The lunch concluded in a flurry of chaos.
After the meal, Chen Biqing cleared the dishes, while An Ning helped by turning on the TV, brewing tea, and cutting fruit. Cen Sen went to the balcony to take a call, leaving Ji Mingshu with no choice but to sit on the sofa and watch a local news program An Ning had switched on.
The program featured a young couple from a town near Star City who were about to get married. Before the wedding, the groom unexpectedly discovered that the bride had a history of abortion and, unable to accept it, angrily called off the engagement.
The bride initially tried to persuade him to stay, but when that failed, she said that even if they didn’t get married, the 50,000-yuan betrothal gift couldn’t be returned because he had already slept with her, so he should at least pay a breakup fee.
The two appeared on the program solely to argue over that 50,000-yuan betrothal gift.
Ji Mingshu had never watched this kind of show before and initially couldn’t believe that people would go on television to air their dirty laundry over just 50,000 yuan.
But when she saw the scrolling preview at the bottom of the screen, which read, "Middle-aged man suffers cerebral hemorrhage after dispute over 10-yuan gambling debt during mahjong game, now urgently sent to Star City People’s Hospital," she felt that the 50,000-yuan argument was actually quite justified and convincing.
She ate fruit while watching TV, gradually becoming a little engrossed.
Seeing An Ning standing nearby, unsure of what to do after finishing her tasks, Ji Mingshu invited her to sit down and watch together.
An Ning blushed and nodded, sitting on the edge of the sofa with her legs together and her hands resting properly on her knees. She was so reserved that it seemed as though this was Ji Mingshu’s home, and she was just a distant relative visiting.
Even while eating fruit and watching TV, Ji Mingshu exuded the poise of a socialite. Despite the ordinary, even somewhat old and worn-out surroundings, she somehow managed to sit with the elegance and luxury of someone in the front row at a Milan fashion show.
An Ning occasionally stole glances at her, pretending it was unintentional.
There was no helping it—she had never seen such a beautiful woman before, more stunning than any actress on TV, like a pearl that could shine brightly even in broad daylight.
At first, Ji Mingshu didn’t notice An Ning’s admiring gaze. But when she reached for a tissue, she happened to catch the curious, scrutinizing look. She paused for a moment, then smiled warmly at An Ning, trying to convey her friendliness.
However, An Ning was very shy. Once caught, she immediately averted her gaze, refusing to meet Ji Mingshu’s eyes, and her face instantly flushed as red as a tomato.
Ji Mingshu: "..."
What kind of innocent girl from a bygone era was this? She was far too shy...
No wonder she wasn’t Cen Sen’s biological sister—this girl didn’t share even one percent of Cen Sen’s shameless genes.
The next moment, she naturally thought of Cen Yang.
When Cen Yang was in the compound, she was still too young. Her memories had blurred with age, and she could no longer recall his exact appearance. She only remembered him as a cheerful and sunny older brother, whose personality was worlds apart from his biological sister, An Ning.
While Ji Mingshu was lost in thought, Cen Sen finished his call and returned to the living room.
He walked straight to the sofa but didn’t sit down.
Ji Mingshu looked up and met his gaze, reading in his eyes the intention of "leaving right after the meal."
Wait, did he come all this way just to eat and nothing else?
Even if he couldn’t bond with An Ning as siblings, what about Chen Biqing? From the moment they arrived until now, they hadn’t exchanged more than a few words.Ji Mingshu was taken aback for a moment, unsure of what to do next.
Fortunately, Chen Biqing happened to emerge from the kitchen just then. She seemed to sense that Cen Sen was about to leave and couldn’t help calling out, “Xiao Sen.”
The air suddenly fell silent.
For a long while, no one spoke.
Ji Mingshu found the silence unbearable. After holding back for what felt like ages, she finally stammered, “Um… I lost my lipstick. Ningning, could you come with me to buy a new one?”
An Ning, suddenly called upon, was momentarily caught off guard.
Ji Mingshu, ever the woman of action, quickly stood up, grabbed her bag, pulled An Ning to her feet, and practically dragged her out of the house.
The security door creaked shut, leaving only Chen Biqing and Cen Sen inside.
The afternoon sunlight was tranquil, carrying the last fragrance of late summer flowers and grass on a gentle breeze, tinged with a faint metallic scent—so familiar it felt like a leap through time.
Cen Sen remembered another sunny afternoon like this, when he had cut his nap short, eager to buy comic books.
Before heading to school with his backpack, he had wanted to peek into the master bedroom to see his little sister. But outside the door, he overheard his parents talking.
Driven by curiosity, he pressed his ear against the door.
His father, An Guoping, said, “So what if the Cen family has power and influence? Can they just snatch him away from us? It’s downright bullying! If they dare to force the issue, I’ll report it to the authorities! I refuse to believe there’s no justice in this society!”
Chen Biqing sighed. “The Cen family is indeed overbearing. They want to take Ah Sen back, but they won’t even let us see the child. We don’t even know what they’ve named him now.”
At this, An Guoping fell silent.
The couple exchanged a few more words in hushed tones, which Cen Sen couldn’t make out. In the end, he only heard Chen Biqing say with a choked voice, “How could something like this happen?”
Back then, Cen Sen was still young. He couldn’t fully grasp the fragments of conversation between Chen Biqing and An Guoping, but he had a vague premonition that something concerning him was being kept from him.
From that moment on, he began deliberately eavesdropping on Chen Biqing and An Guoping’s conversations, piecing together the truth bit by bit from their scattered words.
Later, when the Cen family’s cars and bodyguards parked outside the teachers’ apartment building, and Chen Biqing and An Guoping finally revealed the truth to him at the last possible moment, he was surprisingly calm.
He had overheard them discussing, time and again, their firm opposition to sending him back to the Cen family.
Yet in the end, his parents had still abandoned him.
Perhaps it had been too long ago. Recalling it now felt like a lifetime away.
Cen Sen sat on the sofa, looking at Chen Biqing, who was no longer young, and suddenly asked, “You haven’t been abroad all these years?”
Having studied abroad for many years himself, it was easy for him to tell whether someone had just returned from overseas.
Chen Biqing glanced at the fruit platter on the table and said softly, “No, we’ve been living in Nancheng all along. Yangyang… he went abroad. He… isn’t close to us.” At this, she lowered her head further. “He left many years ago and hasn’t come back much.”
Cen Sen remained silent.
Chen Biqing then asked hesitantly, “You… have you been doing well? You and Xiaoshu got married three years ago, right?”
“Mm.”Chen Biqing nodded. "Xiao Shu is wonderful, beautiful, and adorable. As long as you two are doing well, I can rest easy."
After saying this, she quickly wiped the corner of her eye and smiled.
Cen Sen did not respond.
After a long pause, he suddenly asked, "What about Dad?"
At that moment, Chen Biqing fell silent.
A long time later, she finally spoke slowly. "He... passed away."
"Passed away?" Ji Mingshu was slightly taken aback.
After leaving the An family home, Ji Mingshu pulled An Ning into the car, planning to go to a nearby mall to buy some things.
The nearest mall was still a fifteen-minute drive away. Ji Mingshu thought it would be awkward to just sit in silence for the entire ride, so she started chatting with An Ning in the car.
Though it was called chatting, it felt more like a question-and-answer session.
An Ning was a simple and honest girl. She basically answered whatever Ji Mingshu asked, so Ji Mingshu couldn't resist the temptation and took the opportunity to inquire about the An family.
"Not long ago, Dad fell ill. Mom wanted to find Brother Cen Sen to come see him, but before she could reach him, Dad couldn't withstand the treatment and passed away," An Ning said, lowering her head. "We only returned to Star City because of Dad's passing. Before he died, Dad said he wanted to come home and see."
An Father had passed away.
Although Ji Mingshu was surprised, she wasn't particularly shocked. From the moment she didn't see An Father at the An family home, she had already begun to suspect many possibilities.
"Then... what about Cen Yang? Oh, he should be called An Yang now, right?"
An Ning shook her head. "Brother didn't change his name. I haven't seen him much. He went abroad to live many years ago, arranged by the Cen family, I think. He usually only comes back once every few years."
"This time, when Dad passed away, he said he would come back, but he hasn't returned yet. It's been a very, very long time since I last saw him."
"I see..."
Ji Mingshu nodded slightly, feeling an indescribable emotion and unsure of what to say next.
Fortunately, they had arrived at the mall. While she wasn't skilled at many things, shopping was definitely her forte.
She gathered her emotions, linked arms with An Ning, and walked inside, once again launching into her golden canary theory about how women should live exquisitely.
"You're in university now, you can't always dress so plainly. Look at your lovely face—it's so fresh and delicate. If you tidy up a bit, you could date while you're young," she said, glancing back. "You don't have a boyfriend yet, do you?"
An Ning shyly shook her head.
"University is the best time for romance. Once you graduate, where will you find such pure love? Just standing face-to-face and making eye contact will make you start evaluating each other's material conditions."
An Ning asked curiously, "Then, were you and Brother Cen Sen university classmates?"
Ji Mingshu: "..."
Sorry, but we're exactly that kind of plastic couple who evaluate each other's material conditions just by standing face-to-face and making eye contact.
She changed the subject. "Actually, it's not just about dating. Even if a girl isn't in a relationship, she should treat herself well. Don't you think it's just happy to dress beautifully every day?"
An Ning agreed with this point. In her university dorm, aside from studying and dating, the girls talked most about clothes, bags, skincare products, and makeup.She had picked up a bit of knowledge here and there, but had never quite mustered the courage to take that first step, burying herself in her studies day after day.
Ji Mingshu couldn’t stand to see such a pretty girl looking so plain. She had originally planned to take An Ning to buy some skincare products first, but suddenly received a call from the Designer production team. The signal in the mall was poor, and the voice kept cutting in and out, so she casually pointed to a nearby brand and told An Ning to wait there while she stepped outside to finish the call, promising to return right away.
An Ning naturally agreed.
The first floor of the mall was filled with jewelry and skincare and makeup counters. An Ning rarely visited such places and was somewhat dazzled by the endless array of spotlights.
She wandered near the brand Ji Mingshu had indicated and inadvertently spotted a cosmetics brand that one of her roommates had been raving about every day lately. She had heard that this brand had a particularly popular lipstick.
She walked over, her gaze lingering on the lipstick display, silently trying to recall the shade her roommate had mentioned.
Finally, on the second-to-last row of the display, she found the tester for that lipstick. She picked it up and swatched it on her hand—it really was quite pretty.
She was in her third year of university and had never bought a lipstick before. For a moment, she felt a surge of excitement.
"Excuse me, how much is this lipstick?"
She held up the lipstick and asked the sales assistant.
The sales assistant glanced her up and down, taking in her shabby student appearance, and couldn’t muster the energy to be helpful. Rolling her eyes dramatically, she continued playing on her phone and replied dismissively, "Sorry, this is one of our popular items. It’s not sold individually. You need to purchase it with a 2:1 bundling arrangement."
Bundling?
An Ning had no idea what that meant, thinking she must be terribly out of touch. Her face flushed bright red instantly, and she felt utterly flustered.
But in the very next second, she suddenly caught a faint, familiar fruity scent.
Ji Mingshu had appeared beside her without her noticing. She snatched the tester from An Ning’s hand and threw it directly at the sales assistant.
Her voice was cold and mocking. "Bundling? Bundling with that sour face of yours? What, do you think you’re Hermès, requiring bundling?"
Even I, a princess, have never had to bundle with Hermès.
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