The movie’s plot was simple and melodramatic, the kind where you could guess the ending from the beginning, but Ji Mingshu still watched it with genuine emotion.
After leaving the theater, she took a photo of the ticket stub and posted it on her Moments, providing a spoiler-free technical review for others.
When she took the photo, Cen Sen was standing to her right, and his custom wristwatch accidentally appeared in the frame. She noticed it while editing the photo, but for some reason, she neither cropped nor hid it, pretending she hadn’t noticed anything, and posted it directly.
At four in the morning, quite a few party animals were still awake. Within five minutes of Ji Mingshu posting, her Moments received over a hundred likes.
Shu Yang was also awake, playing cards with friends at a bar.
Seeing Ji Mingshu’s post, he zoomed in on the image, squinted to observe it, and suddenly his eyes lit up with delight.
Shu Yang: [Image]
Shu Yang: [Accompanying his wife to watch a movie at four in the morning, Brother Sen is amazing.]
Shu Yang: [In the future, if anyone says our Brother Sen is an emotionally inept man of steel, I’ll be the first to argue with them. This professional quality, this business capability—I’m not exaggerating, you’d be top-ranked even selling beer!]
Shu Yang: [Jiang Che, Mr. Jiang, take notes.]
They had a WeChat group chat with several close friends, with Jiang Che as the group owner.
Usually, Jiang Che, Shu Yang, and Zhao Yang were all active in it, while Cen Sen was basically in a state of growing-grass-over-a-grave silence. But occasionally, he would come back from the dead and forward some current events or industry updates to the group.
At this moment, Shu Yang was teasing in the group, relying on the fact that it was the middle of the night and no one would be online to rebuke him.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Che had argued with Zhou You tonight, went home playing the good husband, served her by washing her feet and coaxing her to sleep with great effort. Now the two were lying in the same bed and couldn’t do anything, so he was feeling quite frustrated. Shu Yang happened to run into his line of fire, seeking self-humiliation, and naturally, Jiang Che wouldn’t miss this excellent opportunity.
Moreover, Jiang Che had always been a faithful supporter of the “if I’m not happy, you all have to die” modern burial system. He berated Shu Yang without giving him a chance to defend himself and directly kicked him out of the group chat.
Still not satisfied with this, he also dug up Zhao Yang, who was sound asleep and completely unaware of all this, and humiliated him by bringing up old grievances. Finally, it was Cen Sen’s turn.
—Perhaps feeling that his full-on mockery mode would be too lonely without an audience, he added Shu Yang back to the group.
Jiang Che: [Cen Sen, what are you showing off by posting a movie at four in the morning? If you’ve got the guts, take your wife home and roll in the sheets instead of making a spectacle outside.]
Jiang Che: [We still have the signing with Rong Yue at nine tomorrow morning. Looking at your sorry state, you might as well not go. Working with someone like you, who’s so wife-obsessed, is truly my bad luck from eight lifetimes.]
Shu Yang inserted a timely comment.
Shu Yang: [Being out so late, he probably can’t take his wife home.]
Jiang Che: [That’s right, I guess he won’t be able to take her home this year.]
The two sang in harmony, seemingly resolving their previous grudges.
“What are you looking at?” Ji Mingshu asked casually as they were going down the elevator, seeing Cen Sen staring at his phone.
Cen Sen replied indifferently, “Nothing, just saw that you posted on Moments earlier.”
Ji Mingshu remembered the photo she posted and felt a bit nervous, not daring to ask further.
Cen Sen lowered his eyelids and forwarded a financial news item to the group about his and Jiang Che’s collaboration—Chengzhen Capital and Rong Yue Technology reaching the third stage of strategic cooperation.
The news clearly stated that the signing ceremony took place at 9 AM on December 23 in Canberra, Australia, which was already forty-three hours ago.
Cen Sen: [I wonder who’s had bad luck for eight lifetimes.]
Cen Sen: [Your last sentence bounced back to yourself.]
Jiang Che: […]
Jiang Che: [Are you three years old? Still saying “bounced back.”]
Cen Sen didn’t reply anymore because the elevator had reached the first floor.
The night was deep and cold. Their car was still parked at the west gate. Cen Sen took off his coat and draped it over Ji Mingshu’s shoulders. The two walked side by side back toward the west gate.
At four in the morning in the capital, the night was ink-black and thick. Under the quiet streetlights, snowflakes occasionally drifted down. A thick layer of fresh snow covered the ground; shoes stepping on it made creaking sounds.
Cen Sen: “Tired?”
“A little.” Before being asked, she was fine, but once asked, Ji Mingshu involuntarily yawned.
After getting in the car, Cen Sen checked the time and calmly suggested, “Let’s go back to Mingshui. I have a meeting tomorrow morning, so we won’t get much sleep.”
Ji Mingshu fiddled with her seatbelt, not answering immediately.
She stared straight ahead at the snowy ground, as if seriously contemplating something.
When the car started, she nodded with dignity, reluctantly saying, “Since you have a meeting in the morning, let’s stay at Mingshui for the night.”
“Mm.”
Cen Sen turned the steering wheel, his head slightly tilted toward the driver’s side window.
From an angle, Ji Mingshu couldn’t see, the corner of his lips curved upward slightly.
After agreeing, Ji Mingshu felt uncomfortable all over. She lowered the seat back and lay down, “I’m a bit tired, I’ll take a nap first.”
Cen Sen replied with another “Mm,” and reminded her, “There’s a blanket behind the seat.”
Ji Mingshu pulled out a blanket and neatly covered herself with it, her hands properly folded on her abdomen.
Though she was indeed sleepy, looking up at the car ceiling, she just couldn’t fall asleep. On one hand, she felt so content watching the first snow and spending Christmas with Cen Sen; on the other hand, remembering Cen Sen’s hurtful words from the night before she left home, she felt she had no backbone for being lured back without even receiving an apology.
These two thoughts intertwined in her mind. She turned to the left, turned to the right, unable to fall asleep. Finally, she raised the seat back up.
“What’s wrong?”
Ji Mingshu sat cross-legged on the seat, hugging a peculiarly designed “Fu” character pillow from the 4S store. Her train of thought had taken who knows how many turns when she suddenly mumbled, “Nothing, just, just, I feel I should explain to you that I haven’t done anything to betray you.”
Cen Sen glanced at her.
“Cen Yang and I just had a simple meal together, and I didn’t notice beforehand that the day he asked me out was Christmas Eve. When he hugged me, it was just a hug between friends, you know?”
“Mm, I know.”
Cen Sen responded indifferently.
“…”
Ji Mingshu looked at him expectantly.
That’s it? Just like that?
He seemed completely unconcerned… well, that’s not the point. Even if he wasn’t jealous, as an equivalent exchange, shouldn’t he take the initiative to explain the situation with Li Wenyin and then apologize to her? What kind of man is this?
Just as Ji Mingshu was contemplating whether to ask more directly, Cen Sen finally understood the deeper meaning behind her painstaking, roundabout approach.
As the car passed over the bridge from Mingshui Mansion to the lake center, he slowed down and said, “I haven’t done anything to betray you either.”
Here it comes, finally!
He’s not beyond hope after all!
Ji Mingshu sat up straighter, ready to listen attentively.
But five seconds passed, ten seconds passed, thirty seconds passed, and before she knew it, Cen Sen had already expertly swung the car into the garage, and she still hadn’t heard what came next.
Getting out of the car, she was still confused, clutching that ugly pillow and refusing to let it go, bringing it all the way to the bedroom.
They had gone out for two meals that day and even watched a movie in the dead of night. After a quick shower, Ji Mingshu still wanted to properly question Cen Sen, but her body’s fatigue ultimately triumphed over her mental struggle. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep sleep.
With the year-end being busy, Cen Sen was occupied with work and hadn’t rested well for many days. Having freed up half a day, he still had to placate Ji Mingshu.
Fortunately, he had successfully coaxed her back, and he felt somewhat relieved mentally. After washing up, he got into bed from the other side, pulled Ji Mingshu into his arms, and fell into a deep sleep.
Ji Mingshu slept straight through until two in the afternoon. Cen Sen had already left for work.
She sat up in bed, rubbing her head, feeling a sense of both alienation and familiarity with this bedroom she hadn’t stepped into for days.
Today was Christmas Day, so naturally, there were greetings from all directions on her phone.
Ji Mingshu glanced briefly at a few messages, then suddenly noticed greetings and notifications from the producer of “Design Home.” The post-production of “Design Home” had been completed, and the show had been scheduled to air on Xingcheng Satellite TV in mid-January.
The producer also informed these amateur designers that they could apply for Weibo verification with the show’s keywords in advance, and they could expedite the process.
Scheduled so quickly?
Money does make the world go round.
There were also Christmas greetings from Feng Yan from her team and Li Che from a different team.
Being a celebrity after all, Ji Mingshu politely replied with a “Merry Christmas.”
But it was while replying to Li Che that Ji Mingshu suddenly recalled something he had once said: “Actually, it’s quite a pity. The producer said I was originally arranged to be in your team, but the sponsor had their considerations, so they switched the grouping arrangements.”
The sponsor had their considerations…
At that time, Ji Mingshu didn’t know that the sponsor of “Design Home” was Junyi, and she wasn’t interested in whether she was grouped with Li Che or not, so she didn’t pay attention at all.
Thinking about it carefully now, could this have been Cen Sen’s doing?
She sat up straighter and carefully chose her words to ask Li Che.
Li Che, being quite a leisurely celebrity, replied almost instantly with a voice message.
However, Ji Mingshu wasn’t interested in hearing his magnetic voice and directly converted it to text—yes, that was the case. The sponsor had their pre-selected designers, which many people knew about. Considering the sponsor, the production team might have their considerations regarding shot editing and other aspects. But there are some things I can’t say too much about. Ms. Ji, don’t be disappointed; gold will shine no matter where it is.
Ji Mingshu stared at the converted text, and flames of anger surged up to her head.
Li Che may have spoken quite euphemistically, but only a fool wouldn’t understand his meaning, right? Wasn’t he telling her: the show has insider dealings, Junyi doesn’t want you to overshadow their supported designer, so be prepared for your final footage to be heavily cut?!
Cen Sen, you dead pig’s trotter!
If he dared to heavily edit her footage after she had worked so hard for over a month, she would burn down Mingshui Mansion!!!
The more Ji Mingshu thought about it, the angrier she became. Thinking about how she had been foolishly lured back by him last night without even hearing an apology made her even more furious.
She tumbled out of bed, freshened up, and went out, expressionlessly instructing the driver to take her back to Xingang International.
Hearing that she wanted to go to Xingang International again, the driver felt a bit uneasy and instinctively wanted to send a message to Zhou Jiaheng to report.
Ji Mingshu took a deep breath, maintaining her final calm, and said, “I’m just going to get some things, no need to tell Zhou Jiaheng.”
In the loft apartment at Xingang International, Gu Kaiyang had just obtained a new door card from the property management and wanted to take advantage of this rare day off to do a thorough cleaning after sending off her friend.
She was mopping the floor while humming a song, feeling great. She was thinking about how she was truly a little miracle worker, and last night’s operation was simply brilliant.
It wasn’t that she, as a plastic sister, disliked Ji Mingshu. It was mainly that a young lady like Ji Mingshu was only suitable for eating and drinking together, not living together!
It was too much!
In this world, probably only a man like Cen Sen could unconditionally lavish money on her and offer loving support!
Gu Kaiyang had barely been in high spirits for five minutes when suddenly there was the sound of a door card being swiped at the entrance.
“You… why are you back?”
Gu Kaiyang turned around, dumbfounded for three seconds, her expression gradually stiffening.
Ji Mingshu had a sour face. “When did I say I was leaving? What’s with that expression? Are you annoyed with me?!”
The survival instinct made Gu Kaiyang shake her head frantically.
Meanwhile, Cen Sen had finished shopping for ingredients at the supermarket and was sitting in the back seat of the car, resting with his eyes closed.
Today’s pork ribs were very tender and fresh. His little goldfinch would like them.