Combined with the fact that she had unexpectedly seen news online today about Yu Wanwan being heroically saved by her ex-boyfriend yesterday, and many netizens suddenly began to suspect that the couple's relationship was fake, Yu Ruosu was certain the two had a fight yesterday.
But she kept it to herself, waiting for the young couple to offer a reasonable explanation.
Faced with Yu Ruosu's questioning, Yu Wanwan felt unable to defend herself. She nervously bit her lower lip, her heart pounding wildly, and her head nearly drooped into her bowl.
Sure enough, her mother-in-law had figured it out.
Zhang Jingxu continued with his previous rhetoric, trying to brush it off with a light tone: "We... haven't been sleeping in separate rooms."
Upon hearing this, Yu Ruosu immediately shot him a sharp look: "Don't treat your mom like a three-year-old. If you haven't been sleeping separately, why is everything in the second bedroom Wanwan's?"
She pressed again: "What's really going on?"
Yu Wanwan's knuckles holding the chopsticks turned white from exertion. She wanted to speak up and share some of the pressure, but she lacked the strength to argue.
Zhang Changgeng, who had been silently eating, now joined the ranks of those interrogating the young couple. He said earnestly: "Honestly, you two, you've only been married a short while and you're already fighting? And you're even sleeping in separate rooms—that's serious. Your mom and I have never slept apart because of a fight since we got married."
He put down his chopsticks and became a self-appointed judge: "All right, your mom and I will act as impartial judges. Whoever is wrong, I'll criticize—no favoritism. Tell us, what was the fight about?"
Zhang Changgeng waited for a long time, but the couple opposite remained silent.
He suddenly felt puzzled: "No one's talking? Are you two that in sync?"
Yu Ruosu's gaze swept over them, her tone softening a bit: "All right, if you don't want to talk, we won't ask. After all, it's your business. But from today on, you must sleep together and resolve your issues privately. Can you do that?"
Seeing the couple still silent, Yu Ruosu directly called on them, asking gently: "Wanwan, is that okay?"
Yu Wanwan hesitated for two seconds, then nodded slightly: "Mm."
After dealing with her, Yu Ruosu turned her gaze to her son: "You, after dinner, move your wife's things to the master bedroom. Understood?"
Zhang Jingxu responded with a faint "Mm" and involuntarily glanced at Yu Wanwan.
Actually, Yu Ruosu probably knew that the main reason for the couple's discord might be Yu Wanwan and her ex, but she didn't call it out. Instead, she said: "Although how you live your lives is your business, I hope you won't sleep apart the next time you fight. Wanwan, if he makes a mistake, let him sleep on the floor, not in the second bedroom. The second bedroom is too comfortable. If you let him be too comfortable, he'll make the same mistake again, understand?"
Having said that, she was not "partial" to her son: "If the problem is with your wife, give in a little—she's a girl. If you really can't, just sleep back-to-back in the same bed, okay?"
Her response, once again, was a single, terse "Mm" from her son.
Seeing that both had agreed to her request, Yu Ruosu finally picked up her chopsticks contentedly and even kindly placed a peeled shrimp in Yu Wanwan's bowl: "Let's eat then. Wanwan, have a shrimp."
Seeing how easily his wife handled the young couple, Zhang Changgeng looked at her with admiration and said to the couple opposite with a hint of pride: "Your mom really knows how to handle people."
After dinner, Yu Ruosu immediately turned into a supervisor with Zhang Changgeng, standing in the second-floor hallway to monitor the "moving" process. Only after seeing them both enter the master bedroom did she stretch and say gently: "Good night."
The master bedroom door closed, plunging the room into silence. Yu Wanwan hugged her long banana pillow, feeling like an intruder in a forbidden zone, standing at the bedside looking at Zhang Jingxu at a loss.
Having just had a quarrel the night before, being forced into the same room was incredibly awkward.
Zhang Jingxu glanced at her and, like the first time they shared a bed, took two new pillows and placed them in the middle as a boundary. He deliberately left more space for Yu Wanwan before climbing onto the bed unhurriedly, but he avoided eye contact, and his tone was somewhat distant: "Sleep."
Darkness filled the bedroom, leaving only the sound of their faint breathing.
Yu Wanwan lay stiffly on the bed. The mattress beneath her seemed to have a consciousness, conveying every tiny movement to the other side.
The space was filled with a distinctly masculine scent, as if constantly reminding her that this was his territory.
Don't move, don't roll over... Knowing she was a restless sleeper, Yu Wanwan chanted frantically in her mind. But her mind uncontrollably flashed images of her clinging to him like an octopus, and she could even imagine the look of surprise or teasing in his deep eyes when he woke up the next morning.
Just imagining it made her ears burn.
"Can't sleep?" The man's deep voice suddenly broke the silence, startling her.
So he was awake too. This realization made the air feel even thicker.
"...No," she bit her lower lip and whispered, but her body honestly shifted another half inch outward.
That self-deceiving half inch made her lose her center of gravity, nearly causing her to roll off the bed.
At that critical moment, Zhang Jingxu reacted quickly, reaching out his arm to block her waist. He pulled her back, and in a dizzying spin, Yu Wanfan didn't fall off the bed but instead rolled into the center and directly into Zhang Jingxu's arms.
Her nose pressed against his chest, and a tense atmosphere instantly spread through her body.
He turned on the light, sat up from the bed, and seeing that Yu Wanwan was deliberately avoiding him, he said in a hoarse voice: "If you're uncomfortable, I'll sleep on the floor."
With that, he picked up his blanket and started to leave. But Yu Wanwan suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.
At that moment, she noticed that Zhang Jingxu was still wearing the red string she had given him in Queshui Town.
Zhang Jingxu turned back, a questioning look in his eyes.
Yu Wanwan's heart seemed to burn where the glaring red string touched. She carefully let go, pulled her blanket, and muttered: "Just... let's sleep."
They each lay at the very edges of the bed, with enough space in the middle for two more adults. After a long struggle, Yu Wanwan finally voiced the apology that had been on the tip of her tongue countless times: "Zhang Jingxu, I'm sorry."
This apology wasn't just for the scene at the hospital but also for the scorching pain she saw in his eyes last night, which had made her heart ache.
She had never seen Zhang Jingxu like that—the out-of-control kiss and the vulnerability afterward—it was like a thorn lodged in her heart.
This sudden apology caught Zhang Jingxu off guard. He turned to look at her, unable to believe his ears: "What did you say?"
Yu Wanwan had her back to him, her fingers nervously picking at her banana pillow, her voice faint: "Even though we're a 'contract couple,' I think I still need to explain to you. Nothing happened between me and the guy at the hospital. That hug was forced on me. His shoulder wound was so serious, and he just had surgery—I really didn't dare push him away."
As Zhang Jingxu listened, the iceberg in his heart instantly began to melt. He opened his mouth to say something, but his throat was so parched he couldn't utter a word.
She explained. She clarified. She even apologized.
But she still referred to them as a "contract couple." Those four words were like a transparent barrier, framing all her gestures of goodwill and explanations within the scope of a "business partner's professional ethics." His joy hadn't even fully risen before it was mixed with gritty sand.