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

At this moment, Yu Luying slowly moved her left and right hands... no, she held a plate in each hand and pushed open the bedroom door with her foot: "Good morning."

"morning."

"Good morning." Xiao Yao's eyes fell on the bacon and eggs on the plate.

He took a deep breath; it smelled delicious.

Sunlight filters through the curtains, casting dappled patterns on the uneven floor—a vibrant and energetic start to a new week.

Chapter 368 Aren't you afraid he'll lay a hand on your mother-in-law?

2023-11-02

Monday, August 2004, 9.

Despite being hungover, Xiao Yao forced himself to go to school.

Despite having wives like Shen Jie and Yu Luying by his side, the dull and boring campus life became... much more comforting.

But that was five days, a full five days.

You should know that last week there were only three days, and the week before that... we had a 60-day break.

It's understandable that you feel you're not used to it yet.

As if anticipating the students' suffering, the school thoughtfully arranged a flag-raising ceremony and a speech on Monday morning...

"Buddy, these days are really tough," Xiao Yao said to Daiyu.

"Hmm." Ribbonfish seemed a little absent-minded.

"How did you provoke him?" Xiao Yao asked him.

"It's okay, it's okay." The ribbonfish shook its head like a wave drum.

"Did you two have another fight?" Xiao Yao asked.

“Minor frictions are common,” said the ribbonfish.

Xiao Yao didn't ask any further questions.

At noon, the results of the preliminary exam were announced. Daiyu consistently performed poorly and came in last place, while Yu Luying lost her top spot in the grade. Xiao Yao, on the other hand, squeezed into the top 10% and officially entered the ranks of "excellent students".

"That's truly something to celebrate," said Chen Lu, the class monitor, as he handed out the test papers.

Xiao Yao thought, "Let's just consider this matter, this hurdle, over."

However, I still need to study hard, just in case the symbiosis disappears for no reason one day...

I wonder if being surrounded by top students and thus becoming omniscient and omnipotent will still improve my personal grades.

Xiao Yao felt a pessimism.

Oh, by the way, it's worth mentioning that Zhang Jialong and Chen Lu broke up peacefully after returning from summer camp.

Xiao Yao and the others didn't find out about this until after the start of the semester. However, no matter whether they asked Zhang Jialong or Chen Lu, they couldn't get any answers. So, everyone could only respect, understand, and offer their blessings.

This made Xiao Yao slightly distrustful of love.

Because their heads were still a little sore, Xiao Yao and Yu Luying ate in the cafeteria and then went back to the classroom to sleep, instead of having a party with Shen Jie on the rooftop.

After school, Shen Jie had to go to a skateboarding club activity, so Xiao Yao had to go see Yu Bo with Yu Luying again.

Xiao Yao greeted his grandmother, and the two little ones took a bath at the church and had dinner with Yu Bo and the nuns.

After dinner, Yu Bo took the two of them to his office, closed the door, and announced the results of yesterday's operation.

"Based on the reports sent back by our assistants, we can draw two preliminary conclusions," Yu Bo said. "First, Zhang Zhengkai was basically not lying."

“I think so too,” Xiao Yao told Yu Bo. “By the way, I saw Lucia.”

“Secondly, Zhang Zhengkai seems to… not have a Hall of Fame.” As Yu Bo said this, he himself twitched his nose in confusion.

Xiao Yao and Yu Luying looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Brother Bo, are you sure?"

“I’m not sure.” Yu Bo told Xiao Yao, “We can’t be sure about either of the above two points. All we can say is that, for the time being, the preliminary conclusion is that it is highly likely to be so.”

"They really don't have much confidence," Xiao Yao complained.

"What do you know? This is called being meticulous," Yu Bo said. "So, you two are friends again now?"

“Well… not really, after all… right?” Xiao Yao tilted his head and thought about it seriously for a moment. “But I believe his hostility or malice towards me has decreased a lot, and his malice towards Shen Jie… well, I already asked Shen Jie to remove him from her blacklist today, so everything is normal for now, and he hasn’t harassed her anymore.”

“I still tend to think,” Yu Luying said, “that person who followed Shen Jie in the bar and attacked her in the alley was, or rather… not human. He was probably Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow, or a manifestation of some kind of malice or obsession. But Uncle, you said he didn’t have a temple, so I really don’t understand.”

“Unless Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow can break free from the constraints of his main body and act independently, and pose such a high threat—which is unprecedented, and we certainly don’t want this to happen,” Yu Bo told Yu Luying.

“Speaking of malice,” Xiao Yao shifted uncomfortably in his chair, “Since Shen Jie isn’t here, I’ll tell you two something—I haven’t told Shen Jie about Zhang Zhengkai’s confession that he wanted to kill me and Shen Jie, and I hope you can keep it a secret for me.”

"Why?" Yu Luying asked, puzzled.

"The priest should know what I mean, right?"

"I know," Yu Bo said, "but you still need to protect yourself and Xiao Shen's safety."

“He knows, but I don’t,” Yu Luying said unhappily. “You’d better explain it to me right now.”

"If Shen Jie finds out about this, how do you think she will view Zhang Zhengkai?" Xiao Yao asked Yu Luying.

"Isn't her opinion of him bad enough?" Yu Luying retorted.

“Fear amplifies malice, and malice is detected by the other party, creating a vicious cycle of mutual contagion and feedback,” Xiao Yao explained. “And once Zhang Zhengkai’s malice deepens, we will ultimately be the ones who suffer.”

"So we're just going to be afraid of him and act subservient to him for the rest of our lives?" Yu Luying retorted.

“It’s not that I’m afraid of him,” Xiao Yao said seriously, “Don’t you think he’s actually quite…quite…normal and restrained?”

"I don't think so," Yu Luying immediately replied.

“He may also be a victim of someone else’s malicious intent,” Xiao Yao said.

“Regardless, Yingying is right about one thing at least,” Yu Bo interrupted them and concluded, “Reducing his malice and appeasing him is ultimately just a temporary solution, and we need to observe further whether it is even a temporary solution. The organization will continue to study this incident, and you two—all three of you—must not let your guard down for a moment.”

"Yes Yes!"

“The organization will send someone to give you member training next weekend,” Yu Bo said, looking at Yu Luying. “Get ready—and so will you.”

"Huh? Me?" Xiao Yao was stunned for a moment. He wanted to remind himself that he was just an assistant, but then he thought that he really had no choice but to go, so he said, "I understand."

The two kids went back to school to pick up Shen Jie after she finished skateboarding and took her home. That evening, at their grandmother's suggestion, the four of them moved the dining table by the window to the center of the room and sat in a circle to do their homework.

Shen Tianyun was never a top student, nor was her mother. Moreover, having just transferred from the international department of another high school to the "system," she naturally couldn't keep up in various ways.

As a result, the study group had a great atmosphere of mutual help. Xiao Yao was tutoring his daughter's homework, while Shen Jie kept asking Yu Luying questions. It was a truly harmonious and joyful group.

Fortunately, both classes were taught by the same homeroom teacher, Mr. Lin, and there was also a significant overlap in the subject teachers, so many assignments were the same, making it easy to explain.

While Shen Tianyun went to pee in 2034, Xiao Yao asked Shen Jie, "When you came to pick me and Yu Luying up yesterday, did you see Zhang Zhengkai?"

"I saw him," Shen Jie replied casually.

"Did he say anything?" Xiao Yao asked anxiously.

“No,” Shen Jie told Xiao Yao, “He had already fallen asleep. A man came to pick him up; he looked like one of the family’s maids.”

“Oh,” Xiao Yao said, “right…”

"By the way," Shen Jie said, "what about the fact that you sold my daughter? Don't you want to live anymore?"

“Uh, don’t listen to Yu Luying’s nonsense,” Xiao Yao glared at Yu Luying, “you rascal.”

“I said…” Yu Luying said.

"Have you thought this through?" Shen Jie said calmly. "He still has designs on me. If you let him into the house, aren't you afraid he'll make a move on your mother?"

"Pfft," Xiao Yao coughed violently, "Then I'll be at a huge loss, this won't do, absolutely not."

“Hey sis,” Yu Luying raised her eyelids slightly, “is this the main point of the matter?”

"Didn't you start this?" Xiao Yao said anxiously, "Why are you stirring up trouble from both sides—from three sides—from multiple sides?"

Yu Luying: "Hehe."

Xiao Yao pretended to hit him: "Heh, it's all your fault."

Shen Jie: "Stop shirking responsibility. I'll throw you into the Yellow River to feed the fish sooner or later."

Xiao Yao: "It's not my wife, let me explain..."

A gust of wind blew by, and the wardrobe door was pushed open from the inside.

"For this question," Xiao Yao said loudly, "I think the answer should be... H!"

"You big idiot, you chose H from ABCD," Yu Luying thought.

On Tuesday, September 7, 2004, there was another physical education class in the afternoon.

Yu Luying directly claimed to be sick and asked for leave, staying in the classroom instead of going downstairs. Xiao Yao volunteered to ask for leave as well, taking care of her out of a spirit of friendship.

Old Gong was furious and refused to grant leave, but Xiao Yao still didn't go down to the playground—so Old Gong recorded his absence as truancy and reported it to Director Lin.

Fortunately, Teacher Lin hasn't caused them any trouble, at least not for the time being.

At noon, after having lunch in the cafeteria, the three little ones gathered again at their secret base on the rooftop to rehearse for the inter-school "Top Ten Campus Singers" competition at the end of this month.