My Queen, My Rules - 72

Ji Mingshu had never forgotten the time she wanted to participate in Junyi's designer hotel project, only for Cen Sen to sarcastically remark she might as well kowtow her way to the Potala Palace to move heaven and earth. Now that she had finally gotten her revenge, she was in an excellent mood.

In the late-night stillness after their intimacy, she lay lazily nestled in Cen Sen's arms, toying with his eyelashes. Drifting off, she thought hazily: He really is a dog of a man. His mouth says he's letting me participate because my design skills have improved, but his body has been decidedly more honest. He has a company meeting at eight tomorrow morning, yet he still keeps them occupied until three in the morning...

Before she could ponder further, heavy drowsiness pulled her into dreamland.

At the first high-level management meeting after the New Year, Cen Sen appeared promptly in a tailored suit. After the meeting, a retinue of executives, led by Cen Sen, descended floor by floor to inspect the various departments' work areas.

As usual, Cen Sen's expression was neutral yet distant. Wherever he went, a ten-meter radius around him seemed to enforce perfect order and silence.

Everyone stood properly, listening to the leadership's remarks, though probably only a third were actually paying attention. Another third were preoccupied with their own work or personal affairs, and the final third, the moment they saw Cen Sen, instinctively recalled the recent gossip about the CEO and his wife.

Online, everyone said their CEO was henpecked. But looking at their boss's current demeanor—which screamed, “Every single one of your ancestors for eighteen generations owes me eighteen billion”—it was truly impossible to imagine him being managed under his wife's thumb.

However, the colleagues in the project department were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the truth.

As the inspection wrapped up, Zhou Jiaheng stayed behind for a moment. He instructed the person in charge of Team A for the Junyi Yaji project to hold off on finalizing the designer list, as they would be adding another designer's profile. When the person in charge asked for the materials, Zhou Jiaheng said they weren't ready yet, but the name was confirmed.

—Ji Mingshu.

After Zhou Jiaheng left, the person in charge asked the project team members, "Who's Ji Mingshu? Have any of you heard of her?"

The team collectively gave him a look that said: Boss, do you not use the internet or read the company group chats?

After a long moment, someone finally enlightened him.

"Of course we've heard of her..." "She's the CEO's wife..."

While Cen Sen was at work, Ji Mingshu also diligently wrote her New Year's plan. It wasn't all work-related; it contained a diverse array of items: throwing parties, traveling, attending haute couture fashion weeks, and entering "couple mode" with Cen Sen to start going on dates.

After reading it, Jiang Chun offered her a sincere suggestion. "I think your plan is missing one very important point."

"What?"

"Getting pregnant and having a baby."

Jiang Chun said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, even launching into the same spiel as Ji Mingshu's Second Uncle.

Ji Mingshu found this very odd. "Why are you suddenly thinking about this?" Usually, this Little Earth Goose couldn't go three sentences without talking about how this or that was delicious. How did she suddenly leap past being a good wife straight into the nurturing mother phase after one New Year?

Jiang Chun gave a mysterious, bashful, yet slightly smug smile, then extended her little goose claw, waving it enthusiastically in front of Ji Mingshu's face.

Ji Mingshu owned too many diamond rings. She usually just picked one at random to wear for fun; most held no special meaning. Without Jiang Chun's obvious hinting, she really wouldn't have connected the dots.

After three seconds of mental processing, she asked, "You and Tang Zhizhou… jumped the gun and are now getting hitched?"

"Don't talk nonsense! Things between me and Tang Zhizhou are still very pure, okay? This is an engagement ring!" Jiang Chun smacked her arm in mock annoyance.

"..." Ji Mingshu resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "It's just an engagement ring. You haven't even had a ceremony yet, and you're already thinking about babies? Can't you have a little more ambition?"

Jiang Chun gave a strained smile. "To be honest, I was thinking about babies even before I got engaged."

Ji Mingshu didn't know what she'd done wrong. Even having afternoon tea with a close friend meant getting subjected to ideas like ‘bearing the fruit of love with the one you love early on.’ If Jiang Chun hadn't mentioned a second child, she might have suspected her Second Uncle had extended his ideological work to her inner circle, planning to surround and brainwash her through her friends.

Truthfully, Ji Mingshu wasn't opposed to having children. She just felt that she and Cen Sen had only confirmed each other's feelings not long ago. They hadn't properly enjoyed any time alone as a couple. Going straight for the end goal seemed like a raw deal. She still wanted to make up for the regret of not dating during their student years.

But remembering how busy Cen Sen was, her spirits dampened again. The WeChat message she'd sent when she left the house still hadn't been answered! So much for dating!

If this were their student days, a boyfriend like that would have been dumped three thousand nine hundred and eighty-six times over!

Perhaps Cen Sen sensed her resentment or something, because not long after, a WeChat reply finally came through.

Cen Sen: [I have a business trip to Xingcheng tomorrow.]

This message was worse than no reply at all!

Cen Sen: [Do you want to come with me?]

He had actually typed another sentence: ‘If you come, I can take you to inspect the designer hotel Whistler opened in Xingcheng.’ But before he could send it, Ji Mingshu had already replied with a "Yes!" followed by an exuberant exclamation mark.

Cen Sen covered his mouth partially and suddenly let out a soft chuckle.

Cen Sen wasn't traveling to Xingcheng alone; he was accompanied by five or six other executives, plus the assistants trailing behind them and various hangers-on. All together, the group numbered over ten people.

Standing beside Cen Sen wearing sunglasses, Ji Mingshu felt a little thrill. This was her first time traveling with him and the company's top brass in her official capacity as the CEO's wife.

Of course, none of this excitement showed on her face. She maintained a poker face perfectly matched to her husband's throughout. Paired with her matte velvet true red lipstick, her impeccably draped camel trench coat, and boots with extremely slender high heels, she appeared all sharp, sleek angles from head to toe, exuding the aura of a workplace power player ready to step into negotiations at a moment's notice.

The newly replaced executives in Xingcheng, unaware of the situation, initially thought the CEO had simply changed his chief assistant when they came out to greet them.

Naturally, Ji Mingshu's poised act only lasted until they checked into the hotel.

That evening, at the top-floor revolving restaurant, she asked eagerly, "So? So? Did I totally have that powerhouse businesswoman vibe today?"

Cen Sen undid a button at his collar, agreed with an "Mhm," and swapped his plate of neatly cut steak with hers.

Ji Mingshu, still resting her chin in her hands, savored the feeling. "You know, I suddenly think being a big boss is pretty great. That whole… mastering strategy from a command tent, directing the world with a single gesture, being profoundly inscrutable… Mph—"

She leaned back slightly, frowning in displeasure, and looked down at the dessert Cen Sen had popped into her mouth.

Though Cen Sen said nothing and his expression didn't change, Ji Mingshu could guess exactly what his mental monologue was: If you want to live a good life of leisure and comfort, you'd better leave the company alone.

Before she could stubbornly launch into more lofty proclamations, Cen Sen preemptively brought up the matter of Designer’s Abode resuming broadcast.

Ji Mingshu had already agreed to this.

The production team's frequent, tearful apologies were of no concern to her. Her main consideration was for the other designers.

So far, only the two episodes featuring her group's recordings had aired. If the remaining episodes couldn't be broadcast, it would be unfair to the other participating celebrities and non-celebrity designers.

Especially the professional designers. During the recording, she had exchanged ideas with some of them. Many had design philosophies no less impressive than top international interior designers, but they simply lacked opportunities to show their talent.

Having a platform like this show, regardless of its eventual ratings, at least provided a chance for them to present themselves and let industry professionals see their true capabilities.

Besides, her two episodes had been re-edited, Yan Yuexing had vanished, and the production team had learned their painful lesson. Continuing the broadcast really had no impact on her.

However, Cen Sen mentioning the show gave her an idea. "When will you have time? I'd like to follow up with the homeowners from my previous renovation project."

She didn't have much experience with hotel guest room design like Junyi Yaji's. But the residential design she'd done for that family shared many common points with hotel room design. She wanted to do a follow-up, to see what feedback the homeowners had after actually living in the space.

Cen Sen checked the schedule on his phone. "Tomorrow, I won't finish until seven p.m. The day after, it'll be eight p.m."

"Going for a follow-up visit at night? That's not really appropriate."

Ji Mingshu thought for a moment. "How about this: I'll go by myself tomorrow afternoon. You can come pick me up after you're done. How's that?"

Cen Sen: "Can you manage by yourself?"

"What do you mean, 'manage'? Just have someone drive me there. Do you think I can't function on my own?"

Cen Sen silently continued cutting his steak.

The path of his knife and fork clearly stated: Yes, exactly. You are a decorative piece that cannot operate independently.

Unable to resist, Ji Mingshu gave him another kick under the table. Only then did he reluctantly nod in agreement.

The following afternoon, Ji Mingshu deliberately dressed modestly in a plain beige turtleneck sweater and skinny jeans. Passing a fruit shop, she even had the driver stop to buy a fruit basket.

Arriving at the neighborhood, she carried the basket, retracing her memory to the old school district apartment where she'd spent over a month.

While knocking on the door, she mentally patted herself on the back for her excellent memory.

Hearing footsteps slowly approaching from inside but no one opening the door, Ji Mingshu politely asked, "Is Mr. Wang or Ms. Li at home?"

Finally, a slightly boyish voice came from inside. "My uncle and aunt aren't home."

"You're Mr. and Ms. Wang's nephew?"

"Yes. Who are you?" The boy was clearly only talking to her because he'd seen through the peephole that she was pretty.

Ji Mingshu said patiently, "Hello there. I'm the designer who worked on your uncle and aunt's home renovation before. I'm here for a follow-up visit, just to take a quick look, and then I'll leave. If you don't feel safe opening the door, you can call your uncle and aunt first."

The boy hesitated inside for a while, then opened the inner wooden door but left the outer security gate locked.

"You can just look from here. There are no adults at home, so I'd better not open this door for you."

"Which renovation designer are you from? My uncle and aunt had the place completely redone just before the New Year. I heard our house was on a TV show once. My uncle and aunt complain about it every day. They say that show was full of scammers, that the place became unlivable. Besides the appliances they gave us, everything else was just for show."

Standing at the doorway, peering through the gaps in the security gate at the now design-free living room inside, Ji Mingshu's mind went blank.

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