My Queen, My Rules - 36

Jealousy

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Although she kept mentally chanting "Don't get angry," staying peaceful and smiling cheerfully after something like this would require the Buddha-like serenity of a reincarnated Maitreya.

For a few seconds, Ji Mingshu desperately wanted to shove her phone in Cen Sen's face and make him see how his spectacularly white lotus ex-girlfriend was engaging in the very pinnacle of white-lotus bitchery and theatrics.

But a last shred of reason told her that since Cen Sen had said he wouldn't dwell on the past, she shouldn't take her anger out on him for no reason.

Maybe Li Wenyin was banking on her temper, expecting her to pick a fight with Cen Sen. This could all be a deliberate scheme to drive a wedge between them, and that little white lotus was probably waiting backstage for the show.

Yes, that was definitely it.

Must not fall for it. Must absolutely resist her evil schemes!

But she was so, so angry!!!

Ji Mingshu grabbed a throw pillow, buried her face in it for a moment, then kicked Cen Sen's legs away with a series of pointed nudges. She sat up straight, putting both feet on the floor, and fumed, teetering on the edge of either blowing up or demanding answers.

Normally Ji Mingshu was direct, but once Li Wenyin, her sworn enemy, was involved, it was like she was under a curse. A tangled web of old grudges she could never quite articulate would surface.

School wasn't out yet for the elementary kids outside, but the nearby shops were open, and street vendors were gradually wheeling out their carts.

"Stop the car!" Ji Mingshu suddenly called out, looking at the stalls. "I'm hungry."

The driver, quick on the uptake, immediately responded, "Madam, what would you like? I'll go buy it."

Ji Mingshu: "No need. I'll go myself."

As soon as she got out, Ji Mingshu headed straight for a fried food stall and ordered some popcorn chicken.

Fried food stalls, like stationery stores, were standard fixtures outside schools of all levels. Aside from the soaring prices and the QR code pasted on the cart, everything looked exactly as she remembered from her own childhood.

The vendor moved with practiced efficiency, using tongs to grab some chicken from the metal tray and place it on the scale. He'd taken a bit too much, so he picked up two pieces from the scale, gave them a slight shake, and dropped them back into the tray.

This series of skilled, practiced motions seemed to tell Ji Mingshu: Give it up. Your looks won't get you extra portions here.

Actually, Ji Mingshu hadn't started strictly controlling her diet until her second year of high school. As a child, she'd loved junk food too—Sprite, Coke, potato chips, spicy strips, fried and grilled foods were all her favorites.

In middle school, she'd relied on her youth and fast metabolism, going out for late-night snacks with her girlfriends every few days.

But during the summer after her freshman year, her class organized a final get-together before the academic stream split. She'd mixed beer with a lot of greasy, spicy skewers. When she got home, her stomach hurt terribly. She kept running to the bathroom and was finally diagnosed by the family doctor with acute gastroenteritis, requiring three full days on an IV drip.

Her aunt had scolded her even as she fretted, and her cousins had gathered around, nagging incessantly. Terrified by this chorus of sutra-chanting, she'd been forced to raise four fingers and swear, "I'll never eat junk food again! If I do, I'll marry an ugly monster!"

Her youngest cousin, sharp-eyed and pedantic, pressed one of her fingers down, making her re-swear properly.

Feeling guilty, Ji Mingshu meekly swore again, and only then gained temporary peace. But when she was alone in her room again, the silence felt overwhelming, and her stomach pain seemed to intensify.

Curled up on the bed, tears welling in her eyes as she rubbed her aching stomach, she remembered the girls at the party saying, "Li Wenyin actually hooked Cen Sen," and "What luck." She tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

In her memory, that was probably the most agonizing night of her life so far.

She hadn't taken the oath seriously when she made it, but after that night, she developed a persistent, deep-seated fear of gastroenteritis. Just the sight of junk food filled her with trepidation, and she actually ended up keeping her promise, turning over a new leaf.

The popcorn chicken, coated in breadcrumbs, sizzled and turned golden brown in the oil. Ji Mingshu's thoughts returned to the present. She tapped the glass display again. "Add a sausage."

At some point, Cen Sen had followed her over.

He glanced at Ji Mingshu but didn't see any particularly strong desire for fried food in her eyes.

The food was quickly ready. Ji Mingshu took the cup of chicken and handed the sausage on a stick to Cen Sen. "Hold this for me."

Cen Sen didn't take it for a long moment.

Some nerve in her brain must have misfired. She suddenly poked the sausage towards his face and challenged him with a sour tone, "Didn't you ever hold snacks for your girlfriend back in school?"

Cen Sen finally took the skewer from her hand and casually recalled, "No."

"..."

Yeah, right.

If he never even held snacks for her, what the hell was Li Wenyin reminiscing about then?

Feeling sulky, Ji Mingshu walked towards a beef noodle shop. But Cen Sen spoke up from behind her, "The one further up tastes better."

"How do you know?"

Cen Sen's voice was flat. "I went to school here before."

...?

Ji Mingshu froze for two seconds, then turned to look at the elementary school across the street.

—Xingcheng Normal University No. 2 Affiliated Primary School.

The red paint of the school name was peeling, and like the old guard booth, it seemed it hadn't been renovated in years. The road inside the school was shaded by lush trees on both sides, growing less distinct the further in you looked. Only the distant brick-red teaching building was faintly visible.

Cen Sen had gone to school here when he lived in Xingcheng?

Somehow, this previously ordinary little street suddenly took on a familiar, nostalgic air from times past, making her inexplicably want to learn more.

Even after following Cen Sen into the noodle shop, Ji Mingshu was still carefully looking around. She found it hard to imagine a younger, little-radish version of Cen Sen living his life here for so long.

Cen Sen, thinking she was having a princess moment and couldn't accept such a humble environment, even laid two paper napkins on a plastic stool. Who would have thought Ji Mingshu didn't even notice? After looking around, she simply pulled over a small plastic stool and sat down herself.

The shop owner gave Cen Sen a once-over, his expression seeming to say, "What kind of man is more finicky than this pretty girl?" Cen Sen remained unperturbed. He sat down and ordered directly, "Two bowls of beef noodles. Mildly spicy."

Ji Mingshu corrected him. "I don't want beef. I want the three-delicacies version."

"Coming right up!"

The elementary school kids weren't out yet, so the owner efficiently prepared their noodles in just a few minutes.

The owner was an honest man, and his differential treatment was glaringly obvious. Cen Sen's bowl was a normal portion, but the toppings on Ji Mingshu's three-delicacies noodles were piled into a small mountain.

Unfortunately, Ji Mingshu's canary's appetite was destined to betray the owner's goodwill of more-for-no-extra-charge. Years of diet control had created both a physical and psychological habit. After a few pieces of popcorn chicken, the calorie count started spinning wildly in her head.

She couldn't eat anymore, just listlessly stirring the noodles in her bowl with her chopsticks.

Perhaps finding the atmosphere too quiet, she asked as she stirred, "Did you come to this shop often when you were in elementary school?"

Cen Sen added a bit of chili to his bowl. "Not often. I usually ate at home."

Mentioning home inevitably made Ji Mingshu think of Chen Biqing and An Ning. After that one meeting, it seemed Cen Sen hadn't been in contact with them. Was he planning to just leave it at that?

Propping her chin on her hand, Ji Mingshu said as if offhandedly, "I saw on Moments that An Ning seems to have started school."

Cen Sen glanced up at her. Who knows how his mental wiring worked, but he suddenly asked, "Are you trying to ask if Cen Yang is back or not?"

"...?"

"No, I'm not."

Ji Mingshu denied it instinctively, feeling utterly bewildered.

Heaven and earth be my witness, she was exhausted like a dog every day lately. When would she have time to think about the blurry-faced Cen Yang?

It was unclear whether Cen Sen believed her or not. In any case, he didn't pursue the topic.

Snapping out of her bewilderment, Ji Mingshu felt his sudden pivot to Cen Yang was because he didn't want to discuss family issues. She didn't press further.

After all, it wasn't really her business to begin with, and she knew her own limits; she didn't have the ability to play mediator and fix the messy family dynamics of her plastic husband.

The next second, she remembered something that was very much her business.

Li Wenyin's interview was so full of sincere, heartfelt nostalgia for their relationship! It was only three months, how big a deal could it be? Had she never seen a man before? This cold, hard piece of rock, only a little white lotus like Li Wenyin would still treasure it, holding it dear!

Thinking about it made her feel physically uncomfortable, and a wild, mischievous urge to act up took hold.

Abruptly, she grabbed the vinegar bottle and poured a good half-bottle's worth into Cen Sen's bowl, staring at it with feigned sincerity. "I think it's better with more vinegar."

Cen Sen paused his chopsticks. Without a word, he simply swapped their bowls.

By the time they left the noodle shop, the sun showed signs of setting. Across the street, elementary students were being dismissed, some stretching their necks looking for parents, others lining up to board school buses.

Standing by the roadside, Ji Mingshu suddenly, like one of the schoolchildren, tugged on Cen Sen's sleeve and refused to move.

Cen Sen: "What now?"

"My feet hurt. I can't walk."

First warning. Little Canary Ji was starting to act up.

Cen Sen glanced down. "Then I'll have the driver bring the car over."

Ji Mingshu: "This is a one-way street. The car would have to make a huge detour to get here."

She didn't even have a driver's license, but she knew traffic rules well.

Cen Sen ignored her, pulling out his phone to call.

But she reached out and covered the phone, stating righteously, "Why do you like causing trouble for others so much?"

"..."

Cen Sen shot her a look that said, "Anyone but you has the right to say that." After a moment of silence, he asked, "Then what do you want, me to carry you?"

Ji Mingshu crossed her arms and looked around, deliberately adopting an air of nonchalance, even half-squinting her eyes. "When I was little and couldn't walk anymore, Brother Cen Yang would always carry me."

"..."

Cen Sen continued searching for the driver's number.

"...?"

What kind of attitude was that?

It wasn't like she really wanted him to carry her in front of a bunch of schoolkids. But he could at least show a little of a husband's gentle consideration! Had he never carried Li Wenyin before? Why was it okay for that white lotus but not for her!

The more the Little Canary thought about it, the angrier she got, the more her temper flared. Without thinking, she blurted out, "I wonder when Brother Cen Yang is coming back. Brother Cen Yang was always so smart since we were kids; he must have done really well abroad these years. Now that I think about it, I've hardly seen any boys as outstanding as him. And he was especially kind. When we were kids, he was the one who fed all the stray cats around the hutong."

While Ji Mingshu was blabbering on, fabricating nonsense, the driver, having received the notification, had already driven the car over.

Cen Sen stepped forward and opened the car door. He suddenly paused, looked back at Ji Mingshu, and said in a bland, unaffected tone, "He possesses many traditional Chinese virtues. Pity—I have none of them."

Ji Mingshu: "...?"

Before she could react, the car door closed with a solid thud.

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