Extra 6


In order to make it easier for Sang Zhi to visit her parents, when Duan Jiaxu first bought their house, the most important factor he considered was the location. He immediately ruled out properties in other areas and, after discussing with Sang Zhi, bought a house near the Sang family’s home.

This decision had been made early, back when Sang Zhi was in her sophomore year. However, after initially planning to start working directly after graduation, Sang Zhi reconsidered and decided to pursue graduate studies at Nanwu University.

As a result, they hadn’t factored in the school’s location at the time of purchasing the house.

The campus Sang Zhi attended was not the main one but was located in another district of Nanwu City, making the daily commute somewhat inconvenient. Thinking of this, after they got married, she cautiously brought the matter up to Duan Jiaxu, suggesting that once school started, she could live in the dormitory and come home for a few days whenever she had time.

Duan Jiaxu didn’t seem to have a strong opinion about it. However, not long after agreeing, he casually suggested, “Why don’t we rent a place near your school?”

Sang Zhi thought about it and decided it wasn’t necessary. After all, she only stayed at school when it was very late and most of the time, she would return home. Besides, she wasn’t in a position financially to rent a place……

She shook her head and said, “No need, it’s a waste of money.”

It seemed like Duan Jiaxu accepted her decision and didn’t bring the matter up again.

On the first night that Sang Zhi planned to stay in the dormitory after the semester started, just as she returned to her room and was preparing to take a shower, she received a call from Duan Jiaxu.

Sang Zhi tilted her head, holding the phone between her shoulder and ear. “Did you get home?”

“Not yet.” Duan Jiaxu’s voice was lazy, and then he suddenly said, “Zhizhi, I’m lost.”

Sang Zhi blinked. “Huh? Weren’t you heading home from work?”

“Mm.”

“Then how did you get lost?” Sang Zhi was puzzled. “Where are you right now?”

“Ah, let me check……” His voice dragged with a slow tone, “I don’t know either. I’ll send you my location.”

Scratching her head, Sang Zhi replied with an “Mm” and hung up. She found it strange. Even if he was lost, couldn’t he just use GPS?

Soon, she received a message from Duan Jiaxu on WeChat. Sang Zhi opened it and saw that his location was right under her dorm building.

“……”

Then, Duan Jiaxu sent her a voice message, “It’s late so I just booked a hotel nearby.”

He followed up with another one.

“What should I do? I’m scared to sleep alone in a strange place.” He seemed to be laughing as his gentle voice had a breathy sound, “Why don’t you come protect me, Zhizhi?”

Sang Zhi: “……”

———pr

Please only read this translation at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m to support the translator

A few days later, on her second night at the dorm, history repeated itself when she received another call from Duan Jiaxu. After a moment of hesitation, she asked the usual, “Did you get home?”

This time, Duan Jiaxu didn’t deny it like before. He simply replied with a soft “Mm”, and then called out, “Zhizhi.”

“What is it?”

“I just had a dream.” Duan Jiaxu paused briefly, his voice slow and deliberate, “In the dream, we were already married.”

“……”

“But then I woke up and found I was still sleeping alone.”

His meaning was obvious. Sang Zhi stayed silent for a few seconds before bluntly exposing him, “Weren’t you just driving home? When did you have time to dream?”

“Hmm?” Duan Jiaxu chuckled softly. “I don’t need to sleep to think about you.”

Sang Zhi bit her lip, feeling a little shy. She put down the clothes she was holding and whispered, “It’s too late today, I’ll come home tomorrow.”

Duan Jiaxu said, his voice lazy and deliberate, “No.”

Sang Zhi felt a bit frustrated. “Then—”

Before she could finish, Duan Jiaxu interrupted, “Brother is feeling really uneasy right now. I need to see you and confirm whether we’re actually married or not.”

“……”

“It’s late, so I’ll book a hotel nearby.” He casually repeated his line from a few days ago, “Oh, right, Brother is in a strange place so I feel a little scared—”

Sang Zhi, both annoyed and amused, interrupted him, “I get it, I’ll come protect you.”

———pr

This translation is by Pocketrobbin at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m

A few days later.

Sang Zhi went to a class reunion and by the time it ended, it was already late. After sending Duan Jiaxu a message on WeChat saying she was heading back to the dorm, she received another call from him.

His purpose was the same as before, and once again, he shamelessly concocted a new excuse.

Hearing his words, Sang Zhi was silent for a moment. This time, instead of exposing his lie, she, like the previous two times, compromised and turned to go meet him.

The next day after that, Sang Zhi took the initiative to rent an apartment near her school.

———pr


It was the weekend, so Sang Zhi and Duan Jiaxu went to a nearby supermarket to shop.

Although Sang Zhi was now married, she hadn’t changed at all. For her, household necessities were secondary. The first thing she did upon entering the supermarket was head straight for the snack aisle.

Normally, Duan Jiaxu would go to the fresh produce section first to get the ingredients and household items they needed. But since it was still early today, he wasn’t in much of a hurry.

Duan Jiaxu pushed the shopping cart, leisurely following behind Sang Zhi. Every time she tossed a snack into the cart, he would glance at it, occasionally picking it up to check the nutrition facts before quietly putting a few back.

This went on for a while and Sang Zhi still hadn’t noticed.

Standing in front of one of the shelves, Sang Zhi was indecisive about which flavor of cookies to buy, unable to make up her mind for quite some time. She turned her head to ask Duan Jiaxu for his opinion and finally noticed what he’d been doing.

“……” Sang Zhi’s movements froze and she silently glared at him, her expression gloomy.

Duan Jiaxu didn’t seem fazed, continuing his actions as usual. He even pointed to the cookies in her hand. “Get the strawberry flavor. We still have the milk flavor at home.”

Unfooled by his attempt to distract her, Sang Zhi accused him, “Why did you put back the candy I got?”

“Hm?” Duan Jiaxu said, “No, it just fell out by itself.”

Sang Zhi was clearly not fooled by his excuse. She walked over, picked up the candy he had put back, and started shooing him away. “Don’t shop with me anymore. You go get your stuff. I’ll look around myself.”

Hearing that, Duan Jiaxu calmly called her, “Sang Zhi.”

Sang Zhi ignored him, not even sparing him a glance. She focused on the shelf, boldly grabbing two more bags of candy. Just as she was about to toss them into the cart, Duan Jiaxu reminded her, “You just had a cavity filled, remember?”

“……” Sang Zhi’s confidence deflated instantly. Sheepishly, she mumbled, “Wasn’t it on the right side? I’ll just chew with the left side then.”

“Alright.” Duan Jiaxu replied nonchalantly, “We’ll just get it pulled out tomorrow.”

Sang Zhi fell silent, swallowing her frustration as she reluctantly put the candy back one by one. She muttered under her breath, “I really want to shop alone.”

Looking at the shopping cart, which was still full of her snacks, Duan Jiaxu showed no intention of leaving. “Still haven’t finished buying all your snacks?”

“Turns out my previous roommates were right.” Sang Zhi pursed her lips and said sarcastically, “Men only treat you well when they’re chasing you.”

“Hm?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Now that we’re married, you’re unhappy if I just buy a few more snacks.” Sang Zhi continued, “In a few days, I might not even have enough pocket money for bus fare.”

“Taking the bus?” Duan Jiaxu laughed. “It’s just one yuan, Brother can still afford to give you that much.”

“……”

“As for this candy, to be honest with you, I really can’t afford it.” Duan Jiaxu walked ahead, matching her earlier words, and said slowly, “We’re not from a rich family. If you really want something sweet, you might as well kiss me……”

“……”

“That’s pretty sweet too.”

Sang Zhi followed behind him, feeling a mix of emotions. She said, “How can you say things with a straight face?”

Duan Jiaxu chuckled, “Just thinking, what if?”

“What?”

“What if you really kissed me?” Duan Jiaxu smiled gently. “Then I’d have made a profit.”

———pr


One day, while Sang Zhi was searching for scissors in the living room, she found several packs of cigarettes under the coffee table. She pulled them out, glanced at them casually, and quickly put them back.

Just then, Duan Jiaxu walked out of the room. She picked up an opened pack of cigarettes, waved it at him, and asked, “I see this pack is missing five cigarettes. Have you been smoking a lot lately?”

Duan Jiaxu glanced over lazily and said, “I bought that a long time ago.”

“Oh.” Sang Zhi didn’t say anything more.

She didn’t strongly oppose Duan Jiaxu smoking since both Sang Rong and Sang Yan smoked too. Besides, Duan Jiaxu wasn’t a heavy smoker. He mostly did it when stressed or when something was on his mind, and he didn’t have an addiction.

Duan Jiaxu sat down next to her. “What’s wrong?”

“Just asking.” Sang Zhi took out a box of cigarettes and muttered, “This stuff isn’t good for your health, so why do you still buy so much?”

His lips curved up in a smile and he pinched her cheek. “Hmm, I’ll smoke less from now on.”

Sang Zhi tore open the packaging and asked casually, “When did you start smoking?”

“Probably during university.” Duan Jiaxu’s voice was light, with no emotion, “I picked it up after my mom passed away, but I didn’t have much money to buy cigarettes, so I controlled it.”

The living room fell into silence.

Sang Zhi’s hands paused and she slowly raised her head. After a few seconds of silence, she seemed to regret asking that question. A few more seconds passed before she awkwardly said, “Well, now that we can afford it—”

Thinking it over, Sang Zhi didn’t finish her sentence and instead changed her tone, “But it’s bad for your health, so it’s still better to buy less. I can buy you more health supplements instead.”

Duan Jiaxu was taken aback and buried his face in her shoulder, laughing. “Health supplements?”

He leaned against her, his chest rising and falling, and the warmth of his body enveloped her like a mist.

Sang Zhi had long grown used to this closeness and didn’t feel uncomfortable, just a bit ticklish. She continued unwrapping the cigarette pack, saying, “Of course.”

Duan Jiaxu’s eyes glinted with amusement as he drawled, “What would I be supplementing?”

“……” Sang Zhi turned her head to look at him, their eyes locking for a few seconds before she calmly said, “Oh, come to think of it, you probably need supplements everywhere.”

“For example?” He remained gentle, as if digging for more.

Sang Zhi didn’t have his thick skin. She bit her tongue, refusing to answer. Then she pulled out a cigarette from the pack before turning it over in her hand. “How do you even smoke this?”

Duan Jiaxu took the cigarette from her. “Why do you want to know?”

Sang Zhi replied honestly, “To learn.”

“Learn for what?”

“So I can smoke with you.” Sang Zhi said earnestly, “That way, if we split it in half, you’ll only need to smoke half the amount and it won’t go to waste.”

Duan Jiaxu was both amused and exasperated by her logic. “What are you doing smoking? Go eat your chocolate.”

Sang Zhi pretended not to hear him, taking another cigarette from the pack. She grabbed a lighter from the table and lit it. Since she had never smoked before, she fumbled with it awkwardly.

Duan Jiaxu’s smile faded as he looked at her expressionlessly. “Sang Zhi.”

There was a distinct danger in his tone.

Whenever he was about to scold her, he’d put on this air, even calling her full name coldly. His usual affectionate nicknames like ‘Zhizhi’, ‘wife’, ‘kid’, or ‘baby’ were thrown out the window, as if he had no sentiment left for her.

Every time Sang Zhi heard that tone, she would lose confidence. This time was no different. She lowered her head, snuffed out the cigarette, and muttered defensively, “What’s wrong with me smoking one cigarette……”

Duan Jiaxu remained silent.

Sang Zhi pressed on, “I didn’t even say anything about the number of packs you’ve smoked.”

After staring at her for a while, Duan Jiaxu suddenly smiled. “You really want to smoke?”

This time, Sang Zhi wisely kept quiet.

Duan Jiaxu sat up straight, leaned forward, and took the lighter from her hand. He lit his own cigarette, his features sharp and clear. In the crimson glow, he looked slightly more seductive. Then, biting the cigarette between his lips, he glanced at her.

He slightly raised his peach blossom eyes while his red lips formed a straight line.

Then Sang Zhi watched as his gaze slowly lowered.

Everything slowed down like a scene from a movie. Duan Jiaxu had on a lazy posture, his hair falling in soft strands across his forehead, partially covering his eyes. He lowered the cigarette, then raised his gaze again.

She blinked, about to say something, but his lips suddenly came down on hers. His tongue slipped in, carrying with it the strong, intoxicating taste of smoke. Sang Zhi felt like she was choking. Instinctively, she tried to pull back, but he held her closer, transferring the smoke from his mouth to hers.

After a long moment, Duan Jiaxu let her go, his voice husky. “Have you learned now?”

Sang Zhi’s lips felt numb. She licked the corner of her mouth, still in a daze. She was only joking around, not planning to actually smoke. How did things escalate to this?

The next moment, Duan Jiaxu brushed his thumb across her lower lip and said slowly, “If you ever want to smoke again……”

“……”

“Come find me.”