SM Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Gazes Meet, Hearts Understand “Don’t talk like you haven’t used my time either…”

Tan Zhi Xu’s car stopped, and it wasn’t until he honked the horn that the person who had been staring down, lost in thought, finally looked up in surprise.

She opened the passenger door and got in, neither of them speaking.

It wasn’t until the next red light that Tan Zhi Xu turned to look at her, “What are you thinking about?”

The sentence “Haven’t hugged enough?” almost slipped out.

Driving through the intersection after the light turned green, Tan Zhi Xu happened to see the two of them embracing. Just like that, he remembered the hug she mentioned during Truth or Dare.

Coupled with her dazed appearance now, he was certain that this Xiao Yanche held a special significance for her.

Zhu Shihao shook her head, “Nothing.”

Comparing it to her facial expression, Tan Zhi Xu really wanted to hand her a mirror to look at herself, then ask if she believed it.

But reason controlled his words and actions, and he didn’t say much, afraid that emotionally charged words would reveal that their relationship wasn’t as simple and beautiful as it seemed.

Zhu Shihao really wasn’t thinking about anything in particular, or rather, she was just reminiscing about the past.

Her relationship with Xiao Yanche did start with his pursuit. His opening line wasn’t much different from the previous two, still starting with “Let’s give it a try.”

The result was similar. Even though he was the one she dated the longest, it was still two days short of a month.

Although the breakup was still initiated by him, Zhu Shihao thought that this person was indeed different from the previous two.

They were too in sync. This synchronicity meant that they were very similar in terms of personality, how they handled things, viewpoints, and preferences, which was why they got along so well.

But the breakup was also due to this reason.

Xiao Yanche looked at her, “Shihao, it’s not that you can’t fall for me, it’s that you have someone you like. You like him too much, so much so that even if you agreed to date me, you never really put me in the position of a boyfriend.”

There were more elements of a compatible friendship.

At the time, Zhu Shihao was stunned. That was the first time someone had seen that she had someone she liked.

Faced with her astonishment, Xiao Yanche, beneath his gentle demeanor, was extremely serious: “You’ve always kept that position open.”

She subconsciously wanted to defend herself, but when she opened her mouth, she realized she couldn’t.

Apart from Tan Zhi Xu, she didn’t seem to want anyone else.

After a long silence, she apologized, “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. In the beginning, we were the ones who pushed you to give it a try, to see if you could fall for me, right?” He wasn’t angry, his attitude was still gentle, just a bit melancholic, “But, I just failed.”

Or rather, they had both failed.

That day, Xiao Yanche initiated the breakup, and Zhu Shihao agreed.

He, like every time they had spent together in the past month, walked her to her dorm.

“Shihao, can I have a hug?”

Her mind was a mess at that time, but she still felt apologetic towards him. Xiao Yanche really was a good person.

Zhu Shihao took a step towards him. It was their first hug, and also their last. It was also the only time Zhu Shihao hugged a member of the opposite sex other than Tan Zhi Xu.

After pulling away, Xiao Yanche’s smile disappeared, his expression serious and solemn.

“Shihao, give it a try, be brave. You’re really a good person.”

Because of his words, she didn’t engage in the boring game of “giving it a try” anymore, but in the end, she still wasn’t brave.

She wondered if what she was doing now could be considered brave…

“Zhu Shihao, do you know whose car you’re in right now?”

The voice next to her brought her back from her absent-mindedness. She turned her head and the person in front of her didn’t have much emotion on his face, but if she looked closely, she could see some displeasure.

“Huh? Aren’t you Zhi Xu?” She blinked and asked.

Tan Zhi Xu glanced at her, “It’s good that you know. You should understand that an expression like yours makes me want to hit someone.”

“Ah?” She turned her head to look in the mirror, then covered her cheeks and turned back, “Do I look like I’ve been bullied?”

Every time this person saw that she was sad, wronged, or something, he would clench his fists and go find someone. Of course, sometimes she didn’t even need to show anything, after all, he wanted to find someone when he heard about her breakup back then.

His tone was light, “At least not happy.”

Hearing this, Zhu Shihao couldn’t help but get sidetracked, looking puzzled, “Have your standards dropped to this level now?”

If she’s not happy, he’s going to go find someone to settle the score?

Tan Zhi Xu chuckled softly and asked her, “So, what about that ex-boyfriend of yours? Speaking of which, I haven’t met him much.”

Zhu Shihao automatically ignored the last sentence, “He left, his flight was at 8:30.”

“Still quite regretful?” His words were nonchalant, yet they contained hidden sarcasm.

She heard it, but wasn’t too surprised, and didn’t mind it too much. When she was a child, this person acted strangely for a whole day just because she praised someone else for being good-looking. Later, she learned that it was called being sarcastic.

She shook her head, “Not really, it just made me think about university.”

Xiao Yanche was indeed a bit different from the others, but their relationship wasn’t deep enough to reach that point. If it weren’t for that “give it a try” back then, with their similar personalities, they would actually be more suitable as friends. It was a pity that they missed the chance to become good friends.

Speaking of which…

She looked at Tan Zhi Xu, a bit curious, “What if I hadn’t dated him back then, but became very good friends instead? Your position would be in jeopardy.”

There was a hint of anticipation in her last sentence.

He didn’t answer immediately.

When he saw the red light and stopped the car steadily, Tan Zhi Xu turned halfway around, his right hand released the steering wheel, and he reached out to pinch her face, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“What are you thinking? If you hadn’t dated, you wouldn’t have had the time or opportunity to be friends with him.”

Understanding what he meant, Zhu Shihao pretended to be serious and said, “You’ve really wasted a lot of my time.”

Tan Zhi Xu chuckled at her words, “Don’t talk like you haven’t used my time either.”

They were both involved, so no one could blame anyone.

During her junior year, Tan Zhi Xu and Su Yuewei had already broken up. Apart from going to school and studying, she occupied most of his time.

If she hadn’t dated Xiao Yanche, she probably wouldn’t have had the chance to discover their “similarity.” After all, she wasn’t really familiar with the boys in her class.

Her mood suddenly brightened. Her eyes were gentle and bright, and the smile on her face was flamboyantly rare: “So, you’re not willing?”

Her slightly raised chin naturally revealed her pride and confidence.

These were all things he wanted to see.

The curve of Tan Zhi Xu’s lips deepened, the coldness between his brows faded a little, replaced by a relaxed casualness and her familiar indulgence.

“What are you saying? How could I be? You can order me around as you please. I’ll do whatever you tell me, Little Miss.”

Seeing her so lively and proud, her emotions changing so quickly and thoroughly, Tan Zhi Xu didn’t let go of the curve of his lips.

The undercurrent of emotions that had been surging because of that hug calmed down. He realized that even if Xiao Yanche was special, it definitely wasn’t special in terms of love.

As for what it was, he probably had to meet and talk to the person to find out.

Unfortunately, although he didn’t interfere with their relationship back then and had met him three or four times, he had no desire to communicate with him at all, only nodding a few times.

Maybe there would be a chance in the future?

Anyway, Zhu Shihao would definitely be his.

They had a simple dinner, just tomato and egg noodles, made by Tan Zhi Xu.

After dinner, she nestled on the sofa, playing with her phone, while Tan Zhi Xu still had some work to do.

“Why are you still working from home?”

Looking down at the person resting on his lap, he pinched the soft flesh on her face and rubbed it with his fingertips, “Almost done.”

Why? Of course, it was because he heard that someone was meeting with her ex-boyfriend, and he said he was leaving work as soon as possible. Originally, he was going to say half an hour later.

She lazily said “Oh.”

Not feeling like he was dodging the question at all.

He didn’t busy himself for long. Tan Zhi Xu closed the laptop and put it on the table, hugging her.

Zhu Shihao consciously burrowed into his arms, “A bit bored.”

She grabbed the remote control and started flipping through channels.

Tan Zhi Xu simply held her other hand and played with it, his nonchalant feeling extremely strong, not finding it boring at all.

After a while, she suddenly remembered something.

Zhu Shihao looked up and turned to him, “Do you know what day it is today?”

He raised his eyelids and looked at her, chuckling softly, “I remember that your birthday is next Wednesday.”

Being exposed didn’t make her embarrassed at all, instead, her eyes sparkled.

“It’s good that you know.”

She didn’t want to test whether he remembered or not. She just really, really wanted Tan Zhi Xu to be with her that day.

“When have I ever forgotten?” He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, “When have I not been with you? The gift is ready too.”

The gift wasn’t important.

Zhu Shihao touched his chin, feeling a subtle prickliness, with a strange sense of comfort.

“It doesn’t matter if there’s a gift or not, you have to be with me anyway.”

Tan Zhi Xu gently hummed in agreement, pulling her into his arms, his face against the side of her head, his tone relaxed.

“Of course. On such an important day, the birthday gifts that others have, Zhu Shihao has to have them too.”

This principle originated in his childhood, when he cared most about gifts, as well as New Year’s gifts, and even Children’s Day gifts until he was seventeen.

Therefore, in those years without income, he always valued his New Year’s money and side income extremely.

Meeting with Xiao Yanche still had some aftereffects, but not because of him. The root cause was still Tan Zhi Xu. It was okay when she had something to do, but when she was alone, she would often lose her focus, it was a mess, and she couldn’t sort it out.

A few days passed in a flash. Wednesday, Zhu Shihao’s 27th birthday.

Just past midnight, she received a wave of blessings. Of course, receiving was receiving, but she naturally couldn’t read them.

The alarm clock rang, mixed with the WeChat notification tone. Tan Zhi Xu lifted his head from her chest and kissed her lips again. The overlapping waves hadn’t subsided. At the moment of this day’s arrival, she uniquely and truly heard his voice.

“Shihao, happy birthday.”

Her snowy arms raised, Zhu Shihao hooked her arms around his neck, responding intermittently, “Yeah, I’m very happy.”

The person on top of her laughed, and the rising waves became even wilder and fiercer. Sweat dripped down, falling onto her body. Tan Zhi Xu held her legs, tireless.

The light and the person flickered and swayed before her eyes. Zhu Shihao couldn’t tell where it was scalding, yet she felt that everything was burning hot, even her heart was no exception.

The next day, when she opened her eyes, what greeted her was the familiar “temptation,” the Adam’s apple protruding from that familiar angle, the clearly defined jawline.

“Awake?”

Zhu Shihao moved, feeling sore. She went silent for a moment, then stuck her face to his body, unwilling to move.

Tan Zhi Xu kissed the top of her head, his hand patting her waist and back lightly inside the blanket, his voice full of a just-awakened laziness, “Get your senses back.”

“Mm.”

She felt herself being pulled closer into his arms, obediently returning the embrace.

They hugged, her small movements were naturally very clear. Tan Zhi Xu curled his lips, pressing his lips against her forehead.

After quite a while, Zhu Shihao asked, “What time is it? Aren’t you going to work today?”

“I took a day off.” Tan Zhi Xu turned over, stretching his long arm to grab his phone to take a look, “It’s past ten thirty.”

He had habitually woken up early once already. Looking at the person in his arms, he hesitated for two seconds, then decided to stay with her, at least to hug her a little longer on this day after waking up.

He told A Dong that he wouldn’t be going to the company this morning, and the afternoon was to be determined.

“Ah, will it interfere with anything?” Zhu Shihao raised her head from his arms, a hint of hesitation on her face.

Because of her movements, some distance opened up between them. Tan Zhi Xu’s arms still wrapped around her waist, looking down at her, he didn’t answer, but instead asked, “Do you want me to? Are you happy?”

Did he even need to ask?

Zhu Shihao honestly said, “I do, of course I’m happy.”

“Then that’s all that matters.” Tan Zhi Xu’s expression was so indifferent that it seemed like he didn’t care, yet it also seemed like it was only natural, “The other things are for me to consider. Don’t worry, there aren’t any urgent matters recently.”

If there were any unexpected situations that couldn’t be resolved, someone would naturally call him.

She was charmed by the President’s overbearing declaration.

She raised a smile, “Then should we sleep a little longer?”

Staring at her for two seconds, Tan Zhi Xu twitched his lips, “You’re really not self-aware at all. I didn’t keep you up until dawn, right? You should have gotten enough sleep.”

Zhu Shihao blinked, opening her mouth to say something, but he pinched her mouth shut.

“Since you’re awake, Zhu Shihao, get up and eat.” His hand on her waist lightly patted her butt.

As expected, Tan Zhi Xu’s essence was also a repeater.

This station has no pop-up ads.