Jiang Chun was a strange one. Sometimes she was sharper than a tack, picking up cues with just a glance. Other times, she seemed as oblivious as someone with eight-hundred-degree nearsightedness, completely unaware even when people were right in front of her.
Ji Mingshu watched helplessly as Cen Sen stopped behind Zhou Zhen and his ABC fiancée. He gave her a meaningful look, then glanced at Jiang Chun, appearing to listen attentively to the effusive praise pouring from this enthusiastic fan.
Zhou Zhen and his ABC fiancée were visibly losing their composure.
They weren’t fools. Jiang Chun’s over-the-top flattery of Cen Sen was clearly meant to tell them: Her husband effortlessly outshines you by miles, so please don’t flatter yourselves, thank you very much.
However, compared to his fiancée’s sour expression, Zhou Zhen’s emotional control was considerably better. Of course, this was also because he didn’t fully believe Jiang Chun’s exaggerated claims.
Having been abroad for years, he didn’t know Ji Mingshu was married, let alone that her husband was Cen Sen, the influential heir of the Cen family who could move mountains. That’s why he had wanted to show off in front of Ji Mingshu.
Hearing this news from Jiang Chun did make him a bit awkward.
But what Jiang Chun said was far too exaggerated. The Cen-Ji marriage was clearly an alliance between families—how well could Cen Sen possibly treat Ji Mingshu?
He knew of Cen Sen, after all, as Cen Sen had been a prominent figure during their school days. Moreover, his cousin had been Cen Sen’s classmate and even shared a dorm room with him at one point.
In his memory, Cen Sen was hardly the kind of perfect husband who would do laundry and cook for his wife.
After finishing her praise, Jiang Chun paused briefly.
Zhou Zhen smiled and seized the moment to interject, “I never imagined you and Senior Cen would get married, Mingshu.”
Ji Mingshu had no interest in engaging with him. Her mind was preoccupied with one thought: Is it because we’re outdoors that they can’t feel Cen Sen’s natural cooling aura? Jiang Chun was too engrossed to notice, but are these two not even planning to turn around?
Zhou Zhen genuinely seemed to have no intention of turning around. His mind was set on saving face in front of his fiancée, and he even took the opportunity to show off, suddenly launching into a detailed account of his cousin’s friendship with Cen Sen. In his words, he subtly positioned the Zhou and Cen families on roughly equal footing and briefly mentioned Li Wenyin before concluding with a smile, “In that sense, Senior Cen and I share a certain connection.”
What kind of connection?
The connection of having stepped in the same pile of shit?
Ji Mingshu rolled her eyes inwardly, utterly fed up with his knack for bringing up the most unwelcome topics. Her politely curved lips suddenly widened into a bright smile, and her eyes sparkled as she sweetly called out in Zhou Zhen’s direction, “Honey!”
Both Zhou Zhen and his fiancée were taken aback. Once they recovered, they instinctively turned to follow her gaze.
Cen Sen didn’t look at them. Instead, he lifted his eyes, meeting Ji Mingshu’s gaze in mid-air.
From the gleam in Ji Mingshu’s eyes, he inexplicably sensed a threat that seemed to say, “If you don’t play along with my act, I’ll make sure you never have descendants for all eternity.”
After a moment, he nodded slightly and walked naturally over to Ji Mingshu, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Ji Mingshu just as naturally linked her arm with his, her tone sweet yet slightly reproachful, “Why are you here so early? Are you done with work?”
Cen Sen replied without changing his expression, “Mm, I didn’t have much to do this afternoon, so I thought I’d come pick you up early.”He turned to greet Jiang Chun, then looked at Zhou Zhen and asked gently, "And this is?"
Before Ji Mingshu could introduce him, Zhou Zhen introduced himself, "I'm Zhou Zhen. Nice to meet you, senior. I also attended the affiliated high school, one grade below you and one above Mingshu."
He added, "I don’t know if you remember Zhou Xian—he was your roommate, and he’s also my cousin."
Cen Sen corrected, "We were only roommates for the three days of military training."
Zhou Zhen’s expression stiffened slightly.
Cen Sen continued, "But I just met your cousin this morning to discuss a collaboration."
Zhou Zhen relaxed, about to speak.
Cen Sen added, "But it didn’t work out."
Zhou Zhen looked awkward and finally managed to say, "That’s… such a shame…"
"Not a shame," Cen Sen said dismissively.
Zhou Zhen: "…"
He clearly didn’t know what expression to wear.
Cen Sen’s teasing was so obvious that only a fool wouldn’t understand. Zhou Zhen’s fiancée looked embarrassed and pulled him away hastily.
Jiang Chun, standing nearby, struggled to hold back her laughter. After they left, she nearly burst out laughing on the spot. It was only after Ji Mingshu pinched her and warned her to mind the occasion that she managed to restrain herself.
Perhaps because he’d heard Jiang Chun’s lavish praise earlier, Cen Sen was unusually patient and spoke a few more words with her. But Jiang Chun felt she didn’t deserve such special treatment and soon excused herself, claiming she needed to find Gu Kaiyang.
The event had only just begun, and the customizable new products for VIPs hadn’t even been unveiled yet. Ji Mingshu couldn’t leave directly with Cen Sen, so the two strolled arm in arm around the venue. Though they appeared intimate, an inexplicable silence hung between them.
"…The classic feature of this bag lies in its iconic quilted diamond pattern on the surface. It requires ninety-five meticulous steps to craft, with both visible and hidden stitching…"
The brand representative was introducing the latest updates to the season’s classic bag collection, surrounded by guests and reporters.
Ji Mingshu finally couldn’t hold back. She nudged Cen Sen, looked up, and whispered, "When you met Zhou Zhen’s cousin this morning to discuss a collaboration… what did he say?"
"What do you think?"
Cen Sen deflected effortlessly.
Ji Mingshu fell silent, realizing that his sudden appearance, almost like an interrogation, likely meant nothing good had been said.
She felt a small thrill at the thought of Cen Sen being jealous for her, but more than that, she felt awkward and reluctant to explain. After all, nearly being managed like a fish in a pond wasn’t exactly a glorious story.
"Don’t listen to nonsense. There’s nothing between me and Zhou Zhen."
That was all she said, offering no further explanation.
Mainly because Cen Sen didn’t seem particularly bothered, so there was no need for her to rush to clarify things.
Throughout the event, Cen Sen acted perfectly normal, even accompanying her to order some seasonal new products.
Later, there was a small auction of vintage brand bags. Ji Mingshu wasn’t particularly interested, but Zhou Zhen’s fiancée had her eye on one. Eager to impress, Zhou Zhen kept bidding against another lady, determined to win it.
Seeing this, the other lady eventually stopped bidding. But just before the deal was finalized, Cen Sen, without batting an eye, doubled Zhou Zhen’s offer.
The price was clearly unreasonably high. Not only was Zhou Zhen unwilling to pay, but his fiancée also couldn’t bear the cost. In the end, they could only watch helplessly as Cen Sen won the bag.Ji Mingshu hadn’t expected Cen Sen to suddenly do something like this and said in surprise, “I don’t need this, I already have one.”
Cen Sen replied nonchalantly, “Just take it. If you don’t like it, you can give it to a friend.”
Zhou Zhen and his fiancée weren’t sitting far away and nearly choked on their own blood upon hearing this.
Jiang Chun was also nearby, sitting just one row ahead of them. She turned around in pleasant surprise, looking eagerly at Ji Mingshu with a hint of expectation.
—In the end, Ji Mingshu still couldn’t bring herself to give the bag away, as it was something Cen Sen had won for her. However, she promised to give Jiang Chun the same model she had previously collected.
For this, Jiang Chun showered her with compliments for three whole days, showing off like a child in front of Gu Kaiyang.
Gu Kaiyang didn’t take it to heart, but Ji Mingshu always treated her friends fairly and selflessly, so she carefully picked out another style for Gu Kaiyang.
Setting aside the brief jealousy sparked by the bag among her friends, when they returned home that day, Cen Sen, ever the dutiful husband, prepared a lavish dinner and uncorked a bottle of well-aged red wine.
Recently, Cen Sen had been busy with work and hadn’t had much time to cook, so Ji Mingshu hadn’t enjoyed a good meal in a long while.
This dinner featured many of her favorite dishes, including the long-missed braised pork ribs.
She ate to her heart’s content, so much so that she quickly forgot the minor annoyance caused by Zhou Zhen.
After the meal, she even played the role of a virtuous wife, donning an apron alongside Cen Sen to wash the dishes.
Although she knew what would happen that night when the pork ribs made their appearance and even felt a hint of anticipation, she had no idea that the price for tonight’s ribs would be far higher than usual.
Cen Sen seemed like a completely different person, with none of the gentleness he had shown during the day.
In the past, when she couldn’t take it anymore, a few sweet words or a bit of yielding would soften him.
But tonight, there was none of that. He was entirely domineering, allowing no resistance from her. Crying and begging were useless.
Ji Mingshu trembled, sweat pouring down her body, and finally, amid repeated collapses, she sensed Cen Sen’s displeasure. She took the initiative to confess the insignificant past she had with Zhou Zhen.
Cen Sen’s dark hair was slightly damp at the temples, his eyes tinged with red. He asked in a low, hoarse voice behind her, “Did you have feelings for him?”
She replied haltingly, “Back then… back then, he was good-looking. It’s… it’s normal to have a little… a little crush. I’ve had crushes on… on lots of male celebrities too. And I only had a crush, but you… you even dated Li Wenyin…”
As soon as she finished speaking, Ji Mingshu realized she shouldn’t have said anything. Bringing up old grievances at a time like this wouldn’t win her any prizes!
Sure enough, she was met with another round of torment.
She had long since given up resisting, whimpering softly, clutching the curtain, and sobbing as she repented, swearing she would never eat pork ribs again or indulge her appetite.
But even so, Cen Sen showed no intention of letting her go, leaving her utterly hopeless.
In such matters, it was often the woman who couldn’t endure. Ji Mingshu had shown some backbone earlier, but by now, backbone? It was nonexistent.
Out of options, she shifted from repenting over the pork ribs to professing her endless love for Cen Sen, saying things like she only liked him, only loved him, without any psychological burden.
Not only that, she also viciously criticized Zhou Zhen—"With someone like him, what could possibly happen between us?"
"He's not as tall, handsome, or wealthy as you."
"What could I possibly want from him? That he can chat with five girls at once while watching six Harry Potter movies?"
Admittedly, this tactic was quite effective—at least Cen Sen suddenly became much gentler. Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that he was simply running out of steam.
Just as they were nearing the end, Cen Sen suddenly leaned close to her ear and asked in a low, hoarse voice, "How about we have a baby?"
Ji Mingshu: "…?"
I’m still a baby myself!!!
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