The firelight, fiercer than the sunset, flickered across his face. The man was bare from the waist up, his smooth shoulder line flowing downward, tapering neatly at the waist. His muscles were not overly bulging; rather, they formed an even, handsome layer of lean muscle, covering his bones like lines meticulously carved by the world's finest sculptor. Under the warm yellow light, the grooves of his back muscles were faintly visible. As he tossed the wok, his shoulder blades spread like butterfly wings, containing restrained yet powerful strength. In the heat of the kitchen, a few beads of sweat slowly slid down his clear spinal groove, disappearing into the edge of his suit trousers, leaving an ambiguous trace of moisture. "Sizzle—" The hot oil in the wok crackled. Yu Wanwan was completely immersed in her bold fantasy, unable to extricate herself. Thinking of the 'restricted' scene in her mind, a huge, furtive joy and satisfaction made her burst out laughing. The laughter was particularly clear and abrupt in the kitchen, where only the sound of the range hood hummed. Zhang Jingxu paused mid-stir, turning back in surprise. He saw Yu Wanwan holding up her phone, the camera still aimed at him, but she herself was laughing with curved brows and flushed cheeks, even her earlobes tinged with a suspicious pink. Not only that, but her smile... carried an indescribably sneaky feeling. In the words of netizens, she had a strong 'sense of stealth.' At that moment, oblivious to being so boldly 'lusted after' by the woman before him, Zhang Jingxu stared at her blankly for a few seconds, his voice flat but full of confusion. "What's wrong?" His voice abruptly pulled Yu Wanwan back from her 'feast of fantasy.' "Huh?" Their eyes met, and Yu Wanwan's heart skipped a beat. Flustered, she lowered her phone to hide something. She sucked in the flesh of her cheeks, making a funny, weird expression to suppress the smile curling at the corners of her mouth. Her eyes darted around, afraid to meet his, and she made up an excuse to justify her sudden laughter. "Nothing... nothing at all. I just... suddenly thought of something hilarious." Damn it, how did I manage to imagine myself into that?! Now completely sober, Yu Wanwan felt like a pervert, actually fantasizing about her contract husband cooking shirtless, and even laughing about it! Internally, she started shifting the blame for her shameful behavior: It's those netizens who led me astray. Zhang Jingxu's deep gaze lingered for two seconds on her flushed earlobes and forced calm expression. He clearly didn't believe her. He was about to ask again when Yu Wanwan spoke first. Afraid he would see through her little thoughts, her voice was notably urgent. "Don't look at me, look at the wok. Don't overcook the beef." The beef had already been stir-fried, just waiting to be plated. Seeing Yu Wanwan deliberately avoiding the topic, Zhang Jingxu dropped further questions, turning off the heat and scooping the scallion beef out of the wok. The braised pork in the clay pot was bubbling. Zhang Jingxu used a towel to lift the lid, picked out the spices one by one, added the scored abalone, and started reducing the sauce over high heat. Dinner was almost ready. Yu Wanwan carried the dishes out of the kitchen, took a close-up of the feast on the table for the cover, then spoke playfully to the camera: "Alright, time to eat! While watching this video, remember to have your meals on time too!" With that, she turned off her phone, finally completing another video. Because of that little incident in the kitchen, Yu Wanwan kept her head down during the meal, trying hard not to meet his eyes. It was said that geniuses could see through others' thoughts in a second. Yu Wanwan was wary of that saying. If Zhang Jingxu really saw through her dirty thoughts, she might as well go find some noodles to hang herself in the kitchen. Since Zhang Jingxu had cooked, Yu Wanwan took the initiative to clear the table after the meal. Then it was time for the 'love lesson.' She chose the study for this lesson, and today she had deliberately bought a blackboard. Trying hard to calm her uneasy heart, Yu Wanwan put on a pair of rimless glasses, making herself look like a cool, authoritative intellectual who could intimidate him. She gathered her courage to meet his eyes, quickly switching into teacher mode. "Yesterday we studied 'Mindset Building.' Today we start the second lesson, titled: 'Interactive Operations: Entering Her Happy Planet.'" Zhang Jingxu sat at the desk, a fountain pen in hand, like a good student, beginning to take notes. Yu Wanwan picked up a piece of chalk and drew three lines on the blackboard. "Still divided into three points. First point: First, your phone must have plenty of emojis and funny, interesting videos ready to share." Zhang Jingxu looked seriously at the blackboard, listening intently. "Let's talk about emojis. Your emojis can be funny, silly, interesting, or even cute, but absolutely not vulgar or off-putting. What counts as vulgar? Large-scale pictures that make crude jokes about women, or emojis cursing family members—all of that is vulgar. And most importantly—your emojis must be ones you collected yourself. You absolutely must not steal her emojis, especially if you steal hers and then send them back to her. This is very bad behavior in a romantic relationship, understand?" "Mm," he said, continuing to write swiftly on the paper, and began to question: "But why?" She explained patiently. "Because it makes the other person feel that you're too lazy to even find basic emojis yourself when chatting with her. It makes you seem insincere." The man nodded vaguely. "Makes sense." Yu Wanwan recalled chatting with him before. He seemed to use emojis, but very few and repetitive. So she asked, "So do you have emojis saved on your phone?" Zhang Jingxu said, "Yes." Yu Wanwan held out her hand. "Let me see if your emojis pass the test." Zhang Jingxu took out his phone, unlocked it, opened WeChat, and handed it to her. Yu Wanwan clicked on their chat interface and was surprised to find he had nearly 500 emojis, almost as many as she, an emoji hoarder. And each one was especially funny and silly. As she looked through them, she felt an irresistible urge to steal his emojis—in fact, she had already started. Which internet-famous kid was this? So cute, steal it. I've looked for this one for ages, he has the high-definition, no-watermark version, steal it. He has the full set of this silly monkey meme, steal it. And this one, this one, and this one—steal them all... Zhang Jingxu stood aside, his narrow eyes sizing up Yu Wanwan, who had just said not to steal others' emojis but was now happily stealing his emojis from his WeChat, and spoke coolly: "Didn't you say we shouldn't steal others' emojis?" "Uh..." Yu Wanwan paused momentarily, but only momentarily, then continued without looking up. "I said you can't steal your girlfriend's emojis. I didn't say you can't steal a friend's emojis. A friend's emojis can be freely stolen." Zhang Jingxu: "..." Such a word difference allows this level of arrogance? After Yu Wanwan had stolen almost all his emojis, she returned his phone and walked to the blackboard, pushing up the glasses that had slid down her nose, switching back to teacher mode. "After my thorough inspection, your emojis are fully qualified. Now that we have sufficient 'ammunition,' we need to learn the second point. The second and third points can be studied together. That is, the rhythm of conversation, how to chat, how to not make it awkward while... showing her your interesting soul." She said: "First, and most importantly, men must absolutely not be greasy. You need to know your position. Right now, you've just added each other on WeChat. You're not even at the point of flirting. So don't start calling her 'baby' or 'wifey'—intimate terms that can only be used after the relationship is confirmed. Doing so will make the girl feel uncomfortable and also make you seem cheap." "Especially 'little girl'!" Yu Wanwan emphasized. "That term, when spoken by a man, is like gutter oil—both greasy and disgusting. I can't imagine how any man can use 'little girl'—an ancient term for female servants—to address his lover. It's absolutely malicious! So if you two eventually become lovers, you must never call your girlfriend 'little girl.' Once that term leaves your lips, no matter how handsome you are, your girlfriend will perceive you as a feudal, greasy, off-putting middle-aged man. Understand?" Zhang Jingxu listened, then offered his own opinion. "But 'little girl' doesn't entirely mean 'maid servant' from ancient times. It can also mean 'little kid,' and many elders use it to address younger ones." Yu Wanwan, hearing his 'rebuttal': "..." This guy really can't chat. She strode forward, placed both hands on the desk, and demanded: "So you mean you'll call your girlfriend 'little girl' in the future?" "No, I was just offering my opinion." Sensing she might be angry, Zhang Jingxu leaned back slightly, his voice notably lowered. "Your opinion is best left unsaid!" Yu Wanwan huffed. "Regardless of whether the term has other meanings, you cannot use it to address your lover. Besides, you said it's a term used by elders for younger ones. An elder calling a younger one 'little girl' shows affection. A boyfriend calling his girlfriend 'little girl' is disgusting and off-putting. Got it?" She practically shouted the last sentence. Having little patience for men to begin with, Yu Wanwan was now not only impatient but also particularly irritable. She walked to the blackboard, raised the piece of chalk in her hand as if to throw it at him, and warned: "If you dare disrupt class again with that straight-man brain of yours, I'll beat you up!" This was supposed to be a love lesson, and he turned it into a debate. "I understand." His reply was extremely subdued, and he seemed genuinely wronged, yet he didn't dare flinch in the face of Yu Wanwan's potential attack.