The Husband Swap Game

My finger traced the faint progress bar on my mobile phone screen, and my heart sank. The affection level had stuck at 98% for half a month, then suddenly dropped to 75% yesterday; checking again first thing this morning, it was down to 62%. This "Marriage Affection Level System" that only I can see used to be proof of our post-marital happiness, but now it feels like a sword hanging over my head. The door slammed open, and Mia Scott rushed in clutching a pillow, her eyes red and swollen like ripe cherries. "It dropped again... Today it plunged from 80% straight down to 53%. I'm losing it!" She buried her face in the pillow, her voice muffled and trembling with tears. I handed her a tissue, my own fingertips tingling with cold. Mia's husband, Daniel Lynn, and my husband, Mike Collins, almost simultaneously saw their affection levels start to tank. "Do you think we did something wrong somewhere?" Mia Scott looked up, tears still clinging to her eyelashes. "Yesterday, I specially made his favorite braised pork, but he only took two bites and said he was already tired of it." I remembered the way Mike Collins looked at me last night—so strange, like he was looking at a complete stranger. Before, no matter what I did, I could always see the smile in his eyes, and the System's progress bar would steadily rise. "Maybe... it's not that we did anything wrong." I stared at the progress bar on my phone, and a crazy idea popped into my head. "What if... we tried doing it differently?" Mia Scott froze, her hand wiping tears hanging in mid-air. "Change the approach? How exactly?" "Swap." I took a deep breath and spoke the idea that had been spinning in my head all night, "What if we try winning over each other's husbands? Maybe that could raise the Affection Level back up." Mia's eyes instantly went wide, her mouth forming an 'O'. "Are you crazy? How could we possibly do that!" "Got a better plan?" I shot back, my voice edged with desperate resolve. "If this keeps up, our marriages are done for." Mia Scott fell silent, her fingers absentmindedly twisting the edge of the cushion. Sunlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, casting dappled shadows on her face. "But... wouldn't this be too ridiculous?" She hesitated before speaking. "Is there anything more ridiculous than watching your marriage fall apart right now?" I picked up my mobile phone and opened the chat with Mike Collins; our last conversation was still from yesterday when I asked, "Will you be home for dinner tonight?" and he just replied with a "Mm." Just then, a line of small text suddenly popped up on the mobile phone screen from the System: [Special strategy proposal detected. Activate "Swap Tactics" mode?] Mia Scott and I looked at the screen at the same time, the air instantly growing tense. "The System... actually approves this proposal?" Mia Scott's voice was thick with disbelief. I stared at that line of text, my heart pounding wildly: "Looks like it." "So... are we really going to do this?" Mia Scott bit her lip, her eyes full of inner conflict. I took a deep breath, pushing down my hesitation: "Let's give it a shot. It's better than just waiting to fail." Mia Scott looked at me, then glanced at the progress bar on her mobile phone, and finally nodded, "Alright, I'll try it with you." On the System interface, the small line of text changed to ["Swap Tactics" mode activated. Please complete the residence swap within 24 hours.] Mia and I exchanged glances, both of us seeing a flicker of nervousness and a hint of desperate hope in each other's eyes.