Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him, her face showing undisguised admiration: "Zhang Jingxu, you're amazing! I feel like you can cook any type of dish!"
Zhang Jingxu picked up a glass of water and took a sip. Although his heart was blooming with joy from her praise, his face remained calm: "I'm a bit interested in cooking, so I've studied it specifically."
He said, "Can we eat now?"
"Mm." Yu Wanwan nodded vigorously, sat down eagerly, and took a piece of steak. The outside was charred and fragrant, the inside juicy. The doneness was perfect.
She squinted with satisfaction, like a cat being petted: "So delicious. Even better than a three-Michelin-star chef's."
Zhang Jingxu sat opposite her, watching her unpretentious expression of contentment. His gaze lingered for a moment on the corner of her mouth where a bit of sauce had stained, then he looked away calmly.
"Glad you like it."
Dinner proceeded in an unusually harmonious atmosphere. Yu Wanwan ate while brainstorming the title for this footage.
She secretly glanced at the man quietly eating across from her, and her heart inexplicably beat a little faster. This man seemed even more of a "treasure" than she had imagined.
This marriage, which had started as a transaction, seemed to be becoming interesting.
After dinner, they went to the study to continue the "love lessons."
Yu Wanwan stood in front of him, putting on the air of a strict teacher: "Today's lesson will be a bit longer, but it's all essence. Don't let it go in one ear and out the other. After all... this is your last lesson."
Zhang Jingxu, who was flipping through his notebook, suddenly paused, his expression surprised: "Today is the last lesson?"
"Of course." Yu Wanwan put her hands on her hips, her tone carrying a hint of relief as if she were finally being freed. "We're taking an accelerated love course, not political history. There are only a few core points to talk about. You don't expect me to give you extra lessons every day, do you?"
Inner thoughts: This guy has no idea how many brain cells I've burned coming up with these lessons.
"But only four days of lessons... I'm afraid I won't learn it." He said, his tone full of reluctance that the course was ending.
Yu Wanwan raised her voice a little: "If you can't learn, listen carefully! Take good notes. Anyway, what I teach is just book knowledge. The rest depends on your own understanding and practice."
"Alright, let's start the lesson now." She turned around and quickly erased yesterday's content from the blackboard, then wrote today's topic: "The Way to a Long and Happy Relationship."
"First point: always maintain gentlemanly behavior. Don't think that just because you've confirmed your relationship, everything is smooth sailing and you can do whatever you want." She tapped the blackboard, her expression as serious as if announcing a constitution. "You've only confirmed a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, not a marital relationship! So in the early stages of dating, you absolutely must not make shameless requests like 'I want to sleep with you' or 'I want to kiss you,' especially after she has clearly refused. Hinting at it repeatedly is a major turn-off for girls. Understood?"
Zhang Jingxu seriously digested the knowledge point, then asked, "Then can we hold hands?"
"In principle, if she doesn't mind, of course you can hold hands." Yu Wanwan's tone softened a little, and she rolled her eyes inwardly: Men always care most about physical contact.
She said, "But holding hands also has its rules. You can't just grab her hand right away. You need to create an opportunity to touch, then follow the flow and take her hand."
Zhang Jingxu looked at her with an expression of eager learning: "So what's the specific procedure?"
Seeing this, Yu Wanwan began to share her experience enthusiastically: "For example, after your date ends, you walk her home. When you're walking side by side, you can pretend to casually brush the back of your hand against hers. Do it a few times. If she doesn't resist, you can then take her hand. Since you've just confirmed your relationship, both of you are a little shy at this point. The advantage of this method is that not only can you hold her hand, but you also create a little tacit intimacy."
She spoke with excitement, as if she had practiced it many times. "Or, as I mentioned in the third lesson, buy a bucket of popcorn at the movies. When reaching for the popcorn, accidentally touch her hand. If you're watching a horror movie, holding her hand tightly in the popcorn bucket will definitely make her feel safe."
"Oh—" he said thoughtfully, a glint of light in his eyes. He lowered his head to take notes. "Got it."
Yu Wanwan nodded with satisfaction and continued: "Anyway, early in the relationship, you can hold hands and hug, but more intimate acts like being naked together should be saved for when you're married."
She switched topics: "Next is chatting and communication. I've already taught you how to talk to someone you like. Now I'll teach you how to communicate with your girlfriend. The most important thing in communicating with a girlfriend is understanding her needs."
"Let's start the practical lesson now." She gave him a question: "If your girlfriend sends a message complaining, 'Work is so tiring, the boss is making me work overtime, I don't want to do this anymore,' how would you reply?"
Zhang Jingxu frowned in deep thought, his expression as serious as analyzing a billion-dollar merger. After a while, he answered in a measured and precise tone: "Since work makes you unhappy, then quit." He paused, then proposed what he thought was a better solution, "Or let her come to work at my company. My company doesn't encourage unnecessary overtime."
"..." Hearing this, Yu Wanwan felt darkness before her eyes and almost fainted from anger.
Sensing her expression was off, Zhang Jingxu instantly looked like a child who had done something wrong and cautiously asked, "Can't... can't I reply like that?"
"I feel like you've wasted all my previous lessons. You completely missed your girlfriend's needs." Yu Wanwan couldn't take it anymore and raised her voice several notches. "When your girlfriend sends you that, she obviously wants you to comfort her. Besides, whose job isn't tiring? She just complained a bit, and you tell her to quit?"
She even gave him an example: "If you complained to your mom that school is hard, would she let you drop out? And if she quits, how will she live? Will you support her?"
The job market is tough enough, and he dares to tell his girlfriend to quit. Unbelievable!
Zhang Jingxu listened to her rapid-fire complaints. Not only did he not realize his mistake, but he even answered her last question: "Sure, I can."
Yu Wanwan: "..."
She tremblingly gave a thumbs up and couldn't help but perform a "pinching her philtrum" gesture.
So angry, she was furious.
This guy either gives a straight-guy response or a CEO response. Can't he be normal?!
Zhang Jingxu looked at her exaggerated "first aid" actions, still not realizing his problem, and even said pitifully, "And didn't I offer a second solution?"
In her scenario, the girlfriend clearly said she didn't want to work anymore. Since the job is so tiring, what's wrong with quitting? If she doesn't quit and gets depression or dies from overwork, wouldn't that be a loss?
Yu Wanwan suppressed the urge to throw the blackboard eraser at him and said, "Your second solution is to let her come work at your company? But have you considered that your girlfriend might have studied fashion design, and it doesn't match your company's specialty?"
"Then..." Zhang Jingxu frowned, thought for about ten seconds, and then his brows gradually relaxed. He said calmly, "Spend some money to open a studio for her so she can do what she's good at?"
"..."
When Yu Wanwan heard that after thinking so long, he came up with that answer, the only expression on her face was stunned.
She felt her temples throbbing, and even her chest area began to ache.
This man had made her experience the frustration of teaching a dense child homework even before becoming a mother.
He was an utterly incorrigible disciple!
She couldn't hold back any longer. Her complaints poured out like a flood: "I find you're just like a pig; the moment you think, you make me laugh. How did you even get into Stanford? Did your dad donate a building? I just realized today that what's on top of your neck isn't a head at all—it's a coconut that sloshes when shaken. Your brain is completely waterlogged. Seriously, teaching you is giving me work-related injuries!"