My Queen, My Rules - 52
Salon
Half an hour later.
Cen Sen sent Ji Mingshu a WeChat message.
Cen Sen: [Mingshu, what's wrong?]
He had originally typed, “What's wrong now?” But earlier that day, Shu Yang and Zhao Yang had been sharing relationship advice in their group chat: Never ask a woman "What's wrong now?" It'll make her think you're impatient.
Remembering this pearl of wisdom just before hitting send, he deliberately deleted the word “now.”
Ji Mingshu, who had been waiting for him to ask, saw the message the instant it arrived.
She didn't reply. Instead, in an exaggerated fit of stubbornness, she deliberately switched her phone to silent mode and placed it face down on the table.
Leaning against the opposite end of the sofa, Gu Kaiyang shot her a sidelong look. Every inch of her expression screamed: I've got absolutely nothing to say.
The moment Ji Mingshu had returned, she'd launched into a nonstop tirade about Cen Sen. After listening, Gu Kaiyang honestly hadn't thought it was that big a deal and had instinctively tried to defend him a little.
But she’d given up after a while. No matter what she said, Ji Mingshu always managed to twist things from some impossible angle and pin yet another crime onto Cen Sen's ever-growing list of offenses.
Clearly, Ji Mingshu was determined to pick a fight. Even if her husband only did so much as stepped over the threshold with his left foot first or breathed one extra gulp of fresh air more than she did, it would be yet another unforgivable sin for her.
With that thought, Gu Kaiyang grabbed a throw pillow and buried her face beneath it, radiating the utter despair of someone wondering when this outrageously dramatic married couple would finally stop exhausting the world around them.
Deeply dissatisfied with her friend's plastic-sister attitude, Ji Mingshu picked up her extendable back scratcher and began poking the pillow covering Gu Kaiyang's face.
"Gu Kaiyang, get up! What's with that attitude? Don't tell me you think, just like that Dog Man, that I'm being unreasonable!"
"We've been friends for how many years now? Tell me the truth. Did that Dog Man pay you off? You actually take his side!”
“Fine, you don’t have to answer. I see through you now. You don't love me anymore. I'm not your little princess anymore. I knew it. Women who let work grind all the edges off them always end up this cold and calculating!"
As she spoke, she punctuated every accusation by rhythmically jabbing away with the back scratcher.
Gu Kaiyang felt like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Suddenly yanking the pillow off her face, she voiced the question that had been clawing its way out of her soul.
"Seriously, do you actually like Cen Sen? He didn't cheat, and he pulled the investment. You also put on one hell of a performance and proved you're not some useless ornament. He even took you home afterward, so why didn't you just stay there and continue spending his money fair and square?"
"I've known you for years, and somehow you've developed this insane amount of backbone overnight. Your standards for your husband suddenly shot through the roof. Fine, have high standards for him if you want. But why are your standards for me so ridiculously high too?!"
Ji Mingshu met her gaze for three seconds, then suddenly looked away, replying casually. "Yeah."
"...What?"
Gu Kaiyang had asked too many questions at once and had no idea which one Ji Mingshu was answering.
"I do like Cen Sen. I only realized it a little while ago. I forgot to tell you."
She admitted it with astonishing composure, in exactly the same tone someone might use to say they'd forgotten to buy cola and would have to settle for the Sprite in the fridge instead.
Gu Kaiyang stared blankly for a moment. "Wait... you're serious?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
Ever since she'd quietly admitted it to herself, and later admitted it to Cen Yang as well, talking about her feelings for Cen Sen no longer embarrassed her nearly as much.
In fact, she had the faint feeling that if she admitted it a few more times, she might even work up the courage to confess to Cen Sen directly.
"..."
Gu Kaiyang remained lost for words for quite a while.
Thinking back over the past few months and all of Ji Mingshu's bizarre behavior while living with her, everything suddenly started making sense once she added one simple premise:
Ji Mingshu likes Cen Sen.
She'd always wondered how someone who had happily lived as a pampered rich wife for years could suddenly transform into an independent, self-reliant career woman just because Li Wenyin had provoked her once. Now she finally understood. It all came down to pride. She couldn't bear the thought of being looked down on by the man she liked. Running away from home wasn't about leaving him at all. She was waiting for him to come coax her back with hugs and affection.
***
Mingshui Manor.
After sending Ji Mingshu that message, Cen Sen remained in the living room, dealing with company business.
But he couldn't concentrate. Every so often he'd rubbed the bridge of his nose, then glanced at the phone lying on the coffee table.
About half an hour later, it finally buzzed. Unfortunately, it wasn't Ji Mingshu. It was Zhou Jiaheng, calling to report the latest moves on Cen Yang's side.
After listening, Cen Sen merely responded with a calm, "Mm."
His expression never changed.
In truth, he'd learned of Cen Yang's return to the country the very day it happened directly from Cen Yuanchao himself.
Out of sentiment for old ties, the Cen family had opened countless doors for Cen Yang during his years overseas. Cen Yang had lived up to those opportunities, steadily growing into an elite in his field.
As long as he was willing to let go of the past, a bright and promising future had already been laid out before him.
But he couldn't.
To be honest, Cen Sen wasn't remotely interested in whatever Cen Yang was plotting. Having been away from the Cen family for so long, Cen Yang seemed completely unaware of what the seemingly warm yet fundamentally ruthless family had become.
Even the once evenly matched Huadian Ji family now bowed before Jingjian. Everything Cen Yang was attempting couldn’t even qualify as “throwing an egg against a rock.”
Compared to watching his pointless struggles, Cen Sen found braising pork ribs far more interesting.
Hanging up the call, he walked over to the kitchen island, calmly rolled up his sleeves, and began preparing the ribs.
***
After talking nonstop the entire afternoon, Ji Mingshu finally wore herself out by evening.
Both she and Gu Kaiyang were starving, their stomachs growling. They were hunched over their phones, debating whether to order braised chicken with rice or boneless pickled fish.
Right then, the doorbell rang.
Ji Mingshu stretched out one tiny foot and nudged Gu Kaiyang.
Long accustomed to being ordered around, Gu Kaiyang obediently got up. "Who is it?" she asked while peering through the peephole.
A polite male voice answered from outside. "Hello. Is this Miss Gu's residence? I'm from the catering department of Junyi Huazhang Hotel. I'm here to deliver dinner for you and Miss Ji."
The moment she heard Junyi Huazhang, Gu Kaiyang opened the door without hesitation.
The delivery staff gave a slight bow, then presented an insulated food carrier with a smile. "Hello. Inside are two bento boxes prepared by our hotel. There's also a small container of braised pork ribs specially prepared for Miss Ji."
Gu Kaiyang smiled back. "Great. Thank you."
After seeing him off, she hurried back into the living room carrying the food.
She was about to ask about the ribs specifically made for “Miss Ji” when Ji Mingshu opened the container, lifted out the ribs, stared at them for several seconds, and quietly cursed under her breath.
"Shameless..."
—As she cursed, an unconscious blush spread across her cheeks.
Gu Kaiyang was completely lost. Her mind filled with question marks: Is she cursing at me? No… if she's cursing someone, why is she blushing?
"So... if you don't want them, maybe you could give them to..."
"You wish!"
Ji Mingshu cut her off before she could finish.
Then she protectively hugged the container of ribs to herself, laid a magazine flat across the coffee table like a border, and demonstrated through actions alone that plastic sisters could share hardship, but under absolutely no circumstances would they share braised pork ribs.
***
Unbeknownst to everyone, deep winter had settled over the capital.
After briefly returning to her cage and flying away once again, the Little Canary had now been out enjoying her freedom for more than half a month.
The last time she'd gone home, she'd wisely remembered to take her passport with her. As the end of the year approached, Gu Kaiyang was swamped with work and had no time to keep her company. Bored out of her mind, Ji Mingshu invited Jiang Chun on a weeklong island vacation instead.
Every day, her Moments overflowed with nine-photo collages and short videos. Sun-soaked bikinis, dazzling scenery, effortless glamour. Each new post collected hundreds upon hundreds of likes and comments, turning her Moments into something that looked more like an influencer's social media feed.
In contrast, Jiang Chun had been much more restrained. She'd often seen people online complaining about how annoying those who went on vacation and flooded everyone's feed with endless selfies and videos were.
But after witnessing the explosive popularity of Ji Mingshu’s feed, Jiang Chun finally reached an enlightening conclusion.
The problem had never been flooding people's feeds. It was simply that the person posting wasn't gorgeous enough. :)
Meanwhile, Cen Sen had been trying to figure out why Ji Mingshu had become angry and flown the nest all over again after returning home.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't identify the root of the problem.
He wanted to find an opportunity to sit down with her and resolve everything properly, but Ji Mingshu refused to cooperate. She ignored his calls and never replied to his messages. His own work schedule was packed from morning until night, he was also stretched thin.
Between the hundreds of subsidiaries under Junyi, the companies he'd personally invested in, and the gradual transfer of Jingjian's authority from Cen Yuanchao, every minute of his day had been planned down to the second. Projects, financial reports, business events, and social engagements constantly occupied his mind. Even Zhou Jiaheng, who usually remembered absolutely everything, had forgotten that Cen Sen had thoroughly offended Ji Mingshu over the sponsorship of that television program.
Although Ji Mingshu never replied, Cen Sen still messaged her every few days.
They were always brief, routine check-ins.
Cen Sen: [Asleep?]
Cen Sen: [Have you eaten?]
Cen Sen: [Business trip today.]
Cen Sen: [Back in the capital.]
When he saw the bikini videos and photo collages she'd posted on her Moments, he only sent four words.
Cen Sen: [Too revealing. Post less.]
Ji Mingshu laughed in disbelief and finally replied with a meme that read: [The Qing Dynasty fell over a hundred years ago.]
As for every other message, she continued to implement her three-part strategy of complete disregard: Don't answer. Don't reply. Pretend I never saw it.
By the time Ji Mingshu returned to the capital after her vacation, it was already mid-January.
The promotional trailers for Designer’s Abode had begun airing on Xingcheng TV. To generate buzz and kick the season off with strong ratings, the production team announced that their group's footage would appear within the first two episodes.
After all, Pei Xiyan's popularity was exploding, and Yan Yuexing's group's ongoing drama was generating plenty of discussion as well.
But the closer the program came to airing, the colder Ji Mingshu became toward Cen Sen.
Because she really, truly hadn't spotted a single proper close-up of herself in the preview.
That pigheaded scumbag!
***
At the end of every year, Zero Degrees magazine hosted a media appreciation salon. This year's theme was De-stress Day, encouraging everyone who had worked tirelessly all year to relax before the holidays.
Ji Mingshu had been invited to serve as a design consultant for the event's interior space. She hadn't participated in the actual installation, contributing only suggestions on color palettes and spatial layout for the team to reference.
Naturally, she also received an invitation to attend the Zero Degrees salon.
But she had absolutely no interest in going. More accurately, ever since running away from home, she hadn't wanted to attend any social events.
First, her failed battle with Li Wenyin at that cocktail party had left an unpleasant shadow she couldn't shake. Second, she didn’t want to field questions about her marriage.
Her marriage to Cen Sen was a topic of keen interest within their circle, but by now, no one could say for sure what was going on with them.
It was true that Cen Sen had punched someone for her. It was also true that she'd quietly shown off their late-night movie tickets on Moments. But it was equally true that Cen Sen had once intended to invest in his first love's film, and Ji Mingshu had left home over it and still hadn't returned.
To make matters worse, Li Wenyin’s movie had recently entered the casting phase. Despite Junyi withdrawing its investment, she'd somehow secured another enormous round of funding from a film company under the Yuan family and even persuaded Huang Baili, the Berlin Film Festival Best Director winner, to serve as supervising producer on her little movie.
Whenever Ji Mingshu imagined herself attending the event, smiling faces greeting her in public while everyone whispered behind her back, pointing fingers the moment she turned around, her mood instantly soured.
She'd rather not go at all.
Out of sight, out of mind.
But the clever little Gu Kaiyang saw, in Ji Mingshu’s tangle of worries and indecision, a golden opportunity to send this goddess back where she belonged.
So when Zhou Jiaheng, amidst his own busy schedule, found time to visit the magazine office and ask her to pass along another gift, she didn’t even look up from her desk and answered coldly,
"Assistant Zhou, even if you aren't tired of this, I am. Do you honestly think sending gifts through other people means anything? Go back and ask your boss whether he's actually sincere. Does he really want his wife back or not?"
Quick-witted as ever, Zhou Jiaheng paused for only a moment before immediately adopting the attitude of a humble student receiving instruction. He showered her with flattering words and even promised generous rewards if she could help resolve the situation.
Gu Kaiyang kept her head lowered, signing documents at lightning speed while stubbornly maintaining the icy image of a capable career woman.
"Save your flattery. That doesn't work on me. Xiao Shu has suffered for long enough. You should not expect any courtesy from me."
"Your boss is loaded and doesn't blink an eye when investing in the show, but Xiao Shu poured a month of her life into it,
and with a single remark he orders her scenes cut without offering any explanation. Do you think that's acceptable?"
"Your employer's sordid romantic affairs continue to swirl about him, so much that our Xiao Shu doesn't even dare attend a simple salon for fear of people whispering behind her back. Do you think that's acceptable?"
"Your boss runs his mouth, gets his cheap thrill from tearing people down, yet cannot bring himself to utter a word of apology. Do you think that's acceptable?"
Zhou Jiaheng didn't dare breathe too loudly.
Without lifting her eyes, Gu Kaiyang tossed a salon invitation straight at him.
"You figure it out!"
---
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