My Queen, My Rules - 24
An Family
After getting thoroughly outmatched by Cen Sen, Ji Mingshu was in a thoroughly foul mood.
The entire ride back, she stewed, reflecting: What possessed me to add Cen Sen back on WeChat after I'd finally deleted him? She'd brought this misery entirely upon herself. It's not like having him on WeChat made any difference to her ability to swipe his card and spend his money!
Fortunately, Ji Mingshu was the sort of young lady who never let herself suffer for long. If she couldn't win against Cen-shi Sensen, taking it out on the innocent Little Earth Goose was effortless by comparison. She promptly opened the group titled 'Pure College Girl Uncensored Chat Group’ and started picking on Jiang Chun.
Ji Mingshu: [Jiang Chun. Come out.]
Jiang Chun: [Honk!]
Poor, innocent Goose Girl had no idea disaster was about to strike. The moment the princess summoned her, she responded with admirable enthusiasm.
Ji Mingshu: [What did you eat today? How many kilograms are you now? Record yourself standing on the scale and send me the video.]
Jiang Chun was still a long way from her target weight. Lately, Ji Mingshu had been supervising her remotely, launching surprise inspections every so often to check what she'd eaten for breakfast and lunch.
As for dinner, Ji Mingshu's philosophy had always been:
"Do girls' worlds even have room for something called 'dinner'? Is plain water too spicy for you? Is fruit salad not delicious enough? If you can't even give up measly dinner, how are you supposed to become the most glamorous socialite on Chang'an Avenue? You'd be better off becoming a competitive eater and starting a mukbang channel. You could eat eight meals a day and no one would bat an eye. Just support your family, buy a seaside villa, and reach the pinnacle of life!"
The moment those three deadly questions appeared, the group chat fell into absolute silence.
Ji Mingshu: [Come out. Stop playing dead.]
Jiang Chun: ...
Ji Mingshu immediately launched a wave of sticker attacks.
A while later, Jiang Chun finally sent a voice message.
"Reporting to Teacher Ji. Here's today's situation. This morning I ate one apple and drank one black coffee, no sugar, no milk. A little after ten, Tang Zhizhou invited me to an art exhibition, so I brought another apple with me. On the way there I ate a chicken cutlet. Wow, that exhibition was amazing. I couldn't understand a single thing! Then I didn't eat anything all afternoon. Tonight I'm only planning to eat one orange for some vitamin C. I've been doing really well, haven't I?"
Jiang Chun spoke very quickly. The words ‘ate a chicken cutlet’ were mumbled low and tucked within her long, breathless sentence.
Ji Mingshu replayed the message three times before catching it.
Ji Mingshu: [Chicken cutlet? What did you just say? Say that again.]
Jiang Chun: [Too scared to speak.jpg]
Ji Mingshu: [A chicken cutlet contains nearly 230 calories per hundred grams. One cutlet weighs at least two hundred grams. That means you swallowed over five hundred calories in one sitting. Do you have any idea how long you'd have to stay on the elliptical to burn that off? And don't think I didn't notice you mumbling it on purpose, trying to sneak it past me. Your attitude is deeply unacceptable. If we were still in school, you'd be on disciplinary probation, I'm telling you.]
Jiang Chun: [I actually ate... two. (tiny voice)]
Ji Mingshu: ...?
Ji Mingshu: [Is the fat growing on my body? Was I the one who got my fiancé stolen? Was the little white lotus showing off in my face?]
Ji Mingshu: [This student is beyond saving.jpg]
Ji Mingshu: [The last person who made me this angry already has enough grass on their grave to graze cattle.jpg]
Jiang Chun: [Looks like making myself throw up is the only way to salvage my standing in your heart. :)]
Ji Mingshu: [Shut up, pretty girl.jpg]
Ji Mingshu: [You are no longer my sister.]
Jiang Chun was just about to argue back, but the next second, the page displayed: [You have been removed from the group "Pure College Girl Uncensored Chat Group" by the group owner.]
While Ji Mingshu was gleefully plucking Goose Girl's feathers one by one, Cen Sen, seeing that she'd been lectured into speechlessness, let out a quiet chuckle.
This trip to Xingcheng had been arranged on short notice. Several of his assistants, including Zhou Jiaheng, were tied up with important work and couldn't accompany him immediately. The Xingcheng branch had therefore assigned two temporary assistants to him.
The first pair they sent were both women.
One was older and conducted herself with calm professionalism. The other was clearly someone the branch executives had sent to curry favor. Worse still, she was the sort of painfully artificial decorative vase that looked fake from a mile away.
The very first morning they met, the counterfeit little vase had arrived dressed to the nines, treating a workday like it was a beauty pageant.
Cen Sen took one glance at her and dismissed her on the spot for inappropriate attire.
After hearing about it, the branch executives somehow drew entirely the wrong conclusion. Within hours, they replaced her with a young man in his early twenties.
The new assistant arrived that afternoon in perfectly ordinary office attire, nervous out of his mind after hearing about the previous assistant's fate.
Seeing that Cen Sen had finished signing a contract and seemed to be in a reasonably good mood while looking at his phone, the young man hurried to brew a cup of black coffee and carefully brought it into the office.
"President Cen, your coffee."
But just as he spoke, an internal call came in.
Without even looking up, Cen Sen set down his phone and answered the call.
As the assistant placed the coffee on the desk, he couldn't help sneaking a glance at Cen Sen's expression. Then, purely by accident, he caught sight of the phone screen.
Green and white chat bubbles. WeChat.
Wait. That contact name… Dearest Wifey?
The assistant thought his eyes were failing him. After three seconds of absolute shock, he leaned forward another inch just to make sure he'd read it correctly.
The instant he confirmed he hadn't imagined it...
Crash!
The cup shattered against the floor, coffee splashed everywhere. The office was a complete mess.
The assistant froze. Recovering his senses, he immediately crouched down to clean everything up, mouthing frantic apologies the entire time.
Cen Sen was still on the phone. He merely glanced at him once without saying a word.
The young assistant cleaned up the disaster with trembling hands, clinging to a sliver of hope and comforting himself:
The big boss looks so cold and abstinent, but apparently he flirts with his wife in private. He must be the cold-on-the-outside, warm-on-the-inside type. Maybe he even likes telling dad jokes. Right. That has to be it. Don't panic. Don't panic.
When Cen Sen finished his call, the young man wanted to apologize again, but somehow, the words that came out were: "Broken things bring good luck... broken things bring good luck..."
Then, for reasons even he couldn't explain, he laughed awkwardly and added, "President Cen, your name shares the same pronunciation as that Tang dynasty frontier poet. What a coincidence. What a coincidence."
Cen Sen looked up, his voice cool and detached. "Do I look like someone who enjoys jokes?"
"Leave."
"And don't come back."
The assistant: "..."
So the big boss only revealed his warm and interesting side to his wife. How humbling life could be. :)
***
By the time Cen Sen finished work and returned to the hotel that evening, Ji Mingshu had already made it back as well.
She barely glanced at him before looking away listlessly.
First, because she'd lost today's battle and was still feeling depressed.
Second, because she was on her period. She couldn't go out and enjoy herself, leaving her trapped inside the hotel all day.
It felt less like a vacation and more like some bizarre imprisonment play. Except there was only the imprisonment, no play.
Ji Mingshu had never been someone who could sit still for long.
Halfway through wearing a face mask, inspiration suddenly struck: The show wasn't starting for another week. Why not fly back to the capital and have fun for a few days! She could just return to this dump when it's time to film.
So, with her face still covered in a diatomaceous earth mask, she burst out of the bathroom to enthusiastically proposed the idea to Cen Sen.
He had no objection. Not that his opinion usually carried much weight where Ji Mingshu was concerned.
Early the next morning, Cen Sen drove her to the airport.
Halfway there, while Ji Mingshu was touching up her makeup, he received a phone call.
The conversation was brief. His replies consisted almost entirely of "Mm," "Yeah," "Okay," and "Fine."
The moment he hung up, however, he suddenly instructed the driver to trim around, then he named a destination."The Xingcheng University Faculty Apartments."
Ji Mingshu paused, a vague premonition already forming in her heart. "... Do you have something urgent?"
Pressing two fingers against his brow, Cen Sen remained silent for a moment before answering. "I'm going to visit the An family. You should come with me. We'll have lunch there."
Ji Mingshu: "..."
She'd thought leaving Xingcheng early would spare her from becoming an unwilling spy. Who knew fate would corner her at the very last moment anyway, forcing her into this impossible position.
She tested the waters carefully. "Then... why don't you drop me off at the airport first before you go? It shouldn't delay you very much."
Five seconds later: "...Or you can just let me out here. I'll call a ride to the airport myself. It's not that far."
Ten seconds later: "...Fine. Whatever you want."
All Ji Mingshu had ever wanted was to be an exquisitely expensive ornamental vase. She had absolutely no desire to uncover the tragic backstory hidden behind the cold-faced CEO. Yet somehow, after spending his money and accepting his kindness, she suddenly felt as though fate itself had grabbed her by the skull and refused to let go.
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