SM Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Playing Along

His scent was all around, even his breath felt scorching, like it would burn her face. Zhu Shihao instinctively leaned back, forgetting that there was no room to retreat between the seats.

Her fingers nervously tapped the warm paper cup of milk tea, and she feigned calmness, “Finish your sentence, don’t be so vague.”

Tan Zhi Xu smirked, “I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with what I said, maybe you should reflect on your thought process.”

After fastening her seatbelt, he didn’t move away, maintaining the close proximity, studying her with interest. Zhu Shihao met his gaze for a moment, but had to admit that she couldn’t compete.

She raised a hand to push his face away, “What are you looking at? You’re so annoying.”

He yielded to her force, leaning back slightly, then grabbed her hand, leaning in again, this time giving her a quick kiss.

Seeing him naturally fasten his own seatbelt, Zhu Shihao touched her lips, “This is the street, aren’t you afraid of being photographed?”

“You worry about you, I’m not afraid anyway.”

Starting the car, which was surrounded by other parked vehicles, he reversed a couple of times. Zhu Shihao felt like he was about to scrape something, but he remained calm, not even batting an eyelid.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Why do you always ask me?”

“Then how about Western food?”

She took a sip of her milk tea, without thinking, “No.”

“A private chef?”

“No.”

Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her, his smile ambiguous, “Why do you think I always ask you?”

Chewing the tapioca pearls, Zhu Shihao slowed down her pace with a slightly guilty expression. She stared straight ahead, and after swallowing, slowly said, “I want to eat something flavorful.”

And so, the two of them returned home reeking of hot pot.

“This car might be marinated,” Zhu Shihao wrinkled her nose.

Tan Zhi Xu tugged at his collar, smelled it, and didn’t mind, “I’ll just send it to be cleaned tomorrow.”

Even though it smelled delicious while eating, the scent was a bit too much to bear now. As soon as they got home, they headed straight for the shower.

The bathroom had separate rooms for the bathtub and shower, but Zhu Shihao couldn’t take a bath at the moment, so she could only take a shower.

“Why don’t you use the bathtub?”

Tan Zhi Xu said calmly, “No, I like to be quick and decisive with my preparations before battle.”

Zhu Shihao: “…”

“You can’t battle.”

He nodded slightly, very seriously, “I know, I’m just telling you in advance.”

“…I’m leaving, enjoy.”

The door closed in front of him, followed by a “click”.

Tan Zhi Xu chuckled coldly, “Think locking it will help? Which room don’t I have a key to?”

“Leave already, just leave.”

He snorted and turned to wash up in another room.

Guessing the time, he knocked on the door, “Shihao, don’t shower for too long.”

Hearing her response, Tan Zhi Xu left to get water outside.

When he returned, Zhu Shihao was already out, her wet hair cascading down, the ends still dripping. The thin pajamas she wore already had water stains spreading across them.

“Wipe your hair first, or it’ll take a long time to dry.”

He wasn’t just telling her, he took the towel from the marble countertop and draped it over her head, his large hands gently rubbing her hair. Looking in the mirror, she could see that his hands almost covered her entire head.

“But my arms will get tired from holding them up all the time.”

She always had various excuses in front of Tan Zhi Xu.

The man in the mirror raised an eyebrow, meeting her gaze in the mirror for two seconds. Tan Zhi Xu draped the towel over his arm, and with both hands, he grabbed her waist and turned her around.

Before Zhu Shihao could ask what he was doing, she was lifted up and placed on the countertop.

“Is it cold?”

She wiggled her bottom, “A bit.”

Even with the heater on, it wasn’t cold in the room, but sitting on the marble through thin pants was still a bit chilly.

Tan Zhi Xu supported her with one hand and casually grabbed a soft towel, folding it casually and placing it under her.

Zhu Shihao glanced at it, “That’s your face towel.”

She preferred to use disposable cotton wipes, but Tan Zhi Xu always used a towel.

“Yeah.” He continued to dry her hair, the two of them now face to face.

In this position, he was looking down at her. From her perspective, even his eyelids seemed to droop slightly. He had handsome features, but always wore a cold and indifferent expression, creating a sense of distance and alienation, yet somehow making him even more attractive.

Even now, as he was incredibly patient and gentle, he still had little expression. It was as if he could never express emotion.

Zhu Shihao tilted her head slightly, staring into his eyes, thinking that maybe, just maybe, he did have emotions.

She looked a little silly, staring at him intently.

“What are you thinking about?”

After there were no obvious water droplets gathering, Tan Zhi Xu picked up the hairdryer he had placed aside and turned on the warm air to dry her hair.

The sound of the wind was in her ears, not too loud, but still a bit noisy.

But they were very close, close enough that the voices were still clearly audible.

“Everyone says that I’m the one who’s made you not act like someone of your status, but Zhi Xu, you were like this when I met you.”

One or two mao for the Da Dao meat, five mao for the snow lotus, Seven Dwarfs, when they were seven or eight years old, a candied hawthorn skewer was enough to drain their allowance for several days.

He had always been by her side like that.

His eyes softened, with a hidden tenderness, “Yes, we were like this when we met, and it will be like this in the future. I’ll go with you wherever you want to eat or go.”

The Tan family was rich now, but they hadn’t always been. Tan Zhi Xu had matured early, and he could still clearly remember the period of decline after the Xu family swindled his family.

But he still lived a good life, with open-minded parents, neighbors and elders who were like second parents in his childhood, and more importantly, Zhu Shihao. So even with their current wealth, he would never forget the past.

Zhu Shihao pursed her lips and smiled, suddenly saying, “Zhi Xu, when are we going to eat roasted whole lamb?”

She really was thinking about whatever came to mind.

He glanced at her sparkling eyes, and lazily replied, “Okay.”

The two of them were snuggled up in bed. Zhu Shihao realized belatedly, they agreed to just be bed partners, but even though she was on her period and they couldn’t do anything, she was still lying in his bed.

She pondered for a while, the room warm and cozy thanks to the heating, plus the human-shaped heater next to her, the blanket felt so comfortable, she didn’t want to move at all. She comfortably snuggled down a little more.

Well, just chatting under the covers wasn’t bad either.

As soon as she buried half her face, someone pulled her up. Zhu Shihao took the opportunity to turn over, nestling into him.

Feeling the gentle pats on her back, she thought, it’s so comfortable, don’t remind him.

She kept nudging him every so often, and Tan Zhi Xu finally squinted at her, his hand sliding down her back, giving her butt a pat, “Are you a piglet?”

Zhu Shihao looked at him calmly.

He laughed, and asked her, “Bored? Want to play a game?”

“A little.” She shook her head, “But I don’t want to play today.”

“Then what do you want to do?” His large hand moved to support her lower back.

She thought about it, “I don’t know, I want to talk.”

Tan Zhi Xu placed the tablet on the bedside table, leaning against the pillow in a semi-reclined position. Zhu Shihao moved closer, resting on his arm, in a position where he was hugging her.

The two of them chatted idly. Mostly Zhu Shihao was talking, and he would occasionally respond with a few words to let her know that he was listening attentively.

She talked about Yang Xu’s nonsensical behavior, Wei Wang’s bumpy romantic journey, the delicious hot pot they had today, and how she would take him there sometime soon, and where she wanted to travel during the New Year’s holiday…

They were all trivial matters, but Zhu Shihao seemed to find them very interesting, and Tan Zhi Xu found that chatting wasn’t so boring after all.

His phone rang a couple of times. Tan Zhi Xu picked it up, glanced at it, and ignored it, playing with her hand as if he couldn’t bear to put it down, giving her some responses.

They made some preliminary plans for New Year’s, thinking about traveling to a neighboring city, but plans couldn’t keep up with changes.

On the eve of New Year’s, she unexpectedly received a call from Zhu Suiyi. Even through the phone, she could sense the other side’s rage, ranting on and on.

Understanding what she was saying, Zhu Shihao looked at the small suitcase lying on the floor, and sighed inwardly.

Walking out of the dressing room, she soothed, “Okay, I got it, don’t be so fierce. You’re clearly worried sick, but you have to act mean. Pack your things, I’ll come pick up Jia Jia now.”

Hurriedly getting into the car, she remembered to tell Tan Zhi Xu.

She called him, “Zhi Xu, we might not be able to leave tomorrow.”

Her voice held regret and apology, and Tan Zhi Xu frowned, “What’s wrong?”

Zhu Shihao explained, “Suiyi said that Yu Jianmin drank too much, and he’s feeling unwell now, vomiting and dizzy. I think he’ll be out of commission for a day. Jia Jia has a report performance at kindergarten tomorrow, so I’m going in her place.”

Hearing the sound of a horn from the other end, he frowned even tighter, “You’re driving? To pick up Jia Jia?”

“Yeah, she can’t handle both an adult and a child by herself, so I’ll pick them up. Tomorrow, I’ll take her to kindergarten.”

Looking at the time, Tan Zhi Xu got up to change his clothes, “I’ll take a taxi to Sister Yi’s, wait for me there.”

“No need.”

“Alright, stop talking nonsense, focus on driving, I’m hanging up.” Saying that, he didn’t give her a chance to speak and hung up.

Zhu Shihao was helpless.

Fortunately, it was already late at night, and the roads were clear. She enjoyed the drive. Her car couldn’t fit in the parking lot, so she had to park outside and walk in.

The temperature was much lower at night, and she hadn’t even worn a scarf because she left in a hurry. The night wind was much colder than during the day, making her face stiff, and she didn’t dare take her hands out of her pockets. She could only walk faster.

Standing outside the door, she hesitated for a moment, thinking that knocking probably wouldn’t work, so she entered the password directly. As soon as the door opened, she saw a small figure slumped on the sofa, dozing off.

Jia Jia rubbed her eyes and sat up, “Auntie, you’re here.”

Closing the door, Zhu Shihao walked over and bent down to hug her, “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

Hearing them talking, Zhu Suiyi came out of the bathroom. She looked her sister up and down, and sighed in relief, “It’s not that she’s not asleep, it’s that she was woken up by her dad, okay?”

“I swear, everyone I’ve ever known who insists on making people drink ends up with alcohol poisoning. Yu Jianmin is the same. I told him he had things to do tomorrow, but I knew I should’ve just found an excuse not to go. He drinks a bellyful of alcohol, and his burps can get a mosquito drunk, and then he takes it out on me.”

Her tone was fast and annoyed.

Zhu Suiyi patted her sister on the shoulder, “You know, if he could find an excuse not to go, Min Ge wouldn’t go. There’s just no way around it.”

She knew that, but she couldn’t help but get angry.

“Alright, I’ll get your stuff, be there by 9:30 tomorrow, the holiday starts after the performance, I’ll see how her dad is doing then and give you a call.”

She turned to get their things, and then remembered to add, “Watch her and don’t let her fall asleep, you can’t carry this little 30-pounder.”

Jia Jia seemed to understand, rubbing her eyes and forcing herself to sit up.

Rarely seeing her like this, Zhu Shihao felt sorry for her, touching her head, “It’s okay, Zhi Xu is coming.”

“Ah? It’s the middle of the night, why are you bothering him?”

“It’s not me bothering him, he wanted to come himself. He hung up as soon as he said that, I didn’t even have time to say a word,” Zhu Shihao defended herself.

Zhu Suiyi glared at her younger sister, “The standards have already been raised unconsciously, I wonder what kind of boyfriend you’ll find in the future.”

Having known them since childhood, she only understood after falling in love and getting married how good Tan Zhi Xu was to her sister. Even though Yu Jianmin was very good to her as well, he was still a little short of that exaggerated, almost innate, thoughtfulness and care.

Anyway, she was willing to wait for Tan Zhi Xu. She wasn’t in a hurry, and patted her daughter, “Then you go to sleep, your Zhi Xu Uncle will carry you later.”

The sisters chatted for a few sentences, and then some noises came from a distance. Zhu Suiyi widened her eyes, smacked her forehead, and quickly got up, “I almost forgot about him, I can’t let him choke to death.”

Zhu Shihao watched as she ran to the public restroom.

“Where did you put Min Ge?”

Zhu Suiyi’s response came from the restroom, “He was vomiting so badly, it’s disgusting and stinky, of course I had to let him finish throwing up before cleaning him up and bringing him into the room. Sis, the house will reek all night if he pukes in the room and I leave the heater on, but if I turn off the heater to air out the room, I’ll freeze to death!”

Zhu Shihao: “…”

It made sense, but you were going a bit too far with it.