After hanging up the phone, Cen Sen fell silent for a moment.

Just as Zhou Jiaheng came over to deliver documents, Cen Sen suddenly paused, looked up, and asked: “If a man likes a woman’s social media posts and compliments her photos as beautiful and cute, does that mean he’s pursuing her?”

Zhou Jiaheng’s mind was filled with work matters, and being caught off guard by such a question, he couldn’t react for several seconds.

When he finally processed it, he wondered: Was Mr. Cen hinting at something or speaking metaphorically? Or had some thorny emotional situation emerged that required him, as the chief assistant, to intuitively understand and proactively help resolve?

In just over ten seconds, Zhou Jiaheng had carefully formulated an appropriate response.

But Cen Sen seemed to realize he was overthinking and quickly looked away, saying before Zhou Jiaheng could speak, “Don’t overthink it, I was just asking.”

“…”

He had already overthought it.

Cen Sen: “You can go now.”

Zhou Jiaheng paused slightly, nodded briefly, and turned to leave, but his heart was unusually filled with confusion and anxiety.

Having followed Cen Sen for many years, he understood his temperament thoroughly. He could always immediately grasp what Cen Sen was thinking or doing and handle matters appropriately.

However, Cen Sen rarely mentioned personal emotional issues, and today’s attitude left him momentarily puzzled.

Not only was Zhou Jiaheng unable to figure it out, Cen Sen himself hadn’t quite understood it either.

The office was quiet. He removed his glasses and leaned back, unconsciously rubbing the bridge of his nose.

When it came to emotions, he had always been indifferent, couldn’t claim to understand women particularly well, and never had strong feelings of like or dislike toward anyone he dated—at most, he appreciated them.

As for Ji Mingshu, since their student days, she had possessed many flaws that fell outside his range of appreciation.

Flamboyant and unrestrained, shallow and vain, arrogant and domineering, extremely self-centered.

When Ji Mingshu childishly provoked him multiple times, he even thought that besides her face, this girl had absolutely nothing going for her.

Fortunately, their paths rarely crossed, and after high school graduation, they saw each other even less.

However, whenever he returned to Nanqiao Hutong, he would passively hear news about Ji Mingshu from the Cen family.

For instance, which university she had been admitted to, what gifts she had sent back from abroad, how beautiful she had grown up to be, which family’s son was pursuing her.

There had been a few informal encounters, but they were just fleeting glances without any conversation.

It wasn’t until the high school’s centennial celebration, when classmates organized a reunion, that he formally reconnected with Ji Mingshu.

He and Ji Mingshu weren’t in the same grade, so logically they shouldn’t have met at the reunion, but adult gatherings weren’t as pure and simple as reminiscing about classmate friendships—they were more about networking, exchanging resources, and making connections.

To put it more realistically, useless people had long been removed from the category of “classmates.”

Strangely enough, Cen Sen still remembered that Ji Mingshu wore a silver-green spaghetti strap long dress that night.

The dress style was simple and elegant, but the pleated body was intricately detailed. When she moved, the dense pleats swayed like rippling water.

A very thin matching belt cinched her waist, accentuating how slim it was, seemingly not even a handful.

By the time Ji Mingshu arrived, Cen Sen had already drunk quite a bit.

He felt clearheaded, yet when he saw her, for a moment, he mistakenly thought he was quite drunk.

Ji Mingshu’s two uncles, one in business and one in politics, both desperately needed powerful in-laws for support.

At that time, Cen Sen had just learned that they had already secretly found a match for Ji Mingshu.

The match they found was from the Su family, who had started in textile manufacturing in Jiangnan before expanding north several years ago. They had achieved considerably in both political and business circles. Although they couldn’t compare to the Cen family, they were already outstanding among the nouveau riche, with strong momentum and limitless prospects.

Cen Sen also knew the Su family’s younger son, intelligent, capable, and handsome, who was the Su family’s focus for development in his generation. However, his private life wasn’t very clean; he was interested in both men and women and indulged in various pleasures.

Thinking of this, then looking at the bright eyes and white teeth before him, so moving and beautiful, Cen Sen felt a trace of regret in his heart.

Perhaps starting from that regret, he vaguely had some thoughts, which was why he stepped in to take Ji Mingshu away when she accidentally drank spiked alcohol.

Cen Sen had originally intended to take Ji Mingshu to the hospital, but after sitting obediently for just a few minutes, she suddenly climbed onto his lap, straddling him face-to-face, rubbing his face, and cursing him.

She cursed him for worshipping foreign things, for having poor taste in dating a white lotus like Li Wenying, and then incoherently cursed him for breaking up with Li Wenying, saying that non-recyclable trash like them should be tightly locked together, not letting either one escape.

He had drunk a lot that night, and for leaving early to take care of this ungrateful woman, he had been pressured into drinking a glass of whiskey without ice, already quite tipsy.

He didn’t have time to think about where this woman’s resentment came from, why after years apart, she still remembered to give him a harsh scolding.

But right after cursing him, Ji Mingshu took the initiative to kiss him, moving from his lips to his Adam’s apple, like a lazy kitten, lightly licking him on and off, her voice sweet, even her curses sounding like coquetry.

Cen Sen was no paragon of virtue who could remain unmoved with a woman in his lap, and naturally couldn’t resist such vivid and sensual teasing.

For a few seconds, he wondered if this was some scheme set up by the Ji family to deliberately hook him. But with such a soft and warm beauty in his arms, he felt that taking the bait wasn’t so bad after all.

Just right—he happened to need such an exquisite vase as decoration.

The reminiscence abruptly ended as he entered the hotel suite. Cen Sen opened his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose again, and reopened the files on the desk.

He must be too tired lately to be overthinking because of one comment from young Pei Xiyan.

Ji Mingshu was his wife; complimenting her as beautiful and cute was perfectly normal. How could this be considered a pursuit or a question of liking?

Nonsensical.

But not long after, he paused again, picked up his phone, and sent Ji Mingshu a message.

Cen Sen: [When does your recording end today? I happen to be nearby and can pick you up.]

When Ji Mingshu saw this message, she was already exhausted like a dried fish.

Running around a renovation site was physically demanding. Even ordinary people would find it tiring, let alone a pampered young lady like Ji Mingshu.

She listlessly leaned against the window, called Cen Sen, her voice deflated: “Just saw your message. I’ve finished recording. I’m so tired, I’ll just go back by myself.”

Cen Sen: “I’m already here.”

Ji Mingshu instinctively glanced out the window.

In the corner of the parking area, a familiar car had its hazard lights flashing.

Just then, the staff finished packing up their equipment and called to her, “Teacher Ji, shall we go? The car has arrived.”

She covered the phone and turned back, “Oh, no need, my husband is here to pick me up.”

“Huh? Teacher Ji, you’re already married?”

“Can’t tell at all.”

The staff were extremely surprised to learn she was married.

When ordinary people participated in recordings, the production team would do some background investigation beforehand, but Ji Mingshu had been recommended by Meng Xiaowei. Since the financial backer had vetoed plans for her to create romantic buzz with Li Che and to feature her as a focus for filming, the production team hadn’t expended much energy on this ornamental vase.

Additionally, Ji Mingshu didn’t have the habit of wearing a wedding ring, and being fashionable and young, no one had thought in terms of marriage. Thus, her simple marital status became a blind spot hidden in plain sight.

Ji Mingshu didn’t have time to explain all this to them. She casually responded, then went to the restroom to fix her makeup before eagerly rushing downstairs.

She had been walking in high heels all day, and her legs were on the verge of trembling. As soon as she got in the car, she bent down to massage her calves, making “wuwuwu” and “ouch ouch ouch” sounds, as if wanting the whole world to hear her pain.

Cen Sen put down his documents and said casually, “You could wear flat shoes.”

“?”

“What do you know? High heels are a woman’s last stand! I would die before wearing flat shoes to a recording!”

“…”

Cen Sen coolly said, “Oh,” and continued reading his documents.

Oh?

Oh??

Oh???

Ji Mingshu stared at him in disbelief for ten seconds. Seeing him so nonchalant and leisurely while she was exhausted to the point of limp limbs and partial paralysis, she was furious!

She suddenly shifted her position, quickly and deftly placing first one leg, then both legs, onto Cen Sen’s lap.

“I’m in pain, massage them for me.”

She spoke with such righteous confidence that when Cen Sen turned to look at her, he couldn’t tell if she was being coquettish or commanding.

After speaking, Ji Mingshu shamelessly ignored him and started playing with her phone.

Cen Sen lowered his gaze, looked at her legs for a while, and remained motionless.

“I’m in pain! Pain pain pain pain!”

Ji Mingshu moved a couple of times to urge him, her tone carrying a coquettishness she didn’t notice.

Cen Sen felt a slight stirring in his heart, thinking about something unknown, and actually rolled up his sleeves unhurriedly and began gently kneading her calves.

“…”

He did it?

Ji Mingshu instinctively shrank back a little.

She had just wanted to act a bit spoiled and torment this scoundrel, not expecting him to be so accommodating today.

Fortunately, she was very good at accepting others’ kindness, and quickly relaxed, settling comfortably into the seat, contentedly enjoying the exclusive service worth thousands every second.

It would be too wasteful not to brag about such a rare occurrence as Cen Sen massaging her legs.

Ji Mingshu opened WeChat, thinking about how to post to Moments without seeming too affected.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated—Gu Kaiyang had sent a message.

Gu Kaiyang: [Aaaaaah sister hang in there!]

Gu Kaiyang: [Li Wenying’s interview is out!]

Gu Kaiyang: [Let me show you the key points, I’ve never seen anyone so shameless!!!]

Ji Mingshu: [?]

Gu Kaiyang sent a screenshot of the interview with key parts highlighted in red.

The thumbnail showed the large characters “Li Wenying Interview” at the top. Ji Mingshu’s heart sank as she clicked to open it, quickly scanning for the main points—

Li Wenying: “I think having your written work made into a film should be every writer’s dream. The story I wrote is very… how should I say it… very special to me, and irreplaceable.”

…

Li Wenying: “Yes, actually, many people know this story has a real-life basis, which is me and my first love. Before, I wrote a post on Weibo titled ‘My First Love Got Married,’ without thinking much about it, not expecting it would be widely shared. Later, fearing it might cause him trouble, I chose to delete it.”

…

Li Wenying: “I don’t want to disturb him by making this film. I just want to say that when people are young, they often don’t know how to cherish what they have, being immature and reckless. Perhaps because of my immaturity and recklessness, I’ve forever lost him, but in another sense, we once shared the most beautiful time of our lives.”

…

Li Wenying: “Yes, this story is very important and meaningful to me, so I will do my utmost to present it in its most perfect form. I also hope that when it appears on the big screen, everyone can recall their youth, remember their most irreplaceable years. This is also my most sincere wish for him.”

???

Wish?

What bullshit is this? Does this little white lotus dare say this to her face? If she doesn’t smear this white lotus’s face with excrement, she’s not worthy of the Ji name!!!

Ji Mingshu could barely control the murderous energy within her, and her legs suddenly jerked.

Seeing this, Cen Sen glanced up at her, “What’s wrong?”

The little flame of anger had already spread to all of Ji Mingshu’s internal organs, and she felt like she could spit phoenix fire if she opened her mouth. She held back repeatedly, choking on the blood in her heart, and said casually, “Nothing.”

I, dignified and virtuous, absolutely must not get angry!!!