The capital grew colder day by day. On the day of “Zero Degrees” “Stress Relief Day” appreciation salon, Gu Kaiyang got up at five in the morning.

She washed up and applied makeup quietly, but still woke up Ji Mingshu.

Ji Mingshu sat up on the bed with sleepy eyes, wrapped herself tightly in her soft blanket, and watched Gu Kaiyang leave with envious and wistful eyes.

Was Ji Mingshu truly uninterested in various parties and salons?

No, not at all! A party animal would never grow tired of social activities!

But she just didn’t want to be mocked.

In this early dawn, Ji Mingshu couldn’t help but recall her past glory days as the number one socialite in the imperial city, dominating all social occasions.

After feeling sorry for herself for thirty seconds, she lay back in bed, barely managed to think of a few benefits of staying at home, and then fell asleep again.

At nine o’clock, there was a faint sound of a door card being sensed at the door, and someone pushed it open.

Ji Mingshu didn’t wake up, unconsciously turned over, her small mouth with pale lips smacking slightly, as if dreaming of something wonderful, surrounded by braised pork ribs.

The apartment’s living room was cramped, and the visitor had reached the center of the room in just a few steps. He looked up at the second floor and, through the gaps in the wooden railings, faintly saw Ji Mingshu’s sleeping face with her eyes tightly closed.

His footsteps were light as he slowly ascended the wooden stairs.

Ji Mingshu was sleeping soundly, but not without any sense of crisis. The moment the visitor sat down on the edge of the bed and wanted to reach out to help her smooth her stray hair—

Just like in a martial arts film where a villain tries to stab someone while they’re asleep, but the person always manages to precisely fake death the moment the villain draws the knife, she suddenly opened her eyes.

What entered her sight was a cold, stern face she hadn’t seen for days but had been thinking about day and night.

Ji Mingshu stared for three seconds, rubbed her eyes, muttered something incomprehensible in her sleep talk, and turned to face the other side.

About half a minute later, she suddenly turned back, staring at the visitor without blinking, and even reached out to poke his Adam’s apple.

Cen Sen.

A real one.

“Why are you here?”

She was still lying flat on the bed, having just woken up, her voice soft and a bit hoarse.

Cen Sen lowered his eyes, saw her bare arms, and remembered the bikini photos she had posted for four or five consecutive days. His eyes darkened slightly. “Zero Degrees has an event today, I’ve come to take you to attend together.”

Ji Mingshu hadn’t quite reacted yet and responded with a dull “Oh,” using her elbows to try to sit up.

Cen Sen reached out at the right moment to help her prop up the pillow.

She sat back and leaned softly against the headboard, looking at Cen Sen with vacant eyes, completely out of it.

Cen Sen had wanted to help tidy her hair, but who knew how she had slept at night—her hair was a mess all over her head. Combined with her dazed expression, she looked exactly like a little crazy person.

She remained completely oblivious, and after becoming slightly more awake, she gestured for Cen Sen to move away a bit, very conscious of her image. “I haven’t brushed my teeth, don’t stay so close to me.”

“…”

Cen Sen obeyed and stood up, still looking at her.

Actually, he had always thought Ji Mingshu looked better without makeup. Her facial features were smooth, her skin was white and delicate, and when she wasn’t wearing makeup, she had a rare, innocent, and childlike quality.

But Ji Mingshu saw him staring at her and thought her sleeping appearance was too disheveled or that she had drooled, so she unconsciously touched the corner of her lips.

Cen Sen paused slightly, finally shifting his gaze to check the time. “Are you getting up now? The stylist is already downstairs.”

Stylist?

Ji Mingshu’s brain finally rebooted completely and connected to the signal Cen Sen had sent earlier—he had come to take her to attend the “Zero Degrees” “Stress Relief Day” appreciation salon.

Indeed, if you live long enough, you’ll see everything.

Cen Sen was the type of cold, pragmatic person who extremely disliked useless social activities. From her memory, he had only attended a few events with her right after they got married, and those were all elite-level gatherings where political and business elites and celebrities congregated, where he had to bring his official wife. They had many rules and were very purpose-driven.

The “Zero Degrees” salon was recreational. Without even thinking, she knew that the attendees would be some circle socialites with nothing better to do, celebrities there to pose for official photos or perform, and some internet celebrities crashing the event to boost their status.

So why was he going? Didn’t he think that a legitimate tycoon like himself, who casually talked about billions, wasn’t suited to appear at such a young and trendy occasion?

Seeing that she hadn’t spoken, Cen Sen asked again: “Or do you need to sleep a bit more?”

Ji Mingshu shook her head, simultaneously shaking off all those thoughts in her head that had strayed from the main point.

Why should she care whether Cen Sen attended the salon or not? She was still in a one-sided cold war with Cen Sen, so her attitude shouldn’t be so kind and friendly!

Her expression instantly changed, and she clutched her small blanket while coldly eyeing him. “You still haven’t answered why you’re here. Did Gu Kaiyang give you the door card? Did you conspire with Gu Kaiyang? Shameless!”

Not seeing him for half a month, just sending a few perfunctory WeChat messages to check in, and now that he had free time before the New Year, he colluded with her best friend to come and make amends. Who knew if it was just to coax her back to deal with the Cen family? He had the nerve to act like nothing had happened early this morning, thinking everyone had amnesia and would go along with his act that nothing had happened? There wasn’t even a chimney!

And as for Gu Kaiyang, that plastic little sister who collaborated with the enemy, well, she’d deal with her later.

But just as she had finally composed herself and was ready to face the battle, Cen Sen sat down again on the edge of the bed, tilted his head slightly to look at her, and suddenly said, “I’m sorry, Mingshu.”

The air fell silent for a moment.

“There are many things where I didn’t consider your feelings—the show, the movie, and the hurtful words during our fight.”

“I can’t guarantee that I can change my ways overnight, but I can promise you that in the future, when dealing with matters related to you, I will prioritize your feelings.”

He spoke calmly and seriously.

Ji Mingshu couldn’t help but be stunned.

She had known Cen Sen for nearly twenty years, and this was the first time she had heard a somewhat sincere apology from his mouth.

This apology came so suddenly that she didn’t know how to respond at the moment, and could only clutch her small blanket, watching him without blinking.

Cen Sen reached out to smooth her stray hair, his body leaning slightly closer, bringing the distance very close in an instant, almost close enough to feel each other’s breath.

Ji Mingshu reflexively started blushing from the roots of her ears, and her heartbeat also accelerated against her will.

Cen Sen examined her up close, then suddenly placed a kiss on her lips.

The kiss was brief and without lust, with a rare gentleness, and his voice seemed to become low and tender as well. “Mingshu, come home with me.”

Who could resist this!!!

Ji Mingshu’s heart was already madly bubbling with sweetness, and the little goldfinch crouching obediently in the center of the sweet bubbles nodded frantically like a bird pecking at rice.

But her subconscious kept reminding her: stay steady, don’t break down, the success or failure of your future status in the family depends on this move!!!

“I told you I haven’t brushed my teeth!”

She pretended to wipe her mouth, lowered her eyelashes, and mumbled softly: “If… if you had this realization earlier, I’m not an unreasonable person.”

Cen Sen patiently responded with an “Mm.”

Her heart was beating fast, and she had almost wrinkled that part of the blanket by clutching it so hard, but she couldn’t help continuing to clutch it.

“Then… since you’ve apologized and promised so sincerely, I can go back, but as you said yourself, you have to be good to me in the future. If you’re not good to me and make me lose face, I will really…” The word “divorce” got stuck in her throat; she didn’t want to say it. “Anyway, you’ll see.”

Cen Sen replied with another “Mm,” and continued from where she left off: “During the half month you were away, I had Mingshui’s dressing room renovated, adding stairs and an elevator in the original dressing room leading to the third floor. The four guest rooms on the left upstairs have been converted into your new dressing room. The housekeeper has reorganized everything by brand and season for you, and the brands you like have visited the house and filled it with new styles in your size.”

“I also had Zhou Jiaheng contact haute couture workshops, but those few said it would be better if you were there in person for measurements and tailoring.”

“…”

Ji Mingshu was speechless for a while.

Cen Sen pondered for a moment, then remembered something else. “I recall you mentioned before that the yacht at home was a bit small. I’ve ordered an Azimut 60 for you. I originally wanted to get the 100-foot one, but a 100-foot yacht would be troublesome to dock. This one should be enough for your summer sea parties.”

“…”

Had he suddenly been enlightened by Buddha?

Ji Mingshu was in shock that “this dog of a man would take the initiative to feed her,” unable to come back to her senses for a long time.

Just then, Cen Sen’s phone vibrated.

It was a message from Zhou Jiaheng.

Zhou Jiaheng and the stylist were waiting in the car downstairs, not daring to come up without notification, nor daring to call for fear of interrupting the boss’s important moment.

But if they didn’t start styling soon, they would be late for the “Zero Degrees” event. Plus, with the stylist constantly asking, he had no choice but to send a careful inquiry message.

Cen Sen replied with “come up,” and without waiting for Ji Mingshu’s response, he lifted the blanket, picked her up horizontally, and went straight downstairs.

Without thinking, Ji Mingshu wrapped her arms around his neck, rested her chin on his shoulder, and belatedly came to her senses.

He had his usual pleasant faint scent of cold fir. She inhaled a couple more times, feeling as if she was so happy she could die.

But she didn’t dare smile secretly or reveal her thoughts to Cen Sen. If Cen Sen knew she liked him, he probably wouldn’t put in so much effort for her.

Thinking of this, she had to make conversation, secretly establishing her strong and independent persona in his ear. “Don’t think you can buy me off with a few clothes and a yacht. I can earn my own money now, and you can’t look down on me in the future.”

“Mm.”

Perhaps feeling that continuously responding with such monotonous “Mm”s would make Ji Mingshu feel brushed off, Cen Sen thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and added in her ear, “It’s my honor to spend money on Mrs. Cen.”

Mrs. Cen.

Ji Mingshu couldn’t help it—hidden behind his back, she secretly curved her lips into a smile.