Xu Zifan was about to go to sleep after posting on Weibo, but before he went to sleep, he had to play the role of a sleepwalker one last time.
Xu Zifan opened the door to the master bedroom and went in. Wu Xuefei was already asleep. He immediately pulled off Wu Xuefei's blanket and began folding it like a robot, forcefully pulling out the pillow from under Wu Xuefei's head and placing it neatly on the blanket. Wu Xuefei was dreaming when she was suddenly startled awake, her heart pounding. She saw Xu Zifan's expressionless face, cried out in panic, and hurriedly ran out, frantically banging on Wu Lidong's door.
Wu Lidong had just fallen asleep when he frowned and opened the door, annoyed. "What are you doing in the middle of the night?"
Wu Xuefei pointed anxiously towards the master bedroom and said, "Xu Zifan, Xu Zifan, I don't know what happened..."
When Wu Lidong walked to the master bedroom door, he saw Xu Zifan folding the sheets, leaving only the bare mattress on the bed. Then Xu Zifan reached for the water glass on the bedside table and poured it onto the mattress, using Wu Xuefei's silk nightgown as a rag to wipe the mattress.
Wu Xuefei screamed again, "My pajamas! I bought them for 1200!"
Wu Lidong quickly pulled her aside, saying irritably, "Quiet down, he's sleepwalking. What if we wake him up and he dies? We were so focused on work today that we forgot about his sleepwalking. We have to talk to him about it tomorrow, otherwise how can he sleep?"
Wu Xuefei was furious. "Why does he have so many problems? He soaked my bed. How am I supposed to sleep tonight?"
"Lock the master bedroom door later. You can sleep with me tonight. Anyway, he left for work this morning, so he doesn't know what the bedroom looks like." Wu Lidong hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't be angry. I haven't cuddled you in bed for so long. I miss you so much. Tonight, we'll share a bed. Just imagine your nominal husband is in the living room. Isn't that exciting?"
Wu Xuefei laughed and leaned against him, "You're being naughty, but I like it when you're like this."
Xu Zifan, with his back to them, heard everything they said. He raised an eyebrow. After wiping the entire mattress wet, he picked up his pajamas, turned around, and walked expressionlessly towards the second bedroom. Wu Lidong and Wu Xuefei's expressions changed, a bad premonition rising in their hearts.
Sure enough, Xu Zifan repeated his previous actions. This time, he didn't even bother to make the bed; he simply spilled a cup of coffee all over the bed, making a mess of it. Wu Xuefei pointed at the large stain on the bed, her hands trembling with anger. "He... he's completely insane! What's wrong with him? What are we going to do now? How are we supposed to sleep?"
Wu Lidong also got angry. Regardless of whether Xu Zifan was alive or dead, he strode over and patted him on the shoulder, shouting, "Hey! Wake up!"
The next second, Xu Zifan reflexively threw him over his shoulder! Wu Lidong's lower back slammed hard against the edge of the bedside table, and the lamp fell down and hit him on the head!
"Ah—" Wu Lidong screamed, clutching his head tightly and touching his lower back, trembling with pain.
"Lidong!" Wu Xuefei rushed over to help him, but he screamed in pain the moment she touched him, so she quickly grabbed her phone to call an ambulance. In those few seconds, Wu Lidong was sweating profusely.
Looking at Xu Zifan again, he seemed completely unaffected, continuing what he had been doing, diligently wiping the bed. After finishing, he went to the bathroom to wash his hands. He seemed completely unresponsive to his surroundings. The two were furious, but they didn't suspect anything, because they'd read online that sleepwalkers could even cook. The way Xu Zifan was tidying up reminded them of how they'd been exploited by them to do chores recently.
The two were angry with Xu Zifan but couldn't vent their anger. They tried calling him but couldn't wake him up, so they could only pack up and wait for the ambulance to arrive before going to the hospital.
After they left, Xu Zifan naturally took a shower and went to bed. Wu Lidong had been seriously injured in the accident; after getting X-rays and medication at the hospital, it was already 3 a.m., so the two of them didn't return and stayed in the ward instead. They cursed Xu Zifan quite a bit, but only they were angry. Xu Zifan slept very soundly and even had a sweet dream.
The next day, as soon as Xu Zifan went to work, his colleagues asked him how things were at home and whether he had asked his wife to do any chores. Xu Zifan laughed and said, "Thank you all for your concern. Thanks to your advice yesterday, I went back and reasoned with my wife and father-in-law. After a long talk, they finally agreed to share the housework. I was originally thinking of getting my father-in-law a job; he's in good health and looks like he's only forty, still quite young. But he's not keen on it, and my wife is adamant about not allowing it either, saying that my father-in-law should enjoy his retirement. So, we've decided to let it go."
"Huh? He's so young and already planning to retire? You gave him a million to save him, and now that he's living in your house, he doesn't even try to help you out? That's outrageous!"
"Exactly. I'd only ever heard of fathers ruining their children's lives before, but I never imagined there would be sons-in-law ruining theirs. I'll have to be more careful when looking for a partner in the future. I need to understand the other person's family before I see if we're a good match."
Xu Zifan waved his hand with a smile, "Don't say that. Isn't it because my wife is filial? I think it's good to be filial. I said I would give most of my salary to my parents to pay off their debts, and let my wife find an easy job to earn some living expenses. My father-in-law didn't approve of her going out to work, but after I talked to him for a long time, after all, I was under too much pressure, they finally agreed to give it a try, saying that if it didn't work out, she could quit her job."
Xiao Lin muttered, "What's the difference between finding a job and not finding one? Even if someone does find one, they might quit after a couple of days, and you can't stop them."
Sister Liu tugged at her, telling her not to speak so recklessly, after all, this was a colleague's family matter. Then she thought Xu Zifan was really stupid; the father and daughter were obviously making excuses for each other, neither of them wanted to work, and they just wanted to exploit Xu Zifan, yet Xu Zifan thought they were so nice to each other.
At this moment, Xu Zifan said, "By the way, does your company have any open positions? Not necessarily the kind with good career advancement potential."
"Anything ordinary, something a pregnant woman can do, with a salary of two or three thousand, is there?"
Seeing Xu Zifan's complete trust in his wife and father-in-law, everyone suddenly felt a strange sense of justice and sympathy. The handsome young man said, "Our company has positions available. We'll help you inquire about them."
Sister Liu also said, "If your wife comes to our company, we can ask someone to take care of her. Then your father-in-law can rest assured that you two can go to and from get off work together."
Xu Zifan smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble you. I'll treat you to a meal if it goes well, but I don't have any money right now, so I'll just treat you to the cafeteria. Once we've recovered, I'll definitely treat you to a big meal. You guys are so kind."
"We've been in the same office for five or six years, we're practically family. Don't worry, we'll definitely help each other out if we can."
His colleagues started their day at work in a harmonious atmosphere, and Xu Zifan also kept up with his pace of skill improvement, letting his manager and colleagues see his ambition. As for his phone, he naturally blocked those two people, and it was another day without any disturbances.
After get off work that evening, he didn't go home. Instead, he took a taxi to his parents' house and bought a chicken, five pounds of pork ribs, a carton of milk, and a bag of apples.
When Xu's mother opened the door and saw him carrying large and small bags, she said, "Why did you buy all this? We have plenty at home. Take these back for Xuefei to eat."
Xu Zifan changed his shoes and put the things in the refrigerator. Sure enough, there wasn't much good stuff left, just some fresh vegetables, eggs, and a small piece of meat. As he put things in, he said, "I bought some for the house too, Mom. I've been working on improving my skills, and recently my manager let me participate in a project, which gave me a lot more bonuses. I'm all set, so don't be stingy with your money."
When Xu's mother heard that there was a bonus, she was pleasantly surprised. "Does your boss appreciate you?"
Xu's father also came out with a newspaper, saying, "The leader has given you a chance, so perform well and don't let the leader down."
Xu Zifan closed the refrigerator, smiled and nodded, "I know, the manager said there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, maybe I can even get a raise next year. By the way, here's my salary card." After he finished speaking, he took out the card and handed it to Xu's mother.
The two elders were taken aback, and Xu's mother quickly pushed it back to him, saying, "What are you doing? Take it back quickly. We both have retirement pensions and we don't lack money. If you keep this, Xuefei will get upset. You two will have many expenses in the future. You keep it for yourself."
Mr. Xu laughed and advised, "Keep it. We know your filial piety, that's enough. Actually, what we've saved up will all be yours eventually. Consider this a gift to you now, you don't need to pay it back."
Xu Zifan insisted on putting the card into his mother's pocket. "Mom, the password is the last six digits of my ID number. I told Xuefei last night that I had given you the card. If she finds out the card is still with me, that would be a real problem. Don't worry, Xuefei is so filial to her dad, would she object to me being filial to you? There's no reason for that, right? If you don't need the money, just consider it as me saving it. Oh, and Mom, remember to transfer the money to your own card every month, don't leave any money in my card."
The two elders knew their son well; he had never been one for such things. The fact that he specifically instructed them to transfer the money away suggested he was trying to protect himself from Wu Xuefei. The elders exchanged a glance, and Xu's mother asked with some concern, "Zifan, what happened? Is there something wrong between you and Xuefei?"
Xu Zifan frowned, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I don't think she's really committed to living with me. These past few days, she's been saying that I disturb her sleep when I'm in the room, and she's made me sleep in the living room. I work overtime during the week, and when I get home, I still have to wash the dishes, mop the floor, and do laundry. Mom and Dad, it's not that I don't want to do chores, it's just that Xuefei and her father are at home resting all day, so why won't they do something as simple as sweeping the floor or washing the dishes? They say they don't know how to do it, and I don't know how to do it either. Didn't I just learn on the spot?"
The two elders became furious upon hearing this. "They're making you do so much work? What does that mean? Are they making my son their servant?"
Xu Zifan quickly said, "Mom and Dad, please don't be angry. Of course I can't listen to them if I think it's wrong. I already said last night that I'm busy earning money to pay you back, and that they should be responsible for the housework. Yesterday, Xuefei got angry, saying that I looked down on her for not doing any work, and that she originally had a strong desire to go out and work. I told her to find an easier job to earn some living expenses. The family belongs to both husband and wife. Since she wants to be filial to my father-in-law and insists on not letting him work, then my husband and I will both work to earn money. Now that Xuefei is pregnant, I said that she should just find a job that pays two or three thousand. She agreed, so let's leave it at that for now."
From his attitude and narration, the two elders sensed his dissatisfaction with the Wu family. Their marriage was whirlwind, so problems were inevitable. Considering they had given the Wu family a million yuan earlier, the two elders didn't refuse and carefully put away Xu Zifan's card.