SM Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Say It, Do It

Zhu Shihao, who was now very happy and satisfied with “being on” him, would naturally not admit defeat at this moment.

Her soft voice carried a slightly raised tone at the end, sounding somewhat provocative: “Hungry? If I’m hungry, then it’s because you didn’t feed me enough.”

His eyes darkened, Tan Zhi Xu chuckled softly, his gaze piercing through the screen, fixed on her: “Shihao, don’t be stubborn. If you want me to reduce your stubbornness again, I will.”

Zhu Shihao: “…”

Her lower abdomen had already started to ache, and her legs felt weak.

Taking in her changing expression, Tan Zhi Xu curled his lips, his eyes filled with desire. His calm tone was fraught with danger, both his eyes and his words brazenly conveying his threat.

“I hope next time you won’t say you’re too tired and want to sleep, and you’ll hold on to the position of hooking your legs around me.”

Those words were simply…

She instinctively turned her head to look at the bedroom door, relieved to see it tightly shut.

Seeing this, Tan Zhi Xu smiled mockingly: “So cowardly, and yet you dared to make such bold statements?”

It’s clearly because you’re too unreserved, okay?

Zhu Shihao put down the letter, lay on the table, and muttered softly: “You’re so annoying, you never let me win.”

The lower half of her face was hidden by her arm, and she was looking upwards at her phone. She looked three parts innocent, three parts well-behaved, and the rest was pure cuteness. Every movement and expression was vividly beautiful, familiar and beloved to him – it was Zhu Shihao.

“Talk about principles,” Tan Zhi Xu chuckled lightly, finding her purely twisting the facts, “If I didn’t let you win, you wouldn’t even be able to speak. Shihao, have a little conscience.”

Everyone knew that Tan Zhi Xu didn’t look easy to provoke, but in reality, he was truly hard to deal with. Even her mother wouldn’t dare to say too much when he was angry. Right now, she couldn’t control him and could only helplessly choose to let him bother her for a while.

But it was this hard-to-deal-with Tan Zhi Xu who was easiest to handle when it came to Zhu Shihao.

It was as if she had awakened some innate skill, knowing how to handle him since she was little. As a child, she would hug him softly and say, “Zhi Xu, don’t be upset.” When she grew up, she would tug on his clothes lightly, gazing at him intently and saying, “Zhi Xu, don’t be angry.”

Her eyes, her tears, even just a soft “Zhi Xu,” could make him surrender.

Just like now.

She opened her watery, bright eyes and just looked at him.

“Zhi Xu.”

Raking his hand through his hair, Tan Zhi Xu drooped his eyes and spoke in a lazy tone: “Fine, whatever makes you happy.”

The two chatted about other things for a while. Even though they had only separated that morning, they still had a lot to talk about: what they had done today, what they had eaten, what dishes she had cooked with Zhu Yingqing for dinner…

Most of the time, Zhu Shihao was talking, about small, unremarkable things, but the person on the other end listened attentively and would add a few words in response. Every answer was genuine.

After ending the video call, which lasted 53 minutes, Zhu Shihao stared at the screen for a while and smiled.

She picked up the love letter she had set aside earlier, and her smile gradually faded.

“Zhu Shihao, I like you. I like your bright features, I like your quiet demeanor, I like your gentleness and kindness…”

A gust of wind suddenly blew outside the window, and the whistling sound could be heard even through the glass.

Accompanied by the sound of the wind, a lazy but clear teenage voice suddenly appeared in her mind –

“What kind of girl do I like? Someone with a bit of a temper, interesting, beautiful, and pure.”

The past two weeks had been too pleasant, and she had almost forgotten.

Everyone said that Zhu Shihao had a good temper, but she didn’t consider herself an interesting person. The worst she had ever done was to call him a “son of a bitch” in her heart.

The immersion had almost made her forget that Zhu Shihao wasn’t the type of person Tan Zhi Xu liked.

Reaching out unconsciously, she rummaged through the box, until a pale pink, blank envelope appeared before her. Her pupils contracted, her hand trembled, and she froze in mid-air for a long moment before finally picking it up.

She looked down at it for a long time. This envelope, which she hadn’t thrown away back then, she still couldn’t bear to throw away even today.

Many chaotic thoughts ran through her mind, but she couldn’t sort them out, and she didn’t even know what she was really thinking about.

After a long time, Zhu Shihao held the envelope, got up, and walked to the bookshelf. Her eyes scanned across it, and finally landed on a row of shoujo manga. It was a manga she had loved back then, and perhaps because she had mentioned it so many times, Tan Zhi Xu had given her 13 volumes one day.

It was also the only “improper” reading material in her bookshelf.

Pausing in front of the manga, Zhu Shihao pulled out one of the volumes, slipped the envelope inside, and pushed the manga back in. She stared at it for two seconds, as if being chased, she hurriedly closed the glass cabinet door, turned around, and left, not daring to linger for even a second.

The night was filled with a biting wind.

Yesterday’s warm sunshine seemed like just a pleasant surprise. Today was another day with cold wind blowing and no sun in sight.

After reading through two documents, Tan Zhi Xu felt a rare soreness in his eyes. He hadn’t slept well last night.

Even though he had been sleeping alone for more than twenty years, the few nights he had held Zhu Shihao in his arms had quickly made him accustomed to the feeling of having a warm, fragrant beauty in his embrace. Or rather, he had become accustomed to the sense of fulfillment that came from holding her in his arms.

But it wasn’t just this sense of loss, there was also that inexplicable dream, the kind that made him want to sneer every time he remembered it.

He couldn’t recall the images in the dream, but he could remember the suppressed rage he felt when he dreamed of Zhu Shihao holding hands with that son of a bitch. His only regret was that he couldn’t see the guy’s face.

So many years had passed, but in these past two weeks, he had frequently recalled that love letter. It was something that had happened so many years ago, something he shouldn’t have cared about, but he couldn’t help but feel concerned.

Tan Zhi Xu clenched his fist, leaned back, and closed his eyes, recalling that day.

Not long after the first mock exam in the second semester of senior year, spring hadn’t yet arrived, and the air still held the chill of winter.

The Tan family’s business was growing bigger and bigger, and the couple was even busier. Tan Zhi Xu was still often entrusted to the Zhu family, his status as an unofficial member even stronger now, to the point where they subconsciously counted him in when buying food.

After school, he went directly back with Zhu Shihao and sat at her desk as they began working on their test papers.

After a while, Zhu Shihao put down her pen: “I’m going to the bathroom and then to wash some fruit. Don’t worry, I’ll wash my hands properly.”

He glanced at her sideways, somewhat speechless: “You don’t have the guts not to wash them.”

He was the only one in the room. Perhaps because he had been in and out so many times since he was little, even having slept there as a child, he didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. His gaze swept over her notebook, and he noticed that one of the pages seemed to be sticking up slightly.

He casually reached out and pressed it down, but when he let go, he found that it popped back up again. It was as if that page was stubbornly trying to open.

He pressed it down several times, but it was still no use.

Tan Zhi Xu: “…”

He was about to be driven crazy, even though he didn’t have OCD.

Thinking that there might be a folded page inside, he reached out to grab the notebook, wanting to flatten it. But to his surprise, just as he picked it up, a piece of paper folded in half fell out from the other side.

His movements paused. He put down the notebook and picked up the folded paper. He wasn’t planning on reading it, but his sharp eyes caught sight of a heart drawn on the back.

His eyes narrowed, a stray fish indeed.

He tugged at the corners of his mouth, opened it without hesitation, and gradually realized something was wrong. This was clearly a piece of paper torn from the notebook.

Sure enough, at first glance, he confirmed that it was written by Zhu Shihao. He knew the history of her handwriting’s evolution like the back of his hand. He could recognize it even if she was just writing a string of phone numbers.

He read through it word for word.

As expected of someone who never missed being used as an example essay in every exam, her writing was excellent.

It was written with genuine feelings, and the emotions were expressed well. Anyone who read it would praise it.

But looking at words like “gentle” and “considerate,” Tan Zhi Xu went through everyone he knew in his mind, but couldn’t think of who it could be.

Expressionless, he cursed darkly: “Son of a bitch.”

There were two knocks on the door, which was slightly ajar, and Zhu Shihao’s soft and bright voice came: “I’m going to wash the fruit now.”

He sneered, didn’t respond, and read it again, even more amused.

Actually, he was even angrier.

Zhu Shihao washed the grapes, still immersed in the satisfaction that her score was only five points behind Tan Zhi Xu’s again, so happy she was practically humming.

Holding the fruit plate, she pushed open the door and saw Tan Zhi Xu half-turned, coldly ordering: “Close the door.”

Her footsteps paused, and she keenly sensed that something was wrong with him. Although he always carried himself with a cold demeanor, this was clearly different. He never truly showed her a cold face.

“Come in, close the door.” Seeing that she was standing motionless at the door, he narrowed his eyes slightly and repeated in a cold voice.

Zhu Shihao didn’t say a word, closed the door, and slowly walked inside, wondering what she had done to make him so unhappy.

She didn’t need to think too much. As she got closer, she lowered her eyes and inadvertently saw the paper spread out on the desk.

Her pupils contracted. Ignoring Tan Zhi Xu’s anger, she rushed forward. The fruit plate fell on the table with a crisp sound, but Zhu Shihao’s eyes could only see that thin piece of paper, wanting to snatch it away.

Tan Zhi Xu reacted extremely quickly, pressing his large hand down on it.

She tried to lift it, but it wouldn’t budge. Zhu Shihao grew anxious: “Let go, give it back to me!”

Tan Zhi Xu easily restrained her two wrists with one hand, and using the creases on the paper, he folded it up again and held it up.

“You might as well tell me first who this is for?”

Zhu Shihao paused, pursed her lips, didn’t answer, and just tried to snatch it.

Fully believing that she was protecting someone, Tan Zhi Xu’s gaze sharpened, sweeping across her face, fully capturing the panic on her face.

His coldness intensified, and his anger rose.

“Speak, Zhu Shihao.”

But how could she say it like this, the love letter to him? Once she said it, in this kind of situation, would he be silent, or would he tell her that she shouldn’t be thinking about this right now?

Knowing that he wouldn’t easily return it to her, Zhu Shihao didn’t say a word, standing in front of him.

“Shihao, you know I don’t have much patience.”

She couldn’t say it, at least not at this time. If she said it now, she couldn’t think of any possibility other than rejection, embarrassment, and awkwardness.

She shook her head, pleading: “Zhi Xu, Zhi Xu, please give it back to me, okay?”

Seeing her like this, Tan Zhi Xu’s anger reached its peak, but he displayed even more composure.

Since when did Zhu Shihao actually have secrets from him? She had something that she wasn’t willing to tell him, to share with him.

In that moment, an immense sense of loss swept over him, giving him the feeling that she was drifting away from him.

But he still tried hard to suppress the unhappiness in his heart, asking her.

“Okay, let’s put aside who that person is. Zhu Shihao, do you know what time it is now? Do you remember what school you want to go to? Do you know what you should be doing right now?”

Tan Zhi Xu had never questioned her like this before, with a calm disappointment that made her even more flustered.

He stared at her: “I’ll ask you one last time, are you going to tell me or not?”

Zhu Shihao’s eyes were red, and it seemed she couldn’t answer with anything other than a shake of her head.

The two fell into a tense silence. Just when Zhu Shihao thought that he would, as in the past, give in to her every show of weakness and let the matter drop,

Tan Zhi Xu gazed at her for a long time, with a cold expression and barbed words: “Fine, I can’t control you anymore.”

Just then, the sound of a door closing and voices came from outside. Liu Ruoyin and Zhu Yingqing were back.

His peripheral vision swept towards the door, and he tugged at the corners of his mouth, the arc not friendly, and not the usual casual and indulgent one.

Zhu Shihao realized what was happening and couldn’t help but get nervous: “What are you going to do, give it back to me!”

Give it back to her?

Watch her continue to be “infatuated” and let her ideals pay the price for this mistake?

Impossible.

Tan Zhi Xu laughed softly, turned and walked towards the outside.

She was completely stunned, guessing what he was going to do, and rushed after him. But she was a few steps too late and couldn’t catch up with Tan Zhi Xu’s long strides.

He stood in the living room, turned back and smiled at her.

Raising the draft of the love letter between his fingers, he said to Zhu’s parents who just finished changing shoes: “Aunt Liu, Uncle Zhu, Zhu Shihao, she writes love letters. 468 words, I haven’t seen her as earnest while writing essays. She even revised vocabulary.”

Zhu Shihao widened her eyes incredulously, unable to believe that Tan Zhi Xu, who always went along with her and even helped her cover up, not only ratted on her, but also fueled the fire!