SM Chapter 75

Chapter 75: Moon Book Red Thread

“Shihao, I can’t bear to be without you…”

Without head or tail, Zhu Shihao smiled, “When you’re ‘watching the sky at dawn and the clouds at dusk,’ well, maybe when you’re just wearing a shirt is okay. But I felt it was a bit strange when you even wore cufflinks.”

Usually, when they were dating, he wasn’t so particular as to wear cufflinks and a tie.

She thought for a moment and added, “You’re a bit too concerned about your image today. At home, I was still wondering if you would even style your hair.”

Tan Zhi Xu didn’t deny it, just responded, “I was afraid others would say how could a beauty be with a beast.”

Zhu Shihao was shocked, raised her hand to cup his face: “What made you have the illusion that you are a beast?”

A group of people appeared in his view from the corner of the stairs, but Tan Zhi Xu didn’t care, lowered his head to get close to her, his voice lowered with amusement: “Maybe it’s because you always say I’m beastly at night.”

“Shihao!”

“Zhi Xu!”

Voices came from behind.

First glancing at the drone in a slightly flustered manner, Zhu Shihao quickly pushed his face away, “Just shut up, you’re so annoying, Tan Zhi Xu.”

The onlookers surrounded them. Zhu Shihao scanned them and saw her parents, her sister, Xu Ting, holding Tan Meng, winking and smiling widely at her. She saw Ran Cai, Wei Wang, and Hao Hao, as well as unfamiliar real onlookers.

Even though she had anticipated it, when the moment truly arrived, surrounded by relatives and friends, in front of her lover, she inevitably felt a little nervous and momentarily stunned.

“Shihao.”

Coming back to her senses again, the man in front of her held a bouquet of flowers, still the familiar roses, but this time the bouquet wasn’t so exaggerated.

Thinking of that bouquet of flowers, it seemed like a long time ago, but that vibrant color was so clear, no different from the bouquet in front of her, and it felt like it had happened yesterday. She remembered clearly how she had followed a tutorial to learn how to make dried flowers.

“Shihao.”

The man’s gentle tone led her to look into his deep eyes, and in that instant, Zhu Shihao discovered his tenderness.

And at that moment, she calmed down again.

“Yes, I’m here.”

Tan Zhi Xu held the flowers in one hand and held her hand with the other, not letting go, even gently kneading her soft palm.

However, the two looked at each other in silence.

He opened his mouth, then closed it. Zhu Shihao didn’t urge him, just looked at him with gentle and inclusive eyes.

After a long while, a few scattered questions came from around them.

Tan Zhi Xu tightened his grip on her hand, then smiled self-deprecatingly.

“I had clearly prepared a draft long ago, and felt like I had a lot to say, but now I suddenly feel like I don’t know what to say.”

Zhu Shihao’s eyes glistened: “Too many people?”

“How could that be?” He smiled bluntly, then returned to calmness.

“It’s just that I feel like whatever I say won’t express it properly.”

He loved her too much, three or two sentences were far from enough, but a thousand words, ten thousand words, he didn’t know where to start.

Smoothing out his slightly furrowed brows, Zhu Shihao was as understanding as ever, her eyes curved and considerate, “Then say the simplest thing, Zhi Xu, I understand everything.”

Tan Zhi Xu heard her and stared at her. After two seconds, he suddenly smiled.

“Shihao, you can’t be so easy to please.”

“You can make demands, anything is fine.”

Zhu Shihao blinked and said softly, “But you’ve already given me what I wanted, you’ve given me everything.”

“Shihao, I don’t have a preferred way for you to be. I love all of you, those adjectives aren’t important, nor are they standards, the only important thing is you, you are my only standard.”

She had heard these words last year, and knew he was talking about the misunderstanding under the broadcast back then.

“Yes, I know,” Zhu Shihao responded.

Tan Zhi Xu pursed his lips, and after a moment of silence, he spoke, his voice deep and his tone solemn.

“Shihao, I love you, let’s get married.”

It wasn’t quite the marriage proposal speech he had set in advance, but it was a sincere invitation in this moment, inviting the person in front of him to spend the rest of her life with him, never to be separated.

Looking down at the flowers, she pointed, “Aren’t you going to give me the flowers?”

Tan Zhi Xu was stunned for a moment, then smiled and handed the flowers to her.

Zhu Shihao took them, lowered her head to smell them, then looked up at him with a smile, catching his subtle tension under his slightly tightened expression.

“Okay.”

“Zhi Xu, let’s get married.”

The two hands that had been holding each other all along loosened slightly, and Tan Zhi Xu pulled her into his arms, the two embracing.

In a burst of cheers, Zhu Suiyi tilted her head, a question mark on her face: “It’s done, but isn’t something missing? Where’s the ring? Where’s the ring?”

She just happened to have gone through the proposal process, and it seemed like some steps were skipped, right?

Xu Ting, whose face was splitting with smiles, suddenly widened her eyes and pulled it out from her bag: “It’s with me.”

Originally, she was going to hand it over to Ran Cai and the others along with the flowers, but due to the exorbitant price, the others took a few steps back in terror, saying they would never agree, for fear of losing their entire lives, so in the end it could only be left with Xu Ting.

At this moment, Xu Ting was a little frantic: “Tan Zhi Xu, what are you doing!”

She absolutely refused to admit it was her problem.

Everyone fell silent in unison.

Tan Zhi Xu unconsciously frowned slightly, obviously only just remembering it. He looked back at Zhu Shihao, and for a moment the two were speechless.

After all, truly no one had remembered.

Taking the ring, Tan Zhi Xu put it on her finger, the shining light reflecting the last of the sunset, the glow as warm as the burning, vivid heart in his chest.

Holding her hand, he looked at it quietly for a few seconds, then lowered his head and kissed it reverently.

“Shihao, I can’t bear the possibility of not having you.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but each word was clear. It was a powerful declaration of his humility regarding his desire for her.

He analyzed himself in front of the camera, in front of everyone.

Zhu Shihao was the treasure Tan Zhi Xu had begged for and couldn’t lose.

Zhu Shihao’s eyes suddenly reddened.

Before, she had never asked Tan Zhi Xu why he couldn’t like her, until that night of tipsy conversation, she suddenly asked herself—

“Why can’t it be Zhu Shihao?”

After the two opened up, they fell into a bright, passionate love.

But Zhu Shihao was never one to quibble. She had never complained about why he couldn’t have liked her sooner, come to her side sooner.

However, that emotion that had been stuck and without a path for so many years, she couldn’t ignore the sadness and bitterness within it.

Repeatedly telling herself to be reasonable, not to be unreasonable, but at this moment, in the heavy love he declared to the world, she couldn’t help but feel wronged.

“Yes, I’m very happy.”

If only we hadn’t delayed and worried for so long.

The words she hadn’t said out loud in front of everyone were finally spoken out when she faced him.

On a night that belonged only to the two of them.

Zhu Shihao sat astride his lap, looking down at the person leaning against the pillow, her face not with its usual gentle smile. She straightened her back, pursed her lips, and frowned, with an indescribable sense of loss and bitterness.

The not-so-harsh wording, like a giant rock weighing thousands of pounds, pressed down on his chest, even the beating of his heart became stagnant, each beat knocking out a dull pain.

Pulling her closer to himself, Tan Zhi Xu put one hand on her lower back and the other on the back of her head, hugging her tightly.

The two bodies pressed tightly together, seamlessly. The affection was completely poured out from his tightened arms and the kisses that fell on her forehead.

“Shihao, I’m sorry, I was too timid and came too late.”

Zhu Shihao obediently lay on him, her face buried in the hollow of his neck, shaking her head slightly: “No need to say sorry, it’s not too late now that you’ve come.”

Time hadn’t allowed the treasure in her heart to become dusty and dim. Instead, it had washed away the glitter, and they could no longer ignore the deepening feeling and inseparable love in their hearts.

Fortunately, they both got what they wanted, and it just happened to be each other.

Gently patting her back, Tan Zhi Xu said in a low voice, telling the person in his arms what he hadn’t said during the day.

“My Shihao has been clinging to me since she was little, even having to squat outside the bathroom when I went to the toilet. She’s also been the best at manipulating me since she was young, coaxing me into willingly saving money every year to prepare gifts for her.”

Hearing him say this, Zhu Shihao also laughed, rolling off him. He supported her and wrapped his arms around her waist, looking at him sideways.

“Yes, I have a lot of gifts, but you don’t have any.”

But your pocket money was always used to buy double the drinks, roasted sausages, and fried skewers.

Tan Zhi Xu hooked his lips and touched her cheek, his thumb caressing the corner of her mouth.

“I have gifts too, no less than you, although it sounds a bit pretentious, but it’s true, seeing you happy makes me very happy.”

At least it would make Tan Zhi Xu, who had been arrogant and indifferent since childhood, smile too.

“You have a good temper. The temper you lose with others doesn’t add up to as much as the times you lose it with me. Normally, you’re as docile as can be, agreeing to everything and not even asking why, but once it’s something you care about, even if I’m just a little slow to do what you want, you throw a huge fit.”

Tan Zhi Xu smiled lightly, as if he wasn’t the one who was being subjected to her temper.

“But I know Shihao isn’t being unreasonable, you just care too much about me.”

So you want me to always be on your side, want me to always be well, not to hurt myself, not to “go astray,” want me to be upright and proper.

Her hand unconsciously placed on his chest, Zhu Shihao just stared blankly and foolishly up at him, her heart beating along with the thumping beneath her palm.

“Seeing you, my mood can be relieved. When you smile, I want to smile too. So Shihao, don’t doubt it, you are the most interesting, most beautiful, and purest person in my heart.”

“As far as I’m concerned, there’s no compliment that can’t be used to describe you.”

Even though he had explained it before, on such a day he still wanted to sincerely and clearly restate his feelings, to once again soothe the scars that had troubled her for so many years.

Zhu Shihao understood his meaning, propped herself up with her elbow against the bed, smoothed his brow, and smiled gently.

“Yes, I know. Memories can’t be erased, and perhaps past feelings can’t be changed, but Zhi Xu, I’m sure I’ve recovered completely.”

He met her eyes and said softly, “Yes.”

The indelible and unchangeable were helpless.

“Shihao, in the future, when you think of those past times again, you must remember that I love you very, very much.”

Zhu Shihao lay on his chest, her eyes curved as she looked at him.

“Did you take a class in love talk? Why are you being so sappy today?”

She and Tan Zhi Xu were essentially both relatively introverted people, rarely hanging affection and love on their lips. Most of the time, they often did more than they said.

It wasn’t that they were too shy to say it or felt awkward, but that they didn’t know how to describe and express their full hearts of love.

What he said today about “words not expressing it properly” was extremely accurate, but fortunately they could understand each other without too many words.

Tan Zhi Xu pinched her waist and lifted her up a little, so their gazes were level. He raised her chin and kissed her soft lips, each movement as skilled as if he had practiced it a thousand times.

Perhaps that was indeed the case.