Ji Mingshu’s divorce threat was just an expression of frustration. Cen Sen didn’t take her angry words seriously, but this 4D movie experience had thoroughly ruined the second half of their date from every angle.
Cen Sen had originally planned additional activities—a riverside drive and drinks with live music at an open-air bar—but upon leaving the cinema, Ji Mingshu displayed the relief of a survivor and a strong desire to return home with a “let me go home and try to salvage myself” attitude.
Seeing her like this, Cen Sen had no choice but to cancel the subsequent arrangements.
Fortunately, the early spring night breeze in the capital was gentle and pleasant. The light wind on the way home helped dissipate much of Ji Mingshu’s irritation.
After calming down and thinking carefully, she felt she couldn’t entirely blame Cen Sen.
Cen Sen, this relic from the last century, had probably only been to the cinema a handful of times. How could she expect him to know beforehand what kind of intelligence-reducing experience 4D viewing would be?
The fact that he had taken the initiative to invite her, brought flowers, and made an effort to chat with her during dinner was already tremendous progress. There was plenty of time ahead; no need to rush.
After making these excuses for Cen Sen, Ji Mingshu finally found some self-consolation.
But the next second, scrolling through WeChat, her carefully constructed psychological comfort instantly collapsed, her smile gradually disappeared, and her expression stiffened.
In her delight over today’s date, she had been posting updates to her Moments almost every hour.
Before entering the cinema, she had also taken a photo of their movie ticket stubs together, with the caption: [Watching a movie with Mr. Cen~/happy]
After posting, she hadn’t looked at her phone again, so she didn’t know that two hours earlier, Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun had already given her friendly reminders and high-energy warnings.
Gu Kaiyang: [Are you two alright, going on a date to watch a 4D movie?]
Jiang Chun: [Hahahaha, sorry but I can’t help laughing!]
Gu Kaiyang: [???]
Gu Kaiyang: [Where are they?]
Jiang Chun: [Probably already went in.]
Gu Kaiyang: [Fine then.]
Gu Kaiyang: [True love must not only withstand the test of renovations and travel but also the test of watching a 4D movie together. Good luck, dear!]
Jiang Chun: [Hahahaha, you devil! I’m laughing so loud hahahaha!!!]
Even worse, the two of them had been continuously following her updates.
Jiang Chun: [Hello Sparrow Baby, no Moments posts for two hours—are you still alive?]
Gu Kaiyang: [They might be filing for divorce.]
Jiang Chun: [Pfft!]
Jiang Chun: [Don’t say that, I can already visualize her throwing the divorce agreement! Hahahaha!!]
Ji Mingshu’s face soured terribly. Resisting the urge to curse, she threw an image into the group chat: [I don’t talk to people who don’t have sex lives.gif]
Once she posted that Moments update with the ticket stubs, not only was she mercilessly mocked, but Cen Sen’s childhood friends’ group chat was also lively for a full two hours.
Shu Yang: [4D movie hahahaha bro Sen is something!]
Shu Yang: [I sincerely thought bro Sen had hired a pro-gamer to boost him straight to King rank, but turns out he’s still a stubborn Bronze!]
Jiang Che: [And it’s stubborn Bronze I.]
Zhao Yang: [I think I need to reserve a bed for bro Sen at our hospital hahaha!]
Cen Sen was completely unaware of this two-hour-long mockery, nor did he notice Ji Mingshu’s emotional rollercoaster along the way.
Because in his view, although the 4D viewing experience was not great, it could only be considered a minor episode in their date itinerary.
Arriving home and seeing Ji Mingshu’s expressionless face, he thought she was just a bit tired. Believing himself to be considerate, he prepared a hot bath for her, even adding some soothing essential oils to the water.
He had originally planned to join her for the bath, but Ji Mingshu locked the bathroom door immediately after entering with her nightgown. After her bath, she curled up on one side of the bed and quickly fell asleep, showing no intention of communicating with him.
After being given the cold shoulder for an entire night, even someone as slow as Cen Sen understood that last night’s 4D movie experience had directly led to Ji Mingshu’s dissatisfaction with their date.
Moreover, her dissatisfaction remained fresh, lasting until the next day without refrigeration. The best evidence was that this morning, though awake, she didn’t cling to him, asking for a good morning kiss.
Coincidentally, Cen Sen’s work schedule this morning involved playing golf with a certain cinema chain’s general manager to discuss advertising placements for Junyi Elegance in movie previews.
Actually, advertising placement didn’t require Cen Sen’s personal involvement at all, but this cinema chain’s general manager was his high school classmate who had been working in one of the group’s subsidiaries for the past few years and had recently been promoted to general manager. The two were using this opportunity to catch up and also lay the groundwork for potential future collaborations.
During a break in the game, his friend took a work call.
With Ji Mingshu constantly on his mind, Cen Sen put down his golf club and sent her a WeChat message.
Cen Sen: [Sorry for not arranging the date well last night. I’ll make it up to you next time.]
When she received this very Cen Sen-style message, Ji Mingshu was still curled up in bed. The aftereffects of last night’s beating were quite substantial—her waist and back ached, especially her shoulder blades and tailbone, which hurt when pressed.
—You think there will be a next time?
After angrily typing this out, Ji Mingshu paused, cleared it all with one click, and wrote again.
—This was my worst date experience, TvT!
This was better—anger mixed with a bit of coquettishness, complaint with a small dose of cuteness from the emoji. Ji Mingshu read it several times, quite satisfied, and pressed send.
But Cen Sen’s focus was always peculiar. Not only did he fail to follow up on her cute complaint, but he asked like a census taker: [What other satisfying dating experiences have you had?]
Before marriage, he had investigated Ji Mingshu and knew she hadn’t had any proper boyfriends over the years.
But Ji Mingshu had studied abroad, where dating culture was prevalent, and dating several people simultaneously wasn’t something worthy of criticism. So he couldn’t rule out the possibility that she had been on dates before.
Ji Mingshu silently replied with a row of ellipses.
She had been the school beauty for more than a decade, with countless pursuers; what was so unusual about going on dates with boys?
Cen Sen wanted to ask more, but his high school classmate had finished his call and was walking back, shaking his head and sighing three complaints in a row: “Running a cinema chain these days is difficult. The platforms keep asking for discounts and subsidies. They come to me for everything from promotion to screening arrangements.”
Cen Sen put away his phone.
His high school classmate continued, “By the way, where were we? Oh, right, talking about your wife.”
He smiled. “I never expected you two would end up together. I remember when we were in our senior year, Ji Mingshu was just a freshman, right? During military training, everyone was discussing those little girls who had just come up from junior high. Ji Mingshu was fresh and pretty back then. Li Tao from our dorm even wrote her a love letter.”
“Oh, and I have a cousin on the school basketball team, called Zhou Zhen. I don’t know if you remember him. Speaking of coincidences, he has quite a connection with you. For a while, he was close to Li Wenyin, and after we graduated, he almost got together with your wife. What a coincidence!”
“Is that so?”
Cen Sen gazed at the verdant grass in the distance, his voice mild and light.
His high school classmate became increasingly enthusiastic, as if this connection was something worth boasting about. “Yeah, he’s the slow-warming type. He had his eye on Ji Mingshu as soon as she entered high school, but there was no opportunity to develop anything. Back then, the line of people pursuing your wife stretched from the school’s south gate to the north gate. It wasn’t until later when he heard that your wife might be interested in him that he made a move, but the timing was off, so nothing came of it…”
Cen Sen maintained his balance behind the ball, preparing to strike. Despite his perfect posture, he uncontrollably overswinged and failed to hit a good shot.
Meanwhile, seeing that Cen Sen hadn’t pursued the question further, Ji Mingshu put down her phone and finally got out of bed.
She had a brand event to attend this afternoon, and by her estimation, the stylist would arrive soon.
After washing up, she applied a face mask, then went downstairs to carefully trim the roses she had brought home last night and place them in a vase, before heading back upstairs to continue her skincare routine.
Hearing the housekeeper open the door for the stylist downstairs, Ji Mingshu tidied up Cen Sen’s clothes in the room.
He had worn an overcoat for their date last night. She had wrapped herself in it during the movie, and it still carried the lingering scent of her perfume.
She picked it up to throw it into the laundry basket, but as she turned, she caught a glimpse of something brown and leather-like peeking out from the coat pocket… a wallet?
She pulled it out for a look—not a wallet, but a small notebook.
Quickly flipping through it from back to front, the back pages were pristinely blank, while the first few pages contained Cen Sen’s handwriting.
His handwriting reflected his personality—sharp, cold, and hard lines yet extremely aesthetic. However, what he had written wasn’t cold or hard at all.
Date Itinerary:
1. Order roses.
Note: The Bouquet should not be too large, difficult to carry.
2. Pick up Mingshu at 5:30.
3. Arrive at the restaurant at 6:20.
Note 1: Mingshu doesn’t like foie gras.
Note 2: Pay attention to interaction during the meal, slow down eating pace.
Conversation topics: Interior design, music, and art exhibitions.