SM Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Using a Stratagem

“Or let me rephrase the question, who is your secret crush…”

After losing the first game, she suddenly realized a problem.

“That’s not right, when we play games, my chances of winning are at most four to six, I’m four and you’re six, isn’t that unfair?”

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t feel like he was taking advantage of her at all, and said indifferently, “Then the sixth game you lost doesn’t count.”

Zhu Shihao widened her eyes in disbelief, “Are you taking me for a fool?”

She had already lost six games, did it even matter anymore?

“So unconfident? What if you play well today?” Tan Zhi Xu poured half a glass of wine and put it in front of her, gesturing, “Truth or strip?”

She didn’t even think about it, of course truth, they were so familiar with each other, inside and out, what kind of question could he ask.

Unsurprisingly, he thought the same.

Tan Zhi Xu pondered for a moment, deciding to ease up a bit, he couldn’t be too aggressive from the start.

“What was the most intimate thing you did with your three ex-boyfriends?”

Although she didn’t think there would be any earth-shattering questions, she still breathed a sigh of relief at that moment.

“Nothing much, just held hands.” After she finished speaking, she remembered something, “Oh, and hugged too.”

Tan Zhi Xu calmly repeated, “Just held, held, hands? It either happened or it didn’t, how can you ‘kind of’ hug?”

Zhu Shihao looked normal, “We weren’t exactly dating through normal procedures, and what can you do in less than a month, it was just a very normal hug.”

He couldn’t nitpick why they had to hold hands and hug, even though he really wanted to, but he also knew it was actually normal and proper, so he said, “Are you sure they didn’t want to do anything?”

She choked, honestly saying, “Okay, fine, it’s because I didn’t want to.”

She earned a snicker from him and a deep, lingering gaze.

“One question! Truth doesn’t allow for follow-up questions.”

Tan Zhi Xu lightly snorted, “Alright, continue.”

Next, Zhu Shihao lost the second game, she chose truth as usual, but Tan Zhi Xu took out his phone and turned up the room temperature a bit, then looked at her with a hook in his lips.

She had a bad feeling in her heart, subconsciously clutching her collar and looking wary.

He chuckled at this, not letting her go at all, “Shihao.”

As soon as she heard this, she knew it was bad, and as expected, the man in front of her opened his mouth and it was a bomb.

“Describe in detail how I f you, what feels best.”

How could someone be so shameless?

Many vivid images flashed through her mind, Zhu Shihao’s expression stiffened for a moment, then slowly turned red under his gaze.

She opened her mouth again and again, but couldn’t describe it in a single word, finally accusing him of having ulterior motives, “You actually just want me to strip, don’t you.”

The distance between the sofa and the coffee table wasn’t narrow, but it wasn’t enough for them to stretch their legs. Tan Zhi Xu had one leg curled up and the other bent at the knee, stepping on the carpet, even wearing a dark grey hoodie and sweatpants, he exuded a lazy aura.

He rested an arm on his raised knee, holding his wine glass in a relaxed pose, inquiring knowingly in a posture of waiting to admire.

“Strip the top or bottom?”

Zhu Shihao pursed her lips, got up and took off her trousers, but as she was about to sit down, Tan Zhi Xu stopped her and gave her a pillow to sit on.

She barely suppressed the urge to grit her teeth, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, now continue.”

Afraid she’d get angry, in the third game, Tan Zhi Xu, as usual, subtly revealed a flaw, and was unexpectedly won over.

She was so excited, she didn’t bother pulling down her clothes to cover herself, and straightened her back proudly, raising her chin. With her movements, her clothes rose slightly, revealing her smooth, fair thighs and a glimpse of small fabric.

“What do you choose?”

He turned his gaze back to her face, asking casually, “What do you want me to choose?”

It seemed he was going to listen to her.

Zhu Shihao thought for a moment, then looked up and said, “Truth, I guess.”

Almost without hesitation, Tan Zhi Xu nodded in agreement, “Okay, what do you want to ask?”

Actually, he thought she would choose to strip, after all, for each other, he didn’t have any secret crush to hide, it could be said he was even more transparent. Thinking of this secret crush, he coldly snorted in his heart.

“I just remembered I didn’t check beforehand if it was brand new.”

Tan Zhi Xu raised an eyebrow, knowing what she wanted to ask.

Zhu Shihao suppressed her nervousness, “Did you sleep with Su Yuewei?”

“I thought the meaning this morning was made very clear.” He said faintly, raising his eyebrows.

“Pretty much, but I want to hear you say it.”

There was no need to ask about the others, she knew they hadn’t, she always believed that Tan Zhi Xu wasn’t someone who messed around, he was never an unfaithful playboy who frequented the red-light district.

But, he and Su Yuewei had been together for almost a year, and she always wanted to hear his straightforward and definite answer with her own ears.

Uncontrollably, tension and unease arose, even though she told herself she should accept it, she couldn’t deceive her true emotions, using all her strength to prevent herself from trembling with nervousness.

“No, held hands, kissed and hugged, that’s it.”

His voice went straight into her ears.

The suppressed emotions instantly receded like the tide, she tried hard to restrain the corners of her mouth from turning up, and while she was relieved, she couldn’t help but feel curious after the relief.

“Hug? What kind of hug? You’re so energetic every day, but you didn’t do anything?”

Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her, “I’ll take the last sentence as you complimenting me. The first sentence, a hug, is just a hug in the simple sense, hugging while wearing clothes with no distracting thoughts. Zhu Shihao, you’re barely twenty years old, still studying, what are you thinking, keep your mind clean.”

She said in disbelief, “You’re the one who proposed this rated R game, you should be the one keeping your mind clean.”

How could someone be so like a thief crying “Stop thief!”?

However, thinking of the satisfactory answer, she decided to generously forgive him, “Okay, I’ll count this question as you being safe.”

He snorted, not commenting.

Zhu Shihao’s mood improved, and Tan Zhi Xu also waited for the next question, and the two continued. The good mood continued to last, even if she lost another game, she didn’t have much of a reaction.

She even learned to answer quickly, “Truth.”

Then, remembering something, she warned, “Watch the scale.”

Tan Zhi Xu let out a few low chuckles from his throat, nodded faintly, leaned back on the sofa, his gaze wandering over her face for a moment before speaking.

“Who was that love letter written to?”

“Or let me rephrase the question, who is that secret crush of yours?”

Her expression gradually faded, and all the emotions brought about by the previous game had completely disappeared, and she even suddenly felt that the room wasn’t so warm anymore.

Zhu Shihao lowered her eyes and remained silent, Tan Zhi Xu didn’t urge her either, just watched her quietly, waiting for her answer.

The smell of wine filled the air.

After a long time, Zhu Shihao looked up at him and smiled, “I knew it, I felt something was wrong from the beginning, so you were waiting for me here.”

He nodded, not denying, “Yeah, waiting for you.”

There was another moment of silence, so quiet that there wasn’t a single sound.

She looked at him, with some seriousness in her eyes, “Why do you want to know?”

Tan Zhi Xu looked at her, and after a few seconds, said, “You’ve been hiding it for so many years and still refuse to say, the suspense is at its peak, why wouldn’t I want to know?”

What he said made sense, but it wasn’t the answer she wanted.

Zhu Shihao had no expression on her face, even abnormally calm, she just straightened her back and began to unbutton her clothes.

She didn’t see in her blind spot that Tan Zhi Xu’s fist suddenly clenched tightly, and Tan Zhi Xu didn’t notice that her eyes, which were lowered to look at the buttons, were filled with silent sadness.

Her answer was obvious, she still didn’t want to say, not even struggling, silently choosing to take off her clothes.

Tan Zhi Xu’s face was as heavy as water, and the leisurely ease in his heart had long since disappeared, leaving only coldness, he didn’t say anything, nor did he stop her.

Zhu Shihao, only wearing her underwear, looked at him, “Still going?”

The wine glass fell on the table, making a crisp clinking sound, the liquid in the glass shook violently, almost spilling out.

She knew that Tan Zhi Xu would be angry, he couldn’t stand her protecting others, when they were in kindergarten, if she gave another little boy a lollipop, he would be unhappy for a long time, let alone this person, he had asked several times and still didn’t get an answer.

“Continue.”

Tan Zhi Xu, suppressing his anger, would only let her lose even faster.

She was silent.

“Who is it?”

She continued to remain silent.

“Still not saying?”

Zhu Shihao shook her head, reaching her hand behind her back.

Just as her hand touched the clasp, everything went dark, and his tall figure loomed over her, a large hand holding her hand behind her back.

Zhu Shihao looked up at him, without much expression.

She didn’t show weakness, but Tan Zhi Xu couldn’t bear to see her like this, her bright eyes even seemed to have dimmed a little, hiding the grievances she didn’t want to show and the strength she was trying to maintain.

Silently pulling down her hand, he took the clothes she had taken off from the sofa and draped them over her, scooping her up to sit on his lap, holding her with both arms.

Gently patting her back, his voice, softer than usual, was full of comfort, and she even felt love.

“Alright, it’s okay, if you don’t want to say it now, then don’t say it, I won’t force you, okay?”

Only then did Zhu Shihao raise her hand and grab the clothes on his chest, burying her face on his shoulder, pursing her lips and revealing a grievance.

“You’re so mean.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, it was my fault, I won’t do this anymore, will you forgive me?”

With her stubborn resistance, this was no longer a game, but a form of coercion, and even those pieces of clothing were no longer fun, but humiliation.

He sighed silently, how could he still have the heart to ask her in this way.

Even if he hated that bastard even more, he couldn’t force an answer without regard for her emotions.

Zhu Shihao lowered her hand and wrapped it around his waist, saying softly, “Yeah.”

The hug gradually became affectionate again, after hugging for a while, Tan Zhi Xu released her, helped her put on her clothes and button them up, and waited for her to put her pants back on, leaning back against him again.

He kissed her lips, “You’re really stubborn.”

Zhu Shihao snorted twice, and punched him with her fist, “I haven’t even settled the score for you scheming against me today.”

“It’s not really scheming, is it? You’re responsible for winning or losing in the game.” He was frank about this point.

Asking the answer by playing Truth or Dare, he thought there was no problem, what was wrong tonight was that the way he used it made her uncomfortable. No matter how he asked, he should respect her wishes, instead of pressing her step by step.

Zhu Shihao asked, “Are you still going to ask?”

“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate, even reminding her, “Be careful, I’ll still ask if I catch the opportunity for truth in the future.”

Zhu Shihao: “…”

She knew it, if he gave up so easily, he wouldn’t be Tan Zhi Xu.

Her response to this was a snort.

He touched her face, took her hand and kissed it twice, without letting go, playing with it in his palm, his tone slow, but containing seriousness.

“I won’t force you anymore.”

She gently hummed, knowing the weight of his words.

From childhood, the one who couldn’t bear to see her wronged was Tan Zhi Xu, even though they were the same age, he spoiled her the most since they were little.

There was no need to cry, just looked longingly at the candied haws that someone was showing off and say “I want one too”, he would take her to buy one a few streets away, and then come back to be scolded and have his palms hit by Xu Ting.

She would hold the candied haws that she hadn’t finished eating, crying and begging Xu Ting not to hit him.

Xu Ting decided to give Tan Zhi Xu a chance for a reduced sentence when she saw her crying until she hiccupped.

“Do you know what you did wrong, will you dare to do it next time?”

Eight-year-old Tan Zhi Xu glanced at Zhu Shihao, who was crying with red eyes, thinking about how happy she was to have the candied haws in her mouth. He was so calm, as if the person whose palms were slightly swollen from being hit wasn’t him.

“Yeah, I know, I should have told Aunt Liu that Shihao was taken away by me, also, the distance was a bit far, Shihao was a bit tired from walking, I should have planned the route in advance, next time we can take the bus.”

Finally, he calmly added.

“You still dare.”

Listen to that, he would only inform Zhu’s family when notifying the parents, no need to answer the last sentence “You still dare”, one could hear that he was planning the next time.

He didn’t reflect at all on how dangerous it was for two children, one eight years old and one seven years old, to run so far alone, he just reflected that he hadn’t planned well enough!

Xu Ting was furious, the soft branch in her hand was about to move, what reduced sentence, the branch made a terrifying sound.

Seeing that it had the opposite effect, Zhu Shihao cried out “Wah” and ran towards Zhu’s family across the street, dropping the candied haws she had been holding all the way, crying and shouting in her mouth, “Mommy, Mommy, Aunt Ting is going to beat Zhi Xu to death, please help me save him.”

Xu Ting was dumbfounded.

“You scared Shihao.”

She lowered her head blankly, and saw that her son, who had been unresponsive all along, now had a dissatisfied expression on his face, frowning, his dark eyes filled with blame.

“You’re so old, can’t you be more tactful in what you do, don’t scare the child.”

Xu Ting: “…”

You little brat, are you teaching me how to do things?