SM Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Mutual Attraction

“Shihao, I wanted to use it as an excuse to… I wanted to…”

Jia Jia was very happy to see Tan Zhi Xu, rushing over to him. Zhu Shihao thought she was going to shout “Uncle-in-law” at the top of her lungs again, but she didn’t. She politely called him “Uncle Zhi Xu.”

The man with a cool expression patted her head, a subtle smile on his lips. Tan Zhi Xu turned his head and called out, “Sister Yi.”

He led the three of them inside, not making a point of greeting Zhu Shihao specifically. However, whether it was his action of walking towards her or the way he looked at her when he saw the three of them, it all indicated his attitude.

People are always more casual and comfortable with those they are closer to.

However, Zhu Suiyi didn’t find anything wrong with his behavior, accustomed to it to the point where she subconsciously felt it was only natural.

Both families knew that Tan Zhi Xu was most partial to Zhu Shihao.

However, when she saw the dishes being brought to the table and Tan Zhi Xu pulling out a chair and handing out napkins, Zhu Suiyi glanced at her younger sister, secretly marveling. With such service and treatment, it was normal for her to have high standards and not be able to find a boyfriend.

Tan Zhi Xu glanced at the person beside him, raised his hand, and picked up the piece of meat from under the fish’s belly, placing it in her bowl: “No bones, eat slowly.”

Not idle after that, he also ladled a bowl of soup for her, carefully using the spoon to skim off the floating scallions.

Zhu Suiyi clicked her tongue inwardly, feeling that her sister really didn’t need to find a boyfriend.

It wasn’t until after the meal, with Jia Jia sitting in the child seat, holding her packaged pastries, and Zhu Suiyi stepping on the gas pedal to drive away, that she saw the two figures gradually shrinking in the rearview mirror, seemingly talking.

Zhu Shihao punched him lightly, and the man who was punched didn’t resist at all, raising his hand to pat the top of her head.

Just as a subtle sense of unease arose in her heart, a childish voice came from behind.

“Mommy, can I have another pastry when we get home?”

“No.” Almost reflexively, she rejected Jia Jia’s request, “But if you finish your Quick-Quick Milk, I might consider it.”

Coming back to her senses, she focused on the road ahead, shaking her head inwardly.

What was that? Really, she’d seen it for over twenty years and still wasn’t used to it.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Zhu Shihao tilted her body, looking at him thoughtfully.

Tan Zhi Xu was calm, not at all uncomfortable with being stared at: “What are you looking at me for?”

“Zhi Xu, are you unhappy today?”

Relaxing, she remembered the expression she had seen on his face when they left Shen Yi.

“So you noticed.” Knowing she had noticed, Tan Zhi Xu didn’t deny it, but found another excuse, “I already bought the groceries, we already discussed the menu, but it fell through.”

Zhu Shihao scrutinized him, feeling something was off, but she couldn’t see anything from his face. After a while, she nodded dubiously.

“Okay, but we can make it tomorrow.”

Tan Zhi Xu casually “Mm”ed, “Otherwise what? I’ll pick you up after work tomorrow.”

The night deepened, the sky outside the window as black as ink, no stars visible, only the moon occasionally appearing as it passed through the clouds.

Tan Zhi Xu came out after showering and saw her lying on the bed playing with her phone.

Late April and early May have the most pleasant weather, neither cold nor hot, the temperature just right without needing any external help.

She lay on the pillow, the covers beside her pulled up in a pile. The nightgown, originally a little above her knees, was crumpled upwards due to her posture, and her slender, straight, yet still fleshy legs swayed in the air, causing the thin silk skirt to rub slightly against her body.

Without thinking, he walked towards her.

His gaze slowly moved from her fair legs, over the rounded curve of her buttocks, her thin waist, up to the beautiful and alluring curve of her spine. Her long hair was scattered, a highly aesthetic picture of black and white.

Zhu Shihao, of course, heard his footsteps, but didn’t pay attention, scrolling through Weibo.

Reaching the bedside, Tan Zhi Xu looked down at her screen.

Xu Yan?

He scoffed, attracting Zhu Shihao’s gaze.

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t look at her, reaching out directly to take her phone, exiting to the home screen.

“What are you doing?” Zhu Shihao propped herself up, watching him turn off her phone and place it on the bedside table.

Putting the phone down, Tan Zhi Xu turned to her, looking straight at her, unhurriedly starting to unbutton his shirt: “Doing you.”

Zhu Shihao’s eyes widened slightly, and after a moment of reaction, she rolled over and crawled to the other side: “Wait a minute.”

“Can’t wait.” Tan Zhi Xu knelt on one knee on the bed, leaning over and grasping her ankle, “I didn’t get dinner.”

“Shihao, I can always eat you, right?”

Pulled back by him, she was turned over.

Zhu Shihao’s vision darkened, the tall man pressing down on her. Instinctively, she raised her arms, her hands finding a familiar, muscular body. Her words were slurred because of his kisses.

“Zhi Xu, hair, hair.”

Tan Zhi Xu straightened up, placing the pillow back in its original position, looping one arm around her chest to straighten her, and using the other hand to gather her long hair, spreading it above her head.

Before she could react, he kissed her again.

At this moment, he didn’t want to hear any words of rejection. Otherwise, thinking about her leaving without looking back that afternoon, he would go crazy.

But, if Zhu Shihao didn’t want to, what could he do? He could only comply.

Fortunately, the voice of the person beneath him was still pleasant.

“Don’t rush, okay?”

Feeling that even his actions of taking off her clothes were two parts less patient than usual, Zhu Shihao couldn’t help but say.

Tan Zhi Xu looked down at her, smiled slightly, and didn’t answer.

Then, Zhu Shihao realized that he really wasn’t rushing.

After peeling the shell.

Instead of rushing to move, he admired her in a condescending posture.

Zhu Shihao couldn’t help but curl up one leg, raising it to the side to block him, her arms also across her chest: “Don’t look down at me like that, in such a lofty posture.”

Just looking made her feel strange.

The corners of Tan Zhi Xu’s lips curved up, looking at the increasingly turbulent waves caused by her protective pose.

“Then should I let you be on top?”

It sounded like he was discussing it with her, but the actions he took almost simultaneously indicated that he wasn’t asking.

Between the surging tides, soft moans broke.

Zhu Shihao could feel that he seemed particularly strong tonight, as if he was suppressing something, and especially keen on teasing her.

The room was as bright as day, and as time passed, the decadent atmosphere seemed to grow thicker.

The man’s breathing was hot, the light overhead swaying behind him. She heard his deep, magnetic voice.

“Shihao, Shihao.”

Her gaze landed on the face of the man who kept calling her name, the haze making the infatuation in her eyes less obvious, also making the infatuation that she saw less obvious.

“Shihao, you’re eating me.”

On a night more passionate than usual, Tan Zhi Xu held the woman who had already fallen asleep, kissing her lips, then kissing her forehead, holding her tightly in his arms.

Closing his eyes, he refused to think about her leaving without hesitation, or to think about the meaning behind that hesitation.

After that day, Zhu Suiyi made two more surprise visits, one during the week and one on the weekend. She smoothly opened the door with the password, her suspicious gaze disappearing, completely forgetting about the fingerprint thing.

Realizing that she had finally dispelled her doubts, Zhu Shihao breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, she, who had hurried over from Shen Yi once again, secretly decided that she should still go to Tan Zhi Xu’s house more often. Her own home was really unsafe.

In the blink of an eye, it was June, and it was already sweltering, even the wind was restless.

The monthly Yang Xu team competition.

Tan Zhi Xu, with his big project advancing and his lover in his arms, was in a good mood, agreeing very quickly, letting Yang Xu call out Zhu Shihao directly in the team voice chat, asking if this was the real her.

Zhu Shihao looked at him amusedly, not knowing who he was teasing: “I shouldn’t have been possessed, right?”

She directly called Wei Wang, as well as a matched player.

Everyone’s performance was still very consistent. Yang Xu consistently operated with his feet, the only difference between him being there and not being there being the economy he was sending to the enemy with his deaths.

Tan Zhi Xu: “Is your purpose in existing only to deliver food and add laughter?”

In the team voice chat, Yang Xu’s exaggerated, pitiful whimpering was in stark contrast to Wei Wang’s loud laughter.

With a good mood as a buffer, Tan Zhi Xu was a bit more patient, until Yang Xu jumped unhesitatingly into the enemy’s ultimate move for the third time.

Tan Zhi Xu: “Does that head of yours, divided in two, have a built-in death-seeking locator?”

Matched teammate: “…”

Such an incisive and vivid, accurate description, her anger at encountering a terrible player extinguished.

Tan Zhi Xu continued to stably output without any expression: “Even if your head is usually just for decoration, please trouble you to dig out a little bit of usability now.”

Yang Xu pouted and covered his mouth: “Zhi Xu, don’t say that, I can’t take it! Shihao, baby, control him, save me.”

Before he finished speaking, his avatar turned gray again.

The teammate who witnessed all of this: “…”

Wei Wang was speechless, asking him: “When you see the skill coming, you don’t even dodge? Yang… Bro, are you that tough?”

“Oh, I was covering my face just now.” Yang Xu lowered his hand, pacing around his house, “Shihao, baby…”

“Shut up.” Tan Zhi Xu coldly interrupted him.

Zhu Shihao took the opportunity to touch his face: “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. When he was little, he wanted to change 66 to 96 when correcting his grades.”

As soon as this black history was revealed, he remembered the beating he got after being discovered, making his scalp tingle. Yang Xu shrunk back.

Wei Wang laughed boisterously: “How can you change a 6 into a 9? Why not change it into an 8?”

“Good question.” Tan Zhi Xu said slowly, “So, after it became a blur, his dad asked him what number he originally wanted to change it to.”

Yang Xu straightened his neck, his voice a little louder, trying to make himself seem more confident: “I’ve always said that a soldier who doesn’t want to be a general isn’t a good soldier. Since I’m changing the grade, I naturally have to change it to something higher.”

Responding to him was Tan Zhi Xu’s cold laugh and Wei Wang’s loud ridicule.

His face dry, but his heart already streaming with tears, Yang Xu could only seek comfort from the kind Zhu Shihao: “Shihao, baby, it’s still you who…”

“Ahhhhh! Zhi Xu, what are you doing, Tan Zhi Xu?”

The Tan Zhi Xu who was called by his full name didn’t feel any guilt for attacking his teammate, his tone indifferent: “Oh, mistake.”

Matched teammate: “…”

Big bro, you don’t seem to be accidentally injured.

Yang Xu returned home heartbroken, complaining to him: “Guess if I believe it or not. You’re just doing it because I called Shihao ‘baby’, aren’t you?”

Tan Zhi Xu reacted normally: “Oh, so you…”

Before he could finish speaking, the light dimmed a little. The actions of the person next to him cast a shadow, and he subconsciously looked up to see her, only to be kissed on the face, the touch of her lips fleeting. In his eyes was her smiling face.

“You know too,” Tan Zhi Xu slowly continued his previously interrupted words, raising a hand to caress her lips a couple of times, “It’s good that you know, I hope you’re sensible.”

Despite saying that, and after drinking a bowl of her honeyed words with that kiss, he felt that his patience had recovered a bit.

So, that night, they played with Wei Wang for a whole three rounds!

After ending the prelude to the nightly rest, the large house suddenly fell silent, with only the occasional voices of the two of them.

Zhu Shihao slid off the sofa and sat on the carpet, picking up her cup to take a couple of sips. Turning her head, she saw him leaning back on the sofa, one arm across his eyes, creating a sense of exhaustion, especially mental exhaustion.

She turned around, laying on the sofa, reaching out to poke his waist: “What’s wrong?”

Lifting his eyelid slightly from under his arm, he looked down at her: “I was driven crazy by a stupid idiot.”

Laughing a few times, Zhu Shihao turned to lie on his lap, looking up at him: “Ah, don’t be so dramatic. Yang Xu is just really bad at playing games.”

Accurately speaking, he was bad at it and also loved to play.

Tan Zhi Xu patted the top of her head, stroking her hair little by little with his fingers, raising his thigh slightly, his large hand sliding along the contours of her face to her chin, his index finger bending to lift it, making her look up.

“I know.”

His expression was still that impassive calm, as if he had no emotion.

But his words weren’t like that, and neither was the look in his eyes.

“Can’t you tell, Shihao, I wanted to use it as an excuse, I wanted to make up for it.”

She could tell, but she still took the bait.

Zhu Shihao grasped the hand in front of her, her hand unable to completely grasp his wrist. Along with the feeling of skin against skin came his body temperature.

Faintly visible, there was also his throbbing pulse.

“What compensation do you want?”

He looked her straight in the eye, without hesitation: “I want you.”