Do You Like Me

Sheng Sui wasn’t particularly optimistic. When facing problems, her attitude was sometimes even pessimistic. In the past few years, her messages to Z had all disappeared without a trace, and she was convinced their final outcome could only be losing contact.

Even now, despite being encouraged by Zhou Shiyu, she still maintained a skeptical attitude: “What if Z thinks I talk too much? Wouldn’t it be even worse if I bothered him again?”

“No,” Zhou Shiyu smiled and ruffled her hair, his low, gentle voice making Sheng Sui’s throat itch for a moment. “Someone who could chat with you for so long wouldn’t suddenly become impatient with you.”

The man gently swirled his glass wine cup and proposed another hypothesis: “Perhaps Z is a coward. After losing contact for so long, he doesn’t know how to face you. Maybe he’s also waiting for you to take the initiative once more.”

“…But Z doesn’t seem like someone with an indecisive personality,” Sheng Sui was somewhat persuaded and felt a bit moved. On one hand, she thought sending another email wouldn’t hurt, but on the other hand, she felt Z was quite different from what Zhou Shiyu described. She pondered and pursed her lips.

“In my impression, Z fits more with the image of a caring older sister.”

“……”

Zhou Shiyu’s hand movements paused, and his perfect smile showed a slight crack: “Caring sister? Doesn’t Z’s chat profile clearly state he’s male?”

“Back then, many people didn’t pay attention to these things. Some girls would change to male to avoid harassment,” Sheng Sui had belonged to the latter group back then. She suddenly felt something was off.

“How do you know Z’s profile shows male? Did I mention it just now?”

“Mm, you did,” Zhou Shiyu lowered his eyes to drink, his long lashes behind the glasses concealing his emotions. “You said the other party’s profile showed male, but you two never asked about each other’s identity and gender.”

“…Is that so,” Sheng Sui still couldn’t remember saying this, but didn’t dwell on it too much. “We indeed never asked, but because of many details, I always thought Z was a girl.”

What left a deep impression on her was once before her period, when her lower abdomen was aching and she just wanted to sleep. Z’s first reaction was to remind her to rest early, and if her period was too uncomfortable, to go to the school infirmary.

Sheng Sui had never mentioned her period, so Z probably deduced it from her being uncomfortable those few days every month.

Boys wouldn’t have this kind of subconscious reaction, so Sheng Sui was convinced from then on that Z was a girl.

After hearing her analysis and explanation, Zhou Shiyu beside her suddenly shook his head with a smile.

Sheng Sui didn’t understand and asked what he was laughing about.

“Nothing,” the man tilted his head back and drained the clear green plum wine in one gulp, his tone rarely showing a hint of helplessness. “I just suddenly realized,”

“Sometimes knowing too much isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

“……”

Sheng Sui was completely confused.

Using Z’s story to reveal her university life from back then, Sheng Sui only now remembered to ask about Zhou Shiyu after talking for so long, becoming curious about his study abroad experience:

“Are overseas universities very different from domestic ones?”

Never mind studying abroad – she had grown to 27 without ever leaving this land beneath her feet. During school she had no money, and after work she either had no time, or when she had time, couldn’t find travel companions. Her travel plans had always been shelved.

“Pretty much the same as domestic ones. The difference is communicating in English,” Zhou Shiyu glossed over his academic years and changed the subject.

“If you want to go abroad, you can wait until your school has vacation, and we can treat it as our honeymoon.”

Sheng Sui did want to travel around, but hadn’t thought of using marriage as an excuse: “No need to be so formal, just treating it as casual travel would be fine.”

After saying this, she saw Zhou Shiyu’s dark eyes looking over quietly. After pondering for a moment, he smiled at her. “No wedding ring, no wedding ceremony, no honeymoon trip.”

“Sui Sui,” the man propped his face with his right hand, the thin chain connecting his gold-rimmed glasses swaying lightly in the air, his smile taking on a somewhat mysterious quality.

“Do you have no expectations at all for our marriage?”

Sheng Sui thought carefully and indeed had none. She was already satisfied: “Things are already very good now.”

“But I still don’t think it’s enough,” except for that matter, Zhou Shiyu accommodated her wishes in every aspect of life. This was the first time he disagreed with Sheng Sui. “I’m only getting married once in my life. I don’t want to just handle it carelessly.”

The man sat up straight and imperceptibly leaned forward slowly, his gaze like a black hole, deep and unfathomable: “I also want to put a ring on your finger, want to see you in a wedding dress walking toward me in a place you like, during a season with clear weather.”

In the small tavern filled with the warmth of human life, the man painted his vision with a gentle voice: “I also want to hear you say ‘I do’ to me when the priest asks.”

“This has been my wish since I was sixteen.”

Zhou Shiyu finally stopped just inches away from her, his hot breath clearly perceptible, asking in a low voice: “Would Mrs. Zhou be willing to be kind and satisfy my vanity?”

As his words fell, the man looked down meaningfully at her lips, curving his mouth, and let out a single syllable from his throat with strong suggestion: “Mm?”

The low tone precisely struck her eardrums. Sheng Sui’s heart trembled at being called, and before her eyes could dodge, they fell into the man’s dark pupils. She instinctively pursed her lips and tensed up.

Seeing her panic, Zhou Shiyu’s eyes behind his glasses showed even deeper amusement: “Did you think I was going to kiss you?”

“……”

Uncontrollable heat burned across her face. Sheng Sui couldn’t refute this, and saw the man’s smile take on the appearance of a refined scoundrel as he asked unhurriedly:

“Should I make up for it now?”

“…No need!”

Sheng Sui finally came to her senses, hurriedly turning her head to dodge. Looking around, she saw two foreign girls at the long table across from them, their eyes bright as they looked over with excited expressions.

Meeting her gaze, the bolder of the two actively asked: “Are you guys dating?”

Sheng Sui’s English reading and listening were decent, but when it came to speaking fluently, she still needed to organize her language. Beside her, Zhou Shiyu had already turned back to sit up straight.

The man smiled slightly as a courtesy: “She’s my wife.”

Hearing this, the two girls became even more excited, exclaiming continuously: “You guys are so sweet!”

Zhou Shiyu spoke standard, fluent English. After thanking them, he looked back at Sheng Sui and translated in a low voice: “They complimented you on being beautiful.”

“I understand English,” Sheng Sui thought she was at least a prestigious university graduate and glared at Zhou Shiyu with annoyance, retorting:

“They said we’re sweet.”

“Mm,” seeing Sheng Sui fall into his trap without any guard, earnestly correcting him, Zhou Shiyu couldn’t help but lower his head to kiss the corner of her lips, curving his mouth as he said in a low voice:

“You’re a bit sweeter.”

After dinner, the two prepared to walk to the bookstore a few streets away to digest their meal.

People inevitably become lazy after eating their fill. Sheng Sui suggested resting for five minutes before walking. While waiting for Zhou Shiyu to pay the bill, her phone on the table vibrated and lit up, showing a message from her good friend Xiao Ming.

【Xiao Ming: The comments are talking about you and your mysterious husband, right? With my sharp eyes, I recognized it immediately】

She then sent a video link along with a screenshot circled with red pen.

Sheng Sui clicked on the link.

The video content was of the square she and Zhou Shiyu had visited before dinner. There was indeed a music festival being held there, with machines set up around to film the lead dancers and other people enjoying the music and dancing with smiling faces.

Sheng Sui and Zhou Shiyu weren’t the main subjects. In the video, the two only appeared like background characters for a few short seconds, yet unexpectedly drew the most discussion.

【The girl in the video is so pretty, the person she’s hugging must be her boyfriend, they seem so sweet, wuwu】

【Who understands, although we never see the guy’s face in the whole video, just from the angle he’s looking down, you can tell he’s definitely looking at the girl the whole time】

【Help me, I can already imagine how gentle the guy’s expression must be】

【I came here to watch silly videos, why do I have to eat dog food late at night—organizers hurry up, you know how to get views now, quickly bring out your best stuff】

Sheng Sui looked at the highly upvoted comments and couldn’t stop marveling. The public’s observational skills were indeed very strong.

“What are you laughing about?”

A magnetic male voice sounded beside her ear. Sheng Sui pushed her phone over, with unconscious amusement at the corners of her lips: “An official account filmed a dancing video at the square, and we’re in the corner.”

The video was quite long. Sheng Sui was about to click on the screenshot to show Zhou Shiyu when Xiao Ming sent several more messages first:

【Xiao Ming: Sui Bao, you said last time you married your husband because it was suitable, but why do I feel like you’re quite clingy with your husband? The way you tightly hugged him and didn’t want to let go, tsk tsk tsk】

【Xiao Ming: Also, seeing your husband’s back, I now believe what you said last time about his skills being good. That waist, those legs—our Sui Bao has really grown up, this old mother is relieved】

“……”

Conversations between good girlfriends should indeed be taken to the grave.

The air froze for a few seconds. Sheng Sui’s eyelids twitched wildly as she tried to take back her phone, but the next second Zhou Shiyu’s palm covered her hand, the screen facing directly toward the man’s face.

The man squinted slightly, carefully reading the last message. After a long while, with an expression that was hard to read, he asked:

“You thought last time that my skills were good?”

“…I didn’t!”

Sheng Sui’s cheeks turned red. She had clearly only been forced to give vague answers under Xiao Ming’s phone interrogation about questions regarding the man’s duration. It was Xiao Ming who had arbitrarily concluded from her hoarse voice alone that Zhou Shiyu’s bedroom skills were very good.

—Though for someone with zero prior experience like her, this wasn’t wrong either.

Zhou Shiyu raised an eyebrow and asked again: “So you mean my skills aren’t good?”

Sheng Sui: “……” She had never said that either!

She stammered for a long time without being able to explain clearly. Zhou Shiyu took the bill from the young waiter, and while lowering his head to fill in the tip percentage, said unhurriedly in a low voice: “We’ll go home after paying.”

Go home directly? Sheng Sui was confused: “Aren’t we still going to the bookstore?”

“No rush. Tomorrow’s the weekend, I’ll have someone deliver one copy of every picture book from the bookstore to our home. You can choose whatever you want.”

Zhou Shiyu handed over his bank card, glanced at the young man whose eyes were gleaming due to the high tip, then leaned close again, his thin lips pressed against Sheng Sui’s ear, his deep voice carrying a hint of unease:

“…Let’s go home first. I have a few questions for you.”

“……”

Soon, Sheng Sui’s uneasy intuition proved correct.

Zhou Shiyu, who was always extremely patient, this time uncharacteristically couldn’t wait for a designated driver. He left the car near the cafe and directly hailed a taxi home from the street.

On the road, Sheng Sui secretly observed the man, seeing his calm expression and how he didn’t forget to carefully wipe all ten fingers clean with wet wipes along the way.

Just as she was breathing a sigh of relief and reassuring herself the situation was controllable, the two entered the house without even turning on the lights when Zhou Shiyu’s well-defined hand reached over.

When powerful fingers pressed through a layer of fabric, Sheng Sui, in her panic, didn’t forget to try persuading: “…Ping’An is still in the living room.”

“At this time, he’s always sleeping,” Zhou Shiyu only focused on drawing out moisture, his other hand gently stroking her hair as he coaxed in a low voice, “If you’re really worried, you can be quieter later so we don’t wake him.”

Sheng Sui thought that wasn’t the main point. She opened her mouth only to have it sealed, her breath taken away. When she came to her senses, she was already steadily placed on the dining room’s long table, the hard glass surface reflecting their current appearance.

As his fingertips withdrew, she finally got a moment’s peace, only to turn and look in shock at Zhou Shiyu producing a square plastic package from somewhere: “…Where did you get that?”

“I bought quite a few last time and placed some in various spots around the house.”

Zhou Shiyu wasn’t in a hurry to immediately charge forward, but instead stretched his fingers to unfold the thin film, removing the last layer of silk obstruction, unhurriedly circling around Sheng Sui’s pitiful pink tender lips.

At the same time, the man didn’t forget to kiss the corners of her mouth while attending to both above and below, speaking in a husky low voice about financial knowledge: “In investing, there’s a common concept called ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket.’ Thinking about it now, it seems applicable to life as well.”

Just two fingers left Sheng Sui helpless as she wrapped her arms around Zhou Shiyu’s neck, only hearing the man coax her in a low voice: “Good baby, if you can’t eat anymore now, what will we do later?”

Tears welled up in Sheng Sui’s eyes as she accused him intermittently – she had clearly just eaten her fill at dinner and wasn’t hungry at all now.

Zhou Shiyu, however, denied this like he had amnesia, methodically saying he had just finished the appetizers and the main course hadn’t even appeared yet. How could Sheng Sui randomly claim she was full?

When the man truly invited her to eat the main course, Sheng Sui only felt terrified, pleading in a small voice: “Really can’t eat anymore…”

Zhou Shiyu’s warm palm touched her flat lower abdomen, giving her choices as he moved in and out: “Finish eating today, and from now on we’ll eat small frequent meals, trying all kinds of dishes together to find your favorite, okay?”

The man spoke while carrying Sheng Sui toward the living room sofa, his hand patting her back soothingly as he whispered by her ear: “Baby, why do you cry so intensely everywhere?”

Sheng Sui couldn’t even control the teardrops at the corners of her eyes, sobbing continuously, dripping water everywhere. Her muddled brain finally remembered Zhou Shiyu’s purpose for coming home.

She raised her neck, feeling like she would get a cramp in her back any moment, asking with red eyes: “…What question do you want to ask exactly? Can you please ask quickly?”

Finally, the merciful Zhou Shiyu held her and sat properly on the sofa. In the dim living room without lights, his eyes behind the glasses became even brighter, his deep voice echoing:

“Sui Sui, do you like it?”

“……”

When no one answered, the man held the currently dazed Sheng Sui again, gripping her shoulders and pressing down, looking down at the liquid stains on his mottled sleeve cuffs, repeating his question:

“Do you like me?”

“…Like.”

Tears blurred her vision. Sheng Sui’s rationality had completely departed for a time. Never mind liking – later, whatever Zhou Shiyu told her to say, she obediently complied.

As a reward, she received the privilege of being carried around the house to various places without getting tired, just as Zhou Shiyu had said, trying all kinds of different dishes.

This was the first time in Sheng Sui’s life that she felt this house was annoyingly large. The corridor leading to different areas seemed to never reach its end.

Later she was carried to the bathroom, her empty brain like a machine in disrepair for years, easily manipulated at will.

Sheng Sui no longer had the strength to resist.

After being carried back to the bedroom by Zhou Shiyu, her head touched the pillow and she drowsily fell asleep. She only vaguely felt someone using a wet towel to wipe away the tear stains on her face, and occasionally warm lips carefully touching her cheek, as if she were fragile at this moment.

Soon, the spacious bedroom was left with only two steady breathing sounds. Zhou Shiyu leaned over beside the bed, gathering Sheng Sui’s fallen strands of hair behind her ear, and only after a long while did he get up and leave the bedroom.

From the dining room to the living room, even the gym and computer room, wet liquid could be seen scattered everywhere on floors, tables, and equipment, here and there.

He took wet wipes from the cabinet and carefully wiped these traces clean one by one, starting from the dining room. An hour later, he finally finished the work in the living room.

Next was collecting the clothes scattered everywhere.

Zhou Shiyu had discovered early on that Sheng Sui had a preference for cotton materials. From nightgowns to warm clothing, even bras, many were made of soft cotton material, like the feeling she gave people – soft and comfortable.

Only her intimate panties were the exception. Probably to wrap the most delicate area, cotton material would sometimes chafe uncomfortably. Sheng Sui used light, smooth silk material.

Zhou Shiyu had also felt with his fingers many times that it was indeed a smooth, soft texture that could transmit the light and heavy pressure of hands without discount to their owner, and any resulting wetness could be clearly sensed immediately.

At this moment, a water-blue one lay quietly on the sofa armrest, wrinkled beyond recognition.

Zhou Shiyu picked up the thin piece and held it in his hand. His newly washed hands became stained with sticky moisture, and instantly, the woman’s unique warmth and softness swept over him, burning from his brain all the way down with overwhelming force.

The man closed his eyes, his palm holding the water-blue fabric slowly tightening.

He shouldn’t have been soft-hearted and let her finish just now.

He turned back toward the bedroom, his gaze stopping on the peacefully sleeping Sheng Sui. His dark eyes behind the glasses were deep, and finally he walked to the bedside and lifted the covers to lie down.

In the dim environment, Zhou Shiyu grasped her soft, warm little hand and easily guided it over.

Sheng Sui seemed to be burned by high heat in her sleep, instinctively wanting to curl her palm. Her long lashes fluttered like butterfly wings, showing signs of waking up.

Zhou Shiyu’s thin lips kissed her forehead soothingly, and as he quickened his pace, his brow couldn’t help but furrow slightly, his hoarse, deep voice like a lone boat swallowed by waves in the dark night:

“…Good girl, don’t be afraid.”

“It’ll be over soon.”

Author’s Note: My skills are limited, and every time I write pure sweetness I’m afraid everyone won’t like it (wipes tears), but I really tried my best orz

Still asking for comments and nutrient solution as usual, giving all you wives kisses

Thank you so much for everyone’s support, I’ll continue working hard!