After the Top Idol Omega and I Started Living Together - Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Dark clouds covered the sky and blocked the sun completely. The weather changed suddenly, and the rain came suddenly too.

Large raindrops fell heavily from the sky to the ground. They splashed up a layer of cold, wet air. The temperature in the room dropped sharply, but a trace of warmth moved toward Lu Zhao.

This was a scene Lu Zhao never dared to imagine even in her dreams.

At first, she just stood in place and waited for Sheng Jingyu to speak to her. She never expected that the embrace she needed most would come from Sheng Jingyu.

No sound filled the air. Only the noise of rain hitting the courtyard outside remained.

Lu Zhao’s hands hung hesitantly in disbelief. The faint fragrance from Sheng Jingyu’s body landed softly on her nose.

The scent of green grapes wrapped around her. It held no desire but offered gentle comfort to soothe her.

It felt like in that dream, where vines grew over the barren land scorched by the sun for Lu Zhao.

Twice in a row.

Sheng Jingyu appeared when Lu Zhao felt the least secure.

So, her teacher was someone she could rely on, wasn’t she?

In a daze, Lu Zhao lifted her hanging hands.

She eagerly wanted to grasp this sense of security, yet cautiously and slowly placed her hands on Sheng Jingyu’s back.

Lu Zhao’s lips moved slightly, as if words were about to spill out.

She feared all close relationships and struggled to weigh them.

Sheng Jingyu’s comfort came with no extra movements. She simply let Lu Zhao hold her tightly in silence.

Her silence created the quietest moment for Lu Zhao. The warmth of the embrace told Lu Zhao she was not alone.

Finally, the stone pillar propping up her heart collapsed suddenly.

“I know she doesn’t like me. I’m not the child she hoped for. I’m just a task,” Lu Zhao said.

The crumbling ruins above crashed down loudly. Broken stones stirred up dust, which danced wildly in the heavy rain.

Lu Zhao’s voice carried a slight sob. Darkness wrapped around her, making it hard to breathe. Clarity seemed especially cruel at that moment.

As if catching a certain word, Sheng Jingyu’s lowered eyes shifted slightly.

She turned her head slightly to look at Lu Zhao, who leaned on her shoulder. It was as if she saw another version of herself in a vastly different story.

—Someone born as a task.

—Someone who could be abandoned once they lost value.

“I never had any hopes for her. That would be too foolish. I know she won’t side with me. She’s still plotting to take the inheritance Grandma left me,” Lu Zhao said.

Her voice spoke softly, whispering near Sheng Jingyu’s ear.

Her words carried no emotion, as if she had lost all hope.

The wet, cold rain air mixed with the wind, which blew sadly.

Sheng Jingyu suddenly felt a dampness on her shoulder. It spread coolly along the fabric’s weave.

Soft sobs came from near her ear. Sheng Jingyu realized the dampness on her shoulder was Lu Zhao’s tears.

Despite her usual obsession with cleanliness, she didn’t let go of Lu Zhao. She let her tears soak her clothes.

Sheng Jingyu recalled overhearing Lu Zhao’s call with her mother as she passed by earlier.

Lu Zhao spoke in an unfriendly, calculating tone, arguing with the person on the other end. It seemed nothing could break her; instead, it made her stronger.

But all of this was just a front for others.

After hanging up, silence filled the room. The white curtains by the floor-to-ceiling window fluttered with the sudden gust of wind.

Layer upon layer, the curtains faintly outlined Lu Zhao’s figure. Sheng Jingyu watched from a distance and felt that if she wasn’t careful, the wind from outside might shatter Lu Zhao.

She fell apart in pieces.

Yet she stubbornly made herself seem unbreakable.

Sheng Jingyu didn’t rule out that Lu Zhao might see her as an “outsider” too. She couldn’t guarantee she wasn’t overstepping.

But the sea breeze blew too coldly, lacking the vibrant warmth of the past.

White camellias in a vase swayed with the wind, scattering petals on the floor.

Sheng Jingyu didn’t want her flowers to end up like that.

So, after Lu Zhao’s words faded, Sheng Jingyu stepped forward.

She hugged the flower that was about to break.

Feeling the embrace tighten slightly, Lu Zhao’s emotions surged intensely: “She cheated. She had an illegitimate daughter. It’s her, it’s her…”

Once her emotions broke free, they became uncontrollable.

Lu Zhao repeated her words with hatred. Tears poured out in streams.

She disliked this weak version of herself. Her forehead rested on Sheng Jingyu’s shoulder. She stubbornly clung to her pride: “Why am I so useless… I didn’t want to cry… I really didn’t want to cry, Teacher…”

The thicker her sobs grew, the more complex Lu Zhao’s emotions became.

She truly despised Lu Xu to the extreme. But honestly, who would want to admit they were an unloved child?

That damned bl00d tie always caught her off guard. It invaded again after she drew a clear line.

Then, a sharp knife cut wound after wound. Her counterattack left her bloodied. The red gashes soaked in the pouring rain, leaving her battered even in victory.

Then it repeated endlessly.

The moment her wounds healed, the knife struck again without warning.

Heavy rain pounded the ground, drowning out Lu Zhao’s uncontrollable sobs.

She seemed to pour out all the emotions piled in her heart, crying without restraint.

Lu Xu’s accusations, the constant targeting by Chen Ruozhi and Si Liaoliao for two years, the near-accident planned last night…

Dark clouds loomed over the horizon, blocking all sunlight.

No light shone in the world. The heavy rain poured as if the entire world would overturn.

But this world had only just begun to recover.

Sheng Jingyu let Lu Zhao cry. She let her tears soak her clothes.

She looked at Lu Zhao’s trembling shoulders and slowly raised her hand. Awkwardly, she tried to comfort someone, her brows faintly furrowed.

The sea breeze clashed chaotically, spreading restless sadness across the deep blue sea.

Sheng Jingyu didn’t know if it was because she could sense Lu Zhao’s pheromone fluctuations. Her emotions were indeed affected by this person.

For the first time in her life, Sheng Jingyu felt hope for someone outside her family.

She didn’t want this person to be sad. She hoped this person could always be happy.

Even like last night in the car, when Lu Zhao was sly and mischievous, happy like a child who got candy.

After crying for a while, perhaps her tears ran dry, or perhaps she had cried enough, Lu Zhao’s sobs slowly turned into soft sniffles: “I’m okay now.”

Through the misty veil of tears in her eyes, she noticed the wet marks she left on Sheng Jingyu’s shirt. Feeling embarrassed, she quietly let go of Sheng Jingyu and explained: “I just had too many emotions piled up. I couldn’t hold back for a moment.”

Sheng Jingyu didn’t mind the marks on her shoulder. She didn’t press or question Lu Zhao’s words. She only asked: “Are you feeling better now?”

Lu Zhao restrained her emotions and nodded with a slight nasal tone: “Thank you, Teacher. I’m much better.”

Sheng Jingyu looked down at Lu Zhao. She didn’t fully believe her response.

After what happened yesterday and that phone call just now…

Those weren’t things a single cry could fix.

“Does Teacher have time now?” Lu Zhao asked.

Her words interrupted Sheng Jingyu’s thoughts.

She seemed to genuinely pull herself together. Only her red eyes showed traces of her recent tears.

Lu Zhao haphazardly packed away her vented emotions and forced herself to perk up: “I don’t want to rest today. Let’s continue the vocal lesson.”

Lu Zhao thought she had to win this battle. She had to climb higher.

Only by climbing higher could she escape the maggots in the gutter. Only then could she achieve her dreams.

But Sheng Jingyu disagreed: “No rush.”

Her expression remained calm, leaving Lu Zhao a bit confused.

Before Lu Zhao could ask why, Sheng Jingyu’s hand rested on her wrist.

The distance they had just parted was less than a few meters. The scent of damp air stood out clearly.

The green grape scent landed on Lu Zhao’s nose again.

Sheng Jingyu’s tone was flat but firm: “Come with me.”

Heavy rain swept through the entire city. Wild winds raged chaotically.

The atmosphere in Tomorrow Star’s company building was no better than outside. The studio was in chaos. Phones hung up only to ring again. The standard response to the public was: “Sorry, the matter is under investigation. We can’t respond for now.”

Lu Xu didn’t step in to help Si Liaoliao. The trending topic stayed high and wouldn’t drop.

Si Liaoliao scrolled through the trending topics on her way back from home. Her expression looked terrible. She lashed out at Chen Ruozhi: “Where did she get so much money? We’ve spent so much, so why can’t it go down?”

Chen Ruozhi, overwhelmed, took a break from phone calls to calm Si Liaoliao urgently: “Liaoliao, don’t worry. Just wait a bit.”

But Si Liaoliao couldn’t wait any longer: “Wait more, wait more! You always say wait! If we wait more, everyone will know about my mess!”

“Didn’t you just make a plan? Give them money, as much as they want, so they’ll say publicly that I’ve bought out their rights and there’s no plagiarism dispute anymore?!” she said.

Mentioning this only made Chen Ruozhi’s headache worse.

He had contacted the parties involved. So far, only one out of five had been persuaded, and it cost him a huge sum to buy them off.

Si Liaoliao could tell Chen Ruozhi’s method hit a snag. After a brief pause, she said to him: “Don’t we still have dirt on Lu Zhao? Can’t you just release it all? Shift the media’s attention?”

Chen Ruozhi was already stressed about this.

He hadn’t overlooked the idea, but he had bought trending topics for several artists, and Si Liaoliao’s still stayed high.

And Lu Zhao’s dirt…

Chen Ruozhi hesitated: “Those are all trivial things…”

Si Liaoliao couldn’t stand hearing no. She cut Chen Ruozhi off directly: “Trivial or not, release them! Even if it doesn’t suppress her, if I’m suffering, she shouldn’t rest easy either!”

“You contact her big fans. I want her fans to abandon her one by one today!” she said.

In the past, Chen Ruozhi would have followed Si Liaoliao’s orders.

But just earlier, he had faced a setback with Lu Zhao. He couldn’t help but warn Si Liaoliao: “Liaoliao, if you push Lu Zhao too far, she’ll fight to the death. Then it’ll be even harder to handle.”

As his words landed, Si Liaoliao felt like a snake pinched at its weak spot. Her heart skipped a beat.

The anger in her eyes grew fiercer, yet she felt more powerless. She could only clench her fists tightly, with nowhere to vent.

At that moment, Chen Ruozhi’s assistant walked in, holding something in hand.

Chen Ruozhi frowned and asked: “What’s the matter?”

The assistant approached Chen Ruozhi and placed a small bottle and a card on the nearby table. The assistant said: “This is from Chen Annie at Vinyl Music. She sent someone to deliver it for you.”

The bright incandescent light shone directly on the table. The unpackaged small bottle stood out clearly.

Chen Ruozhi was familiar with this bottle. It usually contained shady things that couldn’t see the light. A bad feeling rose in his heart.

Swallowing lightly, Chen Ruozhi picked up the card from Chen Annie.

The plain white card simply and elegantly bore the name “Lu Zhao.” A scarlet seal stamped over the two characters.

It was Chen Annie’s personal seal.

It silently declared to Chen Ruozhi that Lu Zhao was now under her protection.

Our Ah Zhao is no longer an unwanted wild deer QAQ (though at this moment, Ah Zhao still knows nothing about it~)