My Queen, My Rules - 6
Take Care of Her
The most awkward thing in the world wasn't getting caught by your not-so-close husband while indulging yourself in the bathroom.
It was getting caught by your not-so-close husband while indulging yourself in the bathroom and then having to act as if nothing happened while asking said not-so-close husband to fetch your underwear.
This directly resulted in a profoundly silent drive back to Nanqiao Hutong.
Cen Sen was so thrown by the cringe that he was momentarily dazed. He tried to look over a document in the car, but the moment he opened it, a scrolling mental replay of Rapper Ji's masterpiece ran through his mind.
As for Ji Mingshu, she was presumably too embarrassed to speak. She kept her eyes closed the entire way, her head turned toward the window.
When they arrived at Nanqiao Hutong, the two, who hadn't exchanged a word the whole way, miraculously rediscovered their acting instincts. Arm in arm, all smiles and amiability, they transformed into the very picture of a loving young couple.
Ji Mingshu, in particular, had dressed for the occasion. Knowing they were coming here, she’d put on a simple pink dress she rarely wore, applied a muted lipstick, and even temporarily straightened her signature 'wild' voluminous waves into a docile ponytail. Looking every bit the virtuous, devoted wife.
The hutong lanes were too narrow for the car to park. Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen got out at the entrance and walked arm in arm.
Zhou Jiaheng followed behind with the gifts. Witnessing the couple’s face-changing prowess again after two years stirred an odd sense of familiarity.
At the courtyard entrance, the guard on duty opened the gate and saluted them with proper military bearing.
"Grandpa! Grandma!"
Ji Mingshu had always had a sweet tongue around elders. Entering the gate and seeing the family busy setting up the dinner table in the pavilion, her eyes crinkled into crescents.
Old Madam Cen smiles upon seeing her. "Aiyo, Xiao Shu's here!"
She handed the bowls and chopsticks she was holding to Nanny Zhou, meticulously wiped her hands, and then took Ji Mingshu's, patting them gently. “You’re in for a treat today, I personally made your favorite braised spare ribs!”
“You shouldn’t have gone to the trouble! Let me see." Ji Mingshu held Old Madam Cen's hands, looking her up and down with concern. "You've lost weight! Has it been that long since I came to see you? Are you not feeling well?"
"What nonsense! I'm perfectly fine! It's just the weather. I've shed some layers, so I look thinner. It's what you young people call... visual effect!"
Old Madam Cen's voice was strong and full of energy. She really didn't seem unwell. Ji Mingshu put her mind at ease.
Ji Mingshu had always been a beautiful, sweet-talking, lively child who knew exactly how to charm the elders in the compound.
Old Madam Cen had watched her grow up and treated her like her own granddaughter. When the girl married into the family a few years ago, she'd smiled so wide her mouth couldn't close, boasting to everyone she met about what a lovely granddaughter-in-law they'd gotten.
In contrast, Cen Sen, her actual grandson, had only returned to the family halfway through his childhood, already past the age of easy bonding. All these years, he’d maintained a surface warmth but remained emotionally distant. Old Madam Cen never quite knew how to get close to him.
She loved him, felt for him, and carried guilt, but there was always an unspoken distance in their interactions.
It wasn't just Old Madam Cen. The whole Cen family felt less close to Cen Sen than to Ji Mingshu. As he'd grown older and taken on more responsibility, now poised to become the next head of the Cen clan, the younger generation was even a little scared of him.
At dinner, a little cousin accidentally bumped Cen Sen's chopsticks with her own while reaching for a dish. In a fluster, she blurted out, "I'm sorry!"
The table instantly fell silent.
Ji Mingshu was startled too. Her gaze flickered between the little cousin and Cen Sen. For a split second, a bizarre thought crossed her mind: Had this dog man done something so terrible that the poor girl trembled like a scared chick around him?
Cen Sen didn't seem to notice the awkwardness. He even kindly placed a piece of spare rib in the little cousin’s bowl, playing the part of the considerate older brother to perfection.
Unfortunately, the cousin was still young, not good at masking her feelings. She gave a stiff smile and didn't dare touch the rib.
It was a casual family dinner. Though not everyone was present, the table was full. Naturally, beside those who were afraid of Cen Sen, there were those who weren't.
To break the tension, his aunt, Cen Yingshuang, started a new topic. "By the way, Xiao Shu, my friend loved the changes you made to my place last time. She just bought a house in the States and is looking for an interior designer. Budget isn't an issue. I was wondering if you might have some time."
"Of course! I have all the time in the world." Ji Mingshu agreed immediately, adding a playful line. “I love the kind of friends you introduce, Auntie. Earn a little pocket money for bags, you know?"
"Oh my, listen to you. Is A-Sen not buying you enough bags?" Cen Yingshuang teased.
Ji Mingshu leaned closer to Cen Sen, replying sweetly. "A-Sen works hard too. I can't just let him support me for everything. Besides, I'm idle anyway. It's nice to have something to do."
At this, Cen Sen turned his head and exchanged a three-second gaze with Ji Mingshu, his eyes full of warmth.
Here it was, that ‘What am I going to do with you, you adorable little treasure?’ look again.
Sometimes Ji Mingshu had to admire the dog man. His ability to play the deeply loving, doting husband in front of elders was almost as good as hers.
When they broke eye contact, she couldn't help the goosebumps that prickled her skin.
"A-Sen, this is where you’re wrong,” Cen Yingshuang, completely oblivious to their performance, started wagging her finger with the authority of an elder. "You're back at Junyi now. Xiao Shu's bored at home. You should arrange for her to join the company, let her learn the ropes . Put her talents to use!"
Put her talents to use?
What, bankrupting a multinational corporation?
Cen Sen paused, then said gently, "I can take care of Mingshu. It’s my responsibility."
—Scene 3, Take 1 of the grand production The Loving Couple, CUT.
Perhaps the young couple's sweet act was too much for the aging single female PhD to handle. Cen Yingshuang excused herself to use the restroom.
When she came back, before she'd even settled into her seat, she was staring at Cen Sen again.
Then, like she'd discovered a new continent, she put down her chopsticks. "A-Sen, your hair grows so fast! Two weeks ago, in that post Xiao Shu put up, your hair was this short." She measured a length between her thumb and forefinger.
"Cough! Hack!"
Ji Mingshu, in the middle of drinking soup, choked abruptly, nearly coughing herself to death on the spot.
Cen Sen was very attentive. He patted her back, fed her water, and even grabbed a napkin to dab at the corner of her mouth.
The others sitting nearby also asked Ji Mingshu with concern if she was alright.
Once she'd recovered, Ji Mingshu assured everyone she was fine. Yet before she could savor the relief of having dodged a potentially disastrous topic, Cen Yingshuang, channeling the insatiable curiosity of a researcher, rephrased and repeated her question.
She even pulled up Ji Mingshu's old post on her phone, comparing the photo and the real-life Cen Sen back and forth, muttering to herself with genuine fascination. "It really does grow fast! Based on the proportions in this photo, it's grown at least two centimeters in fourteen days. Normal hair growth is about one centimeter per month. Are you using some kind of hair growth serum? Why would someone your age need that? What brand is it? Is it really this effective? I should recommend it to a few old guys at the institute!"
Cen Sen shot Ji Mingshu a subtle glance.
Ji Mingshu kept her head down, ears deaf to the world outside her bowl, focusing entirely on her braised ribs.
After all, she couldn't very well explain to her brilliant, detail-oriented, endlessly curious aunt that the photo was photoshopped.
For the past two years, Cen Sen had been in Australia, too busy to even come home for Chinese New Year.
As Madam Cen, Ji Mingshu spent her days in leisure idleness, traveling the world. If she didn't regularly ‘visit’ her husband in Australia, it would undermine their loving couple facade.
But she also really didn't want any more interaction with her convenient husband than absolutely necessary. So, after much deliberation, she'd hired a photoshop expert to create composite images of them together. Then, she periodically posted them to a feed visible only to the Cen family, maintaining the illusion of her frequent trips to Australia and their harmonious relationship.
She'd been doing this for two years without incident. And now, even when her aunt noticed Cen Sen’s mysteriously rapid hair growth, she hadn't questioned the photo's authenticity. Didn't that, in a way, prove that her photoshop expert was highly skilled, flawless, and worth every penny?
At this thought, Ji Mingshu felt a strange sense of pride.
Perhaps because the table held a mix of generations, Cen Yingshuang's chosen topic seemed too absurd for the setting. Before Cen Sen could respond, Old Master Cen spoke with stern authority, "One should not speak while eating nor after retiring. You've read many books, yet your manners have gotten worse. Past thirty and still acting like a child, no wonder you can’t get married!"
...?
Wasn't everyone just chattering away a moment ago? Why was it suddenly "no talking during meals" when she spoke? And what did any of this have to do with her being past thirty and unmarried? Was the family discriminating against older single women now?
Cen Yingshuang felt wronged and opened her mouth to argue.
But Cen Yuanchao shot her a timely glance, signaling her not to talk back.
Cen Yingshuang didn't listen to most people, but her older brother's word was law. She swallowed her retort and silently suppressed her dissertation.
Under Old Master Cen's decree, the second half of the meal proceeded in near silence.
After dinner, Old Master Cen called Cen Yuanchao and Cen Sen upstairs for a talk. The rest stayed in the pavilion, keeping Old Madam Cen company, chatting and enjoying the evening breeze.
It wasn't until stars began to pepper the night sky that the three generations of Cen men finished their discussion.
The light was dim now. Ji Mingshu was laughing and talking with Cen Yingshuang and didn't notice Cen Sen leaving the house. She only caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye as he stepped onto the pavilion steps.
Unfortunately, Cen Yingshuang was in the middle of a story and forgot all discretion. "...I've honestly never met a little girl who wet the bed more than you. You probably don't even remember. One time, when no one was home, you were watching cartoons at our place, fell asleep, and wet the sofa! Cen Yang was such a clean freak, and he didn't even get mad at you! He picked you up, put you on the bed, and then took the sofa cover off and washed it himself, hahahaha..."
When Cen Yingshuang casually mentioned "Cen Yang," no one reacted at first.
Then it sank in. And then, one by one, they noticed Cen Sen, who had just stepped into the pavilion. The night breeze suddenly felt much colder.
Ji Mingshu had tried to signal Cen Yingshuang the instant she brought up the name, but her aunt hadn’t noticed.
She seriously suspected her aunt, after too much physics research, was trying to switch fields, aiming for a medal in the "Bringing Up the Topics Best Left Untouched" Olympics.
It was only eight o'clock when they left Nanqiao Hutong, yet the night was already thick and deep.
In the back seat of the car, Ji Mingshu felt uncharacteristically uneasy. She turned to look out the window, but couldn't stop herself from secretly observing Cen Sen's expression in the reflection.
He was leaning back in his seat. His profile was too faint in the glass. Without thinking, she leaned back too, pressing her head against the headrest...
And then, completely unprepared, she met Cen Sen's eyes in the window reflection. :)
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