Outside the window, the honey-colored sunset sank lower and lower. Cen Sen stood by the hospital bed, his shadow stretching longer and longer.
Ji Mingshu was dazed for a few seconds. When she finally processed the meaning of Cen Sen’s words, her heart, which had been teetering on the edge of a cliff, was abruptly pulled back. The chill in her hands and feet gradually began to fade.
But when she looked at Cen Sen’s expression again, she couldn’t help feeling that there was a hint of condescending mockery in it.
She silently pulled the blanket higher, trying to cover her head.
Unfortunately, one of her hands was still hooked up to an IV drip. The edge of the blanket caught on the IV tube, jostling the needle. Her attempt to retreat into her shell failed, and she couldn’t help but let out a soft hiss, sucking in a sharp breath.
Cen Sen watched her quietly, his expression detached. Seeing her struggle for a while without managing to untangle the IV tube, he finally stepped forward, pulled the blanket aside, steadied the IV stand, and then unhurriedly pressed the automatic adjustment button, allowing her upper body to sit up halfway.
Cen Sen said, “Eat something first.”
Following his gaze, Ji Mingshu looked toward the bedside table and noticed a thermal container and a medical chart placed there.
She picked up the medical chart and skimmed through it. The medical jargon was incomprehensible, but the words “low blood sugar” were glaringly obvious.
“…”
So she really had fainted from hunger. Somehow, that didn’t feel any more reasonable than cancer.
Ji Mingshu lowered her eyes, paused for a moment, and then stiffly set the thin paper down.
How utterly embarrassing…
The hospital room was spacious, with a wide floor-to-ceiling window offering a broad view. Yet, due to the silence between the two of them, the air seemed to grow oppressive and awkward.
Ji Mingshu resembled a little child who had done something wrong and was obediently admitting her mistake. Both hands rested on her flat stomach, her fingers lightly picking at her nails. Throughout, she didn’t dare look up or meet Cen Sen’s eyes.
Strangely, today, Cen Sen wasn’t as impatient as usual. He even raised the bedside table, poured the porridge, and tested its temperature. The only thing missing from his performance as the perfect husband was personally feeding her.
This was completely different from what Ji Mingshu had imagined—that once she woke up, he would answer a phone call and return to the office. For a moment, she didn’t even dare pick at her nails, and her entire body froze.
“Have a little. It’s not hot.”
Ji Mingshu nodded and swallowed a few mouthfuls of the porridge as if it were poisoned, then quickly set down the spoon.
“Can’t drink anymore?”
“Mm…” Ji Mingshu had originally wanted to say, “Could you please leave and stop staring at me?” But the words that came out were stiff and flattering: “This doesn’t taste very good. It’s not as delicious as what you make.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she remembered that Cen Sen had never cooked porridge for her before. So she quickly changed the subject: “By the way, when can I be discharged?”
“It’s just low blood sugar. You can leave anytime.”
“…”
There it was again—that faint, almost imperceptible mockery. The little golden canary’s fragile heart shattered.
As Ji Mingshu fell silent, Cen Sen also possessed the remarkable skill of “if you don’t speak, I won’t utter a word either; let’s just stay silent together until the end of time.”
Ji Mingshu stirred the plain porridge absentmindedly, suddenly suspecting that this dog of a man was slowly torturing her, like a dull knife cutting into flesh.
But when she stole a glance at his expression, it didn’t seem that way.
After teetering on the edge of an awkwardness-induced breakdown for what felt like a hundred and eighty rounds, Ji Mingshu had to admit that, regardless of this dog of a man’s original intentions, she was already being tormented by his sudden patience.
She abruptly set down the spoon, raised her voice, and said, “You… could you please stop staring at me? I want to sleep a little longer!”Before Cen Sen could answer, and not daring to look at him, she kicked the blanket aside with her hands and feet and hurriedly lay down.
The most unbearable part was that her face was starting to heat up uncontrollably, and no amount of mental persuasion helped. The thought of "how utterly embarrassing" kept dominating her mind, like bullet comments playing on a loop at double speed, refusing to fade whether her eyes were open or closed.
Cen Sen noticed her flushed ears, and his heart stirred slightly.
But it was only for a moment, and there was no time to dwell on it.
He tidied up the congee, left the hospital room, and gently closed the door behind him.
Ji Mingshu held her position for only four or five seconds after hearing the door close before she couldn’t resist turning around. Seeing Cen Sen still standing by the window, she shamefully curled back up.
Cen Sen suddenly smiled.
Zhou Jiaheng, who had been waiting outside, was slightly surprised. By the time he looked up, the faint trace of a smile on Cen Sen’s face had already vanished.
Checking the time as he walked out, Cen Sen followed with a series of work arrangements. "For the promotional work in Star City, find a company to collaborate with. The marketing team at the branch isn’t up to par and will need to be replaced sooner or later."
Zhou Jiaheng: "Jia Bai?"
"You handle it," Cen Sen replied calmly. "It’s about time to settle the accounts with Rongjia Real Estate. Find a time to talk to their Mr. Chen. Also, don’t interfere with Wei Chengfeng and Huang Peng’s private communications for now, and don’t let the others meddle either. It’s not the right time yet."
"Yes."
Zhou Jiaheng walked beside him. Seeing that Cen Sen had finished discussing business matters, he wanted to ask something, but in the end, out of professional habit, he held back.
Inside the hospital room, Ji Mingshu lay curled up on the bed, motionless. Her mind replayed in high definition all the recent embarrassments she had caused in front of Cen Sen. The more she thought about it, the more ashamed she felt. She silently vented her frustration by clutching her pillow for a while, and in the end, perhaps from exhaustion, she actually fell asleep again.
She slept until eight in the evening, by which time the IV drip had finished.
A gentle nurse was collecting the empty bottles nearby while carefully reminding her: after finishing the IV, it’s best to eat something light to settle her stomach. Overeating or consuming heavy, oily, or spicy foods could easily upset her stomach, and so on.
Ji Mingshu nodded absentmindedly, still glancing toward the door.
Had that scoundrel Cen Sen really left without returning? Surely there wasn’t even anyone outside to take her home.
Watching the nurse leave the room, Ji Mingshu withdrew her gaze dejectedly.
But the next second, the door was pushed open again, letting in a few sparse strands of the autumn night’s breeze.
Cen Sen leaned casually against the doorway, his gaze meeting hers calmly. Suddenly, he spoke, "Get ready, we’re going home."
Ji Mingshu sat on the bed with her legs hugged to her chest, staring blankly as he approached step by step. Her heart beat heavily, uncontrollably.
Unconsciously, it had already turned to late autumn. The night temperature was low, and the wind was chilly. Ji Mingshu wrapped herself in a trench coat.
When she got into the car and saw a shopping bag from a certain brand on the back seat, she couldn’t help but glance at it a few more times. "Is this a gift from a client, or are you planning to give it to a client?"
"I saw it at the airport and thought it would suit you," Cen Sen said as he got into the car from the other side, glancing at her.
"..."
For her?
Ji Mingshu eyed him suspiciously and reached for the shopping bag.
While unwrapping the box, she kept stealing glances at him from time to time.
When she finally saw the true face of the bag, a small flutter of excitement rose in Ji Mingshu’s heart, and the corners of her lips, which had been pressed flat, couldn’t help but curve upward slightly.It's actually quite nice—the brand, color scheme, style, and size are all to her liking.
"Do you like it?"
Ji Mingshu examined the bag intently, extremely satisfied inside, yet she maintained a haughty expression on her surface, offering a cool and aloof critique: "It's... just barely acceptable."
She couldn't resist caressing it, but then she suddenly remembered something and turned her head, still holding onto her imposing demeanor as she asked, "Why are you being so nice to me today?"
"Am I?"
Isn't he? Pouring her congee, personally picking her up, and now giving her a bag—no matter how you look at it, it seems like he's up to no good!
Last time, he unusually went to the magazine office to pick her up and unusually cooked braised pork ribs for her—wasn't that just to feed her before plotting something?
Thinking of this, Ji Mingshu tightened her grip on the bag handle, feeling uneasy inside.
Surely this dog of a man wouldn't go that far, would he? She just got out of the hospital today—is he really that impatient and inhuman?
But within minutes, the car parked in the underground garage of a large shopping mall. Cen Sen said he was going to the supermarket to buy groceries and cook congee for her, seemingly further confirming her suspicions.
Carrying her new bag, she got out of the car, highly wary of Cen Sen. On the way to the supermarket, she kept reminding him that she was a patient who had just left the hospital, weak and in need of proper rest—she couldn't be overworked!
Cen Sen glanced at her. "Got it."
"..."
That indifferent, dismissive expression—what do you know? I bet you don't know a damn thing.
Cen Sen had no idea what she was overthinking, nor did he feel he had done anything unusual or treated her particularly specially today.
Everything seemed to happen naturally. He did what he wanted to do and felt it was all perfectly reasonable.
Ji Mingshu rarely ever set foot in supermarkets on ordinary days, and this was her first time shopping in one with Cen Sen.
Spotting the shopping carts at the entrance, including the cute little car-shaped ones, she couldn't help but glance at them a few times.
Cen Sen suddenly reached out and nudged her head, saying calmly, "Don't look. Your weight isn't suitable for those."
His hand was still a bit cool. Even though he was just nudging her head, she felt her heart uncontrollably skip a beat.
By the time she snapped out of it and wanted to argue, Cen Sen had already pushed the cart forward four or five meters.
She quickly caught up, placing her hands on the cart handle alongside Cen Sen's. After calming her racing heart, she made small talk: "By the way, when did you learn to cook? I never knew before."
"In college," he said while picking out seasonings. "I didn't specifically learn—I just downloaded recipes and followed them."
"I've followed recipes too, but I never managed."
Cen Sen placed a bottle of cumin powder into the cart, then turned and gave her a look that said, "Don't you know why?"
Ji Mingshu wisely shut her mouth.
The supermarket was brightly lit. Ji Mingshu looked around and noticed many young couples pushing carts together, chatting and laughing, some even acting quite affectionate.
As they made their way to the seafood section, the air began to smell fishy. Ji Mingshu covered her nose and mouth, but before she could take more than a couple of steps forward, a fish in one of the glass tanks suddenly splashed water outward.
Instinctively, she shielded the new bag Cen Sen had given her. Once the fish settled down, she carefully lifted the bag and wiped it.
As she wiped, something felt off. She treated even her Birkin like an everyday tote, carrying it everywhere—why was she being so meticulous with a bag that wasn't particularly precious?
Suddenly realizing something, she immediately stopped wiping the bag.Glancing at Cen Sen, who was selecting live shrimp, she quickly said, "The smell here is awful. I'm going to look at the snacks and will come find you later."
After speaking, she immediately turned around, paused for two seconds, then hurriedly scurried out of Cen Sen's line of sight.
Cen Sen looked up at her retreating figure but didn't think much of it.
However, recalling that Ji Mingshu often did inexplicable things whenever she was out of his sight, he didn't linger in the seafood section either. After having the shrimp processed, he decided to go find that little vase who couldn't walk independently.
Ji Mingshu drifted aimlessly through the snack aisle, her bag in hand, as her stomach finally registered the delayed hunger.
Normally, she had little desire for junk food, but at that moment, she felt a strong urge to tear open a bag of chips and eat them before paying.
Fortunately, her sense of decorum won over her appetite. She drifted further down the aisle, deciding to avoid temptation by not looking.
Out of sight, out of mind—her stomach was settled, but her thoughts remained restless.
Certain things she didn't want to think too deeply about lingered in her mind, like a minefield where even a slight contemplation could blow a massive hole in her current peaceful life.
She paced back and forth in front of the shelves for a long time, trying to push the name "Cen Sen" out of her thoughts.
But just as the thought surfaced, Cen Sen's calm voice unexpectedly sounded from behind her, "I'm done shopping."
Startled, her shoulders trembled involuntarily. Without looking back, she hastily grabbed something from the shelf and hurried forward, saying, "I'm done too!"
After walking a few steps, she glanced down and realized she was holding a large box—a conspicuously labeled box of condoms, containing at least a dozen or two.
This was what a real minefield felt like.
Ji Mingshu's mind went blank. Seeing several men nearby, she instinctively turned and shoved the box into Cen Sen's arms without a second thought.
But when she looked up, she wished she could vanish on the spot.
Where was Cen Sen?!
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