My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

The noodle shop that Su Xiaoyue mentioned was small, located on the ground floor of an old residential building. A faded wooden sign hung at the entrance, with the four characters "Grandma's Noodle Shop" written on it, the strokes of which were already somewhat blurred.

There were only a few tables in the shop. An elderly man wearing reading glasses was sitting against the wall reading a newspaper. In the corner was an old electric fan with its blades turning slowly.

Su Xiaoyue chose a seat by the window, took out two pairs of disposable chopsticks from the chopstick holder on the table, broke them apart, and placed one pair on the bowl holder in front of Jiang Yi.

"The pickled mustard greens and shredded pork noodles here are pretty good," she said. "The broth is made from bones, so it's not greasy. You should try it."

Jiang Yi nodded without saying anything more.

He looked down at the steaming bowl of noodles in front of him. White steam rose from the rim of the bowl, carrying the savory aroma of pickled mustard greens and shredded meat, and drifted away in the afternoon light.

He picked up his chopsticks, took a spoonful of noodles, and put it in his mouth.

The noodles were chewy, and the broth was indeed very clear, with a faint aroma of bone broth. It was neither too salty nor too greasy, and the warmth slid down my throat and slowly melted in my stomach.

Su Xiaoyue also kept her head down and ate her noodles, occasionally picking up a piece of pickled mustard greens from her own bowl and putting it into his bowl. She would occasionally look up at him to make sure he was still eating, and then lower her head again.

The silence between the two people wasn't unpleasant; rather, it felt like a tacit understanding.

Jiang Yi and Su Xiaoyue finished their soup almost simultaneously, and their phones vibrated in their pockets almost at the same time.

Just as Jiang Yi was about to pick up his phone to check it, Su Xiaoyue interrupted him, her voice sounding somewhat panicked.

"Honey, it's Mom calling."

He was stunned for a moment before realizing that she was talking about his mother.

When did the word "Mom" start to naturally slip onto Su Xiaoyue's lips?

"Because of Miaomiao?" he asked, his voice still a little hoarse.

Su Xiaoyue shook her head: "I told the police station not to mention Miaomiao to Mom and Dad for now. They probably don't know yet."

Jiang Yi paused for a moment, then nodded: "Answer it."

Su Xiaoyue pressed the answer button, then raised her hand to turn on speakerphone, and placed the phone on the table between the two of them.

Zhao Xiujuan's voice came from the other end, carrying her usual warm and joyful tone:

"Yueyue! Are you busy? Did Mom bother you?"

"No problem, no problem, Mom. I'm with Jiang Yi."

Su Xiaoyue subconsciously sat up straighter, and her voice softened by half a degree, as if the switch that automatically switches to obedient mode in front of elders had been gently flipped.

"Oh, you're together? That's perfect!" Zhao Xiujuan's voice rose noticeably. "Mom just wanted to ask you two—you know, is it settled yet? How's the marriage registration going?"

Su Xiaoyue's eyelashes twitched slightly, and she turned her head to glance at Jiang Yi.

She looked away from her phone, smiled at it, and her voice carried a lightness that was just right—neither disappointed nor overly concerned.

"Mom, there was a slight problem the other day, and it didn't work out. The system had a problem, saying something about...invalid documents. We're thinking of trying again in a couple of days."

There was a silence of about two seconds on the other end of the phone, followed by Zhao Xiujuan's slightly lowered, concerned voice: "What happened? Is there a problem with your documents? Are you both alright? Maybe you forgot to bring some documents... Should I ask around for you?"

"No, no, Mom, don't worry," Su Xiaoyue quickly replied, her words a little faster than before. "It's just a temporary system malfunction; it has nothing to do with our materials. I asked the staff, and they said we can go back in a couple of days. I'll let you know as soon as it's done."

Zhao Xiujuan muttered "That's good, that's good" a couple more times. Although the joy in her tone was somewhat suppressed by the news that "it didn't work out," it didn't completely disappear.

She then went on and on about family matters—the persimmon tree in the yard had yielded an unusually large harvest this year, the neighbor's dog had a litter of puppies, and the price of pork ribs at the market had gone up again—as if she wanted to pour out all the trivialities she had accumulated over the years to the person on the other end of the phone.

Su Xiaoyue responded patiently, occasionally saying "hmm," "really?" or "that's great!" Each response perfectly followed up on Zhao Xiujuan's words, allowing the rambling on the other end to flow naturally like a stream.

Jiang Yi sat opposite her, listening to his mother's voice coming from the speakerphone, and suddenly felt a tightness in his throat.

He thought of Jiang Miaomiao again.

He remembered that she was like this when she was a child, squatting under the persimmon tree in the yard to pick up the green persimmons that had been blown down by the wind, stuffing them into her mouth and taking a bite, her face scrunching up from the astringency, and then sticking her tongue out at him.

Those images are so old, but they truly existed in my mind.

"...Oh, right, Yueyue," Zhao Xiujuan's voice suddenly became serious again, "that gold bracelet Mom mentioned last time, I'm going to town to send it by express delivery in the next couple of days. It'll be via EMS, very fast. Just make sure you receive it. You and Xiaoyi get along well, don't always argue. Xiaoyi isn't good with words, he doesn't know how to coax people. If he makes you angry, tell Mom, and Mom will scold him for you."

Su Xiaoyue smiled slightly, her voice a little nasal: "Okay, Mom, I understand. Don't worry, we're doing fine."

After hanging up the phone, the noodle shop fell silent again, with only the old-fashioned electric fan in the corner still turning slowly.

Su Xiaoyue flipped her phone face down on the table, remained silent for a few seconds, then looked up at Jiang Yi: "Honey...should we tell Mom and the others about Miaomiao?"

Jiang Yi sat there, his fingers still resting on the rim of the bowl, but his fingertips had gone from warm to slightly cool.

He stared at a thin strip of wood grain on the table for a long time.

"Let's not talk about it now," he said, his voice hoarse. "We'll talk about it when the forensic report comes out."

Su Xiaoyue didn't ask any further questions, but simply nodded and put her phone back in her trench coat pocket.

She stood up, stacked their bowls together, and carried them to the front desk. When she returned, she had a pack of tissues in her hand, which she placed beside him: "Shall we go back first? If you're tired this afternoon, take a nap."

Jiang Yi responded and stood up with her.

As he reached the door, he suddenly remembered the vibration in his pocket earlier, took out his phone, and glanced down at it.

The screen was lit up, and a new message from an unknown number appeared in the notification bar—no name, no profile picture, the message was a link.

"Honey, what are you looking at?"

Su Xiaoyue leaned closer, but Jiang Yi quickly put his phone away.

"My teacher messaged me, asking why I'm not going."

"oh oh."

Su Xiaoyue nodded, then hugged Jiang Yi's arm and asked, "Then explain to him that we shouldn't go these next couple of days?"

Jiang Yi shook his head.

"I didn't go this morning, but I'll go check it out this afternoon. If there's nothing else, I'll come back early."

"OK."

Su Xiaoyue nodded obediently and released Jiang Yi's arm.

"Then I'll go home first. I'll wait for you at home, and I'll tell you as soon as I find out anything new."

"Thank you for your hard work, Xiaoyue."