Ji Mingshu was stunned for a moment, confirming, "The B612 Planet theme?"
"That's mine, that one is mine!" She quickly realized and exclaimed joyfully, "Did you recognize it? You must have recognized it!"
Cen Sen silently acknowledged.
He was indeed very familiar with Ji Mingshu's style. No matter how the theme changed, he could always recognize her designs at a glance.
Upon hearing that her proposal had not only been selected but also received the highest number of votes, Ji Mingshu was so elated she could have taken off on the spot. She didn't care that they were in a crowded mall or that Little Earth Goose, who frequently picked on her and argued with her, was right beside her. Sweet nothings poured out of her toward Cen Sen as if they were free.
Jiang Chun, nibbling on a meat floss pastry, gave her a look that was hard to describe.
And she calls herself a socialite? Shouting "darling husband" in public—how shameless!
Yet Cen Sen seemed to enjoy it. While glancing at the two sentences Ji Mingshu had added to the notebook and listening to her sweet words over the phone, the corners of his lips lifted slightly, and he didn't interrupt.
Only after Ji Mingshu finished did he ask, "Which mall are you at? I'll come pick you up."
Ji Mingshu gave him the address, and he responded with an "Mm," telling her to grab a coffee and wait.
Before heading out, he closed the small notebook and casually tossed it into the bedside drawer.
After writing down the date plans in the notebook, he had felt it was somewhat childish and absurd—just a few words, hardly worth treasuring so seriously.
But he didn't deny that he had spent a long time reflecting on and pondering those few words.
For instance, he had wondered why, during their conversations, Ji Mingshu sometimes became unwilling to continue; why she seemed reluctant when dining with him at a French restaurant but relaxed and at ease when dining with Cen Yang.
Some things he had thought were trivial details not worth overthinking, but he cared more than he had imagined.
After the brief excitement, Ji Mingshu grew unnecessarily worried. Upon seeing Cen Sen, she kept asking for details about the highest-voted work, fearing it might be a case of coinciding ideas with another designer, leading to a major misunderstanding. It wasn't until the person in charge of the Junyi Elegant Collection project contacted her that she was completely convinced.
Although her work was selected, it didn't mean Ji Mingshu could sit back and relax.
After signing the contract, she had to revise the design drawings based on the hotel's actual conditions, keep track of the progress of custom furniture production, and more, keeping her quite busy.
Especially when it came to special craftsmanship and materials, fully realizing the design drawings required traveling all over the world.
Days passed quietly amid the calm and busyness, and before they knew it, spring had turned to summer in the capital.
In June, Ji Mingshu went to Osaka to visit a master of wood carving craftsmanship and then stopped by Tokyo to show support for a superficial socialite friend's art exhibition.
While waiting for her return flight at Narita Airport, she visited the duty-free shop and picked out a tie clip for Cen Sen.
Coincidentally, it was the same tie clip she had intended to buy for him in Paris last year during a fashion show but had put down after he made a snide remark.
She took a photo and sent it to Cen Sen, asking, "Do you like it?"
Cen Sen replied, "I like it."
Ji Mingshu smiled and swiped her card. After all, accessories weren't really subject to seasonal trends, and this antique piece, exuding a sense of timelessness, made it impossible to tell whether it was in or out of season.After spending money and still having time before boarding, Ji Mingshu sat elegantly in the lounge with her legs crossed, scrolling through Weibo for a while.
She only enjoyed browsing Weibo and rarely posted anything. Her last update was still the lengthy post she wrote during her direct confrontation with Li Wenyin.
The highly upvoted comments below had long since changed, now mostly consisting of: "Waiting for the CEO's wife to post," "Give me one photo of the CEO and I can photoshop a whole gigabyte of sweet moments," "What a fierce yet perfect woman," and so on.
In reality, the hype had long since faded, and her follower growth had slowed significantly. However, from time to time, viewers who had watched the re-released version of Designer would find their way to her, sending private messages to express their encouragement and admiration.
She would casually browse through them and even respond sincerely.
This time, as usual, she opened Weibo to check messages and reply to private messages. But when she clicked into the messages from non-followers, she suddenly noticed one from a verified official account, which stood out prominently.
Before opening it, Ji Mingshu instinctively thought someone had finally approached her for an advertisement. However, upon opening it, she realized it was an invitation to participate in a documentary program.
"Hello, Ms. Ji, I am the executive producer of the documentary series Old Scenes. Our program plans to film a public welfare documentary this year on the protective renovation of old public housing. I personally really liked the renovation solutions you provided in the program Designer, so I would like to invite you to participate in the design. Looking forward to your early reply."
Ji Mingshu was taken aback.
Another renovation program?
She was truly afraid of them now.
She instinctively typed out a series of polite refusal phrases, but her gaze lingered on the keywords "protective renovation of old public housing" and "public welfare documentary," and she felt inexplicably hesitant.
Ask first.
Asking wouldn't hurt.
With this thought, Ji Mingshu added the producer and chatted with them briefly while waiting for her flight.
The producer was very straightforward and quickly addressed all of Ji Mingshu's concerns.
Trending on social media? Not a chance. Our documentary topic is niche, we won't invite celebrities, and it probably won't attract much attention.
The renovation design might not be suitable for living? Not a concern. The ultimate goal of our renovation is to combine the charm of old Shanghai from the last century with modern design, preserving the buildings as exhibition spaces open to the public, not for residential use.
In short, this was a government-led public welfare design project with no need for any worries.
Ji Mingshu was easily swayed, and after hearing this, she thought, maybe she could give it a try?
She took a screenshot of the chat and sent it to Cen Sen, hoping for his input. However, before she could receive a reply from Cen Sen, it was already time to board.
The actual flight from Tokyo to the capital was only two to three hours, and Ji Mingshu, being very frugal, chose business class.
Once on the plane, she adjusted her seat, draped a blanket over herself, and comfortably picked up a newspaper, pretending to be a business professional.
She mostly only read the finance section of the newspaper, skimming through it to find news related to Jingjian and Huadian.
After searching for a while without success, she was about to give up. But as she flipped the page, she suddenly came across a news article titled "Borei Fails to Return to A-Share Market, Faces Challenges in New Energy Development Business," and she paused.
She didn't know much about Borei and wasn't particularly interested, but she noticed the article purely because its subtitle mentioned "Haichuan Capital."
If she remembered correctly, Cen Yang was the head of Haichuan Capital's Greater China region.Somehow, she had a gut feeling that this might be related to Cen Yang’s earlier interception of Cen Sen’s investment. So, she patiently read through the report carefully.
Ji Mingshu only half-understood the financial terms, but from what she gathered, the gist was:
Borey had deep-seated internal conflicts, its capital restructuring had failed, and the outcome looked grim—it was highly likely to be swallowed up in a merger or acquisition.
As Borey’s investor, Haichuan Capital had made multiple poor decisions, resulting in heavy losses. The Greater China region’s head had recently resigned to take responsibility.
The report also mentioned that Sincerity Capital intended to acquire Borey at a low price.
—Sincerity Capital had no affiliation whatsoever with Jingjian, but it seemed to be a company jointly founded by Cen Sen and Jiang Che.
Ji Mingshu was momentarily stunned, and suddenly, it felt like she understood something.
After getting off the plane, Ji Mingshu switched modes and immediately received Cen Sen’s feedback on that documentary program.
Like writing an argumentative essay, he first stated his thesis—she could participate—then provided multiple pieces of evidence from various perspectives to support it.
Ji Mingshu only glanced at it before directly calling the driver. “Hello, have you arrived at the airport?”
For some reason, the driver’s response was a bit vague. “Ah! Yes… yes! Please wait a moment, Madam.”
Nearly half a minute later, he replied, “Madam, the car is parked outside International Departures Exit 2. Which exit are you coming out from?”
Ji Mingshu looked back and saw it was indeed International Departures Exit 2. “Oh, just stay there. I’ll be right out.”
Her large luggage had already been shipped back home as usual. Now, with one hand tucked into the pocket of her silk trench coat and wearing black sunglasses, she pushed a light suitcase with her other hand, looking quite like a celebrity.
However, her mind was preoccupied with the news she had read on the plane, leaving her somewhat distracted and walking quickly.
Seeing the familiar license plate with its hazard lights flashing by the curb, Ji Mingshu felt a flicker of strangeness, but before she could think it through, her actions had already taken over. She opened the car door and slid into the back seat.
Only after sitting down did she finally realize what was odd.
Why didn’t the driver help with her luggage? Why didn’t he open the car door for her? Did he even want to keep his job? He—
Ji Mingshu unexpectedly met a pair of familiar eyes in the rearview mirror, and her heart skipped a beat.
Immediately, she leaned forward, playfully hitting the driver’s arm twice before wrapping her arms around his neck. “Why are you here? Didn’t you say you were going on a business trip today?”
Cen Sen rested one hand on the steering wheel and held her slender, pale wrist with the other. After a moment of thought, he said seriously, “I heard this is called a surprise.”
Then, as if performing magic, he produced a bouquet of roses.
Ji Mingshu had been trying to maintain her cool, aloof expression, but at the sight of the flowers, she couldn’t hold back any longer. In a few quick moves, she opened the car door and hopped into the passenger seat, then took a deep breath while holding the small bouquet of roses. Immediately after, she leaned over and kissed Cen Sen on the cheek. “Good job!”
Cen Sen remained calm, showing no particular reaction to her kiss. He simply said they couldn’t stay parked by the curb for long, then leaned over to help her fasten her seatbelt.
The distance between them suddenly closed.
Ji Mingshu carried a faint scent of perfume, likely sprayed on before leaving home, now leaving only the lingering citrus notes.After just a short week apart, Cen Sen realized he missed this little golden canary who had briefly flown out of her cage more than he had imagined. Although they video-called every day, it was completely different from the real, tangible feeling of having her lying beside him.
After fastening his seatbelt, he didn’t sit back up. Instead, he leaned on the side of her seat with one hand, his gaze falling on her lips, which were only tinted with lip balm. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he unconsciously drew closer.
Was... was he going to kiss her?
But there were still so many people outside.
After a few days apart, Ji Mingshu felt a bit shy, her ears turning red and her eyelashes fluttering slightly before slowly closing.
One second, two seconds, three seconds—she finally felt Cen Sen’s warm breath and couldn’t help leaning forward slightly, wanting to close the distance.
But she hadn’t controlled her forward momentum well and ended up bumping straight into his lips.
The air fell silent for a moment.
Cen Sen remained still, maintaining a distance of a few centimeters, and suddenly chuckled softly. "I didn’t realize you missed me this much."
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