One Year After Her Sister-In-Law Was Widowed - Chapter 46

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the “Golden Week” National Day holiday. Unless there was urgent business, most of the employees at Huarui had already finished their work early, poised and ready to clock out.

As soon as six o’clock hit, the sound of laughter and chatter surged, becoming clear and vibrant; everywhere was filled with a festive atmosphere.

Amidst this joy, Xiao Shuangyu grabbed her bag and rushed downstairs, hiding in the parking lot to wait for Ji Zhuozhou.

Her canvas bag was noticeably heavy—it contained that bottle of orange juice she hadn’t opened at noon. She knew it was in there, yet she pretended it wasn’t orange juice, focusing all her attention on the entrance, longing for Ji Zhuozhou.

Perhaps because of the holiday, Ji Zhuozhou appeared earlier today than usual.

Xiao Shuangyu was about to rush forward when she saw two other people walking alongside her; she hurriedly pulled her head back.

But Ji Zhuozhou soon reached the car. Noticing Xiao Shuangyu’s half-protruding head, her eyes instantly crinkled into a smile, and she reached out to unlock the vehicle.

Once the two of them were in the car, Xiao Shuangyu finally spoke, her voice muffled but carrying a hint of exhilaration: “Sister.”

Ji Zhuozhou buckled her seatbelt and looked up at her with a distinct smile. “Mm, let’s go.”

Xiao Shuangyu followed with a smile of her own, nodded, and pulled the seatbelt across herself to buckle in.

They were going out to eat.

Earlier, after Xiao Shuangyu had sourly finished reading Ji Zhuozhou’s messages, she had messaged Ji Zhuozhou saying, “If Sister likes it, I’ll buy it for you, I’ll buy a lot,” only to be told by Ji Zhuozhou that she had already eaten some today.

So, Xiao Shuangyu pivoted and said she would treat her sister to dinner after work, and Ji Zhuozhou agreed.

The two had already decided on a place back then, simply waiting for the workday to end. Now, they were heading to their destination.

The car had barely crawled out of the parking lot before it was immediately blocked at a red light.

Traffic is always heavy during the evening rush hour, let alone the rush hour before a major holiday. The two were neither surprised nor in a hurry.

Ji Zhuozhou glanced at the road conditions on the navigation and asked Xiao Shuangyu, “Did Lianlian eat that cake? How was it?”

Xiao Shuangyu thought about it, somewhat reluctantly admitting, “It was okay.”

After closing the chat box with Ji Zhuozhou earlier, Xiao Shuangyu had actually opened the cake in a good mood and shared it with several people in the office. After hearing that Ming Yi had sent it, they chatted for a bit, saying Ming Yi was quite nice and so on.

Although Xiao Shuangyu didn’t feel great hearing that, she knew it stemmed from an unspeakable jealousy, so she didn’t let it show. Objectively speaking, however, the cake was very sweet, the cream was fragrant, and it didn’t feel greasy at all; it truly lived up to the fact that it was hard to buy.

As the car moved slowly forward, Ji Zhuozhou smiled and said, “That’s good. I was actually the one who recommended that shop; it would have been bad if Lianlian didn’t like it.”

Xiao Shuangyu blinked and asked anyway, “Did Sister used to buy from there often?”

Ji Zhuozhou thought for a moment. “I bought afternoon tea for the team a few times in the past, but Mingyi wasn’t around back then.”

Xiao Shuangyu’s mood instantly brightened. “I see.”

She had thought it was Mingyi’s idea, and that Ming Yi had bought it for Ji Zhuozhou more than once.

Beside her, Ji Zhuozhou responded, “That’s how it was.” She added, “Does Lianlian have any plans for the holiday? Are you going home for a few days?”

Their plans were limited to this dinner; it was even Wednesday, so Xiao Shuangyu had to perform at the bar after eating. And “going home” here, naturally, did not mean Ji Zhuozhou’s home, nor the rental apartment Xiao Shuangyu secretly kept, but the villa in the suburbs.

The home of their mothers.

Xiao Shuangyu remained silent for a moment, then muttered, “I’m not going back.” She said, “I have a part-time job.”

The foot traffic during a long holiday was much better than a normal weekend; Ji Xunxia wouldn’t let them take time off to play during such a period. Of course, the pay was indeed generous.

Ji Zhuozhou glanced at her. Xiao Shuangyu’s part-time job was always at night, so it didn’t affect where she went during the day. Xiao Shuangyu’s reason for not going back wasn’t actually the job.

Ji Zhuozhou’s eyes swept over Xiao Shuangyu’s hand tucked into her hoodie pocket; that hand was tense, seemingly gripping a phone.

Ji Zhuozhou quickly looked away. “Won’t your mother ask you to come back?”

Xiao Shuangyu gripped her phone even tighter. She shook her head and didn’t speak.

After a moment, she looked up at Ji Zhuozhou. “What about Sister?”

Ji Zhuozhou gave a silent sigh and turned through a green light. “I probably won’t be able to rest; I still have work.” She looked at her again. “If we have time, we can go out and wander around together.”

Those deep green eyes curved slightly, and Xiao Shuangyu nodded vigorously.

They weren’t stuck on the road for too long, and because they had a reservation, they didn’t wait long at the restaurant either.

After eating, Xiao Shuangyu still took out her phone. She had said she would treat Ji Zhuozhou to dinner, and no matter what, she was going to pay.

Xiao Shuangyu looked straight ahead as she unlocked her phone and paid, clearing her notification bar while she was at it, feeling as if the phone had suddenly become less heavy.

She still didn’t open WeChat, even though there should already be many messages there that weren’t from her mother.

However, in her self-deception, she failed to notice that Ji Zhuozhou, beside her, had accidentally caught a glimpse of the notifications.

Mommy: This isn’t up to you, you must listen to me…

Ji Zhuozhou narrowed her eyes.

Xiao Shuangyu was completely unaware; by the time she turned around, Ji Zhuozhou had already masked her expression.

The two walked out of the restaurant. Walking behind Ji Zhuozhou, Xiao Shuangyu stared at her profile, feeling hesitant.

It had been quite a while since Ji Zhuozhou discovered her part-time job in a band. Previously, Ji Zhuozhou said she would find a chance to see her perform, but there had been no follow-up.

With the holiday starting tomorrow, she was wondering whether to invite Ji Zhuozhou to the bar to hang out for a bit. After all, it was getting late, and she probably couldn’t go home with Ji Zhuozhou first; she had to go straight to the bar.

But a bar was, after all, a bar. Ji Zhuozhou didn’t know she was performing there. She wouldn’t feel right leaving Ji Zhuozhou in the audience, but she hadn’t mentioned taking her backstage beforehand either.

While she was thinking, the Ji Zhuozhou in front of her checked her phone, replied to a message, and suddenly turned around. “Where is Lianlian going? I’ll drop Lianlian off first.”

She said “first.”

Xiao Shuangyu’s hesitation was instantly broken, and she blurted out, “Does Sister have something to do? Are you going out?”

Ji Zhuozhou shook her head. “Not out. I’m going back to work on things.”

So she did have things to do.

But hearing that Ji Zhuozhou was going home, Xiao Shuangyu’s heart felt steady. She nodded curtly, swallowing her hesitation. In any case, she hadn’t told A-Nan or Nie Siyu, and she didn’t want to open her phone; today really wasn’t the right time to invite Ji Zhuozhou.

They parted ways at the subway station.

Xiao Shuangyu didn’t go directly to the bar.

She first returned to her rental room. With mixed emotions, she pulled the orange juice out of her canvas bag and placed it on the most prominent display shelf in the room.

But then, she pushed the orange juice into the back of an inconspicuous cubby.

Her mind was at war.

This was something Ji Zhuozhou bought for her; she loved anything Ji Zhuozhou gave her. But she hated things that reminded her of Xiao Mingyi when she saw them—she hated oranges.

The shelf had many things on it now.

A leaf that had fallen on Ji Zhuozhou’s shoulder by the river; a fruit wine bottle they had brought home from a private restaurant and drank together; a melon milk bottle Ji Zhuozhou had drunk from; a napkin in a sealed bag that carried the scent of Ji Zhuozhou’s perfume…

Ah, and the same perfume Ji Zhuozhou used; she had bought it too, but she never used it. At most, she would only open the cap to smell it, for fear that if it stayed on her body, Ji Zhuozhou would find out.

Xiao Shuangyu sat to the side, looking over every single item. Aside from the orange juice that made her heart ache a bit, every piece made her feel good.

In the narrow rental room, Xiao Shuangyu felt a sense of peace.

Being with Ji Zhuozhou made her very happy. Receiving messages from Ji Zhuozhou, sitting in her passenger seat, having dinner with her—her mood was always good.

But this happiness couldn’t completely smooth over the heaviness in her heart: the banquet, the arranged marriage, her mother’s accusations, the mint on Ji Zhuozhou’s desk sent by Xiao Mingyi, the Ji Zhuozhou who was being bullied.

Something was constantly accumulating in her heart, reaching a breaking point in just a single day.

The tranquility of the objects before her eyes was slowly diluting that heaviness, and Xiao Shuangyu exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

It was about time. She stood up and left the rental room.

However, she didn’t expect that even though she hadn’t mentioned Ji Zhuozhou, A-Nan and Nie Siyu would bring her up.

A-Nan held her guitar while tuning it. “It’s the holidays; why didn’t Lianlian ask your sister to come play too?”

Nie Siyu also said, “Exactly. Doesn’t your sister want to see you perform?”

The words “your sister” rang out twice. Subconsciously, Xiao Shuangyu thought they were talking about Xiao Mingyi, as that was how she was usually referred to.

But in the next instant, she realized they were talking about Ji Zhuozhou, who had answered their calls before. She immediately shook her head. “She’s busy.”

The two instantly let out an “Ah” of disappointment, alternating between regret and complaining.

After a while, they stopped talking about Ji Zhuozhou and turned to discuss their holiday plans.

Ji Xunxia only gave them two days off: one in the middle and one on the last day of the holiday. But A-Nan was even more terrifying—she scheduled rehearsals for the three of them every single day.

Even more terrifyingly, Nie Siyu agreed.

The two of them turned toward Xiao Shuangyu at the same time, and she could only nod her head.

So, for the next few days, Xiao Shuangyu would either stay home in the morning watching Ji Zhuozhou in the study, secretly follow her out to see her return to Huarui, or go for a stroll nearby with her.

In the afternoons, she always had to go out to meet A-Nan and Nie Siyu for rehearsals. Because it was the holiday, rehearsal rooms were hard to rent, so they had to find one near Nie Siyu’s house, which was a long distance away.

Every day after rehearsal, A-Nan would drive them to the bar to start their shift. It could be said they were extremely busy.

Then, on this particular day, the two called Xiao Shuangyu out early. A-Nan and Nie Siyu suddenly bundled her into the car and dragged her to an amusement park, forcing her onto the roller coaster twice, the Pendulum once, and the Drop Tower three times.

Xiao Shuangyu was left dazed by the rides, while A-Nan and Nie Siyu were left with jelly legs. They held onto her arms and asked why she didn’t scream, and if it was “thrilling.”

Then, on the day after their wild outing, A-Nan, who was slacking off on the floor of the rehearsal room, suddenly let out a cry of surprise. She said they were famous and dragged the other two over to watch a video.

It was their performance from September 30th. Someone had posted it online and it had suddenly gained traction, already reaching over 300,000 likes.

A-Nan said they had to celebrate, and Nie Siyu raised her hand in agreement. So Xiao Shuangyu went downstairs to a nearby cafe to pick up some drinks.

Before she could get close, Xiao Shuangyu suddenly realized something and hurriedly ducked to the side.

In the cafe opposite her, two people were walking out, chatting and laughing.

Xiao Shuangyu froze.

It was Ji Zhuozhou.

Then who was… the other person beside her?