Chapter 15: Fifteenth Day as a Salted Fish
Qin Jiaojiao’s attention was completely focused on the photos in her phone gallery. Her soft hair draped over his leg; through his thin pajama pants, he could feel the slightly cool temperature of her hair and the fragrance wafting from her body.
She had used a custom high-end body wash tonight. The faint, fresh scent of roses mixed with the sweetness of vanilla, exuding a subtle, barely-there allure, intertwining with the woody fragrance on his body.
Smelling this fragrance, Zhou Shaoli was slightly distracted. The expression on his handsome face remained calm, making it look like he was listening to her very seriously, when in fact, he wasn’t paying close attention at all.
Qin Jiaojiao swiped her finger across the gallery interface. After looking at several photos, she wasn’t satisfied with any of them and mumbled, “None of these photos are good.”
She lifted her head, just about to speak, when her lips accidentally brushed against Zhou Shaoli’s cheek. She froze instantly.
Zhou Shaoli was slightly stunned. Just now, that was… she had accidentally kissed him. Her soft lips carried a warm temperature, and in that instant, a strange feeling fluttered across the bottom of his heart.
“Sorry…” Qin Jiaojiao awkwardly leaned back. She hadn’t realized she was so close to Zhou Shaoli, and had even accidentally kissed his face.
Would he feel offended?
Oh god, she swore she truly didn’t do it on purpose.
Seeing her awkward appearance, Zhou Shaoli suppressed the sliver of strangeness in his heart and said, “It’s fine.”
“You just registered your Weibo, so you haven’t had time to set anything up yet,” Qin Jiaojiao said quickly. “I want to take a photo of you to use as your profile picture, is that okay?”
She knew Zhou Shaoli didn’t care about what the outside world said; he had never cared about other people’s opinions, but she couldn’t do that.
Zhou Shaoli was her husband in name now, her good partner living under the same roof. She had to clear his name and show everyone that he was way more handsome than Meng Zi’ang!
Hearing this, Zhou Shaoli said, “Okay.”
“Then go to the walk-in closet and change into a suit, and we’ll take it in the study?” Qin Jiaojiao suggested.
Zhou Shaoli agreed. He got up, went to the walk-in closet, and changed into a formal suit. Wearing a silver-gray tie, his aura changed instantly—noble, steady, and carrying an intense sense of oppression.
Qin Jiaojiao raised her eyes and looked him up and down, saying, “Wait a second.”
She ran into the walk-in closet, took out an ink-blue star-patterned tie from Zhou Shaoli’s tie drawer, and said, “Wear this tie, this one looks good.”
Zhou Shaoli reached out his well-defined hand, took the tie from her, and stood in front of the full-length mirror to tie it himself.
Qin Jiaojiao stared at him tying his tie. The man tilted his chin up slightly, revealing a superior, exquisite jawline. Below that was a good-looking Adam’s apple, exuding a sense of sexiness that sharply contrasted with his ascetic aura.
She couldn’t look anymore!
Qin Jiaojiao hurriedly turned her head to look in the mirror, only to meet his light brown eyes, which seemed to surge with a hint of darkness.
Zhou Shaoli tied his own ties every day, so his movements were practiced. He quickly swapped the tie. The ink-blue star-patterned tie paired with the dark gray suit and black jacket exuded a steady aura.
This man was truly too good-looking!
“Let’s go,” came Zhou Shaoli’s slightly magnetic, deep voice.
Qin Jiaojiao quickly withdrew her gaze and followed behind him as they went to the study together.
The study lights were on in the night. He was dressed in a rigorous suit, while she wore a form-fitting silk nightgown. Entering the study one after the other, if one didn’t know she was just going to take a photo of Zhou Shaoli, they might have thought they were heading into the study for some suit-and-nightgown roleplay.
Qin Jiaojiao let her imagination run wild…
Zhou Shaoli sat in the chair behind the study desk and asked her, “How do we shoot this?”
“Give me your phone,” Qin Jiaojiao said.
Zhou Shaoli placed his phone on the desk and said, “The passcode is ******.”
Qin Jiaojiao blurted out in surprise, “You’re a Capricorn?”
Zhou Shaoli’s knowledge of zodiac signs was shallow. Hearing this, his eyebrows twitched slightly, and he said, “I should be.”
“Men of this zodiac sign are steady and calm when doing things, and they have sincere personalities. It’s a pretty good sign.” Qin Jiaojiao held his phone, entered the passcode, and said, “Just sit like this and look at the camera.”
Seeing her strike a pose like she was about to do something monumental, a barely noticeable smile flashed across the bottom of Zhou Shaoli’s eyes.
Qin Jiaojiao changed angles and took many shots. In the camera lens, Zhou Shaoli’s gaze was intently focused on her. She needed a tremendous amount of willpower to keep from being bewitched by his godly visuals.
Living with this massive hunk every day, it was hard to guarantee she wouldn’t fall for him one day. But she was a person of principles; she would absolutely never choose male beauty over money.
There was a wise saying: pitying men and spending money on them will only bring bad luck!
She had to hold the line!
“Done.” Qin Jiaojiao held the phone, cropped a photo she was particularly satisfied with, and then returned the phone to Zhou Shaoli. “Hurry up and change your profile picture.”
Zhou Shaoli changed to the new profile picture as she wished.
Qin Jiaojiao revealed a satisfied smile, delicate and radiant. Leaning against the sandalwood desk, she said, “Have Han Xiao get you verified tomorrow.”
The web traffic from being on the variety show couldn’t go to waste. As payback for the ten-billion-yuan divorce fee, she was going to attract more attention to Zhuxing Group’s industries and bring in consumers.
“I’ll have him do it tomorrow.” Zhou Shaoli didn’t play on Weibo. Zhuxing Group had registered on Weibo, but those official accounts were all managed by company employees.
He and Qin Jiaojiao were participating in a variety show, and the production team strongly requested the guests to promote it on Weibo, which was why he had registered an account.
“Alright, let’s go to sleep,” Qin Jiaojiao said happily.
Returning to the bedroom, Zhou Shaoli took off his suit in the walk-in closet, put on his dark pajamas, pulled back the covers, and sat on the bed.
Having cohabited for several days now, Qin Jiaojiao had gone from being too nervous to sleep on the first day to now being used to a man sleeping beside her. Habit truly was a terrifying thing.
Zhou Shaoli had also gotten used to Qin Jiaojiao holding her phone and reading webnovels before going to sleep.
The bedroom only had a single retro wall lamp on, making the lighting slightly dim. Zhou Shaoli read work reports for a while, lay down under the covers as usual, and quickly fell asleep.
While reading novels, Qin Jiaojiao basically never opened other apps, and her WeChat was muted. So, when she felt sleepy, let out a yawn, and prepared to sleep, she suddenly received a message from Yang Yutong on her phone.
【Jiaojiao, photos of you and your husband are trending!】
What trending search?
The trending search on the short-video platform from this afternoon?
Qin Jiaojiao didn’t really care. These trending searches on short-video platforms came and went quickly. Once the hype faded, no one would remember them.
Qin Jiaojiao replied with a meme: 【We have read it.jpg】
Yang Yutong directly forwarded a Weibo post over.
Huh? A Weibo trending search?
This she had to see!
Qin Jiaojiao’s sleepiness vanished instantly. She hurriedly clicked open Weibo. Some unknown marketing account had directly reposted the video from the short-video platform.
The trending search was hanging at number one with a “HOT” tag behind it. The official announcement Weibo for Romantic Lovers had been squeezed down to second place.
Qin Jiaojiao opened the comment section. Netizens were flooding in to praise their visuals. Netizens who crawled over from the Romantic Lovers entertainment news initially felt these two people’s features looked very familiar. Looking closely, they realized these two seemed to be the guest couple from Romantic Lovers. Under a passerby’s camera, they actually looked this incredibly good!
【Ahhhhhh the aura of a wealthy heiress and young master is absolutely stunning!】 【Too beautiful and too handsome, these heaven-defying visuals!】 【Damn Romantic Lovers production team, how dare you play me like a fool!】 【What show?】 【Replying to the commenter above, these two are guests invited by the Romantic Lovers production team. The show is about to air, everyone come watch!】 【Even if the Buddha himself came today, I’d still curse out the Romantic Lovers production crew! How exactly did the designer edit those photos to turn such godly visuals into that ghastly mess?!】 【Isn’t Romantic Lovers a married couples’ variety show? They’re married?】 【Married young…】
Qin Jiaojiao glanced at the man sleeping beside her. His breathing was shallow, his sleeping face peaceful, completely oblivious to the fact that they were blowing up all over the internet.
Continuing to scroll down the comments, Qin Jiaojiao froze.
【This Qin Jiaojiao is a minor celebrity. I seem to remember her acting in a TV drama, how come she looks so much better than she did in the show?】 【Sister’s beauty is peerless, she is the most beautiful fairy!】 【Two years ago, Sister played a vicious female supporting character that everyone hated and wanted to beat up. We didn’t even dare to speak up online. Sister was scolded so badly she retreated from the industry and stopped acting. Fans cried in the Super Topic every day. Now she’s finally back in the entertainment circle, I wonder if everyone is still here?】
Under this Weibo comment, many IDs related to “moon” were replying. They all seemed to be her fans.
Qin Jiaojiao was inexplicably touched. She actually had fans. The original owner’s semi-retired status hadn’t been forgotten. My god!
The original owner’s Weibo account was operated by the company. Recently, when eating melons, she had been using a newly registered account, and she had also used a new alt account for the Romantic Lovers official announcement.
Following the fans’ Weibo trails, she found the Super Topic. The small Super Topic had about a hundred thousand followers, but its daily activity was only in the hundreds. It was like a pool of stagnant water, with only a dozen or so dedicated fans checking in every day.
Qin Jiaojiao felt a mix of emotions. Should she take back her verified account from the company and manage it herself to interact with her fans?
She wanted to gather all one hundred thousand of these “Little Moons” into her embrace. She would contact her manager first thing tomorrow morning.
Letting out a yawn, Qin Jiaojiao turned off the wall lamp and fell into a deep sleep.
The night passed quickly.
Early in the morning, when Qin Jiaojiao woke up, Zhou Shaoli wasn’t beside her. He was an extremely self-disciplined person; a few days a week, he would wake up early to go for a run outside or work out in the home gym.
She didn’t have to work, so she routinely slept until she naturally woke up. With her messy hair scattered behind her back, she sat on the bed in a daze.
Zhou Shaoli had just returned from working out outside. He was wearing gray sportswear, sweat from his exercise lingering on his face. The stray black hairs on his forehead were wet, clinging to his smooth forehead, and his entire body radiated an aura of testosterone.
“You’re awake.” His voice was slightly hoarse.
Qin Jiaojiao sat on the bed, staring at him blankly, “Mhm…”
Seeing her looking like a dazed child who had just woken up, Zhou Shaoli found it quite amusing. He said gently, “The kitchen has finished making breakfast.”
Qin Jiaojiao nodded. “I’ll go down and eat in a bit.”
Zhou Shaoli grabbed clothes from the walk-in closet and went to the bathroom. The door clicked shut, but it couldn’t block out the sound of splashing water coming from inside.
Qin Jiaojiao collapsed back onto the bed, thinking to herself that his energy was truly incredible. Working at high intensity every day and still having the stamina to exercise and work out—he was truly amazing.
Unlike her, whose dream was to eat, drink, and play after waking up, then get a full, beautiful night’s sleep—living life as a salted fish.
Out of habit, she opened her phone to surf the web. The video of her and Zhou Shaoli that sparked heated discussions across the internet last night had dropped a few spots in popularity. Instead, another hashtag, #RomanticLoversProductionTeamApologizes#, had made it to the headlines.
Apologize?
Last night, she had spoken to Director Chen about the issues with the poster images. Today, the production team not only fixed the posters but also apologized on a public platform? Was her influence really that big?
Clicking on the trending search, the official Weibo for Romantic Lovers Season Two read: 【We sincerely express our deepest apologies to @QinJiaojiao and @ZhouShaoli. Due to an error in poster production by promotional staff, we have caused trouble for you two. The staff member involved has already been fired.】
Simply fixing the posters would have been enough. She hadn’t expected the production team to be so strict, firing the staff member who made a mistake just like that.
The heated discussions on Weibo had already blown up.
【The revised posters are much more pleasing to the eye. The Yueli Couple’s godly visuals are so ship-worthy.】 【Good job. Next time, don’t deliberately make other guests look ugly just to forcefully promote the C-position.】 【Ahhhhhh when exactly is this variety show airing?! I’ve already started shipping them!】 【Making a mountain out of a molehill. Firing an employee for making a mistake is so heartless.】 【Is it really necessary? It’s just a poster!】
The comments were a mix of praise and criticism. Qin Jiaojiao was a bit surprised. In just one night, fans had actually already come up with a CP name for the variety show guests. The fan circle babies were truly impressive.
Zhou Shaoli came out of the bathroom, his body exuding a refreshing aura. Seeing Jiaojiao lying in bed secretly rejoicing, he asked, “What are you so happy about?”
Qin Jiaojiao sat up and said, “The official Weibo poster deliberately photoshopped us to look ugly. Once I found out, I immediately complained to Director Chen, and this morning, the production team apologized!”
“As long as they apologized, it’s fine,” Zhou Shaoli said faintly.
Last night, when she insisted on taking a photo of him to change his profile picture, he went online to change it and accidentally saw the poster. He immediately understood why she was so fixated on changing his profile picture.
Therefore, he sent a message to Han Xiao, having him contact the Romantic Lovers Season Two production team. They had to handle this matter by the next day, otherwise, they would face a lawsuit.
That was the reason why the production team worked overtime through the night to fix the posters and swiftly knelt in apology.
The production team officially announced it was an employee’s work error. No one knew this was Shen Xiaoshan directing things behind the scenes, and that designer had become Shen Xiaoshan’s scapegoat. No matter how much of a fuss he kicked up, he was the one who made the poster, so he had to bear the responsibility.
Upon seeing that the revised posters made Qin Jiaojiao and Zhou Shaoli look outstanding, completely crushing her and Meng Zi’ang, Shen Xiaoshan flew into a rage and viciously smashed the cup in her hand.
The production team was interviewing the three couples today. Jin Mingzhu and Chen Feihong were an old married couple and didn’t pose a threat to her. As for Qin Jiaojiao and Zhou Shaoli, theirs was an arranged marriage with no presentable romantic history to speak of. As long as she put more effort into her interview content, she would definitely be able to trample Qin Jiaojiao underfoot.
The Romantic Lovers Season Two production crew arrived early at the home of the veteran artist Jin Mingzhu and her husband, Director Chen Feihong.
This old married couple interacted with natural chemistry; they knew each other’s thoughts with just a single glance. Director Chen Feihong was famous in the industry for his short temper, exploding at the slightest provocation. Yet, in front of his wife, he was incredibly docile. No matter how agitated he got, he could always calm down under her tender, water-like soothing.
As they talked about how they met back then, Director Chen Feihong spoke freely to the production crew. When he was still studying, he had fallen for Jin Mingzhu from the neighboring department and boldly initiated his pursuit.
A fierce woman fears a persistent man. Jin Mingzhu had a gentle personality. Facing Chen Feihong’s unyielding year-long pursuit, she finally agreed to be his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day.
He supported her career, and she understood his heart. Their dating period was sweet, and after marriage, their love flowed smoothly like a slow, steady stream. Ten years passed peacefully; their days couldn’t be called earth-shattering, but they held a unique kind of happiness within them.
After recording this couple, the production crew rushed over to Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang’s home. Originally, the production crew had arranged to record Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang’s interview first.
Shen Xiaoshan’s team said they needed to prepare in advance before notifying the production crew to come over.
Therefore, the production crew temporarily recorded Jin Mingzhu and Chen Feihong’s interview first. Fortunately, the two entertainment circle veterans had plenty of time, and the recording process went without any sudden incidents, completing the interview smoothly.
The production crew arrived at Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang’s home. This couple lived in an upscale, prestigious residential complex in the city center. The apartment was roughly seven to eight hundred square meters and worth over a hundred million yuan.
Compared to ordinary people, this duplex mansion was probably something they couldn’t afford in a lifetime.
When the production crew had just arrived at Shen Xiaoshan’s home, Meng Zi’ang was wearing loungewear and making sandwiches in the kitchen, looking every bit the virtuous, good husband.
“I’m sorry everyone, we just got up. Zi’ang is making breakfast for me.” Shen Xiaoshan had exquisite “no-makeup” makeup on her face.
The show’s director praised, “To think Young Master Meng actually cooks himself. Teacher Shen, you are truly lucky.”
“Let me show you around the house first.” Shen Xiaoshan led the cameramen to film around the house. She and Meng Zi’ang had bought this duplex mansion with all their savings.
The Meng family disapproved of Meng Zi’ang marrying her, and their financial support had been cut off. If it weren’t for her finding ways to contact the media to build hype, having her manager negotiate many brand collaborations, and inviting celebrity endorsers to attend their wedding to reap massive benefits, their lives right now wouldn’t be easy at all.
No matter how much the Meng family disliked her, Meng Zi’ang was still of the Meng family’s bloodline. She was playing the long game to catch a big fish; one day, she would reap abundant rewards.
The modern-style ornaments inside the mansion were luxury goods that could be seen on shopping platforms. The renovations were magnificent and opulent, looking exactly like a new home funded and decorated by a wealthy family for a young couple.
Their wedding photos hung on the bedroom wall, and a photo of the two of them sat on the study desk. One wall featured frames filled with many photos of the couple traveling together, as well as solo shots she had taken of Meng Zi’ang.
Shen Xiaoshan even purposefully showed off the accessories displayed in the walk-in closet, picking them up to introduce to the camera which holiday Meng Zi’ang had meticulously gifted them for.
The production crew asked how the two of them met.
Shen Xiaoshan said somewhat shyly, “He saved me when we were little, and I always kept it in my heart. Later, when we grew up and met again, I felt it was a fate arranged by heaven, so I took the initiative to ask him for his WeChat…”
…
After the production crew finished recording Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang, they rushed non-stop to the courtyard villa.
Today they were recording the show’s interview. Zhou Shaoli changed into a well-fitted outfit, and Qin Jiaojiao got up, found a set of everyday loungewear in the walk-in closet, changed into it, and went to the bathroom to wash up.
After washing up, she went downstairs to eat breakfast without wearing makeup. Nowadays, the two of them had gotten used to sleeping in the same bed and occasionally dining together. Aside from not having any deep soulful or physical exchanges, they were no different from an ordinary married couple.
After eating breakfast, the two did their own things at home. In the afternoon, the production crew arrived outside the courtyard villa. Qin Jiaojiao went to the front door to welcome them, and the cameraman hoisted his camera, aiming it at the open gate.
“Hello everyone, welcome to my home.” Qin Jiaojiao stood at the door revealing a bright smile. Behind her was a villa with meticulously sculpted courtyard scenery, leaving everyone profoundly shocked in their hearts.
The courtyard villas were located in the city district, with only a few households in total. The production crew had already been stunned upon entering this wealthy courtyard villa area. Facing the most imposing Zhou family villa, they couldn’t help but let out sounds of marvel.
“The villa is so beautiful! I thought I had arrived at a scenic tourist spot!”
The show’s director said, “I thought I’d walked into some royal palace. How many small projects is this house worth?”
“I don’t know,” Qin Jiaojiao shook her head. “My husband bought this house.”
The filming crew followed Qin Jiaojiao into the villa’s living room to shoot. The exterior decoration of the villa already looked imposing enough, but the interior furnishings and decor were even more exquisite and valuable. Any single item taken out would be a collectible that the outside world would have to spend a massive amount of money to purchase.
Qin Jiaojiao led the camera crew on a tour around the villa. After filming the villa, they all arrived in the spacious living room. The family servants placed the desserts prepared for the camera crew on the table one by one.
Qin Jiaojiao and Zhou Shaoli sat together, facing the cameras set up by the crew. The production crew needed to film some interview questions to edit into the variety show.
The director asked, “Could you tell us how you two met?”
Qin Jiaojiao glanced at Zhou Shaoli, hesitating on how to answer. She and Zhou Shaoli were in a contract marriage; before the wedding, they had only met once at a Zhou family banquet and hadn’t even spoken a single word to each other.
Rather than fabricating a deeply moving, melodramatic romance, it was better to tell the truth, lest she invent a lie and then have to use another lie to cover it up.
Zhou Shaoli looked at the camera indifferently: “My family hosted a banquet, and she came to my house to visit.”
Qin Jiaojiao pursed her lips and smiled faintly, “That was our first time meeting, and later we got married.”
“You got married after only meeting once?” the director asked. “Was it love at first sight for you two?”
Qin Jiaojiao thought to herself, Of course not. We are actually a family arranged marriage. We just went straight through the process—engagement, marriage. Things like dating and confessions don’t exist.
These words couldn’t be said truthfully to the camera.
She was sitting close to Zhou Shaoli, so she reached out and quietly tugged on the hem of his clothes.
Zhou Shaoli’s eyes flickered slightly behind his gold-rimmed glasses. He spoke in a steady voice, “The very first time I saw her, I knew she was the person I wanted to choose.”
True, she was the granddaughter-in-law internally decided upon by Old Madam Zhou. As long as Zhou Shaoli agreed, they could marry immediately.
Qin Jiaojiao timely lowered her eyes, pretending to look shy.
Zhou Shaoli didn’t explicitly say it was love at first sight with Qin Jiaojiao, but it sounded like he was admitting to falling in love with her at first glance. The production crew was very satisfied with this answer.
Qin Jiaojiao was genuinely worried the production crew would ask sharper questions, but fortunately, they only asked simple questions about their daily lives.
For example… Zhou Shaoli was busy with work, but he would give her a million yuan in living expenses every month. She took the money and splurged, attending her plastic best friends’ parties or going abroad to shop every day.
Wait a minute…
A million in living expenses?!
The original owner truly lived up to being a wealthy young miss; her ability to spend money was just as strong as Zhou Shaoli’s ability to make money. No wonder she only had a little bit of savings left in her bank card.
Qin Jiaojiao silently calculated the money in her heart. A million a month meant over ten million a year, which was only a hundred million in ten years. Calculating it this way, it still seemed like a much better deal to get divorced and take the ten billion.
Divorce! Once the contract expires, we divorce!
When the production crew heard about the million-yuan living expenses, they were all so shocked they couldn’t recover their senses. A million a month, and a husband who was often busy with work—it was simply enough to make one envious, jealous, and hateful!
Truly worthy of a real wealthy family, their financial power was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
Furthermore, Zhou Shaoli said, “I am very busy with work and often unable to attend to my wife’s feelings. Making time to accompany her on this variety show this time… I must thank the production crew for creating a honeymoon opportunity for us.”
Qin Jiaojiao swore this was the longest and most official answer Zhou Shaoli had ever given. Yet, the production crew members were actually moved by his words, revealing envious looks and blessing President Zhou to have a happy journey with her on the variety show.
Qin Jiaojiao: “…”
Blessed again, Jiaojiao.
Leave a Reply