SM Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Saying it Like That

Tan Zhi Xu, who had always been super calm, felt a throbbing in his temples. Without thinking, he pulled Zhu Shihao behind him, his gaze like a knife, emitting a cold metallic sheen, precisely aimed at someone.

Around them, people were already muttering, “That voice sounds familiar.”

Yang Xu, long accustomed to such situations, didn’t panic in the slightest. His righteous words even carried a hint of displeasure, “Zhi Xu, what are you doing? I haven’t given Shihao her gift yet.”

Fortunately, there weren’t many people on the road at the moment, and no one had recognized him yet, so attention hadn’t gathered.

Still grasping Zhu Shihao’s wrist, Tan Zhi Xu said coldly, “Either leave quickly, or get recognized and get out on your own.”

Everyone’s attention was on Yang Xu, but Su Yuewei stared intently at their touching limbs, her smile gone.

Yang Xu touched his nose. “Okay, let’s go. Where to?”

Ran Cai looked at him with awe. “You’re a warrior. Let’s go eat.”

“Alright, my little darling, I’ll give it to you later.” Yang Xu shrugged.

Another similar comment came, and this time Wei Wang didn’t even give a thumbs-up, but directly did a reverse “666” hand gesture [meaning awesome/amazing].

Yang Xu clasped his hands in a fist to express gratitude and happily accepted his praise.

It had been a long time since he had walked down the street with friends like this. It felt somewhat fresh. He casually looked around, and then out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something. He stopped and turned back to look.

Disgustedly pursing his lips, Yang Xu turned to ask the people beside him, “How come this thing is here too? Who invited her?”

“This thing?”

The men turned their heads blankly and saw Su Yuewei with a stiff expression.

Good heavens, had they completely not thought about how to get along with her in case they got back together?!

Ran Cai wore a mocking smile. “Who would invite her? She came uninvited, and empty-handed. Didn’t even bring a gift. Couldn’t even pretend to be polite.”

“She’s doing so poorly?” Yang Xu wore an expression of “I never would have thought.”

As expected of someone he’d known since childhood, he still had the biggest guts.

Although Zhu Shihao didn’t say anything, she occasionally observed the expressions of the people around her, but couldn’t discern anything.

It wasn’t surprising. It had always been like this. As long as Tan Zhi Xu wasn’t willing to put on a slight act, it was difficult for others to tell what he was thinking.

But she was easily understood by him.

“Stop looking around furtively. What are you doing? Be open and aboveboard about it.” Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her, his demeanor normal. “Show off your SVIP aura.”

Hearing this, she smiled slightly.

“What kind of aura does an SVIP even have?”

Tan Zhi Xu’s tone was nonchalant, “Aren’t you already imposing enough? You’re practically riding on my head.”

That was an exaggeration.

Zhu Shihao couldn’t admit to the unfounded accusation, “You’re talking nonsense. Where would I ever do that?”

He lightly huffed, “Then why don’t you take the opportunity to make it a reality?”

They chatted nonsensically, and feeling that her mood had returned to normal, Tan Zhi Xu also relaxed.

Reaching the entrance, they saw that Su Yuewei still intended to follow them inside. Ran Cai made her displeasure and unwelcomeness very clear. “Seriously? Are you still following us? Don’t you have your own food to eat?”

Su Yuewei glanced at Ran Cai with hidden disgust. In her eyes, Ran Cai was like Zhu Shihao’s henchman, and Zhu Shihao was just a schemer who loved to hide behind others.

She hid behind Ran Cai and them, and also behind Tan Zhi Xu, pretending and being extremely hypocritical.

But she knew that she couldn’t say these words in front of these people. She couldn’t even reveal her thoughts in the slightest.

“Zhi Xu, Shihao, can I join you?”

Tan Zhi Xu’s face was as still as water, without any ripples. He finally looked at her directly, coldly and without inflection.

Yang Xu said in a strange tone, “What are you asking for? Join what together? What’s your status?”

Su Yuewei forced herself to maintain a smile. “Yang…”

Zhu Shihao quickly interrupted her, “Sure, since you’re here, let’s go together.”

A hint of smugness flashed in her eyes, quickly concealed. She smiled. “Okay, thank you, Shihao.”

That “thank you” was really grating.

Yang Xu’s eyes turned cold. He wanted to say something, but Zhu Shihao tugged at him, pulling a man inside. “Do you still want to eat or not?”

“Let her call me out. At worst, I’ll go back and wait for you guys.” Yang Xu was very dissatisfied, and glared at the others, somewhat transferring his anger. “Hey, Zhi Xu, don’t you have anything to say?”

Tan Zhi Xu quietly glanced at Zhu Shihao’s hand grabbing Yang Xu’s sleeve.

“Say? I’m saying you better keep your mouth shut. If I ever see any rumors online, I’ll put those photos of you crying with a snotty nose online and buy a trending topic.”

Yang Xu reflexively sniffed, feeling somewhat guilty.

Entering the private room, Tan Zhi Xu pulled out a chair for her and sat next to her.

Seeing Su Yuewei raise her foot and try to walk over there, Yang Xu’s eyes flashed. He quickly rushed over and sat on the other side of Tan Zhi Xu, crossed his legs, and even generously greeted her. “That Su-whatever, just sit wherever you want. The floor is fine too.”

It was so infuriating that she rolled her eyes while still trying to maintain a smile. There wasn’t much difference in the other seats, so Su Yuewei randomly found a seat and sat down.

After ordering the food, Tan Zhi Xu wanted to hand the menu to Zhu Shihao, but she shook her head and refused.

“Just order whatever you think is good.”

Actually, he had already ordered according to Zhu Shihao’s preferences, so he didn’t say anything more and put it on the table for the others to help themselves.

They were all adults. They needed to learn to take care of themselves. Eat what you want, love it or leave it.

Yang Xu, carrying the bag he had brought, got up to go to Zhu Shihao, but after taking two steps, he retreated, took out his cell phone and put it on the table. It was as childish as reserving a seat in school, and his expression was that of a ten-year-old at most.

“My seat, don’t come near.”

He didn’t call anyone out by name, but when he said these words, he stared directly at someone, so it was no different than calling out a name, and then happily squatted between Zhu Shihao and Ran Cai.

“My little dar…”

“Yang Xu.”

Interrupted, feeling the cold stare of a certain man, he readily changed his words.

“My little darling, look, the gift I brought you. Let me tell you, this brand of foundation is very good to use. I’m endorsing it. I brought you a whole set. A makeup gift set!”

Yang Xu’s endorsement, everyone who used it said it was good.

Zhu Shihao took it and curved her eyebrows and smiled. “Thank you.”

“Okay, here comes the big one.” He acted mysterious, winking and distorting his features, took out two envelopes, and gave one to each of them, “Look, the men of the world that I found for you.”

Always paying attention to Zhu Shihao, the silent Tan Zhi Xu’s breath hitched. He was now experiencing PTSD whenever he saw envelopes.

The two opened them. The first photo inside was of Xu Yan.

Ran Cai cheered, a string of “wow” sounds.

Although Zhu Shihao seemed to have less of a reaction, Tan Zhi Xu coldly curled his lips. He clearly saw her eyes sparkling.

Some people kept up a reserved appearance, but in their hearts, they were probably already saying “Wow wow wow.”

“Why didn’t you get a picture of Zhang with abs?” Ran Cai said with some regret.

Yang Xu spread his hands. “That guy said he wanted to protect his purity. Keep looking. There are other people too, hehe, there are abs too.”

He picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Suppressing the sneer that almost escaped, Tan Zhi Xu remained calm, but the regret in his heart grew with each wave. He wondered why he hadn’t driven this guy away just now. He looked at Zhu Shihao’s increasingly unrestrained smile and, feeling a piercing sensation, endured it, but kept mental track of each grievance.

Everyone at the table chatted casually and well, except for Su Yuewei, who couldn’t get a word in. No one gave her a chance to speak, no one cared whether she participated, and no one even left her any room to interject.

For the first time, she clearly realized that if she didn’t have Tan Zhi Xu’s care, she could only hold her teacup and drink water alone, passively remaining silent, listening to the comfort of the others.

She suddenly thought of the past.

“Zhi Xu, why do you always protect Shihao?”

“Zhi Xu, I’m your girlfriend. You can’t care about Zhu Shihao more than me!”

“Tan Zhi Xu, she’s just your friend. You should be the best to me!”

…

At first, Tan Zhi Xu raised his eyebrows with a smile and would ask her, “Really?” or he would explain, “We grew up together. We ate from the same pot since we were young. She’s my friend, and she’s also my family.”

Later, after it happened more often, he coldly looked at her crying quietly, and only spoke lightly after she had calmed down.

“You can’t ask me to throw away my younger sister, friend, and family who I grew up with just because I’ve been with you for a few months.”

“Su Yuewei, my conscience is clear.”

She was someone who had been there since the beginning of his memories. In those years when his parents were busy with starting their business, he was also at the stage of establishing himself. The Zhu family was like a second home to him. Liu Ruoyin and Zhu Yingqing took care of his life and education together.

The person who had accompanied him the most was Zhu Shihao. She was like a little head of the household, worrying about many things.

For Tan Zhi Xu, she had never been simply a childhood playmate.

In the past, she always complained that he was too good to Zhu Shihao, but only today did she realize that he wasn’t what she had thought. At that time, he had been taking care of her, so she could integrate. Wei Wang and them showed respect and friendliness because of Tan Zhi Xu.

Her hand gripping the teacup suddenly tightened, and in the next second, she quickly retracted it, hiding it under the table and clenching it into a fist.

She stared at the man opposite her, staring straight at him, as if declaring her intentions, hoping to get a response from him.

But the man across from her didn’t look at her once. He was just casually talking to everyone, occasionally picking up food, pouring water, and handing over tissues to the woman beside him – each time with such precise timing.

Now Tan Zhi Xu only needed to take care of Zhu Shihao alone.

It also made Su Yuewei even more jealous.

She understood too well how important Zhu Shihao was to Tan Zhi Xu. She had originally planned to become friends with Zhu Shihao this time, but at this moment, sitting opposite them, she realized that she still disliked this woman so much.

She disliked her even more than before. Why, after so many years, the one who remained by Tan Zhi Xu’s side was still her. She was still uniquely favored and indulged.

It was Zhu Shihao’s opening, so of course, Tan Zhi Xu was the one who treated everyone.

A group of people stood at the door, with everyone except Tan Zhi Xu staring at Su Yuewei.

The time they spent eating was enough for her to readjust herself, and she naturally raised a smile. “I have something to do this afternoon. I’m leaving first. Let’s hang out together next time.”

Everyone’s eyes were on their noses and their hearts were on their mouths. Ran Cai and Yang Xu were muttering, and Wei Wang was tidying up Hao Hao’s collar, and they all seemed a bit busy. Only Li Chennan glanced at her.

Seeing that no one answered, Zhu Shihao sighed inwardly and could only politely reply, “Okay, be careful on the way.”

Su Yuewei looked at Tan Zhi Xu, pursed her lips, and turned to leave.

Of course, she wanted to be with Tan Zhi Xu, but after these one or two hours, she had already discovered that she hadn’t prepared herself psychologically.

One thing was very certain, though—

She would probably never be able to become friends with Zhu Shihao.

Looking back, she saw the group of people going in the opposite direction, and they were still playfully joking around as they walked. Tan Zhi Xu was tilting his head, listening to what Zhu Shihao was saying, and raised his hand to pat her head.

Stopping to watch for a while, Su Yuewei turned and left without expression.

The group returned to the store.

Shasha said in surprise, “Sister Shihao? You’re back!”

“I’m here to get something. It must be hard on you guys. It’ll be easier once we’ve hired enough people.” Zhu Shihao patted her shoulder and walked upstairs with Tan Zhi Xu.

She needed to take the gifts back. Leaving aside the other things, at least the gifts that Tan Zhi Xu and Xu Ting had given her couldn’t have been cheap. She packed up the gifts, putting everything that she could into one bag.

Tan Zhi Xu saw that she was preparing to hug the bouquet of flowers. “Don’t take those. Let’s go. They won’t die in a day or two.”

Zhu Shihao hesitated, but he was already standing at the door. Without giving her a chance to retort, he urged, “Let’s go.”

Thinking that she would be coming anyway either tomorrow or the day after, so leaving the flowers should be fine, she picked up the bag in her hand, and trot a few steps towards him.

Tan Zhi Xu stretched out his arm to block her, “Why are you running when it’s just a few steps?”

She responded, “Wasn’t it you who was rushing me?”

He didn’t acknowledge it and didn’t refute it. He just indicated to her, “Let’s go.”

Yang Xu and the others were waiting in the store. The new employee, Lin Yun, suspiciously looked over at him several times, making him not dare to say a word.

Seeing them come down, everyone walked out.

Hao Hao asked, “Where to?”

Li Chennan scratched his face. “To my place?”

“What are you talking about? Who goes to a bar right after lunch? So shady.” Ran Cai refuted.

Li Chennan shrugged. “Then where to? With him here, where can we go?”

Wei Wang waited for two steps, and put his arm over Yang Xu’s shoulder, “Brother, how about you sacrifice yourself and retreat first.”

“Dream on. Impossible. Don’t even think about it.” After three consecutive denials, Yang Xu rolled his eyes with a lowered hat, vehemently rejecting it.

In the end, after much deliberation, they decided to find a place to sunbathe.

It was pretty comfortable. Li Chennan was dozing off from the heat, and casually patted the person beside him. “This young master has become so down-to-earth because of you guys.”

He couldn’t say how many times, but every time it made him sigh.

Wei Wang faced upwards, brushed off his hand. “Are we leading him? How could we? Everything is due to the blessings of Sister Hao, okay?”

Tan Zhi Xu was also sunbathing with his face up. The difference was that he had a thin scarf loosely draped over his face, only covering a small section of the edge, with the rest all bunched up around his waist and abdomen.

Hearing the conversation between the two, he didn’t explain.

His family was rich now, but when he was young they weren’t. He even experienced some slight hardship when his parents’ business was scammed by some dumbasses, so the people in his family were inherently difficult to integrate into that rich-people atmosphere.

Also, he was greatly influenced by the Zhu family during his growth. Many habits and beliefs were actually established in the Zhu family.

Yang Xu, feeling that his style was safer and more comfortable but knowing that he wouldn’t be able to get the scarf, could only turn around and put his baseball cap on his face. He still didn’t dare to remove his mask.

Over there, Zhu Shihao and Ran Cai had been pulled over to watch the excitement, and it was a bit breezy in the afternoon. The store should’ve been busy after opening, but they had inexplicably gained a moment of unexpected comfort.

Unconsciously looking over there, the crowd was milling about, with tables one after another, but she still found Tan Zhi Xu at a glance.

When she casually took the scarf she had put away, he naturally took it to block the sun, and suddenly, she felt a sense of intimacy that made them inseparable.