Singing a single’s anthem on Qixi Festival?
No wonder Xu Zhiyuan had smiled so slyly.
His wife, quiet by nature, truly had a touch of liveliness in her.
He Jiayu nodded, “The song title sounds quite fitting. Is it the one you were composing earlier? No wonder the melody didn’t sound particularly cheerful.”
Xu Zhiyuan, feeling affirmed, smiled. Unlike her previous reserved and deliberate smiles, this one was genuine and heartfelt.
“I’ll let you listen once I’ve recorded the demo,” Xu Zhiyuan said. “When the song is released, it’s sure to have quite an impact.”
He Jiayu agreed, “A heart-wrenching impact?”
Xu Zhiyuan chuckled without denying it.
Heart-wrenching it might be, but as long as the song was good, that was all that mattered.
After dinner, Xu Zhiyuan dove back into the audio-visual room, only returning to her bedroom after finishing the demo.
At that moment, she hadn’t yet realized a problem—until she stepped out of the shower and ran into He Jiayu, who had just entered.
“You… you’re done?”
What she really wanted to ask was why he was here.
Had the sleeping arrangement issue already come up? She thought it would take a few more days, but who knew He Jiayu would return today?
He Jiayu looked at her slightly widened deer-like eyes, a flicker of amusement passing through his gaze, though his expression remained unchanged. Only when his eyes swept over the snowy white of her chest did they pause briefly.
He was a perfectly normal man; having desires was natural. And since the person before him was his wife, it was even more normal for such desires to arise.
But it seemed his wife wasn’t quite ready yet.
“I’ll go take a shower first.”
“Ah! Oh, oh, go ahead then.”
Xu Zhiyuan’s voice stumbled, and her ears flushed red.
What should she do? They were about to share a bed now. Did that mean they’d have to… do that? Wasn’t this too fast? She could accept her married status, but they barely knew each other. They’d only met twice—were they really going to… do that?
Probably not. Maybe she was just scaring herself. He Jiayu didn’t even like her. The novel had said that before meeting the female lead, he had never liked anyone and had always kept himself pure. As the devoted second male lead, he was surely saving himself for the female lead.
Thinking this, Xu Zhiyuan relaxed a little, though she still felt somewhat uneasy.
The female lead hadn’t even appeared yet. Right now, she was He Jiayu’s legitimate wife. Even without feelings, as a married man, He Jiayu shouldn’t be thinking of other women. Otherwise, wouldn’t that be emotional infidelity?
It wasn’t jealousy or possessiveness, just a sense of ownership acting up.
Xu Zhiyuan’s thoughts were a jumbled mess. She stood by the bed, unsure for how long, and was still there when He Jiayu finished his shower. Even from a distance, he could sense her distress and hesitation.
“What are you thinking about?”
Xu Zhiyuan jumped, turning around to see He Jiayu standing behind her.
He held a towel in one hand, drying his hair, dressed neatly in pajamas. Water droplets slid down the veins on his neck before disappearing into his collar. Though he wasn’t exposing any skin, there was an undeniable tension about him.
For a moment, Xu Zhiyuan was mesmerized.
No wonder the female lead later struggled between him and the male lead—He Jiayu was truly handsome.
Wait, what was she thinking?
Xu Zhiyuan snapped back to reality. Was this really the time to be thinking about such things? She should be considering what to do if He Jiayu wanted to do… that.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, nothing.” Xu Zhiyuan quickly lifted the blanket and got into bed. As soon as she lay down, she felt something was off. Why had she just lain down? She should have found something else to do.
Holding the blanket, she wondered whether to get up again. When she looked up, she saw He Jiayu gazing at her, his eyes deep and unfathomable. She couldn’t quite read the emotion in them, but she felt the atmosphere was starting to turn a bit ambiguous.
“W-what is it? Is there something on my face?” Xu Zhiyuan raised her hand to touch her face but didn’t feel anything.
Seeing her flushed cheeks, He Jiayu smiled inwardly. “No. Do you want to sit up? Your hair doesn’t seem dry yet. It’s not good to sleep like this.”
Xu Zhiyuan touched her hair. It was indeed still a bit damp. She had forgotten about it earlier.
She gave an awkward laugh, then sat up and leaned against the headboard. To avoid further awkwardness, she picked up her phone.
He Jiayu chuckled softly and got into bed from the other side. He didn’t make any unnecessary moves, simply leaning against the headboard like Xu Zhiyuan and looking at his phone.
Xu Zhiyuan secretly observed He Jiayu out of the corner of her eye. Seeing that he was also focused on his phone with no other intentions or actions, she gradually relaxed.
She knew it was normal for their relationship to progress physically, and… that was a normal physiological need. Besides, they were legally married. But she really couldn’t bring herself to be intimate with someone she had only met twice, no matter how handsome he was or how good his figure. At the very least, they needed to wait a little longer.
The atmosphere was quiet, yet strangely harmonious.
Xu Zhiyuan went from being tense at first to gradually relaxing, her attention eventually captured by the content on her phone.
She was watching Douyin short videos, specifically searching for clips of singers to understand the entertainment works and vocal talents of this world. Time flew by as she watched, and before she knew it, it was already 10:30. Xu Zhiyuan touched her hair—it was completely dry now. She turned off the internet, locked her screen, placed the phone on the nightstand, switched off the light, and lay down to sleep.
As she turned over, she met He Jiayu’s gaze directly.
Only the bedside lamp on He Jiayu’s side was still on in the room. The warm glow illuminated him, making him appear even softer.
Xu Zhiyuan: …!
She had forgotten there was another person here.
“Um…”
He Jiayu let out a helpless, light chuckle. He had witnessed Xu Zhiyuan’s entire series of actions just now—smooth and seamless, clearly showing she had forgotten about him, a living person right beside her.
“Let’s sleep.” He also placed his phone on the nightstand and turned off his bedside lamp.
Instantly, the room plunged into darkness, with only the moonlight outside sneaking in through the gaps in the curtains.
In the dark, vision faded first, but other senses were amplified. Unlike the relaxed He Jiayu beside her, Xu Zhiyuan’s body was tense, and she didn’t dare move recklessly.
He Jiayu sensed this, thinking it wouldn’t do if she stayed like this. But he didn’t disturb Xu Zhiyuan, not wanting to make her even more nervous and risk her being unable to sleep at all.
He had no idea how much time had passed when the person beside him finally relaxed, breathing steadily. Only then did He Jiayu turn to look at Xu Zhiyuan, and at the sight, he couldn’t help but laugh again. The bed was large, yet Xu Zhiyuan was pressed against the edge, leaving enough space between them to park an airplane.
He had never met anyone quite like Xu Zhiyuan before. Suddenly, He Jiayu felt that marriage might not be so bad after all.