First, then, love.

It's 11:30 p.m.

After washing up, Shu Yao stood in front of the master bedroom door and took a deep breath.

Tonight, we absolutely cannot let yesterday morning's tragedy repeat itself.

The experience of clinging to him like an octopus, her face pressed against his chest muscles, and accidentally touching that terrifying size, was enough to kill her once.

She opened the door.

He Zheng was already lying on the left side of the bed, holding his phone and looking at the group messages of the brigade.

In the center of the bed, the three huge cushions, resembling the Chu-Han border, were already placed on the bed, as stable as Mount Tai.

Shu Yao walked to the right side of the bed, stood by the bed, and pulled the silk quilt completely to her side.

Then she lay down on the mattress.

Grabbing the edge of the blanket with both hands, he rolled it forcefully to the left, pressing the left half of the blanket firmly under his body.

Then, she rolled to the right, tightly wrapping the right half of the blanket around herself.

Finally, kick the corner of the blanket up from under your feet, fold it in, and press it down.

Less than a minute.

Shu Yao wrapped herself up like a tightly sealed spring roll.

Even his arms were tightly bound under the blanket, leaving only his head exposed.

perfect.

With this level of physical defense, let alone sleepwalking, she wouldn't even be able to roll over during an earthquake.

Hearing the noise, He Zheng put down his phone and turned to look.

I saw that stiff object on the bed, like a silkworm cocoon.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, and his eye twitched violently twice.

What are you doing?

His tone was laced with undisguised speechlessness.

"To keep warm and prevent sleepwalking." Shu Yao turned her head with difficulty in the "spring roll," and said confidently, "This way, even if I'm a terrible sleeper, I can't cross the line."

She paused, raising her chin slightly.

"For the sake of your innocence, you're welcome."

He Zheng looked at her like this and laughed in anger.

"OK."

He put down his phone, grabbed a thin blanket to cover himself, and turned off the bedside lamp.

"Let's see how long you can hold it in."

The bedroom was plunged into darkness.

*

One o'clock in the morning.

The air conditioner in the bedroom is set to 24 degrees Celsius.

Shu Yao woke up from the heat.

The silk quilt was already warm, and she wrapped herself up like a mummy, so the heat couldn't escape at all.

A thin layer of sweat seeped out on my back, sticky and uncomfortable.

She tried to turn over, but couldn't move; the blanket was pressing too tightly against her.

She wanted to stretch out one leg to get some fresh air, but she couldn't kick it because the corner of the blanket under her feet was folded too tightly.

She writhed and struggled in agony in her bed, like a fish stranded on the shore.

"Ugh..." she groaned in frustration.

Beside him, He Zheng was far from asleep.

He lay flat in the darkness, eyes open, listening to the rustling and painful groans coming from the "spring roll" next to him.

A cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

I didn't help, I didn't say anything, I just listened quietly as she trapped herself in her own mess.

Shu Yao struggled for a full twenty minutes, becoming breathless with exhaustion.

I'm completely exhausted.

She could only give up resisting, her forehead covered in sweat, and she drifted off to sleep in a state of frustration and heat.

That night, she indeed did not cross the line.

But when she woke up the next morning, the dark circles under her eyes were worse than if she had been punched.

*

Two months passed by in the blink of an eye.

Our cohabitation entered a strange period of stability.

He Zheng exercises every morning, buys breakfast, feeds the cats and dogs, and learns to cook by watching videos when he comes home in the evening. His cooking skills have evolved from "hard to swallow" to "barely edible".

Shu Yao still takes care of her skin, plays the violin, and directs him to do this and that every day without fail.

Shu Yao persisted with the "spring roll" sleeping method for three days, almost developing heat rash, and finally gave up.

They changed it back to the original three large cushion defense lines.

Strangely, ever since that night, the two of them have kept to themselves in bed.

Even if Shu Yao occasionally sleeps in a bad mood and kicks the pillow, He Zheng will coldly push her back into place in the dark.

Extremely disciplined, extremely restrained.

*

It's the weekend, 3 PM.

A high-end coffee shop in the city center.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the air was filled with the rich aroma of freshly ground coffee beans.

Shu Yao, wearing a khaki trench coat, sat on the sofa by the window, holding a small silver fork and cutting a piece of red velvet cake.

Across from her, Qiao Qiao, dressed in an exaggerated leopard-print coat, was vigorously stirring the iced shaken tea in her cup.

"It's been two months, Mrs. He. How's your cohabitation experience?" Qiao Qiao raised an eyebrow, looking quite gossipy.

Shu Yao put a small piece of cake in her mouth, swallowed it, and took a sip of water.

"That's how it is, he cooks, I wash the dishes, we just live together as a couple."

"Nothing else?" Qiaoqiao leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. "I mean, nightlife."

Shu Yao paused in her action of cutting the cake.

She raised her eyelids, glanced at Qiaoqiao, and looked calm.

"There's no nightlife. We just sit on opposite sides of the blanket and chat, sometimes we barely even chat, he just falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow."

"Clang!"

The long-handled spoon in Qiaoqiao's hand fell onto the table.

Her eyes widened like saucers, her face filled with disbelief.

"No, what are you talking about?" Qiao Qiao's voice suddenly rose, drawing the attention of the people sitting next to her.

She quickly lowered her voice, but the shock in her tone was still undeniable.

"You two got your marriage certificate, slept on a 2.2-meter-wide bed for two months, and nothing happened?!"

Shu Yao nodded. "Is it strange? We were just set up for a blind date and didn't have any feelings for each other."

"That's weird! That's really weird!" Qiaoqiao exclaimed anxiously, fidgeting in her chair.

"Look at you, with your face and figure, you have both a great chest and long legs, and you always flaunt your silk pajamas in front of him."

Qiaoqiao stretched out her finger and gestured.

"And look at He Zheng, 1.88 meters tall, broad shoulders, eight-pack abs, brimming with hormones, his physique looks like a wolf!"

Qiaoqiao took a deep breath and posed a soul-searching question.

"How could a hot-blooded SWAT team captain possibly remain unmoved in the face of such a beauty as you? Is he some kind of ruthless cultivator?"

Shu Yao felt a little guilty after hearing what she said.

In fact, she had thought about this question herself. Although He Zheng's attitude towards her was not exactly gentle, it was definitely not repulsive.

There might even be occasional intimate physical contact, such as pinching fingertips, sucking on scraped skin, or putting an arm around the waist.

But once in bed, he becomes as detached from worldly desires as an enlightened monk.

"Maybe... he's just too tired from work," Shu Yao offered a flimsy excuse. "His training intensity is very high every day."

"Bullshit!" Qiaoqiao called her out without any mercy.

"Don't you know the stamina of the SWAT team? Those guys are so energetic they could kill a bull! How could they be so tired that they don't have the strength to do that kind of thing?"

Qiao Qiao squinted, touched her chin, and her eyes sharpened, like Sherlock Holmes.

"Shu Yao, I have a serious question for you."

"What?"

"He..." Qiaoqiao lowered her voice, leaning close to Shuyao's ear, "Is he 'impotent'?"

Shu Yao's mind went blank for a moment.

The little silver fork in my hand almost poked off the plate.

"No?" she asked instinctively.

"That's right!" Qiaoqiao analyzed with a matter-of-fact expression.

"Think about it, no matter how impressive the hardware looks, it doesn't mean the software is without problems. Maybe he suffered some kind of workplace injury? Or has some psychological issues? Otherwise, what normal man could abstain from touching his legal wife for two months?"

Shu Yao's mind was a bit of a mess.

She bit her straw, recalling that chaotic morning more than half a month ago.

The enormous silhouette that stretched the gray sweatpants to the point of bursting, the scalding, hard, iron-like touch as it brushed against the inside of my thigh.

The visual impact, the physical hardness.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the word "no".

"It should be...okay," Shu Yao mumbled vaguely, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"I've seen him in the morning... you know, he can stand up, and... it's pretty exaggerated."

She was too embarrassed to describe the "rolling pin" in the coffee shop.

Upon hearing this, Qiaoqiao slammed her hand on the table.

"Being able to stand up is nothing! It's a physiological instinct! Some men are all show and no substance, like a silver spoon in the mouth, all looks and no action, don't you understand!"

Qiaoqiao transforms into an emotional "expert," continuing to spout outrageous and provocative words.

"Just because he can stand at attention doesn't mean he knows how to charge into battle. Maybe he's a novice? He's afraid of being exposed, so he doesn't dare touch you?"

"Or perhaps..." Qiao Qiao gasped, her eyes filled with terror.

"He doesn't like women? He's just marrying you to be a lesbian's wife, isn't he?!"

Shu Yao felt a chill run down her spine from her outrageous speculation.

"You're making things more and more absurd! How could he possibly like men!"

"Then how do you explain that he'd rather refrain from touching you than touch you?" Qiaoqiao spread her hands, delivering the final answer.

"Something is definitely amiss, Shu Yao. Go back and observe carefully. This is a matter of great importance concerning your happiness for the rest of your life. Don't end up living a life of widowhood without knowing the truth."