In truth, Ji Mingshu knew very little about the Cen family's past. It wasn't until her second year of middle school that she accidentally learned about Cen Sen's rather dramatic and peculiar background—
He and Cen Yang had been switched at birth.
As for how exactly the mix-up occurred or how it was discovered when they were around seven or eight years old, Ji Mingshu wasn't clear. She only remembered that when she first learned of it, her initial reaction was shock.
Because just the day before, middle schooler Shu Bao had finished reading a romance novel about a wealthy young lady intentionally swapped at birth by a malicious nanny, with the female lead naturally being the real heiress.
After reading it, she had automatically put herself in the shoes of the fake heiress, even fantasizing: what if she herself had been switched? What if, when she was about to get married, a white lotus ugly duckling suddenly appeared to snatch her identity, her inheritance, and her husband? And then, despite using every trick in the book, she would fail to defeat the little white lotus heroine, ending up in a pitiful, tragic state—destitute and unloved.
Her second reaction was: Cen Sen was just so, so, so detestable!
It was said that initially, the Cen family's plan was this: they wanted to bring Cen Sen back to acknowledge his roots. As for Cen Yang, having raised him for so many years, their bond had grown deep, so they intended to continue raising him as their own child. The two brothers could even keep each other company—after all, the Cen family wasn't short on the small change needed to raise a child.
But to their great surprise, Cen Sen actually disagreed.
Even at such a young age, his attitude was unusually firm. He made it very clear: if they wanted to bring him back to the Cen family, Cen Yang had to leave.
The Cen family was a very traditional clan. On the surface, everything appeared harmonious, but in reality, they prioritized sons over daughters and the main lineage over the branches, let alone distinctions based on blood ties.
So when faced with this choice, the Cen family naturally prioritized meeting the demands of Cen Sen, the true heir. Almost without any debate, they directly sentenced Cen Yang to exile.
Cen Yang was packed off and sent back to the An family in Star City. The Cen family even gave the An family a large sum of money for his upbringing, instructing them to move abroad as a family and not set foot in the capital or Star City again until he came of age. From then on, the Jingjian Cen family had only Cen Sen, and no one was allowed to mention Cen Yang again.
At the time, Ji Mingshu thought, why couldn't you just come back? Why did you have to force Cen Yang to leave? So Cen Yang hadn't gone abroad to study—he had been driven away by this male version of an ugly duckling.
This ugly duckling was just too ruthless and vicious. If he was this cruel at such a young age, what would he be like when he grew up?
She genuinely put herself in Cen Yang's shoes, feeling his pain as if it were her own, and she genuinely felt disdain and disgust toward Cen Sen, this moving iceberg of a person who said little but acted ruthlessly. This revelation could be said to be the direct trigger for Ji Mingshu's constant opposition to Cen Sen throughout her adolescence.
However, as she grew older, Ji Mingshu's childhood affection for Cen Yang gradually faded and was forgotten. She also became increasingly able to see things from Cen Sen's perspective.
In truth, from beginning to end, he wasn't the one at fault. No one had the right to stand on the sidelines, watching the drama unfold while generously sympathizing with others at his expense.
The Maybach turned around at the airport and headed all the way toward the faculty apartments of Star City University.
The closer they got to Star University, the more nervous Ji Mingshu became. Every now and then, she would lift her small mirror to check her makeup, and she kept smoothing her hair over and over to ensure it was as sleek as silk.Before getting out of the car, she changed to a more understated lipstick shade and pulled a trench coat from the trunk to drape over herself. She was fully prepared, looking even more nervous than Cen Sen.
It couldn’t be helped. She didn’t have a mother-in-law, and Cen Yuanchao was in poor health, spending most of his time recuperating at a garden estate in the outskirts of the capital, where visits were not allowed. So, she hadn’t had much interaction with elders of her in-laws’ generation.
An Father and An Mother had raised Cen Sen for several years, accompanying him through the most innocent period of his childhood. No matter how little contact they had or how much ties were severed, there must still be some affection there.
Emotionally speaking, these two could also be considered her half-father-in-law and half-mother-in-law. Moreover, both were professors at Xing University, so as their half-daughter-in-law meeting them for the first time, she couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.
Ji Mingshu was so preoccupied with her own nerves that she didn’t notice Cen Sen’s unusual silence throughout the journey.
Standing in front of the old faculty apartment building at Xing University, she gave her appearance one final check, fished her wedding ring out of her bag and slipped it on, then intimately linked arms with Cen Sen, putting on the full display of a virtuous, filial, and perfectly dutiful wife.
However, this paragon of a daughter-in-law was already stumped by the challenge of climbing the stairs.
Who knew how many years the Xing University faculty apartments had been standing. Never mind the lack of an elevator—the staircase itself was narrow, small, high, and steep.
As luck would have it, Ji Mingshu was wearing a pair of pointed, slender, and sparkling Christian Louboutin heels. After just two flights, she was already struggling, and the An family lived on the seemingly unreachable sixth floor. :)
“No, I can’t go on. I need a break. This is too much.”
After a mere three flights, Ji Mingshu had turned herself into a gasping, lifeless salted fish. She clung to Cen Sen, refusing to take another step, looking remarkably like a professional scam artist who could collapse and feign unconsciousness ten meters away on the street, demanding to be carried.
Cen Sen glanced at her, said nothing, then descended two steps, bending slightly as he said in a low voice, “Get on.”
Ji Mingshu: “...?”
She rubbed her calves, hardly daring to believe this dog of a man had suddenly developed a conscience.
All the way up to the sixth floor, after getting off Cen Sen’s back, Ji Mingshu quietly observed: It was strange—she’d never seen him exercise much, yet he hadn’t even been out of breath carrying someone up six flights in one go.
Had he secretly been taking New Calcium High-Calcium Tablets?
No, it must be because she was as light as a golden canary, inside and out.
The soundproofing in this old apartment building probably wasn’t great. The moment they reached the top of the stairs, the aged-looking security door on the right creaked open from the inside.
A thin, delicate face peeked out from behind the door. “Are you... An... Cen, Brother Cen Sen?”
The girl looked about nineteen or twenty, her hair tied into a ponytail with a black hairband, wearing no makeup—the very picture of a pure and simple college student.
Cen Sen paused briefly before returning to normal, nodding and giving a quiet “Mm.”
The girl stared at Cen Sen, her gaze lingering for a long while. When she noticed Ji Mingshu behind him, she froze completely.She had never seen such a beautiful woman in real life—so stunning that she seemed to glow, making the entire building feel more valuable just by standing there.
The girl stood there dazed for a long moment before stammering and leading the two of them inside.
The apartment was nearly 140 square meters, the largest unit in the entire faculty housing complex at Xingda University. This was only possible because An Father and An Mother were both professors, giving them the privilege of securing such a spacious place.
But just as a certain female celebrity once said that diamonds under one carat are merely "chips," in Ji Mingshu's mind, anything under 300 square meters could only be called a "cramped room."
As soon as she stepped inside, she was overwhelmed by the dated atmosphere and the cramped space, feeling completely at a loss for where to stand.
She looked pleadingly at Cen Sen, but he ignored her. His gaze lingered on every object in the room, carrying a tenderness that was unusual for him.
The innocent, somewhat clueless female student who had welcomed them in didn’t introduce herself or offer them tea. Instead, she hurriedly disappeared into the kitchen to notify Chen Biqing.
Shortly after, An Mother, Chen Biqing, rushed out of the kitchen wearing an apron, her hair already streaked with silver.
Chen Biqing must have been a beauty in her youth. Perhaps it was the grace that comes with knowledge, but even dressed plainly in an apron, she carried an elegant, scholarly air. However, she didn’t quite resemble a returned overseas Chinese who had lived abroad for over a decade—there was a weathered, somewhat worn look about her.
The old apartment was dusty, and sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating particles of dust floating motionlessly in the air.
The apartment was quiet, with only the faint sound of a range hood coming from the kitchen.
Chen Biqing stood about three or four meters away from Cen Sen. Almost the moment she saw him, her eyes reddened.
Then she covered her mouth, staring at Cen Sen without blinking as tears streamed straight down her face.
For some reason, in that instant, Ji Mingshu felt her heart clench painfully.
It was strange. She was usually the type to nitpick and laugh at tragic romance movies, but for some inexplicable reason, she felt that if she had a mother who loved her deeply, her mother’s gaze would be just like Chen Biqing’s.
She glanced at Cen Sen.
No expression.
Facing the woman he had called "mother" for seven or eight years, he remained completely expressionless.
She felt that she would probably never see any excess emotion on Cen Sen’s face again in her lifetime.
At noon, they sat down to eat. Ji Mingshu never saw Cen Yang, who had been away for years, or the expected An Father. Around the small square table sat only Chen Biqing, Cen Sen, herself, and Cen Sen’s younger sister, An Ning.
When Cen Sen left, An Ning was only one year old, still a baby. The two had never developed much of a sibling bond, so naturally, there was little to say. Cen Sen was already quiet by nature, and Chen Biqing remained choked up, trying to distract herself by constantly serving food. Unexpectedly, the task of lightening the atmosphere fell entirely on Ji Mingshu.Ji Mingshu felt as if sitting on pins and needles. She didn’t know how to address Chen Biqing. Following Cen Sen’s lead wasn’t an option, since he hadn’t addressed her at all from start to finish. Catching up on recent events also felt inappropriate. Her intuition told her that An Father and Cen Yang were both minefields she couldn’t step on. She even suspected that asking where An Ning was studying might accidentally trigger another explosive topic.
In that case, the only option was to start a conversation based on the dishes in front of her.
“These lotus root sandwiches are so delicious. I’ve never had them before.”
—That was because she never ate fried food.
“This green vegetable is so fresh and fragrant too.”
—That was because it was stir-fried with lard, something she would never touch normally, as lard was a weight-gain killer.
“This fish is also so tender…”
To prove her awkward praise of the fish with action, Ji Mingshu picked up a large piece and forced herself to swallow it.
The next second: “Cough! Cough, cough!”
She suddenly grabbed Cen Sen’s arm and pointed at her own throat, coughing until her face turned red.
Chen Biqing: “What’s wrong? Did something get stuck?”
An Ning: “Sister-in-law, are you okay? Swallow a spoonful of rice and use some force.”
Ji Mingshu foolishly believed her and actually swallowed, only to nearly die from the pain on the spot.
Chen Biqing hurriedly stood up again. “I’ll get you some vinegar.”
A bowl of vinegar was poured out with a clatter. After swallowing two mouthfuls and waiting for the fishbone to soften, Ji Mingshu looked at the three people standing around her and listened to their overlapping words of concern. Surprisingly, she felt a little gratified.
To lighten the mood, this baby really sacrificed too much.
Cen’s Sensen, you owe me an aircraft carrier in return. :)
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