Chapter 47: Forty-Seventh Day as a Salted Fish
Looking at these comments, Qin Jiaojiao thought to herself that Shen Xiaoshan must be driven completely insane by now.
At the time, she had already felt that Shen Xiaoshan’s livestream sales of fifty thousand jin looked extremely fake. For a top-tier influencer with tens of millions of followers who specialized in e-commerce or agricultural aid, moving tens of thousands of jin in a single day was normal. But the production crew was merely using the guise of a charity stream to attract web traffic purely for hype. The only ones pulling out their wallets were the individual guests’ fans and the overly enthusiastic CP fans. While passersby might buy a little, the total number would absolutely never be that high.
Selling fifty thousand jin in a single day was far too exaggerated. Back then, all of Shen Xiaoshan’s fans had praised her to the high heavens, boasting that she was on par with professional e-commerce hosts.
Now, the situation had backfired, resulting in a total disaster.
The most pitiable ones were the local villagers whom Shen Xiaoshan was supposed to be helping. Their unsold fruit was being returned, and in weather this sweltering, shipping the fruit out and getting it returned took at least a week—meaning the returned fruit was likely completely spoiled.
The shipping fees paired with the ruined fruit represented a devastating financial loss for villagers who were relying on those fruit sales to break even.
Now it remained to be seen how Shen Xiaoshan would handle it. The most correct approach would be for her to step forward immediately, issue a public apology to the netizens and villagers, and negotiate compensation.
Watching Shen Xiaoshan shoot herself in the foot, Qin Jiaojiao gloated inwardly while exchanging a few messages with Yang Yutong on her phone.
Yang Yutong: 【I bet she won’t apologize or pay up.】
Qin Jiaojiao: 【Not pay up? The Meng family isn’t short on that little bit of cash, right?】
Yang Yutong: 【If she apologizes and pays compensation, isn’t that directly admitting she hired people to pad her orders and inflate her sales and popularity? After that, which brand would ever dare hire her for promotional events?】
Qin Jiaojiao thought about it and realized she was right. Having her fake order padding exposed was already humiliating enough, subjecting Shen Xiaoshan to mockery across the entire internet. If she openly admitted to padding her orders and confessed to the whole internet that she sucked at moving products, every e-commerce platform and merchant would kick her off their promotional livestream lists in the future.
Shen Xiaoshan would most likely opt to give this matter the cold treatment.
However, if she did that, what would happen to the poor villagers harmed by her actions? Were they expected to just swallow their bitter frustration and bear the loss alone?
Yang Yutong: 【Seeing Shen Xiaoshan get blasted online feels so freaking satisfying!】
Yang Yutong: 【I’m hosting my birthday party at home tomorrow night, don’t forget to come.】
Qin Jiaojiao: 【Don’t worry, I remember. Which home are you holding the birthday party at?】
Yang Yutong: 【Which other home could it be? How many people could my apartment of a few hundred square meters actually hold? It’s definitely at the Yang Manor.】
Yang Yutong: 【This time, I commissioned a master to make a super pretty birthday cake. Make sure to dress up extra cute—I want to take a commemorative photo with you.】
Yang Yutong: 【I’ll give you the very first slice of cake (Kiss Emoji).】
Qin Jiaojiao replied with an adorable OK sticker.
【Rest assured, we will definitely be the prettiest babes at the birthday party.】
Yang Yutong: 【Are you bringing your husband along?】
Qin Jiaojiao: 【Zhou Shaoli has a busy work schedule. I’ll ask him if he has time; if he doesn’t, I won’t bring him.】
Once the two finished chatting, Qin Jiaojiao closed the variety show stream and returned to her bedroom’s walk-in closet to pick out an outfit. Yet, looking at a closet packed to the brim with clothes, she surprisingly couldn’t find a single dress she was satisfied with.
A woman’s closet is always missing that one new piece of clothing.
Qin Jiaojiao decided to go shopping this afternoon to buy a few new outfits. Many expensive designer pieces never looked as good after a single wear and wash, so they needed to be sorted out and thrown away.
Throwing them away felt like a bit of a waste, though. It might be better to find a trustworthy online charitable platform and donate them.
These luxury brand clothes looked stunning, but their overall quality was actually quite average. These delicate, high-maintenance pieces could really only be worn once. There was good reason for the saying that people with modest living standards shouldn’t skimp and save just to buy luxury goods.
Since Yang Yutong had to film today, Qin Jiaojiao couldn’t find anyone to accompany her. She took her private car alone to a high-end luxury mall and picked out a brand she liked.
Seeing her decked out in designer labels from head to toe and accompanied by a bodyguard, the sales manager warmly welcomed her with great tact, eagerly introducing the latest seasonal arrivals.
Qin Jiaojiao wasn’t particularly satisfied with any of them.
The sales manager invited her to sit on the boutique’s sofa: “Please rest here for a moment, Ma’am. We have models doing an in-store runway show. You can sit back, take your time watching, and pick at your leisure.”
Qin Jiaojiao happened to have nothing else to do, so she sat down to enjoy delicate pastries and beverages. Before long, the foreign models hired by the store slowly walked out one by one, showcasing the new seasonal releases for her.
The primary job of these models was to showcase the new seasonal items to clients and drive clothing sales.
Qin Jiaojiao picked out a few new dresses she liked. They came with hefty price tags—the cheaper ones cost tens of thousands, while the pricier ones ran into hundreds of thousands—perfect for casual outings, small parties, and banquets.
After purchasing her new clothes, her driver-slash-bodyguard carried her shopping bags as she turned her steps toward the men’s apparel floor.
Since she was using Zhou Shaoli’s black card for her shopping spree, it only made sense to buy something for him too. Entering a boutique, she first selected two ties. The sales associate said to her, “You’re picking out ties for your husband, right? Would you like to buy a few new outfits for him as well?”
Qin Jiaojiao thought about it and decided she might as well buy a few pieces for Zhou Shaoli. After all, she was spending his money, so she wouldn’t lose out.
Zhou Shaoli was originally immersed in work when his phone received transaction alert SMS notifications for his black card. None of the expenses were small, but he didn’t mind in the slightest—making money was meant for spending, after all.
Suddenly, he received a WeChat message from Qin Jiaojiao: 【What shirt size do you wear?】
Every piece of clothing Zhou Shaoli wore from head to toe was custom-tailored by luxury houses abroad. Upon seeing this message from Qin Jiaojiao, he knew she was going to buy clothes for him.
Only a wife would constantly remember to buy clothes for her husband.
A faint trace of a smile flashed in Zhou Shaoli’s eyes as he messaged her back: 【I’ll have Han Xiao send you my measurements.】
He sent Han Xiao a message: 【Send my body measurements to Madam. She wants to buy clothes for me.】
Receiving the instruction, Han Xiao immediately sent over a full size chart detailing President Zhou’s clothing, trousers, and shoe sizes.
Looking at the meticulous size chart, Qin Jiaojiao described to the sales associate: “188 centimeters tall, standard weight. Please bring me a few dress shirts to look at.”
Qin Jiaojiao recalled Zhou Shaoli’s physique—lean in clothes, yet muscular underneath—and hadn’t expected his height-to-weight ratio to be so perfectly balanced. He was truly self-disciplined.
After an afternoon of shopping till she dropped, Qin Jiaojiao returned home with a full harvest.
In the living room, Auntie Zhang was unboxing packages. Qin Jiaojiao had the servants take her purchases upstairs and asked, “Did the peaches arrive?”
The shipments of peaches from Nancheng Ancient Town varied, with some dispatching earlier and others later, resulting in different delivery times. Thus, while the Qin Manor and the old residence had already received theirs, the delivery to their courtyard villa was delayed by a day.
“Yes, Madam.” Auntie Zhang prepared to unpack all the peaches and transfer them to cold storage to stay fresh.
“The peaches Madam sent back from Nancheng are huge,” Auntie Zhang said with a smile. “You can tell at a glance that they’re super sweet.”
Qin Jiaojiao had bought two boxes of peaches, all filled with large, sweet fruit that filled the living room with a fresh, fruity fragrance.
“There are too many for Zhou Shaoli and me to finish. Why don’t you distribute one to each of the domestic staff?”
Auntie Zhang said happily, “I’ll thank Madam on everyone’s behalf.”
Qin Jiaojiao took a peach from the crate, washed it, and sat on the sofa munching on it while pulling out her phone to check the trending searches.
Just as Yang Yutong had predicted, Shen Xiaoshan hadn’t responded at all, allowing the internet abuse to rage on.
The poor villagers were the only victims in this mess; having received no response whatsoever, they would be left to absorb the financial losses on their own once the heat passed in a few days.
Qin Jiaojiao let out a sigh, wondering if she should add fuel to the fire to help the villagers get justice. After all, as the comparison group, she had already stood on the opposing side of Shen Xiaoshan.
Shen Xiaoshan had hired people to pad her orders precisely to outshine her, leaving the innocent villagers as collateral damage.
The direction of the trending searches had already shifted—moving from blasting Shen Xiaoshan to questioning whether all the guests on the agricultural charity stream that day were merely putting on an act with fake sales figures.
In the afternoon, the production team sought out Shen Xiaoshan and her management team for a discussion. First of all, Shen Xiaoshan had hired a water army to pad sales volume and inflate her popularity without consulting the crew, deceiving the production team. She owed the crew an explanation.
The production team demanded that Shen Xiaoshan step forward on public platforms as soon as possible to apologize, while compensating the farmers for all losses caused by the massive refund wave of unsold fruit.
Compensating the fruit farmers would cost over a hundred thousand yuan, which Shen Xiaoshan was naturally unwilling to pay, stubbornly refusing to issue an apology.
By evening, the hot topic remained pinned at the top of the trending list, bringing massive negative publicity to the show. The production team was forced to take a firm stance with Shen Xiaoshan’s management team.
If Shen Xiaoshan refused to apologize and pay compensation, the crew would treat it as a breach of contract and kick the couple—Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang—off the show.
Since Shen Xiaoshan’s side bore full responsibility for the agricultural stream incident, the production team could walk away without any financial loss, replace Shen Xiaoshan and Meng Zi’ang, and resume filming with new guests.
In the entertainment industry, variety shows swapping out artists midway due to major scandals happened all the time, forcing Shen Xiaoshan’s team to agree to the apology.
Her manager said, “Since things have already come to this, all the livestream promotional deals that previously approached us have fallen through. You’d better just step forward, apologize, and pay the compensation.”
“Why on earth should I compensate them?!” Shen Xiaoshan remained furious. “I streamed to help them sell goods without even charging advertising fees! Even if I padded orders to boost sales, didn’t I still help them sell fruit?”
“Wasn’t that three thousand-plus jin sold through my stream?”
Her manager followed her logic and said, “Yes, you sold it, but weren’t a lot of those orders refunded?”
Shen Xiaoshan said speechlessly, “That’s because their fruit had quality issues! How can that be blamed on me?!”
Accustomed to a luxurious lifestyle now, she had long forgotten the hardships of helping her mother sell goods during her childhood. With her mindset altered, she lacked empathy and only cared about protecting her own interests.
To her current self, a hundred-plus thousand yuan was merely the promotional fee for a single event, yet she didn’t want to part with a single cent.
Her manager coaxed her: “It’s just a matter of apologizing and paying a bit of money, so stop being stubborn. What’s more important—continuing to film the dating show, or a hundred-plus thousand yuan?”
Shen Xiaoshan bit her lip, reluctantly yielding: “Fine, fine, get the team to draft an apology statement using my account.”
Hanging up the phone, she wanted to pick up another glass to smash and vent her rage. Just then, the front door was pushed open, and a drunkenly tipsy Meng Zi’ang walked in, only to be met with a house in complete disarray.
Meng Zi’ang frowned: “What happened here? Why did you make such a mess of the house?”
In the past, Shen Xiaoshan had been an understanding and comforting presence in front of Meng Zi’ang. Unlike the arrogant and spoiled high-society heiresses, she had been strong, independent, and considerate, which was precisely why Meng Zi’ang had fallen for her.
What he wanted was to come home after a long day of work to a spotless house and a gentle, virtuous wife.
Returning home from an outing with friends today, he was suddenly met with shattered glass scattered everywhere across a messy floor, causing irritation and anger to flare up inside him.
Shen Xiaoshan hadn’t expected Meng Zi’ang to return so early. Panic flashed through her before she forced a smile: “Zi’ang, why are you back so early?”
“I accidentally broke a glass and was just about to clean it up,” Shen Xiaoshan lied.
Meng Zi’ang waved his hand, kicked aside a tissue box on the floor, walked over to sit on the sofa, and rubbed his temples: “Hurry up and clean it.”
Remembering that she was pregnant, Shen Xiaoshan touched her stomach and said, “With so much broken glass and water, I’m afraid of slipping. How about I call an hourly worker to clean up the apartment?”
Recalling that she was carrying his child, Meng Zi’ang said, “Then go ahead and call one now.”
Shen Xiaoshan sat beside Meng Zi’ang, taking his arm: “Zi’ang, let me tell you something.”
Adopting a wronged tone, Shen Xiaoshan recounted how her order padding during the charity stream had been exposed online, subjecting her to widespread internet mockery and forcing her to pay compensation.
When people narrate events, they naturally frame themselves in the best light, and Shen Xiaoshan acted as aggrieved as humanly possible.
After hearing the full story, Meng Zi’ang knitted his brows and said coldly, “They’re blatantly extorting you! What a bunch of greedy hillbillies!”
Leaning against him, Shen Xiaoshan said, “I have no choice but to apologize.”
Meng Zi’ang pondered for a moment before saying, “Just give them the hundred-plus thousand; consider it paying money to ward off bad luck.”
Shen Xiaoshan was now an artist signed under Meng Brothers Pictures and the daughter-in-law of the Meng family, so he couldn’t let this scandal affect the Meng family enterprise’s stock prices.
“You’re still carrying the baby, so stop getting angry over worthless people. Didn’t you take a liking to a handbag last time? I’ll have my assistant buy it for you.”
Shen Xiaoshan lowered her eyes in deep thought. Upon returning to Beijing, she had gone for another medical checkup and confirmed she wasn’t actually pregnant. To secure her position as the Meng family’s daughter-in-law, she needed to get pregnant as quickly as possible.
……
Qin Jiaojiao had been continuously following the developments of Shen Xiaoshan’s order padding scandal.
Today, Zhou Shaoli returned home from work at his usual time to accompany her for dinner. She sat in the dining room with her phone without moving her chopsticks, alternating between watching him eat unhurriedly and checking if there were real-time updates on the hot search.
“What are you looking at?” Zhou Shaoli asked.
Seeing him ask, Qin Jiaojiao quickly said, “It’s still about that agricultural stream. The fifty thousand jin Shen Xiaoshan sold last time was padded, and now the entire internet is blasting her.”
Her mouth chattered endlessly, her tone carrying a hint of joy: “Shen Xiaoshan issued an apology to the farmers on Weibo tonight, saying she’ll negotiate compensation with them.”
Zhou Shaoli didn’t follow gossip news, but seeing her so happy, he said, “A buyer has already been found for the villagers’ unsold fruit. The fruit will be shipped out gradually over this period, and once the buyer inspects the delivery, payment will be transferred to the villagers immediately.”
That was wonderful news!
Seeing that he had finished his dinner, Qin Jiaojiao said excitedly, “Are you done with work? Do you want to try on the dress shirts I bought for you?”
Zhou Shaoli nodded.
The two went upstairs together to the master bedroom’s walk-in closet.
Qin Jiaojiao pulled out the two dress shirts she had bought for him from a pile of shopping bags sitting on the table—one in deep coffee and the other in a cool, minimalist light gray, both crafted from smooth silk fabric.
“Try this gray one first.” She closed the walk-in closet door.
Zhou Shaoli picked up the shirt with its tags still attached, removed his suit jacket, unbuttoned his shirt, and changed into the new piece.
A moment later, Qin Jiaojiao asked from outside, “How is it? Does it fit?”
“Come in,” Zhou Shaoli called out.
Qin Jiaojiao opened the door and stepped inside. The man stood before the full-length mirror, the light gray shirt hugging his perfect physique with tailored precision, fitting him flawlessly.
“Wow, it fits so well!” Qin Jiaojiao exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
Zhou Shaoli lowered his gaze, his long fingers elegant as he fastened his cufflinks. The cool, sophisticated shirt gave him a somewhat detached, abstinent aura when worn on his frame.
Having fastened his cufflinks, he looked at her with his light brown eyes, his voice gentle: “I like it very much.”
Qin Jiaojiao’s eyes curved into crescents as she joked, “Consider this your reward for helping the villagers find distribution channels.”
Her smiling face was bright, stunning, delicate, and charming, making one want to pull her into an embrace and kiss her.
Zhou Shaoli’s gaze flickered slightly. Finding it increasingly difficult to suppress the affection in his heart, he knew he needed to find an opportunity to confess his feelings to Qin Jiaojiao soon.
After spending so much time together, she surely felt a tiny spark of attraction toward him; if not, he would work even harder to move her heart.
Noticing Zhou Shaoli gazing deeply at her, Qin Jiaojiao dialed back her smile slightly and said, “I was just kidding with you. I simply wanted to buy you two new shirts.”
“Try on the other one to see if it fits.” After speaking, Qin Jiaojiao quickly left the walk-in closet, closing the door behind her to shut out his intense gaze.
Holding an eye contact like that with Zhou Shaoli—where his eyes held only her—was truly overwhelming, making her heart beat faster once again.
Before long, Zhou Shaoli stepped out having changed into the other shirt. It fit perfectly; he truly suited dark color palettes, which highlighted his noble and elegant aura.
Before going to bed that night, Qin Jiaojiao remembered she hadn’t asked Zhou Shaoli if he had time to accompany her to Yang Yutong’s birthday party tomorrow.
“Do you have time tomorrow?”
Zhou Shaoli asked, “What’s up?”
Qin Jiaojiao turned on her side to look at him and said, “It’s Yang Yutong’s birthday dinner. If you have time, come with me; if not, don’t worry about it.”
Zhou Shaoli thought for a moment, realizing he could push aside one or two schedule items, and said, “I’ll go with you.”
Having gotten her answer, Qin Jiaojiao prepared to sleep, bidding him good night.
“Good night,” Zhou Shaoli replied softly.
Qin Jiaojiao quickly fell asleep, whereas Zhou Shaoli, despite his busy day, found himself somewhat restless in the dark, unable to sleep with thoughts weighing on his mind.
He and Qin Jiaojiao were in a contract marriage and had never dated. Confessing his feelings couldn’t be done recklessly or blurted out directly; he needed to find an appropriate time and a romantic atmosphere to tell her.
—A date.
The word flashed through Zhou Shaoli’s mind.
Having never pursued a girl before, Zhou Shaoli pondered over who to ask for help with planning. Han Xiao seemed quite experienced, so he would have him arrange it tomorrow.
The next day.
Zhou Shaoli woke up early in the morning and instinctively glanced to his side.
The morning sunlight was bright, partially blocked by the blackout curtains while the remaining faint light spilled across the bed. Qin Jiaojiao was hugging his arm, sleeping sweet and sound in his embrace with her slender, long leg draped over his.
Zhou Shaoli was helpless. Restraining his physical reaction, he got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a cold shower.
Having woken up late today, he skipped his morning run. After showering, he changed into his suit and gently closed the bedroom door.
Han Xiao had noticed early in the morning that Zhou Shaoli had something on his mind. How did he notice? Normally, Zhou Shaoli maintained a calm, indifferent expression that made him hard to read.
Today, however, Zhou Shaoli kept wearing a deeply contemplative look—could there be some difficult problem at work?
Zhou Shaoli suddenly asked, “How did you confess to your girlfriend back then?”
Han Xiao froze. What game was President Zhou playing now, and what emotional dilemma had he encountered? He answered in a serious tone: “Buy flowers, take her out to dinner, and then confess to her.”
Zhou Shaoli asked softly, “She agreed on the spot?”
“Of course,” Han Xiao said with a proud expression on his face. “She actually liked me too; we were just missing a formal procedure to officially be together.”
Zhou Shaoli tapped his fingers against the desk, lost in thought.
He hadn’t explicitly declared his feelings before, thinking they had plenty of time ahead to live day by day, letting their affection blossom naturally until Qin Jiaojiao fully fell for him.
He was a normal man. With his legally wedded wife lying beside him every night while he restrained himself politely, he didn’t know how much longer he could endure it.
Therefore, he had to express his feelings to her as soon as possible.
Zhou Shaoli instructed in a low voice: “Help me contact the sky restaurant at Feiyue International and book it for Wednesday night at eight o’clock.”
Han Xiao thought to himself that President Zhou and Madam’s first wedding anniversary hadn’t arrived yet, nor was Wednesday either of their birthdays—why was he suddenly planning a date?
“President Zhou, should I reserve the whole venue?” Han Xiao suddenly suggested.
Since it was President Zhou’s first time going on a date with Madam outside, and given Zhuxing Group’s immense wealth, the grand gesture had to be grand enough to guarantee Madam a surprise.
Zhou Shaoli thought about it and said, “Alright.”
He had realized that Qin Jiaojiao tended to be shy around him. If surrounded and cheered on by a crowd, she might agree to his confession just to save him face.
He needed a quiet environment to convey his true feelings to her.
Having received this assignment, Han Xiao was already imagining how earth-shattering and city-shaking the event would be that night.
Qin Jiaojiao was completely oblivious to all this, sleeping until nearly afternoon before waking up. She received multiple WeChat messages from Yang Yutong, telling her to dress up nicely in the afternoon and bring her husband to the birthday party.
In the walk-in closet, Qin Jiaojiao tried on the new dresses she had bought yesterday, picked out the absolute prettiest one, and hired a stylist to come over and give her an enchanting, glam look.
Zhou Shaoli left work early to pick her up, and by the time they arrived at the Yang residence, many guests had already gathered at the Yang Manor.
Yang Yutong personally greeted Qin Jiaojiao and Zhou Shaoli to welcome them into the manor with a joyful smile. Her relationship with her parents had softened recently, and Father Yang had spared no expense in funding this birthday banquet for her.
“Jiaojiao, President Zhou, please come in…”
Upon seeing Zhou Shaoli, the guests at the Yang Manor exchanged subtle looks and grew even more enthusiastic toward the hosts. Father Yang was beaming with pride, showering praise on Yang Yutong before turning around to compliment Qin Jiaojiao for marrying such a great husband.
Zhou Shaoli maintained a calm demeanor, staying glued to his wife’s side without straying a step.
Around eight o’clock in the evening, almost all the guests had arrived. As the star of the night, Yang Yutong wore a birthday hat and held a microphone on stage, expressing her gratitude to all her friends and relatives for attending her birthday banquet.
Today, the Yang family had even hired a minor celebrity to perform live. The atmosphere was lively as everyone ate and drank while waiting for the cake cutting.
Yang Yutong pulled Qin Jiaojiao over to a cake standing nearly two meters tall: “Look at the cake I spent a fortune custom-ordering!”
Displayed in the center of the living room was a custom character cake crafted after Yang Yutong’s favorite role she had ever played, rendered so vividly that it was breath-takingly beautiful.
“What a gorgeous cake,” Qin Jiaojiao praised with a smile.
Yang Yutong affectionately linked arms with her and said, “Let’s take photos first, and when we cut the smaller birthday cake later, I’ll give you the sweetest first slice.”
Hardly had the words left her mouth when the two-meter-tall beauty cake suddenly shattered and collapsed with a loud bang.
The smile on Qin Jiaojiao’s face vanished, while Yang Yutong glared furiously at the culprit, shouting in rage: “Yang Yuyan! Are you crazy?!”
Scrambling up from the floor, Yang Yuyan’s eyes welled with tears as she offered a pale apology: “Sister, I didn’t mean to… Someone bumped into me just now and I lost my footing…”
Striding over in her high heels, Yang Yutong raised her hand and delivered a fierce slap straight across her face: “Keep acting!”
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