much fainter.

To prevent the strange rumors of a "threesome" from spreading further at school, Shen Jie walked a few hundred meters ahead by herself, while Xiao Yao and Yu Luying followed slowly side by side behind her.

If any unexpected situation arises, let alone Shen Jie's one-click dialing, even a loud scream would be enough to immediately send a distress signal to Xiao Yao and Yu Luying.

Yu Bo opened the phone and told the three kids to meet at the church after school, the main topic being yesterday's attack.

“I was going to come anyway,” Yu Luying said. “I need to come to the bathhouse.”

“Shen Jie mentioned it to me yesterday,” Xiao Yao said, “saying that she has club activities after school today.”

"Then come over after the club activity is over." Yu Bo said and hung up the phone.

Xiao Yao stared ahead, but he couldn't see Shen Jie's figure in the fog.

However, the sight of that thin, frail figure walking alone into the fog still made him feel a pang of heartache.

--split line--

The fog was so thick this morning that Tao Tianyi, who was riding his bicycle to school, almost missed his class.

Tao Tianyi was somewhat surprised that Zhao Xiaomei had come to school, but at the same time, he was relieved for her.

But soon, he couldn't breathe a sigh of relief.

Because Zhao Xiaomei seemed like a completely different person.

Or, to put it more extremely, this person is completely different from Zhao Xiaomei except for his appearance.

Tao Tianyi even suspected that she might be an imposter, wearing a human skin mask or even having a face transplant, just like in those spy movies.

Tao Tianyi found it pleasing to the eye that his deskmate, Xu Qingwei, was wearing a different school uniform skirt today.

"What happened to your hand?" Tao Tianyi glanced at the bandage wrapped around Xu Qingwei's right arm.

"It's nothing, just a little scratch." Xu Qingwei didn't look up, continuing to write something furiously.

“You’ve wrapped it up like this even though it’s just a small cut,” Tao Tian paused, then added, “Be careful.”

“Yes,” Xu Qingwei replied, “Thank you.”

“I suspect this Zhao Xiaomei is a fake,” Tao Tianyi said to Xu Qingwei.

"How should I put it?" Xu Qingwei asked.

“I went to greet her during the break just now and asked her why she came to register two days late for the start of the semester, and whether it was to skip the placement test,” Tao Tianyi said.

"And then?" Xu Qingwei asked.

"She...she not only stammered and couldn't explain herself clearly, but she also seemed like she didn't know me at all, she couldn't even remember my name," Tao Tianyi said somewhat indignantly, "and her personality...her personality is also..."

"Hmm?" Xu Qingwei finally stopped writing, twirling the pen and tilting her head back, waiting for Tao Tianyi to continue.

"I'm not sure how to explain..." Tao Tianyi thought about how to explain to Xu Qingwei: "Well, before, she was more... more... outgoing and lively?" Tao Tianyi was too embarrassed to say the word "sassy": "Now she's... shy and introverted? Anyway, she's like an autistic child, um."

"I see," Xu Qingwei guessed. "Then, could it be that he experienced some kind of trauma during the summer vacation?"

“Very likely,” Tao Tianyi said, “I must find out what happened.”

"Hey, do you know how to do this problem?" Xu Qingwei pushed the workbook in her hand toward Tao Tianyi.

Tao Tianyi certainly wouldn't know how, but he still turned his head and pretended to look at it for a long time.

“Hmm…hmm…” Tao Tianyi pondered and said, “Right, Qingwei.”

"Xu Qingwei." Xu Qingwei corrected her deskmate's feignedly intimate way of addressing her.

"Xu Qingwei," Tao Tianyi said, "did you know Zhao Xiaomei before?"

“I don’t know him,” Xu Qingwei shook her head and said, “I just transferred to your school two days ago, how could I know him?”

“I think so too,” Tao Tianyi said calmly as he pushed Xu Qingwei’s workbook back to her side. “When I saw you this morning, I saw her and she looked very surprised and incredulous. I thought you knew her before.”

“I don’t know him,” Xu Qingwei said coldly. “I don’t have any surprised or incredulous expression. You must have mistaken him for someone else.”

"Perhaps?" Tao Tianyi said noncommittally, without arguing.

Chapter 358 Your Second Mistress Has Been Resurrected

2023-10-23

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