My Queen, My Rules - 59
Trending
After asking her question, perhaps knowing she wouldn't get an answer, the faint melancholy she'd been feeling quietly deepened.
She let out a soft sigh, rolled onto her back beside Cen Sen, stared blankly at the ceiling, and emptied her mind.
Without realizing it, drowsiness crept over her. Her blinking grew slower and slower until her eyes finally drifted shut. They never opened again, and soon her breathing settled into a slow, even rhythm.
The slightly tipsy man beside her still appeared to be asleep. Yet after a moment, he quietly turned onto his side, slipped an arm around her waist, and gently drew her closer into his embrace.
The winter moonlight was pale and dim. In the hazy darkness, the corner of his lips seemed to lift ever so slightly.
They both slept soundly that night. Having rested plenty the day before, it was one of the rare mornings Ji Mingshu woke up as early as Cen Sen.
The first thing Cen Sen did after waking was lift his collar and sniff it. Without a word, he headed straight for the bathroom to shower.
Ji Mingshu climbed barefoot out of bed after him. She paused beside the bed to gather herself before following him into the bathroom.
Hearing her come in, Cen Sen turned around. "Did I wake you? You can sleep a little longer. It's still early." His voice was hoarse with sleep.
Standing in the outer bathroom, Ji Mingshu squeezed toothpaste onto her brush and wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You didn't wake me. You fumigated me awake."
She continued grumbling as she brushed. "I need to ask the housekeeper to change the sheets later. The whole bed reeks of alcohol. I seriously don't know how I managed to sleep through it last night. You're impossible."
How did she manage to sleep through it?
Cen Sen paused. His mind wandered back to the kisses she'd secretly placed on his lips the night before, and to the tiny whisper she'd breathed beside his ear.
A quiet laugh escaped him.
Ji Mingshu caught it immediately. Leaning backward to peer into the shower area, she questioned him through a mouthful of toothpaste. "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing." His answer was casual, almost absentminded.
Seeing her still staring at him with her humming electric toothbrush in hand, he remained perfectly composed as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt.
After removing it, his hand moved lower...
Shameless!
Ji Mingshu cursed him silently and immediately snapped her gaze away.
The master bathroom was enormous. It had a sauna, a built-in mirrored television, even a wine-tasting counter. Further in, the room opened into two separate spaces, one leading to an eastern sunroom and the other to an infinity pool overlooking the western terrace.
During the summer, they could soak in the pool with a glass of wine while admiring the mountains and lake beyond. It felt like a luxury vacation without ever leaving home.
Ji Mingshu had even moved her vanity into the bathroom. After brushing her teeth, she settled in front of the mirror and went through her elaborate morning skincare routine while chatting with Cen Sen, who was still showering inside.
By the time Cen Sen finished his shower, Ji Mingshu had just finished applying a sheet mask. Her hair was pulled back beneath a pale pink cat-ear headband, revealing a small, flawless face. She was currently misting her face in little circles with a spray bottle.
"What's that?"
After finishing, Ji Mingshu gently patted the moisture into her skin before dabbing away the excess with a hexagonal makeup sponge. Then she crooked a finger at him to bend down.
Cen Sen paused for a moment, then obliged, bracing his hands on her vanity and leaning in.
The next second, Ji Mingshu enthusiastically sprayed his face several times. "It's a hydrating mist. You're almost thirty. It's time you started moisturizing."
"..."
He wiped a little from his face and sniffed it. It smelled suspiciously like plain water.
Still, when he lowered his eyes to Ji Mingshu's makeup-free skin, smooth and delicate as freshly peeled egg white, flawless beneath the vanity lights, he found it hard to dismiss the idea that all these vaguely questionable bottles and jars actually worked.
Ji Mingshu continued applying one product after another. Halfway through, she glanced at him curiously. "Why do you keep staring at me? You're growing stubble. Go shave."
It was barely more than a faint bluish shadow that was almost impossible to notice unless someone looked closely.
Cen Sen simply hummed in acknowledgment and obediently picked up his razor.
By the time he finished shaving, Ji Mingshu had completed her skincare routine as well.
Just as she was about to stand, Cen Sen suddenly pressed a hand against her shoulder.
Leaning over from behind, he wrapped an arm around her neck and rubbed his freshly shaved chin lightly against her cheek. "Is it smooth enough now?"
Ji Mingshu froze. Her voice came out embarrassingly soft. "Y... yes."
The gesture was so intimate.
In the mirror, she saw Cen Sen tilting his head slightly as he rested his cheek against hers. His handsome features carried the relaxed laziness of someone who had only just woken up.
She found herself breathing in tiny, careful breaths, her lashes lowered as she busied herself rubbing hand cream into her fingers. At the same time, she kept muttering little complaints, urging him to hurry up and leave, worried he might accidentally discover the hopeless crush blooming inside her heart this winter.
That morning, the two of them were like a newlywed couple deeply in love. The wife helped the husband fasten his cufflinks and adjusted his tie; the husband sprayed a perfume into the air and had her twirl through the fragrant mist.
Once they were both ready, they headed downstairs together for breakfast, chatting casually about their schedules for the day.
When Cen Sen left for work, Ji Mingshu followed him outside with a glass of milk still in hand and greeted Zhou Jiaheng with a bright smile.
Caught completely off guard, Zhou Jiaheng quickly replied, "Good morning, Mrs. Cen."
After watching the Bentley disappear down the road, Ji Mingshu heads back inside. Curling up cross-legged on the sofa with a pillow in her arms, she spent quite a while secretly giggling to herself.
If only every morning could be like this.
Though, if this Dog Man could leave her with a good morning kiss before heading out, that would be even better.
The thought made her realize just how greedy she'd become. Was every girl like this after falling in love? Unsatisfied after gaining one step, always hoping for another?
She lightly patted her cheeks to clear her thoughts before heading upstairs to change clothes. It was time to collect the luggage she'd left at Gu Kaiyang's place.
Because of Cen Sen's return the previous night, she hadn't finished watching the second half of the show. On the way to Gu Kaiyang's apartment, she opened Weibo and discovered she'd somehow gained twenty thousand new followers overnight.
Many had sent private messages praising her beauty, and some even asked if she accepted interior design commissions.
After scrolling for a while without seeing any negative comments, she completely forgot about finishing the rest of the episode.
In reality, the first broadcast of Designer's Abode had only aired up to the point where their team divided tasks to shop for home furnishings at the market. Most of the screen time had focused on Pei Xiyan and Yan Yuexing. Altogether, Ji Mingshu probably hadn't even appeared on screen for three full minutes.
The editors had likely realized that whenever Ji Mingshu and Yan Yuexing stood together, Ji Mingshu looked more like the celebrity. As a result, most of their shared scenes in the second half had quietly disappeared. The entire episode was all love & peace, even bordering on boring.
A variety show could survive being tacky, it could survive arguments, it could even survive outright chaos. But it could never survive being boring.
Because boring meant poor ratings.
Even with the support of Pei Xiyan's and Yan Yuexing's fanbases, Designer's Abode premiered to disappointingly average television ratings, while its online streaming numbers were even worse.
With ratings and views in such a sorry state, discussion around the show was virtually nonexistent. Aside from a few posts made by fans on entertainment forums during the first hour after broadcast, everyone was busy following celebrity scandals elsewhere. Who had time for some home renovation show?
A few casual viewers did notice that the designer named Ji Mingshu was exceptionally beautiful.
Someone even made a forum post asking what people thought of her. But people in the replies immediately accused the original poster of being a paid promoter.
The thread barely lasted a single page before sinking into complete obscurity.
Everything seemed perfectly calm. No one knew that this outcome was the exact opposite of what the production team had planned.
By the following morning, the entire Designer's Abode production team had spent the night in an emergency meeting, discussing a new promotional strategy in desperation.
Only the production team knew that the first episode hadn't actually finished airing yesterday!
According to the original plan, the episode was supposed to end on a cliffhanger right as Ji Mingshu and Yan Yuexing had their full-blown argument over the carpet.
The promotional articles, paid social media campaigns, and forum discussions had all been prepared in advance.
Everything was ready to launch the moment the episode ended.
A glamorous designer clashing with a rising idol. Combined with Pei Xiyan, one of the hottest celebrities around. There should have been no shortage of buzz.
Unfortunately, reality had other plans. Late that night, the station was forced to interrupt the broadcast for a major local news emergency. A brutal murder had occurred in Xingcheng.
One order from upper management was enough to pull every available presenter into the newsroom to cover the breaking story. How could their little variety show have any say in the matter?
The final twenty minutes of Designer's Abode, including its biggest highlight, were unceremoniously cut without warning. The producer begged the station to continue broadcasting afterward but was denied.
The network still needed to protect the ratings of its flagship ten o'clock drama. Their only response was to tell the production team to re-edit the footage and move everything to the following week's episode.
Next week? If the first episode had turned out this forgettable, who was going to come back next week?
Staring at the painfully unremarkable premiere, the producer honestly wanted to strangle the damn murderer who had ruined everything.
A week passed in this uneventful manner. On the night Designer's Abode's second episode was set to air, a wave of paid online accounts suddenly flooded the major discussion forums.
Posts about the first episode started showing up everywhere: “Pei Xiyan and Yan Yuexing actually have great chemistry,” “Pei Xiyan is so cold but adorable,” “Yan Yuexing is unbelievably cute,” “That civilian designer is really pretty, though her personality seems kind of difficult…”
Veteran forum users mocked the obvious paid promotion, telling the unknown show to stop buying fake hype.
Still, when enough money was spent flooding every discussion board, it inevitably attracted at least a little genuine curiosity.
And when the clock struck eight that evening and the second episode officially began, that curiosity finally started to translate into real viewers.
Ji Mingshu remained oblivious to any of it. Cen Sen, who had promised not to travel for work, had unexpectedly left on another business trip. Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun were busy with work and romance, respectively. With no one available, Ji Mingshu accepted an invitation from several of her plastic socialite friends to watch a musical.
Truthfully, none of them were particularly interested in musicals. But they couldn't spend every day partying. Every so often, they had to remind people that they were refined, elegant ladies with cultured taste.
By the time the painfully long performance finally ended, the friend sitting beside Ji Mingshu, who had spent most of it nodding off, at last opened her eyes and quietly let out a tremendous sigh of relief.
Ji Mingshu felt like laughing but politely held it in. She cooperatively took a selfie with Vivian and watched her post it to her Moments
Vivian: [Went to see a musical with Shubao today. Yay!]
Her post was rich in images but scant on caption. It couldn't really be helped. This sister had been half asleep throughout the entire performance and probably couldn't even remember the musical's title. Expecting any substantive commentary on the content was simply out of the question.
Seeing her hit "Post" out of the corner of her eye, Ji Mingshu slowly took her own phone out of her handbag, intending to give it a like and leave a cheerful "Mwah!" in the comments.
But the moment she turned airplane mode off, her WeChat practically exploded. Message notifications chimed one after another without stopping.
At the same time, Vivian stared at her phone in shock before stammering, "X... Xiao Shu... my friend just told me... you're trending... on Weibo…”
---
Comments
Post a Comment