Extra Story 3 - Cen Sen's Perspective
Cen Sen remembered the day he returned to South Bridge West Lane, a light rain pattering down, raindrops splashing in puddles on the ground, leaping up in bursts of spray. The sky was a murky gray, like dirty water from washing a rag unevenly smeared across it.
Not just that day, but for a long time after returning to South Bridge West Lane, it seemed he could always see such gloomy, overcast skies.
Cool-toned, melancholic, lifeless, and endless, yet with an overwhelming force that even shrouded all brief flashes of brightness in a gray hue.
That awkward period of his transition from childhood to adolescence seemed perpetually veiled in such a gray tone.
Immersed in a past life that had already grown distant, he unilaterally rejected all kindness from the outside world.
Much later, his and Ji Mingshu’s daughter, Cen Zhuo, slowly grew up, looking more and more like a quiet, miniature version of Ji Mingshu.
Seeing Cen Zhuo often made him wonder: if many years ago he had accepted the brave gesture of goodwill extended by the young girl Ji Mingshu, would the many dark times he later walked through alone have been bright instead?
In Cen Sen’s memory, Ji Mingshu had always been a beautiful yet noisy girl. Spoiled and willful, unrestrained and arrogant, she seemed able to make herself the center of the universe no matter where she was, and naturally demanded that all planets orbit around her.
When Cen Sen was in his third year of middle school, Ji Mingshu had just entered her first year. That entire year, Cen Sen heard the name “Ji Mingshu” more often than his homeroom teacher’s name.
Upon entering high school, academic pressure increased sharply, and classmates’ interest in gossip during breaks waned slightly. However, since the middle school and high school divisions of the affiliated school were not separated, Ji Mingshu remained the central figure in all kinds of school talk.
“That second-year Ji Mingshu is getting pretty close with the class monitor next door.”
…
“Did you hear? The track team captain is chasing Ji Mingshu.”
…
“Yesterday during class, someone sent flowers to the second-year classroom. We’ll probably hear a school-wide announcement criticizing it during homeroom later. Old Yang definitely won’t make us do test papers—good news!”
…
Such messages flowed past Cen Sen’s ears day after day, and even without trying, he’d inevitably remember a few fragments.
Back then, after evening self-study, Cen Sen always made a habit of spending an hour or two in the library before returning to the dormitory. Because the noise level in the dorm was no less than Ji Mingshu’s, it was hard to focus on studying after going back.
Of course, this didn’t mean that delaying his return by an hour or two spared him from the torment of pointless topics.
During late-night chats after lights-out, no matter the topic, it always somehow circled back to the girls at school.
One night, his roommates discussed:
“Hey, I overslept this morning, and at the school gate, I ran into Li Wenyin and Ji Mingshu stuck in a standoff over points being deducted for shortening their uniform skirts. Not to exaggerate, but Ji Mingshu is really good-looking. Wearing that short skirt, her legs are so fair and straight—just incredible! Seriously, I couldn’t even blink at the time.”
“Li Wenyin isn’t bad either. The girls in their grade are really something, unlike ours—pfft, you could count them on one hand, right?”
“Li Wenyin looks fine on her own, but standing next to Ji Mingshu, she falls short—kinda plain.”Adolescent boys are inevitably restless, and discussions about female classmates often arise. Whenever someone brings up the topic, everyone's enthusiasm unconsciously skyrockets exponentially. In the entire dorm, the only ones likely uninterested in such conversations were Cen Sen and Jiang Che.
At that time, Jiang Che was immersed in informatics competitions, spending every waking moment—and even in his sleep—mentally writing code. Anyone who disturbed him would usually be brushed off impatiently.
Cen Sen, however, was gentle and composed. Though he maintained a subtle sense of detachment, he had good relationships with most of his classmates and was considered the "big brother" of the dorm. By the end of such discussions, the conversation often circled back to him.
"Hey, Sen, which type do you prefer—Ji Mingshu or Li Wenyin?"
"No need to ask, definitely Li Wenyin. Isn't that an easy question?" a roommate chimed in teasingly on his behalf.
Like Ji Mingshu, Cen Sen was also a prominent figure in the school, often the subject of fresh rumors. One of the more widely circulated ones claimed that he and Li Wenyin were childhood sweethearts with a very ambiguous relationship.
Cen Sen had heard these rumors occasionally but never paid them much mind. When they were young, Li Wenyin had lived with the Ji family. If that counted as being childhood sweethearts, then there was no reason he and Ji Mingshu shouldn't be considered the same.
Usually, when someone interrupted, the topic would fizzle out. But that night, after the interruption, the roommate pressed Cen Sen again, "Hey, Sen, you haven't answered yet. Which type do you actually like?"
Lying flat on his bed, Cen Sen gazed at the ceiling under the sparse moonlight filtering through the window and replied casually, "Probably Li Wenyin's type."
His roommates drew out a meaningful "Oh," followed by the expected teasing and laughter.
But even as he answered with Li Wenyin's name, Cen Sen couldn't help but think of Ji Mingshu—the way she passed by him with her chin slightly raised, blowing bubbles with her gum, and secretly rolling her eyes.
Ji Mingshu often didn't walk properly. When she was happy, she liked to clasp her hands behind her back and bounce lightly on her tiptoes.
Still, the legs beneath her pleated skirt were indeed as fair, smooth, straight, and slender as his roommate had described.
That fleeting thought was extremely brief at the time, and he had little interest in focusing on people who weren't closely connected to him. With his studies keeping him busy, he remained occupied until graduation from high school.
When Li Wenyin confessed her feelings to him, he had just received a recommendation letter from the principal and was enjoying a rare period of rest.
At an age when dating was acceptable, with free time and someone confessing to him—who also happened to be a type he admired at the time—it seemed only natural to give it a try.
To him back then, it was as simple and thoughtless as picking up a new competition problem set to solve. Even later, when he felt it wasn't working out and they parted amicably, the logic from his perspective remained the same.
In matters of the heart, Cen Sen considered himself a refined egoist. He had never imagined that one day he would unconditionally treat a woman well.
After parting ways with Li Wenyin, he went abroad to study. During those years overseas, his schedule was packed, yet his romantic experiences remained entirely blank.After returning to China, at that class reunion, he and Ji Mingshu somewhat reluctantly ended up sleeping together. Later, driven by the interests of both families, they naturally got married. Yet for a long time after marrying Ji Mingshu, he didn’t feel that marriage had brought much change to his life.
Everything probably started to change after returning from Australia.
He didn’t know why, but he found himself paying more and more attention to every move of this trophy wife.
Even as an adult, Ji Mingshu was still as spoiled, willful, and unrestrained as before, as if the Earth had to revolve around her alone to be perfect. Yet within this willfulness, there seemed to be a liveliness he hadn’t understood before—not at all annoying, even making one inexplicably want to indulge her.
In his rational definition, this was originally just an unimportant marriage. Once the Ji family’s usefulness diminished, ending this marital relationship wouldn’t matter much. But when Ji Mingshu first brought up divorce to him, he didn’t feel relieved; on the contrary, he felt an uncontrollable displeasure.
After that, his emotions were always swayed by Ji Mingshu, changing uncontrollably. No matter how busy he was, whenever he had a moment of free time, it felt like something was weighing on his mind.
He truly confirmed his feelings, probably during the time when Ji Mingshu misunderstood that he and Li Wenyin had rekindled their old flame and ran away from home.
One night, he went to a bar with Jiang Che and accidentally overheard someone making inappropriate remarks about Ji Mingshu. For the first time in his life, he got into a fight—without thinking, without considering the consequences.
The funniest part was, before this, he had always thought using violence to solve problems was a foolish thing to do.
After the fight that night, he drove to Ji Mingshu’s building and sat in his car, letting the cold wind blow for a long time.
Probably starting from that night, he knew very clearly that he was done for.
Recognizing this fact, his mood wasn’t complicated; there was even a moment of relief, and he couldn’t help but smile.
If he was done for, then so be it.
In a lifetime, everyone should meet their destined nemesis.
Cen Sen and Ji Mingshu officially fell in love in the third year of their marriage. In the fifth year, they had their first child, and in the twelfth year, they had their second.
When their second child, Zhuo Bao, was born, Ji Mingshu was thirty-four but still looked like a girl in her early twenties, with a naivety that shouldn’t belong to her age.
This was probably because she had been protected too well. From a family of two to three, then to four, the top priority in Cen Sen’s heart had always been Ji Mingshu, this little golden canary who never grew up.
In the fifteenth year of their marriage, the usually lively little golden canary fell ill—the kind that required surgery.
It started with discomfort, leading to a hospital checkup, where a shadow was discovered.
Ji Mingshu might act fierce on the surface, but in reality, she was only a little bit brave. Moreover, she tended to overthink things—even fainting from dieting could make her imagine she had an incurable disease. Waiting for the results was undoubtedly a long torment for her.
For Cen Sen, it was also a torment.
Ji Mingshu didn’t show any abnormality in front of the children, and she even pretended to be relaxed in front of him, always saying, “Our family is so rich, what illness can’t we cure?” But one night, he found Ji Mingshu had gotten out of bed and was hiding on the balcony, crying quietly.
He walked over slowly and hugged her from behind.Ji Mingshu cried even harder, her voice choked with sobs. "Do you think I might have cancer? Actually, I... I'm so scared... I'm so afraid of dying... I can't bear to leave you, to leave our baby, I really can't..."
He gently stroked Ji Mingshu's head, his warm breath lingering by her ear, yet he couldn't find any words of comfort.
It seemed to be the most helpless moment of his life up to that point.
During that time, both he and Ji Mingshu lost a lot of weight. Later, the test results came back—it was a benign tumor that required surgical removal.
He put aside all his work to accompany and care for her throughout.
The surgery was relatively straightforward and went smoothly, but it was still an invasive procedure. After the operation, Ji Mingshu needed a long period of rest and recovery before she regained her lively, energetic self.
Yet Cen Sen suddenly realized they were no longer as young as they had been in their teens or twenties.
When Ji Mingshu fell ill, he had prepared for the worst. If Ji Mingshu were to leave before him one day, he would fulfill both parental roles in her stead, raising Cen Yan and Cen Zhuo to adulthood, watching them start families and careers, and then, free of all burdens, go to find her.
His life had always been lonely, but because of Ji Mingshu, he had stolen many warm years. He couldn't let this little coward wait alone for too, too long.
He remembered many years ago, when he went to meet an investor named Chang for the South Bay Project. That Mr. Chang was famously devoted to his family, often saying during conversations that money could never be fully earned, and one should spend more time with family.
Back then, Cen Sen paid little attention to such words, but now he felt that no matter how much he achieved, without Ji Mingshu to share it with, it seemed utterly meaningless.
He drastically reduced his work commitments, delegating many responsibilities to the younger generations of the Cen family he had nurtured over the years.
He planned healthy, balanced three-meal days for Ji Mingshu, accompanied her shopping and to events, traveled with her, and even began early preparations for eventually transferring full authority of the Cen Group to Cen Yan once he grew up, so the two of them could retire and travel the world, enjoying their time alone together.
While traveling in Morocco, Ji Mingshu chattered excitedly about sending postcards to her good friends Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun.
He sent one too, addressed to Ji Mingshu.
On it, written in running script, was a sentence:
"Baby, whether this life is long or short, I will always be the one walking with you to the end. Thank you for barging into my life without warning."
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