SM Chapter 57

“So, I want a title.”

Chapter 57: Hearts United in Silent Understanding “So, I want a title.”

However, this day was quite fruitful. At the very least, Zhu Suiyi bought more than a month’s salary worth of goods. Of course, the Zhu family’s income generally wasn’t just from their salaries.

When they finished their shopping spree, it was almost 9:30 PM. As the two walked out, while Zhu Suiyi was on the phone, Zhu Shihao took the opportunity to send Tan Zhi Xu a message to let him know.

Looking up, she happened to see Zhu Suiyi put down her phone and unintentionally glanced at the top of her call history.

Zhu Shihao was utterly stunned. In that brief second, countless thoughts raced through her mind: shock, disbelief, guilt, apology…

She carefully chose her words, “Have you been doing well with Min-ge lately?”

Zhu Suiyi, completely unaware of her inner turmoil, casually replied, “Just the same old thing. It’s alright, not lacking anything, and I don’t have to tutor the kids with their homework yet.”

Biting her lip slightly, Zhu Shihao felt that being this subtle wouldn’t do.

“Have you done anything to betray my brother-in-law?”

She rarely called him so formally, addressing him as “brother-in-law.”

Zhu Suiyi stopped in her tracks, paused, belatedly understanding what she meant, and turned to look at her in disbelief.

“Zhu Shihao, what’s wrong with me!”

Wrinkling her nose, Zhu Shihao honestly said that she had accidentally seen her phone, “…I saw a ‘Little Hubby’ in your call history.”

She paused for a moment, then cautiously added, “Have you lost your moral compass? And is he younger than you?”

Speechless.

Zhu Suiyi lightly jabbed her with an elbow, continuing to walk forward, and glanced at her askance, “That’s your brother-in-law’s work number from his company.”

Touching her nose, Zhu Shihao put on a “I knew it” expression, “I guessed so, I believe my sister isn’t that kind of person.”

Scoffing mockingly, Zhu Suiyi returned a “Do you think I believe that you believe that?” expression, slightly raising her chin with a condescending look, making it clear she didn’t believe her.

“Come on, your earlier questioning exposed you, Zhu Shihao, we’re done as friends.”

She chuckled a few times, hugging her sister’s arm and shaking it.

After walking a little further, surrounded by the sounds of people and the occasional music from the shops on both sides, Zhu Suiyi’s voice, neither too loud nor too soft, was particularly clear in the slightly noisy environment.

“Your brother-in-law and I came out of school together. He was willing to follow me to Sangzi, and I believe he loves me, just as I love him, of course.”

Suddenly launching into a description of their love, Zhu Shihao was a little confused and didn’t react. She turned to look at her sister.

Zhu Suiyi didn’t look at her, her expression was rare and calm, her gentle tone suggesting utter sincerity.

“Love is a wonderful thing. As the old saying goes, ‘Love makes even drinking water enough,’ but love is also an ethereal and uncontrollable thing.”

Reaching the side of the road where they were waiting for the car, they stopped, and Zhu Suiyi turned her head to look at her, “Shihao, love isn’t a necessity, and people can’t bet their future on it.”

In the past twenty-seven years, she had rarely seen Zhu Suiyi be so earnest.

Zhu Shihao was silent for a moment, “What are you trying to tell me?”

Zhu Suiyi remembered the shopping bags hanging on her arm and laboriously raised her hand to pinch Zhu Shihao’s cheek, just like she did when she was little.

“Shihao, I agree with Mom. You can try dating someone, but you can also choose whether to marry or stay single. I’ll support you either way.”

“We have money, a car, and a house. We can live well on our own. When we get older, you can come and live with me.”

Zhu Shihao looked at her without saying anything.

Zhu Suiyi more laboriously raised her hand to pat her head, her tone somewhat teasing, “Men are dispensable. I even told your brother-in-law before that if I die one day and he wants to remarry, Jia Jia will be given to you.”

Love wasn’t always reliable. When in love, it was heavier than life, and when not in love, it was lighter than paper.

Once that time came, she believed that the person in the world who would be best for her daughter was Zhu Shihao.

She said it lightly, but Zhu Shihao’s eyes felt a little sore, though she smiled and playfully hit her. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

Zhu Suiyi shrugged, “I believe in his character, but I don’t dare bet on the next one, or on his bias between a new wife or even new children and Jia Jia. Maybe it’s just weighing the pros and cons of avoiding trouble.”

She added solemnly, “Don’t hesitate to ask for money, at least half of the marital property is mine.”

The more she said, the more inappropriate it sounded, as if she were cursing herself.

Zhu Shihao glared at her, “Alright, look after your own daughter.”

Understanding her younger sister’s meaning, but Zhu Suiyi had always been someone who didn’t care about trivial details, so she remembered something else and instructed, “Speaking of which, Shihao, if you get married, marriage is about choosing character. If a person’s character isn’t up to par, it won’t work, no matter how much you love them or how much they love you.”

Amused, Zhu Shihao glanced at the familiar car, which was Yu Jianmin’s.

As the car stopped, the passenger seat and rear windows were simultaneously lowered, and Jia Jia’s voice rang out.

“Mommy, Auntie!”

Hearing the shout, both of them saw the little girl strapped into her car seat, twisting her little body and waving frantically at them.

Although she usually complained about the noise and felt relaxed during her afternoon off, she had to admit that being a mother for so long made her miss her child when she didn’t see her.

Zhu Suiyi asked her, “Really don’t want a ride?”

Zhu Shihao shook her head and walked to the back seat of the car with her, “I’ve already called a car, and it’s probably still congested at this hour. Jia Jia is already up late, and she has school tomorrow.”

After saying a few words to Jia Jia and Yu Jianmin, Zhu Shihao suddenly called out to her as Zhu Suiyi pulled open the car door to get in.

Seeing her pause, Zhu Shihao leaned closer to her ear and whispered something softly.

“Sister, I’m dating.”

“Keep it a secret for me for now.”

Zhu Suiyi’s eyes widened, and after she withdrew, Zhu Suiyi suddenly turned her head to look at her, the expression on her face repeatedly shifting between self-doubt and disbelief. Without saying a word, she was frozen in place.

Pushing her into the car and thoughtfully closing the door, Zhu Shihao revealed a sly smile.

“Keep it a secret,” she took a step back, waving her hand. “Bye-bye, sleep well!”

Yu Jianmin greeted her and drove the car into the traffic. Zhu Shihao could still see Zhu Suiyi clinging to the car window and staring at her with a shocked expression.

All night, Zhu Suiyi was absent-minded. She told a story with a distracted face, and was scolded by Jia Jia several times, but still didn’t change. Jia Jia sighed, pulled the quilt up, and coaxed herself to sleep.

Faced with Yu Jianmin’s inquiry, Zhu Suiyi blankly opened her mouth, then silently closed it, and stared at him with a serious face: “Do you understand now?”

Yu Jianmin was silent: “…If you don’t want to say it, you can refuse, no need for the Emperor’s New Words.”

Lying in bed, tossing and turning, she finally took out her phone and sent a message to Zhu Shihao.

Suiyi: 【Zhu Shihao, can you sleep, I certainly can’t.】

At this time, it was 2:00 AM, and Zhu Shihao was nestled in Tan Zhi Xu’s arms, sleeping soundly.

After tidying up, she sat down to eat breakfast. Only then did she pick up her phone to check the messages on WeChat. Seeing the message Zhu Suiyi sent, she laughed out loud.

Holding chopsticks in one hand, she replied to her message with the other.

Hearing her laugh, Tan Zhi Xu picked up a shrimp dumpling for her and glanced at her, “What are you laughing at?”

Zhu Shihao: 【Sleeping very well, aren’t you always calling me a sleep god.】

She picked up the shrimp dumpling, bit into it, and looked up at him with a smile, waiting for the food in her mouth to go down before saying, “I told Suiyi that I’m dating, but I didn’t say who it was.”

Her legs under the table swung her feet, and her bright, glittering eyes were filled with some schadenfreude: “Oops, how could she be insomniac? I didn’t mean to.”

Great.

If Zhu Shihao dared to start and then abandon, he would go to Sister Yi and cry.

Tan Zhi Xu raised an eyebrow, “In other words, you announced the relationship to Sister Yi, the relationship has come into the sunlight, but I’m still that secret lover?”

She blinked her eyes and said, “Tsk.”

“It’s just temporarily postponing it for the sake of smooth future events. It’s just a delaying tactic taken by two people who love each other for the sake of the long term. How can you say it so secretly and obscurely, calling it a secret lover?”

He could see it; she was feeling guilty, using long sentences and so many four-character idioms.

However, although he really wanted to announce it to the whole world, he was still willing to follow her wishes for the time being. Anyway, he could never let her run away in this lifetime.

Just for the time being, after all…

He lifted his eyes to look at her, his light tone filled with an undeniable and uncompromising danger: “Shihao, you know, I’m quite traditional.”

“Huh?” The change in topic was so sudden, and she didn’t understand at all how he had the nerve to say he was quite traditional.

The look in her returning gaze was a little bewildered.

Tan Zhi Xu pretended not to see it and continued to speak on his own, “I value my reputation a lot. If you eat me and don’t take responsibility, I think I might resort to forced love.”

He couldn’t rest assured leaving Zhu Shihao to anyone. In this world, the person who was best to her and loved her the most must be Tan Zhi Xu. For him, Zhu Shihao was the only one.

Anyway, he now knew that she could love him, didn’t he?

Then, she should always love him.

Loving him was enough.

Zhu Shihao was choked by the words “forced love.” After a long while, she finally regained her language system and asked along the lines of what he said.

“So?”

“So, I want a title.”

He said it unhurriedly. Though he didn’t look very serious, Zhu Shihao understood that he actually was.

After looking at him for a few seconds, she took a few quick steps around the dining table and sat down in one fell swoop on the lap of the person who was already subconsciously prepared to catch her.

A large hand pressed against her back to support her. Zhu Shihao wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her face against his neck.

“I want it too. Zhi Xu is so good, of course I want to occupy him rightfully.”

The corners of his lips raised. Tan Zhi Xu looked down at her snuggling against him: “You were eating just now and haven’t wiped your mouth.”

Zhu Shihao paused for a moment, but didn’t say anything, just moved even more and with more force.

If you weren’t so gentle when stroking my hair as you spoke, I might still have a little bit of guilt, but the feeling of being indulged and pampered was too obvious, and she wanted to cause even more trouble instead.

Thinking this, she suddenly looked up and kissed his chin, kissing him loudly, leaving a mark.

Looking at him, her beautiful eyes paired with her expression were both well-behaved and cute, like a cat that deliberately caused trouble and didn’t move away from the scene of the crime.

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t care that her glossy lips from just now were now a little matte. He tugged at the corners of his mouth, pinched her chin, and kissed her.

He kissed her fiercely, his lips and tongue taking over. Zhu Shihao couldn’t help but get a little distracted, secretly sighing at how he really didn’t care that they were in the middle of eating.

Their kisses were always long, and he often released her “understandingly” when she couldn’t take it anymore. Her watery, moist lips were a vibrant peach color, trailing a thin silver thread that fell onto his suit.

Feeling the strangeness under her hips, she subconsciously wanted to look down, but he stopped her by raising her chin.

“Don’t look, you’ll be late for work if you look.”

Tan Zhi Xu’s voice was slightly low and husky, entering her ears like the sirens’ song, extremely tempting.

Sitting so close to him on his lap, besides the abrupt feeling under her, she also clearly saw the look in his eyes.

They were dark and deep, devoid of his usual indifference and detachment. Beneath the calm surface was a surging desire.

He must have been quite uncomfortable. Zhu Shihao wanted to get down, but the hand around her waist tightened instead of loosening.

Lowering his head, his forehead rested against her shoulder, his high, straight nose touching her skin with a clear sensation, and the scent of her body completely enveloped him. Tan Zhi Xu breathed it in.

“Don’t move, let me hold you for a while.”

Zhu Shihao didn’t move again, only raised her hand to stroke his head, “Still hugging even though it’s uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, hugging.” His voice was even lower than usual, his tone light and slow.

Zhu Shihao curved her eyebrows, a smile spreading across her lips, and her voice softened.

“Zhi Xu, let’s tell everyone during the New Year.”

The hot breath coming through the thin wool sweater paused for a moment. The movement of her stroking his head didn’t stop, and the smiling voice was an incantation that he could never escape in this lifetime.

“And, remember to propose to me quickly, otherwise, how can I marry you?”

No, Tan Zhi Xu never thought of escaping.

He relished it.