SM Chapter 42

“Little miss, it’s time to get out of the sedan chair.”

Su Yuewei’s face paled, and her stiff smile was forced, appearing somewhat distorted: “I believe you still have feelings for me, Zhi Xu, you do, you just hate that I dumped you back then and don’t want to admit it.”

Tan Zhi Xu was impatient, took a long stride, and walked past her: “You’re very confident, but indeed blindly so.”

Watching him decisively walk away, she felt resentful and hateful.

“Is it because of Zhu Shihao?”

His footsteps paused, Tan Zhi Xu slowly turned around, staring at her, his eyes cold: “Shut your mouth.”

But having said this much, how could Su Yuewei give up?

“I know I always bothered you because of her before, making you feel annoyed, but Zhi Xu, that’s only because I like you too much, I just hope you treat me the best.”

She paused, continuing: “Look, when you came to find me back then, leaving her behind, didn’t she leave on her own too?”

“Zhi Xu, she can do without you too.”

His body stiffened for a moment, and Tan Zhi Xu’s hand hanging by his side trembled slightly uncontrollably.

He hadn’t forgotten that he had picked up Zhu Shihao countless times, but that was the only time he had left her alone somewhere, even though he had quickly calmed down and returned to find her. But every time he thought of her painstakingly accompanying him only to be left behind and returning alone, he still felt guilty and uncomfortable.

Tan Zhi Xu’s face was as dark as water, the waves in his heart not showing at all on his face, he just looked at her coldly: “What business is it of yours?”

“Su Yuewei, even if it happens a thousand or ten thousand times, Zhu Shihao is Zhu Shihao, you can never compare to her, moreover, we ended a long time ago, there is no coming back.”

Rejected so ruthlessly and without any room for maneuver, even though Su Yuewei had long been mentally prepared to persevere, she couldn’t help but turn pale.

The man in front of her had spoken so much to her for the first time since they met again, which should have made her happy, but at this moment, she suddenly wished he would continue to be aloof.

Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her one last time, and as he walked past her, the warning in his voice was extremely strong.

“Whether I exist or not has nothing to do with whether she can do without me, Su Yuewei, you better not bother her.”

Looking extremely upset, Su Yuewei could only watch him walk away, knowing without a doubt that he was going to find Zhu Shihao.

Trying hard to calm her emotions, they were almost instantly soothed when she caught sight of the person on the swing in the distance.

Tan Zhi Xu walked towards her step by step, his eyes only seeing that one person.

“Zhi Xu, why did you come out?”

She was surprised for a moment, then waved at him, the curve of her lips becoming more and more obvious.

Tan Zhi Xu lightly “mm”ed, walked closer, and raised his hand to touch her face with the back of his hand: “Are you cold? Why aren’t you going inside?”

The raised hand paused in mid-air, then dropped somewhat disappointed. She sighed inwardly, almost habitually touching it.

Zhu Shihao shook her head: “It’s okay, the sun has been good these past few days, it’s quite comfortable to bask in.”

“It’s windy.”

Seeing her little actions, the corners of Tan Zhi Xu’s mouth curved into an imperceptible smile.

Just as she was about to say something, Ran Cai next to her happened to sneeze.

Zhu Shihao turned her head and saw her sneeze twice more, preparing to ask her caringly, but before she could speak, she heard a mocking laugh, and following the sound, she saw him wearing a mocking expression.

“Alright, let’s go inside and find her some medicine.”

Ran Cai was greatly shocked, staring wide-eyed, feeling incredible about Tan Zhi Xu’s “concern”.

Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her coldly, raised his chin towards Zhu Shihao, and gestured for her to act quickly.

“Don’t let her infect you.”

Ran Cai: “…”

She knew it, how could she possibly receive Xu-ge’s care, as expected, he was still only concerned about his own people.

For a moment, she felt like it was reasonable and as it should be.

Zhu Shihao nodded and pulled her along: “Let’s go, I’ll find some medicine for you.”

Tan Zhi Xu followed behind the two of them, his gaze fixed on Zhu Shihao, not moving an inch, completely unreserved.

Because of Su Yuewei’s words, he inevitably recalled that day, his memory has always been very good, and he still remembers what happened that day. For Tan Zhi Xu after that day, everything else was insignificant except for that mistake.

That mistake.

Indeed, for Tan Zhi Xu, the only mistake was that under the undercurrent of calm, he had left Zhu Shihao, who was accompanying him, even though he had quickly realized it and turned back to find her without hesitation.

However, he didn’t find her.

How could that be? How could Tan Zhi Xu leave Zhu Shihao alone somewhere?

He felt a little depressed, and even after sitting on the sofa, he still hadn’t fully recovered.

“Xu-ge, where did Shihao go to get the medicine, why hasn’t she come back yet?” More than ten minutes had passed, and Ran Cai couldn’t help but ask.

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t even lift his head, randomly grabbed a pillow, leaned back, and answered casually.

“I don’t know, only she knows where it’s kept.”

Qiu Ying’s expression changed when she heard this, and she wanted to say something, but Zhang Zi Ang stopped her. Under her cousin’s slightly stern glare, she could only swallow it back, not forgetting to look at Su Yuewei over there with disdain.

A real first love girlfriend, but completely useless, letting Zhu Shihao step on their heads and jump around.

If Wei Wang heard her thoughts, he would probably tell her that stepping on their heads and jumping around was nothing, even if she stepped on Tan Zhi Xu’s head and jumped around, the person desperately maintaining balance would still help her up, afraid she would fall.

During the National Day holiday in their second year of high school, they climbed over the school wall for the first time because a few days after the holiday, Zhu Shihao said that the doll hanging on her bag was missing, and she didn’t know if it had fallen in the classroom.

Seeing her anxious, Tan Zhi Xu said without hesitation that he would go back and take a look.

Wei Wang looked up from the game, with a puzzled expression: “How do we get in?”

The whole school was on holiday, even the third years, how could the gatekeeper let them in?

Tan Zhi Xu glanced at him lightly, ignored him, raised his hand to pat Zhu Shihao’s head, his tone casual: “Do you believe me?”

Of course, she believed him.

She nodded without hesitation.

Wei Wang and Hao Hao followed along, they thought the method was to reason with him. As a result, Tan Zhi Xu led them to the wall of the school’s back garden.

He looked at the two of them, slightly raised his chin: “You two go first.”

Wei Wang was incredulous: “…This is your method?”

Tan Zhi Xu asked: “Otherwise?”

Alright, the young master has the final say.

The two of them stealthily climbed up, looking around like thieves: “No one’s here, it’s okay.”

They landed.

Outside, only Tan Zhi Xu and Zhu Shihao were left, they looked at each other for a while, and she broke the silence: “Is it possible that I can’t climb up?”

He chuckled: “Otherwise, what do you think I’m staying here for? Are you waiting for me to hold you back?”

Wei Wang didn’t know how Zhu Shihao got on the wall, but he and Hao Hao witnessed her sitting on the top of the wall, her back stiff, her hands gripping the wall, not daring to move.

Tan Zhi Xu had expected this and didn’t urge her at all.

He stepped up from beside her, jumped down, turned around, and held out his hand to her: “Jump.”

Zhu Shihao lowered her eyes and looked at the distance from her feet to the ground, looked at him, and said seriously: “Do you think I dare to?”

The two looked at each other, and Tan Zhi Xu gave in, put down his arms, and turned his back to her again: “Little miss, it’s time to get out of the sedan chair.”

Wei Wang and the two of them were simply stunned, this guy usually patted off dust even after brushing against the wall, but he was willing to be stepped on.

However, Zhu Shihao wasn’t very shocked, she thought for a moment, and felt that it was probably the only way, looking at his white T-shirt.

“I’ll take off my shoes first.”

Tan Zhi Xu got up and took the shoes, held them, and leaned over slightly again, reminding the remaining two: “Help her down.”

“Oh, oh.” They responded, one on each side, stretching out their arms to support Zhu Shihao.

Seeing her holding their arms, tentatively moving down, stepping on Tan Zhi Xu’s back, and then being carried by him inexplicably, putting on her shoes, and finally landing on the ground.

The whole process could be said to be spectacular.

From that day on, Wei Wang and Hao Hao vaguely realized that Zhu Shihao was someone who could step on Tan Zhi Xu’s head and “act like a tyrant.”

This title of “Good Sister” was justified.

After a while, Zhu Shihao came back.

She looked at Ran Cai and frowned slightly: “It’s expired, do you want me to have someone deliver some?”

Ran Cai waved her hand dismissively: “It’s not a big deal, it’s okay even if I don’t take it.”

They were all adults, and it wasn’t a big problem, so Zhu Shihao didn’t say anything more, but just reminded her: “Pay attention to yourself these past few days, and go see a doctor sooner if you really feel unwell.”

She was holding several boxes of medicine and a big bag of powder, and she said to Tan Zhi Xu: “These few boxes are also expiring soon, remember to buy some new ones.”

They were all common medicines, pain relievers, anti-inflammatories, anti-diarrheals, and the like.

Back then, the medicine and the medicine box had been brought over from her house, and after some time, some had expired and some were about to expire.

Tan Zhi Xu lifted his eyelids, but didn’t look at the medicine, nor did he intend to take it, looking at her: “You buy them.”

Zhu Shihao didn’t say much: “Okay, I’ll buy them and bring them over next time.”

She glanced at them again, noting them down in her heart.

She threw the expired ones in the trash can and sat down next to Tan Zhi Xu.

This so-called housewarming party didn’t last too long, or rather, there wasn’t much to do at home, and they didn’t dare to go crazy at Tan Zhi Xu’s house.

Seeing that Tan Zhi Xu had no intention of providing dinner, around four o’clock, the group prepared to leave.

How could he possibly provide dinner, this group of people couldn’t be more of a hindrance, okay?

Ran Cai had come with Wei Wang and Hao Hao, so naturally she would leave in their car.

They escorted the guests to the gate to show politeness.

Ran Cai linked her arm with Zhu Shihao’s, not asking her “Do you want to leave together?” “How are you getting back?” At all, with Tan Zhi Xu present, it was never up to them to worry.

Everyone tacitly agreed that Zhu Shihao was under Tan Zhi Xu’s care.

The group stopped at the gate to say goodbye.

Zhu Shihao inconspicuously glanced at Su Yuewei, whose face was still very bad, not understanding what had happened, her condition had been like this for a long time and she still hadn’t recovered.

She had a guess in her heart, it was most likely related to Tan Zhi Xu, but she didn’t know what it was.

She couldn’t help but be curious, thinking about whether to ask him later?

If it were before, she would have hesitated, but today she also discovered that Tan Zhi Xu’s feelings and attitude towards Su Yuewei were even more distant than she had thought.

“Sister Shihao.”

“Ah?” Hearing her name suddenly, she raised her head, still a little dazed.

It was Qiu Ying who called her.

“Sister Shihao, aren’t you going back?”

Zhu Shihao had already come back to her senses, looking at her with a gentle expression, even politely maintaining the smile on her lips: “Mm, later.”

Actually, that wasn’t the case, Tan Zhi Xu had said that she would stay over the weekend, and this overnight stay naturally included her.

Qiu Ying looked at the man whose expression was so calm that it didn’t reveal a trace of emotion, the words she wanted to say reaching her lips, but she swallowed them back with some hesitation, she could only force out a smile.

“There are many of us, we can take you.”

Before Zhu Shihao could speak, she felt a weight on her shoulder, she followed the arm upwards, her gaze landing on the man’s face, his tone completely indistinguishable in inflection.

“Who wants you to take her.” It was just so bland, the meaning was very clear, Tan Zhi Xu was chasing people away without any disguise, “Let’s go.”

It was unclear who he was talking to.

After a moment of silence, Wei Wang and the others took the lead to leave, the others caught on and didn’t say much either. In the end, it was Zhang Zi Ang who was pulling his cousin with one hand, looking at Su Yuewei who was staring unblinkingly at Tan Zhi Xu, unable to pull her away, he called her several times.

Tan Zhi Xu glanced at Zhang Zi Ang, without any waves, but Zhu Shihao could see it very clearly.

He ignored the three of them, but when he put down his arm on her shoulder, he casually rubbed the top of her head, turned around and walked back: “Let’s go back.”

Zhu Shihao nodded politely to Zhang Zi Ang, quickly following him, feeling his steps slowing down.

After walking a good distance, she turned her head at the corner and looked, the three of them were already gone.

She raised her hand to tug on his sleeve: “You’re not planning to hang out with Zhang Zi Ang anymore?”

Tan Zhi Xu turned around and grabbed her hand, glancing at her: “Watch your words, what hang out or not, we were just ordinary friends anyway, not that close.”

She put on an understanding and innocent look: “Because he always brings your two ex-girlfriends?”

The emphasis in this sentence was on “two”.

His footsteps stopped, and turning his head to look at her blinking eyes, Tan Zhi Xu raised his other hand and pinched her cheeks, pulling them: “Because he is self-righteous and wants to meddle too much.”

Zhu Shihao looped his arm around him, knowingly nodding her head: “Understood, understood.”

It had to be said, Zhang Zi Ang and Qiu Ying’s sense of propriety lived up to the name of family.

And Tan Zhi Xu could never be someone who listened to others, he even left it up to his mood whether or not he wanted to pay attention to you, let alone being disturbed and annoyed by those “arbitrary decisions” again and again.

Obviously, the limit of his patience had crossed the warning line, and he would no longer tolerate it.

Some people were unruly, but they were also willing to put on the reins willingly.

So what about Tan Zhi Xu? If the person holding the reins was her, would he be willing?