Actually, when Ji Mingshu looked back later, that New Year’s Eve was quite ordinary.
Cen Sen held her for a while at the entrance of the alley. As the snow fell thicker and thicker, the two of them walked back hand in hand along the path they had taken for their stroll.
After returning to the courtyard house, they watched the Spring Festival Gala with the elders in the main hall for a while. Just before midnight, they shared dumplings. Unable to finish hers, she secretly transferred most of them to Cen Sen.
Later, when the snow stopped, Cen Sen accompanied her outside to build a snowman. She wrote “I like you” on the snow with a branch and dragged Cen Sen over to see it. But after reading it, Cen Sen still wanted to hear her say it out loud, and she, lacking backbone, said it anyway. The two lingered in front of the snowman for a while before returning to their room, snuggling under the blankets and playing on their phones, chatting and laughing.
Cen Sen’s smiles were always very subtle—relaxed, with the corners of his lips slightly upturned, rarely showing his teeth. But when someone who seldom smiled occasionally did, it felt especially gentle.
Later still, they didn’t do anything inappropriate for children. After chatting until they were tired, they held each other and fell into a deep sleep.
It was just such an ordinary night that left Ji Mingshu sitting dazedly on the edge of the bed the next morning, unable to tell whether it was real or a dream.
She had once thought that some people might be born without the ability to love, and that even a one-sided crush was rare. But on New Year’s Eve, the one-sided crush she had finally mustered the courage to reveal suddenly received a response from the other side.
While brushing her teeth, Ji Mingshu, with her mouth still full of foam, turned her head and mumbled, “Did you say you liked me last night? Was I dreaming?”
Cen Sen had already finished washing up. The strands of hair on his forehead were slightly damp, and he looked clean and refreshed.
Seeing Ji Mingshu with her messy hair and her little face tilted upward as she asked her question, he poured a glass of water and handed it to her. “Brush your teeth properly.”
Then he wrung out a towel.
Ji Mingshu stared intently, thinking that after confessing his feelings, Cen Sen had suddenly changed and even knew to wring out a towel to help her wipe her face.
But her secret delight lasted less than three seconds before she saw Cen Sen calmly pressing the towel to wipe away the toothpaste foam she had accidentally sprayed onto his clothes.
Ji Mingshu: “…”
If he was this disgusted by a little toothpaste foam, how could she believe that this dog of a man truly liked her, that he could share joys and sorrows with her, stay by her side through thick and thin, have children, and spend the rest of his life with her?
Before she could voice this question from the depths of her soul, Cen Sen wrung out the towel again and wiped her face.
His movements weren’t particularly gentle or skilled, but they were meticulous.
After wiping her face, he leaned in slightly and planted a kiss on her cheek. “It wasn’t a dream.”
His lips were cool and carried the minty scent of toothpaste.
Pink bubbles rose slowly from the depths of her heart.
Ji Mingshu nodded slowly, then turned back to face the mirror. Silently, she quickly rinsed her mouth and decided—to bury that earlier question back into the depths of her soul.
The Cen family had the tradition of staying up late on New Year’s Eve. At breakfast time, the adults had mostly just gone to bed. Apart from Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen, only a few energetic little kids were sitting in the dining room.
With no elders around, Ji Mingshu didn’t pay much attention to etiquette. While eating, she even browsed Weibo for a while.After the recent malicious editing incident took a dramatic turn, her Weibo gained a full four hundred thousand followers. Once the incident settled, she cleared all her posts, but her follower count continued to grow steadily. Her private messages were flooded with questions—whether she considered debuting, why she cleared her Weibo, when she would post again...
Usually, even when female celebrities craft a fake "white, rich, and beautiful" persona, they manage to attract plenty of fans and generate buzz. So when a genuine, one-of-a-kind, and highly distinctive top-tier socialite appeared right before everyone’s eyes, it naturally sparked immense curiosity.
Ji Mingshu originally had no intention of making frequent public appearances, hoping instead that people would soon forget the incident and stop dragging her into discussions every now and then. But while things had quieted down on her end, the ongoing feud between Yan Yuexing and the production team dragged on like an endless drama series. As one of the key figures in the incident, it was impossible for her to completely withdraw from the gossip and discussions anytime soon.
On top of that, she had been dying to show off last night! The moment Cen Sen confessed his feelings to her, she wanted to announce to the whole world: The person I like likes me back! I, Ji's Shushu, must be the happiest woman in the world! No objections allowed!!!
So after flaunting it in her social circle, she couldn’t resist posting a photo of the two of them holding sparklers on Weibo, captioning it: "Spending New Year’s Eve with Mr. Cen."
Her Weibo post was throttled, and after posting it, only a handful of responses trickled in, so she didn’t bother waiting around. But when she checked again later, her show-off post had already surpassed five thousand reposts, likes, and comments, with a small blue "Hot" label in the top left corner of the post.
Ji Mingshu wasn’t very familiar with Weibo and had no idea that this label appeared when someone bought a "Fan Headline" promotion for her. She thought she had genuinely made it to the trending list on her own merit.
So, resting her chin on her hand and scooping small spoonfuls of soup, she bragged to Cen Sen, "I have five hundred thousand followers on Weibo now. Even a random post can make it to the trending list. Did you know that?"
Cen Sen responded with an extremely perfunctory "Hmm," without even looking up. He had been wearing a loose black sweater and thin gold-rimmed glasses since early morning, sitting across from Ji Mingshu, eating breakfast while scrolling through financial news on his tablet—casual and at home.
But this casual, at-home demeanor, combined with his utterly indifferent "Hmm," instantly struck Ji Mingshu as a sign of disregard for her status as a blogger with five hundred thousand followers!
She suddenly stood up, scooted over to sit beside Cen Sen, and stuffed the half-eaten bun in her hand into his mouth, half-coaxing and half-warning, "Let me tell you, if you ever dare treat me badly, I’ll expose you on Weibo!"
"..."
Cen Sen put down his tablet, picked up the bun with his slender, long-fingered hand, and chewed it slowly. Only after finishing it did he glance down and ask, "When have I ever treated you badly?"
Ji Mingshu tugged at his arm, speaking with righteous indignation, "Just now, when I was talking to you, you kept reading the news. Isn’t that treating me badly and not caring about what I say?"
Her face was practically screaming, "Your little wife is very unhappy right now." Cen Sen took a sip of soup, ruffled her hair, and said slowly, "I’ll do better in the future."Only then was Ji Mingshu satisfied. She picked out comments from under her own Weibo posts that exclaimed, "The CEO's wife is so beautiful!" and "CEO's wife, please debut!" and broadcasted them to Cen Sen in real-time, hoping to pressure him into recognizing just how popular his stunningly beautiful wife truly was.
A few little kids also having breakfast nearby watched them, huddled together at a corner of the round table, whispering among themselves.
Little Boy No. 1: "When we grow up, we should never marry someone like Auntie. She's too scary!"
Little Boy No. 2: "Brother, I agree. I think Dad is right—pretty ones aren't reliable. We should look at inner qualities."
Little Girl No. 1: "As if you could ever find a wife as beautiful as Auntie..."
Little Girl No. 2: "Exactly! Such little chauvinists at such a young age!"
Little Boy No. 1: "And you're just a feminist extremist!"
Little Girl No. 2: "Cen Bigeng, can you stop misusing words you just learned? How stupid!"
When children argue, they don't think twice about their words. Soon, these little ones went from hushed whispers to loud bickering, escalating from the original topic to personal attacks.
Just then, Cen Sen suddenly set down his bowl, glanced over lightly, and said in a low voice, "If you're not eating, go do your winter break homework."
With just that calm, simple sentence, the children suddenly straightened up as if under a spell, falling silent and even breathing cautiously.
Ji Mingshu glanced at the tense-faced little kids and suddenly had a thought—
If she and Cen Sen had children in the future, she probably wouldn't have to worry much. With Cen Sen's cold, imposing aura—like a final boss in a tower—he could probably discipline any child into submission. As the gentle mother, she would only need to occasionally show her tender, caring side, taking the kids shopping and taking photos.
Thinking this, Ji Mingshu smiled at Cen Sen, looking quite pleased with his performance.
However, this satisfaction didn't last long, because his ever-persistent ex-girlfriend seemed determined to ruin everyone's mood, starting to cause trouble on the very first day of the Lunar New Year.
After announcing the film's production, Li Wenyin had actually started selling a book—a novel of the same name as the movie, with prefaces recommended by several well-known writers!
It was unclear how long Li Wenyin had been planning this big move. There had been no prior promotion, and then, out of the blue on New Year's Day, she posted a long Weibo post, rambling from the concept of the cover design to the gifts included with the book. Every line emphasized her dedication and how much she cherished the book, taking the phrase "selling nostalgia" to its extreme.
Back in the day, Li Wenyin's essay "My Ex Got Married" had attracted many Weibo followers. Over the years, while studying abroad, she hadn't forgotten to occasionally post a few lines of incomprehensible foreign languages, share photos of art exhibitions and artworks, write reviews for highly-rated art films and books, and, very rarely, post selfies or share snippets of her daily life—sipping tea, arranging flowers, or attending high-end events. Surprisingly, her Weibo followers had slowly grown to nearly a million.
As a blogger with a refined, artistic style, she had many active followers. When she suddenly dropped the bombshell of publishing a book tied to a film adaptation on New Year's Day, her fans naturally responded enthusiastically.Moreover, she had been well-prepared, and it wasn't long before the reposts, likes, and comments on her lengthy Weibo post had all broken ten thousand. "#Li Wenyin's New Book#" and the title of her movie quietly climbed onto the trending list.
Even more exaggerated was that within just an hour or two, the pre-sales of her new book had already topped the charts on major book websites. She even posted a thank-you Weibo, saying something about how she never expected so many people to buy it, and that her editor had just informed her the first print run was already being reprinted, blah blah blah.
When Ji Mingshu saw this Weibo post, she was so furious she nearly exploded. Without any hesitation, she shoved her phone right into Cen Sen's face. "This is what you meant by 'no rush, no rush'! 'The movie won't be released'! I don't know if the movie will be released or not, but this book is about to hit the shelves! Does your ex-girlfriend think she's the modern-day Li Qingzhao or something?! Publishing a book, getting it reprinted, and trying to immortalize your so-called touching love story for all eternity!!!"
Ji Mingshu was absolutely livid. "And why does she have so many more Weibo followers than me?! Her reposts, likes, and comments are more than double mine! I have no face at all!!!"
Cen Sen: "..."
He closed his eyes, took the phone from his face, and for a moment, he didn't even know which of Ji Mingshu's problems he should address first.
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