Chapter 39: Thirty-Ninth Day as a Salted Fish
Why on earth had she thought Zhou Shaoli looked aloof, chaste, and sexy all at once while drinking water? It had to be a lingering side effect of mushroom poisoning.
Qin Jiaojiao hastily averted her eyes, afraid she might do something utterly bizarre.
Zhou Shaoli finished drinking the water, but instead of handing the glass back to her, he said, “My glasses seem to have something dirty on them. Both of my hands are covered in dirt, so it’s not convenient. Could you help me with them?”
Qin Jiaojiao readily agreed: “Sure.”
Zhou Shaoli tilted his head down toward her. Qin Jiaojiao reached out and took off the gold-rimmed glasses. Noticing a small fleck of wood dust stuck to them, she pinched it off with her fingers and carefully inspected the frame to check for any other dirt.
“All done.” Qin Jiaojiao looked up at him.
Without his glasses, his handsome face was aggressively attractive, and his light brown eyes looked down at her with a natural, built-in presence of cold authority.
Qin Jiaojiao’s unpromising little heart gave a heavy, violent thump. Feigning composure on the surface, she reached out to put the gold-rimmed glasses back on his face.
With the glasses on, he looked elegant and poised, exuding a gentle, cultured air.
Qin Jiaojiao was suddenly reminded of a phrase—glasses sealing one’s visuals. In his case, it wasn’t really sealing his visuals, but rather giving him a slightly different vibe altogether.
Once she adjusted the glasses on Zhou Shaoli, Qin Jiaojiao took the glass from his hand and zipped back into the house at lightning speed.
The weather outside was quite hot, so Qin Jiaojiao lugged a electric fan out from inside, plugged it in, and pointed it at Zhou Shaoli on the porch.
She sat down on the long bench under the porch, scrolled through short videos for a bit, and suddenly had a spontaneous idea to tie some fresh flowers onto the swing. Grabbing a small basket from the house, she prepared to head over to the flower field near Jin Mingzhu’s place to pick some blooms to use as decorations.
Zhou Shaoli asked her, “Where are you going?”
“I’m going over to Teacher Jin’s flower field to pick a few flowers. I’ll be right back.” Clad in her slippers, Qin Jiaojiao padded away from Yueli Courtyard with a series of da-da-da footsteps.
Since arriving to film the show, she hadn’t visited Jin Mingzhu and Chen Feihong yet. This was her first time going to Feizhu Cottage. Teacher Jin and Chen Feihong’s house was older than theirs, carrying the weathered charm of an ancient residence.
Surrounding the house was an acre of small flower beds and a vegetable patch, planted with all kinds of seasonal flowers and green vegetables, radiating a rustic, simple countryside charm.
Qin Jiaojiao knocked on the door: “Teacher Jin!”
Before long, someone opened the door. It was Chen Feihong, dressed in light-colored casual clothes, who greeted her: “Miss Qin.”
“Director Chen, are you and Teacher Jin feeling any better?” Qin Jiaojiao asked politely.
Chen Feihong opened the door wider and replied, “We fully recovered yesterday. Mingzhu is in the house, come on in.”
Carrying her little basket, Qin Jiaojiao entered the Feizhu Courtyard and walked to the doorway of the living room. The moment Jin Mingzhu saw it was her, she stood up.
“Jiaojiao, you’re here.”
Qin Jiaojiao hurriedly said, “Teacher Jin, please sit back down.”
Jin Mingzhu sat down and welcomed her, “Come sit over here too.”
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Qin Jiaojiao said, “I won’t sit down. Teacher Jin, may I pick a few flowers from your field?”
“Of course you can.” Jin Mingzhu got up, walked over to her, and asked, “What flowers do you want to pick? Did you bring shears?”
Qin Jiaojiao had completely forgotten about bringing shears: “I forgot, Teacher Jin. Could you lend me a pair?”
Chen Feihong went to fetch a pair of shears and handed them to her.
Jin Mingzhu said, “Old Chen, go find a basket. I want to cut a few flowers for flower arrangements too.”
Chen Feihong retrieved another basket from the kitchen and offered, “I’ll carry it for you.”
Jin Mingzhu took the basket and said, “No need for you. Jiaojiao and I will go together.”
Chen Feihong: “…”
Qin Jiaojiao gave a small chuckle, and the two women headed off to the flower field together.
As they selected and clipped flowers, they chatted casually.
Jin Mingzhu asked, “Are you clipping flowers to bring back for flower arrangements?”
“No, I don’t know how to do flower arrangements,” Qin Jiaojiao said. “Zhou Shaoli is building a swing in the courtyard. I thought I’d pick some flowers to tie onto the swing ropes for decoration.”
“Building a swing?” Jin Mingzhu was somewhat surprised.
She hadn’t expected someone of Zhou Shaoli’s status to actually build a swing with his own hands. This was clearly done to make his wife happy. It turned out that among outstanding young men from prominent, wealthy backgrounds, there really were romantic souls who pampered their wives to no end.
Qin Jiaojiao explained, “There’s a large flowering tree in my courtyard with thick, sturdy branches, perfect for building a swing to enjoy the shade.”
Jin Mingzhu smiled: “That sounds wonderful.”
Qin Jiaojiao quickly gathered the prettier flowers, returning fully rewarded with a basket overflowing with fresh, fragrant blooms.
Back at Yueli Courtyard, Zhou Shaoli had already bound the ropes to the wooden board. Seeing Qin Jiaojiao return, his gaze landed upon her.
Qin Jiaojiao had worn a hat when she stepped out, carrying a full basket of pleasantly fragrant flowers, looking like a lovely flower girl.
Zhou Shaoli’s voice was warm and gentle: “You’re back.”
“Look, aren’t these flowers gorgeous?” Qin Jiaojiao said with a face full of joy.
Zhou Shaoli nodded slightly: “Very pretty. Did you pick them all at Director Chen’s place?”
“Mhm.” Qin Jiaojiao glanced up at the sky—blue sky, white clouds, and blazing sun. She placed the flower basket under the porch and said, “Bring the swing onto the porch, and we can sit down together to tie the flowers on.”
Following her words, Zhou Shaoli brought the swing board with its attached ropes over under the hallway eaves, leaving a long pile of sturdy hemp ropes bunched together.
Qin Jiaojiao brought back the shears Jin Mingzhu had lent her, picking up flowers to snip away the thorns at their stems. Zhou Shaoli sat beside her, holding thin string and tape he had found inside the house. Whenever she finished trimming a flower’s thorns, she would take it and tie it onto the swing rope.
While trimming the stems, Qin Jiaojiao got a bit careless and accidentally grazed her finger, letting out a faint hiss of pain.
A tiny red bead of blood welled up on her snowy white fingertip. Zhou Shaoli, who was sitting right next to her, immediately grabbed her hand: “Did you cut your finger?”
“Accidentally got scratched by a thorn,” Qin Jiaojiao endured the prick of pain and said. “I’ll go find a Band-Aid.”
Zhou Shaoli held her hand, setting aside the flowers and shears resting on her lap, and said, “Let’s go inside first to wipe the blood off with a tissue. I’ll go fetch the Band-Aids.”
The two of them went inside together. Qin Jiaojiao wrapped a paper towel around her finger, soaking up the blood.
Fortunately, it was only a shallow graze across the skin, not deep at all. All it needed was a little disinfectant and a Band-Aid.
Zhou Shaoli soon came downstairs with iodine disinfectant and Band-Aids. As Qin Jiaojiao sat on the sofa, he placed the items on the coffee table and took a seat beside her.
Noticing his solemn expression, Qin Jiaojiao spoke up: “It’s just a minor scrape on the skin, putting on a Band-Aid will be fine.”
“Let’s sanitize it first.” Zhou Shaoli took her hand in his, his long, distinct fingers picking up a cotton swab soaked in iodine. Lowering his gaze, he stared at her injured finger, his movements light and tender as he sanitized the wound for her.
Qin Jiaojiao silently watched him apply the disinfectant and then open a Band-Aid to wrap around her finger. Once everything was taken care of, Zhou Shaoli said in a flat voice, “I’ll trim the rest of the flowers. You rest up.”
Qin Jiaojiao smiled: “I’m not that fragile. It’s just a tiny finger scrape, it’ll heal in two days at most. Don’t we have gloves? I’ll just put on gloves.”
Seeing her insistence, Zhou Shaoli nodded helplessly in agreement: “Alright.”
The two returned to the porch. This time, Qin Jiaojiao wore gloves as she slowly trimmed away the thorns and excess leaves from the flower stems, while Zhou Shaoli continued tying the flowers onto the swing ropes.
Working together, the morning quickly slipped away, and the swing ropes were fully adorned with flowers.
After lunch, Zhou Shaoli set up the ladder and tied the swing ropes securely onto an extended branch of the flowering tree. Qin Jiaojiao stood below giving him directions.
“A little higher, just a little bit higher…” Qin Jiaojiao checked the height of the swing and said, “Okay, right at this height.”
Zhou Shaoli fastened the swing firmly, carefully climbed down the ladder, and carried the ladder off to the side.
The two stood before the swing, exchanging a glance.
This was a flower swing completed by both of them together.
Just as Qin Jiaojiao was about to take a seat to try it out, Zhou Shaoli pulled her arm: “Let me test it first to see if it’s sturdy.”
“Okay.” Qin Jiaojiao wasn’t really afraid of falling, but seeing him be so thoughtful filled her heart with a faint wave of warmth.
Zhou Shaoli sat down to test it; the swing was very sturdy. Standing up, he said, “It’s good to go, no problem.”
“Yay, my turn to try!” Qin Jiaojiao ran over and sat on the swing. Pushing off slightly with the tips of her toes, she swung backward, feeling pure joy as she met the breeze while swinging.
After swinging for a little while, she let out a lazy yawn: “It’s still a bit hot in the afternoon. Let’s come back to swing at night.”
A couple of days ago, the guests had mentioned to the production team that there were too many mosquitoes around the houses, so the crew had planted plenty of mosquito-repellent grass around the wooden cottages. Now, they could comfortably enjoy the evening cool in the courtyard.
After being busy for most of the day, she was covered in sweat. Qin Jiaojiao ran into the bathroom to take a shower, then climbed into bed for a afternoon nap.
Tomorrow was the agricultural charity livestream, so she needed to get plenty of rest.
Zhou Shaoli tidied up the courtyard, returned the ladder to the villagers, and went back to the wooden house bedroom. He took a cold shower, then went downstairs to catch up on work.
Qin Jiaojiao slept until dusk once again. When she woke up, her phone was exploding with notifications. Checking her WeChat Moments, she found over a dozen comments:
【Woah, what a pretty swing!】
【Jiaojiao, where are you vacationing? The scenery looks great.】
Han Xiao was thoroughly blown away: 【President Zhou actually knows how to build a swing?!】
Yang Yutong teased: 【Building a swing with his own hands? Your husband is quite all-around, huh?】
【Eldest Miss, is your honeymoon really this long?】
In the past, Qin Jiaojiao’s WeChat Moments were all about maintaining her image as a wealthy socialite heiress and noble wife—attending lavish parties, checking into trendy hot spots, flying abroad to attend high-end galas, flexing designer bags, and showing off haute couture.
Yet over the past two months, she had posted twice on Moments with a real sense of daily life, which genuinely gave people a slight shock.
Before, people in their circle had speculated that her relationship with Zhou Shaoli was strained because her Moments had never held a single trace of Zhou Shaoli’s presence.
Had the couple’s relationship rapidly warmed up over these two months?
Qin Jiaojiao was subtly flexing her romance, making her Moments feed feel completely stuffed with dog food.
After picking a few comments to reply to, Qin Jiaojiao went downstairs and saw that Zhou Shaoli had already prepared dinner. His cooking skills had improved at a rapid pace over the past few days, with the dishes tasting better and better.
Qin Jiaojiao felt immensely happy and couldn’t help eating an extra bowl of rice at night, leaving her stomach slightly stuffed.
While Zhou Shaoli was washing the dishes, she patted her little belly, a slight frown touching her face. Even if she was the type who didn’t easily gain weight, she couldn’t stand Zhou Shaoli constantly switching up recipes to feed her.
“Should we go out for a walk?” she suggested.
Zhou Shaoli wiped his hands clean and agreed: “Okay.”
The village was exceptionally quiet at night, broken only by occasional dog barks and the chirping of insects. After walking for about ten minutes, Qin Jiaojiao complained of being tired and wanted to go back.
Zhou Shaoli accompanied her back to the Yueli Cottage.
The nighttime temperature had dropped, nowhere near as hot as the day. The sky was sprinkled with countless stars. Qin Jiaojiao sat on the swing and swung herself a few times, but found it wasn’t high enough for her liking.
“Zhou Shaoli, help me push the swing.”
Her voice sounded like a mix between cooing and a command, but either way, it sounded exceedingly pleasant. Zhou Shaoli walked up behind her, extended his hands, and gave a gentle push, sending the swing into motion.
Qin Jiaojiao met the comfortable night breeze, a happy smile gracing her face: “A little higher!”
Zhou Shaoli pushed with a bit more force, sending the swing gliding higher. Her dress fluttered in the air like a fairy taking flight.
After swinging for a while, Qin Jiaojiao called for a stop: “That’s enough.”
The swing gradually came to a halt, swaying gently.
The wide wooden swing was spacious enough for two people to sit. Seeing Zhou Shaoli standing there, she spoke up, “Do you want to come sit?”
Zhou Shaoli glanced at her. As she shifted over to make space, he sat down beside her. The two sat together on the swing, gently swaying with the light breeze.
The fresh flowers tied to the swing ropes emitted a delicate fragrance. Sitting quietly together, neither of them spoke, enjoying this moment of serenity.
They sat very close, and Zhou Shaoli could feel the warmth radiating from her body. He suddenly wanted to say something, but didn’t know where to start.
Qin Jiaojiao’s inner heart was far from calm. Perhaps due to the night, her mind drifted back to what had happened yesterday.
“You and Xu Xueqing…”
Zhou Shaoli turned to look at her.
Qin Jiaojiao lowered her eyes and said, “I’m just asking casually. What if… you and she suddenly click, will our contract marriage end early?”
She suddenly didn’t want the contract marriage to end too early, because the condition for its termination was the Old Master’s passing.
In the original plot, after Romantic Lovers finished filming, the Old Master’s health rapidly deteriorated, and he passed away after failed resuscitation attempts. The original owner had brought immense negative PR to Zhuxing Group during the show and committed countless unreasonable deeds, prompting Zhou Shaoli to divorce Qin Jiaojiao and leave her to sink or swim.
She didn’t want the kind, gentle Old Master to pass away. He was Zhou Shaoli’s beloved grandfather, and if he passed, Zhou Shaoli would definitely be heartbroken.
The sudden appearance of Xu Xueqing had given her a slight sense of crisis.
Of course, if she couldn’t stop it and the contract marriage ended early, it wouldn’t bring her much harm anyway—she could still get her ten billion yuan payout.
She would just test the waters with Zhou Shaoli first.
Zhou Shaoli had originally thought she didn’t care at all. Now, hearing her ask this, a surge of emotion rippled through his chest. His voice was deep as he said, “Don’t overthink things. Nothing will ever happen between Xu Xueqing and me.”
“Why?” Qin Jiaojiao lifted her eyes to look at him. “You two look like a pretty good match.”
Zhou Shaoli stared at her fixedly, his light brown eyes filled with focused intensity as he examined the expression on her face: “You really think so?”
His voice was flat, yet Qin Jiaojiao somehow picked up a hint of displeasure.
Qin Jiaojiao stammered out an explanation: “Well, not really, but everyone says so… Aren’t you two really familiar with each other, I…”
“We aren’t familiar.” Zhou Shaoli reiterated once more.
Zhou Shaoli truly hated hearing her say that he was a good match or close with another woman; it made his chest feel thoroughly uncomfortable.
“Jiaojiao, she and I are merely acquaintances, not even friends.” He emphasized in a deep, low tone.
Qin Jiaojiao let out an oh, shrinking back like a timid little rabbit as she asked softly, “Are you angry?”
“No.” Zhou Shaoli’s voice remained as flat as ever.
Qin Jiaojiao just felt that he was very unhappy. Tugged at his arm, she said, “Don’t be angry, I was just asking. I didn’t mean anything else by it.”
Zhou Shaoli let out a soft sigh: “I’m really not angry. It’s just that I didn’t handle things well enough. Something like yesterday won’t happen again.”
Hearing his promise, an odd feeling flashed through Qin Jiaojiao’s heart, as if something was slowly becoming clear—something she desperately wanted to ask, yet didn’t dare to speak out loud.
Some words, once spoken, would shatter the current peaceful dynamic.
“It’s getting late, and we have the agricultural charity livestream tomorrow. Let’s head to sleep early.”
Qin Jiaojiao hurriedly got up, but as her slippers stepped onto the mossy pebbles, her foot slipped. Sitting on the swing, Zhou Shaoli caught her falling body, but the impact sent him tumbling backward. The swing swayed unsteadily, and both of them fell onto the grassy lawn.
Qin Jiaojiao ended up lying flat on top of Zhou Shaoli, her eyes wide with shock. She had actually ended up kissing Zhou Shaoli!
Zhou Shaoli held her soft waist, his eyes darkening. His hands tightened around her waist as his thin lips pressed against her petal-like lips, tasting their exquisite softness.
Under a sky full of stars, amidst the green grass, their breaths intertwined.
It took Qin Jiaojiao a good seven or eight seconds to react. Her whole body felt like it was burning up, a faint crimson flush painting her face as her heart pounded like thunder. She frantically tried to scramble up.
The more panicked a person is, the messier things get. She slipped again, dropping straight back onto Zhou Shaoli, hearing a muffled groan escape his chest. That magnetic, sexy voice made her ears burn instantly.
Ahhh, why did such an embarrassing mistake have to happen?!
Qin Jiaojiao was entirely mortified, resting her head against Zhou Shaoli’s chest while breathing lightly, wanting to cry without tears.
She really hadn’t meant to take advantage of him!
Lying atop the man’s long, tall frame with her head pressed against his chest, Qin Jiaojiao could hear his slightly chaotic heartbeat.
She chose to play dead to pass through this awkward, ambiguous atmosphere.
Zhou Shaoli was momentarily stunned by the unexpected kiss. When Qin Jiaojiao tried to flee in panic and fell onto him again, slamming into his chest, he had thought she would try to escape the scene once more.
Instead, she lay on top of him like a rigid little turtle, shrinking into her shell without moving an inch.
Lying on the grass, Zhou Shaoli felt the soft, delicate body pressed against him, not daring to move easily. Summer clothes were thin, and with her clinging so close, he worried that any friction between them might trigger a situation even further out of control.
Struggling to suppress the surge of passion flowing through his body, he asked in a raspy voice, “Did you hurt yourself in the fall?”
Qin Jiaojiao’s heart skipped a beat, replying softly, “No.”
Falling suddenly onto the ground was bound to hurt a bit, but with Zhou Shaoli acting as her human cushion, she had only felt a tiny trace of pain. Compared to the fall, the accidental kiss had shocked her so much that she completely ignored the physical pain.
Thinking back on it now, it was still super embarrassing, with a touch of shy fluster.
She had actually kissed Zhou Shaoli—well, it wasn’t really a proper kiss, just an accidental touch of the lips—but her mind was still in a complete chaotic mess.
Zhou Shaoli forcibly suppressed the heat she had ignited in him, wrapping his arms around her to help her sit up while lowering his eyes to gaze at the soft, delicate Qin Jiaojiao in his arms.
Qin Jiaojiao was brought up into a sitting position by his embrace, her eyes meeting his.
Time seemed to freeze.
In the world around them, only the two of them remained; the insect chirps in the corner of the courtyard faded, and the sound of the light breeze vanished, so quiet that one could almost hear their heartbeats.
His eyes were dark and intense as he stared at her.
It felt somewhat like a wild beast locking its eyes on prey, ready to strike at any given moment to bite hard into the prey’s neck.
Qin Jiaojiao’s breath hitched, her limbs turning completely soft and weak, leaving her utterly incapable of running away.
This was completely different from the usually calm, detached Zhou Shaoli.
Even though he still wore those gold-rimmed glasses, she could clearly see the burning gaze hidden behind the lenses.
She felt as if she were having an illusion—
Did he want to kiss her?
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