SM Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Playing Along

“Yeah, I’m here.”

Tan Zhi Xu tilted his head to look at her, “Your fire safety awareness is really strong, seriously taking responsibility for putting out the fire.”

He was referring to how Wei Wang and the others had called her over to be a fire extinguisher, and now she was doing the same, consciously taking on the responsibility of soothing him.

Of course, she understood what he meant, but her thoughts had wandered off track and she couldn’t quite pull them back.

Her eyes flitted around, Zhu Shihao blinked and leaned closer to him, whispering, “Which fire are you referring to?”

Unexpectedly, she would say something like that. Tan Zhi Xu paused for a moment, then couldn’t help but curve his lips into a smile. His expression was clearly different from just now. In the dim yellow light, anyone could see his mood changing from cloudy to sunny.

“Every one of them is you.”

He also lowered his voice, turning halfway towards her, his lips only centimeters away from her ear. This was already a considerate distance for friends with other people present, but in the eyes of those who cared, it was still close to the point of being without boundaries.

The warm breath brushed against her ear, and warmth spread through her.

She pushed him slightly and glared at him playfully, Zhu Shihao leaned back slightly towards Ran Cai.

“Anything is fine to drink.” Tan Zhi Xu leaned back, his whole person exuding a sense of casualness, “Pour whatever you want, and I’ll drink it.”

Zhu Shihao sat forward a little, listening to Ran Cai while picking out wine to pour for him, her eyes glancing towards the two ex-girlfriends on the other side.

Qiu Ying as a person, she had never really paid much attention to, including that so-called second girlfriend. She was too clear about the reason, it was not so much being together, but rather a scam agreed upon by both parties.

The only one she cared about somewhat was Su Yuewei, the person Tan Zhi Xu had truly liked and been with because of that liking, but even that was more about the situation than the person.

Handing the wine to Tan Zhi Xu, her gaze swept past and happened to meet Su Yuewei’s gaze.

In the past, she might have pretended not to see it, or rather, in the past she would not have made overly intimate gestures at all.

However, today was different from the past.

Zhu Shihao raised her own glass and made a distant toast to her, her smile gentle and amiable.

As expected, the other person’s face stiffened, turning unsightly.

This behavior might seem polite to others, but to Su Yuewei, with the contrast from before, she would definitely not think it was politeness.

Of course, she was supposed to feel provoked, after all, Zhu Shihao really was doing it on purpose.

The other party’s mood was probably not good, but it didn’t matter, her mood had improved a lot. She took a small sip, her eyes still facing the opposite side.

Su Yuewei was about to grind her teeth, but she saw the faint curve of Tan Zhi Xu’s lips. His face was calm, but his eyes were softer than she had seen in a long time.

She suddenly remembered those past conflicts.

Her heart stirred, and she quickly put on a smiling face, even though she was extremely disgusted, she raised her glass in a gesture towards Zhu Shihao.

Tan Zhi Xu was completely unaware of her inner thoughts, and even if he knew, it wouldn’t matter. He didn’t have the slightest thought or interest. He was simply watching Zhu Shihao’s actions and the curve of her lips, his mood even better than before.

He wasn’t stupid. Although he had said before how he never saw her around, he had gradually realized that she was avoiding him.

He had been very unhappy the moment he realized it. He had never thought that being in a relationship meant abandoning her. In his view, what difference was there between that and marrying a wife and forgetting his mother?

But in fact, the relationship between them would be affected.

He believed that his conscience was clear, but in the eyes of others, it might just be an illegitimate closeness.

He could sense that Su Yuewei didn’t like Zhu Shihao, but that didn’t matter. Being good to Zhu Shihao was his business, not his girlfriend’s business.

It didn’t matter if Zhu Shihao and Su Yuewei didn’t get along, she didn’t need to force herself to do anything for anyone. If they couldn’t get along, they didn’t have to.

But at the time, Zhu Shihao’s choice was to keep her distance from him.

Now, seeing her reaction, how could he not know that she was doing it on purpose, probably just to annoy people? But he was very happy, at least it showed that she was possessive of him, instead of deciding to distance herself as she had done in the past.

Did it mean that in Zhu Shihao’s heart, Tan Zhi Xu was no longer just a relative and friend?

Thinking this, he casually picked up a strand of her long hair that fell around her waist with the hand that was resting aside, and skillfully twirled it around his fingers. Behind her, in the dim light, he gazed intently at the person in front of him.

After that night, for some reason, Su Yuewei reduced the number of messages she sent to her. It was a good thing, because Zhu Shihao had found it difficult to understand the occasional “greetings” before, and almost had the illusion that they might have a good relationship.

But how was that possible? No matter how harmonious they seemed on the surface, they were destined not to like each other. Opponents who wanted to obtain the only treasure could not become friends.

However, she still sent messages from time to time. In these one or two months, Zhu Shihao had gone from politely replying at the beginning to now just saying “Oh” and ignoring the messages after reading them. Their dislike for each other was not only obvious in their hearts, but it had also been made clear on the surface.

She was getting fewer messages, but she didn’t know about Tan Zhi Xu’s situation that day. Zhu Shihao pursed her lips, wanting to know, but still unable to open her mouth to ask.

And Tan Zhi Xu was deeply disturbed and annoyed by it. He didn’t know what was wrong with this person, but she was talking more and more, able to chat away enthusiastically all by herself.

The next time he met with this group of people was already in mid-to-late March.

This time there were even more people, and the reason was simple: Li Chennan had indeed opened a branch of his bar called “Lǚ Qì” (Come on), not the “nü” (female) for female, but the “lǚ” (Come on) for companion.

“You were still considering it last year, how did you open so quickly?”

A joyous occasion made Li Chennan energetic. He explained with a smile, “I was still considering it, but wasn’t it just a coincidence? I heard from Shihao that a bar on Hua Cai was closing down, so I took it over. A lot of things could still be used, so I didn’t have to tear everything down and rebuild.”

As he said this, he raised his glass and toasted Zhu Shihao, “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

Someone said in surprise, “You even knew about that? You have good connections.”

Zhu Shihao smiled and didn’t say anything.

The shop next door was rented out by Zhu Suiyi, so naturally she had heard it from her.

Except for a very few people, most of the people here were friends from college and later. As they chatted and laughed, a slender woman walked over in the distance, wearing a form-fitting long dress that swayed gracefully with her steps.

Ran Cai clicked her tongue, “Even though it’s almost April, she’s really putting in the effort for beauty.”

Zhu Shihao gave an objective assessment, “She’s very beautiful.”

Hearing this, Ran Cai scoffed, curling her lips. “Shihao, darling, you would look much prettier than her wearing that. She doesn’t have your big boobs.”

She didn’t keep her voice down on purpose, and the man sitting on the left heard it, subconsciously turning to look at Zhu Shihao. He secretly nodded in his heart, and just as his Adam’s apple was about to slide, he felt an icy, bone-chilling gaze.

His eyes moved to the side and met the man’s calm but extremely sharp and cold gaze, with a strong warning meaning.

Knowing that this was a young master who couldn’t be trifled with, he dejectedly turned his head back.

Tan Zhi Xu glared coldly at Ran Cai, who had “brought trouble upon herself,” “You can compliment, but please be polite and respect privacy.”

Ran Cai: “…?”

She was looked at, and shrank her neck, but was still confused. She pointed at herself to Zhu Shihao, looking wronged, “How was I impolite or disrespectful of privacy?”

They were all women, as a man, shouldn’t you have just pretended not to hear it?!

She really wanted to retort, but she had the heart but not the guts.

Zhu Shihao glanced at him and was about to speak when the light in front of her dimmed slightly and then brightened again. A familiar voice sounded.

Su Yuewei sat down on the other side of Tan Zhi Xu, “What are you guys talking about?”

Her words were interrupted, and Ran Cai was also half a beat late in approaching her, puzzled and confused: “Are we close?”

Looking at Su Yuewei’s eyes, nailed on Tan Zhi Xu, she felt that this sentence was debatable.

“Was that said to us?” Zhu Shihao’s tone was calm, lightly clarifying the truth. “It was clearly only asking Tan Zhi Xu, we’re not important.”

Tan… Zhi Xu…

Hearing his full name called, he looked around at her face.

Su Yuewei’s smile almost couldn’t hold.

“Shihao, I really want to be friends with you.”

How was that possible? But in front of Tan Zhi Xu, she had to say it like this.

In the past few years, she had reflected many times, and the conclusion she came to was that she couldn’t be against Zhu Shihao. No matter how much she disliked her, she couldn’t, at least she had to put on a good act in front of Tan Zhi Xu and show her friendly attitude.

She knew that Zhu Shihao didn’t like her either. If she was unhappy and caused trouble, that was her business. It was best if they quarreled with Tan Zhi Xu, but she could no longer quarrel with Tan Zhi Xu because of this.

“Oh, really? I don’t believe it.”

In the past, Zhu Shihao might have been willing to act with her, taking into account that Tan Zhi Xu was caught in the middle and in a difficult position.

But today was different from the past. Once they got back together, it was impossible for Zhu Shihao and Tan Zhi Xu to return to their pure friendship. Anyway, they had to “break up,” so why care about making things difficult? There would be no middle ground then.

It was rare to see her so aggressive. In the final analysis, it was still related to him. Tan Zhi Xu couldn’t help but feel a bit amused and even a little delighted.

Su Yuewei couldn’t smile. She didn’t retort but instead turned to the man in the middle who looked indifferent. She looked at his handsome face, her eyes lost for a moment, and then her expression turned aggrieved.

“Zhi Xu, I really want to be friends with Shihao this time.”

Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her faintly, lowering his eyes to stare at the lighter he was playing with, which seemed to be Li Chennan’s and looked very flashy.

His voice was as always, cold and without a trace of fluctuation.

“What does it have to do with me? If she doesn’t want to pay attention to you, then don’t bother her.”

That word “bother” was very much the key.

Ran Cai, after hearing that, was trying her best to suppress the urge to burst out laughing, feasting her eyes on Su Yuewei’s expression, and happily drank half a glass, feeling so refreshed.

Zhu Shihao raised her eyes and stared at him for a while.

“What’s wrong?”

Sensing her gaze, Tan Zhi Xu turned his head to ask her.

She always wanted to get the most definitive answer from him, even if it was just to confirm what she thought in her heart. But this wasn’t the right place to say these things, so she shook her head.

“Nothing.” Recalling the name that had just been called, she also called out, “Zhi Xu.”

Tan Zhi Xu, who had already withdrawn his gaze, raised his eyelids again to look at her, his words short, clear, and low, “Yeah, I’m here.”

She had heard this answer countless times in these three or four months. Especially during every moment of lovemaking, she didn’t seem to remember anything except calling his name, and every time, he would answer her patiently, “I’m here.”

He was there, he had always been there. Was this not a vow?

Thinking of this, her heart softened even more. Those intense emotions filled her with the love and affection that she couldn’t say, flowing like a warm spring, enough to comfort and satisfy her.

Even her eyes became more gentle, like quiet autumn water, like brilliant stars, so focused that her clear eyes seemed to only contain him.

Seeing this, Tan Zhi Xu also softened unconsciously and raised his hand to rub her head.

“Just do whatever you want.”

Just follow your heart, you can do whatever you want.