The "bang" echoed in her ears, lingering with a resonance that seemed to last for days.
In over twenty years of her life, Ji Mingshu had never had a car door slammed in her face. The sudden act left her momentarily stunned, followed by a flurry of bewildering questions: Had Cen Sen lost his mind? How could he treat his lawfully wedded wife like this? Was he even human?
She quickened her pace and slammed the other car door with equal force, the sound reverberating loudly.
Ji Mingshu had always been quick with words, and in the mere seconds it took to get into the car, she had already composed a series of soul-piercing, thought-provoking questions.
But the moment her eyes met Cen Sen's, a strange thought flashed through her mind: Wait, could it be... he was jealous?
With that thought, Ji Mingshu’s gaze flickered, and she felt an inexplicable twinge of guilt.
Gu Kaiyang: [If this isn’t jealousy, then what is it—drinking oil?]
Jiang Chun: [Confirmed: the embodiment of a vinegar bottle.]
Jiang Chun: [But isn’t this the legendary "friend is actually me"? Your Highness, no need to be so subtle when showing off in front of us. Please be more direct, please!]
Gu Kaiyang: [Agreed. Plus, besides the two of us, what other friends do you even have?]
Ji Mingshu: [?]
Gu Kaiyang: [My mistake. What I meant was, besides us, whose love story is worth your concern?]
Ji Mingshu: [...]
It’s me, the "wild chicken," indeed.
Humble :)
After returning to the hotel that day, Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen fell into a delicate stalemate.
They weren’t arguing, nor could it be called a cold war. At the hotel, they still ate meals together, slept in the same bed at night, and even stood side by side at the sink brushing their teeth in the morning.
—They just didn’t speak to each other.
Cen Sen was habitually silent, while Ji Mingshu was preoccupied with more tangled thoughts, too distracted to break the ice with him.
After wrestling with it for a day and a half, she finally turned her suspicion about Cen Sen’s jealousy into a clumsy story about a "friend" and shared it in her sisters’ group chat.
Although the members of the "rainbow fart squad" had already concluded it was "jealousy," Ji Mingshu still couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
Since the Cen family’s affairs weren’t something to be aired publicly, she omitted the deeper layer of the relationship between Cen Sen and Cen Yang in her retelling. Yet it was precisely this deeper connection that made her lean more toward the idea that Cen Sen wasn’t jealous—he simply didn’t want to hear anyone mention Cen Yang.
Amid Ji Mingshu’s endless back-and-forth deliberations, the recording of Designer finally drew to a close.
Over the course of a month and a half, Ji Mingshu had discarded six pairs of high heels and, despite starting from a small base, managed to lose a full four pounds.
On the final day of recording, Pei Xiyan gave gifts to his partners and the crew.
The gifts were all safe and non-controversial items. Feng Yan received a razor, and Yan Yuexing got skincare products—all items Pei Xiyan himself endorsed.
Ji Mingshu’s gift was slightly more special: a box of vitamins, covering A, B, C, D, and more, with a note inside urging her to replenish her nutrients to avoid fainting at any moment.
Pei Xiyan was still a minor and had always maintained a cool-boy persona that perfectly matched his personality. Clearly, he couldn’t have been this thoughtful and considerate.Yet Ji Mingshu managed to see Yan Zai's care and affection for her in this box of vitamins prepared by the team. Moved, she posted three consecutive moments on social media, lavishing praise on Pei Xiyan and declaring that for his next movie, she would treat everyone in her friend circle to a private screening. She even urged everyone to screenshot and save the post, ensuring no one missed out!
For a while, her three posts were flooded with comments—some joining in the praise, others teasing her for her extravagant generosity.
Spending his money to chase after a kid—how generous indeed.
After reading the posts, Cen Sen expressionlessly turned off his phone.
With the recording over, Ji Mingshu naturally had to return to the capital. However, Cen Sen still had unfinished business in Star City and couldn’t leave with her. She didn’t mind at all, secretly planning to return first and properly confront that little white lotus, Li Wenyin.
Ji Mingshu had intended to stay in Star City for two more days to visit a trendy art gallery for photos. But Gu Kaiyang quietly passed along a tip: Li Wenyin would be attending a high-end luxury brand cocktail party the next day with an investor.
Upon hearing this, Ji Mingshu didn’t even say goodbye and immediately flew back to the capital ahead of schedule.
As the plane touched down at Capital Airport’s Terminal 2, Ji Mingshu gazed out the window at the lingering sunset and was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling of a long-absent wanderer finally returning home.
Wah wah wah!
The dazzling, extravagant capital—this golden canary has finally returned! This is her most radiant stage!
Even before leaving the airport, she had already grabbed Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun and arranged a hot spring trip for the three of them at Shuiyun Pavilion.
Soaking in the ginseng private hot spring she had once longed to enter, Jiang Chun listlessly splashed the water. “This ginseng one isn’t anything special either.”
Ji Mingshu gave her a once-over and poked her plump shoulder. “What did you expect? That you’d lose three pounds just by soaking in it? Not to be harsh, but could you at least have some awareness as a girl? Look at your shoulders, your collarbones. Oh, wait—you don’t have any.”
“…” Jiang Chun truly didn’t know what she had done wrong. “Can’t you be a little gentler after not seeing each other for over a month?”
Ji Mingshu pressed down on her shoulder and smiled sweetly. “Sorry, my mistake. You do have collarbones—they’re just a bit… discreet.”
Jiang Chun slapped her hand away, wearing a constipated expression that screamed, “Just shut up already!”
Over the past month, Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun had grown closer, secretly betraying Her Highness and uniting their weak forces into a formidable alliance.
Seeing Jiang Chun being bullied, Gu Kaiyang patted her shoulder in comfort. “She’s only tough with her own people. Let’s see if she dares to act like this when she meets Li Wenyin tomorrow.”
Ji Mingshu kicked her. “Why wouldn’t I dare? You’re really good at boosting others’ morale while dampening your own, huh? What a master fence-sitter, switching sides so quickly.”
Busy dealing with these two weaklings, Ji Mingshu didn’t notice the string of new messages that had dinged on her phone by the poolside.
The messages were from the staff of the Designer program.
Ji Mingshu’s team had finished all their recordings yesterday morning. A proper program team follows the rules, and the contract was clear—not a single day was delayed.The other groups recording at the same time had also mostly completed their renovation projects around the same time. The latest was Li Che's group, as some unexpected situations arose, requiring additional filming during the day today.
Just as a wrap-up banquet is held after a film wraps up, the production team organized a wrap-up gathering after the variety show recording concluded. On one hand, it was to thank everyone for their hard work over the past days, and on the other, to wish the show success in advance.
However, when the director mentioned this yesterday after the recording ended, Ji Mingshu had gone to the restroom and didn’t hear a thing.
The director asked a staff member familiar with Ji Mingshu to pass on the message. The staff member agreed, but with the busy post-production work, the matter was completely forgotten.
Now, at the wrap-up banquet, the entrusted staff member finally remembered that Ji Mingshu hadn’t been notified.
Panicking, she hurriedly called and messaged Ji Mingshu on WeChat, but there was no response.
Unfortunately, the producer caught her and asked, “Are all the designers here?”
Bracing herself, she replied guiltily, “Yes… they’re all here. It’s just Ji Mingshu, the designer from Group C, who had something come up last minute and couldn’t make it.”
The producer frowned. “What happened?”
“I don’t know…”
Just as the producer was about to scold her, someone rushed over to notify him that the sponsor’s representatives had arrived. He couldn’t spare the time and hurried outside to greet them.
The person from the sponsor’s side was no ordinary figure—rumor had it he was the heir of the Junyi Group, a truly rare sight.
This heir had come because he valued the development of the “Yaji” project under his company and happened to be in Star City on business, allowing him to spare the time to attend.
If they could impress this man and make him take a liking to their show, wouldn’t they have secured a sponsor daddy for the second and third seasons?
Thinking this, the producer’s eyes crinkled into a smile as he looked at Cen Sen, seeing him as a walking god of wealth.
Cen Sen and Ji Mingshu hadn’t spoken in days. The slight thaw in their relationship seemed to have reverted to how it was when they first returned to the country. Recently, Ji Mingshu had been acting strangely, often staring at him but not bringing up the car door incident from that day, nor giving him cold looks or rolling her eyes—very unlike her usual self.
After being ushered into the main hall by the producer, Zhou Jiaheng stepped forward to help Cen Sen remove his overcoat.
Cen Sen adjusted the collar of his shirt, seemingly casually glancing over the large round table.
Taking his seat at the main guest table, Cen Sen looked up slightly and asked the producer, “Is everyone here?”
The producer quickly replied, “Yes, everyone’s here. Except for Xiao Pei, who couldn’t make it due to classes, everyone else is present.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
The producer paused and added, “Oh, and Designer Ji isn’t here either. She had some personal matters today and couldn’t make it last minute.”
Remembering that the sponsor hadn’t been particularly fond of Ji Mingshu from the start, he chuckled, “Designer Ji… she’s still a bit young, after all, a girl. When it comes to steadiness and maturity, we have to mention Designers Wu and Yang. Their performance this time was truly outstanding.”
The two he praised happened to be the ones Junyi had favored and brought in.
After praising them, he observed Cen Sen’s expression, but there was no noticeable change.Not only the chief producer, but also the early sponsors who had explicitly refused to focus on filming Ji Mingshu—now that Ji Mingshu was not present—followed the chief producer's lead, hesitantly criticizing Ji Mingshu while praising the designer favored by Junyi.
Hearing the shift in tone, Yan Yuexing suddenly chuckled, "Designer Ji is quite good at making things difficult for others. Ah, I've been with her for over a month, and I'm exhausted too. Maybe it's just a lack of experience. I really envy your Group D and Group E..."
Before she could finish her pointed remarks, a wine glass was abruptly slammed down heavily from the head table.
The entire room fell silent in an instant, and all eyes turned in that direction.
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