“Holy shit! Isn’t that Jiang Chun’s fiancé?! Yan, right? Damn, that woman—move closer so I can see clearly!”
“It is him! That’s the second female lead from that mildly popular period drama from a while back! Damn, Yan is truly inhuman, already cheating right after getting engaged! Wait, should this be called cheating or infidelity???”
Despite not having slept for two days, Gu Kaiyang could still excitedly jump into gossip mode immediately. Ji Mingshu sincerely felt that Gu Kaiyang was born to be on the frontlines of the paparazzi squad.
She lowered her earphone volume, barely enduring Gu Kaiyang’s barrage.
After listening to Gu Kaiyang educate her for thirty seconds without pause about the dark history of the woman beside Yan, with every indication of continuing, Ji Mingshu pushed up her sunglasses and called a halt in a lowered voice: “Enough, you know the life history of this D-list actress in such detail—are you planning to write her biography?”
She focused intently on Yan and the D-list actress in the camera frame as they walked arm-in-arm into the elevator, not blinking. She even precisely captured a screenshot when they finally showed their faces.
Gu Kaiyang couldn’t help suggesting, “Follow them! See where they’re staying.”
“Are you crazy? It’s not like my husband is the one cheating.”
Besides, given her status, why would she do something so unseemly?
Ji Mingshu tilted her head slightly, adjusted her sunglasses, and went out shopping as if nothing had happened.
Shopping alone was rather boring. She only bought three bags, one pair of shoes, and one trench coat, then went to visit Gu Kaiyang’s set and had lunch together.
At noon, she returned to the hotel to rest, waiting for someone from the brand to pick her up in the afternoon to try on dresses at the haute couture atelier.
Waking from her nap and thinking about her new dress, Ji Mingshu was in a good mood, holding a silent concert in her head as she left the hotel.
However, before she could exit the hotel, someone called from behind, “Ji Mingshu?”
The voice was quite familiar. She turned around to see Jiang Chun wearing a pink Chanel suit with a beret, standing prettily in the lounge area with a hotel attendant helping with her luggage.
Ji Mingshu paused for a moment, slowly removing her sunglasses.
Jiang Chun was quite satisfied with Ji Mingshu’s reaction. Although she disliked Ji Mingshu, she had to admit that Ji Mingshu’s taste, cultivated from a young age amidst luxury, was indeed superior. If she could render Ji Mingshu speechless, her outfit today must be decent. She suddenly felt a bit smug.
“What are you doing here?” Ji Mingshu asked.
Jiang Chun thought Ji Mingshu was trying to mock her for not being invited by a brand, and instinctively replied: “The hotel isn’t owned by your family.”
After saying this, Jiang Chun was silent for three seconds.
She suddenly remembered that this hotel had been acquired by Junyi last year, so it actually was owned by Ji Mingshu’s family.
Fortunately, she was quick to react and added, “Paris isn’t your backyard, Miss Ji. Aren’t you overstepping? Yan is on a business trip in Paris, and I came to surprise him. Is that not allowed?”
At the mention of her fiancé Yan, her posture straightened a bit.
“…Surprise?”
Ji Mingshu momentarily didn’t know what expression to show.
“Yes. At least my Yan has an address when he’s on business trips, unlike your Mr. Cen, who’s so busy you don’t see him all year round.”
Seeing Jiang Chun’s childishly smug face, Ji Mingshu was not only at a loss for words but also felt a hint of pity.
Jiang Chun wasn’t originally from this circle. However, her father was quite capable, transforming from a nouveau riche beneficiary of demolition compensation in a small fishing village in Shenzhen to today’s catering industry tycoon, amassing buckets of real gold and silver.
Moreover, her father was ambitious. A few years ago, the family moved from Shenzhen to Beijing, and with their immense wealth, they managed to knock on the doors of the capital’s prestigious families and even arranged an engagement with the Yan family.
The Yan family was once a prominent and distinguished household, but had been declining with each generation, compounded by poor luck and judgment, already showing signs of decline.
The engagement between the two families was a typical case of new money and old money combining forces for mutual benefit.
Normally, in such marriages, infidelity wasn’t particularly noteworthy—each playing their own game was common. Had Ji Mingshu seen this, she would have pretended not to, not uttering a word to those involved, at most gossiping with friends over tea.
But the key issue was—Jiang Chun was too genuinely emotional. She had fallen in love with Yan at first sight and couldn’t extricate herself.
The Jiang family had many choices. If Jiang Chun hadn’t been in love, they wouldn’t have chosen the Yan family, a declining household with no signs of rising.
Ji Mingshu’s uncharacteristic silence and slightly pitying gaze made Jiang Chun feel uncomfortable. She slowly walked toward the front desk, occasionally glancing back at Ji Mingshu.
Ji Mingshu was hesitating whether to mind her own business or offer a warning when she heard Jiang Chun exclaim in disbelief, “Yan!”
Ok.
No need for her to warn anyone now.
Not far away, Yan and the D-list starlet walked out of the elevator like conjoined twins, both dressed differently from when she had seen them earlier.
Ji Mingshu was no innocent virgin; seeing their demeanor, she knew they probably had a quick session before heading out.
Jiang Chun wasn’t bad-looking, but her taste was truly terrible. Any luxury item on her looked like an 88-yuan free shipping knockoff from Taobao. Add to that her current love-crazed attempt to make a scene, creating a natural contrast with the freshly satisfied, pitifully innocent flower beside Yan.
Sure enough, after barely two sentences of argument, Yan protected the innocent flower behind him and impatiently pushed Jiang Chun away.
“Will you ever stop? Is making a scene here amusing? Look at yourself now, aren’t you embarrassed?”
“I’m embarrassed?” Jiang Chun’s eyes reddened, with large teardrops rolling down.
After the brief scuffle, her hat was slightly askew, her curly hair and clothes somewhat disheveled, looking truly miserable.
The innocent flower, as if rehearsed, imperceptibly put on her mask and sunglasses, timidly hiding behind Yan and saying softly: “I… I can’t be photographed.”
Yan patted her hand, then turned back with a frown, unwilling to even look at Jiang Chun again, his tone extremely annoyed: “We’ll discuss our matters when we get back to China. If you want to embarrass yourself here, continue making a scene, but leave me out of it.”
Jiang Chun was stunned, seemingly unable to believe that her once gentle and attentive fiancé could change his attitude like turning a page and treat her this way.
Yan guarded the innocent flower as they walked out. The innocent flower, whether intentionally or not, bumped Jiang Chun’s shoulder.
Ji Mingshu couldn’t bear to watch anymore. Standing not far away, she suddenly laughed lightly, “How interesting. The cheating man and the mistress caught in the act aren’t embarrassed, but blame the rightful fiancée for being embarrassing.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but everyone present could hear.
Only then did Yan notice Ji Mingshu. His expression darkened. He wanted to tell Ji Mingshu to mind her own business, but remembering the Ji and Cen families, he swallowed his words.
“Aren’t you embarrassed? Foreign friends don’t understand Chinese. Do you need me to translate for you, to make it thoroughly embarrassing?”
Glimpsing the Love Lock bracelet on Yan’s wrist, Ji Mingshu mocked again, “All your outfit was given by your rightful fiancée, yet you’re so righteous.”
Yan: “You!”
While Yan was at a loss, the innocent flower was clever, immediately assuming a posture of gathering courage to bear all responsibility. She stepped forward, trembling with a bow, “Miss Jiang, I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. Can we find a place to talk privately? Not here…”
She was about to reach for Jiang Chun when Ji Mingshu blocked her, interrupting coldly, “What are you? Step aside.” Her gaze returned to Yan.
Her message was clear: Apologize.
Yan had anger bottled up but couldn’t express it. He rubbed his forehead, licked his back teeth, and finally nodded reluctantly: “Fine, I was wrong, I’m embarrassed. I’ll personally visit Uncle Jiang to explain when we return to China. I have some matters to attend to now, so I’ll take my leave first.”
Ji Mingshu didn’t stop him.
If he wasn’t willing to comfort Jiang Chun first after all this, there wasn’t much point in stopping him.
She turned back and walked to Jiang Chun’s side.
Before she could speak, Jiang Chun, crying angrily, said: “Don’t pretend to be kind! Are you happy seeing me embarrassed?! Do you think your husband is any better? None of them are good!”
“…”
“Whether my husband is good or not is none of your concern.”
Ji Mingshu was most annoyed by this kind of persecution complex. She had originally intended to offer some symbolic comfort, but now she was saved the trouble.
She coldly put on her sunglasses and walked away gracefully in her high heels.
Jiang Chun’s words didn’t affect Ji Mingshu’s mood for trying on her new dress.
This nude pink lace and tulle dress had already been through an initial fitting, and the tailor had made further adjustments based on her figure.
The finished custom piece, when worn, was quite satisfactory to her.
She had someone help her take a short video, which she sent to Gu Kaiyang.
Gu Kaiyang was probably busy and didn’t see it, as there was no reply for a while.
On a whim, she added a fresh filter and sent it to Cen Sen as well.
Ji Mingshu: [How is it? My newly ordered dress.]
When Ji Mingshu sent the message, it was already night in Beijing, layers of gray-blue curtain covering the sky, with neon lights gradually illuminating the roadside.
Cen Sen had just finished a meeting and took the phone handed to him by Zhou Jiaheng, scanning it briefly.
There were many unread messages, the first several consumption alerts from his credit card, then WeChat messages from Ji Mingshu.
Usually, he and Ji Mingshu rarely communicated, and if they did, it was through direct phone calls. Ji Mingshu taking the initiative to send him WeChat messages was rare.
He loosened his tie and opened the video.
The video was very short, only about ten seconds, showing Ji Mingshu twirling the dress for two circles and ending with a wink.
He watched it once, then replayed it, followed by a third replay.
Zhou Jiaheng, following beside Cen Sen, noticed that he was repeatedly watching a video and was curious, but didn’t dare to peek.
Only upon returning to the office did Cen Sen stop playing the video.
The chat interface still showed Ji Mingshu’s question. He didn’t know whether to genuinely praise or casually brush it off, simply replying: “Looks good.”
Seeing that Cen Sen had, for once, not displayed his “give him a point and he’ll lever the Earth” contrarian nature, Ji Mingshu was in a fairly good mood and graciously engaged with him: “Does it have that online saying of ‘flirtatious with a hint of freshness, slutty with a touch of high-end’?”
Cen Sen silently chuckled, flipped through the bill, and corrected: “I don’t think this is just a ‘touch of high-end.'”
A dress costing 180,000 euros is being called a ‘touch of high-end’—she really could say such things.
Cen Sen looked up and asked Zhou Jiaheng: “When did Madam arrive in Paris?”
Zhou Jiaheng paused slightly, “This morning at five.”
He then automatically reported Ji Mingshu’s series of upcoming schedules over the next few days, primarily fashion show arrangements and invitations to lunches, dinners, and afternoon teas with high-level individuals.
Cen Sen may or may not have listened carefully. After the report, he commented flatly, “She’s quite busy.”
Zhou Jiaheng kept his eyes down, wisely not continuing that line of conversation.
Meanwhile, Ji Mingshu was in a very good mood.
She narcissistically interpreted Cen Sen’s “I don’t think this is just a ‘touch of high-end'” as a compliment and planned to buy him a tie clip as encouragement.
But just then, her WeChat notification sounded repeatedly.
Indeed, Editor Gu’s flowery compliments might be delayed but never absent.
Gu Kaiyang: [Wuwuwu what heavenly fairy has descended to Earth!]
Gu Kaiyang: [It’s not the dress that’s haute couture! You are!]
Gu Kaiyang: [Our little canary baby’s display of beauty and consumption is truly fascinating!!!]
Gu Kaiyang: [How much money does mama need to earn to steal you away from that dog of a man?!]
Without comparison, there is no sense of difference.
Ji Mingshu took a screenshot and sent it to Cen Sen, wanting him to experience the correct way of appreciation.
Cen Sen received the image, his gaze falling on the final phrase, “dog of a man.”
So this was how she referred to him in private with her friends.