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

"Mianmian? What's wrong?"

Jiang Yi looked up, a piece of green pepper still between her chopsticks, her face bearing the same greedy look she had just been staring at.

Concern, worry, and a little bit of panicked helplessness.

"You look terrible all of a sudden. Is your stomach upset? I told you to eat lunch, but you wouldn't listen..."

Su Xiaoyue stood up.

The chair slid backward, making a screeching sound as it scraped against the floor, vibrating back and forth in the quiet restaurant for several seconds.

"Mianmian?"

Jiang Yi put down his chopsticks, stood up, walked around the table towards her, and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Su Xiaoyue did not answer.

She turned around and practically ran into the bathroom.

The moment the door closed behind her, she leaned against it, slid down onto the cold tile floor, and gasped for breath.

Her heart was beating so fast, it felt like it was going to jump out of her chest, so fast that her fingers and lips were going numb.

She looked up.

The bathroom light was on, and warm yellow light streamed down from above, illuminating every inch of the space clearly.

There are two cups on the sink, one blue and one pink, with toothbrushes stuck in them, the bristles pointing in the same direction.

Two towels, one dark gray and one light pink, hung on the towel rack, neatly folded.

Su Xiaoyue slowly stood up, holding onto the edge of the sink, her fingers leaving a few water streaks on the cool white ceramic.

She looked up at herself in the mirror.

The face in the mirror wasn't hers.

That was a very beautiful face.

She has an oval face, fair and delicate skin, and almost no visible pores.

His eyebrows were neither too thick nor too thin, with a soft shape and slightly upturned ends, giving him a touch of heroic spirit.

The eyes are not big, but they are very bright. When they look at people, they are like two small knives that can cut a person open from the outside in.

Her nose was straight, and her lips were neither too thick nor too thin. When she pursed them, she had a cold and aloof air about her, but when she smiled, the corners of her mouth curved into a very beautiful arc.

Su Xiaoyue didn't recognize this face.

In her twenty-two years of life, Su Xiaoyue had never seen this face before.

But at this moment, this face is on her body, as if it were meant to be there.

She reached out and touched the cheekbone of the face in the mirror with her fingertips. The face in the mirror also reached out and touched the same spot with its fingertips.

She looked down at her hands.

Her fingers were slender, with distinct knuckles, and her nails were painted with a light pink nail polish. These weren't her hands. These were the hands of the person in the mirror.

These are Xia Anmian's hands.

Su Xiaoyue leaned against the sink, feeling as if all her strength had been drained away.

She finally understood.

This is not her dream.

This three-bedroom apartment, this child who calls her "Mom," this husband who comes home late, and this meal were never prepared for her.

This is Xia Anmian's life.

This is Xia Anmian's home.

This is Xia Anmian's husband, Xia Anmian's child, and Xia Anmian's happiness.

She was just an uninvited guest who had barged in, stolen someone else's identity.

"Mianmian?"

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and Jiang Yi's voice came from outside, carrying obvious worry and a hint of barely perceptible anxiety.

"Mianmian, are you alright? You've been inside for a long time."

Su Xiaoyue did not answer.

She stared at her beautiful face in the mirror, watching as tears slowly filled her beautiful eyes and then slid down her cheeks, drop by drop.

The tears flowed down the contours of that beautiful face, gathering at the jawline before dripping onto the white ceramic of the sink.

"Mianmian?" Jiang Yi knocked on the door again, his voice more urgent. "If you don't speak, I'm coming in."

The doorknob turned slightly.

Su Xiaoyue suddenly turned around and faced the door.

The door opened, and Jiang Yi stood in the doorway, his expression shifting from anxiety to confusion, and then from confusion to even greater fear.

Because she was crying.

Xia Anmian never cries easily.

He had known Xia Anmian for so many years, and he could count the number of times he had seen her cry on one hand.

"What's wrong with you?"

He walked in, cupped her face in his hands, and gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs.

"What's wrong with you? Tell me, don't scare me."

Su Xiaoyue looked at his face, at his furrowed brows due to worry, his tightly pursed lips due to nervousness, and his slightly dilated pupils due to helplessness.

She opened her mouth, as if to tell him: I am not Xia Anmian.

You've mistaken me for someone else.

Your wife isn't here, your children aren't here, your home isn't here. You're in a dream, a dream that doesn't belong to you.

But it felt like something was blocking her throat, and she couldn't squeeze out a single word.

"Are you...?"

Jiang Yi's voice suddenly lowered, as if he were afraid of disturbing something.

"Are you pregnant?"

Su Xiaoyue was stunned.

Jiang Yi's expression changed, from worry to surprise, from surprise to ecstasy, and from ecstasy to a kind of almost manic, disbelieving, and cautious jubilation.

"You've been feeling nauseous lately, have no appetite, and suddenly cried today..."

He counted on his fingers, his eyes growing brighter with each count.

"Mianmian, are you pregnant? Tell me, are you pregnant?"

He smiled, a smile like that of a child who had received the most precious gift in the world.

He hugged her tightly, so tightly that her ribs ached.

"I'm going to be a dad again! Mianmian, this time I want a daughter!"

I want a daughter as beautiful as you!

Su Xiaoyue was held in his arms, motionless.

She could feel his heartbeat; it was so fast it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.

She could feel his body temperature, which radiated through the fabric of his shirt, making her shiver all over.

He was happy.

He was ecstatic.

But not because of her.

It's because "Xia Anmian is pregnant".

It's because he's going to be a father.

It's because he's going to have a daughter.

Su Xiaoyue closed her eyes, tears squeezing out from the tightly closed slits, silently streaming down her cheeks and dripping onto Jiang Yi's shoulder, spreading small, dark water stains on the fabric of his white shirt.

Upon learning the truth, she could no longer look Jiang Yi in the eye, nor could she look at the world.

Perhaps it's time to wake up.

The bathroom light is off.

The cups on the sink, the towels on the towel rack, and the seashell-shaped nightlight above the mirror all seemed to have been wiped away by an invisible hand, disappearing little by little into the darkness.

……

(Today is my birthday, June 6th, so here's the sixth update.)

(May everything go smoothly)

(Thank you for your support!)