My Queen, My Rules - 35

Leg Massage

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After hanging up, Cen Sen was silent for a while.

Zhou Jiaheng happened to come in to deliver some documents. Cen Sen suddenly paused, looked up, and asked, "If a man likes a woman's social media posts and compliments her photos, calling her pretty and cute, does that mean he's pursuing her?"

Zhou Jiaheng's mind was wholly occupied with work. Caught off guard by such a question, he didn't react for several seconds.

When he did process it, his thoughts raced: Is President Cen hinting at something? Or is this a metaphor? Or has some tricky situation come up in his love life, requiring his assistant to read between the lines and proactively share his burdens?

In the span of barely ten seconds, Zhou Jiaheng had already crafted a suitably diplomatic response.

But Cen Sen seemed to sense his misunderstanding. He quickly averted his gaze and spoke before Zhou Jiaheng could open his mouth, "Don't overthink it. It was just a random question."

"…"

Too late.

Cen Sen: "You can go."

Zhou Jiaheng paused briefly, gave a slight nod, and turned to leave. For once, his mind was churning with puzzlement and a sliver of unease.

He had followed Cen Sen for many years and understood his temperament well. He could always grasp Cen Sen's intentions and handle matters appropriately at the first sign.

However, Cen Sen rarely brought up private emotional matters. His attitude today left Zhou Jiaheng genuinely unable to decipher his boss's meaning.

It wasn't just Zhou Jiaheng who was perplexed. Cen Sen himself wasn't entirely clear on his own thoughts.

The office was quiet. He took off his glasses, leaned back in his chair, and unconsciously massaged the bridge of his nose.

When it came to emotions, he had always been indifferent. He couldn't claim to understand women much, and he'd never felt strong likes or dislikes towards his partners ; at most, it stopped at appreciation.

And Ji Mingshu, since their student days, had possessed many flaws far outside his scope of appreciation.

Flashy and impulsive, superficial and vain, arrogant and willful, extremely self-centered.

Back when Ji Mingshu had childishly provoked him on multiple occasions, he'd even thought that apart from her face, this girl had nothing going on for her.

Fortunately, their paths had seldom crossed to begin with, and after graduating high school, they saw even less of each other.

However, every time he returned to Nanqiao Hutong, he would passively hear news related to Ji Mingshu from the Cen family.

For instance, which university she got into, what gifts she sent back from abroad, how beautiful she had become, which family's son was pursuing her.

There had been a few informal encounters, but they were merely passing glances, never exchanging a word.

It wasn't until the hundredth-anniversary celebration of their affiliated high school, organized by alumni, that he properly reunited with Ji Mingshu.

They were in different graduating years, so logically shouldn't have been at the same reunion. But adult gatherings weren't purely about catching up with classmates; they were more about networking and resource exchange under the guise of nostalgia.

To put it more bluntly, those deemed useless had long been filtered out of the ‘classmate’ category.

Strangely, Cen Sen could still remember that Ji Mingshu wore a silver-green spaghetti-strap maxi dress that evening.

The dress's design was simple and elegant, but the skirt itself was made of intricate, finely pleated fabric. When she moved, the dense folds swayed like rippling water.

An ultra-thin belt of the same color cinched her waist, making it appear so slender it seemed one could encircle it with a single hand.

By the time Ji Mingshu arrived, Cen Sen had already had quite a bit to drink.

He felt sober, but at the sight of her, for a fleeting moment, he mistook himself for being thoroughly drunk.

Ji Mingshu's two uncles, one in business, one in politics, were both in great need of powerful in-laws as leverage.

Around that time, Cen Sen had just learned they were secretly scouting suitable marriage alliance candidates for Ji Mingshu.

The match they had in mind was the Su family, which had started in textiles down south. The Su family had been expanding northward for years, making significant strides in both political and business circles. While they couldn't be compared to the Cen family, they were among the top of the nouveau riche, with strong momentum and limitless prospects.

Cen Sen also knew the Su family's youngest son. The man had good looks and intelligence, and was the key focus for cultivation in the Su family's current generation. His private life, however, was less than pristine; he was known to be indiscriminate, enjoying both men and women.

Thinking of this, then looking at the bright-eyed, charming beauty before him, Cen Sen actually felt a pang of pity deep within.

Perhaps it was this sense of pity that planted the first seed of an idea in his mind. That might be why, when Ji Mingshu mistakenly drank a spiked cocktail, he stepped in and took her away.

Cen Sen had originally intended to take Ji Mingshu to the hospital. But after sitting obediently for just a few minutes, she suddenly climbed onto his lap, straddling him face-to-face. She pinched his cheeks and berated him.

She called him a foreign-worshipping flatterer, cursed his poor taste for dating a little white lotus like Li Wenyin, then rambled incoherently about how he shouldn't have broken up with Li Wenyin—that irrecyclable trash like them deserved to be locked together forever, sparing no one else.

He'd drunk a lot that evening. To leave early with this ungrateful woman, he'd even been teased into downing a glass of whiskey. He was far from sober himself.

In the moment, he had no time to ponder where this woman's immense resentment came from, that after years apart, she'd still remember to give him a thorough, scathing dressing down.

But right after her tirade, Ji Mingshu took the initiative to kiss him. From his lips down to his Adam's apple, she kissed and gently nibbled, like a lazy kitten, her voice sweet, her insults sounding like coquettish complaints.

Cen Sen was no Liu Xiahui, immune to temptation sitting in a woman's lap.

Naturally, he couldn't withstand such a vivid, sensual provocation.

For a few seconds, he even wondered if this was some scheme concocted by the Ji family to deliberately lure him in. But with soft, fragrant jade in his arms, he found the thought of taking the bait… wouldn't be so bad after all.

It just happened that he lacked such an exquisite vase to serve as a decorative piece.

The memory cut off abruptly the moment they entered the hotel suite. Cen Sen opened his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose again, and reopened the file on his desk.

He must have been too tired lately, to let a random comment from that kid Pei Xiyan send his thoughts spiraling like this.

Ji Mingshu was his wife. Complimenting her as pretty and cute was perfectly normal. Where did the notions of pursuit or liking even come into it?

Ridiculous.

Yet not long after, he set down his pen, picked up his phone, and sent Ji Mingshu a message.

Cen Sen: [What time does filming wrap up today? I'm passing by. Can pick you up.]

---

By the time Ji Mingshu saw the message, she was already as exhausted as a salted fish.

Running around for renovations was physical labor. Ordinary people found it taxing, let alone a pampered young lady like Ji Mingshu.

Listlessly leaning against the window, she called Cen Sen, her voice drained. "Just saw your text. I'm done. So tired. I'll just head back myself."

Cen Sen: "I'm already here."

Ji Mingshu instinctively glanced out the window.

In a corner of the residential complex's parking area, a familiar car had its hazard lights flashing.

Just then, the crew finished packing up their equipment and called out to her, "Teacher Ji, ready to go? The van is here."

She covered the phone and turned. "Oh, no need. My husband is here to pick me up."

"Ah? Teacher Ji, you're married?"

"Can't tell at all!"

The crew were all quite surprised to learn she was married.

Actually, for non-celebrity participants, the production team usually did some basic background checks beforehand. But Ji Mingshu was recommended by Meng Xiaowei, and the sponsors had vetoed both the plan to create a CP with Li Che and making her a key filming focus. So the production hadn't bothered investing much energy in this decorative side-piece.

Add to that Ji Mingshu's habit of not wearing a wedding ring, coupled with her fashionable, youthful appearance, and no one had thought to consider her marital status. Thus, this simple fact became the most obvious thing everyone had overlooked.

Ji Mingshu had no time to explain these trivial matters. She offered a couple of vague replies, freshened up her makeup in the restroom, then couldn't wait to dash downstairs.

She'd been in heels all day, her legs on the verge of giving out. The moment she got in the car, she bent over to rub her calves, moaning "ow ow ow" and "it hurts it hurts" as if she wanted the whole world to hear.

Cen Sen set aside his documents and said lightly, "You could wear flats."

"?"

"What do you know? High heels are a woman's final stand! I'd rather die than wear flats to a filming!"

"…"

Cen Sen gave an indifferent "Oh" and went back to reading his files.

Oh?

Oh??

Oh???

Ji Mingshu stared at him in disbelief for a full ten seconds. Seeing him so nonchalant and relaxed while she was exhausted to the point of collapse, anger flared uncontrollably within her!

She suddenly shifted, swinging one leg, then the other, swiftly and decisively onto Cen Sen's lap.

"My legs hurt. Rub them for me."

She stated it with self-righteousness. Cen Sen turned to look at her, momentarily unable to tell if she was acting coquettishly or giving an order.

Having stated her demand, Ji Mingshu shamelessly ignored him after that, engrossing herself in her phone.

Cen Sen looked down at her legs for a long moment, not moving.

"My legs hurt! Hurts, hurts, hurts, HURTS!"

Ji Mingshu nudged him twice with her feet to hurry him along, a hint of petulant demand in her tone she herself didn't notice.

Something stirred faintly in Cen Sen's heart. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he actually began, slowly and deliberately, to roll up his sleeves and started gently kneading her calves.

"…"

He's actually doing it?

Ji Mingshu instinctively tried to pull her legs back.

She had only intended to act up a little, to torment this dog of a man. Who knew he'd be so agreeable today?

Fortunately, she was very good at accepting favor from others. She quickly relaxed and settled contentedly into the seat, enjoying this exclusive service that probably cost thousands per second.

It was too bad to let Cen Sen personally giving her a leg rub go un-boasted about.

Ji Mingshu opened WeChat, pondering how to post about it on Moments without seeming too try-hard.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Gu Kaiyang sent a message.

Gu Kaiyang: [AHHHHH! Girl, brace yourself!]

Gu Kaiyang: [Li Wenyin's interview is out!]

Gu Kaiyang: [Let me show you the highlights. I, Gu Gu, have never seen someone so shameless!!!]

Ji Mingshu: [?]

Gu Kaiyang sent a screenshot of the interview with parts highlighted in red.

The thumbnail showed the header: ‘Li Wenyin Interview Transcript.’ Ji Mingshu's heart sank. She opened it, scanned the text, and instantly zeroed in on the crucial points—

Li Wenyin: "I think seeing your own writing adapted into film is probably every writer's dream. This story I've written is very... how should I put it, very special to me. It's also irreplicable."

…

Li Wenyin: "Yes, actually many people know this story has a prototype. The prototype is me and my first love. I actually wrote a piece on Weibo before called 'My First Love Got Married.' I didn't think too much when I wrote it, nor did I expect it to be widely reposted. Later, I chose to delete it because I was afraid it might cause trouble for him."

…

Li Wenyin: "I want to make this film not to disturb him, but to say... when you're young, you always fail to understand what you have. You're immature and make rash choices. Perhaps because of that, I've lost him forever. But in another sense, we also once shared each other's most beautiful years."

…

Li Wenyin: "Yes, this part of my story is very important and meaningful to me. So I will do my utmost to present its most perfect form. I also hope that when it appears on the big screen, everyone can recall their own youth, recall their own most irreplicable years. That is also my most sincere wish for him."

???

Wish?

What the hell is this crap? Does this little white lotus dare to say this to my face? If I don't smear shit all over her face, my surname isn't Ji!!!

Ji Mingshu could barely control the murderous aura erupting inside her. Her legs twitched violently in response.

Noticing this, Cen Sen glanced up at her. "What's wrong?"

The little flame of Ji Mingshu's rage was already burning through her entire being. She felt like if she opened her mouth, mystical canary flames might shoot out. She clenched her teeth, swallowed the bitter blood rising in her heart, and said with feigned nonchalance, "It's nothing."

A graceful and virtuous lady like me must absolutely not get angry!!!

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