SM Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Easier Said Than Done

The alarm clock rang the next day, and she turned it off. It wasn’t until the third alarm that she slowly stirred and crawled out of bed.

Remembering she had things to do today, she didn’t laze around too much—if the first two alarms didn’t count.

She had just finished washing up and sat down at the dressing table when her phone rang. She glanced at it, her eyebrows curving into a smile, and tapped the speakerphone.

“Zhi Xu.”

The voice didn’t sound like she had just woken up. Tan Zhi Xu’s brow twitched slightly. “So capable today? Up already? Aunt Wang made porridge, and there are fried dumplings and sandwiches. What would you like to eat?”

Considering the car ride, she chose the least fragrant option. “A sandwich will be fine.”

Tan Zhi Xu, looking at the already packed sandwich, waved to Aunt Wang, indicating that there was no need to prepare anything else.

He picked it up to put it in the entryway, so he wouldn’t forget it later. “We’re leaving soon, I’ll come pick you up.”

Her phone vibrated, and she swiped to see a message from Xu Ting.

“Okay, okay, I know. Aunt Ting sent me a message.”

“Alright, you go ahead, see you later.”

Tan Meng was calling him, so he didn’t say much more.

Zhu Shihao replied to Xu Ting’s message, used the video to help her choose an outfit, and then continued her makeup. After so many years, her makeup skills were well-honed; a full face took only a little over ten minutes.

Remembering Xu Ting’s instructions, she smiled, abandoned her original plan, and changed into a similar style of outfit.

Tan’s parents lived a bit further away. After she had prepared everything, she warmed up a glass of milk and drank it.

After receiving Tan Zhi Xu’s call, she came out of the complex and saw the familiar car parked on the road. A tall, upright figure stood beside it, leaning against the car. She was about to call out when she saw him take out his phone, answering someone’s call, with impatience and annoyance showing between his brows.

Hearing the noise, he looked up, and the moment he saw her, his brow relaxed, and his face returned to its usual expression, a coldness mixed with a familiar smile.

His tone was still icy, though. “Stop calling, you’re blocked.”

After saying that, he decisively hung up and blocked the number.

Hearing these words, Zhu Shihao guessed what was going on. As she approached, she lowered her voice. “Ex-girlfriend?”

Hearing this, Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her indifferently. “From now on, please pretend that person doesn’t exist.”

Saying that, he opened the car door, letting her in.

Zhu Shihao blinked. “Oh.”

Tan Zhi Xu ignored her, closed the door, and went to the driver’s seat.

Xu Ting held her hand, the affectionate energy practically non-stop, praising how good she looked, how great her makeup was, and how well her clothes were coordinated.

Seeing her going on and on, Zhu Shihao just responded gently and obediently.

Tan Zhi Xu stopped her from continuing. “Mom, stop talking, let her eat breakfast.”

How boring.

Xu Ting glared at him, then patted Zhu Shihao’s hand. “Oh my, it’s been so long since I’ve seen Shihao, Aunt Ting missed you so much, I was so excited I forgot you haven’t eaten yet.”

She handed her the breakfast, hearing her filial son in the front interrupt, “Yes, yes, yes, it’s almost been ten days.”

Xu Ting choked, acting like he didn’t exist, and only telling Zhu Shihao to eat first.

There were a lot of cars on the road, so Tan Zhi Xu just drove with the flow, not in a hurry at all, and even put on some music.

Xu Ting waved her hand, looking unconcerned. “What’s the rush? If it wasn’t a younger relative, if I wasn’t worried about losing face, I wouldn’t even want to go.”

They all knew that Xu Ting had a bad relationship with her family. The reason was also clear. When she was in her second year of starting her business, her younger brother colluded with her parents, who were short-sighted, and ruthlessly scammed the Tan family. If it hadn’t been for the Zhu family helping out, the Tan family would have had to sell their house and work to pay off their debts.

This was also one of the reasons why the two families had such a good relationship until now, and it was also one of the reasons why Zhu Shihao thought Tan Zhi Xu was always so good to her.

It wasn’t to say that she looked down on their friendship, but there were different kinds of “good,” and what she wanted was not just this kind of “good.” But she was too timid and worried about too much, not daring to say it, not daring to show it.

Just like the love letter that she didn’t give out back then.

She wanted his kindness toward her, but she was afraid that he would be troubled by this kind of kindness that she didn’t want, and even agree to be with her.

The Xu family was particularly enthusiastic about the Tan family’s arrival, and even the men in this wealthy relative’s family had been very proactive.

She even saw several carefully dressed young women, seeing the light in their eyes, she understood.

She took out a thick red envelope, but it made the faces of the newlyweds’ parents change. The Xu family’s faces were noticeably ugly.

“I said, Sister, you are her aunt after all, this is too stingy, right?”

Xu Ting wasn’t used to that. She pulled a face, put the red envelope back in her bag, and was about to turn around and leave, pulling Tan Meng. “Forget it then, I don’t even want to come here.”

Being pulled by his wife, Xu’s uncle reacted and forced a smile. “What are you saying? The child was thinking about her aunt coming to participate, we are all very welcome.”

Among the three Tan family members, Xu Ting smiled sarcastically without any scruples, and Tan Zhi Xu laughed out loud without showing any mercy. Tan Meng patted his wife’s hand, and said lightly: “Just treat it as giving face to Mom and Dad, after all, it’s just this once.”

They were almost bankrupted that year, and although he didn’t blame his wife, he still had resentment towards his wife’s family. However, the two old people had passed away in these recent years, so it didn’t matter to do the final bit of courtesy.

They had already bragged so much, and the Xu family was afraid of causing embarrassment in public. They were in the wrong in the first place, and these years they had been wholeheartedly trying to repair the relationship.

“Sister, brother-in-law, and Zhi Xu, please sit inside.”

He winked at the two young women behind him. Their methods were so low that everyone could see it clearly.

Tan Zhi Xu laughed, his face mocking. “Don’t bother.”

He turned to Zhu Shihao, who was watching the show. “Aren’t you coming over?”

They had cooperated in this for so many years, she didn’t know how many times. Zhu Shihao understood in her heart, let go of Xu Ting’s arm, and instead took Tan Zhi Xu’s arm.

He lowered his eyes and glanced at her fair and pretty hand, her long and slender fingers were well-proportioned. Because she often held a pen and cut fabric, her nails were neatly trimmed, not long, showing a pink color that seemed a bit cute.

It was a very beautiful pair of hands, but he knew where the calluses would be.

He reflexively raised his hand and rubbed the ends of her middle finger.

Thinking he was calling her, Zhu Shihao tilted her head to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

Releasing her fingers, he said nonchalantly, “Are you cold? Let’s go inside.”

Before Zhu Shihao could speak, Xu Ting, who was listening in front, thought that there was a lot of wind at the door. “Let’s go, let’s go, don’t stand in the wind.”

At this wedding, Xu Ting made it clear that she was a guest, only caring about sitting at the table in the furthest corner.

Tan Zhi Xu even disregarded his identity as a wealthy man, and rightfully didn’t give any money, using the excuse that he wasn’t married. Not only that, but when he saw Zhu Shihao flipping through her bag, he quickly pressed her hand down.

“What are you giving? How could I take yours, are you planning to invite them to your wedding?”

Disgust and disdain overflowed from his words, and the Xu family, who heard clearly, finally gave up completely on their smiles.

After the wedding, Xu Ting asked her if she was full. After getting a nod, she took the three of them and left without saying anything. It was rare to finish this for a while, of course she had to go play with her good sisters.

It was a weekend, and everyone was off work. Zhu’s parents, who were teachers, also had a rare chance to relax.

A group of people had afternoon tea, teased the children, chatted, and played chess. After dinner, they played mahjong for a while. Considering that they had to go to work tomorrow, they didn’t play for too long.

Everyone went home, and Xu Ting repeatedly instructed, “Tan Zhi Xu, take Shihao home safely.”

Tan Zhi Xu’s response was to tell the driver, “Uncle Liu, drive quickly.”

After saying goodbye to Zhu’s parents, Tan Zhi Xu asked her as he drove, “Want to go get a couple of drinks?”

“Drink again?”

“Didn’t you like the wine from yesterday?”

Zhu Shihao pursed her lips and savored it, honestly saying, “It was good.”

He asked again, “So, are you going or not?”

After hesitating for two seconds at most, she nodded decisively. “I’ll go.”

Tan Zhi Xu’s eyebrows gathered into a slight smile, and he didn’t speak again.

The two sat down in their usual spots. Zhu Shihao went to the restroom, and when she came out, she saw that he was already drinking, holding his phone with one hand, probably replying to a message.

“Is it work-related? You’re still busy this late.”

She sat down across from him and picked up the glass he had pushed over to her.

Tan Zhi Xu impatiently tossed the phone onto the table, raised his glass, and clinked it against hers. “Your Aunt Ting’s periodic work.”

The two clinked glasses and took a sip.

“Oh, another marriage urging session.” Zhu Shihao understood, then asked in confusion, “But didn’t Aunt Ting say tonight that she can’t control you and doesn’t bother to?”

It hadn’t been long, and she was already back to her periodic work.

Tan Zhi Xu coldly laughed. “That’s right, she can’t control me, but she can annoy me, so she said she’ll still clock in on time. Next time, I’ll have someone make a PPT directly for me.”

Zhu Shihao blinked, and then burst out laughing.

People’s joys and sorrows really don’t connect.

Her reaction made him amused and angry. “Zhu Shihao, do you have a conscience? Do you have any sympathy?”

Zhu Shihao smiled. “Aunt Ting is so cute.”

Lifting his eyelids to look at her, Tan Zhi Xu pinched his glass, leaned back, the laziness emanating from his whole body even more intense. The slightly long, broken hair on his forehead hung down naturally because of his slightly lowered head and chin, making him look a bit gentler.

“Shihao, why do you think we never meet anyone good?”

Good person?

She was stunned.

This didn’t sound like something Tan Zhi Xu would say.

After a long while, Zhu Shihao reacted. “Objectively speaking, you weren’t serious about dating either of those two, were you? You dumped them and you’re still saying this?”

Tan Zhi Xu looked up, expressionless. “The second one, my parents’ generation introduced her through connections. I refused, she said she didn’t want to go on blind dates, and asked me to pretend to be her boyfriend for a while to deal with her parents so they wouldn’t keep introducing people. But she took it seriously herself, can I blame me?”

Zhu Shihao was silent for a moment. “Can’t.”

She knew about this, they had pretended for two months. Counting the very beginning, they had only met twice, no chatting, no contact, and she didn’t know how the person had convinced herself, but suddenly one day she sent Tan Zhi Xu a message saying that she was getting engaged.

Tan Zhi Xu was so busy at the time that he was dizzy, and after thinking about it with his phone, he remembered that he had a fake girlfriend. He thought she had found true love, and sent a “Congratulations on your happiness.” As a result, that “true love” was himself.

Notify, block, delete, the three-piece set.

Seeing her admit it, he nodded and continued, “The third one, she insisted on trying, otherwise she’d be very embarrassed. I considered that she was Zhang Zi Ang’s cousin, so I didn’t refuse her directly in front of everyone. As a result, you know what happened. Even today, she was still asking for a breakup fee, saying she didn’t want much, two million would be enough. Is that my fault?”

… She knew, she had already said it, she wanted a car and a house after being together for a little over a month.

So, there was also a breakup fee to be asked for. It seemed like that phone call at the car this morning was about that.

Zhu Shihao was silent for a moment. “…Not your fault.”

Satisfied with her two answers, Tan Zhi Xu nodded lightly, then asked her coolly: “Alright, you tell me now, are they good people?”

Not to mention good people, they might not even be normal people.

She was honest, knew what was good for her, and knew how to read the situation. “They don’t count.”

Tan Zhi Xu continued to press: “Should you be on my side? Do you still want to blindly speak up for your fellow women?”

Zhu Shihao admitted her mistake and corrected it: “On your side, no, being blind is not advisable.”

There was only a little bit of wine left in her glass. He raised it and drank it all in one gulp, leaned over to pick up the wine bottle and refilled it. The two drank quietly, not even needing to speak, just clinking glasses, or leaning against the sofa respectively, tacitly raising their glasses in a signal.

She didn’t know how long had passed, and she didn’t pay attention to how many glasses she had drunk.

Her voice came from across from her, extraordinarily clear.

“Actually, it’s just that you’ve met the wrong person, it’s not me.”