“Why do you keep teasing her? She’s much more interesting than those plastic sisters in your circle.”
After Jiang Chun left, Gu Kaiyang fiddled with her straw, glancing sideways at Ji Mingshu.
Ji Mingshu replied casually, “Precisely because she’s interesting. Don’t you think she’s just like a penguin? So cute.”
Gu Kaiyang paused, not knowing where to begin with her eye-rolling.
After teasing Jiang Chun and getting a full-body spa, Ji Mingshu’s mood had improved considerably compared to when she was in the hot spring.
Unlike how she had shown off to Jiang Chun earlier, Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen had very little contact. Whether in China or abroad, they rarely initiated communication with each other, let alone talk about who was accompanying whom at night. Even running into each other at home depended on fate.
Cen Sen’s early morning offense made Ji Mingshu unwilling to engage with even this slim chance of fate.
She didn’t return to Mingshui the entire weekend, enjoying herself freely in her downtown apartment while contemplating and modifying some design drawings.
Admittedly, Cen Sen’s mockery had wounded her pride. She repeatedly reviewed her blueprints and photos of the Zero Degrees banquet venue, suddenly grateful that interior designers usually remained anonymous for such occasions.
Cen Sen didn’t return to Mingshui Mansion either. Having just returned to the country, he was overwhelmed with social engagements. Besides, the drama at the company had just begun, and how could the protagonist leave early?
On Monday, after Cen Sen’s notice about taking over the group, Jun Yi employees received another bombshell.
Without warning, the internal network published personnel changes for dozens of high-level executives, including the current general manager, Huang Peng, who hadn’t shown up when Cen Sen returned to the company, instead sending his secretary to establish dominance.
These so-called personnel changes, put simply, meant firing.
Outside the president’s office on the 68th floor, a row of black-suited bodyguards had been standing since early morning.
Today’s spectacle at Jun Yi—
Several high-level executives, hair bristling with rage, stormed into the president’s office demanding an explanation, only to be mercilessly dragged out by bodyguards and sent into elevators.
Some executives seemed to lose their minds. After being dragged out, completely disregarding their usually lofty image, they cursed and made scenes in front of employees, floor by floor, their tantrum-throwing extremely unsightly.
People are strange creatures who don’t learn their lessons until the pain falls on them. If the parasites from the southern Cen branch were still entrenched in the company from a few years ago, they would certainly have found today’s scene nothing out of the ordinary.
If one were to compare, Cen Sen’s actions today seemed relatively gentle, considering that last time, he had directly ordered bodyguards to throw people out of the corporate building.
The last to visit the president’s office was Huang Peng.
At first glance, the name Huang Peng seemed robust and bold, but the man himself was slender, with gentle features and a stylish appearance.
Approaching sixty years of age, he maintained the appearance of a handsome middle-aged man in his early forties, fitting perfectly with compliments like “elegant and refined.”
Perhaps if he hadn’t been so well-groomed, and if he didn’t enjoy discussing life and philosophy before bedtime, those young girls in their twenties wouldn’t have abandoned the son for the father, like in “The Story of Ximen Qing.”
“Uncle Huang, please sit.”
Cen Sen politely invited him to sit, but Huang Peng found it difficult to maintain his usual composed demeanor that suggested everything was under control.
He stood straight, with an unmistakable coldness in his voice, “I wouldn’t dare. I fear Mr. Cen and I cannot claim such an uncle-nephew relationship.”
“What are you saying, Uncle Huang?” Cen Sen leaned back slightly against his chair and got straight to the point, “If it wasn’t for Uncle Huang’s sake, why would I look after Xiao Feng? Xiao Feng has been playing a bit too wildly lately. In my opinion, he needs to learn a lesson.”
Having prepared for this for so long, he no longer wanted to beat around the bush.
Hearing these words, Huang Peng’s pupils suddenly contracted.
Huang Zifeng was Huang Peng’s only son, who had been unruly since childhood. He was skilled in all bad things and nothing good, and at eighteen, he even competed with his father for a woman, broadcasting their family scandal for all to know.
Unfortunately for him, the young lady preferred the mature and steady type, discarding him like worn-out shoes, steadfastly following Huang Peng.
Because of this, the already disharmonious father-son relationship deteriorated further. In recent years, Huang Zifeng had been playing increasingly wildly outside. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a social outcast with all five poisons.
“What have you done to Xiao Feng?”
Huang Peng’s voice lowered, and the tension in his words was palpable.
He had always either beaten or scolded this good-for-nothing son, but after all, this was his only seed to inherit the Huang lineage. If not for his outward discipline but inward indulgence, Huang Zifeng wouldn’t have become such a waste.
Cen Sen clasped his hands together and said slowly, “A few days ago, I was in Star City and happened to run into Xiao Feng when he and his friends were playing too hard and got detained by the police. I’ve already spoken to the station, so Uncle Huang doesn’t need to worry.”
Busy dealing with the major moves of the Cen father and son, Huang Peng hadn’t had time to keep track of Huang Zifeng’s whereabouts. Thinking back carefully now, he realized he hadn’t heard news of Huang Zifeng for about a week.
Huang Peng was well aware of his son’s character. Last year, three boys and three girls had been caught doing drugs, and it had taken considerable effort to bail them out. This time, being detained for so long without any noise, Cen Sen came prepared.
The air fell into inexplicable silence at this moment.
Huang Peng’s tense expression relaxed a bit, and his attitude suddenly softened considerably. First, he expressed thanks, then began to reminisce about old ties.
“Come to think of it, you and Xiao Feng are like brothers. When he was in high school, he always mentioned ‘Brother Sen.. ‘ So many years have passed. He’s not like you; he hasn’t amounted to much.”
As he spoke, he shook his head to himself.
Unfortunately, Cen Sen’s expression remained impassive, as if he hadn’t heard. He opened a document beside him and pushed it forward along with a pen whose cap he had just removed.
“Retirement is a good thing. Uncle Huang will have more time to discipline Xiao Feng in the future.”
Today, he wore only a tailored dark shirt. As he raised his hand to adjust his collar, one could vaguely see the silver square cufflinks on his wrist, which, like the newly added black, white, and gray metal elements in this office, made him appear cold and distant.
The outcome of this confrontation had been determined long ago.
Seeing that Cen Sen was completely unmoved by the emotional appeal, the softness on Huang Peng’s face gradually became rigid, then slowly receded.
After a long silence, Huang Peng still stepped forward.
He looked straight at Cen Sen, taking the pen very slowly, refusing to bend his waist. When signing at the end of the document, he didn’t even look at what he was signing.
Cen Sen didn’t avoid his gaze either. After Zhou Jiaheng confirmed the signature, he said coldly, “Rest assured, Uncle Huang. I’ve reserved a table at Lan Lou for Xiao Feng as a welcome home. If you go now, the timing will be just right. The company has many matters to attend to, so I won’t join you.”
Blue veins faintly bulged on Huang Peng’s forehead, and his mouth twitched slightly, though not very noticeably. Then, without a word, he left the office.
Although he never bent his waist, his departing figure somehow seemed less upright than when he had entered.
After he was gone, Zhou Jiaheng stepped forward and, as if nothing had happened, reported to Cen Sen, “Mr. Cen, Jinsheng has agreed to transfer the land in northern Star City, and Director Lu has reduced the price by five percentage points. I’ve already prepared gifts to be sent to Jinsheng. The legal department is processing the contract, which is expected to be signed this week.”
Cen Sen nodded.
“This is the adjusted schedule for this week, please take a look.” Zhou Jiaheng handed over the tablet. “Also, South Bridge Hutong is calling, inviting you and your wife for dinner tonight.”
Cen Sen looked at the tablet and continued nodding.
Thinking of something suddenly, he asked, “Is my wife at home?”
Zhou Jiaheng kept his eyes fixed, neither looking up nor down. “She’s at Bai Cui Tian Hua.”
Bai Cui Tian Hua was a well-known serviced apartment hotel in the capital. In a place like the capital, where every inch of land was precious, high property prices weren’t unusual. What made Bai Cui Tian Hua widely known was its circle culture concept.
When Bai Cui Tian Hua first opened for sales, there were rumors that they strictly vetted buyers’ qualifications and rejected purchase requests from many celebrities.
Whether this was true or just property hype is difficult to verify now, but today, it has indeed been successfully established as a gathering place for blockchain tycoons.
Ji Mingshu’s apartment here was a wedding gift from her uncle Ji Rusong, occupying an entire floor at the top of Bai Cui Tian Hua.
On one side was a nearly twenty-meter-long arc-shaped panoramic floor-to-ceiling window; on the other was a spacious balcony like a pavilion in the sky, offering an unobstructed view of the southern capital.
Ji Mingshu had planted many flowers and small trees on the balcony. Though she didn’t even know how to take care of herself, being a hothouse flower, the plants and trees she grew flourished wildly into a peculiar garden, exuberant and vibrant.
When Cen Sen arrived downstairs, Ji Mingshu had just finished a satisfactory drawing.
She admired the drawing repeatedly, almost wanting to call Gu Kaiyang and demand they immediately hold another banquet, then drag Cen Sen to the venue to make him open his dog eyes and see Miss Ji’s true level of skill, which was earth-shattering and miraculous.
After admiring it one hundred and eighty times, Ji Mingshu finally got up, satisfied, stretched lazily, and walked through the messy floor to run water for the bathtub.
Living alone, she didn’t need to be so formal, so she deliberately placed the bathtub in the sunroom.
After filling the tub, she casually turned on the music, closed the curtains facing the window, and immersed herself in the warm water.
Downstairs, Cen Sen called Ji Mingshu twice. The calls went through, but no one answered.
After going upstairs, he patiently pressed the doorbell for a minute. With no response from inside, he finally swiped his card to open the door.
The problem was that the house had such good soundproofing that it was completely silent outside, but when the door opened, ear-splitting heavy metal music blared out.
Cen Sen stood at the door. For a moment, he thought this young lady couldn’t bear loneliness even in broad daylight and had to invite a bunch of low-intelligence creatures for a party at home.
When he saw the messy but empty house, he heard a female rapper’s passionate voice, seemingly out of her mind, mixed in with the music:
“Hey boy, look at me!”
“…”
Cen Sen looked toward the sound and saw Ji Mingshu sitting in the center of a bathtub full of bubbles, holding a speaker in one hand and raising the other, making a “yo-yo” gesture and occasionally thrusting upward.
“Ji Mingshu is a fairy!”
“Fairy! Fairy!”
“A fairy that captivates all living beings!”
“Fairy! Fairy!”
Although not a single line matched the rhythm, she knew how to build atmosphere, singing one line herself and then vividly imitating the audience’s response.
Cen Sen was forced to appreciate this for thirty seconds.
Just when he thought this fatal, passionate rap had ended, Rapper Ji used her creative prowess to tell him that everything was just beginning.
“Ji Mingshu is a fairy!”
“Fairy! Fairy!”
“A fairy that makes you bow beneath her skirt!”
“Fairy! Fairy!”
“A fairy you can’t sleep with!”
“Fairy! Fairy!”
“Your sexual orientation’s sniper! Sniper! Skr~!”
The “skr” accompanied by an aiming and shooting gesture perfectly concluded the performance, but the air fell into dead silence at that second.
Through the sunroom glass, Ji Mingshu seemed to see a line written coldly on Cen Sen’s face: Oh, but I did sleep with you.