SM Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Moon Book, Red Thread

“Shihao, that love letter in your third year of high school…”

She wanted to skip work, which Tan Zhi Xu naturally couldn’t do. He just asked her when she would be back so he could pick her up after work.

Zhu Shihao smiled, a smile playing on her lips, and shook her head: “How would I know right now? I’m going home, not finishing a job. I’ll message you when the time comes.”

The smile was gentle and serene, her usual demeanor. Tan Zhi Xu didn’t suspect anything and just bowed his head to kiss the top of her head before leaving.

“Okay, drive carefully if you’re driving. Call me if anything happens.”

She nodded lightly, Zhu Shihao raised a hand and waved it gently in front of her chest.

Closing the door, she went back to the sofa and lay down, staring at the ceiling.

The exquisite, expensive lights were lit by the sunlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, glowing with a crystal-like luster. Reflected on the ceiling, it resembled the kaleidoscope she had treasured as a child, transparent, colorful, and carefully held in her arms.

Unlike the beautiful light and shadows, her mood was much more complicated at that moment, as if tied in a thousand knots.

She didn’t know how to face her parents’ reactions, nor did she know how to completely dig out the guilty conscience hidden within that love letter.

Actually, it wasn’t just a guilty conscience, was it?

She couldn’t catch any sleep, but she didn’t want to go over early either. It wasn’t fear, but more of a vague bewilderment.

She just sat there blankly, procrastinating until almost ten o’clock before Zhu Shihao got up, changed her clothes, and prepared to leave.

Slowly climbing the stairs, she opened the door to her home. As soon as she entered, she met Liu Ruoyin’s gaze.

She was sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea in front of her, possibly containing roses or chrysanthemums.

“Oh, I thought you’d think you were going to a restaurant, planning to arrive right at mealtime.”

Zhu Shihao was silent for a moment. She wished she could.

Changing into slippers, she walked inside: “Is Dad cooking?”

Liu Ruoyin didn’t hold back: “Otherwise? Do I look like a meal to you?”

Zhu Shihao: “…”

Okay, confirmed. Her mom was really not in a good mood.

Hearing the sound, Zhu Yingqing came out wearing an apron. After hearing the conversation, he helplessly glanced at his wife and said to his daughter, “Your mother has been waiting for you for a while. What would you like to drink? Dad will make it for you.”

“I want to drink milk tea,” Zhu Shihao blinked, stating her request.

Zhu Yingqing nodded and turned to go back to the kitchen: “Rose tea, okay. Your mom is drinking that too.”

Zhu Shihao was used to this. She simply went over to her mom and sat next to Liu Ruoyin.

The mother and daughter exchanged glances, one scrutinizing and the other being well-behaved, neither saying a word, just staring at each other.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Yingqing sighed and placed the cup in front of Zhu Shihao: “Alright, let’s talk after we eat.”

Zhu Shihao picked up the cup and nodded silently in agreement, lest poor communication affect her appetite.

Liu Ruoyin snorted softly, no longer glancing at her: “Where are you coming from?”

After thinking for two seconds, Zhu Shihao sighed: “Mom, if you know the answer, don’t ask, okay?”

“Hmph, I’ll settle the score with you after dinner for fooling us,” Liu Ruoyin sneered, no longer asking obvious questions. She changed to a normal topic: “When did you wake up? Did you have breakfast?”

“Didn’t sleep in. I ate. Zhi Xu ordered porridge, side dishes, and fried dumplings.”

This could be considered an answer to the previous question. However, Liu Ruoyin, who had expected it, was still satisfied that her daughter had been sleeping early, waking up early, and eating on time.

She didn’t originally intend to interfere with her adult daughter’s life, except when it came to Tan Zhi Xu. That was something that made her a little uneasy.

The mother and daughter chatted casually about trivial things, completely unrelated to the main topic.

Seeing that Zhu Shihao had completely relaxed and was telling her about Yang Xu’s funny stories, Liu Ruoyin took a sip of water, hiding the smile at the corner of her lips.

The peaceful atmosphere continued until after lunch.

Zhu Yingqing stopped her from clearing the table and gestured with his chin towards Liu Ruoyin: “Go have a chat with your mom.”

Wiping her mouth, Liu Ruoyin stood up and headed towards the bedroom, her goal clear, not looking back: “Let’s go.”

“Dad.”

Looking at her mom’s unwavering steps, Zhu Shihao suddenly felt a little lost.

Zhu Yingqing smiled, wrinkles appearing at the corners of his eyes. Twenty or thirty years had passed, and the gentleness that time had deposited on him was even greater. This was the source of a part of Zhu Shihao’s character.

“It’s okay, Shihao. You have to believe in yourselves and believe in your mom and dad.”

Staring blankly at him, Zhu Shihao heard a shout from over there.

“Aren’t you coming over yet? How old are you? Why are you still so slow?”

Turning to look at Liu Ruoyin standing at the door of her room, she curled her lips and spoke softly.

“Thank you, Dad.”

With that, she walked over.

For a fleeting moment, she seemed to be back on that evening after school.

The difference was that she had rushed out of the room in a panic that day.

In her ear was Tan Zhi Xu’s cold voice.

“Zhu Shihao wrote a love letter.”

Liu Ruoyin sat at the foot of the bed, arms crossed and chin raised, looking at her daughter, who was sitting at the desk, forcing herself to appear calm. She narrowed her eyes and sized her up for a while.

When she became increasingly unnatural, she spoke directly, without any transition whatsoever.

“When exactly did you two get together?”

Zhu Shihao wasn’t surprised. Liu Ruoyin had never been one to beat around the bush.

She shook her head: “I’m not lying to you. We really did get together after Zhi Xu caught me at a blind date with Mr. Qi at the coffee shop outside Jinxi.”

Liu Ruoyin nodded. Since her daughter had said so, she chose to believe her and didn’t dwell on the question.

She lowered her eyes, her expression noticeably tense.

The question that had been swirling in her mind all night was suddenly difficult to ask.

After a long silence, Zhu Shihao looked at her frowning, the hesitation on her face faintly revealed, and her heart softened even more. She took the initiative to speak.

“Mom, what you really want to ask today isn’t this, is it?”

Her brow twitched, Liu Ruoyin looked up at the beautiful, obedient daughter in front of her, her thoughts surging.

This year, she was teaching first-year high school again. Compared to teaching third-year high school last year, she had a lot more free time, but the problem of young love in the class was obviously more prevalent than in third year.

Yesterday afternoon, she received a call from a parent, saying that they had found a love letter written by their child at home.

Honestly, after decades as a teacher, she had seen at least a dozen or twenty love letters, so she was much calmer than the parent.

After giving some comfort and chatting for a while, she hung up the phone and belatedly remembered something.

Actually, the love letters she had seen weren’t just at school.

There was also one at home, belonging to her daughter’s vibrant youth.

Compared to Zhu Suiyi, Zhu Shihao was indeed much less of a worry. She had been quiet and well-behaved since she was a child, but she was also lively when she needed to be. She could be said to be everyone’s dream daughter, at least Xu Ting had envied her for over twenty years.

But when everything in her memory was connected, she was shocked to realize that she had still neglected this daughter, and she felt equally guilty about it.

“Shihao, tell me honestly, was that love letter you wrote in your third year of high school written to Zhi Xu?”

It was like finally waiting for the question to come, and instead of being anxious, a sense of steadiness settled over her.

Zhu Shihao nodded, looking directly into her mother’s eyes: “Yes, I’ve liked Zhi Xu for a very, very long time.”

So long that it started from when she first became aware of the word “like,” so long that it was almost half of her life so far.

Even though she had already guessed it, Liu Ruoyin was still deeply saddened when she heard this answer. She was silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry, Shihao. As teachers, your father and I paid too much attention to the psychology of other children, but we didn’t think to pay attention to our own daughter.”

The chair slid silently. Not all emotions need to be vented aloud.

Zhu Shihao took her hand and gently shook it: “Didn’t you guys say that this is just a normal part of children growing up? I didn’t want everyone to know about my girlish feelings anyway.”

Knowing that she was comforting her, Liu Ruoyin patted the back of her hand, not saying anything.

Just like she had once told her daughters, every relationship deserves to be respected and treated with care, as long as the other person was a good kid. She wouldn’t have a problem with whoever Zhu Shihao liked.

But liking Zhi Xu was different, and silently liking someone for ten years was even more different. This level was no longer just the innocent beauty of youth.

Zhu Shihao didn’t want to see her mother’s guilt, so she changed the topic to another key point.

“Mom, do you not agree now?”

Grasping her daughter’s hand, there was a hint of solemnity on Liu Ruoyin’s face.

“Shihao, too little love can seem cheap, but too much is sometimes not something to be celebrated. At least, that’s how it is for parents. I don’t want my daughter to love someone more than they love her.”

Zhu Shihao said quickly: “But he loves me no less than I…”

But her words were interrupted.

“In that regard, I don’t want to agree. But last night, your father convinced me.”

Zhu Shihao was stunned.

“He only said two things. If Shihao and Zhi Xu are together, it must be because they have carefully considered it and recognized each other, Shihao loves him very much, and so does Zhi Xu.”

“Also, Shihao is very happy and is being taken care of very well. Isn’t that something that no one makes us feel more at ease about than Zhi Xu?”

Liu Ruoyin wasn’t a dull person, and she understood Zhu Yingqing’s meaning almost instantly.

Zhu Shihao and Tan Zhi Xu cared more about their relationship than anyone else. From the moment they decided to cross the line from friends to lovers, they must have considered it as clearly as possible.

For example, they loved each other very much, and they believed that they could go all the way to the end.

Perhaps marriage needs the words of others, but love doesn’t.

Love only needs the parties involved to invest and focus, and fortunately, their two families don’t need them to discuss love and marriage separately.

As for that last point, Liu Ruoyin understood it from the very beginning.

She even remembered the sigh of relief she had let out when she initially realized that her daughter’s future was being entrusted to Tan Zhi Xu to accompany and take care of.

“I still agreed, even if I inevitably still have reservations when I think about it now.”

And that might continue for a while.

“Shihao, Mom just wants to ask you, are you sure this love is ongoing, and not an unresolved obsession with the past?”

Zhu Shihao didn’t dodge her gaze, her tone firm.

“I’m sure. Mom, with Zhi Xu by my side, who else could I possibly love other than him?”

No one could be compared to Tan Zhi Xu. In her heart, everyone else was not even a fraction of him.

“Does he know?”

“He doesn’t know.”

“Are you going to tell him?”

“Probably not, at least not now. Zhi Xu already loves me enough, Mom. He loves me no less than I love him.”

She answered her mother’s concerns.

Zhu Shihao curled her lips, her expression gentle: “In that case, shouldn’t we just not mention the painful past?”

This pain was for both the former her and Tan Zhi Xu after knowing the truth.

He only needed to love her, not to feel guilty or make up for anything.

After talking about this past, she eagerly wanted to see Tan Zhi Xu and didn’t stay at home for too long.

Liu Ruoyin resumed her usual self, seeing her daughter’s mood clearly, but while she understood, it didn’t stop her from disliking it.

“Go on, go on, your soul is gone, I don’t need this empty shell of yours either.”

The two of them stood in the entryway to see her off, Zhu Shihao looked at her mom with a smile, not saying a word.

It was Zhu Yingqing who gently hugged his daughter.

“Loving someone is a very remarkable ability, and our Shihao is doing a great job.”

While saying this, he gently patted her back.

Dialing the phone number, her good mood also spiraled up like the staircase, but it was slowly rising.

“What’s wrong? Shihao.”

Tan Zhi Xu was a little surprised to receive a call at this hour.

Zhu Shihao’s eyes curved: “Are you at the company?”

“Yes, I am.” Hearing this question, Tan Zhi Xu leaned back in his chair, picked up the pen on the table, and twirled it in his fingers: “All packed? Aren’t you eating with Aunt Liu and Uncle Zhu?”

“Yeah… I think we should go back together to eat next time.”

A gentle smile appeared in his dark eyes, warmth spreading from his chest: “Okay, we’ll go together.”

“Zhi Xu…”

“Shihao…”

The two voices overlapped, calling each other’s names, and then stopped at the same time.

In the moment of silence, a low laugh came through the receiver, like soft velvet brushing and causing a tickling sensation.

Zhu Shihao couldn’t help but tilt her head and rub her ear with her hand.

“You go first.”

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t refuse. His voice was low and his tone very soft.

“Shihao, come here.”

Zhu Shihao’s steps didn’t stop, and she stepped out of the unit door.

In an instant, she was bathed in the golden glow of the warm sun. Still, she could hear his voice at the edge of her ears, and with each breath, she witnessed the rebirth of spring and the revival of all things.

“Okay, I’m coming to find you.”