SM Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Playing Along

“Yes, Shihao always protects me.”…

Clear and sparse eyebrows, indifferent expression, yet often inadvertently revealing his unruly and unrestrained nature.

Tan Zhi Xu’s tone was light, carrying his characteristic confidence: “You can also call for off-site assistance, as you please.”

The two opponents naturally refused righteously, but after three consecutive losses, the person who kept saying “rely on ourselves” started calling for help.

One after another, they actively came to offer their records.

Inexplicably, more and more people gathered around. A group of people who were somewhat confident in their card skills circled around them, while others watched the excitement and stood around casually. Fang Xiaoyan took the opportunity to give up her seat and stood behind Tan Zhi Xu again.

The battle had completely turned into a two-army confrontation, but they only had two people on their side. Zhu Shihao knew very well that it had nothing to do with her level, so she pushed the cards in front of Tan Zhi Xu.

“You play.”

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t move, looking at her: “Just play, I’m here.”

Although he was guiding her, it was obviously not a teaching time. The opponents who were serious about winning probably thought it was a waste of time.

Seeing that she was still shaking her head, Tan Zhi Xu twitched the corner of his mouth and reached out to arrange the cards neatly: “You just think too much.”

Why worry about what others think?

The landlord’s cards were directly mixed into his deck. There were twenty cards in total, which seemed to become even smaller in his hands. He picked up the cards from largest to smallest with his other hand and arranged them neatly.

Zhu Shihao watched his movements and sipped her wine.

“One against many, Shihao, aren’t you worried at all?”

She subconsciously looked in the direction of the voice, but found that the person calling her name had their eyes fixed on the man next to her without moving.

After so many years, this trick was getting a bit tiresome.

Zhu Shihao had never really cared about these people. If it were her in high school, she might politely say, “It’s just a game, there are wins and losses, it’s normal.”

But they were no longer just friends and childhood sweethearts. As Tan Zhi Xu’s user, she was also a bit more temperamental and had her own possessiveness.

“Not worried, we’ve known each other since birth, I know Zhi Xu’s card skills very well.”

Following his example, Zhu Shihao didn’t look at her when she spoke, but leaned two points closer to Tan Zhi Xu. After a pause, she acted as if she had just realized something and said comfortingly, “Oh, it’s normal that you’re worried since you don’t know.”

Only then did she move her gaze, scanning the back of her head and half of her face. Fang Xiaoyan’s lips fell.

Although she didn’t exactly dislike Zhu Shihao, admiration and dislike were not contradictory.

On the side, Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her, lowered his eyes to look at the cards in his hand thoughtfully, and the corners of his lips twitched slightly, his mood improving a little.

“Haven’t you decided yet?”

The group of people on the opposite side chattered for a long time, arguing even about whether to accept the challenge. Tan Zhi Xu sneered at this, wondering when they would understand that more people giving ideas wasn’t necessarily better.

“No, Brother Xu, where did you learn your skills? You wouldn’t be playing Happy Landlords every day at work, would you?”

Tan Zhi Xu raised his eyebrows: “Just a good brain.”

If someone else said this, it would sound pretentious, but when Tan Zhi Xu said it, everyone else just felt sour.

Zhu Shihao knew that this was the truth. Ever since middle school, as long as the cards weren’t too bad, no one in either family could win against him. The higher the stakes, the more stable his performance. How much the opponent had left depended entirely on his mood and the opponent’s expression.

After all, Xu Ting would leave in anger if she lost too quickly.

And Tan Zhi Xu’s demands were very simple, just to earn more money during the New Year to prepare for expenses in the coming year, including buying gifts and daily provisions for someone.

The same was true now. Except for two hands that were extremely bad, so bad that he was always one card short of a straight and didn’t even have a 2, he hadn’t lost.

Zhu Shihao patted his arm: “I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Okay, check if there’s water on the floor, walk slowly.” Tan Zhi Xu said casually, not forgetting to remind her.

She nodded, said “okay, okay,” and didn’t use the paper in the store. When she went to get paper from her bag, she saw the tie and watch that had been stuffed inside.

She stared at them for two seconds, smiled, turned to look at him, but he was completely blocked.

Putting the watch in the side compartment, zipping up the bag, and walking towards the bathroom, she walked steadily step by step.

Fang Xiaoyan looked at the empty seat, her eyes flashing, and took a step forward.

Just as her hand touched the edge of the table and approached the chair, a cold voice came from the side.

“Someone’s sitting there.”

He didn’t even glance at her, his tone calm, as if he was just casually reminding her.

At that moment, Fang Xiaoyan suddenly wondered, what if she stubbornly insisted on sitting down?

She bit her lip, her waist and hips about to move downwards.

“I said, there’s someone, here.”

Her movements froze. She clearly wanted this man to look at her properly, but now, being stared at by his deep pupils, she was coldly frightened.

The atmosphere quieted down a bit, and the classmates were all paying attention to this episode.

In an instant, she lost the ability to think. Fang Xiaoyan’s mind was blank, leaving only shame and anger.

Zhou Shishi grabbed her arm, reacted, and explained for her: “Her feet hurt from standing in high heels for too long. She wanted to sit down when she saw no one was there.”

Fang Xiaoyan smiled stiffly: “Yes, I was thinking of resting my feet first and letting Shihao have the seat when she came back.”

Uninterested in her reasons, it had nothing to do with him.

Tan Zhi Xu threw out a pair of twos, saying lightly: “There’s someone here, you can go somewhere else.”

It’s not like there were no other seats. The sofa was empty. Whether she was tired or her feet hurt had nothing to do with him. All he knew was that this was Zhu Shihao’s seat.

Unless she wasn’t going to sit there, it had to be reserved for her.

Now she couldn’t smile at all, Fang Xiaoyan’s face turned cold. Zhou Shishi carefully glanced at her, laughing to smooth things over.

When Zhu Shihao came over and sat down, she felt like she was being watched. Without turning around, she knew who it was. Familiarity was one thing. Although it didn’t hurt or itch, she felt inexplicably confused. Why did she suddenly “get sick” again?

Time was really terrifying, able to slowly transform people into other forms, and able to keep people as childish as ever!

Sitting securely in her chair, watching them play two more rounds and completely end the “Landlord” game, Zhu Shihao had never felt so concrete about it. After all, tonight’s landlord undoubtedly had Tan Zhi Xu’s avatar on top.

The chairs around the table were full, and the others dispersed.

Feng Zan was obviously a little drunk, his voice at least two levels louder, and he was talking a mile a minute. Seventy percent of what he said was directed at Tan Zhi Xu, and seventy percent of that was about the project he had made a lot of money on.

He was still raving about his brilliance and decisiveness. Tan Zhi Xu was already impatient. Noticing her admiring gaze, he raised his glass to her in a toast.

Zhu Shihao pursed her lips and smiled, also raising her glass to clink with him.

Wei Wang was also annoyed and shouted, “You two are sitting next to each other and toasting without including us?”

Feng Zan was interrupted and felt a moment of unhappiness, but still looked at Tan Zhi Xu, grinning as he invited everyone to toast together.

“Bring it over, let’s roll dice, the loser drinks a cup.” Tan Zhi Xu said to Hao Hao, who was nearby.

Hao Hao turned his head, got up, and went to get the dice.

Zhu Shihao tilted her head to look at him, poking his arm.

Tan Zhi Xu turned his head, saw her about to whisper something, chuckled, obediently leaned over, and lowered his head slightly. With a breath on his ear, she said softly.

“You just don’t want to listen to him.”

“It’s enough to understand, no need to expose me.” He hooked his lips and responded lazily.

She leaned closer, her hand on his arm: “I know, I didn’t expose you.”

How could she expose him?

From childhood to adulthood, Tan Zhi Xu took her to “do bad things” and helped her write self-criticisms. He had been said and scolded countless times for the things he had done because of her, but Zhu Shihao had always protected him without asking why.

In her second year of high school, Wei Wang asked Tan Zhi Xu to hide a magazine for him, and he directly stuffed it into his drawer. Unexpectedly, two classes later, the head teacher conducted a surprise search for cell phones.

In the office, looking at the pin-up magazine wrapped in a math book cover, the head teacher was silent for a long time: “Is it yours?”

Having already known what was inside, Tan Zhi Xu, even though he wanted to stuff Wei Wang into a latrine, knew that if Wei Wang’s parents found out, the consequences would be very serious.

After a long silence, he prepared himself mentally and was ready to admit it.

Just as he was about to open his mouth, a gust of wind blew, and a familiar scent entered his nose.

Almost instantly, he understood Zhu Shihao’s intentions. He immediately opened his mouth, but her voice drowned him out.

“It’s mine.”

Tan Zhi Xu: “…”

The head teacher picked up the book, opened a small corner of it, and was silent even longer.

Feeling that something was not quite right, Zhu Shihao subconsciously looked at the boy beside her and met his somewhat speechless and helpless expression. Okay, she was sure now, there might really be a problem.

“Do you know what’s inside?” The head teacher asked her, at a loss for words.

Most likely it was a trap. Zhu Shihao spun her brain rapidly, wording her reply carefully: “A female celebrity?”

Tan Zhi Xu sighed.

Seeing his rare lively expression, the head teacher looked at the girl who was looking at Tan Zhi Xu with a look of surprise and uncertainty, and tried to suppress the arc of her lips, maintaining the seriousness that a teacher should have at the moment.

“I don’t know if it’s a celebrity, but Zhu Shihao, don’t tell me you actually look at this kind of pin-up.”

…It was easy to guess what “this kind” meant.

Almost unable to hide her shock, Zhu Shihao whipped her head around and stared at Tan Zhi Xu, getting a look from him.

Zhu Shihao: “…”

What could she do after the words had been spoken!

Her hand hanging by her side gripped the school uniform, barely supporting herself as she said, “Yes, it’s mine, I read it.”

Everyone else was speechless.

After a full half minute, the head teacher regained her language system: “Worthy of being childhood sweethearts, you’re loyal enough, but I don’t believe it. It’s not necessarily Tan Zhi Xu’s either, anyway, it’s just those few, but you definitely won’t say it, they are presumed innocent, so I can only punish the one who confessed.”

The following was obviously said to Tan Zhi Xu.

“Tan Zhi Xu, a 800-word self-criticism.” Turning to look at the girl, she glanced at Tan Zhi Xu again and said to Zhu Shihao, “The teacher appreciates your boldness, but abetting evil is not worth advocating, a 500-word self-criticism. You two hand it in to me within tomorrow, don’t try to fool me.”

Leaving the office, Tan Zhi Xu still looked lazy and listless.

“I’m sorry, Zhi Xu, I was too impulsive.” Having messed up, Zhu Shihao was unhappy.

Tan Zhi Xu in high school was already half a head taller than her. He didn’t look at her, just casually raised his hand, pressed it on top of her head, and said in a scattered tone.

“What’s the big deal? It’s just thirteen hundred words, no big deal.”

Although he originally only had to write 800 words.

But her feelings were more important, weren’t they?

Remembering the past, Tan Zhi Xu’s mood improved again, and even his indifferent expression softened.

This change was only because of one person, and only for one person. Even though the current joy was different from the past, the mood was surprisingly consistent.

He raised his hand and pressed it on her head as he did in his memory. His movements of leaning towards her hadn’t changed, and his voice was filled with subtle gentleness.

“Yes, Shihao always protects me.”

My Shihao always stood by my side without asking why, without hesitation.