One Year After Her Sister-In-Law Was Widowed - Chapter 65

The moment he saw Xiao Shuangyu, Ji Zhuozhou stepped forward quickly and reached for her hand. “Lianlian, come inside quickly.”

Xiao Shuangyu tried to dodge but couldn’t evade him. She was pulled into the small house by Ji Zhuozhou, and the door was shut behind them. The scent of rain and mist instantly enveloped her, leaving her feeling even more dazed.

Wasn’t the show… a closed recording?

This place was filled with cameras everywhere, yet Ji Zhuozhou appeared before her eyes holding a bouquet of vivid red roses. Even the director himself had brought her here.

Was this right?

She subconsciously looked around, trying to find nearby cameras; she almost couldn’t distinguish if this was reality or not.

But the warm touch on her hand was real, the roses pressed into her arms were real, and the absence of cameras in the immediate vicinity was also real.

She looked into those deep green eyes that seemed a shade darker under the lights. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. “You…”

Seeing her helplessness, Ji Zhuozhou offered a faint smile. “Don’t worry, Lianlian. It’s not against the rules.”

Xiao Shuangyu began to pull her hand back, but Ji Zhuozhou gripped it tighter. He even leaned in close, pressing against the bouquet’s packaging, which made a rustling sound.

Xiao Shuangyu retreated further, instinctively trying to shove the flowers back at him. “How… how can you be here?”

Her voice was muffled and heavy, carrying a slight tremor.

Ji Zhuozhou’s eyes darkened. He made no move to take the flowers, his voice clear and soft, tinged with a deliberate lightness. “I came to cheer you on, Lianlian.”

Xiao Shuangyu’s hand behind her back had already landed on the doorknob, but Ji Zhuozhou reached out and pressed down on it.

Even though she was clearly a head taller than Ji Zhuozhou, she was pinned against the door, unable to move.

It wasn’t that she truly couldn’t move; it was just that she couldn’t find a way to dodge away without being forceful.

Xiao Shuangyu simply turned her head to the side.

Her overly dark pupils stared stiffly at the floor to the side, unwilling to grant Ji Zhuozhou even a glance from her peripheral vision.

This situation was simply too far beyond her understanding.

She suddenly remembered the message Ji Zhuozhou had sent her yesterday. He said he would come to see her and told her to wait for him.

Is… this the result?

Wasn’t this director known for being strict?

Why would she agree to let Ji Zhuozhou break the rules she herself had set? To walk so boldly into this completely closed-off competition venue on the very first day of filming.

She changed her phrasing. “How… can you appear here?”

She didn’t look back; she didn’t look at Ji Zhuozhou.

However, she stopped moving erratically. Ji Zhuozhou didn’t push further forward either, avoiding backing her into a corner and causing an overreaction from shock.

Xiao Shuangyu was demanding answers.

Ji Zhuozhou didn’t think this was a bad thing. Xiao Shuangyu was still curious about her, still asking questions, without Ji Zhuozhou even needing to initiate.

Ji Zhuozhou’s eyes crinkled further. “Huarui provided a sponsorship to the program.”

Xiao Shuangyu froze. She didn’t remember seeing any Huarui products among the sponsored items displayed by the production team.

Of course, sponsorships of that level were usually negotiated long ago. Neither Huarui’s current budget nor its fame should have allowed it to squeeze in.

Ji Zhuozhou had chosen a relatively simple sponsorship; Huarui’s products would eventually show their face on the program later.

But that level of sponsorship wouldn’t be enough to make the director break the rules specifically for her. Ji Zhuozhou had done a few other things as well.

Those things were too troublesome to explain, and the current Xiao Shuangyu might not accept her explanation anyway, so Ji Zhuozhou didn’t mention them.

Unaware, Xiao Shuangyu nodded. “Oh.”

Still, she found it strange. Could a mere sponsorship allow for such an exception?

Wouldn’t other bands have similar sponsors or investors behind them?

Did the director only make an exception for Ji Zhuozhou, or was it available to anyone who asked?

She didn’t understand.

Taking advantage of Ji Zhuozhou’s momentary lapse in attention, she quickly squeezed out from the side and placed the flowers on a nearby table. “I’ve received the ‘cheer.’ I have nowhere to keep the flowers, so take them back. I should go.”

She hadn’t expected to see Ji Zhuozhou during the show—certainly not in such a private, deliberate, and discordant meeting.

She couldn’t say that her decision to join the show didn’t involve a desire to hide from Ji Zhuozhou. After all, she believed that as long as she stayed busy and was locked away in a closed management environment, she wouldn’t think of Ji Zhuozhou anymore.

Even if she couldn’t control her thoughts, the environment here would keep those thoughts buried in her gut; they wouldn’t manifest or show.

And yet, Ji Zhuozhou had barged in anyway—barged right in front of her.

Why?

If he didn’t like her, why did he keep coming to find her over and over?

Last time, he went to such great lengths to find someone to track her down. This time, he spent such a large sum of money just to insist on seeing her.

She didn’t ask. She didn’t want to ask.

Her hand reached for the doorknob again, but Ji Zhuozhou intercepted her once more.

Those soft, warm hands pried her palm open and placed a tiny perfume spray bottle inside.

It was truly small, appearing to be only two or three milliliters—a sample that would be used up in a few tries.

Ji Zhuozhou said, “This… you can put this anywhere.”

Xiao Shuangyu instinctively thought this was the perfume Ji Zhuozhou had promised to make for her before. She immediately tried to pull her hand away. “We have nothing to do with each other anymore. You don’t need to make things for me.”

Ji Zhuozhou gripped her wrist tightly, not letting her leave. “No, this isn’t that.”

Those deep green eyes looked up at her. “That one… we agreed we would make it together.”

Ji Zhuozhou slowly pushed her fingers closed, making her grasp the tiny spray bottle. “This one is different. I want Lianlian to try it.”

“Lianlian, please accept it.”

Xiao Shuangyu looked at that gentle and beautiful face. The always elegant and lovely Omega’s eyes showed a bit more fatigue, with distinct red streaks that couldn’t be hidden under the bright white lights.

Such an exception would probably only happen this once, she thought. Ji Zhuozhou would probably only appear this one time.

She didn’t refuse the small spray bottle in her hand. She closed her fingers and gripped the bottle in her palm.

She lowered her hand, wanting to say something, but in the end, she remained silent. She pushed the door open and walked out.

Leaving Ji Zhuozhou alone in the lonely little house.

The fragrance of red roses drifted through the air. Ji Zhuozhou stepped back and sat in a chair, gazing at the abandoned bouquet, and suddenly let out a sigh.

So short.

The time was so short.

The time she could see Xiao Shuangyu was so short.

Her fingertips still seemed to retain the slightly cool temperature of Xiao Shuangyu’s body, but the silhouette of her back was already firmly blocked by the closed door.

If… if only she could be eliminated sooner…

No, it couldn’t be like that.

Ji Zhuozhou hurried to stop that thought, but she couldn’t stop the heart that wanted to lock Xiao Shuangyu away and fasten the chains.

She really, really didn’t want to hear Xiao Shuangyu say they had nothing to do with each other ever again.

Xiao Shuangyu followed the path the director had taken her back to the classroom where the interviews were being held, and then walked toward the dormitory from the side of the classroom.

From a distance, she saw A-Nan and Nie Siyu still waiting outside the dormitory building.

Seeing her, the two quickly stepped forward to ask how it went.

Xiao Shuangyu shook her head and said it was nothing, just a few individual questions.

Since there were cameras everywhere, A-Nan and Nie Siyu weren’t too worried, though they were certainly curious.

But also, because of the cameras everywhere, once they heard it was indeed about the program, they didn’t ask further.

The three of them strolled toward the dormitory like they were back in college, discussing tomorrow’s schedule and strategy.

None of them noticed that in Xiao Shuangyu’s pocket, there was now a tiny perfume spray bottle.

Late at night, the lights in the dormitory were turned off.

Xiao Shuangyu buried her head under the covers and quietly pulled out the hidden small bottle of perfume in the darkness.

The glass bottle was rounded and cool, like a tiny ornament.

Xiao Shuangyu toyed with it between her fingers, her heart feeling hesitant and lost.

There were no labels or markings on the bottle, and she hadn’t leaned in to smell it. Although she knew it was perfume, she didn’t know what kind of scent Ji Zhuozhou had sent her.

She even wondered why Ji Zhuozhou would give her perfume—and such a small bottle at that.

She was also thinking that perhaps she shouldn’t have accepted it and left without asking anything.

After a long time, she finally opened the cap, leaned in, and lightly sniffed the nozzle of the bottle.

Instantly, a vivid scent of roses rushed at her. It was as if… as if the bouquet of roses Ji Zhuozhou had forced into her arms was appearing before her eyes right at this moment.

Xiao Shuangyu was stunned. The sensation just now didn’t even feel like an illusion.

Even though the perfume’s character gradually shifted after that, the bouquet of roses never seemed to leave. It was as if it had diffused in that small room, becoming stained with Ji Zhuozhou’s aura.

Yet it wasn’t just the scent of rain and mist.

There were also those green eyes, that curved smile, that shallow breath, and the temperature coming from those hands.

Xiao Shuangyu hurriedly snapped the cap back on, stuffed it back into her pocket, and kicked her clothes a little further away.

Her heart was thumping wildly.

Is… is this something perfume can do?

Or was it her own lingering obsession?

It didn’t matter. Regardless of the reason, she probably wouldn’t see Ji Zhuozhou for the rest of the recording period.

That perfume—she would absolutely never touch it again.

She closed her eyes.

The next day, November 4th, Wednesday.

As soon as she woke up, Xiao Shuangyu threw herself wholeheartedly into the program.

Based on the contestants’ performances yesterday, the twenty-four bands were divided into Group A and Group B. Three days later, on Saturday, eliminations would begin within each group.

But that was just the beginning. The following Wednesday, Groups A and B would face off against each other, and the losing side would also face elimination.

A small competition every three days and a major one every seven days—they could be eliminated at any point.

Essentially, the contestants had to create a song matching the theme of the current period within three days and then perfect that song to the extreme within seven days.

Most of the contestants were singer-songwriter bands. While it wasn’t impossible to rearrange previous songs, several of the bands there were so famous that the competition was truly cutthroat.

The contestants had to have a high enough level of completion and innovation within those three days to avoid being eliminated.

Everyone began to go crazy, including the three members of Rain Shower.

Especially since they were few in number—most bands here had four to six people—the three of them were already at a disadvantage. If they didn’t push themselves, it really wouldn’t work.

Xiao Shuangyu, A-Nan, and Nie Siyu stayed in the rehearsal room until they were dizzy and exhausted, completely forgetting about the perfume.

Until another day passed, Friday night. After the pre-match interviews ended, the director stopped her once again.

Xiao Shuangyu immediately guessed something, yet until she stood before that small house again, she still found it unbelievable.

Just how much money… did Ji Zhuozhou donate?