Ji Mingshu quickly noticed the bug in the picture. Thinking Cen Sen wouldn’t see it so promptly, she swiftly withdrew both the image and the accompanying message—“Learn a thing or two”—in an attempt to pretend nothing had happened.
But less than thirty seconds after her withdrawal, messages began popping up in the chat box:
Cen Sen: 【What kind of celestial fairy has descended to the mortal realm?】
Cen Sen: 【The dress isn’t haute couture—you are.】
Cen Sen: 【Our little golden canary is truly captivating when showcasing her beauty and spending money.】
Ji Mingshu: “…”
Rainbow farts devoid of exclamation marks and emojis, sent from Cen Sen’s pitch-black profile picture, felt like cold, mocking mechanical reproductions. For a moment, Ji Mingshu couldn’t tell whether he was trying to show off his memory or his learning ability.
Cen Sen: 【Did I learn it well?】
Ji Mingshu: 【…】
She understood now—this dog of a man wanted to show off both :)
He probably didn’t repeat the last line because he thought his writing technique was good enough, deliberately leaving room for endless imagination.
She put down her phone and forced a smile at the sales assistant. “Sorry, I won’t take the tie clip.”
Thanks to Cen Sen’s offense, Ji Mingshu didn’t hold back at all during the three-day Haute Couture Week itinerary. Everywhere she went, she left behind the dashing swipe of her credit card.
Designers who were usually aloof in front of celebrities actively invited her for photos, expressing how much they missed her. High-level executives made time in their busy schedules to invite her, a distinguished guest from China, to lunch and dinner. As for attending shows, unless the seats were in the first row, the invitations never even reached her hands.
Gu Kaiyang, accustomed to this young lady’s extravagance, couldn’t help but comment enviously—Wuwuwu, having money really means you can do whatever you want TVT!
Gu Kaiyang arrived in Paris with her magazine team. As the newly appointed deputy editor, she had a pile of decisions to make and couldn’t break away from the group to act alone.
After the Haute Couture Week events, they had some additional shooting plans that required them to stay an extra day. After all, the group’s stingy persona never faltered—it felt like a loss of a billion if they didn’t shoot enough while in Paris.
Ji Mingshu originally planned to take Gu Kaiyang back on a private jet for a luxurious return trip, but Gu Kaiyang couldn’t get away. Plus, the jet was due for maintenance anyway, so she simply sent it for servicing and stayed in Paris an extra day to wait for Gu Kaiyang before returning to China together.
Although they were returning together, Gu Kaiyang still had to catch up on work with her colleagues on the plane, so she didn’t upgrade her seat.
As luck would have it, in first class, Ji Mingshu crossed paths with Jiang Chun once again.
Jiang Chun had lost quite a bit of weight compared to a few days ago. Her originally plump chin had sharpened to a point, and she wore a simple, comfortable T-shirt and long jeans. Though her bare face looked somewhat weary, it also gave her a more pitiable, delicate charm.
Ji Mingshu lowered her sunglasses slightly and was a bit surprised after getting a clear look at Jiang Chun’s face.
She had always thought Jiang Chun had nice features, but this was the first time she’d seen her without makeup. So her name wasn’t wrong after all—wasn’t she a standard, pure little beauty?
Ji Mingshu had always had a soft spot for beauties. Though she usually treated Jiang Chun with aloof indifference, she now condescended to tease her. “Ms. Jiang, it looks like you’re still nursing a broken heart.”
Jiang Chun: “…”When Jiang Chun saw Ji Mingshu, she didn’t immediately switch into her usual battle-ready mode, nor did she lash out like she had in the hotel lobby last time, biting Ji Mingshu without a second thought.
She leaned back in her seat, exuding a strange aura of defeat, as if saying, "Okay, go ahead and humiliate this abandoned woman."
A flight attendant came over to serve drinks. Ji Mingshu tilted her chin slightly toward Jiang Chun and said, "Please bring this lady a meal and a Midsummer Breeze. Thank you."
Jiang Chun remained slumped in her seat, showing no reaction.
The flight attendant glanced at her, then at Ji Mingshu, unsure whether to respond.
Ji Mingshu smiled. "We know each other. Go ahead."
The flight attendant paused for a moment, feeling her heart suddenly race.
She was just too beautiful. That smile of hers completely redefined the phrases "bright eyes and gleaming teeth" and "radiantly charming"!
After calmly leaving, the flight attendant asked her colleagues in the galley: Was the beauty in first class some kind of celebrity? Why didn’t she recognize her? Was it because she wasn’t famous? But how could someone so beautiful not be famous?
Soon, the meal Ji Mingshu had ordered for Jiang Chun was served.
The flight attendant also brought Ji Mingshu a small pastry, saying it was a new item for her to try.
Ji Mingshu graciously took a bite.
Jiang Chun, however, looked listless and seemed uninterested in eating.
Ji Mingshu didn’t pay her much attention. It wasn’t her problem—eat or don’t eat.
In the quiet cabin, Jiang Chun gazed out the window, looking like a melancholic Jiang Daiyu.
After finishing her pastry, Ji Mingshu flipped through a magazine.
She had already read all the fashion magazines available on the plane. The only one she hadn’t seen was Zero Degree, which Gu Kaiyang and her team worked on. Zero Degree was a men’s magazine, and she wasn’t the kind of devoted wife who handled her husband’s wardrobe, so why bother reading it?
Covering her mouth as she yawned, she put on her eye mask and prepared to sleep.
Outside the window, the sky was a clear blue, with clouds below like vast stretches of sticky cotton candy. The light was thin and warm, and the golden glow of the distant sun was faintly visible.
After a long while without hearing the sound of pages turning, Jiang Chun glanced sideways and noticed that Ji Mingshu had put on her eye mask and was resting. Her heart stirred, and she glanced at the meal and drink, unconsciously licking her lips.
She hadn’t eaten properly in three or four days. It was one thing when there was no food in sight, but with it right in front of her, her attention was drawn to the aroma, and her low spirits began to fade.
She quietly picked up the sandwich and glanced at Ji Mingshu again.
Ji Mingshu hadn’t moved but seemed restless in her sleep.
Somehow, she dreamed of Jiang Chun catching Yan in the act of cheating, but the people in the scene were replaced with herself and Cen Sen.
In the dream, Cen Sen was even more thoroughly despicable than Yan. He grabbed her wrist and pushed her away, watching her fall to the ground without sparing her another glance.
A group of fake friends from their social circle stood by, laughing at her. Someone mocked, "Let her endure it. She’ll have to serve tea and water to the mistress from now on, or Cen Sen will kick her out."
Ji Mingshu woke up in a rage.
She tore off her eye mask, gulped down half a glass of water, and tried to calm herself, reminding herself it was just a dream. At the same time, she couldn’t help cursing Cen Sen inwardly—even in her dreams, that wretched man wouldn’t let her have peace.She set down her water glass and, turning her head inadvertently, happened to catch Jiang Chun secretly nibbling on a sandwich.
Perhaps driven by hunger, Jiang Chun had taken a huge bite. Before she could swallow it, she was startled by Ji Mingshu’s sudden movement and choked, the sandwich lodging in her throat. Covering her mouth, she coughed violently.
Ji Mingshu simply watched as Jiang Chun coughed until her face flushed red, scrambling for tissues while trying to wash the food down with water. Suddenly, she let out a soft laugh.
Jiang Chun bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “What’s so funny? It’s just eating! Cough! Cough, cough, cough!!!”
For some reason, Ji Mingshu’s mood brightened. Propping her chin on her hand, she looked at Jiang Chun and asked, “Don’t you think you’re kind of cute?”
“…”
Jiang Chun stared at her as if she were insane.
Ji Mingshu racked her brains for a comparison. “Like a penguin that’s never left Antarctica, suddenly able to survive in the subtropics without feeling cold… but still clumsy?”
Is there such a penguin?
Jiang Chun was stunned for a moment before finally catching on. “Are you trying to say I’m uncool?”
“No, it’s uncool-cute.”
Jiang Chun: “…”
Well, thank you for the compliment.
She rolled her eyes in annoyance, straightened up, and simply continued eating with renewed confidence.
The flight from Paris to the capital took eleven hours. Bored out of her mind, Ji Mingshu occasionally amused herself by teasing Jiang Chun.
At first, Jiang Chun had no desire to engage with Ji Mingshu, but the sadness she had been nursing earlier had long since dissipated. When she noticed Ji Mingshu watching a variety show she also followed, she couldn’t help but chime in.
“I think Pei Xiyan is really handsome.”
“I think so too,” Jiang Chun couldn’t resist agreeing. “Handsome and unique. He’s going to be something else when he grows up.”
“And he has high emotional intelligence.”
Jiang Chun nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes! I even went back and watched the variety show he did with his mom when he was little. Honestly, I’m not a big fan of his mom, but he was so adorable even as a kid, so cool.”
“Right? I think so too.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, our flight is scheduled to land at Capital International Airport in fifteen minutes. The ground temperature is 36 degrees Celsius…”
By the time they were about to disembark, all traces of Jiang Chun’s earlier gloom had vanished. She was glowing, her eyes sparkling with admiration, and she even insisted that Ji Mingshu not fast-forward through the show, claiming that her idol’s divine looks deserved to be savored frame by frame.
Ji Mingshu was speechless and simply tossed the tablet into Jiang Chun’s lap.
Ji Mingshu’s luggage had been shipped back to China a day earlier, so she only had a small carry-on suitcase with her.
After disembarking, she had originally planned to meet up with Gu Kaiyang, but an urgent situation had arisen at Gu Kaiyang’s magazine, requiring her to rush back for a meeting immediately. Left with no choice, Ji Mingshu walked alongside Jiang Chun, generously offering a crash course on duty-free shopping as they made their way through the airport.
Jiang Chun had never realized there were so many intricacies to selecting products. At first, she walked side by side with Ji Mingshu, listening as they went. But somehow, she soon transformed into Ji Mingshu’s luggage-pushing assistant, actively fetching a cart, loading both their suitcases onto it, and single-handedly pushing it forward.
As they approached the exit, the airport crowd gradually thickened.Ji Mingshu was still analyzing why a certain handbag was considered a classic when her voice suddenly trailed off and her steps slowed.
Jiang Chun, in her naive and sweet manner, asked, "What's wrong?"
Ji Mingshu pressed her stomach, her brow slightly furrowed.
"Stomachache?" Jiang Chun glanced around and pointed in a direction. "There's a restroom over there."
Sweat beaded on Ji Mingshu's temples as she hurried toward the restroom with difficulty.
She was wearing very high heels, and after walking so quickly for a stretch, her heels burned with a numb, fiery pain.
As she entered the restroom, Ji Mingshu's vision darkened momentarily.
Jiang Chun, who had followed her, exclaimed softly, "Why are there so many people!"
At least seven or eight people were queued up ahead, and this was likely the smallest restroom among all the airport toilets, with only four stalls—one of which was designated as accessible.
After waiting for two minutes, the line hadn't moved at all.
Jiang Chun had initially planned to ask Ji Mingshu if they should look for another restroom elsewhere, but seeing Ji Mingshu's utterly desperate and miserable expression, she glanced around and blurted out a terrible idea: "Why not use this one? No one's here anyway."
She pointed to the men's restroom nearby.
Ji Mingshu gave her a look that said, "Are you out of your mind?"
But Jiang Chun was particularly eager, even running inside to scout it out. "Really, no one's here. I'll stand guard at the door for you."
Ji Mingshu felt her brain might have short-circuited too. Hearing Jiang Chun's words, a tiny flicker of hesitation stirred deep within her.
As waves of intense pain surged from her stomach, that hesitation grew stronger.
In the end, she couldn't hold back any longer. With great difficulty, she put on her sunglasses and whispered to Jiang Chun, "Keep watch for me. We'll stay in touch on WeChat."
Jiang Chun nodded solemnly, as if she had received an important mission.
Three minutes later, Ji Mingshu finally realized what a foolish thing she had done.
Jiang Chun: [You can't come out now. A man just went in.]
Five minutes later.
Jiang Chun: [Oh no, a tour group just arrived. Wait a bit longer, and whatever you do, don't make a sound.]
Ji Mingshu: [...]
I really must have been out of my mind to believe you.
Just as Jiang Chun's warning arrived, a group of men noisily entered the restroom. The awkward sounds near the urinals rose and fell, and one man stopped outside her stall, knocking vigorously. "Hey, buddy, constipated? Been in there so long, did you fall into the toilet?"
"..."
The stall was cramped and narrow, reeking of unpleasant odors. Ji Mingshu flushed red from behind her ears down to her neck.
She closed her eyes silently, unable to recall what she had done wrong to end up in such a miserable predicament—trapped in a men's restroom, too afraid to make a sound.
Her mind went blank, and she had no idea what to do to escape this unbearably awkward situation.
To make matters worse, after five minutes, her legs went numb from squatting, and her phone automatically shut down. This meant she had unexpectedly lost contact with her informant outside.
Before losing contact, the last message from her informant was: "Why don't you just rush out? No one knows you anyway."
What a joke!
For over twenty years, Ji Mingshu had lived a glamorous life. She could go without food, but she would never sacrifice her dignity!
Even if she were to suffocate in this restroom today, she would never risk running out while people were still outside, only to be labeled as "that pretty girl who's so weird she uses the men's restroom"!Stubbornly squatting for what felt like an eternity, time ticked by second by second. Ji Mingshu had no idea how many times she had silently blocked the knocking at the door, but her lower body had long since gone numb.
After a long while, the bathroom suddenly fell into silence.
Ji Mingshu’s little heart revived from the dead, thinking that there was finally no one outside.
But the very next second she tried to stand up, several knocks sounded from outside again: “Knock, knock, knock.”
Utterly despairing : )
She remained squatting on the floor, arms wrapped around her knees, burying her head in them without making a sound.
“Ji Mingshu, open the door. It’s me.”
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