Admittedly, Cen Sen's words, "I'm not someone who likes to dwell on the past," brought Ji Mingshu both physical and mental pleasure. The displeasure she had felt moments ago over the impending arrival of the invasive species was instantly swept away.
As she snuggled into bed to sleep, Ji Mingshu unconsciously draped herself over Cen Sen again, her arms wrapping around his neck and her smooth, bare legs winding around his waist.
Half-asleep, Cen Sen adjusted his position, pulling the restless, wriggling octopus wrapped around him into his arms.
That night, Ji Mingshu had a dream.
She couldn't tell if it was dusk in the dream or if the dreamscape itself had a natural warm, yellow halo. Every scene seemed to be steeped in a jar of honey, pulling out translucent yet bizarre scenes from the past, frame by frame.
The first fifty percent of the dream was filled with tedious, nonsensical details of high school life. One moment, she was in her dorm room, altering the length of her school uniform skirt; the next, she was urgently notified that she had to take an exam.
Halfway through the exam, the grade-level head rushed in and said, "This is the wrong test. You're liberal arts students; you don't need to take physics."
After leaving the exam hall, she was happy but also confused. Wasn't she only a first-year, before the liberal arts and science tracks were divided? Besides, the paper she had just taken seemed to be geography.
And then, just like that, Cen Sen appeared without warning in the latter half of her dream—
In the corridor outside the exam hall, Ji Mingshu saw him walking from the far end with Li Wenyin.
His figure was tall and lean, and even the blue-and-black school uniform that Fuzhong students often complained about looked neat and handsome on him. The two of them approached, met her gaze, and then brushed past her with cool indifference.
Ji Mingshu stood there, a little annoyed, though she wasn't sure what she was annoyed about.
Soon, the scene switched to a classroom after school. The honey-colored sunset outside the window cast a warm glow on the desks, and a gentle breeze seemed to be softly lifting the curtains.
Ji Mingshu was the only one in the classroom. She was slumped over her desk, wondering what to eat for dinner.
Just then, Cen Sen walked into the classroom.
It was utterly bizarre for him, a third-year student, to suddenly enter a first-year classroom, sit down next to her, and offer to go over her exam paper.
But in the dream, it was as if Ji Mingshu's brain had been eaten by a zombie. She didn't find anything wrong with it at all. After rummaging through her schoolbag, she told Cen Sen nervously, "I can't find my exam paper."
Cen Sen said, "It's okay."
He patted her head very gently, then leaned in slightly and kissed her.
What happened after that took a sharp, R-rated turn.
Cen Sen lifted her onto a desk, and he stood before it, pushing up the short skirt she had altered and removing the last layer of clothing covering her body.
Eventually, she was lying on her back on the desk. Cen Sen remained standing by its edge, moving back and forth.
She covered her eyes with her hands but couldn't resist peeking through a tiny slit to steal a glance at Cen Sen's pure, ascetic yet wantonly indulgent expression.
As waves of passion washed over her, Cen Sen gripped her waist, leaned down, and asked her some blush-inducing questions.
Her peripheral vision caught sight of Li Wenyin standing at the classroom door. She felt nervous and apprehensive, yet there was also a secret, indescribable thrill. She whispered sweetly in Cen Sen's ear, "I like it."
And then, she woke up.
For the first few seconds after waking, Ji Mingshu's mind was a complete blank, her fingertips trembling.
What on earth was that strange dream?
Her heart was pounding, and the strange sensation in her body hadn't abruptly ended with the dream.
Then, her vision focused, and she finally saw clearly the culprit who had been tormenting her early in the morning, causing the drastic shift in her dream's tone.
Cen Sen hadn't actually expected Ji Mingshu to be such a deep sleeper. He had been teasing and touching her for a while with no sign of her waking. It was only at the very end, at his release, that she finally stirred.
Fortunately, her body's instinctive reactions in her sleep had been very honest.
Their eyes met.
Seamlessly connecting the scene from her dream, Ji Mingshu's ears turned an embarrassing shade of red, and her gaze flickered.
In contrast, Cen Sen, the one who had actually done the misdeed, was perfectly composed. After the last vestiges of pleasure faded, he pulled away, wearing a satisfied expression that said, "I'm fully gratified."
Ji Mingshu was still lying foolishly in bed long after the sound of running water came from the bathroom, unable to snap out of her daze for a while.
Why on earth would she have such a strange dream? And in the dream, it was in front of Li Wenyin, of all people. It was so humiliating!
Also, that dog of a man, Cen Sen, had already gone at it three times last night. Why couldn't he rest even in the early morning?
She was still asleep! What was the difference between this and necrophilia!
No, she was not a corpse!
While Ji Mingshu's thoughts ran wild, Cen Sen had already finished his shower and emerged from the bathroom. He hadn't been able to restrain himself this morning and had wasted a lot of time in bed. His phone had been ringing nonstop since eight o'clock.
He was on a call, tidying his collar with one hand, but he couldn't tie his tie with just one hand. He glanced at Ji Mingshu, walked to the bedside, and handed her the tie.
Ji Mingshu didn't know what had possessed her, but she sat up, wrapped only in the blanket, and took the tie to knot it for him.
"...It's only a matter of time before Huihe's side gives in. Their funding gap is too large. Besides Junyi, they have no other choice. You don't need to worry about that."
Perhaps because of the vigorous morning activity, Cen Sen's voice was a little deep and hoarse, tinged with a sated feeling of physical and mental contentment.
Ji Mingshu reminded herself that it was just normal marital sex and she shouldn't act like a lovestruck fool, while at the same time, she traitorously replayed the embarrassing images in her mind, her face flushing and her heart pounding wildly.
In the end, Cen Sen had finished his call, but she still hadn't managed to tie the Windsor knot.
Cen Sen gave her a deep look, then suddenly reached out and took the tie from her hands.
"I'll do it myself."
Ji Mingshu didn't dare to meet his eyes. She clutched the small blanket tightly around herself as she sat on the bed. After a long moment, she forced a tone of righteous indignation. "Y-You should have tied it yourself in the first place. Is there something wrong with your brain? Couldn't you have just put the call on speaker instead of bothering me!"
At the word "bothering," she became more sensitive than anyone. Before she could blush, she quickly lay back down and pulled the blanket over her head.
A low chuckle came from outside the blanket. She didn't move, determined to play dead until Cen Sen left.
At 8:30 in the morning, Zhou Jiaheng and the driver finally saw Cen Sen emerge.
It was strange. In Zhou Jiaheng's impression, Cen Sen had always been self-disciplined to a terrifying degree. Being late was something that should never happen to this boss.
But he didn't dare to ask, so he silently imagined some unforeseen circumstance, like a marital spat.
There was a group meeting that morning, which was basically a routine report from the managers of the group's various divisions.
The cities with the most Junyi hotels in the country were the Imperial Capital and Star City. During the previous hotel inspection, they hadn't even gone to Star City, because it had twenty-three hotels across four of Junyi's series, and a trip there would require a stay of at least a week.
Coincidentally, this meeting brought to light a messy affair involving the senior management of the Star City branch.
After the meeting, Cen Sen immediately instructed Zhou Jiaheng to adjust his recent schedule.
Zhou Jiaheng reminded him that it was best not to postpone his appointment with Director Chen that evening. Cen Sen's voice was low. "Then we'll leave after it's over."
In his office, he finished the documents at hand and leaned back in his chair to rest with his eyes closed.
Inexplicably, the image of Ji Mingshu moaning beneath him, sweet and lustful, popped into his mind.
His Adam's apple bobbed. He sat up again and took a sip of black coffee.
He and Ji Mingshu had actually known each other for a long time, but on second thought, they didn't know much about each other.
For example, Ji Mingshu's insistence on divorcing if he cheated was completely unexpected. He even felt that his own reaction was a bit unexpected.
He seemed to have an inexplicable aversion to the word "divorce," a feeling of losing control.
Then again, the thought was laughable. The Ji family was of little use to him now; on the contrary, this marriage was nothing but beneficial to them. Yet Ji Mingshu dared to bring up divorce every other day. The Ji family would be the first to object.
He opened a new file, but after reading two lines, he suddenly picked up his phone from the side and sent Ji Mingshu a WeChat message.
When Ji Mingshu received Cen Sen's message, she was at a popular dessert shop with Jiang Chun and Gu Kaiyang.
The three of them had ordered a table full of food and taken plenty of pictures, but they were all drinking bland, plain tea.
Ji Mingshu and Gu Kaiyang were strict about their figures. Having devoured an entire plate of braised pork ribs last night made Ji Mingshu feel incredibly guilty. Although the "bed exercises" had lasted from night till morning, the scale still showed she had gained three hundred grams.
—There was no helping it. Fat was a lie detector that even money couldn't bribe; it was realistic and ruthless.
Jiang Chun wanted to eat, but before she could extend her goose-like claws, Ji Mingshu was nagging incessantly in her ear.
"Eat, eat, eat, that's all you know! Do you think you're as skinny as Zhao Feiyan? Maintaining your figure is a woman's lifelong career! Yan Yu and that little green tea are watching with their eyes wide open. With the way you are, you think you can make Yan Yu regret it so much that he and the little green tea eat shit together?"
"Don't think you can let yourself go just because you're making some progress with Tang Zhizhou. Today, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and he might praise you for being chubby and cute, but tomorrow he could turn on you and call you an uncultured little fatty!"
Jiang Chun: "..."
Who the hell could eat after that?
After stopping Jiang Chun from letting herself go, Ji Mingshu started whispering with Gu Kaiyang about participating in the show.
Her socialite image was a heavy burden, and she was a little hesitant.
Gu Kaiyang, however, thought it would be a very interesting experience. Besides, she had always been a rather independent and strong-willed girl, and had always held the view that women should have their own careers.
Gu Kaiyang said, "First of all, participating in the show is an experience. Secondly, you can use it to develop your own career. Star City TV has a pretty good influence. Once you've participated in a Star City TV show as an interior designer, you can get more cases in the future. Your husband is generous and has more money than he can spend, but it's still more satisfying to spend money you've earned yourself, right?"
"Not really," Ji Mingshu said matter-of-factly, propping up her chin. "I think it's more satisfying to spend other people's money."
"..."
On second thought, she wasn't wrong.
Just then, Ji Mingshu received a WeChat message from Cen Sen.
Cen Sen: [I'm going to Star City tonight. I might be there for one or two months.]
He was going to Star City?
Ji Mingshu remembered that the filming for that show was also about a month long.
Then, another message came in.
Cen Sen: [Call me if you need anything.]
Last night, Ji Mingshu had wanted to ask him for his opinion or suggestions if she were to participate in the show. But later, entangled in bed, she had completely forgotten about it.
Now, she diligently and promptly acted on Cen Sen's "Call me if you need anything," calling him the moment he sent the message, before he could even put down his phone.
After some small talk, Cen Sen suddenly asked her to wait a moment.
After about half a minute, Cen Sen's voice reappeared on the line. Ji Mingshu got straight to the point. "Actually, it's like this. Star City TV has a show that wants to invite me to participate. It's a space design program, something like teaming up with a celebrity to complete design tasks. What do you think?"
Cen Sen looked at the list of program participants that Zhou Jiaheng had delivered half a minute ago. His gaze fell on the line Zhou Jiaheng had marked:
"Group Three: Li Che, Ji Mingshu (Tentative)"
"Note: Li Che has plans to uncouple from Meng Xiaowei and can cooperate with the program to form a CP with a non-celebrity. The non-celebrity has an excellent appearance and can be listed as a key filming subject."
He flipped through Li Che's personal profile and said nonchalantly, "I don't think it's a good idea."
Ji Mingshu: "..."
Cen Sen: "You might be more suited for a show like Metamorphosis Plan."
Ji Mingshu: "...?"
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