My Queen, My Rules - 5
Fairy
"Why do you keep messing with her? She's way more interesting than those plastic socialites in your circle."
After Jiang Chun left, Gu Kaiyang idly stirred her drink with a straw, shooting Ji Mingshu a sidelong glance.
Ji Mingshu answered lazily, "That's exactly why. Don't you think she looks just like a penguin? She's adorable."
Gu Kaiyang paused, unsure where to even begin rolling her eyes.
Having teased Jiang Chun and indulged in a full-body spa, Ji Mingshu's mood had improved considerably compared to when she'd first arrived at the hot springs.
Contrary to the blatant affection she'd flaunted in front of Jiang Chun, she and Cen Sen actually had very little contact. Whether he was in the country or abroad, neither made much effort to contact the other. As for 'keeping company at night'...even running into each other at home often depended entirely on luck.
Cen Sen's offense first thing in the morning had made Ji Mingshu want to avoid even that bit of luck entirely.
She spent the entire weekend living comfortably in her apartment downtown instead of returning to Mingshui, taking the opportunity to revise her design drafts.
She had to admit it. Cen Sen's offhand jab had bruised her pride. Looking back at her drafts and the photos from the Zero Degree gala, she suddenly felt grateful that interior designers usually remained anonymous at events like that.
Cen Sen, for his part, never returned to Mingshui Manor either. Having just returned to the country, social engagements came thick and fast. Besides, the drama unfolding at the company had only just begun. As the leading actor, how could he leave the stage so soon?
Monday arrived.
Not long after Cen Sen's appointment notice announcing his takeover of Junyi, another bombshell landed across the company's internal network.
Without any warning, notices were published announcing personnel changes involving dozens of senior executives.
Among them was Huang Peng, the current General Manager who had deliberately sent his secretary to deliver a veiled threat on Cen Sen's first day back.
Put simply, these so-called personnel adjustments amounted to one thing:
Termination.
Outside the presidential office on the sixty-eighth floor, a row of black-suited bodyguards stood at attention since early morning.
Today at Junyi was a spectacle.
Several furious executives stormed the president's office demanding explanations, only to be dragged out by the bodyguards and escorted straight into the elevators without ceremony.
Some completely abandoned their usual dignified image after being thrown out, shouting curses floor after floor in full view of ordinary employees, throwing embarrassing public tantrums.
People were curious creatures. Unless pain landed on themselves, they rarely learned any lessons.
Had any of the parasites from the Southern Cen branch who'd infested the company a few years ago been still around, today's events wouldn't have surprised them in the slightest.
Compared to what had happened back then, Cen Sen was almost being merciful today.
Last time, he'd simply had the bodyguards throw people straight out of the company's front doors.
The final visitor to the president's office was Huang Peng.
Despite his rather rough-sounding name, Huang Peng himself was lean, refined, and impeccably dressed.
Approaching sixty, he still looked no older than a handsome man in his early forties. Distinguished, elegant, and cultured. Every description fit him perfectly.
Then again, if not for the meticulous care he took with his appearance and his penchant for discussing philosophy and the meaning of life before getting into bed, women young enough to be his daughter wouldn't have chosen him over his own son the way they had.
"Uncle Huang. Please, have a seat."
Cen Sen greeted him with impeccable courtesy.
Huang Peng, however, found it impossible to maintain the calm confidence he usually wore.
Standing rigidly upright, he answered in a restrained voice, "I wouldn't dare. I'm afraid I can't claim such a familial bond with President Cen."
"What are you saying, Uncle Huang?" Leaning back comfortably in his chair, Cen Sen skipped the pleasantries altogether. "If it weren't for your sake, I wouldn't have bothered looking after Xiaofeng. He's been getting a little too reckless lately. Personally, I think it's about time he learned a lesson."
He had been preparing for this moment for far too long to waste time dancing around the issue.
At these words, Huang Peng's pupils contracted sharply.
Huang Zifeng was Huang Peng's only son. A good-for-nothing since childhood. He excelled at every vice and none of the virtues. At eighteen, he had even fought his own father over a woman, turning the family's dirty laundry into public entertainment.
Unfortunately for him, the young woman preferred mature, dependable men. She cast him aside without hesitation and devoted herself entirely to Huang Peng instead.
That incident had permanently poisoned their already strained father-son relationship. Over the years, Huang Zifeng only spiraled further out of control. Calling him a complete societal menace wouldn't have been much of an exaggeration.
"What did you do to Xiaofeng?"
Huang Peng's voice dropped, unable to hide the anxiety creeping into it.
He usually disciplined his useless son with nothing but beatings and insults, yet Huang Zifeng was still his only heir. Had he not secretly spoiled the boy while pretending to be strict, Huang Zifeng never would have become the hopeless wreck he was today.
Cen Sen folded his hands together and spoke at an unhurried pace.
"I happened to be in Xingcheng a few days ago and ran into Xiao Feng. He and his friends took things a little too far and ended up in police custody. I've already put in a word with the bureau. No need to worry, Uncle Huang."
Busy dealing with the major moves made by the Cen father and son over the past several days, Huang Peng hadn't spared much thought to where Huang Zifeng had disappeared to.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard from his son in nearly a week.
No one understood Huang Zifeng's true nature better than his own father.
Last year, after Huang Zifeng and several friends had been arrested during a drug-fueled party with three other men and three women, Huang Peng had exhausted considerable effort pulling him out of trouble. This time, being detained for so long without any news leaking out meant Cen Sen had come prepared.
Silence settled between them.
The tension on Huang Peng's face eased slightly, and his attitude softened almost at once. He first thanked Cen Sen before steering the conversation toward old memories.
"When you think about it, you and Xiaofeng practically grew up like brothers. Back when he was in high school, he talked about Sen-ge every single day. How the years fly. Unlike you...he never amounted to much."
He even sighed and shook his head.
Unfortunately, Cen Sen remained completely unmoved.
As though he hadn't heard a word, he calmly opened the document beside him, uncapped his fountain pen, and pushed both across the desk.
"Retirement is a good thing, Uncle Huang. You'll finally have time to devote some proper attention to Xiaofeng."
Today, he wore nothing but a perfectly tailored dark dress shirt. As he adjusted his cuff, the silver square cufflink on his wrist briefly caught the light, matching the black, white, and metallic décor that had recently been added to the office, emphasizing the chill that seemed to emanate from him.
The outcome of this fight had long been decided.
Realizing emotional appeals were completely useless, the smile frozen on Huang Peng's face gradually stiffened before disappearing altogether.
After a long silence, Huang Peng finally stepped forward.
He looked Cen Sen directly in the eyes, picked up the pen slowly, refused to bend his back, and signed his name at the bottom of the document without even looking at it.
Cen Sen met his gaze without flinching.
Once Zhou Jiaheng confirmed the signature, Cen Sen said coolly, "Rest assured, Uncle Huang. I've already reserved a table for Xiaofeng at Lanlou as a welcome-home dinner. If you leave now, you'll arrive just in time. I have much to attend here, so I won't be joining you."
The veins on Huang Peng's forehead bulged faintly. The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. Then, without another word, he turned and walked out of the office.
Though he had never once bowed his head, his departing figure somehow seemed less upright than when he had entered.
Once Huang Peng had gone, Zhou Jiaheng stepped forward as though nothing unusual had happened.
"President Cen, Jinsheng has agreed to transfer the land in northern Xingcheng, and Chairman Lu has lowered the price by another five percent. I've already had gifts delivered to Jinsheng. Legal is processing the contract, and we expect to sign it this week."
Cen Sen nodded.
"This is your revised schedule for the week." Zhou Jiaheng handed over the tablet. "And there's one more thing. Nanqiao Hutong called. They'd like you and Madam to join them for dinner tonight."
Without looking up from the tablet, Cen Sen nodded again.
Then, as though something had just occurred to him, he asked, "Is my wife at home?"
Keeping his expression perfectly neutral, Zhou Jiaheng replied, "She's at Bocui Tianhua."
Bocui Tianhua was one of the capital's most famous serviced luxury apartment complexes.
In a city where land was worth its weight in gold, high property prices were nothing new. What truly made Bocui Tianhua famous was the exclusive social circle it had carefully cultivated.
When the development first opened, rumors claimed it imposed exceptionally strict buyer screenings and had even rejected applications from numerous celebrities.
Whether those stories had been true or simply clever marketing was impossible to verify now.
What was certain was that Bocui Tianhua had successfully established itself as the preferred address of blockchain tycoons.
Ji Mingshu's apartment there had been a wedding gift from her uncle, Ji Rusong.
It occupied the entire top floor.
One side featured a sweeping curved floor-to-ceiling window stretching nearly twenty meters, while the other opened onto a spacious sky terrace overlooking the southern half of the capital.
Ji Mingshu had filled the terrace with flowers, shrubs, and small trees.
Ironically, although she could barely take care of herself, the plants she grew flourished into something resembling a secret garden, wild, vibrant, and overflowing with life.
By the time Cen Sen arrived downstairs, Ji Mingshu had just finished perfecting the draft to her satisfaction.
She admired it again and again, almost tempted to call Gu Kaiyang immediately and demand they host another gala right away.
Then she'd drag Cen Sen there personally and force him to open his dog eyes wide enough to witness the earth-shattering brilliance of Miss Ji's true design ability.
Only after admiring the drawing for what felt like the hundred and eightieth time did she finally stand, stretch lazily, and step over the disaster zone covering her floor to fill the bathtub.
Living alone meant she didn't have to worry about convention. She had deliberately installed the bathtub inside the sunroom.
Once the tub was full, she casually turned on some music, drew the curtains across the glass wall, and sank blissfully into the warm water.
Downstairs, Cen Sen called Ji Mingshu twice. Both calls connected; neither was answered.
After coming upstairs, he patiently rang the doorbell for a full minute. Hearing no response, he used his keycard to let himself in.
The apartment's soundproofing was almost absurd.
Outside, all was quiet. The instant the door opened, deafening heavy metal music blasted into the hallway.
Standing at the entrance, Cen Sen briefly wondered whether the lonely young lady had gotten bored and invited a bunch of low-IQ creatures over for a party in broad daylight.
When he saw the chaotic apartment completely devoid of people, another sound reached him through the pounding music.
A female rapper enthusiastically shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Hey boy! Look at me!"
...
Following the sound, Cen Sen turned toward the sunroom.
There sat Ji Mingshu in the middle of a mountain of bubbles, holding a megaphone in one hand, the other raised high, occasionally pumping the air in an exaggerated "Yo, yo" gesture.
"Ji Mingshu is a fairy!"
"Fairy! Fairy!"
"A fairy who captivates the whole world!"
"Fairy! Fairy!"
She missed every beat of the music, but she certainly knew how to hype herself up.
After singing one line herself, she enthusiastically imitated an imaginary audience chanting the response.
Cen Sen stood there and endured thirty full seconds.
Just as he assumed this mortifying bout of embarrassing rap performance had finally reached its end, Rapper Ji demonstrated that the real show had only just begun.
"Ji Mingshu is a fairy!"
"Fairy! Fairy!"
"A fairy who brings men to their knees!"
"Fairy! Fairy!"
"A fairy you'll never get into bed with!"
"Fairy! Fairy!"
"I'm your ultimate type! Bang! Bang! Skr~!"
She finished with a finger-gun pose timed perfectly to the final "skr."
The room plunged into absolute silence.
Through the glass wall of the sunroom, Ji Mingshu seemed to see icy words written plainly across Cen Sen's expressionless face.
Oh. But I did get into bed with you.
---
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