One Year After Her Sister-In-Law Was Widowed - Chapter 48

Xiao Shuangyu didn’t know how to fly a kite.

She imitated the children nearby—running, letting go, and tugging at the string. The kite next to her soared high into the sky, while hers fell to the ground time and time again.

The kite string tangled into a ball, knotted so tightly she couldn’t undo it.

This was her first time flying a kite, and she hadn’t expected it to be far more difficult than she had imagined.

Xiao Shuangyu felt very dejected, even a bit afraid to look up at Ji Zhuozhou, who had been following by her side.

Ji Zhuozhou was the one who suggested flying kites, and the reason was that during their last outing, Xiao Shuangyu had unconsciously stared at the kites in other people’s hands.

Ji Zhuozhou had noticed her gaze, which led to this kite-flying trip.

But aside from pulling Ji Zhuozhou along for a run, she hadn’t seemed to achieve any results.

The kite fell again.

Xiao Shuangyu sighed and turned back to retrieve the line. The area was crowded, and Ji Zhuozhou, who was a few steps behind her, also turned and walked toward the fallen kite.

This time, the kite had actually reached a decent height, and the string she let out wasn’t short; she thought she might have finally succeeded.

When the two of them met up at the kite, the lines in both their hands were a complete mess.

Xiao Shuangyu looked up sheepishly and said despondently, “I’m not good at this.”

A hint of surprise appeared in those deep green eyes. “How can you say that? Isn’t Lianlian getting better and better with every try?”

Ji Zhuozhou sat directly down on the grass. Just as Xiao Shuangyu was about to say the ground was dirty, she saw Ji Zhuozhou lift the kite string in her hand toward her. “Besides, Lianlian is very good at untying these knots, and you wind the line so quickly and beautifully.”

Xiao Shuangyu felt ashamed.

She sat down as well, crossing her legs as she reached for the tangled knots, her head bowed low. “Sister can even find a way to praise me for this.”

Her tone was a bit whiny, and her ears turned red.

Ji Zhuozhou saw her shyness and couldn’t help but smile. “Because Lianlian is just very well-behaved and wonderful.”

Xiao Shuangyu blinked and let go to pick up the spool, winding the untied line. She added, “I’ve been making Sister run the whole time.”

Ji Zhuozhou didn’t mind at all. “Getting some movement is good. I rarely run after starting work; running like this for a bit feels quite refreshing.”

“And,” Ji Zhuozhou looked at her as she stole a glance, “it’s not often that Lianlian takes the initiative to walk in front of me.”

Xiao Shuangyu’s eyes, which were about to meet Ji Zhuozhou’s gaze, darted away. She knew what Ji Zhuozhou was referring to.

She did indeed always walk behind Ji Zhuozhou, whether Ji Zhuozhou knew it or not.

She whispered, “I’m sorry.”

She said it earnestly, though there was probably very little sincere intent to change.

Ji Zhuozhou shook her head. “I told you; there’s no need to apologize.”

Xiao Shuangyu’s hand winding the spool paused, then she set it down and reached for a dead knot again, remaining silent.

In her peripheral vision, two legs suddenly walked over and stopped in front of them.

Xiao Shuangyu looked up and saw a person holding a camera, smiling at them. “Hello, hello! You two look so well-matched. I just took some photos of you. Would you like to take a look and have me send them to you?”

Xiao Shuangyu was stunned for a moment. The person had already squatted down beside them and held the camera out in front of her.

It was a shot of her and Ji Zhuozhou untying the kite string; it captured Ji Zhuozhou’s curved eyelashes and her own blushing ear-tips.

Before Xiao Shuangyu could see it clearly, the person pulled the camera back and handed it to Ji Zhuozhou. “I saw you earlier when you were flying the kite, I have photos of that too, look.”

Xiao Shuangyu looked at Ji Zhuozhou, her dark eyes shimmering with light.

What she had just seen was the first photo of her and Ji Zhuozhou together.

She didn’t like taking photos to begin with, and she had never seen Ji Zhuozhou take many either; the occasional photos they sent each other never featured people.

They had no photos together. In fact, Xiao Shuangyu didn’t even have a single clear photo of Ji Zhuozhou’s face.

That photo suddenly made her realize something, and her heart raced.

She wanted it…

“Excuse me, please delete all the photos of us.”

Ji Zhuozhou’s voice was cold and serious, cutting off Xiao Shuangyu’s thoughts entirely.

She watched, somewhat dazed, as Ji Zhuozhou raised those deep green eyes and looked coldly at the person holding the camera. “And make sure there are no backups.”

The person was also stunned. She looked at Ji Zhuozhou, then at Xiao Shuangyu, and finally back at Ji Zhuozhou. Still not quite understanding, she replied, “Oh, oh, okay.”

The person selected all of them. Before confirming the deletion, she turned back to Xiao Shuangyu. “Really delete them?”

Ji Zhuozhou’s gaze also fell on her. Xiao Shuangyu lowered her eyes and nodded.

The photos were all deleted and shown to Ji Zhuozhou for confirmation. The person stood up and left, her head full of confusion.

Xiao Shuangyu stole a glance and saw that Ji Zhuozhou had already looked back down to untie the kite string. Her features were as gentle as ever, and the scent of rain and perfume carried by the wind remained unchanged. She didn’t mention the photos at all.

Xiao Shuangyu cast her gaze down, feeling an uncontrollable ache and heaviness in her heart.

Ji Zhuozhou didn’t want a photo with her.

She felt like her mind was numb, as if she were separated from everything around her by a layer. Her body felt like it was lying damp in dry sand, covered in an extremely uncomfortable grit.

The spool had brought all the kite line back. For a moment, Xiao Shuangyu forgot to stand up.

A buzzing sound snapped her back to her senses. She took out her phone and saw it was a call from A-Nan.

She answered it, only to hear A-Nan’s scream: “Ahhh! Lianlian, go look! We hit over a million!!!”

Before Xiao Shuangyu could respond, A-Nan’s excited shouting came through again: “Celebrate! We must celebrate!”

A-Nan mentioned she had to go report the good news to Nie Siyu first and that they would discuss the details in the group chat. She told her to check the chat and then hurriedly hung up.

Xiao Shuangyu only managed to say “mm-hmm” twice throughout the entire call. she didn’t get a chance to say anything else, and she wasn’t even sure if A-Nan heard those two sounds.

She found the link A-Nan had posted in their small group, clicked it, stood up, and held the phone out in front of Ji Zhuozhou.

Ji Zhuozhou had stood up a step ahead of her and had been watching her since she picked up the phone.

Xiao Shuangyu tried her best to channel that joy into her own mood, deliberately forcing herself not to think about the deleted photos. She looked up at Ji Zhuozhou.

“Sister, a video someone took of us went viral.”

Ji Zhuozhou’s eyes lowered, and she immediately noticed the number of likes on the video. She said in pleasant surprise, “It really is a million. Congratulations to all of you.”

Xiao Shuangyu instantly felt nervous.

This was the first time Ji Zhuozhou had seen them perform, albeit through a screen and in a short clip.

They were in a bar with flickering lights; their music was exaggerated; their makeup was exaggerated—everything was exposed in this video.

Ji Zhuozhou reached out to press the phone, her fingertip brushing against Xiao Shuangyu’s hand. Xiao Shuangyu couldn’t help but stiffen. Then, from the video Ji Zhuozhou had turned up, a burst of powerful music flowed out.

It was the chorus of a new original song they had composed recently. It was a segment Xiao Shuangyu had revised several times but kept, even specifically stripping away other instruments to leave a pure rhythm.

A-Nan’s voice was crisp and forceful, pushing the rhythm to its peak, making one’s scalp tingle.

The video ended and began to replay. Ji Zhuozhou’s eyes turned slightly upward, and she suddenly smiled. “So your band is called ‘Zhenyu’ (Rainshower). It’s a great name. I didn’t expect Lianlian to be so cool on stage.”

Xiao Shuangyu was stunned. Ji Zhuozhou found her just like that?

She was wearing makeup that made her almost unrecognizable, and she was positioned so far back, hidden in the shadows. How did Ji Zhuozhou recognize her instantly?

Before her shock could find a voice, Ji Zhuozhou continued, “I really want to go and see it in person now.”

There was no judgment, only curiosity.

Xiao Shuangyu snapped back to reality and immediately stepped forward, saying excitedly, “Today… uh, we’re resting today.”

Her momentum faltered.

Ji Zhuozhou smiled. “Next time, then. There will be an opportunity.”

She added, “Are you going to celebrate now?”

Ji Zhuozhou had heard A-Nan’s excitement on the phone. It wasn’t intentional, but it was hard to block out A-Nan’s voice leaking through the speaker.

Xiao Shuangyu shook her head and muttered, “I want to be with Sister.”

Xiao Shuangyu didn’t get to stay with Ji Zhuozhou for very long.

After eating, Ji Zhuozhou received a phone call. Afterward, she said she had something to do and told Xiao Shuangyu to go play with her friends, saying they would see each other at home early that evening.

Xiao Shuangyu nodded, her gloomy gaze fixed dryly on Ji Zhuozhou. Her mood, which hadn’t fully recovered, grew even worse.

Watching Ji Zhuozhou drive away, Xiao Shuangyu turned and walked slowly toward the subway station, calling Wan Qiyan.

Wan Qiyan’s voice sounded frantic. “My dear sister, why did you only call now? I can hardly hold on much longer. What on earth is going on? Do you want me to arrange a wedding kidnapping?”

The mothers hadn’t told Xiao Shuangyu about acquiring the Xing Shan shares, so she wasn’t supposed to know, and thus she didn’t mention it to Wan Qiyan.

She only said she had suddenly received the news and had clearly expressed her refusal, but it didn’t seem to have any effect.

Wan Qiyan asked about her refusal. Upon learning that she had simply said “no” and then refused to read any more messages, Wan Qiyan couldn’t help but twitch her eye.

“Fine, stop talking to me for now. You’d better have a good talk with your mom. I’ll be back in a few days; just don’t make me attend your wedding by the way.”

Xiao Shuangyu gave an affirmative sound and hung up.

She leaned against the wall, watched the crowds pass by for a while, and then took Wan Qiyan’s advice to call her mother, Su Yuran.

The phone rang for a long time before Su Yuran answered. Xiao Shuangyu’s throat was dry. “Mommy.”

A cold voice came through immediately. “So, you still know how to call me ‘Mom’.”

Xiao Shuangyu waited silently for a gap. “Mommy, I won’t marry that person.”

Su Yuran’s voice instantly flared with anger. “You have the nerve to mention that to me? Even if you wanted to marry, you’d have to see if they even want you. There’s no need for you to say whether you will or won’t—they don’t think much of you.”

“Utterly useless. You don’t even know how to enjoy good fortune when it’s given to you. No need to marry then; don’t marry for the rest of your life. It’s bad enough you’re never home during breaks, but you’re not even home for the holidays. You can have as many people as you want outside, just don’t bring them home.”

Xiao Shuangyu was stunned and blurted out, “If it were Xiao Mingyi, would Mommy say the same thing to her?”

To Xiao Mingyi, who was always bringing different Omega’s home—had her mother ever said such things to her?

Su Yuran’s voice became even more shrill. “Is that how you address your older sister by her full name? Xiao Shuangyu, if you were even half as smart as Mingyi, your mother and I wouldn’t have to…”

Xiao Shuangyu interrupted her. “Mommy always calls me ‘Xiao Shuangyu’.”

Su Yuran choked on her words and suddenly fell silent before abruptly hanging up.

Xiao Shuangyu’s throat felt heavily constricted.

She stood up and walked toward security again.

Su Yuran called back. Her tone was still displeased, but much calmer. “You must attend the banquet.”

After a long pause, Xiao Shuangyu said, “Okay.”