SM Chapter 11

Chapter 11: If You Say It, Do It “Supporting your early romance? Why don’t you think about…”

Tan Zhi Xu had just finished a meeting. He paused for two seconds upon seeing the WeChat message, and finally dialed the phone directly.

“Hey, what are you doing? Why so long?”

“Looking for my phone! Did you go straight to the office?”

“Yeah, the office has spare clean clothes.” Listening to her soft voice, Tan Zhi Xu leaned back in his office chair, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you at home or in the studio?”

She glanced at the washing machine. “I’m going to the studio in a bit.”

Tan Zhi Xu responded faintly, wanting to ask her how breakfast was, but there was a knock at the door. He opened his eyes, didn’t hang up, and told the person to come in.

It was A Dong, holding a laptop. Seeing he was on the phone, he pointed to the computer and lowered his voice, “Xu Ge, there’s a problem with this.”

A faint annoyance appeared between Tan Zhi Xu’s eyebrows. He simply grunted.

Seeing him like this, A Dong didn’t dare to speak.

Tan Zhi Xu massaged his temples, not letting his irritation show in his voice, still calm and steady, “Shihao.”

She had been listening to the phone waiting for him. “Yes?”

Her soft, delicate voice drilled into his ears through the phone, and he suddenly felt a lot of relief in his heart. His furrowed brows relaxed, and his lowered eyes held an unnoticed tenderness.

“Drive my car. The keys are on the shoe cabinet. Pick me up tonight for dinner.”

Zhu Shihao headed toward the entrance, agreeing with a “Okay.”

The two hung up. Tan Zhi Xu glanced at A Dong, finding him looking quite normal, not seeming to think there was anything wrong with their conversation, and not at all puzzled as to why his car keys were at Zhu Shihao’s house.

Everyone thought they were close childhood friends, like siblings from different parents.

But, that’s just what they thought.

Tan Zhi Xu lowered his eyes, then looked up, without a trace of abnormality.

Sitting in Tan Zhi Xu’s car, it had to be said that even though it wasn’t his most expensive one, the driving experience was really good. When she arrived at the studio, Shasha was just getting food, which was ordered from across the street. Usually, the staff delivered it directly.

“Shihao, you’re here! Perfect timing for lunch.”

Zhu Shihao helped carry a bag. “Okay, remember to give me the bill. How are your preparations going?”

Shasha reported, “Almost done. Xiao Quan said she asked you for leave, so I and Qingqing will be doing the live broadcast tonight.”

She knew about this. Nodding, she headed inside. “Okay, she told me. Thank you for your hard work tonight, you and Qingqing.”

They were being paid to do their jobs; it was their duty, so there was nothing hard about it, Shasha said. She smiled and shook her head. Seeing Zhu Shihao come over, the people in the studio crowded around.

She nodded to everyone, ate with them, and then went to her room. She wasn’t in a hurry to get busy, but sat in the rocking chair, leaning back and swaying gently.

The sun was good today, falling through the glass window, scattered on the drifting dust, like a handful of gold dust sprinkled, floating and sinking in the air.

It was a color that made you feel warm just looking at it.

She suddenly had an inspiration and wanted to make a dress like that. It should be long, with a golden shimmering effect, and the skirt should ripple like water as it moved.

Let’s call it “Glimmering Gold.”

With inspiration, she couldn’t even take a nap in the sun as she had planned. She returned to her seat and began to sketch.

It wasn’t until the phone rang that the quiet room was disturbed.

Zhu Shihao answered the phone while massaging her neck. It was the formaldehyde testing agency she’d contacted, saying they’d retested the Jinxi location and there were no problems.

It was as expected. The renovation hadn’t been that extensive, and it had been ventilated for almost half a year, so it should be about right.

After hanging up, she looked at the dress on the paper, her eyes flashing with satisfaction. She collected her things, took a couple of sips of water, and thought for a moment, deciding to go to Jinxi to take a look, since it was relatively close to Tiancheng Building and convenient to pick up Tan Zhi Xu.

She said goodbye to Shasha, grabbed her bag, and went to get the car.

The winter sun always felt like it was running fast. The warmth was being attacked by increasingly strong cold air, and the temperature felt lower. The wind came in through the car window, stinging her face a little.

For some reason, she remembered the scene last night when Tan Zhi Xu threatened to take her for acupuncture if she got sick.

The corners of her mouth seemed to have their own consciousness, uncontrollably rising. Zhu Shihao closed the window, and the air in the car warmed up with the air conditioning.

Jinxi was positioned as a commercial pedestrian street. Except for the sightseeing train, only vehicles for loading goods were temporarily allowed to pass through. She could only park the car in the underground parking lot, then take the elevator upstairs and walk.

This commercial street had been renovated and rebuilt in the second half of last year. Basically, all the shops were fully occupied. To be precise, the supply couldn’t meet the demand.

Walking leisurely through the streets and alleys at this time also gave her a sense of ease, probably because the people passing by were all stylish and beautiful girls.

Appreciating beauty always makes people happy.

After walking slowly for about twenty minutes, she stood at the door of the shop. She wasn’t the only one stopping here. There were also two young girls, looking like they had just graduated from college.

They seemed a little excited, muttering about something, and looking youthful.

Zhu Shihao walked in, a step away from the two, tilted her head and asked with a smile, “What are you looking at?”

The two turned their heads, only to feel a flash of brightness in front of them.

One of them was obviously more outgoing: “Sister, look, this store has a really nice style. The colors and decorations are well matched.”

Zhu Shihao was surprised. The store was empty now, and only the interior decoration could be seen through the glass windows.

Seeming to see her confusion, the other girl was a little shy: “We study interior design.”

So that’s how it was.

She nodded, raised the key ring hanging on her index finger, wiggled her finger, and asked gently, “Then, would you like to come in and take a look with me?”

In the end, the two girls specifically asked her when it would open and if the Taobao store would have the same name before leaving.

She went up and down, noting down the things that needed to be added with her phone in the memo. After checking everything, she looked at the time and realized it was almost five o’clock.

Coming out and locking the door, she looked up at the somewhat retro-styled plaque, which said “Don’t Be Yourself”. These two words were handwritten by her dad, Zhu Yingqing, and then made by someone.

Remembering that she had to pick up Tan Zhi Xu, Zhu Shihao felt like she was walking on air.

However, after parking the car in the parking lot below the company and sending him a message, she was told to wait and go upstairs first.

Entering the elevator skillfully, someone in the company said that the boss was in the conference room. Without needing directions, she said “Thank you” and headed to the conference room. The door wasn’t closed tightly; it wasn’t much of a formal meeting as usual.

Zhu Shihao peeked in, and Tan Zhi Xu saw her little probing movement, raised his chin at her, and signaled her to go to the office and wait.

She understood this code and nodded lightly.

It was twenty minutes later when he opened the office door. He closed the door casually, pulled off his tie with one hand, letting it fall from his thumb joint onto his palm, unbuttoned a button on his shirt, and walked towards her.

Not at all concerned that Zhu Shihao was occupying his seat, he only asked about her closing her eyes to rest: “Tired? Why didn’t you go in and rest?”

As the boss, his office naturally had a rest room. Although it was designed with a hidden door, it was an open book for her.

“It’s okay, not tired.” Zhu Shihao shook her head, then asked him, “What are we eating tonight?”

Tan Zhi Xu placed his tie on the desk, turned around to wash his hands in the rest room. She followed, and even stole his tie, twirling it in her fingers.

“Western food?”

It had been a while since they ate it, and Zhu Shihao didn’t have any objections: “Sure.”

Wiping the water off his hands, Tan Zhi Xu came out and conveniently hooked her by the door, his large hand supporting her lower back as he led her forward. Standing in front of the desk, he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her up lightly, and placed her on the desk.

From this angle, he looked down at her entire appearance: her warm-looking hair, her exquisite and bright features, and the curves of her body.

Tan Zhi Xu pulled the tie from her fingers, folded it, wrapped it around her wrist a few times, and tied a bow.

“You can have it if you like.”

Raising her wrist to look at it, Zhu Shihao blurted out almost without thinking, “Since you’re tying someone up, why are you only tying one wrist?”

Her brain caught up later. She paused for a moment, slowly raised her head, meeting his teasing eyebrows and playful eyes.

“Ah, no, I mean…”

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t plan to give her a chance to talk her way out of it. He interrupted her leisurely, “I understand. You don’t need to explain. I always prioritize fulfilling your expectations, and I always support your decisions.”

What he said was true, but she definitely couldn’t agree with him like that.

After thinking for a moment, Zhu Shihao retorted with a serious expression, “That’s not true. There are still exceptions.”

He paused, thinking back.

“Are there?”

“Yes.”

Zhu Shihao grabbed his shirt collar, forcing him to bend over, bringing them face to face very close.

Tan Zhi Xu took the opportunity to put his hands on either side of her, a posture that seemed to lock her in his arms, full of aggression and possessiveness.

“What?”

He really didn’t know.

Zhu Shihao blinked. “You forgot about that love letter back then? You not only didn’t support me, but you also ratted me out.”

He almost laughed out of anger.

It was the kind that really made him laugh, a cold laugh, full of irony.

Don’t say things like that with such a cute expression.

Pinching her chin with one hand, forcefully lifting her face, Tan Zhi Xu didn’t care that this was the office, or even consider whether someone might suddenly barge in. He lowered his head, their noses bumped first, and then he bit her lip.

It was with some force, catching Zhu Shihao off guard, causing her to gasp in pain.

“Support your puppy love? Why don’t you think about just letting me join you?”

She thought about it. It sounded like three people, but in the end, it was still two people, so it didn’t seem like a problem.

So she nodded seriously, “It’s not impossible. If you say so, he might agree too.”

Tan Zhi Xu stared at her coldly, his aura growing several times stronger, with gusts of cold air. He changed his hand from pinching her chin to pressing his thumb on the place he had just bitten, grinding his fingertip. Her already seductive lips were further ravaged until they were even more crimson.

“If you don’t tell me who that little bastard is, I’ll consider it.”

Consider whether to beat him up today, or tomorrow, or every now and then when he remembers it.

He didn’t expect that after eight or nine years, he would still hear this nickname from his mouth.

Zhu Shihao’s throat choked, then she said in a gentle voice, “Don’t always call him that. It’s not good.”

He didn’t think so.

Tan Zhi Xu scoffed, “Seducing a high school underage girl with a confession of early love, it’s polite enough that I haven’t called him a beast.”

Zhu Shihao: “?”

Was there a big difference between a little bastard and a beast?

Unable to bear hearing him scold himself like this, Zhu Shihao raised her hand, holding the hand that was playing with her face, pursed her lips, speaking softly, her tone slightly drawn out: “Zhi Xu, I’m hungry.”

Knowing that she was changing the subject, he was powerless to resist her slightly coquettish appearance. Not to mention eating, he would have to nod and even disinfect himself first if she wanted to eat his flesh.

His heart softened a little, but his face didn’t give anything away. He glanced at her, wrapped his arms around her waist and set her down, his voice still seeming stuck in the topic just now, a little colder than usual.

“Alright, let’s serve Miss Little for dinner first.”

As for that little bastard, he’d better not let him know who it is.