About half a minute later, Cen Sen finally noticed that the sounds coming from the bathroom didn't sound quite right. He set down his phone and walked closer.
But before he could raise his hand to knock, Ji Mingshu pushed the door open, her face deathly pale.
The faucet at the sink was still running loudly. She leaned one hand against the counter, looking so weak it seemed she might collapse at any moment.
Cen Sen stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, his voice low as he asked, "Are you feeling unwell? I'll take you to the hospital for a check-up."
Ji Mingshu leaned into his embrace, her slender, pale arms loosely circling his waist. Her voice was muffled and hoarse. "No need. It's that milk—the taste is too strong. Drinking it in the morning makes me feel awful."
Cen Sen gently stroked her thin back. A thought flashed through his mind, but he wasn't knowledgeable enough about it to be certain, so he didn't voice it casually.
In contrast, women tend to be much more sensitive about vomiting, especially Ji Mingshu, who had been quietly anxious for a long time about why she hadn't gotten pregnant. So, the moment she felt nauseous, her first thought was morning sickness.
But she knew that if she voiced this suspicion now, Cen Sen would definitely accompany her to the hospital for a check-up. He had to discuss new investments for the South Bay Project today—what if canceling because of this caused the deal to fall through?
Moreover, she wasn't very confident in her own guess. After all, back when she fainted from dieting, she thought she had an incurable disease. It might just be a stomach issue or something similar. How embarrassing would it be to make a big fuss over nothing?
Thinking this, Ji Mingshu deliberately snuggled deeper into Cen Sen's arms, complaining in a coquettish tone, "I don't want milk for breakfast tomorrow. I'll just have juice or coffee. The taste of plain milk is really too cloying. When I was in high school, I drank a glass of plain milk before a flag-raising ceremony and felt so nauseous I had to run to the bathroom to throw up before it even ended."
Having said all that, Cen Sen found it even harder to voice his own suspicion.
Letting the matter pass as if nothing had happened, Ji Mingshu watched Cen Sen leave for work, her heart pounding wildly. Leaning against the door like a thief, she typed a message into her sisters' group chat:
【Girls, you might be about to become godmothers.】
Before Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun could express their surprise, she added an explanation: 【Of course, it's not certain. It's just that this morning, when I drank milk, the milky smell felt too strong, and I felt a bit nauseous. Then I threw up once.】
Gu Kaiyang: 【Hmm...was it normal milk?】
Ji Mingshu: 【...?】
Ji Mingshu: 【Do you think the CEO's wife has become so stingy that she'd drink spoiled milk? Do you think my husband is as miserly as that penny-pinching boss at your magazine?】
Gu Kaiyang: 【That's not what I meant.】
Gu Kaiyang: 【It's just that the milky smell...it's really easy to make people think of certain things, you know.】
Ji Mingshu had been unusually innocent lately, and it wasn't until Gu Kaiyang hinted this much that she suddenly understood.
Ji Mingshu: 【I don't know what you're talking about. Please shut up.】
Ji Mingshu: 【Lewd internet user, reported.】
Jiang Chun had originally been a simple, harmless, and clueless Little Earth Goose, but after spending so much time in this group, she had been deeply corrupted by the other two. Now, she remained completely unfazed by conversations of this level. She even put on the airs of a professional gynecologist, earnestly asking Ji Mingshu about her recent physical condition and the frequency of her bedroom activities.
Ji Mingshu answered vaguely and, in the end, added sheepishly: 【It might just be a stomach issue, who knows.】The gynecologist Little Earth Goose delivered the definitive verdict: "What stomach discomfort? You're most likely pregnant. Don't tell me you think you're a baby, vomiting milk for no reason."
Gu Kaiyang: "She probably thinks she's so adorable it makes her vomit milk."
Ji Mingshu: "Gu Kaiyang."
Ji Mingshu: "Shut up warning x2!"
The three of them strayed from the topic and bickered for a while before quickly returning to the subject of morning sickness. Both Jiang Chun and Gu Kaiyang believed she was pregnant and advised her to go to the hospital for a checkup, or at least buy a pregnancy test to try first.
Ji Mingshu felt that if she went to the hospital, she would need Cen Sen to accompany her, but buying a pregnancy test to try seemed like a feasible option.
After some thought, she went upstairs to change her clothes, put on sunglasses, and sneaked out of the house.
Perhaps Ji Mingshu's previous running away from home had left too deep a trauma for the driver. Seeing her wearing sunglasses and looking slightly nervous, the driver unconsciously grew tense as well, constantly trying to pry information during the trip about where she was going and what she was doing.
Of course, Ji Mingshu couldn't tell the truth and answered vaguely and dismissively.
The driver became increasingly convinced that the CEO's wife was probably up to mischief again. After dropping her off at the mall, he immediately called Zhou Jiaheng to report.
Zhou Jiaheng frowned slightly upon hearing the news. "What about the bodyguards?"
The driver replied, "They followed the madam into the mall, but I'm not sure if they can keep up."
Zhou Jiaheng felt somewhat reassured knowing there were bodyguards secretly protecting her. "Understood. Report any developments to me at any time."
He was about to accompany Cen Sen to meet Chi Li, the second son of the Chi family in the west of the city, who had maintained a low-profile, non-competitive persona for years but had suddenly seized power and changed course.
Chi Li was no simple character. Zhou Jiaheng had long known that Cen Sen had some personal connection with him but wasn't sure how deep their friendship was. So, at this moment, he couldn't decide whether or not to mention Ji Mingshu's situation to Cen Sen.
If Cen Sen had another lapse in judgment and decided to abandon the massive investment in the South Bay Project for Ji Mingshu, then Zhou Jiaheng would become Jingjian's number one sinner.
But if Ji Mingshu was really up to something and he didn't inform Cen Sen in time, then his days of packing up and leaving wouldn't be far off either.
"What are you thinking about?"
Cen Sen stood by the car, glancing at Zhou Jiaheng, who was so lost in thought that he forgot to open the car door for him.
"Oh, it's... it's nothing."
Zhou Jiaheng snapped back to reality and hurriedly stepped forward to open the car door for Cen Sen.
After the car had been driving for a while, Zhou Jiaheng wrestled with his thoughts before finally giving in and reporting, "It's like this, Mr. Cen. The madam just went out to Huijia Department Store. However, the driver said she seemed a bit off—wearing sunglasses and looking somewhat nervous. He was worried she might pull another disappearing act like last time when she quietly moved to Xinggang International, so..."
Zhou Jiaheng was struggling to find a more tactful way to describe "sneaking around" and "running away from home," but Cen Sen cut him off without even looking up. "Don't worry, she won't run away from home."
Zhou Jiaheng: "..."
He vaguely remembered that when Ji Mingshu ran away from home last time, their esteemed CEO Cen had been just as confidently planning to buy ribs at the supermarket and go home to cook.
Cen Sen paused for a moment before suddenly instructing, "Contact Zhao Yang and have him arrange a reliable prenatal checkup. Within the next couple of days."
"...?"
What was this sudden bombshell of news?
Zhou Jiaheng fell silent briefly before promptly responding, "Yes, sir."Ji Mingshu was unaware that her furtive, roundabout trip to buy pregnancy tests had become so unnatural that even the driver was on edge.
Following the navigation, she wandered through the mall and across the street before finally finding a pharmacy, where she purchased several pregnancy test kits.
Just as she thought her mission was accomplished and she could head home to take the test, she received a somewhat unexpected phone call—from Cen Yang.
"Xiao Shu, I'm returning to the U.S."
His voice was the same as when he had first returned to the country, though its warmth and clarity now seemed tinged with weariness.
Ji Mingshu was silent for a few seconds before responding, "Why?"
Cen Yang fell silent.
Ji Mingshu then belatedly realized her question might have been unnecessary, so she asked instead, "When?"
"Today. I'm on my way to the airport now."
He was likely about to get into a car. Ji Mingshu heard the brief sound of suitcase wheels rolling, followed by the thud of a trunk closing.
Cen Yang opened the car door and settled into the driver's seat. "This time, I probably won't be coming back."
A brief silence followed.
He continued, "Xiao Shu, I'm sorry. You might not know this, but during my time back, I did do some things that weren't good for you. I truly apologize."
Ji Mingshu wasn't foolish. Although Cen Sen had kept it from her, the timing of the incident and the sabotage had been too coincidental, and she had long harbored a vague suspicion.
Yet, for some reason, she found it difficult to feel hatred toward Cen Yang. Even when he said he wouldn't return, she felt a pang of sadness.
It was as if those childhood days—playing with Brother Cen Yang whenever she had free time and seeking his help whenever she was in trouble—were truly gone forever.
Standing at the entrance of the pharmacy, Ji Mingshu remained silent for a long moment before finally saying, "Let me see you off at the airport."
Upon hearing that Ji Mingshu had gone to the airport, Zhou Jiaheng's heart began to race uncontrollably. However, Cen Sen was in the middle of discussing specific investment details with Chi Li. Interrupting felt inappropriate, but not interrupting was equally difficult—his internal struggle was a hundred times more intense than before.
After wrestling with the dilemma for about twenty minutes, Chi Li noticed Zhou Jiaheng's nervousness and unease. Adjusting his cufflinks, he remarked, "Your assistant seems to have something to say."
Cen Sen glanced back slightly.
Zhou Jiaheng could no longer hold back. He leaned in and whispered to Cen Sen, "Madam has gone to the airport."
Cen Sen fell silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, before suddenly picking up his phone to call Ji Mingshu. But it seemed phones were invented precisely for people to go unreachable at critical moments.
Seeing this, Chi Li calmly removed the cap of his pen, signed the contract at the end, and gestured for the legal team to affix the seam seal.
"Signed. I won't keep you."
Cen Sen didn't stand on ceremony either. With a simple "Mm," he instructed Zhou Jiaheng to collect the contract and prepare to leave.
Zhou Jiaheng paused for a few seconds, only then realizing that he might have underestimated the depth of the private friendship between these two men.
Before they could leave the private room, Cen Sen received a call from Cen Yang. Before Cen Yang could speak, Cen Sen asked, "Is Ming Shu with you?"
Cen Yang hesitated for a few seconds. "Yes."
Cen Sen: "What are you planning?"
Cen Yang: "What do you think?""Where is she?" Cen Sen's voice lowered, a clear note of tension audible.
Cen Yang remained silent. In truth, he had initially wanted to be deliberately mysterious and beat around the bush a bit more, but he genuinely didn’t know how to follow up, so he simply countered, "Do you think I would kidnap her?"
For a moment, it was Cen Sen’s turn to fall silent.
"Anxiety clouds judgment." With those four words, Cen Yang hung up the phone directly.
Ji Mingshu was completely bewildered.
What kind of riddle were they playing?
She had decided to come to the airport to see Cen Yang off, and on the way, she had reminisced about childhood memories, feeling sentimental for quite a while. It wasn’t until she entered the airport that she remembered she needed to inform Cen Sen, only to find her phone had run out of battery.
After meeting Cen Yang, they chatted for a bit. Still preoccupied with notifying Cen Sen, she asked Cen Yang if she could borrow his phone to make a call.
Cen Yang asked if she wanted to call Cen Sen. She truthfully said yes, and then Cen Yang offered to make the call himself. Since all she wanted was to let Cen Sen know she had come to the airport to see Cen Yang off, it didn’t really matter who made the call, so she agreed.
And then, he said all that?
Did he really have to jump to such wild conclusions and even bring up kidnapping?
And what was wrong with Cen Sen? Didn’t he stop to think what could possibly happen to her at the airport? Was he out of his mind?
It seemed like both of their thought processes were on a completely different wavelength from hers. After hanging up, Cen Yang even slipped his hands into his pockets and remarked with some satisfaction, "Xiao Shu, he really does care about you."
Ji Mingshu nodded, but inwardly she thought, "Of course my husband cares about me—why would he care about you?"
Cen Yang’s flight was still a while away, and from the sound of the call, it seemed Cen Sen might even be planning to rush to the airport. So Ji Mingshu stayed and chatted with Cen Yang a bit longer.
Just as Cen Yang was talking about his plans to help Chen Biqing and An Ning immigrate after returning to the U.S., Ji Mingshu suddenly felt someone gently pull her hand back. She was momentarily stunned, and before she could gather her thoughts, she found herself enveloped in a familiar, warm embrace.
Cen Yang paused, swallowing the rest of his words. He simply watched the two in front of him quietly, suddenly feeling as though everything from the past was like a dream. Many things had long been settled; only he had stubbornly clung to what was never his, wasting so much time in vain.
Fortunately, though slightly delayed, it was still not too late to return to the starting point.
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