SM Chapter 40

“How dare you compare yourselves to her.”……

Chapter 40: Tit for Tat

“How dare you compare yourselves to her.”……

The next time Su Yuewei appeared, it was still at a gathering of friends, but this time the location was quite special: Hua Ting, Tan Zhi Xu’s home.

To be precise, it was after Wei Wang and the others accidentally heard that he occasionally stayed at Hua Ting for a couple of days on the weekend that they insisted on having a housewarming party for him.

At the time, Tan Zhi Xu was annoyed to the point of frowning, his brow full of impatience. His expression didn’t change much, but he exuded a faint sense of irritation. Still, he agreed.

In the end, inexplicably, it turned into a gathering of about ten people.

Looking at the noisy scene in the house, he felt as if his temples were throbbing, and he wanted to kick everyone out.

Zhu Shihao could tell what he was feeling just by looking at him. She walked over to his side and tilted her head to look at him: “Regretting it?”

“Shouldn’t I be?” He glanced at her sideways.

It was delaying their alone time. If he had known…

But there were no “if I had knowns.”

In a corner, taking advantage of a blind spot, he turned to face her, raised his hand to touch her face, and was about to lower his head for a kiss when she pushed him away and dodged.

“What are you doing? There are so many people here.”

Tan Zhi Xu straightened up, expressionless: “I’m going to kick them out.”

As he said this, he was about to turn around. Hearing the noise from over there, he didn’t want to think about any “if I had knowns” anymore.

Zhu Shihao grabbed his arm and gently shook it: “Oh come on, it’s just this once, no matter how noisy it is. You’ve already ordered the food, so let’s just go with it.”

He turned back, his gaze sweeping over her hand holding his. He raised his other hand and flicked her forehead lightly, with very little force.

“You’re quick to speak up for them.”

She curved her lips, her eyes smiling: “Because I know you actually enjoy spending time with them too.”

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t say anything, the corners of his mouth curving into a faint smile. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Zhu Shihao was right. Among these people, some were dispensable to him and he didn’t care about them much. But Wei Wang and the others shared the bond of studying together. After so many years, brotherly feelings still existed.

“You’re right, but you’re still the most important.”

All these people combined couldn’t compare to even a fraction of Zhu Shihao. His heart was biased.

Tan Zhi Xu was very biased. He would unreasonably like Zhu Shihao the most, and unreasonably stand on Zhu Shihao’s side.

But Zhu Shihao didn’t understand the deeper meaning in his words. She simply “defined” this importance as the kind of care she had received over the past twenty-odd years.

Her eyes were full of smiles: “Yeah, me too.”

After all, as the host, it wasn’t good to hide all the time.

As soon as they came out, they saw three people with different expressions at the door. In the middle was Zhang Zi Ang, his face conflicted. On one side was his cousin, Qiu Ying, whose expression was bad and who wasn’t good at managing her emotions. On the other side was Su Yuewei, who was quite good at managing her expression.

“Zhi Xu.” Zhang Zi Ang called out when he saw him, his expression somewhat embarrassed.

Looking at these three people, Tan Zhi Xu simply didn’t want to say another word.

It was also inappropriate to block the doorway. Zhu Shihao eased the somewhat tense atmosphere and stepped forward to greet them: “Come in.”

Seeing her acting like she was greeting guests in her own home, and thinking of the fact that she had been deleted, Su Yuewei was extremely angry. Not wanting to pay any attention to her, she handed the bag in her hand to Tan Zhi Xu: “Zhi Xu, this is a gift.”

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t even look at it, and patted Zhu Shihao’s head: “Let’s go in.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around, ready to leave.

Zhu Shihao was helpless, but still kept up appearances and greeted them again before asking Su Yuewei: “Do you need me to help you put it away?”

Hearing this, Tan Zhi Xu stopped and turned back to look at her.

Su Yuewei naturally saw his action, and her eyes lit up: “No need, I’ll put it away myself.”

Before Zhu Shihao could say anything, she heard a snicker from the front, and a familiar voice returned to her ear as her wrist was held from behind.

“Let’s go, why bother with her? What kind of person is worth your concern?”

This was the first time Tan Zhi Xu had spoken so impatiently about Su Yuewei in front of her, causing her thoughts to stagnate. Before she could even think about the politeness between adults, she was pulled away.

The expressions of the remaining three people weren’t good.

Well, not really. Qiu Ying seemed to be in a better mood, mocking Su Yuewei: “It seems like your first love girlfriend isn’t so great either. You can’t even compare to Zhu Shihao.”

The first half of the sentence made Su Yuewei’s face stiff. Hearing the second half, her face could only be described as ugly and livid. She was practically grinding her teeth.

If you asked her who she hated the most, without a doubt, apart from Zhu Shihao, there was no second choice.

She hated that everyone praised her for being beautiful and having a good figure, hated that she was praised for being gentle and having a good nature, and hated most of all that she had gained Tan Zhi Xu’s attention and favoritism, becoming the only most special and most favored one in his eyes.

Even though Zhu Shihao had taken the initiative to avoid them back when they were dating, Su Yuewei was even more disgusted by her unshakeable specialness.

For a moment, she couldn’t bother to pretend to be generous. She coldly looked at this spoiled woman: “You should try actually talking to your Zhi Xu-ge first.”

Without looking at Qiu Ying gasping with anger, she walked inside first.

Sensing her gaze, Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her lightly: “What are you looking at? Don’t you recognize me?”

Subconsciously, she was about to open her mouth, but quickly realized that the occasion wasn’t right. Zhu Shihao shook her head: “It’s nothing.”

He snorted, ruthlessly exposing her: “You’re sure it’s nothing? I know what you’re thinking just by looking at your eyes.”

This look, this expression… If there was nothing, he would write his name backwards.

He didn’t say this out loud, otherwise Zhu Shihao would definitely say that there wasn’t much difference between Tan Zhi Xu and Xu Zhi Tan, both were full of parental love.

Even without the complaining from before, Zhu Shihao still pouted, feeling somewhat convinced in her heart, but not quite convinced on her face.

“Nonsense, rambling…”

Pulling her to sit on the sofa, Tan Zhi Xu interrupted her, glancing at her lightly: “Want to get a beating?”

As he spoke, he stood up and took a step forward, leaning over to pick up an orange from the table. He grabbed a piece of paper, and came back to sit down.

She was sitting next to him, the distance between them less than a hand’s breadth, very close, but no one felt that there was anything wrong. Even before they had a bed-partner relationship, this distance hadn’t broken through the safety zone they had set.

Or rather, they were distinct and incomparable existences to each other, separate from everyone else.

She watched him slowly peel the orange, even carefully placing a napkin underneath.

It was clearly the most ordinary behavior, his expression and movements still carrying a hint of laziness. Even if a beautifully packaged gift box appeared at the edge of her vision, it didn’t distract him in the slightest.

“Zhi Xu, this is a gift. I don’t know if you’ll like it.”

Su Yuewei was indeed very beautiful when she smiled. It was the kind of first love feeling that people usually talked about, pure and approachable, the kind that Tan Zhi Xu would like.

Looking up at her, Zhu Shihao lowered her head, thinking to herself.

A peeled orange appeared in front of her, the large strands removed. It was smooth and plump. Just by looking at it, you could imagine how juicy it was. The sections were blooming like flowers.

Even if he wasn’t sitting next to her, she could tell whose handiwork it was at a glance.

“Are you stupid? Why are you spacing out? Eat.” The large hand holding the orange moved it closer to her, Tan Zhi Xu gesturing for her to take it.

Zhu Shihao slowly said “oh,” and when she took the orange, her smooth, manicured fingernails lightly grazed his palm, causing a slight itch.

Tan Zhi Xu stared at his palm for two seconds before lowering his hand, leaning back on the sofa, and looking up to see Su Yuewei standing aside, her expression not yet withdrawn.

He frowned imperceptibly, looking at her with a calm expression: “No need, I don’t accept gifts.”

Hearing his words, Su Yuewei was immediately overjoyed, turning her head to look at him: “I chose it for a long time. Please accept it, you’ll like it.”

“I don’t like it, and I’m not interested.” He lowered his eyes listlessly, his thumb lightly touching the palm that had just been itchy. “If you don’t understand, just throw it in the trash.”

Even though those subtle gazes were trying hard to pretend they didn’t exist, the embarrassment was still heavy.

Su Yuewei’s smile became forced: “Then I’ll find another opportunity to give it to you next time.”

She really didn’t understand human speech.

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t want to pay any attention to her at all, swinging his open leg to one side and touching Zhu Shihao’s leg: “Give me a slice.”

Zhu Shihao, who was enjoying the show, was caught off guard by being called. She first “ah-ed” reflexively, and then habitually broke off a segment, ready to feed it to his mouth.

Her hand was already extended when she realized that this action was a bit too “natural.” But when she thought about Su Yuewei still standing there watching, she decisively continued.

“Want more?”

Tan Zhi Xu, who had been paying attention to her, saw that momentary pause. He thought she was going to give up and was about to raise his hand himself, but he didn’t expect her to not abide by her “sense of propriety.”

It was an unexpected surprise, of course he wanted it.

Raising his eyebrows slightly, he opened his mouth to bite the orange at her lips, giving a light “hmm,” and as expected, he received another feeding.

His gaze quickly swept over Su Yuewei, as if understanding something.

If it was specifically to show her, did that mean Zhu Shihao cared about this ex-girlfriend?

He wasn’t afraid that she cared, he was only afraid that she still didn’t care.

After sitting for a while, she was a little thirsty. She had already reached out her hand when she remembered that her cup wasn’t here. Zhu Shihao was about to get up when she heard his indifferent voice.

“Want to drink water?”

“Mm.”

She stood up but was grabbed by the wrist. The force wasn’t great, but the instinctive obedience of her body still made her sit down again. Instead, Tan Zhi Xu’s voice came from above her head.

Letting go of her, he stood up: “Sit. I’ll get it.”

If someone was willing to do it for her, of course she was happy not to move.

“Okay.”

Watching him walk away, as she withdrew her gaze, she could still see several people following him with their eyes, among them inevitably Su Yuewei and Qiu Ying.

Qiu Ying could be ignored.

As for Su Yuewei, she had to admit that she was annoyed by her.

However, remembering that scene not long ago, her mood suddenly calmed down. This person, the past, didn’t seem so important anymore.

As she thought this in her heart, she forgot to be reserved, until she met those beautiful eyes filled with anger.

Zhu Shihao was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted. She briefly thought for a second and chose to give her a smile.

As expected, the person she was looking at showed disgust and withdrew her gaze.

Secretly saying “oh ho” to herself, seeing that Su Yuewei wasn’t happy, she had to admit that she felt even better.

In fact, “sparring” was refreshing, since they disliked each other anyway. So why hadn’t they done it before? It was just that one had reservations and the other had something to rely on, all because of the same person.

And Zhu Shihao was the one with all the concerns.

Her mind wandered, a jumbled mess.

“Shihao, Zhu Shihao.”

“Huh?”

She woke up suddenly, and met his lowered eyes. The familiar cup was being handed to her.

Tan Zhi Xu moved the cup closer to her, sat down next to her, and unhurriedly held his own cup to take a sip: “Didn’t you want to drink water? What are you spacing out for?”

Taking the cup, Zhu Shihao took a sip and shook her head.

Tan Zhi Xu paused his drinking, moved the cup away, and stared at her with a slight frown, clearly not believing her.

At this close distance, it was impossible to pretend not to know. She blinked, wanting to argue, but before she could open her mouth, she heard her name.

“Sister Shihao, why is your cup different from ours? Is there a special one here just for you?” Qiu Ying asked, looking at the two of them.

That cup was clearly different from the ones they were using. It looked much more exquisite.

Looking at her expression superficially, it was the so-called “fluttering eyelashes.”

Even though it wasn’t the first time she had seen it, Zhu Shihao still narrowed her eyes as usual, pretending to be cute.

Girl, your masseter muscles are bulging.

Lowering her eyes, she looked at the glass in her hand, even holding it up to look around.

Tan Zhi Xu’s voice was calm, with his usual lazy tone: “What else?”

The man calmly continued, “Not only the cup is special, but the bowls, chopsticks, and slippers are all special, and there’s also a room. So? Is there a problem?”

“How dare you compare yourselves to her.”