SM Chapter 34

“Zhi Xu, will you always be with me?”

The four people at the mahjong table were completely immersed in the game, no one paying any attention to the two of them going out and coming back in.

Tan Zhi Xu released her, closing the door, “Go wash your hands and eat some fruit.”

“Okay,” Zhu Shihao responded, then subconsciously asked, “What about you?”

He lightly flicked her forehead with his finger, “I’ll go too.”

She said “Oh,” touching the spot he flicked, and turned to wash her hands, trying to suppress the upward curve of her lips.

The two sat on the sofa, eating fruit and watching the Spring Festival Gala. After a while, they found it uninteresting and started playing games instead. The Spring Festival Gala remained on, becoming the background music for the New Year’s Eve.

Zhu Shihao didn’t even have time to eat fruit, but Tan Zhi Xu still managed to feed her a bite from time to time with ease.

At first, she didn’t react, but after being fed twice, it slowly dawned on her that this was in Hua Ting, and the people playing mahjong were their parents. This behavior was indeed a bit outrageous.

Feeling a little guilty, Zhu Shihao leaned slightly forward, peeking over there secretly.

“Don’t look, you look like a thief. They can’t see us, just relax and eat,” Tan Zhi Xu chuckled, glancing at her, knowing what she was thinking, and leaned over to poke a segment of tangerine to feed her.

Feeling somewhat guilty, Zhu Shihao glared at him, but when the tangerine came to her mouth, she honestly bit it.

Tan Zhi Xu, despite the glare, still looked nonchalant, unaware of any danger, even leaning in and kissing her lips.

“Don’t look at me like that, you know I can’t resist temptation.”

His tone was calm, as if he was serious.

But, is that the reason why you’re so unscrupulous and bold enough to kiss me?

Almost reflexively, Zhu Shihao covered her mouth and turned her head to look at her parents, of course, she couldn’t see anything, only hear the sounds.

Her heart settled down, and the little figure on the screen stood still, not dying only because someone was protecting it.

She made a fist and hit him in the chest, “You really are!”

Tan Zhi Xu tugged at his collar, looking indifferent, not saying anything.

What was there to say? If they were discovered, they’d just say they were together. Anyway, he couldn’t wish for more. If it weren’t for considering her wishes, he would have given her a passionate kiss in front of both families.

Once seated at the mahjong table, there was no way they could leave early. Moreover, the four of them rarely had such leisurely time, so they played directly from New Year’s Eve to the first day of the Lunar New Year.

In the end, Liu Ruoyin and Zhu Yingqing, with their teacher-like routines, couldn’t hold on any longer, and the four ended the game at 12:20 AM.

They came over and found that the two young ones were still up.

Liu Ruoyin wasn’t too surprised. She naturally knew that her daughter couldn’t go to sleep obediently before twelve o’clock.

“Still not asleep? When are you planning to sleep?”

Zhu Shihao thought for a moment, trying to be tactful, “I think the first day of the Lunar New Year is a good day, no need to rush to sleep, we can watch a movie.”

“… Zhu Shihao, are you taking an inch after being given an inch?” Liu Ruoyin stared at her speechlessly, “Can you be more self-aware on the first day of the Lunar New Year and get up early in the morning?”

How could she put it? She never liked to lie, so she chose to remain silent.

Seeing her like this, what didn’t Liu Ruoyin understand? She made a “hiss” sound and was about to say something when Xu Ting stopped her, “Oh, young people, the New Year is lively, let them have fun. We’re family, why get up so early?”

That was the reasoning, but at least make an effort to pretend, seeing as they were at someone else’s house.

Xu Ting hooked her arm with her friend, and reminded Zhu Shihao in a serious manner, “I’m going to sleep in, Shihao ah, sleep in more, don’t get up earlier than me, I care a lot about saving face.”

Zhu Shihao, of course, knew what she meant, and nodded obediently with a smile, “Okay, okay.”

“Alright, let’s go, let’s go, I can’t stay up anymore, let’s go rest, let them play a little longer.” Xu Ting pulled her towards the stairs, not forgetting to tell her son, “You watch the time, don’t stay up all night.”

Tan Zhi Xu nodded lightly, “Mom, Dad, Aunt Ting, Uncle Zhu, rest early.”

Being pulled away, Liu Ruoyin was extremely helpless, “You only know how to protect her, spoiling her rotten. In a couple of years, she’ll be thirty, sleeping until lunchtime every day.”

She said, but there wasn’t much blame, just helplessness towards her friends, from childhood, before she could say anything, a big and small person would jump out from next door to stop her, making her look so fierce.

Once the four disappeared up the stairs, Zhu Shihao leaned closer to the man beside her, lowering her voice, “They’re too trusting of us, aren’t they? Alone, man and woman, they just let me stay with you like this?”

She didn’t take Liu Ruoyin’s words to heart. If she really cared, she wouldn’t be this age and still be this way. They were just words; she would listen, and that was it.

Tan Zhi Xu looked at her with a light gaze, adding a bit of late-night laziness, leaning back, seeming even more casual.

“Otherwise? You should say, if it weren’t for me, they wouldn’t be so relieved.”

Zhu Shihao was choked up because it made sense.

It was the same when she was a child. She said she wanted to go to the park, and her parents disagreed. She said Zhi Xu was going too, and her parents immediately changed their minds and agreed, even giving her more pocket money to tell her not to always eat Zhi Xu’s.

Just staring at each other like that, about a minute or two passed.

“Where to watch?”

Tan Zhi Xu chuckled, revealing a bit of teasing at her deliberate question, “What do you think? Where should we watch?”

While speaking, he already stood up, not rushing to leave, but reaching out his hand to her.

Zhu Shihao blinked, putting her hand in his, and he grabbed it, pulling her up with force.

“Third floor?”

The audio-visual room was on the third floor. She followed him upstairs, even though she had been there almost as many times as he had.

She flopped down on the sofa she had chosen, watching Tan Zhi Xu go get the remote.

“You don’t even like watching movies, why are you pretending?” She casually grabbed a Pillow and hugged it.

Tan Zhi Xu walked towards her, the room dimly lit, his voice clearer than his appearance.

“Only asking now?”

Once he sat down, Zhu Shihao naturally leaned closer to him, “Because it seems like that’s all it’s good for. But why is it on the third floor? It’s inconvenient for others to come in and out.”

Tan Zhi Xu raised his arm behind her, hugging her, “Why would there be others? The fact that I put it here means that no one else will come.”

Subconsciously, she leaned slightly towards him, one hand resting on his chest.

Zhu Shihao looked up at his face, “What about me?”

“Are you someone else?” The man’s eyebrows were indifferent, his movements pausing, looking down at the woman in his arms.

“Zhu Shihao, I have no interest in sleeping with other people.”

For a moment, she forgot to breathe, and her heart seemed to skip a beat.

In her view, the light was dim, the man’s face had long been engraved in her heart over the past twenty years, a face she could accurately trace even with her eyes closed.

A face she had seen countless times, but now, looking at the person so close, her eyes were still dazed, with a hint of infatuation hidden within.

She wanted to ask if “other people” referred to anyone at random in the previous statement or everyone other than her.

However, she couldn’t ask. It seemed that her position wasn’t strong enough.

The two chose an old European and American movie, a classic, and even the first time they watched it, it was together.

Obviously, this revisit was both “Being there” (physically present but mentally elsewhere). Neither of them was really watching the movie.

Zhu Shihao’s thoughts were a little erratic. She was thinking that people who grow up together tend to have many “firsts” belong to each other, and there is always the presence of the other in their memories. It was also because of this that the thought of such companionship belonging to another woman in the future made her feel sad.

“What are you thinking about?” Tan Zhi Xu could tell at a glance that she was spacing out.

However, he wasn’t focused on the movie either.

“Zhi Xu, will you always be with me?”

Her voice was light and airy, as if uncertain and confused.

The hand playing with her hair stopped, and the hair fell from his fingers. He didn’t care, but instead landed on her waist, gripping her with both hands, easily lifting her and placing her on his lap.

Suddenly being placed in a different position, Zhu Shihao didn’t resist. Instead, she adjusted herself, straddling his waist and abdomen, straightening her upper body, looking down at him in a commanding posture.

The light cast by the screen was partially blocked by her body, but some still shone on him, his outline a bit blurred, his face filled with a casual, lazy expression, and those deep eyes gazed at her.

“Yes, as long as you want, I will.”

These words were coaxing and tempting.

Zhu Shihao was burned by his concentration, and even her gaze faltered. Such days, such a posture, such an atmosphere.

“I…”

Her lips barely parted, and the sound she barely managed to make was covered by the dialogue in the movie.

“You know, Shihao, I’ve never been able to refuse you.”

The voice, which was about to get louder, was interrupted.

Zhu Shihao snapped back to her senses, swallowing back the words she had almost said, hiding them well.

She paused quietly, gently “hm”-ed, and leaned forward, lying on his chest, feeling the response of the man under her, strong arms hugging her, gently stroking and patting her back, and warm lips falling on her forehead and hair.

Such tenderness flowed between the two, the atmosphere not ambiguous, but exceptionally warm and peaceful.

After a long while, Zhu Shihao’s voice came from his embrace, her forehead pressed against his body, her lips almost brushing his clothes, making her voice sound muffled, reaching his ears, and tapping at his heart.

But Zhu Shihao, to Tan Zhi Xu, was the most enticing bait in the world. As long as she spoke, he would listen.

“Zhi Xu, I want to, I want you.”

Tan Zhi Xu wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up, and kissed her lips.

“Okay, I want to too.”

She actively raised both arms, encircling his neck, accepting his invasion.

What Zhu Shihao wanted was never the first “okay.” What she wanted was the second sentence, “I want to too.”

If that’s the case, then could you, love me, love me only because you love me?

Not “agreeing,” not “difficult to refuse.”

The audio-visual room wasn’t too suitable, at least not now. After being reminded by her, Tan Zhi Xu understood, so the two of them, with disordered breathing, their bodies pressed tightly together, could feel each other’s inability to calm down.

“Let’s go to my room.” Knowing her worries, Tan Zhi Xu put his hand on the back of her neck, his thumb rubbing, comforting her, “It’s okay, I’m here.”

As long as Tan Zhi Xu was there, there was nothing to worry about. This was a long-standing habit, and she treated it as the truth.

As soon as they entered the room, the moment the door locked, Zhu Shihao was pushed against the wall, not a violent collision, nor painful. A large palm was supporting her lower back, taking away the force.

The two kissed deeply, their clothes already disheveled between the entanglement of lips and tongues, especially Zhu Shihao, moaning uncontrollably under the chaos of his large hands.

However, this act of passion still couldn’t proceed to the end.

Tan Zhi Xu couldn’t help but curse, feeling tormented by both anger and helplessness, “Damn it, I didn’t prepare any condoms here.”

Zhu Shihao, her eyes glazed, reacted for a moment before realizing what he meant, and chuckled, “You said you were smuggling, I thought you brought some.”

“No, I prepared them, in the car and the office, but I never thought about bringing them with me.” He leaned heavily against her as if deflated.

It was rare to see him like this, throwing a tantrum like a child who hadn’t received a gift.

But…

“The car? The office?” She repeated in disbelief.

“Yeah, just in case.”

Now they were suffering the consequences of not being prepared.

Their bodies were pressed together, the feeling of squeezing at her chest was obvious. Afraid of crushing her, Tan Zhi Xu embraced her and rolled over, feeling more comfortable, he raised his hand and touched the face of the person on top of him.

“I’ll go get them from the car.”

In this state, both of them were breathing unevenly, stuck in an uncomfortable middle ground.

Zhu Shihao shook her head, propping herself up from his body, raised her head and kissed his chin, her voice still carrying a distinct charm, a pair of eyes rippling with spring water.

“It’s too late.”

“Zhi Xu, let me help you.”

They called each other’s names over and over, the remaining words vague in their kisses.

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