My Queen, My Rules - 23
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Strictly speaking, the issues Lawyer Wang pointed out weren't really loopholes. They were carefully planted contractual traps, deliberately written by the first party for the second party, who had little bargaining power.
The traps weren't designed to cheat anyone outright. They were simply standard tactics used to ensure the first party maintained complete control. Had the other side possessed any real negotiating power, this version of the contract would never have been put in front of them to begin with.
Li Che's contract, for example, contained none of those provisions.
Changing a few clauses wouldn't cost the production team much. Besides, Li Che had personally spoken up for her. They couldn't very well refuse him that favor.
So, just as Princess Ji Mingshu was teetering on the brink of a full-blown royal tantrum, the production team promptly delivered a revised contract that satisfied her.
The producer, meanwhile, was an expert at treating people according to their status. One moment he was mentally cursing, ‘Sign it or leave it’. The next, standing before Ji Mingshu, he transformed into the picture of an approachable, easygoing producer, treating this "ordinary participant" with boundless patience and impeccable courtesy.
Ji Mingshu's mind had only one objective: do the exact opposite of whatever Cen Sen wanted. He didn't want her to join the show? Well, then she absolutely must.
Besides, the contract had been amended, and the producer had apologized in person. She couldn't be bothered wasting energy on such a trivial matter. With one elegant flourish, she signed her name at the bottom of the contract.
Filming was scheduled to begin a week later. Once the contracts were signed, the producer walked both her and Li Che through the upcoming group assignments and recording process. He warmly assured them that if they had any questions, they could contact him directly. Before they left, he even escorted them to the elevator himself.
As the elevator doors slid shut, the producer's overly accommodating smile gradually disappeared from view. Li Che turned slightly toward her and greeted her first.
"Miss Ji. It's been a while."
"It has," Ji Mingshu replied with equal courtesy. "Thank you for helping with the contract just now."
Li Che smiled. "It was nothing."
Long accustomed to people stepping in to smooth the road for her, Ji Mingshu also considered it a minor matter, she simply nodded, offering no further pleasantries.
Her silence abruptly plunged the elevator into complete stillness.
Li Che's manager, assistant, and legal counsel all found themselves sneaking glances at Ji Mingshu.
It had been a long time since they'd seen anyone treat Li Che with such cool indifference.
Deep down, the same question echoed through all of them.
Seriously, woman? You're not even going to chat for a few minutes? Ask for his WeChat? An autograph? A selfie? Anything?
Li Che might not have been the biggest idol in the industry, but among young male stars, his popularity easily ranked near the top.
Backed by a powerful agency, his fashion endorsements and acting opportunities surpassed those of most celebrities at the same level.
On top of that, with his professional split from Meng Xiaowei already underway, his future career prospects was looking even brighter.
Wherever Li Che went these days, people surrounded him with admiration and flattery.
Ji Mingshu’s atypical cold shoulder left his staff feeling profoundly uncomfortable.
Li Che himself, however, didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
When Ji Mingshu remained silent, he simply picked up the conversation himself. "It's actually quite a shame," he said gently. "The producer told me we were originally supposed to be partners. But the sponsors had other considerations, so they rearranged the teams."
"I see." Ji Mingshu nodded. "That's really unfortunate."
As if it made any difference who she was paired with. She was here to outshine everyone else.
The entourage: "..."
Was she his anti-fan or one of those fans pretending to hate him? Could anyone possibly sound more perfunctory than that?
The conversation died once again, and silence returned to the elevator. Fortunately, it descended quickly, sparing them from prolonged awkwardness.
When they reached the underground parking garage, Ji Mingshu carried herself with even more celebrity aure than Li Che.
She tossed out a brief "Goodbye," put on her sunglasses, and walked away without a glance back, as though no one else existed.
Li Che's team wore expressions of utter speechlessness. Even Li Che paused for a moment before laughing softly to himself.
As soon as they climbed into the nanny van, everyone began talking at once.
"That Miss Ji really carries herself like a superstar. Anyone who didn't know better would think she's the celebrity. She acts so high and mighty. Seriously, you see something new every day.”
"Do you think she's signed with an agency and is preparing to debut? She's definitely got the looks."
"No idea. Her family should be wealthy, though. Remember the last Zero Degrees magazine cover A-Che and Xiaowei shot together? I heard Xiaowei's dress for that shoot was borrowed from her."
"That makes sense. She’s decked out head-to-toe in Dior. Even her Birkin is a rare leather edition. She's obviously loaded."
"Her watch looked like Van Cleef & Arpels' style, but I've never seen that dial before. Either it's fake or it's custom-made."
Eventually they turned to Li Che himself. He simply admitted he wasn’t sure of her background either.
In truth, even Meng Xiaowei only knew that Ji Mingshu came from a wealthy family and was close to Gu Kaiyang.
She didn't even know Ji Mingshu was married, hence her misguided suggestion to the producer to us3 her and Li Che as a promotional pairing.
After much discussion, nobody reached a conclusion.
In the end, they unanimously decided that Ji Mingshu's aloof attitude had to be either an intentional snub toward Li Che... or some unconventional strategy to catch his attention.
The truth, however, was far simpler.
Ji Mingshu wasn't trying to slight Li Che in the least, nor was she attempting some reverse psychology to attract him.
She’d simply seen too much—celebrities cozying up at banquets, sleeping their way up, wearing one face in public, another in private. The novelty had long worn off to her. Besides, meeting famous people was simply too easy in her world. To her, there was nothing particularly glamorous about the profession.
Li Che was no different from an elective-class classmate she barely knew back in university. They happened to cross paths, that was all. There was no reason to act overly familiar.
Back in her car, Ji Mingshu updated both Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun on everything that had happened during the contract signing.
Then, for good measure, she copied the exact same account and sent it to Cen Sen.
She simply recounted the afternoon objectively. There was no whining, no pitiful emoji, no acting cute. Yet somehow, every line radiated the boundless grievance of a deeply wronged princess.
As always, her sisters were infinitely more perceptive than any men.
Upon hearing that the production team had sent only a junior assistant to receive her, then handed her a flawed contract, Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun replied almost instantly.
The two of them spent the next ten minutes taking turns unleashing an enthusiastic barrage of insults.
The general theme went something like this:
"Looks like Xingcheng TV deserves bankruptcy."
"How dare they fail to recognize our princess? Whoever wants to be on their stupid show anyway, our baby won’t suffer this insult.”
"How could anyone treat our delicate Little Canary Baby like this? It's an outrage against heaven and humanity. They deserve immediate execution!"
By the time the group chat finally exhausted itself, Cen Sen still hadn't replied.
Ji Mingshu didn’t feel like returning to the hotel, so she told the driver to head straight for Jinsheng International, Xingcheng's largest shopping mall.
Its selection of brands and merchandise was pretty decent. In just over forty minutes, she spent more than five hundred thousand.
As she finished shopping and prepared to leave, Cen Sen finally replied.
Cen Sen: [Get used to it.]
Ji Mingshu: ...?
Cen Sen had just wrapped up a contract negotiation himself. Everything had gone smoothly, leaving him in a reasonably good mood.
With some free time at last, he casually sent several messages full of what he considered valuable life lessons to his spoiled little princess.
Cen Sen: [You're not a celebrity. Their knowledge of you is limited. Being treated as an afterthought is perfectly normal.]
Cen Sen: [The preferential treatment you usually receive comes from your family background and from the fact that your husband is me. And for every moment you enjoy special treatment, someone else receives less. You should experience that feeling more often. It'll do you good.]
"..."
Since when had he become this talkative?
Fine. If he didn't want to comfort her, then don't. But why was he suddenly lecturing her about life?
Was he hinting at something just because she’d just spent over half a million? Stingy Dog Man.
Still, considering she'd only just spent a small fortune, Ji Mingshu didn't feel it was appropriate to openly attack her financial sponsor.
So she replied with spectacular insincerity.
Ji Mingshu: [You're absolutely right.]
The instant she sent it, she switched expressions completely.
She took screenshots of Cen Sen's poisonous philosophy and posted them in the girls' group chat, intending to rally everyone into launching another full-scale campaign condemning this Dog Man.
She even started the ball rolling herself: "Just look at this! Is this something a human being could say?"
Just before pressing Send, she froze.
Wait.
Something wasn't right.
This wasn't the group chat.
Why had she sent it to him again?
Ji Mingshu blanked out for two full seconds, then frantically deleting the text she hadn't yet sent.
But it was too late, the screenshot had already gone through.
Cen Sen had even replied with a question mark, apparently puzzled about why she'd suddenly sent him a screenshot of their own conversation.
Ji Mingshu: ...
Ji Mingshu: [Your phone's about to die. Look at the battery in the top right corner.]
Hold on, that’s my battery. She quickly recalled the message and furiously started typing again.
Ji Mingshu: [I think what you said is really worth reflecting on, so I wanted to save a screenshot as a keepsake.]
Ji Mingshu: [Sincere.jpg]
Cen Sen didn't respond for quite some time. Instead, he searched online for a quick way to circle something in red on an image, then sent her screenshot back to her.
Ji Mingshu opened it.
At the top of the screenshot, the contact name she'd saved for him, Dog Man, had been circled in bright red.
Major oversight. Major oversight.
Upholding the principle that one must maintain harmonious relations with one’s financial sponsor immediately after spending his money, Ji Mingshu shut her eyes and launched into an extravagant stream of compliments.
Ji Mingshu: [You're so incredibly observant. No wonder you got into Harvard.]
Ji Mingshu: [How did you learn to draw red circles? I can't even do that. Your learning ability is amazing. Even the circle you drew so casually is perfectly round. You must have been excellent at both math and art.]
She then promptly changed his contact name and sent him a new screenshot.
This time, the contact name read: Dearest Hubby.
It was a masterpiece that perfectly combined modern rainbow-flattery with the subtle art of ‘There. Happy now?’
Annoying enough to make the other person uncomfortable, yet harmless enough that they couldn't really complain.
Ji Mingshu was immensely pleased with her own brilliance, smiling to herself as she ate her salad while waiting for his response.
She had expected Cen Sen to reply with a single word like Childish, or perhaps ignore her entirely.
Instead, two minutes later, he sent back another screenshot.
Her contact name on his phone had been changed to: Dearest Wife.
Ji Mingshu: "..."
Fine. When it came to the subject of Give me a lever and I'll argue the Earth off its axis, Cen-shi Sensen remained the undisputed top scholar.
She had lost this round completely.
And somehow, those contact names were so sickeningly sweet that she suddenly couldn't bring herself to finish her salad.
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