Ji Mingshu was stunned for two seconds, then confirmed, “The Planet B612 theme?”
“It’s mine, that’s mine!” She suddenly realized, her voice joyful. “Did you recognize it? You must have recognized it!”
Cen Sen silently acknowledged.
He was indeed very familiar with Ji Mingshu’s style. No matter how the theme changed, he could always recognize her designs at a glance.
Now, hearing that her proposal had not only been selected but also received the highest number of votes, Ji Mingshu was so happy she could take flight on the spot. She didn’t care that they were in a crowded mall, nor did she mind the little goose beside her who occasionally picked on her and battled with her. Sweet words poured out of her mouth endlessly toward Cen Sen.
Jiang Chun, half-biting her meat floss pastry, gave her a look that was hard to describe.
And she called herself a socialite? Calling “darling husband” in public—had she no shame?
Yet Cen Sen was eating it up. While looking at the two sentences Ji Mingshu had added in his notebook, he listened to the sweet words from the other end of the phone, the corners of his lips slightly curved upward, not interrupting.
Only after Ji Mingshu finished did he say, “Which mall are you in? I’ll come pick you up.”
Ji Mingshu gave him the address. He responded with a sound of acknowledgment and asked her to have a cup of coffee while waiting.
Before leaving, he closed the small notebook and casually tossed it into the bedside drawer.
Actually, after writing down the date plans in the notebook, he had also felt somewhat ridiculously childish. Just a few simple words—what was there to cherish so preciously?
But he couldn’t deny that he had spent a long time reviewing and pondering those few words.
For instance, he had pondered for a long time why sometimes, when they were chatting, Ji Mingshu would suddenly become unwilling to continue; why Ji Mingshu was reluctant when eating French cuisine with him, but relaxed when eating with Cen Yang.
Some things he had originally thought were minor details not worth considering, but he cared more than he had imagined.
After the brief excitement, Ji Mingshu developed additional worries. When she saw Cen Sen, she kept asking about the details of the highest-voted work, fearing that there had been a major misunderstanding due to similar ideas with other designers. It wasn’t until the project manager from Junyi Collection contacted her that she was thoroughly convinced.
Although her work had been selected, it didn’t mean Ji Mingshu could relax completely. After signing the contract, she needed to revise the designs according to the hotel’s actual conditions, monitor the progress of custom furniture, and so on. She was very busy for a while.
Especially when it came to special craftsmanship and materials, implementing the designs in reality meant flying all over the world.
Days passed quietly in tranquility and busyness, and before they knew it, the capital had transitioned from spring to summer.
In June, Ji Mingshu visited a master woodcarver in Osaka, then went to Tokyo to support an art exhibition by a so-called sister from her circle.
While waiting for her flight at Narita Airport, she went to the duty-free shop and picked out a tie clip for Cen Sen.
Coincidentally, this tie clip was the same one she had intended to buy for Cen Sen when she attended a fashion show in Paris last year, but had put it down after getting angry at his tactless remarks.
She took a photo and sent it to Cen Sen, asking: [Do you like it?]
Cen Sen: [I like it.]
Ji Mingshu smiled and swiped her card. After all, accessories didn’t have the concept of being in or out of season, and this antique piece, with its vintage vibe all over, couldn’t be distinguished as trendy or not anyway.
After spending her money but still having time before boarding, Ji Mingshu sat elegantly in the lounge with her legs crossed, scrolling through Weibo.
She loved reading Weibo but rarely posted. Her last post was the essay she wrote when directly confronting Li Wenyin.
The top comments had long since changed, now mostly fixed as: “Waiting for the CEO’s wife to post,” “Give me one front-facing photo of the CEO and I can photoshop 1GB of sweet moments,” “What a fierce yet perfect woman,” and so on.
The gossip heat had long subsided, and the growth rate of her followers had also decreased significantly. Nevertheless, viewers who had seen the re-released version of “Design Home” continued to find her, sending private messages of encouragement and admiration.
She would occasionally browse through them and respond sincerely.
Now she opened Weibo as usual to check messages and reply to private messages. But when she clicked on messages from people she didn’t follow, she suddenly found that one of them, from a verified official account, particularly caught her attention.
Before opening it, Ji Mingshu instinctively thought someone had finally approached her for advertising. But upon opening it, she discovered it was an invitation for a documentary program recording.
[Hello, Ms. Ji. I am the executive producer of the “Old Scenery” program. We are planning to film a public welfare documentary this year about the protective renovation of old public housing. I personally really liked your renovation proposal in the “Design Home” program, so I hope to invite you to participate in the design. Looking forward to your early reply.]
Ji Mingshu was stunned.
Another renovation program?
She was truly tired of them.
Instinctively, she wrote a polite refusal, but as her eyes fell on the key phrases “protective renovation of old public housing” and “public welfare documentary,” she felt strangely hesitant.
Ask first.
It wouldn’t hurt to ask.
With this thought, Ji Mingshu added the producer and chatted briefly while waiting for her flight.
The producer was very straightforward, immediately understanding Ji Mingshu’s various concerns.
Trending on social media? Not going to happen. Our documentary topic is niche, we won’t invite celebrities, and probably not many people will watch it.
The renovation design might not be suitable for living? Not an issue. Our ultimate goal is to combine the Shanghai-style charm of the last century with modern design, open it to the public as a protected building for exhibition, not for residential use.
In short, this was a public welfare design project led by the government, so there was no need for any concerns.
Ji Mingshu was somewhat easily persuaded. Hearing this, she thought, maybe she could give it a try?
She took a screenshot of the chat and sent it to Cen Sen, wanting his opinion. However, before she received his reply, it was time to board.
The actual flight time from Tokyo to the capital was only two or three hours. Ji Mingshu, being economical, chose business class.
On the plane, she adjusted her seat, covered herself with a blanket, and comfortably picked up a newspaper, posing as a businesswoman.
When reading newspapers, she mainly looked at the financial section, scanning for news related to Jing Jian and Hua Dian.
Having searched for a while without finding anything, she was about to give up when, turning the page, she suddenly saw a news item: “Borui’s Failed Return to A-shares, New Energy Development Business Faces Significant Obstacles.” She paused.
She didn’t know much about Borui, nor did she care, but she noticed this news solely because its subtitle mentioned “Haichuan Capital.”
If she remembered correctly, Cen Yang was the head of Haichuan Capital’s Greater China region.
Somehow, she instinctively felt this might be related to Cen Yang intercepting Cen Sen’s investment earlier, so she patiently read the report thoroughly.
Ji Mingshu only half-understood the financial terms. Her summary of the gist was:
Borui had deep internal conflicts, capital restructuring had failed, the outlook was not optimistic, and it would likely be merged or acquired.
As an investor in Borui, Haichuan Capital had made several decision-making errors, resulting in heavy losses. The head of the Greater China region had recently resigned to take responsibility.
Additionally, the report mentioned that Jingcheng Capital intended to acquire Borui at a low price.
Jingcheng Capital had no affiliation with Jing Jian whatsoever, but it seemed to be a company jointly established by Cen Sen and Jiang Che.
Ji Mingshu was momentarily confused, but suddenly seemed to understand something.
After landing, Ji Mingshu switched modes and immediately received Cen Sen’s opinion about the documentary program.
Like writing an argumentative essay, he first presented his thesis—she could participate—then provided multi-faceted arguments for and against.
Ji Mingshu just glanced at it before directly calling the driver, “Hello, have you arrived at the airport?”
For some reason, the driver’s response was a bit vague, “Ah! Yes… I’ve arrived! Ma’am, please wait a moment.”
After nearly half a minute, he replied, “Ma’am, the car is parked outside International Departure Exit 2. Which exit are you coming from?”
Ji Mingshu looked up behind her—it was International Departure Exit 2. “Oh, just park there. I’ll be right out.”
As usual, her large luggage had been air-shipped back home. Now she had one hand in her silk trench coat pocket, wearing black sunglasses, and pushing a light suitcase with her other hand, giving off a celebrity vibe.
However, her mind was preoccupied with the news she had just read on the plane, making her a bit absent-minded and walking quickly.
Seeing the familiar license plate with hazard lights flashing waiting in the pickup lane, Ji Mingshu felt something strange, but before she could think it through, her body had already acted ahead of her brain, opening the car door and sitting in the back seat.
After sitting down, she finally realized what was strange.
Why didn’t the driver help her with her luggage? Why didn’t he open the car door for her? Did this driver even want to keep his job? He—
Ji Mingshu unexpectedly met the familiar eyes in the rearview mirror, and her heart skipped a beat.
Then she leaned forward, playfully hitting the driver’s arm twice and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Why are you here? Didn’t you say you had a business trip today?”
Cen Sen had one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding her slender white wrist. After a moment of contemplation, he said seriously, “I heard this is called a surprise.”
After saying this, he produced a bouquet of roses as if by magic.
Ji Mingshu had been trying to maintain a cool facade, but seeing the flowers, she couldn’t hold it anymore. In a few swift movements, she opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat, then hugged the small bouquet and took a deep breath. Next, she leaned over and kissed Cen Sen on the cheek, “Well done!”
Cen Sen’s expression remained calm, as if her kiss had no particular effect on him. He only mentioned they couldn’t stay long at the roadside, then leaned over to help her fasten her seatbelt.
Their distance suddenly closed.
Ji Mingshu had a very faint perfume scent, probably applied before leaving, now only the citrus base notes remained.
Though they hadn’t seen each other for just a week, Cen Sen discovered he had missed this temporarily free little golden canary more than he had imagined. Even though they video called every day, it was completely different from having her physically lying beside him.
After fastening her seatbelt, he didn’t straighten up. With one hand supporting the side of her seat, his gaze fell on her lips, which were only covered with lip balm. His Adam’s apple moved slightly as he unconsciously drew closer.
Was he going to kiss her?
But there were still so many people outside.
Having not seen each other for a few days, Ji Mingshu felt a bit shy, her ears turning red, her eyelashes trembling slightly before slowly closing.
One second, two seconds, three seconds, she finally felt Cen Sen’s warm breath and couldn’t help leaning forward a bit, wanting to close the distance.
But unexpectedly, she didn’t control her forward momentum well and directly bumped into his lips.
The air went silent for a moment.
Cen Sen still maintained the short distance of a few centimeters, not moving at all, only suddenly chuckling lightly, “I didn’t realize you missed me this much.”