"Right." Mi Xiaonai expressed the same doubt. "I'm also curious, what did you teach him? Don't tell me you're trying to embarrass him in front of his crush?"
"Listen to yourself." Hearing her friend's 'malicious' guess, Yu Wanwan pretended to be annoyed. "Do I look that mean? Of course I taught him something useful. How could I possibly teach him to embarrass himself!"
Mi Xiaonai smiled awkwardly. "It's just that you loved to pick on him back in school. That's etched into my DNA."
Yu Wanwan crossed her arms in front of her chest and said seriously, "I've reformed now, okay!"
Gu Enzhun asked again, "So what did you teach him?"
Yu Wanwan elegantly ate a piece of mango pancake and said slowly, "Just... taught him some brainteaser knowledge."
Both friends: "...Huh?"
Gu Enzhun didn't understand. "What do brainteasers have to do with chasing a girl?"
"A lot!" Yu Wanwan's mouth was full of cream, speaking indistinctly. "The girl he's chasing is a fun-loving girl. I taught him brainteasers to train his mental flexibility and his ability to catch puns. And I've only taught him the first lesson."
Mi Xiaonai frowned, digesting her logic for a long time, then showed a look of being impressed without understanding. "I'm suddenly curious about the specific content of your subsequent lessons."
Gu Enzhun ate cake and teased, "I remember you clearly said in school that you didn't like guys like Zhang Jingxu in terms of looks and personality. Who knew you'd end up marrying him, and you've been praising him for being handsome in the group chat. That's totally unlike you."
"But he really is very handsome now." As she spoke, Yu Wanwan couldn't help but imagine Zhang Jingxu's current appearance.
"For you to praise him that much, just how handsome is he?" Mi Xiaonai asked. She was growing more curious about her friend's husband. "He didn't get plastic surgery, did he? When will you have a chance to bring him over to show us?"
"No plastic surgery. Anyway..." She thought seriously. "Same face, but his temperament and personality are completely different from when he was a kid. In short, he's very handsome, so handsome that I kind of want to turn our fake marriage into a real one, hahahaha."
Yu Wanwan's imagination began to run wild. "If you want to see him, you can come to my house another day."
"Since you like him so much, just make it real." Hearing her friend's idea, Mi Xiaonai excitedly urged, "As the saying goes, 'A water front is the first to get the moonlight.' Train him and keep him for yourself. Don't let good fortune go to outsiders. How great! And you fit the type of funny girl he likes."
"Forget it." Yu Wanwan sighed, slowly poking the cake with her fork. "He likes funny girls, but that doesn't mean he'd like a funny girl like me. Besides, I used to bully him so much. How could he like me?"
"But he's willing to marry you now." Gu Enzhun leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Honestly, in this day and age, what guy is so innocent that he doesn't know how to chase a girl? Maybe this is his clumsy excuse to get close to you."
"And he has such good luck with money!" Mi Xiaonai slapped the table and concluded, "Letting go of such a prime catch, you'll regret it later!"
Yu Wanwan shook her head, her voice becoming vague. "Forget it. It's fine for us to just stay as friends and teacher-student now."
"And he definitely didn't lie. He really doesn't know how to date, and he has no idea how to interact with girls." Yu Wanwan firmly believed this.
Maybe geniuses are always lonely. Zhang Jingxu had been introverted and rigid since childhood. He didn't like to talk, didn't make friends, and didn't like going out. From a young age, not only did he have few friends of the opposite sex, he even had few male friends.
He could easily solve a math problem that left others scratching their heads, but when it came to how to get along with people, he was truly clueless.
Yu Wanwan sometimes wondered if he had social anxiety.
Seeing her firm stance, Mi Xiaonai sighed, "True. I remember you used to threaten him, saying that if he dared to like you, you'd beat him to death. It's not that he doesn't like you, it's that he doesn't dare to like you."
Gu Enzhun chimed in, "Our Little Fish was indeed too fierce back then."
After finishing the desserts, Mi Xiaonai suggested going for hotpot. Normally, Yu Wanwan would never refuse, but this time, she stood up and declined, saying, "Someone's cooking at home."
So the hotpot plan fell through because of Yu Wanwan's early departure.
When Yu Wanwan got home, Zhang Jingxu had already finished work and was leaned back on the living room sofa. His phone was playing a BGM she knew all too well...
He was watching the video she had posted yesterday.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. After all, they had agreed on a contract marriage. She had unilaterally posted 'sweet' interactions online without his consent.
Zhang Jingxu heard her approaching footsteps, looked up, and stood up. "You're back?"
Yu Wanwan gave him an unnatural smile and sat down across from him.
She wasn't sure how he felt about seeing her videos. Whether he was disgusted or not. She decided to take the initiative. "Have you seen the videos I posted these past two days?"
The man hummed lightly in affirmation.
Not only had he watched them, he was even a diamond-level fan of Yu Wanwan.
Yu Wanwan asked cautiously, "Then... do you mind me filming you and saying those things?"
"No, I don't mind."
Hearing this, Yu Wanwan breathed a sigh of relief. After thinking for a moment, she mustered the courage to make the request she had been brewing all day. "Actually, I originally posted that video to spite my ex. But I found that people really like watching videos of you. So... would you mind if I filmed you in the future?"
"I don't mind." Zhang Jingxu repeated the same words. He understood her job involved shooting various content daily. "I understand your work. Shoot whatever you want."
Shoot whatever you want. Yu Wanwan murmured these words, her heart swelling with joy. She tested further, "Then can you cook dinner every evening from now on and provide material for my videos?"
"Alright."
Seeing this, Yu Wanwan pressed her luck. "Then can you also cooperate with me in filming some more intimate videos?"
Seeing a hint of shock in his eyes, Yu Wanwan quickly added, "Don't worry, I won't let you work for free. In return, we'll split the video revenue seventy-thirty. Is that okay?"
Zhang Jingxu didn't answer immediately. His gaze fell back on his phone screen.
Playing the role of a 'loving couple' in front of the camera... sounded quite interesting.
While waiting for Zhang Jingxu to consider, Yu Wanwan was on tenterhooks, afraid he would refuse her unreasonable requests. She whispered, "If that's not okay, even a sixty-forty split works for me."
Zhang Jingxu tapped his fingertips lightly on his knee. After careful consideration, he looked up. "Alright."
"Really?" Yu Wanwan didn't expect him to agree so readily. A broad smile broke out on her face. She took out a menu she had prepared earlier and handed it to him. "Let's start now. I have the menu and ingredients ready. Take a look."
Zhang Jingxu took the menu. Her handwriting was round and soft, like neatly arranged QQ candies.
Scallion beef, poached freshwater shrimp, salted egg yolk chicken wings, braised pork with abalone, and tomato and egg soup.
Compared to the three dishes from yesterday that tested knife skills, today's were simple home-cooked dishes with no difficulty.
Zhang Jingxu shook the paper, stood up, and walked into the open kitchen to start cooking.
Yu Wanwan immediately followed him like a little tail, holding up her phone. Her lens locked onto his figure. In her eyes, Zhang Jingxu was the center of the world.
Zhang Jingxu walked to the sink, slowly rolled up his shirt sleeves, revealing a section of his firm forearm.
The water rushed as he meticulously washed his hands. His knobby, well-defined hands appeared exceptionally long and strong under the water.
Yu Wanwan instinctively zoomed in the lens,
giving him a close-up of his hands.
Not just the fans watching her videos, but even Yu Wanwan herself, upon seeing Zhang Jingxu's hands, felt an uncontrollable urge to reach out and touch them.
She swallowed and continued filming.
The beef had been soaked to remove blood. Zhang Jingxu took the beef out of the water, rinsed it, and wiped off the surface moisture. Then he started preparing the ingredients and cutting.
Yu Wanwan held her breath, carefully recording every movement below his neck, especially his hands—
He picked up a tomato still dotted with water droplets, his fingertips gently pressing into the plump flesh, removing the top stem. The bright red juice almost oozed out, forming a stark visual contrast with his pale skin.
The summer dusk was exceptionally long. Across from the sink was a large, spotless glass window that could be pushed outward.
The distant sunset was reflected in front of the window, like a beautiful oil painting. Sunlight streamed in from afar, illuminating his focused and serious profile, lending him a soft golden glow.
The light and angle at this time were especially good. Yu Wanwan didn't want to miss this warm but brief natural light. She shifted angles behind him, capturing many shots.
Now, a faint white smoke rose from the hot oil in the wok. The man held the pan handle with one hand, lightly flicking his wrist, and orange flames licked the rim of the wok, lighting up his calm, focused brows and slightly rolling Adam's apple.
Yu Wanwan occasionally commentated, but mostly immersed herself in filming.
She filmed a segment of the beef being stir-fried in the wok, then took two steps back, looking at his tall, straight back. Suddenly, she remembered a comment she had seen earlier from a netizen: "I really want to see a video of the blogger's husband cooking without a shirt."
A girl's mind is always full of flexible, rich imagination. At that moment, she stared at his back focused on cooking, and couldn't help but fantasize about the scenario the netizen had mentioned.
What would that scene be like? Yu Wanwan began to daydream...