Chapter 30: Thirtieth Day as a Salted Fish
Zhou Shaoli didn’t fall asleep until the latter half of the night, waking up half an hour later than his usual routine. Yesterday had been a whole day of tossing and turning; he had taken two cold showers and slept poorly on top of that, leaving his handsome face showing subtle traces of fatigue.
Coming out after washing up in the bathroom, his slender fingers fastened the buttons on his collar. When picking out a tie, he instinctively chose the one Qin Jiaojiao had given him, tying it with elegant movements as his eyes flicked toward the bed.
Qin Jiaojiao was sleeping sweetly while hugging the duvet, her well-behaved face showing none of the mischievous ‘evil deeds’ she had committed last night.
Zhou Shaoli’s life had been mapped out since childhood. He had never disappointed his family’s expectations, excelling in every aspect. Born into an elite family, he possessed unmatched wealth before he was even born and lacked for nothing, which ultimately caused him to care very little about anything.
Zhou Shaoli had grown into the outstanding heir everyone expected, gradually maturing into a qualified patriarch after taking over the group, pouring all his energy into expanding his career and leading the Zhuxing Group toward brilliance.
For a wealthy young master of his background, the stream of the opposite sex around him had been endless since his student days. With his handsome features and perfect physique, even without his elite status, girls would have secretly fallen for him based on this god-given shell alone.
However, his personality was far too cold and detached. Not a single girl—whether harbouring an unrequited crush or actively pursuing him—managed to catch his eye, let alone enter his heart.
The Zhou family was delighted by how clean Zhou Shaoli kept his personal life; their heir wouldn’t be duped by women or suffer heartbreak.
Wealthy families had produced hopeless romantics since ancient times; precisely because they lacked nothing, innocent young lords and ladies would give their hearts boldly and fearlessly. In the end, their sensational love affairs would turn into moths flying into a flame, injuring both body and soul to the point of complete ruin.
At twenty-five years old, Zhou Shaoli surprisingly still didn’t have a single woman by his side. He disliked every well-matched girl the family arranged for him, both above and below board.
The Zhou family instantly developed a collective headache. This child had been great at everything since he was little, except his emotions were far too thin. No dating, no marriage, busy only with his career and remaining a lone wolf—who was going to inherit the massive Zhuxing Group?
Old Master Zhou’s health had deteriorated over the years, living in a nursing home year-round with barely two years left to live. Seeing that Zhou Shaoli was perpetually unwilling to enter a political marriage, he used his declining condition to force Zhou Shaoli to marry.
This was the reason why Zhou Shaoli agreed to select a woman for marriage. When he saw Qin Jiaojiao at the banquet, he didn’t have many thoughts about her, only feeling she was a very pretty, delicate beauty.
Qin Jiaojiao was very well-liked by the Old Master and Old Madam, so she was chosen. After looking into the Qin family’s situation, he approached Qin Jiaojiao privately to sign a contract marriage where each took what they needed.
This marriage wouldn’t last very long. This year or next year, after the Old Master passed away, his and her contract marriage would come to an end. He would gift her the trust assets the Old Master reserved for his granddaughter-in-law—roughly around ten billion yuan—as her compensation for playing the contract couple with him.
Ten billion was no small fortune for an ordinary wealthy merchant family, and Qin Jiaojiao ultimately agreed to sign the agreement.
He was supposed to live in peace with her until the contract marriage ended. That day, when he returned to the courtyard villa from his business trip, Qin Jiaojiao—likely unable to tolerate this dead-in-name-only marital life, or perhaps wanting to draw his attention—proposed a divorce to him.
He had to remind her that this contract marriage couldn’t be dissolved immediately; the Qin family needed the interests tied to the marriage alliance to drive its industries. If she wanted to get that generous payout, she had to play husband and wife with him until the agreement ended.
She seemed to have forgotten about the ten-billion-yuan payout after the contract marriage ended; upon hearing about the ten billion, her eyes practically sparkled.
Later, with his assistant giving things a push, he invited her to be his date to a banquet. Unknowingly, starting from that night, things between him and Qin Jiaojiao began to change.
Zhou Shaoli gently closed the door. As he went downstairs to head to work, Auntie Zhang called out to him, “Mr. Zhou, you haven’t had breakfast yet.”
“Not eating.” Zhou Shaoli’s tone was flat.
Seeing the late-night takeout box in the trash bin this morning, Auntie Zhang had only then realized the young couple had eaten a late-night snack in the middle of the night. The liquor on the bar counter hadn’t been cleared either; both late-night snacks and liquor were hard to digest at night, so last night’s situation must have been quite intense. No wonder the disciplined Zhou Shaoli woke up late.
Qin Jiaojiao didn’t wake up until around ten o’clock. Auntie Zhang brought her a bowl of light fish slice porridge, along with a few small dishes holding refreshing appetizers. “Eat more, you’ve gotten thinner recently.”
Qin Jiaojiao silently glanced down at her stomach and said, “I haven’t, though?”
She had been eating, drinking, and lying flat every day at the courtyard villa, her physical activity drastically reduced. She felt she had gained a whole circle recently, almost unable to fit into her evening gown yesterday.
Auntie Zhang had a face full of loving affection: “You drank too much liquor last night. Eat some light porridge this morning to soothe your stomach, and tell the kitchen whatever you want to eat for lunch.”
Qin Jiaojiao was dazed from sleep, her brain a bit muddled and her head aching slightly. She realized after the fact that after returning to the courtyard villa, she had insisted on dragging Zhou Shaoli along to mix drinks for him.
She couldn’t remember much after that. When she woke up, she was in bed, having comfortably slept until she woke up naturally.
Did she suffer a blackout from drinking?
Biting her spoon, Qin Jiaojiao frantically tried to recall last night’s scene in her head, but she couldn’t remember a single thing.
She knew her alcohol tolerance was terrible. She was probably slightly tipsy at the time, her brain a bit excited, thinking that since she was at home anyway, getting drunk wouldn’t matter, so she had downed a few extra glasses.
Who knew the stamina of mixed drinks would be that strong?
She hadn’t thrown a violent drunken fit at home, right?
Back when she got drunk at Yang Yutong’s place, she and Yang Yutong sang and danced, even getting recorded on a cell phone.
At the thought of herself singing and dancing like a lunatic in front of Zhou Shaoli while drunk, she felt her face burn like fire, her whole body filled with an awkward urge to escape this planet.
“Did you hear any commotion?” Qin Jiaojiao asked Auntie Zhang tentatively. “Did I throw a fit at home?”
The villa’s servants would return to their homes or bedrooms to stay after off-clock hours and wouldn’t come out. Even if they heard some noise, as long as it wasn’t murder or arson, they wouldn’t step out.
“No.” Auntie Zhang knew Qin Jiaojiao had a hangover, as Zhou Shaoli had his assistant notify the villa side to prepare a light, easy-to-digest brunch for Qin Jiaojiao.
“If you don’t remember what happened last night, you can go ask Sir,” Auntie Zhang suggested.
Qin Jiaojiao covered her face. How could she dare ask Zhou Shaoli? After thinking about it, she decided she should still ask; in case she had done something ‘bad’, she had to apologize to him.
She had woken up wearing her pajamas, feeling completely comfortable all over. Zhou Shaoli must have taken care of her while she was drunk, so by all rights, she owed him a thank-you.
Qin Jiaojiao sent Golden Nugget a greeting sticker and asked him directly.
【I was drunk last night, I didn’t throw a violent drunken fit, did I?】
At Zhuxing Group Headquarters Building, having just stepped out of the meeting room and opened his phone, Zhou Shaoli saw the message sent by Qin Jiaojiao.
Zhou Shaoli rarely looked at his phone during work hours unless the other party called him, checking his phone only during rest breaks. However, he had set a special alert tone for Qin Jiaojiao.
Last night…
Zhou Shaoli remembered her clingy, adorable appearance, feeling a touch of helplessness in his heart. She hadn’t really thrown a violent drunken fit—she hadn’t shouted, screamed, or smashed things—but she had teased him so much he hadn’t slept well the entire night.
Qin Jiaojiao hadn’t expected Zhou Shaoli to reply so quickly.
Golden Nugget: 【No.】
Qin Jiaojiao took a bite of the sweet, clear porridge, her fingers typing rapidly: 【If I did something bad while drinking too much, please be generous and don’t take it to heart.】
Sitting behind his office desk with his brows and eyes slightly lowered, Zhou Shaoli looked at her sentence along with the begging sticker, a faint trace of a smile flashing in the depths of his eyes.
She hadn’t done anything bad, but as for him…
Zhou Shaoli recalled how he couldn’t control himself, dropping a kiss on her shoulder from behind. His heart felt as though it had been lightly brushed by a feather, sending a strange wave of throbbing through him.
His fingers stroked his phone, and after thinking about it, he sent a sentence: 【Since you drank too much, rest well at home today.】
Qin Jiaojiao sent a cute ‘mhm-mhm’ sticker. She knew how tough she could be to deal with when drunk. Since Zhou Shaoli said she hadn’t done anything bad, then she hadn’t; her mind was finally put at ease.
Just as Qin Jiaojiao finished her breakfast in the dining room, she received a phone call from Yang Yutong, who spoke at a very urgent pace: “Jiaojiao, have you checked Weibo?”
“What?” She had just woken up for breakfast and hadn’t checked today’s fresh gossip yet.
Yang Yutong said: “An unknown fashion blogger posted a video complaining, titled something like ‘Deep Dive into the Story Behind Celebrities Wearing Fake Haute Couture’, basically saying the two of us wore fake haute couture.”
“My status isn’t high enough to wear this brand, but can’t I have the money to buy haute couture to walk the red carpet? It really pisses me off! It’s probably my rival’s doing—she couldn’t stand us outshining all the female stars on the red carpet last night, so she bought trending searches to deliberately splash dirty water on us…”
The issue of wearing high-imitation haute couture gowns wasn’t rare in the entertainment industry, with many incidents of celebrities wearing fake haute couture. Or they used improper channels to borrow haute couture to show off, and once exposed online by fashion bloggers, the brand would find out and demand an apology from the celebrity’s side.
Celebrities wearing fake haute couture or secretly wearing haute couture dresses mismatched with their status would be mocked and criticized by netizens, suffering reputational damage.
The subsequent impact would be massive: the fashion circle would blacklist that celebrity. In the future, when attending award shows or grand ceremonies, or shooting magazines, those big brands would no longer lend haute couture gowns to the celebrity’s stylist.
Qin Jiaojiao wasn’t in a rush: “Don’t be angry, I have the purchase receipts for the haute couture gowns on my end. I’ll go look for them and post them to clarify.”
Regardless of whether this fashion blogger was deliberately trying to clout-chase as a traffic-leeching ghost, or if someone behind the scenes had instructed him to deliberately blacken her and Yang Yutong, as long as she posted the haute couture purchase receipts, she could immediately clarify and slap him in the face.
Qin Jiaojiao went upstairs to the walk-in closet and located the bag she had brought abroad last time. When buying expensive things, she had the habit of keeping purchase receipts to avoid shopping disputes without evidence.
The purchase receipts weren’t in the bag; they had probably been placed in a drawer by her. She pulled a stack of purchase receipts out from the drawer and placed them on the bedroom coffee table.
Very quickly, Qin Jiaojiao located the receipt for the haute couture gowns from the stack of purchase receipts, taking a few clear photos with her phone.
Sitting down on the sofa, she opened Weibo and clicked into the #YangYutongAndQinJiaojiaoWearingFakeHauteCouture# trending search. The most prominent post was from a trendy, thirty-something male fashion blogger with a five-million-fan following.
In the video, this male fashion blogger listed the haute couture brands she bought, including which female celebrities they had been lent to in the past—all of whom were top-tier international A-listers.
Therefore, domestic third-tier artists like her and Yang Yutong were either wearing high-imitation dresses or authentic haute couture stolen through improper channels.
Qin Jiaojiao clicked into this fashion blogger’s Weibo. The other party required a follow to view all tweets, and currently, only three video posts were visible—all roasting actors’ haute couture gowns at fashion events.
This male fashion blogger’s repost count was very high, and the comments were also numerous, with netizens mocking the celebrities he roasted one after another.
【Disgusting, actually wearing high-imitations!】
【Current third-tier artists have gone crazy wanting to get famous.】
【The charity gala organizers definitely knew they were wearing fake haute couture, which is why those two manipulative women were placed in the corner.】
【Secretly wearing haute couture is like a pheasant wanting to become a phoenix—a pheasant will always be a pheasant, destined to eat chaff for a lifetime.】
【I just want to ask them, don’t they feel embarrassed? Aren’t they afraid of being exposed and cursed out?】
【Maybe they just want to ride this wave of negative clout.】
【…】
Not to mention Yang Yutong getting angry upon seeing these comments, even Qin Jiaojiao felt a bit uncomfortable seeing the pile of ugly, mocking words below. This was precisely why she disliked messing around in the entertainment circle: unverified rumors, as long as they were pinned onto celebrities, would draw netizens’ verbal abuse.
Qin Jiaojiao edited a Weibo post and uploaded the photos.
The haute couture gowns worn by me and @Yang Yutong at the charity gala were purchased by me from the brand. These are the purchase receipts for the dresses.
@GeneralXiaoye, please immediately delete the video making slanderous rumors.
Qin Jiaojiao forwarded the clarification Weibo to Yang Yutong.
Universe Invincible Beautiful Girl: 【I’ll go repost it right away.】
Yang Yutong: Look clearly, the haute couture dress on me was bought for me by my Jiaojiao! ! !
The clarification Weibo quickly hit the trending searches. When netizens clicked in and saw the purchase receipts, they were completely shocked.
【How much are these two haute couture dresses? ? ?】
【Seven figures for one dress, oh my god, my eyes have been opened.】
【Ten million for two dresses combined, enough to buy a house! The world of the rich is beyond imagination.】
【Am I the only one who noticed the key detail? Yang Yutong’s dress was a gift from Qin Jiaojiao! What kind of divine bestie friendship is this!】
【@GeneralXiaoye, come out and apologize.】
【Qin Jiaojiao: Kicking me, you’ve officially kicked an iron plate.】
【Some people’s eyes are probably turning red with envy to the point of dripping blood.】
【Don’t just look at the purchase receipts for these two haute couture dresses; every single purchase receipt on the table costs so much money.】
【What is Qin Jiaojiao’s background? How is she so rich?】
The online public opinion instantly reversed completely, with General Xiaoye’s Weibo being stormed by netizens, who flooded his DMs and comments demanding he come out and apologize.
Unable to handle the pressure, General Xiaoye closed his Weibo comments.
After clarifying, Qin Jiaojiao stopped caring about Weibo. She had assumed General Xiaoye would apologize and delete the video, but instead of deleting it, he put out a new video, arguing eloquently that the purchase receipts she posted were stolen photos from other socialites’ posts that had been Photoshopped.
General Xiaoye had many die-hard fans who had followed him on Weibo for years. Once his video came out, public opinion started up again; after all, there were plenty of cases online where influencers failed at faking being socialites.
Qin Jiaojiao was almost laughed to tears by him. How could such a person exist, refusing to give up until reaching the end?
Saying another word to this kind of person was just a waste of breath.
Qin Jiaojiao picked up her phone and dialed Zhou Shaoli’s number. Zhou Shaoli picked up quickly on his end, his deep voice coming through: “What’s wrong?”
Qin Jiaojiao spoke at a fast pace: “It’s a bit complicated to explain, but when we watched the runway show abroad last time, do you happen to have the contact information for the brand’s designer?”
Buying haute couture dresses last time had been a bit rushed, so she had forgotten to add the brand’s designer as a friend, not expecting this incident to blow up today.
“What happened?” Zhou Shaoli asked. “I’ll have Han Xiao go handle it.”
Qin Jiaojiao said in a somewhat angry tone: “There’s a fashion blogger who insists on throwing dirty water on me, saying I wore fake haute couture.”
Zhou Shaoli’s voice was steady and gentle: “Understood, leave it to my end to handle. You don’t need to pay any mind to this kind of jumping clown.”
“Mm.” Qin Jiaojiao trusted Zhuxing Group’s PR capabilities; since Zhou Shaoli said she didn’t need to worry, she would leave it to him to resolve.
After exchanging a few more words, Qin Jiaojiao hung up the phone and sent a message to Yang Yutong saying it had been handed over to Zhou Shaoli to handle.
Universe Invincible Beautiful Girl: 【That’s fantastic! I’ll wait for that cheap man to slide down on his knees and apologize.】
Zhou Shaoli called Han Xiao in, briefly explained the situation, and said calmly: “Go handle it as quickly as possible.”
Hearing that some fashion blogger was slandering and defaming Madam, Han Xiao instantly grew furious. Did they really think Zhuxing Group’s PR and lawyers were push-overs? Last time, the person who extorted Madam was currently serving jail time; he was about to gain another companion.
“Understood, Mr. Zhou, I’ll go handle it right away.”
Qin Jiaojiao witnessed for the first time how powerful Zhuxing Group’s PR methods were. The trending searches regarding her negative publicity were removed in seconds; even when searched, only a blank slate would pop up.
General Xiaoye’s Weibo account was banned, leaving him unable to post or use it.
The brand’s Asia-Pacific Region President personally retweeted her Weibo post, warmly inviting her to attend their internal autumn/winter series runway show.
The reversal came so fast that netizens gasped one after another.
【Holy shit! The President personally stepped in!】
【Dug it up! Do you guys know who Qin Jiaojiao’s husband is? The CEO of Zhuxing Group!】
【I’ve truly witnessed it—having money really lets you do whatever you want.】
【General Xiaoye: No, sis, if your background and backing are this solid, say it earlier!】
【First time being an NPC, so thrilling.】
【Hahaha, I’m dying of laughter; General Xiaoye ran rampant in the entertainment circle for years, only to vanish into thin air in an instant.】
【Such a satisfying face-slap, absolute perfection!】
It had to be said, Qin Jiaojiao felt thoroughly satisfied. As Zhou Shaoli’s nominal wife, backed by the entire Zhuxing Group, aside from breaking the law, in a sense, she really could do whatever she wanted.
Yang Yutong sent a message over: 【Your husband is so fierce!】
Qin Jiaojiao replied with a sticker filled with confidence. Lying on the sofa in a delightful mood, she opened her game.
After playing a round, Qin Jiaojiao felt a bit hot and asked the kitchen to send over a glass of beverage. When she saw the servant bringing a glass of light green beverage, she found it inexplicably familiar.
She picked up the beverage and took a sip, tasting the fresh, sweet, and crisp flavor, her eyes widening instantly.
Refreshing drink?!
Wasn’t that Uncle Ma’s unique secret recipe?!
How did the chef know how to mix a refreshing drink?
Qin Jiaojiao called the chef over and asked, “How do you know how to make this?”
The private chef smiled and said, “A few days ago, Mr. Zhou gave me the recipe. He said you liked drinking this, so I spent several days making it for Mr. Zhou to taste until yesterday, when I finally recreated the exact same flavor as the recipe.”
Qin Jiaojiao was shocked in her heart; Zhou Shaoli had actually handled Uncle Ma without her knowledge and bought the unique secret recipe for the refreshing drink.
“Madam, how do you find the taste? Is it delicious?” the private chef asked.
A smile bloomed on Qin Jiaojiao’s face: “It’s delicious, tastes just like what I drank on the island. You’re truly amazing.”
Having received praise, the private chef smiled broadly: “As long as Madam finds it delicious. Whenever you want to drink it, feel free to instruct the kitchen.”
“Okay,” Qin Jiaojiao responded.
Drinking the refreshing drink again, Qin Jiaojiao couldn’t help drinking two extra glasses, but extreme joy turned to sorrow—her long-delayed period arrived, and drinking too many cold drinks made her stomach ache.
Enduring the pain, Qin Jiaojiao returned to her room to put on a sanitary napkin and crawled under the covers, her face slightly pale.
She didn’t know if her irregular sleep schedule from the past—spending all day throwing parties and drinking with her sisters—had caused her period to become irregular, delaying every time and leaving her with dull, throbbing pain for the first two days.
Lying in bed, she stopped playing on her phone, wanting to sleep to ease the discomfort.
Zhou Shaoli arrived home punctually after work. Usually, when he returned at this time, he would see Qin Jiaojiao in the living room or dining room.
These days, Zhou Shaoli had gotten used to eating dinner with Qin Jiaojiao; today, there was no sign of her—did she not want to eat dinner, or did she want to eat later?
Zhou Shaoli asked Auntie Zhang, “Where is Madam?”
If it were in the past, Zhou Shaoli would immediately go to the study upon returning home, then head to the bedroom to change clothes before coming downstairs for dinner, going back to the study after eating to handle work.
He and Qin Jiaojiao under the same roof had been like strangers, but now the first thing he did upon returning was look for Qin Jiaojiao’s figure.
Auntie Zhang’s face was full of smiles as she said, “Madam is upstairs resting.”
Zhou Shaoli turned and went upstairs. Instead of heading to the study to drop off his briefcase first, he pushed open the bedroom door and walked in.
It was currently dusk, and the light in the room was dim without any lamps turned on. A figure bulged beneath the blankets on the bed. Zhou Shaoli lightened his steps and placed his briefcase on the sofa.
He walked over to the bedside to look.
Qin Jiaojiao had buried her face in the duvet, curled into a ball, appearing not quite like a normal sleeping posture.
Zhou Shaoli turned on the light, making his vision clearer. Seeing fine beads of sweat breaking out on Qin Jiaojiao’s forehead, he furrowed his brows, crouched down slightly, and called out: “Jiaojiao.”
Qin Jiaojiao’s consciousness was hazy. Hearing someone call her, she opened her eyes, her pale face looking frail: “You’re back.”
Her stomach had a dull, throbbing pain—not super severe, just bloated and aching a little, but still very uncomfortable. She felt weak all over, having no appetite and no desire to move.
Seeing her covered in cold sweat, Zhou Shaoli’s tone lost its usual calm composure as he asked, “Where are you feeling unwell? I’ll take you to see a doctor.”
Curled up, Qin Jiaojiao’s expression looked a bit shy as she said, “It’s fine, I’ll be okay after lying down for a bit.”
Zhou Shaoli reached out his hand to brush away the strands of hair sticking to the fine sweat on her forehead, coaxing gently: “When your body is unwell, it’s best to go see a doctor as soon as possible; dragging it out will only make it worse.”
Perhaps because her mind wasn’t entirely clear, Qin Jiaojiao felt Zhou Shaoli’s voice was so gentle. Biting her lip, she felt a slight sense of grievance: “Period pain, doctors can’t cure it.”
Zhou Shaoli stood up to grab a tissue, bending over to wipe her sweat. “Rest first, I’ll go have Auntie Li brew some brown sugar ginger soup for you.”
“Mm,” Qin Jiaojiao gave a low response and closed her eyes.
Zhou Shaoli walked briskly downstairs, telling Auntie Zhang to instruct the kitchen to brew brown sugar ginger soup.
“Had I known, I should have tried to stop Madam a bit this afternoon and had her drink less ice,” Auntie Zhang nagged endlessly. “This is Jiaojiao’s old trouble. Sir, there are heating patches at home, take some to stick on her.”
Holding the heating patch, Zhou Shaoli returned to the bedroom and looked at Qin Jiaojiao, who had her eyes closed. Her delicate small face was pale, like a fragile kitten needing meticulous, gentle care.
Zhou Shaoli lifted the covers, saw that she was wearing casual short sleeves, opened the heating patch, and slowly rolled up her shirt, revealing her slender waist to stick the patch on.
Before his hand could pull away, it was covered by her tender, delicate little hand.
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