SM Chapter 64

“Tan Zhi Xu, you’re really busy, Shihao…”

Since Wei Wang and the others unanimously decided to keep their “surprise” for Yang Xu a secret, Zhu Shihao, although sympathetic, tactfully chose to remain silent. As for Tan Zhi Xu, he was too lazy to care before Zhu Shihao’s involvement, and even less inclined after.

Yang Xu’s explanation for missing the gatherings was: “I’m so pitiful, my friends always hang out without me.”

Feeling even more sympathetic, Zhu Shihao offered a superficial consolation: “It’s okay, we’ll all hang out together when you come back.”

Yang Xu immediately perked up, jumping up on the spot: “There’s no time like the present, play games with me first.”

Hearing the voice from the speakerphone, Tan Zhi Xu turned to look at her, expressionless.

Zhu Shihao blinked: “…”

Feeling guilty after all, she agreed, and dragged Wei Wang and the others into it.

Yang Xu was very satisfied: “Why are you guys so nice today, taking turns playing games with me?”

In the silence of the others, Tan Zhi Xu impolitely let out a sneer, full of sarcasm.

Afraid that he would discover something, the others quickly changed the subject.

Yang Xu was bewildered: “…?”

This year, the Lunar New Year was a little earlier. After asking Yang Xu, she learned he wouldn’t be back until two days before the Spring Festival, so Zhu Shihao tacitly agreed to celebrate with him first, which was also why she tacitly approved of Wei Wang and the others planning the surprise.

However, the truth was, he was the last to know, including the Tan and Zhu families.

Without being as busy as last year, Tan Meng and Xu Ting had already returned to their ancestral home before the Little New Year.

Xu Ting was still saying while shopping with Liu Ruoyin: “Finally finished being busy, the rest can be handled by Lao Tan and others. As long as he doesn’t travel, that’s good. Anyway, I’m on vacation.”

The two families celebrated the Little New Year together at Huating, which was also the first time Zhu Suiyi and her family of three had come.

As long as they didn’t go to the third floor, Zhu Shihao’s living traces were still considered normal.

Without bringing the housekeeper over, the parents on both sides prepared to make Laba porridge themselves. Of course, the head chef was Zhu Yingqing.

This year, Zhu Yingqing had prepared to show off his skills early on, having specially learned how to make Sichuan-style Laba porridge. He had studied it carefully and even asked a friend over there to send him two slabs of cured meat. They had all been brought over, but when the ingredients were placed on the cooking counter and checked, it was discovered that dried tofu had been left behind.

Liu Ruoyin told him to make do, but Zhu Yingqing was sullen.

So Xu Ting said, “Let Tan Zhi Xu go buy it.”

She ordered her son around very smoothly.

Tan Zhi Xu nodded lightly: “Okay.”

Liu Ruoyin glared at her husband, feeling that he was creating some trouble. Buying dried tofu from Huating would probably require a long trip. Knowing that he wanted to do his best and had been preparing for a long time, she sighed and instructed: “Shihao, you go with Zhi Xu, just to pick out the dried tofu.”

Of course, the main reason was to send someone to accompany Tan Zhi Xu.

Zhu Shihao nodded.

The two changed their clothes and shoes. Tan Zhi Xu didn’t see the car keys and remembered that he might have taken them upstairs in his pocket last night, so he casually picked up Xu Ting’s car keys: “Mom, I’ll drive your car.”

Xu Ting didn’t even raise her head: “Okay.”

The two went out.

Jia Jia was playing on the swing outside and called out loudly when she saw them: “Auntie, Uncle Zhi Xu, where are you going?”

Zhu Shihao waved to her and said to Zhu Suiyi who was beside her, “Dad forgot the dried tofu, we’re going to buy it.”

Their dad was very particular about cooking, Zhu Suiyi fully understood. She waved her hand, indicating they should hurry up.

In Xu Ting’s car, the first thing Tan Zhi Xu did when he got in was adjust the seat, but it was okay, after all, the driver who had driven the car over before was also a man.

“Where to buy it? Is there a supermarket?”

Zhu Shihao thought for a moment: “There shouldn’t be a vegetable market around here, right? Then we can only look for a supermarket, a bigger one should have it, right?”

She wasn’t actually very sure.

Tan Zhi Xu had a calm attitude: “Yeah, we’ll see.”

If not, she could check on her phone to see if they could order it for delivery, but it would probably take a while to deliver to Huating.

Along the way, there were two small supermarkets, Zhu Shihao went down and asked, but they didn’t have it, so they could only continue on.

Just when they thought they had to directly look for a large shopping supermarket, she stuck her head out and casually asked a grandma while waiting at a traffic light, and unexpectedly learned that there was a market in the alley at the corner ahead, which should have it.

This unexpected surprise was most pleasing. Zhu Shihao smiled and thanked her.

The car could only be parked in a temporary parking space on the main road, and they didn’t dare to leave it unattended. Tan Zhi Xu waited in the car while Zhu Shihao went down to buy it.

The road was a bit winding, and she had to ask twice before finding the location. By the time she came out, it had been more than ten minutes.

The first thing to enter the car after she opened the door were two pieces of dried tofu. Zhu Shihao raised them high, shaking them in the air, looking very happy: “Look, they’re quite big pieces, buying two should be enough.”

Tan Zhi Xu’s gaze fell on her slightly red face and nose: “Are you cold?”

He regretted that he should have let her wait in the car and gone down to buy it himself. Anyway, if he wasn’t sure, he could video call her.

“It’s okay, it was a bit stuffy in the market, so I took my scarf off a bit.” She didn’t care, casually shaking her head and taking off her scarf.

The return trip was much faster, they followed the navigation route straight ahead.

“Celebrating New Year’s Eve together?” he asked.

Zhu Shihao understood what he meant: “Together, with my parents, your parents, Suiyi and them. It’s New Year’s, we have to meet boyfriends and girlfriends.”

Tan Zhi Xu smiled when he heard that: “Okay.”

His phone rang once. He picked it up and looked at it, it was A Dong. The car in front was running very slowly, not giving him a chance to pass. Looking at the flashing yellow light, sure enough, he had to slowly stop at the front.

His phone rang again, it was still A Dong. It should be work-related. He picked it up, glanced at the content, and replied simply. He then turned and took her hand.

“Let’s treat everyone to a meal when Yang Xu comes back.”

Zhu Shihao naturally agreed: “Okay, Yang Xu won’t let it go if we don’t treat him to a meal.”

Tan Zhi Xu chuckled.

Yes, Yang Xu was the kind of person who could still roll around on the ground and wriggle like a grub even at the age of seven or eight. He was always the kind to pester and make a fuss.

The red light began to flash. He put down his phone, squeezed her hand before letting go.

Zhu Shihao put away her smile, pretending to be serious: “It’s not our problem this time, let him go cry to Wei Wang and the others.”

The round trip to buy dried tofu took almost an hour, and lunch was a little late.

The afternoon was the same old activity. The four parents started playing mahjong not long after finishing their meal. After coaxing Jia Jia to sleep, Zhu Suiyi just plopped her on the sofa.

Xu Ting, who had just come to get some water, saw her and exclaimed, “Oh my, is that comfortable to sleep? Let’s put her in the room.”

Zhu Suiyi quickly raised her hand, spreading her five fingers to make a gesture to stop her: “Don’t, Aunt Ting. If I put her up there, I have to follow her. Let her stay here, being a mom isn’t easy, don’t make it difficult for me.”

Hearing this, Xu Ting chuckled. Seeing that she looked around and finally took a bolster and placed it on her stomach, she laughed even more.

Zhu Shihao came down with something and saw Jia Jia lying flat on her back against the sofa back, with a bolster on her stomach. Although she guessed it, she was still speechless.

She walked over, took away the bolster, shook open a shawl, and draped it over her stomach.

Xu Ting praised: “That’s good, it doesn’t look heavy.”

That bolster was thicker than the child.

Over there, Liu Ruoyin was calling out, Xu Ting quickly replied and hurried back to the mahjong table.

Zhu Suiyi looked at the style and said: “The Tan family even has this kind of thing, where did you dig it up?”

It was obviously a woman’s thing.

Zhu Shihao paused almost imperceptibly, then stood up straight as if nothing had happened: “Mine.”

The two words instantly dispelled Zhu Suiyi’s doubts. She didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with Zhu Shihao’s things appearing here. On the contrary, she lost interest and felt like she had lost a bit of gossipy happiness.

“Oh, let’s go, the heat is on, she won’t get cold.” She pulled Zhu Shihao away.

Over there, Tan Zhi Xu and Yu Jianmin were drinking tea. The tea was brought by Tan Meng. As for Tan Zhi Xu himself, he only had alcohol.

Seeing them coming over, Yu Jianmin pulled out the chair next to him. In the corner of his eye, he noticed that Tan Zhi Xu was doing the same thing. He didn’t care and asked them, “Do you want tea?”

As he said this, he poured a cup for Zhu Suiyi: “It tastes very good.”

Tan Zhi Xu picked up an exceptionally delicate glass and got up: “She’s drinking water.”

Who “she” was didn’t need to be said.

Seeing Tan Zhi Xu going to get water, Zhu Suiyi looked at her sister and tutted: “You drunkard.”

Zhu Shihao smiled and didn’t say anything.

They didn’t see the flash of astonishment on Yu Jianmin’s face. He looked at Tan Zhi Xu’s back thoughtfully. Had he just seen wrong? It seemed like Zhi Xu had squeezed Shihao’s hand.

He was doubtful and couldn’t be sure, so he didn’t say anything.

The afternoon activities ended close to five o’clock. They had originally planned to play mahjong, but it ended because the two men had to prepare dinner.

The remaining people changed their positions and sat on the sofa. Jia Jia knelt on the carpet, propped up on the coffee table, watching Zhu Shihao draw.

“This carpet is thick.” Liu Ruoyin said casually.

Xu Ting glanced at it and began to complain reflexively: “Zhi Xu bought it. He loves buying carpets everywhere, but doesn’t sit on them, and they get in the way of cleaning.”

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t even move his eyes when he heard that.

She was clearly aware of her twenty-year habit of deliberately “nitpicking” on her son. Liu Ruoyin fairly spoke up for Tan Zhi Xu.

“He doesn’t have to clean himself, it’s fine if he likes it. I think it looks good too.”

Even without asking, she knew it must be extremely expensive.

Zhu Suiyi casually interjected: “Apart from Shihao, who likes to sit on the floor.”

Her phone rang once, and Xu Ting picked it up and looked at it.

“Goodness, goodness, I was wondering why I had such bad luck this afternoon. It’s all because of you, Tan Zhi Xu.”

Suddenly being named and blamed, Tan Zhi Xu didn’t panic at all. He calmly turned to look at her, not even intending to ask. With Xu Ting’s personality, she would give some “reasoning” even if she was being unreasonable.

Xu Ting gnashed her teeth angrily: “You dared to violate traffic rules while driving my car?”

Hearing this, Zhu Shihao looked back at Tan Zhi Xu in confusion. She remembered that he hadn’t violated any traffic rules.

“Tan Zhi Xu, transfer 200 yuan to me, and I’ll deduct these 3 points from your driver’s license!” She fiddled with her phone. “I want to see what you did.”

Then, her eyes widened and she tightly closed them several times.

There was nothing wrong with her eyes!

Seeing her strange reaction, Liu Ruoyin asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xu Ting looked at her good sister, feeling inexplicably guilty. She paused, cleared her throat: “Answering a handheld phone while driving.”

Everyone “oh”ed in unison. Tan Zhi Xu, relying on his understanding of his mom, felt that it wasn’t that simple. Suddenly remembering something, he frowned and then relaxed, his eyebrows slightly raised. He turned to look at Zhu Shihao.

This small movement was noticed by Xu Ting, who had been paying attention to him. She was even more certain that her guess was correct!

“Ruoyin, should the fish be steamed or braised…” Zhu Yingqing came out of the kitchen with a wok spatula in hand.

Xu Ting coughed twice again, her eyes bright and fixed on Tan Zhi Xu.

“Both of your hands weren’t on the steering wheel, Tan Zhi Xu, you’re really busy.” She paused, her expression inscrutable, and said the following words after a two-second pause.

“Is Shihao’s hand good to hold?”

Zhu Yingqing hadn’t finished speaking, his mouth was still open, and his hand suddenly trembled. For the second time, the wok spatula fell to the ground with a crisp clatter.

Feeling that it wasn’t direct enough, Xu Ting continued.

“Don’t tell me you hold hands with your friends like that.”

She held up her phone. The surveillance camera at the traffic light had captured it very clearly.

His left hand was holding the phone, and his right hand was holding Zhu Shihao’s. His arm was raised, and her back of the hand was very close to his lips. She wasn’t looking at the camera, but at the person next to her. Even the upturn of the corner of her mouth could be seen clearly.