SM Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Saying It, Doing It

“Zhu Shihao, about what happened last night, you…”

He didn’t know if it was because of the alcohol or because those images flashed through his mind, but he paused for a moment before coming back to his senses. He looked up at her and sneered, “Then why did you break up so quickly with all three guys you dated in your junior year of college? Were you collecting stamps?”

She had only had those three relationships in total, and none of them lasted longer than a month.

Back then, if she hadn’t sworn to him that she definitely wasn’t being wronged or bullied, with the way she was radiating an aura of “dating isn’t fun,” he would have gone to find each of them and beat them up.

But now, thinking about her denial of meeting the wrong person, he was reminded of something from a long time ago.

He thought about the love letters and secret crush Zhu Shihao had in her senior year of high school. Could it be that she had really been hung up on that jerk all this time?

His gaze was direct as he scrutinized her, his eyes roaming over her face.

Unaware of his mental journey, Zhu Shihao finally explained after many years, “Don’t talk nonsense. At the time, I didn’t want to date anyone. It was just that my roommates kept telling me to try it.”

It was true that those trials didn’t lead to anything. The people who had initially said “It’s okay,” “I’m willing to wait for you,” and “I believe in myself” ultimately only had fleeting enthusiasm. After trying to date, their fire quickly died out, and they would say something high-sounding like, “One-sided effort is too difficult.”

But wasn’t that the problem they had made clear from the beginning? Zhu Shihao didn’t refute a single word and agreed to the first two breakups. Only the third one was different; he was a good person.

It was the first time she had mentioned the reasons for her past relationships, and she felt slightly awkward, not just because the reasons were so casual, but also because the same reason had been casual three times.

Sure enough, Tan Zhi Xu seemed amused, “Wow, Zhu Shihao, no wonder. You even know that saying it will…”

Okay, he was laughing in anger.

But she wasn’t intimidated, cutting him off, “Will what? Are you going to scold me?”

Meeting her eyes, Tan Zhi Xu clicked his tongue twice, “Forget it, it’s been so long. I won’t scold you. But you remember this, cut out these reasons completely in the future.”

Zhu Shihao was a little unconvinced, “You’re one to talk, we’re as bad as each other. What position do you have to criticize me?”

They glared at each other for a brief standoff.

Tan Zhi Xu ruffled his hair irritably and looked at her sternly, “Fine, I was wrong, I’ll change. But you better be careful too.”

Each of them took a step back. Most of the time, she knew when to stop, so she nodded.

Seeing that her attitude was acceptable, Tan Zhi Xu didn’t say much more. As they drank more and more, he gradually became tipsy, half-joking and half-mocking.

“Why don’t we just make do with each other?”

Zhu Shihao trembled slightly. She pretended to be nonchalant as she gently swirled her wine glass, watching the pale liquid inside rotate around the glass.

The slight drunkenness was swept away, and her mind was unusually clear for a moment.

Since he said he couldn’t find someone good, and since she couldn’t let go or settle, then there was nothing that couldn’t be allowed, right?

After a quiet moment, her voice was unusually calm, each word clear.

“Okay, let’s try it.”

Tan Zhi Xu’s hand shook, ignoring the wine stains on his hand. He looked up at her serious expression. They stared at each other, neither of them backing down.

So, he hadn’t misheard, nor should he have misunderstood.

After a long silence, he asked, “How do we try?”

Zhu Shihao got up and knelt on the carpet in front of him, staring at his lips without saying a word.

They looked at each other in another long silence. She leaned forward, placing her hands on either side of the sofa and arching her back as she leaned in.

Their legs were touching, the fabrics of her dress and his suit pants brushing against each other. Before their lips touched, Tan Zhi Xu heard her voice.

“Like this.”

The wine glass in her hand completely fell, hitting his thigh and rolling onto the carpet. It didn’t hurt, but the wine wet his pants and the sofa.

Tan Zhi Xu subconsciously wrapped his arms around her waist, not rejecting the kiss, but after their lips barely touched, he stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly pulled her waist in tightly.

Caught off guard by the pull, Zhu Shihao fell onto his lap. The next moment, a hand grabbed her chin and lifted it, and darkness fell before her eyes.

“Is this enough?”

The sensation on her lips was clear, and he gradually increased the pressure, then gradually deepened the kiss.

The wine spread from where they were touching, gradually wetting her dress, and gradually, it wasn’t just her dress.

The kiss seemed to last forever.

Tan Zhi Xu let go of her and saw her panting softly. He raised his hand and wiped away a strand of saliva from the corner of her mouth with his thumb.

He laughed, “Haven’t kissed before, or haven’t kissed this long before?”

If he hadn’t known the reasons for her previous relationships, he definitely wouldn’t have asked that.

Zhu Shihao glared at him.

But she didn’t know how alluring she looked at that moment with her flushed face, glossy lips, and extremely beautiful eyes.

His gaze darkened, gradually stained with lust. A faint smile appeared on Tan Zhi Xu’s lips, full of meaning.

“Zhu Shihao, there’s no going back.”

After saying that, he forcefully kissed her lips again, exploring, sucking, seducing, and tangling.

Then, he followed the graceful curve of her neck.

Zhu Shihao’s eyes were glistening with moisture, revealing a hint of daze. She pressed down on his large hand, “Don’t pull like that, you can’t get it open, and it’ll get deformed.”

She was still thinking about whether her clothes would get deformed.

Chuckling, Tan Zhi Xu pressed one hand on her lower back and lifted her buttocks with the other, “Alright, then let’s go somewhere more convenient.”

He held her like that, face to face. They hadn’t been this close since they started developing. Their bodies were pressed tightly together, and she could even feel the pressure on her chest.

Tan Zhi Xu closed the bedroom door with his foot, pinning her against the wall and capturing her breath.

His kisses were like him, domineering to the point of being impossible to refuse, yet also subtly revealing tenderness. She was kissed into a daze, her clothes disheveled by his roving hands.

“Zhi Xu, it hurts.”

His voice was hoarse as he teased, “You’re such a delicate flower.”

He eased the strength in his hands, lifted her clothes, and his eyes lingered. His throat wasn’t just hoarse, but also terribly dry. He leaned down.

In a soft moan, Zhu Shihao seemed only able to hold his head.

She didn’t know how long it had been when she heard his voice mixed with heavy breathing.

“Baby, just a taste tonight.”

She couldn’t hear what he was saying at all. In the feedback of her body’s senses and his low, magnetic “Shihao,” she was overwhelmed by waves. She couldn’t do anything but feel him and be with him.

He no longer used those cheesy terms, only calling her name over and over.

She thought it was very good like this. She wanted him to know who was beneath him, just Zhu Shihao, not anyone else.

The next day, when Zhu Shihao woke up, she found herself lying on a familiar yet unfamiliar bed. She was dazed for a moment, then her pupils shrank.

Familiar, of course, because she had seen it many times, but unfamiliar because she had seen it, but never slept in it. No, that wasn’t right, she had just slept in it.

The memories of the night before flooded back.

Tan Zhi Xu wasn’t in the room. She looked around, and her eyes finally landed on the bathroom, from which she could hear faint sounds.

After thinking for two seconds, Zhu Shihao decisively decided to run.

She looked down at herself and saw that her woollen undershirt was obviously a little deformed, especially at the neckline and chest. But luckily, wearing it inside would cover it up.

She got up, tidied her clothes, and quietly left the room. Before she did, she couldn’t help but glance at the messy bed.

It was also hard for him to tolerate her lying on his bed wearing the clothes she had been wearing outside all day.

Without time to think more, Zhu Shihao put on her coat, stuffed her phone into her pocket, changed her shoes, and ran without looking back.

Less than ten minutes after she left, the door to the master bathroom opened. Tan Zhi Xu, wearing a bathrobe and using a towel to dry his hair, had originally worried that she wasn’t sleeping comfortably, but he came out to find that she was gone.

His eyebrows lifted, and he guessed where she had gone. He picked up the phone from the bedside table and walked out of the bedroom, heading straight for the entryway. He saw that her coat was missing and the slippers at the door hadn’t been put back in the shoe cabinet.

As expected, she had run away.

He was about to call her when he saw her bag on the shoe cabinet.

Tan Zhi Xu was now somewhat surprised that she had even forgotten the bag right in front of her, giving him a more realistic understanding of how panicked Zhu Shihao had been.

In that case, calling probably wouldn’t work. After all, there could be many reasons for not answering the phone. What if this frightened kitten ran away overnight?

He picked up her bag and looked at it. Thinking of its owner, Tan Zhi Xu decided to first lower her guard and then unexpectedly go to block her way.

Having been somewhat fearful and anxious, Zhu Shihao had not received any news from that person and gradually relaxed. But she couldn’t help but admit that she felt a little disappointed.

The memories were complete, and the causes, processes, and results of the events were clear.

It wasn’t that she regretted it. The words had already been said, and it had already happened. Now, her only problem was how to rationalize it.

Her thoughts were scattered and complex. After she calmed down and entered her work state, she forgot about it.

The studio was located on the second floor of an old street, but because she planned to open a physical store, she was already starting to move.

Feeling that the design of the skirt hem wasn’t ideal, Zhu Shihao changed two versions but was still dissatisfied and continued to work on it. She didn’t notice the door opening and closing, and a tall figure leaning against the wall and watching her.

A black bag hung on his forearm. Tan Zhi Xu watched her for a long time, seeing her using a pen to hold up her hair, inserting another one when she was thinking, and taking another one from the pen holder when she was working. She must have really been struggling, because she had four pens in her hair.

He found it funny and shook his head, but he didn’t disturb her.

It wasn’t until her phone rang that they both woke up from their focus.

Seeing her looking around for her phone, Tan Zhi Xu raised his own, “Mine.”

Hearing his voice, Zhu Shihao trembled and turned around in disbelief, “When did you get here?”

“Twenty minutes ago. Tidy up, I’ll go get food.” After putting the bag down, he was about to press down on the doorknob when he remembered something. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at her, “Zhu Shihao, you’re not going to jump out the window, are you?”

Although she knew where he was coming from, Zhu Shihao was speechless, “This is the second floor. Am I crazy?”

Tan Zhi Xu chuckled, “I thought so too. Don’t sprain your ankle and make me come downstairs to save you.”

When he came back, Zhu Shihao had already cleared a space on the table and was sitting there with her eyes lowered, not knowing what she was thinking. He put out the food, and she naturally went to get the utensils.

“Eat first.”

Zhu Shihao paused, “Oh.”

She knew what he meant, but he didn’t seem awkward. He was eating, chatting, and picking at the food as always. Zhu Shihao gradually regained her composure in the normal atmosphere.

Tan Zhi Xu saw her performance and the corners of his mouth curved upward, his eyes gradually filled with laughter.

After they finished eating and put away the things, Zhu Shihao went to wash her hands. She came back to find him sitting in her rocking chair, his long legs sprawled open and resting on the ground, his head leaning against the back of the chair. He turned his head to look at her.

“Come here.”

The rocking chair was placed in front of the window. Besides the rocking chair, there was only a small table with a vase on it.

Zhu Shihao pursed her lips and obeyed, walking slowly toward him.

As soon as she got close, before she could say anything, she was pulled down.

She cried out in surprise as an arm wrapped around her waist, and a large hand clasped her to his side. The sensation under her buttocks was real, and she could clearly feel the firmness and strength it contained.

She reflexively raised her hand to support herself on his shoulders. He cupped her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him.

“Zhu Shihao, what do you think about what happened last night?”