As class had just ended, Yang Ming was tidying up his books and pens when he heard his classmates chatting leisurely.
"Hey, let me tell you something interesting."
"There’s a woman talking with a dog at the entrance of the Academy, and they are really hitting it off."
"Could there be any doubt? I saw it myself when I came in, she was talking to the dog, and the dog was responding."
"That’s really strange. Should we go out and take a look?"
The speaker turned and asked Yang Ming, "Yang Ming, are you coming?"
"I’ll pass; I need to return to my place to pack up some things, I’m going home soon."
Seeing Yang Ming decline, the group immediately crowded out the door, very interested in the scene of a person talking to a dog; they all went to watch the excitement.
Yang Ming shook his head as he watched everyone leave. He wasn’t in the mood for such excitement, and besides, it was just a woman; what was there to see?
He needed to rush back to his place to pack and go home; he hadn’t seen his wife in days and was missing her terribly.
Xiaoxiao saw people coming out from the Academy and guessed it was about time; Yang Ming would probably be out soon. She said to Xiaobai,
"He should be coming out soon. You need to be good and not frighten him, understand?"
"Woof! Woof!" Xiaobai wagged his tail in agreement.
A woman and a dog stood there, eyes fixed on the great gates of the Academy.
The scholar who had seen them before said to everyone, "See, I didn’t lie to you, did I? She really is talking to the dog."
Everyone had seen it and was quite curious about the scene, even more curious about the woman.
"She looks pretty. I wonder whose daughter she is? Is she married?" someone began to show interest in Xiaoxiao.
"She looks quite young, probably not married given her appearance."
"Standing here, she must be waiting for someone."
"Maybe she’s waiting for someone from our Academy."
While they were actively discussing, a man had already started to hit on her.
"It looks like we can only dream!" a few sighed.
Xiaoxiao waited left and right but Yang Ming was nowhere to be seen, beginning to regret not finding an Attendant Student to go in; why did she have to stage a surprise?
Just as she was about to approach the gate to find an Attendant Student, a man blocked her way.
"What do you want?" Xiaoxiao said snappily, her patience worn thin by the waiting, and besides, anyone other than her beloved was like air to her now.
The man, taken aback by Xiaoxiao’s attitude, still said, "Guanguan cries the ospreys, on the islet in the river. The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady: for our prince a good match."
"..." What was with this guy, spouting a poem all of a sudden? "Speak if you have business, don’t recite poetry out of nowhere."
"I merely wish to make your acquaintance, miss."
"..." Xiaoxiao then realized she was being hit on. Could it be that she still looked presentable?
"But I don’t want to know you."
The man felt humiliated in front of his friends after hearing Xiaoxiao’s blunt rejection. He’d run out of patience for pretenses.
Switching from his previously refined appearance, he now wore a menacing smirk, "Don’t dismiss the niceties before facing the consequences; being favored by me is your blessing."
"Who do you think you are? Looking like a toad and yet you flaunt it as a badge of honor!"
"You!" Angered by Xiaoxiao’s words, the man raised his hand to slap her.
Xiaoxiao was not scared, just as she opened her mouth to call for Xiaobai’s help, she saw someone firmly grasp the man’s wrist.
The moment she saw him, Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up, sweetly calling out, "Husband."