You are my wife, don't doubt it!

In neon cartoons, there is often a very secondary saying, the so-called "place of shelter". Xiao Yao can feel the meaning of this word firsthand.

Can a home without elders or partners still be called "home"?

Okay, fortunately there is "her".

For a long time, Xiao Yao always felt that he was alone.

But as long as Tianyun is still by his side, this feeling will not come back.

Even so, during this short period of time, I got along quite well with my classmates. I felt lonely after losing this "group" all of a sudden.

Xiao Yao tried his best to forget that they had once isolated themselves collectively, and how much of their current attitude change was due to the intervention of Shadow World.

It would be great if there was a winter camp or something...

Xiao Yao touched the closet out of boredom and saw a little bit of dust on his fingers, so he took the rag and wiped it.

After wiping a few household items, he took the mop and started mopping the floor.

What made a sloppy king suddenly turn into a male version of Cinderella one day?

Xiao Yao asked himself, the main reason should be that his status as "father" requires him to be the backbone of the family and take good care of this small family of only two people.

Grandma left, and the burden fell on her shoulders.

The second reason is that he doesn't want to let himself be idle.

As long as you keep yourself busy, as long as you always have something to do, there will be no time for depression.

Maybe.

Xiao Yao put down the mop, put his hands on the briquette stove to keep warm, and took grandma's big cattail leaf fan to fan the air outlet.

Then he coughed violently and quickly opened the window, and a northwest wind came in again.

Xiao Yao touched his chin and considered whether to work during the winter vacation or something.

But the money at home is enough now, if you plan for the long term...

Tianyun said that she was asking about how to buy an investment product called "Bitcoin", which sounded unreliable, but since this future person was full of confidence, Xiao Yao had no reason to stop her.

Winter means long nights and many dreams. Xiao Yao saw that the sky outside the window was getting dark, so he decided to start making a fire to cook.

Fortunately, there are still a lot of vegetables in the refrigerator, so there is no need to go shopping.

Xiao Yao was so busy that he cooked four dishes and one soup and put them on the table, but Tian Yun didn't come back. He packed up the kitchen, but Tian Yun still didn't come back.

The walls of the room are clean and have been re-pasted with new paper. The posters and decorations that were messy on the walls before are now gone.

He sat on his bed and called Tianyun twice, but no one answered.

The cat didn't come back either.

The foreboding feeling made him feel anxious.

Xiao Yao returned to the soap room and knocked lightly on the door of his grandma's room, but no one answered.

He pushed the door open hard, and grandma's familiar smell hit his face, but there was no one inside.

Yes, this is Shen Tianyun's room now.

Xiao Yao originally planned to seal up his grandma's room and keep everything in it as it is, but Tian Yun pointed out that she and Xiao Yao were adolescent boys and girls after all, and it was neither convenient nor nice to share the same bed with their father for a long time. , hoping to move into grandma’s room.

Although he was reluctant, he felt that what Tian Yun said was reasonable and had no way to refute, so he agreed.

The young man packed up all of his grandma's belongings and put them in a large iron box. The box was temporarily placed under grandma's—now Tianyun's small square table.

Xiao Yao's eyes fell on the large iron box under the small square table. He wanted to open it and take out the contents to take a look. After thinking about it for a while, he still couldn't muster the courage. He just picked up the small photo frame on the table. , gently rubbing grandma's face.

I have lived with her for so long, but I have never thought about getting to know her.

Grandma, you must protect me and your great-granddaughter in heaven.

Xiao Yao closed Tianyun's door, returned to his own room, picked up his phone again, and saw a missed call and an unread text message.

He hoped it was from Tianyun, but the sender was Hairtail, and the content was asking Xiao Yao if he wanted to go to an Internet cafe or go bowling or something together tomorrow.

Xiao Yao is not interested in Internet cafes, bowling or skating now, but since it is an invitation from a friend, he still plans to accept the invitation.

This is also a type of "shelter".

However, when Tianyun was still out of contact, Xiao Yao felt disappointed and irritated, so he did not reply immediately.

He pressed the play button on his tape recorder and immediately began tidying up his room to distract himself.

"The slanting rain fell on the glass window,

The yellow leaves are withered on the windowsill;

The young man carrying an umbrella,

He walked through the rain curtain,

Suddenly cast a look.

People passing by looked at him,

But he played a harmonica;

Goodbye, the melody is faintly singing,

It’s no longer the same when we meet again…”

Xiao Yao frowned subconsciously.

This melody was too familiar, and it reminded him of someone he didn't want to think of.

I liked this song very much when I was in junior high school, and after recommending it to Shen Jie, she also liked it very much - at least she pretended to like it on the surface.

While watching the Asian Cup during the summer vacation, I was in that... football bar? Shen Jie was also present when I heard this song. Later, I often listened to this song with Shen Jie many times.

"After the spring flowers bloom and the autumn moon stops,

The winter sun sets and the summer insects chirp;

Who will sing and who will listen?

Whoever shouts youth, who will respond..."

Xiao Yao clicked the button and turned off the recorder.

What's this? An envelope? What's in it?

Xiao Yao had some guesses, but he was not sure. He gently pulled the letter out of the envelope, and the good smell of the letter came to his face.

It is a "love letter" written by Shen Jie to herself.

Handwritten.

It seems like it was written at your own request? Oh, no, it's herself...?

Xiao Yao read Juanxiu's handwriting on the letter and frowned slightly.

He felt like he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. How come something happened not long ago, but when he recalled it, the details were as blurry as in his previous life?

Xiao Yao reread the letter carefully, chuckled, folded the letter, and stretched it towards the flames in the briquette stove.

When the letter was about to touch the flames, his hand stopped again.

At this moment, Xiao Yao heard the sound of the key opening the door from the soap room outside and breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately afterwards, Tianyun pushed - in fact, she pushed open her bedroom door.

"What are you going to burn!" Tian Yun looked at the letter paper still held in Xiao Yao's hand: "You're crazy, you're burning paper at home for fun!"

Xiao Yao calmly put away Shen Jie's love letter, stuffed it into the envelope again, and put it away in the drawer of the closet.

Then he walked towards Shen Tianyun, hugged her in his arms, leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Tianyun struggled hard, but Xiao Yao still kissed her face.

"Are you crazy?" Tian Yun finally broke away from Xiao Yao's arms and deliberately wiped her face with the back of her hand: "Are you used to not having a wife? Are you using me as a substitute?"

"Nonsense, you are saying such unworthy things again!" Xiao Yao scolded, and then reached out to pinch Tian Yun's round cheeks: "Where did you die again? Why didn't you answer the phone? Do you know why... …I have to beat you today!”

"Oops," Tian Yun bent her fingers to grab the corners of her mouth: "No, my phone is out of battery!"

"Nonsense, why didn't the phone be turned off when it was out of battery? No one answered when I called you!"

"Dong dong dong." Before Tian Yun could answer, the door of the soap room was knocked again.

"Who is it?" Xiao Yao roared.

"Me." Yu Luying replied crisply.

The corners of Shen Tianyun's mouth curved downward.

"What's wrong?" You couldn't say anything just now, why are you here again now? Xiao Yao opened the door of the soap room in confusion, only to see that Yu Luying had changed into clothes that were suitable for exercise and had no intention of entering.

"Emergency gathering," Yu Luying lowered her voice: "Combat meeting."

Ah, the war meeting.

Xiao Yao thought happily.

Yes, the Watchers of the Clear Industry, the "organization" that fights against the shadows and their accomplices.

This is also my place.

"Tian Yun!" Xiao Yao turned around and shouted: "The food is on the table. If it gets cold, you can warm it up and eat it yourself. Don't spread the room into a mess again - I'm going out!"

"Huh!" Tian Yun responded loudly from the back room.

Xiao Yao put on his down jacket and followed Yu Luying downstairs. Yu Luying's steps were very fast, but her direction was towards another exit of the alley.

"Didn't Brother Bo ask us to gather together?" Xiao Yao was a little surprised.

"Yes." Yu Luying said concisely and comprehensively.

"Aren't you going to the Sacred Heart Church?"

"No." Yu Luying said.

"?"

Xiao Yao followed Yu Luying out of the alley. He thought she was going to take a taxi, but he saw a relatively familiar car parked at the exit of the alley, and Yu Baolu was rolling down the window.

"Get in the car." Yu Baolu said.

Neither of the two men named Yu explained to Xiao Yao. The car drove in a zigzag manner for several kilometers and stopped in the parking lot of a magnificent "Vienna Hotel".

Then, Xiao Yao followed Yu Baolu and Yu Luying in the elevator to the 22nd floor and entered a large luxury private room.

This is probably the so-called "Presidential Suite".

As soon as they entered the door, they were all familiar faces - Mr. Yu Texuanyu, His Excellency Carl Shderlin, Hairtail, Zhao Xiaomei, Lu Jia, etc. were all there. Even Teacher Yao and Ouyang Qianqian, who had previously refused to admit their identities, were also there. In addition, there were four or five people whom Xiao Yao didn't know, including men and women, older and younger.

"In this way, everyone is here." Yu Bo said: "Today we have a temporary notice to gather everyone because we have an important operation to deploy, and everyone in the queue has their own tasks. According to reliable information, we have captured Shi Hui of the Holy Clothes is planning to use the ability of the Holy Clothes to expand their strength and carry out key destruction of the Magic City, hoping to turn this city, especially our Beihong District, into their core stronghold. "

"Although it is not yet certain what his ultimate purpose is, in any case, their actions have already begun." Carl Schedlin added in blunt Chinese: "I believe everyone has watched the news. For most of the past week... "

Xiao Yao didn't listen to what Karl Schedlin was saying. He stared at the girl who was lazily leaning on the big bed.

"...Heart-stealing group..."

Shen Jie was holding a pillow in her hand, wearing a peaked cap on her head, an unflattering straight jacket, and dark blue cotton socks on her feet. The soles of her feet were facing the direction Xiao Yao came in, but she didn't look at it at all. He seemed to be just listening intently to Karl Schedlin's speech.

"……Masonic……"

Xiao Yao shook his head and tried to bring his attention back to the meeting.

"...So the reason for not gathering in the church is because the other party has installed a bug in the church?" Hairtail repeated in disbelief.

"There are already three discovered," Yu Bo explained: "We don't have time to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the entire church."

"So we have to take action tonight? Is it too hasty?" Lucia lay beside Shen Jie and reached out to touch the girl's shoulders.

"It has been finalized with the police informant."

"Soldiers are valuable and quick." Mr. Yu Texuan replied: "Our counter-attack has been planned quite maturely. We are only informing everyone now to keep it as confidential as possible. We want to get ahead of the Freemasonry."

"Are you sure the Heart Stealing Group is connected to the Freemasonry?" asked a boy Xiao Yao didn't know.

"Ashe, ash." Yu Bo snapped his fingers at Xiao Yao, who then moved his eyes away and once again forced himself to return his attention to the combat meeting in front of him.

...not too successful.

He really didn't expect that Shen Jie would continue to participate in the "organization's" combat meetings and operations.