Ji Mingshu knew very little about the Cen family’s history. It was only in eighth grade that she accidentally learned about Cen Sen’s rather melodramatic and bizarre background—

He and Cen Yang had been switched at birth.

Ji Mingshu didn’t know the specifics of how they were switched or how it was discovered when they were seven or eight years old. She only remembered that when she first learned about this, her initial reaction was shock.

The day before learning about this, middle-school Shu Bao had just finished a romance novel about a wealthy young lady who was deliberately switched by a malicious nanny. The female protagonist was, of course, the true young lady.

After reading it, she automatically imagined herself in the role of the false young lady, fantasizing: what if she had been switched at birth, and when she was about to get married, an ugly little white lotus swan would suddenly appear to fight with her for identity, fortune, and husband? Then, despite using various methods, she couldn’t defeat the little white lotus protagonist, ultimately ending up in a miserable situation with neither money nor love.

Her second reaction was that Cen Sen was, really, really hateful!

Reportedly, the Cen family’s initial plan was like this: they wanted to bring Cen Sen back to acknowledge his ancestry. As for Cen Yang, after raising him for so many years, their emotional bonds were already very deep, so they would continue to raise him as their child. The two brothers could keep each other company, and the Cen family certainly wouldn’t miss the small amount of money needed to raise a child.

But what they never expected was that Cen Sen refused to agree.

At such a young age, his attitude was exceptionally firm. He directly stated: if they wanted to bring him back to the Cen family, Cen Yang had to leave.

The Cen family was a very traditional clan. On the surface, they were harmonious, but in reality, they favored boys over girls and legitimate heirs over extended family members, not to mention the distinctions between blood relations.

So when faced with this choice, the Cen family prioritized satisfying Cen Sen, the true crown prince. Almost without any objection, they directly announced Cen Yang’s banishment.

Cen Yang was packed off back to the An family in Xingcheng. The Cen family also gave the An family a large sum for child support, making them emigrate and forbidding them from setting foot in the capital or Xingcheng before reaching adulthood. From then on, there was only Cen Sen in the Jingjiang Cen family, and no one was allowed to mention Cen Yang again.

At that time, Ji Mingshu thought, Why couldn’t you just come back? Why did you have to make Brother Cen Yang leave? So Brother Cen Yang hadn’t gone to study abroad but had been forced out by this male version of the ugly duckling.

This ugly duckling was too ruthless. Being so cruel at such a young age, how would he turn out when he grew up?

She genuinely empathized with Cen Yang’s situation and genuinely felt disgust and aversion toward Cen Sen, this cold-hearted, taciturn, moving iceberg. This truth was directly responsible for Ji Mingshu’s constant opposition to Cen Sen during her adolescence.

However, as she grew older, Ji Mingshu’s childhood affection for Cen Yang gradually faded and was forgotten. She also became increasingly able to consider matters from Cen Sen’s perspective.

In fact, from beginning to end, it wasn’t his fault. No one had the right to be a spectator and judge him carelessly.

The Maybach turned away from the airport and drove toward Star University faculty apartments.

The closer they got to Star University, the more nervous Ji Mingshu became. She kept holding up her little mirror to check her makeup and repeatedly smoothed her hair to ensure it was as sleek as silk.

Before getting out of the car, she even changed to a more modest colored lipstick and took out a trench coat from the trunk to put on. She was so prepared that she looked even more nervous than Cen Sen.

There was no help for it—she didn’t have a mother-in-law, and Cen Yuanchao’s health was poor. He now spent most of his time recuperating in a garden house in the suburban capital, not allowing visits. So she hadn’t had much interaction with the in-laws of her father-in-law and her mother-in-law’s generation.

An’s father and mother had raised Cen Sen for several years, accompanying him through the purest period of his childhood. No matter how distant they had become or how severed their connections were, there must still be some emotional ties.

These two could, reasonably speaking, be considered half her father-in-law and half her mother-in-law. Plus, they were both professors at Star University. She, as a half-daughter-in-law meeting them for the first time, was a bit nervous.

Ji Mingshu was so focused on her nervousness that she didn’t notice Cen Sen’s excessive silence throughout the journey.

Standing in front of Star University’s old faculty apartment building, she made final adjustments to her makeup, took out her wedding ring from her bag, and put it on, then intimately linked arms with Cen Sen, fully embodying the image of a virtuous and dutiful daughter-in-law.

However, this exemplary daughter-in-law was immediately challenged by the stairs.

The Star University faculty apartments must have been quite old. Not only was there no elevator, but the staircase was also narrow, small, steep, and high.

As luck would have it, Ji Mingshu was wearing a pair of pointy, thin, bling-bling CLs. After climbing just two floors, she was already struggling, and the An family lived on the seemingly distant sixth floor 🙂

“No, I can’t go on. I need to rest. This is too exhausting.”

After just three floors, Ji Mingshu had become a gasping salted fish. She clung to Cen Sen, refusing to move a step further, resembling a professional scammer who would lie down and pretend to faint on the road, demanding to be carried when still ten meters away.

Cen Sen glanced at her without saying a word, then walked down two steps, slightly bent his body, and said quietly, “Get on.”

Ji Mingshu: “…?”

She rubbed her calves, still finding it hard to believe that this dog of a man had suddenly shown humanity.

After reaching the sixth floor and getting down from Cen Sen’s back, Ji Mingshu quietly observed: strangely, she had never seen him exercise, yet he could carry a person up six flights of stairs without gasping for breath.

Had he secretly been taking New Cap in Cap brand high-calcium tablets?

No, it must be because she was consistently as light as a canary.

The old apartment building probably didn’t have good soundproofing. They had just reached the top of the stairs when the very vintage-looking security door on the right creaked open from inside.

A thin, delicate face peeked out from behind the door. “Excuse me, are you An… Cen, Brother Cen Sen?”

The girl looked about nineteen or twenty years old, with her hair tied back in a ponytail with a black hair tie. She wore no makeup and looked like a pure, simple college student.

Cen Sen paused slightly, then returned to normal, nodding and making an “mm” sound.

The girl stared at Cen Sen for a long time without shifting her gaze. When she saw Ji Mingshu behind him, she was even more stunned.

She had never seen such a beautiful woman in real life. Too beautiful, like she was glowing. Standing there, she made the entire building seem more valuable.

The girl was dumbfounded for quite a while before stutteringly showing them into the apartment.

This apartment was nearly 140 square meters, already the largest in the entire Star University faculty apartments. This was only possible because An’s father and mother were both professors, qualifying them for such privileged space.

But, just like how a certain female celebrity referred to diamonds under one carat as “diamond fragments,” in Ji Mingshu’s concept, anything under 300 square meters could only be classified as “apartment fragments.”

Upon entering, she was somewhat at a loss due to the nostalgic atmosphere and the confined space, not knowing where to stand.

She looked expectantly at Cen Sen, but he ignored her. His gaze lingered on the various items in the room, with a gentleness unlike his usual demeanor.

The simple college girl who had led them in neither introduced herself nor knew how to offer tea or water. She busied herself by rushing into the kitchen to notify Chen Biqing.

Soon after, An’s mother, Chen Biqing, wearing an apron and with silver strands in her hair, hurried out from the kitchen.

Chen Biqing must have been a beauty in her youth. Perhaps because of her literary cultivation, even in plain clothes and an apron, she carried an elegant scholarly aura. However, she didn’t quite look like a returned overseas Chinese who had immigrated for over a decade; she had a weathered appearance.

The old apartment was dusty. Light streamed in through the windows, illuminating dust particles that floated, suspended, in the air.

The apartment was also very quiet, with only a faint sound of the range hood coming from the kitchen.

Chen Biqing stood about three or four meters away from Cen Sen.. Almost the instant she saw him, her eyes reddened.

Then she covered her mouth, staring at Cen Sen without blinking, as tears rolled straight down her face.

For some reason, at that moment, Ji Mingshu’s heart felt like it was being tightly squeezed.

This was too strange. She was typically someone who would giggle and point out plot holes in pure, tragic romance movies, but she inexplicably felt that if she had a mother who loved her deeply, that mother would look at her just like Chen Biqing was looking at Cen Sen.

Cen Sen—she glanced at him.

No expression.

Facing the person he had called mother for seven or eight years, he remained expressionless.

She felt that in this lifetime, she would probably never find any additional emotions on Cen Sen’s face.

At noon, they sat down to eat. Ji Mingshu still hadn’t seen Cen Yang, who had been absent for many years, or An’s father, who should have been present. At the small square table, there were only Chen Biqing, Cen Sen, herself, and Cen Sen’s sister, An’ning.

When Cen Sen left, An’ning was only one year old, still a baby. The two didn’t have much of a sibling relationship, so naturally, they had nothing to say. Cen Sen was already quiet by nature, and Chen Biqing was constantly choking up, only able to divert attention by continuously serving food. Thus, the task of livening up the atmosphere unexpectedly fell on Ji Mingshu.

Ji Mingshu felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. She didn’t know how to address Chen Biqing. Following Cen Sen’s example wasn’t an option since he hadn’t addressed her at all. Chatting about recent events didn’t seem appropriate either. Her instinct told her that An’s father and Cen Yang were landmines to avoid. She even felt that asking An’ning where she was studying might inadvertently trigger a devastating explosion.

That being the case, her only option was to talk about the food in front of them.

“This lotus root stuffed with sticky rice is so delicious! I’ve never had it before.”

—That was because she never ate fried food.

“These vegetables are so fresh and fragrant.”

—That was because they were stir-fried in lard, a weight-gain culprit she would never touch.

“This fish is so tender…”

To back up her awkward praise for the fish with action, Ji Mingshu took a large piece and forced herself to swallow it.

The next second: “Cough! Cough, cough!”

She suddenly grabbed Cen Sen’s arm and pointed at her throat, coughing until her face turned red.

Chen Biqing: “What’s wrong? Did you get a bone stuck?”

An’ning: “Sister-in-law, are you okay? Take a spoonful of rice and swallow with some force.”

Ji Mingshu believed her and tried it, nearly dying of pain on the spot.

Chen Biqing hurriedly stood up, “I’ll get you some vinegar.”

With a clatter, a bowl of vinegar was poured. Ji Mingshu took a couple of sips. When the fishbone softened, she looked at the three people who had stood up around her and heard their concerned words, one after another. She felt a bit gratified.

To liven up the atmosphere, this baby has truly sacrificed too much.

Cen-style Sen Sen, you owe me, and you must repay with an aircraft carrier 🙂