One Year After Her Sister-In-Law Was Widowed - Chapter 61

Ji Zhuozhou pressed her entire body against her, clinging tightly. The scent of pheromones overpowered the mist of the rain, pressing soft against her in a close embrace.

Xiao Shuangyu’s back was pressed against the rough brick wall of the alleyway. Her hands had nowhere to land; she reached up to tug at Ji Zhuozhou’s shoulders, but couldn’t budge her.

Ji Zhuozhou stood slightly on her tiptoes and suddenly moved to kiss her lips, but Xiao Shuangyu turned her head to avoid it.

A momentary daze flickered in those dry, bloodshot eyes. Ji Zhuozhou spoke softly, “Lianlian.”

Xiao Shuangyu lowered her gaze. Behind Ji Zhuozhou’s back, her hands tore open the packaging of a scent-blocking patch. She raised her hands carefully, aiming for the gland on the back of Ji Zhuozhou’s neck.

She couldn’t see it, and she wasn’t familiar with that spot. Her fingertips searched clumsily through the barrier of the patch.

She touched a small protrusion.

Ji Zhuozhou couldn’t help but let out a low gasp. Following that protrusion, Xiao Shuangyu carefully smoothed the patch over it.

The pheromones were blocked instantly, but the scent already lingering in the air did not dissipate. The fragrance of freesia fell distinctly into her nose, making the gland on the back of Xiao Shuangyu’s own neck itch more intensely.

It wasn’t the first time she had smelled Ji Zhuozhou’s pheromones, but every time before, Ji Zhuozhou would quickly cover them up. It had never been this concentrated.

Ji Zhuozhou’s pheromone level was very high, and because she was deliberately releasing them toward her, Xiao Shuangyu felt almost lightheaded.

Even the back of her neck—her gland—began to stir, nearly secreting pheromones in response, adding fuel to the fire of desire being stoked within her.

She didn’t want to do that.

But she had no more blocking patches.

And the back of her neck was only covered by a thin layer of gauze, which was useless against the aggressive strength of the freesia.

Unable to push Ji Zhuozhou away, she prepared to lead her out. “I’m going to buy an inhibitor.”

Ji Zhuozhou’s eyes darkened. She reached back, intent on tearing off the blocking patch.

Xiao Shuangyu stopped abruptly and grabbed Ji Zhuozhou’s wrist. “You…”

Ji Zhuozhou didn’t continue to tear at it. Instead, she slowly countered Xiao Shuangyu’s strength, pulling her hand down and pressing a wet wipe into her palm.

Xiao Shuangyu was stunned.

She didn’t understand.

She didn’t understand why Ji Zhuozhou, who had always been so resistant to releasing pheromones, would reach back to peel the patch off right after she had just applied it.

Was it… just to do it with her?

Her bewilderment looked like hesitation in Ji Zhuozhou’s eyes.

Ji Zhuozhou lowered her eyelashes. Taking the wet wipe, she had placed in Xiao Shuangyu’s hand, she tore open the packet, cradled Xiao Shuangyu’s hand, and wiped her fingers clean one by one.

Looking at those downcast eyes, Xiao Shuangyu, for some reason, did not pull her hand away.

She remembered Ji Zhuozhou once telling her that the “like” she felt was the liking of having sex with her.

Perhaps this was meant to be the last time.

The wet wipe moved across her palm, bringing a tickling sensation, but her slightly cool fingertips were gradually warmed by the heat of Ji Zhuozhou’s palm.

Before Ji Zhuozhou could withdraw her hand, Xiao Shuangyu curled her fingers and gripped her hand tight. “Really… here?”

Ji Zhuozhou looked up.

Their last time had been the final day of the National Day holiday, the day before Ji Zhuozhou went on a business trip. More than half a month had passed since then.

Xiao Shuangyu liked doing it with her. Ji Zhuozhou had decided to use this to coax her back to health. She couldn’t wait to go anywhere else; she wanted to finish it here and then take Xiao Shuangyu home.

Back to their home in Nancheng before nightfall.

That was what Ji Zhuozhou thought.

In fact, from the moment she first released her pheromones, that had been her plan.

She leaned into Xiao Shuangyu’s neck. “Yes.”

She said, “Right here.”

The sky was gloomy.

In a corner of the blue-brick alley that no one noticed, the rain fell in solitude.

The raindrops hung suspended, the air was thick and humid; even breathing felt damp.

This dampness weighed heavily on Xiao Shuangyu’s eyelashes, making it hard for her to look up. Her dark eyes remained lowered, falling on the hem of the dress at her wrist. Her heart felt swollen with an aching, heavy sensation.

Ji Zhuozhou leaned against her shoulder, easily delivering her breath and voice to her ear.

“Call me.”

“Call me ‘Sister’.”

Ji Zhuozhou bit her lip tight, her voice trembling. “Lianlian, call me.”

“Ask me again.”

“Ask me if it feels good.”

Xiao Shuangyu raised her gaze slightly and bit gently at Ji Zhuozhou’s throat, as if doing so could swallow Ji Zhuozhou’s voice whole.

Her breathing tightened.

Her fingers were beginning to ache.

In the end, she didn’t make a sound. She didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t want to say “Sister.” She didn’t want to be swayed by a single word.

She couldn’t tell if Ji Zhuozhou had come looking for her on a whim; she couldn’t tell if the low murmurs in Ji Zhuozhou’s mouth originated from deep affection.

Time and again, she touched the places where Ji Zhuozhou shivered, listening as Ji Zhuozhou’s voice grew increasingly chaotic, until finally, it dissolved into repeated cries of “Lianlian.”

Her heart seemed to ache even more.

In the past, Ji Zhuozhou had never called her by that name. It felt as if, in this final time, she was trying to use up every “Lianlian” she would ever say.

She didn’t want to hear it anymore, yet she couldn’t bring herself to interrupt.

She had thought that even after finishing this, she could separate from Ji Zhuozhou without a ripple of emotion.

But now, she felt so sad.

So very, very sad.

Why?

Why was Ji Zhuozhou the one who said she was done playing?

Why was Ji Zhuozhou the one who came looking for her?

Why was Ji Zhuozhou the one who refused to let her resign?

Why, during this last time, was it Ji Zhuozhou who kept calling her name?

Why…

Was she really just a dark little mouse?

Ji Zhuozhou reached for her lips again, but she dodged.

She didn’t want to kiss. She didn’t want to kiss Ji Zhuozhou.

She doesn’t want to kiss. She doesn’t want to kiss me, Ji Zhuozhou thought confusedly.

But she couldn’t concentrate at all. Waves of numbness and tremors traveled from her spine straight into the back of her neck. The pheromones she had released intentionally were now leaking out uncontrollably.

Is… is this what it’s like outside?

It was different from being at home, different from the company stairwell.

The sound of footsteps passing the alleyway, the voices, even the wind—every tiny movement was amplified infinitely in her ears.

Everyone here was a stranger.

What they were doing was far bolder than anything before.

If… if they were seen, would Lianlian panic? Would she have nowhere to hide? Would she stiffen and bury her face, leaving her with no choice but to be kissed?

Ji Zhuozhou kissed Xiao Shuangyu’s cheek haphazardly, her thoughts a jumble.

She… she couldn’t take much more.

Her voice grew more fractured, sinking deeper into surrender.

She gripped Xiao Shuangyu’s shoulders tight, feeling a killing heat deep in her lower abdomen, as if her skin were about to bulge with the tension.

“…Lianlian… Lianlian…”

Her body temperature rose, her breathing quickened, and her voice became a blurred mumble as she called Xiao Shuangyu’s name.

Suddenly, she said: “Only you have touched…”

She said: “This place, only Lianlian has touched.”

Xiao Shuangyu froze abruptly.

The rain began to fall—harder than the previous times.

Ji Zhuozhou suddenly closed her eyes and fainted, slumping against Xiao Shuangyu’s shoulder.

Xiao Shuangyu blankly put her arm around Ji Zhuozhou’s waist. She could feel the fingers resting against Ji Zhuozhou’s side still throbbing with a faint, cramping pain.

Xiao Shuangyu carried Ji Zhuozhou on her back, walking step by step toward the rented guesthouse.

She had checked the roadside and found the car parked there was indeed Ji Zhuozhou’s—the one she always drove.

Ji Zhuozhou had driven it here.

The car was parked haphazardly against the curb, and the door wasn’t even locked, left slightly ajar—a clear sign of how frantic the owner had been when getting out.

Xiao Shuangyu only spared it a glance and didn’t dwell on it.

She didn’t know how to drive, so she simply shut the car door properly and left the vehicle by the road, planning to call a tow truck or find some other way to move it later.

But before that, she had to get Ji Zhuozhou away.

Ji Zhuozhou’s condition wasn’t suitable for staying where she was, whether waiting for a tow truck or waiting for her to wake up.

Fortunately, the blocking patch was still firmly in place on the back of Ji Zhuozhou’s neck. No more Omega pheromones drifted into the air.

As for herself, she had almost failed to hold back her own pheromones.

But she had worked very, very hard to restrain them.

Right now, Ji Zhuozhou was on her back, very close to her gland. If she lost control, Alpha pheromones would immediately enter Ji Zhuozhou’s nose.

Under normal circumstances, D-rank pheromones might not affect Ji Zhuozhou, but right now, she couldn’t be sure.

Yet she still didn’t choose to carry Ji Zhuozhou in her arms; she kept her on her back.

Her heart still felt bitter—so bitter she couldn’t make a sound.

The scent of late-blooming osmanthus was distinct, filling the entire street from afar. The fragrance aggressively forced its way through the mist into her nose. She looked up.

The sky was gloomy, but the foliage was lush and the ginkgo leaves were golden. The small courtyard of the guesthouse still held a beautiful view.

Suddenly, her nose stung.

Now, Ji Zhuozhou was behind her, and the scenery was before her. The scenery without Ji Zhuozhou was fresh and beautiful; she had already decided on this.

She walked into the small courtyard that temporarily belonged to her, entered the room, gave Ji Zhuozhou a simple cleaning, and placed her in the master bedroom.

Then, she stepped out of the room where Ji Zhuozhou was, tore off the gauze on the back of her neck, replaced it with a blocking patch, and sat down on the sofa in the living room.

The inflammation in her gland had basically subsided by the time she left Yicheng. The small incision the doctor had made was mostly healed, but the doctor had warned her that it was a gland, after all, and to protect it well.

But right now, she couldn’t care about any of that.

She sank into the sofa.

She was thinking.

Thinking about many things.

Thinking about Ji Zhuozhou saying, “Only you have touched it.”

Thinking about the pheromones Ji Zhuozhou had released.

Thinking about Ji Zhuozhou’s blind date, about Luo Wen standing beside Ji Zhuozhou, about the “little mouse” Ji Zhuozhou had mentioned, and the photo of Xiao Mingyi.

Thinking about how Manager Li had stepped in when she was complained about, and how in the entire company, only Manager Li knew who the General Manager was.

Thinking about her job transfer—how she had passed through it so smoothly and with such unnatural speed.

Thinking about Ji Zhuozhou taking her for drives, taking her to the river to fly kites, giving her flowers and gifts…

Night deepened.

Ji Zhuozhou did not wake up.

The dark clouds dispersed, and the moonlight shone bright.

On the sofa, Xiao Shuangyu fell into a deep sleep at some unknown hour.

In the morning, she opened her eyes at the sound of a door opening. Ji Zhuozhou was walking toward her.

Seeing that she was awake, Ji Zhuozhou pointedly looked away, glancing instead at the cozy living room bathed in the morning light. “So this is where Lianlian lives. It’s really beautiful. But why did Lianlian sleep here? You didn’t stay with me.”

Xiao Shuangyu sat up but didn’t answer.

Ji Zhuozhou didn’t wait for a response. Her gentle, beautiful face wore a soft smile. “Then… when do we leave?”

She added, “Ah, we should go eat something first. Shall we look around nearby?”

Xiao Shuangyu spoke suddenly. “You should leave.”

Ji Zhuozhou froze.

Those deep green eyes seemed to lose their focus, flickering chaotically before finally settling on Xiao Shuangyu. Her voice dropped low. “Isn’t it… us?”

Xiao Shuangyu shook her head. She raised her overly dark, sanpaku eyes and looked directly at Ji Zhuozhou. “I’ll also wish you a Happy Birthday in advance. Goodbye.”

Ji Zhuozhou… Ji Zhuozhou felt that something was wrong.

Terribly wrong.