Ji Mingshu had always remembered the incident when she wanted to participate in Junyi's designer hotel project but was mocked by Cen Sen, who said that perhaps kowtowing all the way to the Potala Palace might move heaven and earth. Now that she had finally gotten her revenge, she was naturally in high spirits.
Late at night, after the clouds dispersed and the rain ceased, she lazily nestled in Cen Sen's arms, playing with his eyelashes, and hazily thought to herself: A dog of a man is still a dog of a man. He claimed he allowed her to participate because her design skills had improved, but his body was honest. Even with an 8 a.m. meeting at the company the next day, he still kept her up until 3 a.m...
Before she could think further, she too drifted into a deep sleep.
At Junyi's first high-level meeting after the New Year, Cen Sen arrived punctually in a suit and tie. After the meeting, he led a procession of executives downstairs to inspect the working areas of various departments.
As usual, Cen Sen appeared gentle yet distant. Wherever he went, a ten-meter radius around him remained free of any disturbances.
Everyone stood properly, listening to the leaders' speeches, but only about a third were actually paying attention. Another third were preoccupied with their own work or personal matters, while the remaining third, upon seeing Cen Sen, couldn't help but recall the recent gossip about the CEO and his wife.
Online rumors claimed their CEO was henpecked, but seeing him with an expression that seemed to say, "Every single one of your ancestors owes me 18 billion," it was hard to imagine him being too scared to even breathe under his wife's watch.
However, colleagues in the project department were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of it.
At the end of the inspection, Zhou Jiaheng stayed behind and asked the head of Group A for the Junyi Elegant Collection project to hold off on finalizing the designer list, as they needed to add another designer's information. When asked for the details, Zhou Jiaheng said they weren't ready yet, but he did have a name.
—Ji Mingshu.
After Zhou Jiaheng left, the project head asked the team, "Who is Ji Mingshu? Have any of you heard of her?"
The team collectively gave him a look that seemed to say, "Boss, do you not go online or read the company group messages?" After a moment, someone finally answered:
"Of course we've heard of her..."
"She's the CEO's wife..."
While Cen Sen was busy at work, Ji Mingshu was also diligently writing her New Year's plans. Her plans weren't all about work—they included throwing parties, traveling, attending Haute Couture Week, and even entering "couple mode" with Cen Sen to start dating, among other things.
After reading it, Jiang Chun gave her a sincere suggestion, "I think your plan is missing a particularly important part."
"What?"
"Preparing for pregnancy and having a baby."
Jiang Chun said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, even going on about her Second Uncle's philosophy.
Ji Mingshu found her particularly strange. "Why are you suddenly thinking about this?" Usually, this Little Earth Goose couldn't go three sentences without talking about how delicious this or that was. After the New Year, she had unexpectedly skipped the "virtuous wife" stage and jumped straight into the "good mother" phase.
Jiang Chun smiled mysteriously, with a hint of shyness and a touch of smugness, then extended her little goose claw and waved it frantically in front of Ji Mingshu.
Ji Mingshu had too many diamond rings and usually wore them casually for fun, most of which held no special meaning. If Jiang Chun hadn't hinted so obviously, she wouldn't have realized.
After a three-second mental freeze, she asked, "Did you and Tang Zhizhou get on the bus before buying the ticket...?""Stop talking nonsense, okay? Tang Zhizhou and I are still very pure! This is an engagement ring!" Jiang Chun gave her a light slap in annoyance.
"..." Ji Mingshu resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Just an engagement ring, and you haven't even had the engagement ceremony yet, and you're already thinking about having kids? Can't you be a bit more ambitious?"
Jiang Chun forced a smile. "To be honest, I was already thinking about having kids before we got engaged."
Ji Mingshu didn't know what she had done wrong—just having afternoon tea with her best friend, and she had to be bombarded with ideas like "you should have a child with the one you love early on." If Jiang Chun hadn't mentioned having a second child, she might have suspected that her Second Uncle had extended his ideological work to her surroundings, planning to brainwash her through her friends.
Actually, it wasn't that Ji Mingshu didn't want to have children. She just felt that she and Cen Sen had only recently confirmed their feelings for each other and hadn't had much time to enjoy being a couple. Jumping straight to having a child felt like too much of a loss. She still wanted to make up for the regret of not dating during their student years with Cen Sen.
But thinking about how busy Cen Sen was, she felt disheartened again. The message she sent when she left the house still hadn't been replied to—so much for dating!
If this were during their student years, a boyfriend like this would have been dumped 3,986 times by now!
Perhaps sensing her resentment or something, Cen Sen replied on WeChat not long after.
Cen Sen: [I'm going on a business trip to Star City tomorrow.]
This message might as well not have been sent TVT!
Cen Sen: [Do you want to come with me?]
Actually, there was another sentence: [If you come, I can take you to check out the designer hotel West is opening in Star City.]
But before he could send it, Ji Mingshu had already replied with a "Yes," followed by an excited exclamation mark.
Cen Sen covered his mouth slightly and suddenly chuckled softly.
Cen Sen wasn't going to Star City alone this time; he brought five or six senior executives, plus the assistants trailing behind them, making a total of over ten people.
Standing beside Cen Sen wearing sunglasses, Ji Mingshu felt a little excited because this was the first time she was going out with him and the group's senior executives as the CEO's wife.
Of course, none of this excitement showed on her face—she maintained the same poker face as her husband throughout, paired with a matte velvet red lipstick, a camel-colored trench coat with excellent drape, and tall boots with extremely thin, high heels. She looked effortlessly cool and exuded the aura of a seasoned professional who could step into a negotiation at any moment.
The newly appointed executives in Star City, unaware of the situation, thought Cen Sen had changed his chief assistant when they came out to greet him.
Of course, Ji Mingshu's composure only lasted until they checked into the hotel.
When they went to the top-floor revolving restaurant for dinner that evening, she eagerly asked, "So, how was it? Did I give off that strong, independent woman vibe today?"
Cen Sen unbuttoned his collar and nodded in agreement, then swapped the steak he had cut with hers.
Ji Mingshu rested her chin on her hand, still savoring the feeling. "You know, I suddenly think being a big boss is pretty great—like, strategizing, directing everything, being inscrutable... Mmm..."She leaned back slightly, frowning with dissatisfaction as she looked down at the dessert Cen Sen had stuffed into her mouth.
Although Cen Sen didn’t speak or show any expression, Ji Mingshu was perceptive enough to guess his inner thoughts—if you want to live a good life with good food and drink, you’d better leave the company alone.
Before she could stubbornly launch into another grand speech, Cen Sen first brought up the matter of the Designer program resuming its broadcast.
This had been agreed upon by Ji Mingshu.
The program team’s frequent tearful apologies were secondary; her main consideration was for the other designers.
So far, only two episodes of the program had aired, covering the content of her group’s recording. If the remaining episodes couldn’t be broadcast, it would be unfair to the other celebrities and amateur designers who had participated.
Especially for the amateur designers—during the program’s recording, she had exchanged ideas with some of them. Many of their design concepts were no worse than those of top international interior designers, but they simply lacked opportunities to showcase their talents.
With a program like this, regardless of its future ratings, it at least provided a platform for them to showcase themselves and allow industry professionals to see their true capabilities.
Besides, her two episodes had already been re-edited, Yan Yuexing had disappeared, and the program team had learned a painful lesson. In reality, continuing the broadcast wouldn’t affect her at all.
However, when Cen Sen mentioned the program, she had an idea. “When are you free? I want to revisit the homeowner of the house I renovated before.”
She didn’t have much experience with guest room designs like the Junyi Elegant Collection, but there were many similarities between the home design she had done for that family and hotel guest room design. She wanted to revisit them and see what feedback the homeowner would give based on actual living experiences.
Cen Sen glanced at his phone’s schedule. “Tomorrow, I won’t be free until 7 p.m. The day after, it’ll be 8 p.m.”
“Visiting in the evening? That’s not ideal.”
Ji Mingshu thought for a moment. “How about this? I’ll go by myself tomorrow afternoon, and you can pick me up when you’re done. How does that sound?”
Cen Sen asked, “Can you manage on your own?”
“Why wouldn’t I be able to? Just have someone drive me there. Do you think I can’t even walk independently in your eyes?”
Cen Sen silently cut his steak.
The trajectory of his knife and fork clearly said: Yes, that’s right, you’re just a little vase that can’t walk on its own.
Unable to resist, Ji Mingshu kicked him under the table again, and he reluctantly nodded in agreement.
The next afternoon, Ji Mingshu deliberately dressed in a simple beige turtleneck sweater paired with skinny jeans. Passing by a fruit shop, she asked the driver to stop so she could buy a fruit basket.
Arriving at the neighborhood, she carried the fruit basket and followed her memory to the old, rundown school-district apartment where she had spent over a month.
As she knocked on the door, she praised herself inwardly for her excellent memory.
Hearing footsteps slowly approaching from inside but no one opening the door, Ji Mingshu politely asked, “Is Mr. Wang or Ms. Li home?”
Finally, a slightly youthful male voice came from inside. “My uncle and aunt aren’t here.”
“You’re Mr. Wang and Ms. Li’s nephew, right?”"Yes, who are you?" The boy had clearly seen through the peephole that she was pretty, which was why he was willing to talk a bit more.
Ji Mingshu patiently replied, "Hello there, little friend. I'm the designer who previously handled the renovation design for your uncle and aunt. I'm here today just for a follow-up visit—I'll take a quick look and leave. If you're not comfortable opening the door, you can call your uncle or aunt first."
The boy hesitated inside for a moment, then opened the inner door, but kept the security gate locked.
"You can just look from here. There are no adults at home, so I still won't open the door for you."
"Which renovation designer are you? My uncle and aunt just had the place redone before the New Year. I heard our home was once featured on a show, but my uncle and aunt complain about it every day, saying the show was full of scammers. They made the place unlivable—aside from the appliances they gave us, everything else is just for show."
Standing at the doorway, Ji Mingshu peered through the gaps in the security gate and saw the living room, now stripped of any design sensibility. Her mind went blank for a moment.
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