My Queen, My Rules - 68

When Ji Mingshu looked back on it later, that New Year's Eve had been quite ordinary.

Cen Sen held her for a while at the mouth of the alley. As the snow grew heavier, they simply walked back hand-in-hand along the path they’d taken.

Back at the courtyard house, they watched the Spring Festival Gala with the elders in the main room. Just before midnight, they shared some dumplings. Unable to finish hers, she’d stealthily transferred most of them into Cen Sen’s bowl.

Later, after the snow stopped, Cen Sen accompanied her outside to build a snowman. She used a twig to write “I like you” in the snow, then dragged him over to see. But after reading it, he insisted on hearing her say it out loud. Lacking all backbone, she’d obliged. They lingered sweetly in front of the snowman, then went back to their room, burrowing under the covers with their phones, talking and laughing.

Cen Sen's smiles were always faint—relaxed expressions, the corners of his lips lifting slightly, rarely showing his teeth. But when someone who seldom smiles did so, even briefly, it felt exceptionally tender.

Later still, they didn't do anything… R-rated. They just talked until they grew tired, then fell into a deep sleep in each other's arms.

It was such an ordinary night that the next morning, Ji Mingshu woke up and sat dumbly on the edge of the bed, unable to tell whether it had been real or a dream.

She'd once thought that some people were simply born without the capacity to love others, and that a one-sided crush was the best she could hope for. But on New Year's Eve, the one-sided arrow she’d finally mustered the courage to shoot was met with a response in kind from the other side.

While brushing her teeth, her mouth still full of white foam, she turned her head and asked, her words mushy around her toothbrush, “Dith you say you wike me wast night? Wash I dweaming?”

Cen Sen had already finished washing up. His fringe was slightly damp, and he looked fresh and clean.

Seeing Ji Mingshu with her messy hair, tilting her little face up to ask her question, he filled a cup with water and handed it to her. "Finish brushing properly."

Then he wrung out a clean towel.

Ji Mingshu stared, her heart leaping. Did Cen Sen undergo a sudden personality shift after confessing? Was he actually going to wipe her face for her?

Her secret delight lasted less than three seconds before she watched as Cen Sen methodically used the towel to wipe off the toothpaste flecks she had accidentally sprayed onto his clothes.

Ji Mingshu: "…"

He’s this bothered by a little toothpaste foam? How am I supposed to believe this Dog Man genuinely likes me, that he'll stand by me through thick and thin, have children with me, and spend the rest of his life with me?!

Before she could voice this soul-deep question, Cen Sen wrung the towel again and wiped her face.

His movements weren't particularly gentle or skilled, but they were thorough.

After finishing, he leaned in slightly and placed a kiss on her cheek. “Not a dream.”

His lips were cool, carrying the minty scent of toothpaste.

Pink bubbles rose from the bottom of her heart.

Ji Mingshu nodded slowly, then turned back to the mirror and quickly rinsed her mouth, silently deciding to shove those soul-deep questions back down where they came from for now.

The Cen family had the tradition of staying up late on New Year's Eve, so most of the adults had just gone to bed around breakfast time. Besides Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen, only a few energetic little kids were sitting in the dining room.

With no elders around, Ji Mingshu didn't pay much mind to decorum. She scrolled through Weibo while eating.

After the dramatic reversal of the malicious editing incident a while back, her Weibo followers had shot up by 400,000. After things died down, she’d cleared all her posts, but her follower count kept growing steadily. Her private messages were flooded with people asking if she would consider debuting, why she’d deleted her feed, when she’d post again…

Usually, when female celebrities crafted a fake rich-girl persona, it could attract fans and generate buzz. So, a genuine, top-tier socialite with a distinct personality naturally sparked intense attention.

Ji Mingshu hadn't wanted to be in the public eye, hoping everyone would forget the matter and stop dragging her into discussions every few days.

But just as things quieted down on her end, the ongoing feud between Yan Yuexing and the production team dragged on like a never-ending TV drama. As one of the key figures in the incident, it was impossible for her to completely exit the gossip mill anytime soon.

Plus, last night, she had really, really wanted to show off! The moment Cen Sen confessed, she’d wanted to announce to the whole world: The person I like likes me back! I, Ji-shi Shushu, must be the happiest woman in the world! No objections accepted!!!

So, after flaunting it on her Moments, she couldn't resist posting a photo of their hands holding sparklers on Weibo with the caption: “New Year’s Eve with Mr. Cen.”

Her Weibo account was shadowbanned. For a good while after posting, she only saw a handful of responses and didn’t stick around to wait.

But checking now, that show-off post already had over five thousand reposts, likes, and comments. A tiny blue “Trending” tag appeared next to it.

Ji Mingshu wasn't very familiar with Weibo and didn't realize this tag appeared because someone had bought a promoted trending spot for her. She thought she’d genuinely, impressively, made it onto the trending page through sheer merit.

So, propping her chin on her hand and slowly sipping her soup with a spoon, she preened to Cen Sen, "I have 500,000 followers on Weibo now. I can make it onto the trending page just by posting casually. Did you know that?”

Cen Sen gave a perfunctory "Mhm," not even looking up.

He was wearing a loose black sweater and thin, gold-rimmed glasses. Sitting across from Ji Mingshu, he was eating breakfast while reading financial news on his tablet, looking casual and at home.

But this casual, domestic picture, combined with that utterly insincere "Mhm," instantly transformed in Ji Mingshu's eyes into blatant indifference toward her, a blogger with half a million followers!

She suddenly got up, moved to sit beside him, and stuffed the half-eaten bun in her hand into his mouth. Half whining, half warning, she declared, "Let me tell you, if you ever dare treat me badly, I'll call you out on Weibo!"

"…"

Cen Sen put down his tablet. With his long, elegant fingers, he took the bun, then chewed slowly and thoroughly. Only after swallowing did he glance down and ask, “When have I ever treated you badly?”

Ji Mingshu clung to his arm, fully justified in her reasoning. "Just now, when I was talking to you, you kept reading the news. Isn't that treating me badly? Doesn’t that show you not caring about what I say?"

Her face was a billboard for ‘Your little wifey is very unhappy right now.’ Cen Sen took a sip of soup, ruffled her hair, and said slowly, "I'll do better in the future."

Satisfied, Ji Mingshu then picked out comments from under her Weibo like "CEO Wife is so beautiful!" and "CEO Wife, please debut!" and relayed them to Cen Sen in real time, hoping to pressure him into recognizing just how high the market value of his gorgeous wife really was.

A few kids also eating breakfast at the table glanced at them, huddled in a corner and whispering among themselves.

Boy #1: "When I find a wife in the future, I definitely won't get one like Auntie. Too scary!"

Boy #2: "I agree. I think Dad’s right. Pretty ones aren’t reliable. We have to look at what’s inside.”

Girl #1: "As if you guys could even find a wife as pretty as Auntie…"

Girl #2: "Yeah, such little misogynists at your age!"

Boy #1: "Well, you’re just a bunch of radical feminist!"

Girl #2: "Cen Bingeng, can you not misuse a term the second you learn it? You’re so dumb!”

Kids arguing don’t think about watching their words. Soon, these sprouts had graduated from whispered bickering to a full-blown argument, completely derailing from the original topic and escalating into personal attacks.

Right then, Cen Sen set down his bowl, glanced over lightly, and said in a deep, calm voice, "If you're not eating, go do your winter homework."

That one calmly spoken sentence acted like a freeze spell. The kids instantly stiffened, sitting up straight, quiet as mice, even breathing carefully.

Ji Mingshu looked at their tense little faces, and a thought suddenly popped into her head—

If she and Cen Sen had a child someday, she probably wouldn't have to worry much. Cen Sen’s cold, final-dungeon-boss aura could probably keep any kid in line effortlessly. She, the doting mother, would only need to occasionally demonstrate her gentle, considerate side, taking the little one shopping and to photo shoots.

Thinking this, Ji Mingshu beamed at Cen Sen, her expression full of satisfaction.

However, this satisfaction didn’t last long. Because the specter of his ex-girlfriend was determined to ruin her day, starting trouble first thing on New Year's Day.

Following the movie announcement, Li Wenyin had actually started selling a book! A novel sharing the movie’s title, with forewords by several well-known writers!

Who knew how long Li Wenyin had been sitting on this big move. There had been no prior promotion; she just dropped a long Weibo post randomly on New Year's Day, rambling on from the cover design concept all the way to the gifts included with the book. Every line detailed her dedication and how much she cherished this project, pushing the whole ‘selling nostalgia’ thing to the extreme.

Li Wenyin had gained many Weibo followers back then with her ‘My Ex Got Married’ essay. While studying abroad these past few years, she hadn't forgotten to periodically post incomprehensible foreign phrases, pictures of art exhibitions, reviews of highly rated art films and books, and the very occasional selfie, sharing snippets of her life like tea tasting, flower arrangement, and attending high-end events. Somehow, her Weibo followers had slowly grown to nearly a million.

As a blogger with a cultured, highbrow aesthetic, she had a lot of active followers. Dropping a huge surprise like a movie tie-in book publication on New Year’s Day naturally received an enthusiastic response from her fans.

Add to that her thorough preparation, and soon the reposts, likes, and comments on her long post had all broken ten thousand. The hashtag #LiWenyinNewBook and her movie title quietly crept onto the hot search list.

Even more ridiculously, within an hour or two, pre-orders for her new book had topped the charts on major online bookstores. She even posted another Weibo thanking everyone, saying she never expected so many people to buy it, that her editor had just notified her they needed an immediate second printing already, blah blah blah.

When Ji Mingshu saw this post, she almost died of rage. Without any hesitation, she shoved her phone right in Cen Sen’s face. "Is this what you meant by ‘no hurry’?! 'The movie won't be released'?! I don’t know if the movie will be released, but this book is about to hit the shelves! Does your ex-girlfriend think she's the modern-day Li Qingzhao?! Publishing a book! Getting a second print run! Is she trying to immortalize your oh-so-touching love story!!!"

Ji Mingshu was livid. "And why does she have so much more Weibo followers than me?! Her engagement is more than double mine! Where should I put my face now!!!"

Cen Sen: "…"

He closed his eyes, removed the phone from his face, and for a moment didn’t know which of Ji Mingshu’s problems he should address first.

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Author's Note:

Little Canary Baby brandishes a forty-meter-long broadsword: If she dares publish that book, I'll dare to visit your grave!

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