The summer night was filled with pouring rain. Lightning tore through layers of dark clouds, followed closely by muffled thunder that rumbled loudly.

At the Capital Oil Painting Academy, the medieval church-style stained glass windows diffused the bright lights from within. Tonight, “Zero Degrees” was hosting a fashion charity banquet to commemorate its tenth anniversary.

Before the banquet, there was a talk session where guests either signed their names and posed for photos in front of display boards or socialized.

In such occasions, if one wasn’t staying with familiar people chatting about something, it would inevitably seem awkward and out of place.

Fortunately, Ji Mingshu never had this worry.

“Jiang Chun isn’t coming tonight?”

“Probably not.”

“Makes sense. After spending millions on a pile of junk, wanting to do charity might be beyond her means for now.”

Several female voices sounded gentle and soft; if one didn’t listen carefully, they would think it was concern and regret. The topic was quickly dropped as the young ladies exchanged glances and smiled in unison.

Ji Mingshu, surrounded at the center, had remained silent. Although she smiled lightly along with them, it wasn’t hard to see that she lacked interest and even seemed somewhat absent-minded.

Noticing this, someone subtly changed the subject, “Mingshu, is that dress the one you tried in Paris a few days ago? It’s beautiful.”

“No, the one I tried a few days ago was just a preliminary sample. This one was ordered during last year’s fall-winter haute couture week,” Ji Mingshu answered.

Everyone had done haute couture before, and having a few pieces wasn’t anything special, but gown dresses often cost millions and weren’t suitable for repeated wear. It seemed too extravagant for Ji Mingshu to wear one as a regular evening dress.

None of them concealed their envious expressions and, as usual, followed the conversation with compliments.

Ji Mingshu didn’t seem to have heard them, her expression indifferent. In the end, she at least gave them face by drinking half a glass of red wine and leaving them with an “enjoy” before departing with Gu Kaiyang, the soon-to-be deputy editor-in-chief of “Zero Degrees.”

Once Ji Mingshu left, the young ladies all secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Tonight, Ji Mingshu was not in the mood—she wasn’t interested in joking about Jiang Chun, nor did she react when they complimented her dress. They didn’t know why she was so hard to please.

“What are you thinking about? You still have time to listen to those plastic flowers flattering you? Quickly help me keep an eye on the banquet hall. Tonight is a big night for your sister, and if that bitch Shi Qing dares to cause trouble in the banquet hall, tear her apart for me!”

Gu Kaiyang maintained a smile on her face and continued to nod and greet guests as she walked toward the banquet hall. Her voice floated from her upturned lips, lowered but also flattened by three degrees.

Ji Mingshu raised an eyebrow, but before she could respond, there was a sudden commotion behind them, and they both turned around.

Some big name must have arrived. The clicking of camera flashes at the entrance became more urgent, and reporters who were still conducting interviews promptly abandoned their current subjects, rushing toward the display boards at the end of the red carpet, squeezing together in a crowd.

Gu Kaiyang narrowed her eyes to recognize who it was. “Looks like Su Cheng has arrived. Help me watch this side, I’ll go over first.”

She reacted quickly; halfway through her sentence, she had already started walking.

Ji Mingshu gazed at the bustling outer room from a distance, not paying much attention at first. But suddenly, through the gaps, she glimpsed a figure beside Su Cheng that was both familiar and strange, and her spine instantly straightened.

As if sensing something, the figure standing beside Su Cheng also glanced in her direction. The gaze pierced through the crowds and flashes of white light, seemingly tinged with strands of coolness from the summer rainy night, cold and distant.

A quarter of an hour later, all the red carpet photography and interviews in front of the display boards were completed. Guests were led into the banquet hall and seated according to pre-arranged positions.

Tonight’s banquet hall arrangement was designed by Ji Mingshu herself.

Lights cascaded like waterfalls in the hall, and the band performed Mozart’s “Symphony No. 40 in G minor” live. At the center of each table were warm ivory-white roses that had been air-freighted just that morning. The rose petals were fresh and full, with a soft pink hue at the edges. Waiters in vests and bow ties carried trays with one hand, weaving through the room filled with elegant shadows and fragrances.

Such opulent sights and sounds were nothing extraordinary.

Gu Kaiyang’s earlier concerns were somewhat excessive. Upon learning that the banquet venue was personally overseen by Ji Mingshu, those who had intended to cause trouble had long abandoned their thoughts. Until the group’s president took the stage to speak, there hadn’t been the slightest error in the banquet hall.

After the president’s speech, it was time for May, the editor-in-chief of “Zero Degrees,” to take the stage.

May loved to talk about expired chicken soup for the soul, perhaps wanting to pay tribute to the strategic prowess of the “devil in Prada” Miranda. This time, her chicken soup unexpectedly included seismic changes within the magazine.

Everyone present was sharp; when she cued the “new deputy editor-in-chief,” everyone instinctively looked toward Gu Kaiyang.

Gu Kaiyang rose like a triumphant little white swan, composed but with joy evident in the corners of her eyes and brows.

Some only glanced at her before looking at Ji Mingshu sitting beside her, such as Su Cheng.

Su Cheng was forty-two this year, holding numerous Best Actress awards and having married three tycoons in succession. She had significant influence not only in the entertainment and fashion circles but also in the current elite social circle.

She tilted her head slightly, leaning closer to the man beside her, and teased in a tone of gossiping about younger generations, “Why aren’t you accompanying Mingshu? Had a tiff?”

The man looked up, gazing at Ji Mingshu not far away, his fingertips lightly tapping the side of his glass, the frequency oddly consistent with the ticking of the platinum watch on his wrist.

After a while, he still hadn’t responded, seeming to smile, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes.

Su Cheng took his silence as confirmation and quietly passed on some tips about appeasing girls.

He nodded, his gaze not withdrawing—

Two years without seeing each other, and Ji Mingshu was still the same as before. Even with a cold, expressionless face, her features remained dazzlingly beautiful, not losing out to the room full of stars showcasing their talents tonight.

The after-party following the banquet was arranged as a charity auction, with guests who stayed moving to another smaller hall.

“Auction item 029, a Tahitian natural black pearl diamond necklace, donated by Ms. Su Cheng…”

While the auctioneer on stage was introducing the item, Ji Mingshu had already scanned through the catalog of auction items.

She inwardly sneered, estimating that tonight someone would spend lavishly to win the actress’s smile.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, the auctioneer announced, “Starting price, 800,000!”

“850,000!”

“900,000!”

“1,000,000!”

As soon as the words fell, the price rapidly increased.

When the bidding reached 3 million, many people turned to look toward Ji Mingshu’s right rear, and some couldn’t help but whisper even in such a setting.

Ji Mingshu didn’t move. Without turning around, she could imagine the calm demeanor of that person as he repeatedly raised his paddle.

“5 million, now it’s 5 million.”

“5 million once, 5 million twice, 5 million three times!”

“Dong!”

The hammer fell with a dull sound.

“This necklace, 5 million…? Who is that man?”

A young starlet new to the circle, sitting at the end, also noticed the excessively high price of the necklace and couldn’t help but quietly inquire from her manager beside her.

“Cen Sen…” the manager murmured thoughtfully, “why has he suddenly returned?”

The young girl, new to the world of fame and fortune, found everything she saw and heard fresh and exciting. Having caught the keyword, she asked again, “That man is called Cen Sen? Is he very powerful?”

The young newcomer couldn’t connect with Cen Sen for now; bringing her out today was just to let her see the world. The manager couldn’t be bothered to explain much to her and just kept her head down, rapidly typing on her phone under the table, passing firsthand information to several other more experienced female stars under her management.

There were many in the venue like this manager, spreading the news in all directions.

The crown prince of the Jing Jian Cen family had gone to Australia to explore the overseas market and hadn’t appeared in China for two years. Appearing at tonight’s event without warning and acting uncharacteristically high-profile seemed like a signal—

The internal war within Jing Jian, which had lasted for many years, was over.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, after tonight, the capital would have another noteworthy figure of great influence.

Attending this charity banquet was not originally part of Cen Sen’s plan.

But he always conducted himself flawlessly. Accompanying Su Cheng to the event at someone’s request, he not only displayed the patience he had when accompanying family elders to various activities in his early years but also bid on the pearl necklace donated by Su Cheng, claimed to be one of her treasured possessions for many years.

This kind of small auction hosted by a fashion magazine was just about making a gesture of donation and bidding. Cen Sen’s price inflation could be said to have done Su Cheng a great favor both in substance and appearance.

Su Cheng, with a smile on her face, said slowly, “When Pei Ju has time another day, you and Mingshu can come to our house for dinner.”

This was considered an acceptance.

When the auction ended, many gazes fell on Cen Sen.

He was still sitting in the dimly lit area, loosening the Windsor knot at his collar, crossing his legs, and leaning back.

There were many guests tonight, and he and Su Cheng had arrived rather late, so many people didn’t know they had come.

Now that they knew, those who knew him naturally wanted to come forward to greet and chat, while those who didn’t know him wanted to create an opportunity to get acquainted.

Ji Mingshu sat firmly in her seat, her gaze fixed straight ahead at the now-empty display platform, her expression cold as ice.

Gu Kaiyang watched with trepidation; the excitement of defeating class enemies and getting promoted had completely dissipated when Cen Sen repeatedly raised his paddle for Su Cheng’s pearl necklace.

She asked quietly, “When did your husband return? Did you two fight?”

“No.”

Ji Mingshu only answered the latter question because for the former, she didn’t know the answer either.

After some time, a pair of black leather shoes slowly stepped into her line of sight.

The shoe style was familiar, the lacing method unique. Almost the moment her gaze touched the surface of the shoe, Ji Mingshu’s mind conjured up an image of its owner.

“Mingshu, let’s go home.”

His voice was neither high nor low, plain and ordinary, giving Ji Mingshu the illusion that they were a normal couple who saw each other every day.

“I drove here myself… I…” Gu Kaiyang, teetering on her ten-centimeter stilettos, was secretly being pulled outward by Ji Mingshu and seemed somewhat unsteady. “You two go home if you want. Why drag me along? I don’t need to be sent…”

“You do need to be sent.”

Ji Mingshu gave her a cold glance, stuffing all her remaining words back down her throat.

Outside the Oil Painting Academy, the downpour had just subsided. The night was so thick there wasn’t a trace of light. The wind that blew by was half cool, half humid with summer night air.

The driver respectfully opened the passenger door.

Seeing that Cen Sen showed no sign of getting in, Ji Mingshu instinctively stepped forward, but Cen Sen suddenly raised his hand to block her, then imperceptibly looked toward Gu Kaiyang.

Gu Kaiyang shuddered, hurried forward with small steps, and very conscientiously sat in the passenger seat, leaving the spacious back seat for the young couple.

“Um, just drop me off at Star Harbor International, thank you.”

After giving the driver her address, Gu Kaiyang stole a glance at the cold couple in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

—Both were looking straight ahead, ignoring each other, with enough space between their seats to fit a two-hundred-pound person.

The Bentley entered the main road. For a full three minutes, not a sound was heard in the car. Gu Kaiyang felt that if the silence continued like this, all four people in the car might suffocate.

Just as she was formulating a topic to break the silence in the car, Boss Cen suddenly spoke, “Congratulations on your promotion, Miss Gu.”

Gu Kaiyang instinctively laughed dryly, “Thank you, thank you.” She also added a business-like compliment, “It’s been a while, Mr. Cen, you were also awesome tonight.”

Ji Mingshu gave her a white-eyed look through the rearview mirror.

“Awesome?” Cen Sen was unfamiliar with the new slang.

Before Gu Kaiyang could explain, Ji Mingshu casually responded, “You can think you were terrible if you want.”