My Queen, My Rules - 74
Earthquake
Cen Sen clearly wasn't the kind of man who could switch into sweet-talking mode anytime, anywhere. At least for now, it was still difficult to get him to do it while Ji Mingshu was fully awake.
He brushed a fleeting kiss over her lips, murmured good night, and was about to get into bed.
But Ji Mingshu was not so easily placated. She wrapped her arms around his neck and refused to let go, her delicate nose scrunched up stubbornly as she insisted on hearing him say it again.
Cen Sen's eyes darkened. His gaze lingered from her loose curls all the way down to the camisole strap that had slipped from her shoulder.
A moment later, he leaned down and kissed her again, this time with a distinctly more possessive edge than before.
By the time Ji Mingshu realized what was happening, it was already too late. She glared at him and let out two muffled protests, struggling with both hands and feet. But in the end, her resolve proved pathetically weak, and she melted into a boneless puddle beneath him.
As waves of passion crashed over her, she thought she heard one low, intimate murmur of "baby." But her mind was completely blank by then, and she could not even tell whether she had imagined it.
All she remembered was that what little pride she had left had been shattered early on, and somehow Cen Sen had coaxed, in between broken breaths and soft whimpers, countless helpless cries of "husband" from her.
The next morning, warm golden sunlight poured through the spotless floor-to-ceiling windows, while a lingering, sweetly intimate haze still hung in the air.
Every muscle in Ji Mingshu's body ached, and when she got out of bed she was practically boneless, clinging to Cen Sen from start to finish.
Even when brushing her teeth, she leaned against his chest with her eyes half closed, making soft, sleepy noises as she shamelessly played up her helplessness.
"Toothbrush. Hold it." Cen Sen placed the toothbrush, already loaded with toothpaste, within reach of her hand.
She refused to take it. "No strength. It's your fault. I can't even lift my arms."
Cen Sen: "..."
Ji Mingshu: "You brush them for me."
Cen Sen lowered his eyes to her. "Brush them yourself. I'm going to be late."
"Then I'm not brushing them." She was blatantly being deliberately unreasonable.
Cen Sen was silent for several seconds. "Open your mouth."
She could not keep herself from smiling triumphantly, but quickly schooled her expression and obediently opened her mouth, looking like a beautiful, languid ragdoll cat curled up in its owner's arms, waiting to be stroked. Every now and then, she even stuck out a little paw to play with its owner.
Her owner, Cen Sen, was remarkably patient as well. He brushed her teeth, washed her face, combed her hair, taking care of every little thing with meticulous care.
At first, his movements had been awkward and stiff, but when he caught Ji Mingshu secretly smiling at him in the mirror, his waning patience slowly rekindled. He found himself taking a little more pleasure in these small, ordinary intimacies.
While Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen were still wrapped up in their sweet morning affection inside the room, the senior executives who had come from the capital with him had already been waiting in the VIP lounge outside.
That morning, Cen Sen was scheduled to inspect Xingcheng's Junyi Shuiyunjian with several senior group executives, as a high-level tourism summit would later be held at the Shuiyunjian Hotel.
There was only one minute left until the appointed time when the suite door finally opened. Everyone rose at once and straightened their clothes, preparing to stand half a corridor away and pay their respects to Cen Sen with their eyes.
But a minute passed, and all those respectful looks were bestowed at empty air. There was no sign of anyone at the door, but a woman's petulant, coquettish came through loud and clear.
"Baby, no kiss, no leaving!"
...
"Mmm. Then one more kiss!"
...
"No, I'm so sleepy. I barely got any sleep. I'll draw it after I wake up."
...
The older executives had seen every kind of situation imaginable, and each of them wore the serene expression of a seasoned monk deep in meditation.
The younger ones were more easily embarrassed. They didn't dare look or listen, so they could only keep adjusting their cuffs and straightening their collars from time to time, while the atmosphere grew increasingly awkward.
Unaware of the audience waiting outside, Ji Mingshu hastily finished tying Cen Sen's tie and went to open the door for him. Seeing that there was still a minute left, she draped herself against him and coquettishly demanded a good-morning kiss.
After getting her way, she finally pushed Cen Sen toward the door. Still hugging the doorframe, she poked half her head out and waved goodbye to him.
It would have been fine if she had not looked out. The moment she did, Ji Mingshu froze solid, an indescribable wave of embarrassment shooting straight from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head.
Ji Mingshu: "..."
Cen Sen: "..."
The senior executives: "..."
Zhou Jiaheng, perhaps from lack of sleep or something else, seemed to have his brain fogged up that morning.
From the moment the door opened and he heard those voices, he had stood there dumbstruck, failing to come up with a single way to salvage the situation.
Now, when he saw half of Ji Mingshu's head emerge from the doorway, something short-circuited in his brain. Standing at the very front of the group, he actually bowed to her. "Good morning, Madam."
The senior executives had no idea what was going on, but immediately followed suit and bowed. "Good morning, Madam!"
The greetings, from voices young and old, were completely uncoordinated, resembling a badly rehearsed troupe that had been forcibly stripped of their collective IQ.
The only response they received was the suite door slamming shut with a resounding bang.
Jiang Chun: [Ji-shi Shushu you're too funny hahahahaha I'm dying hahahahaha hic!]
Ji Mingshu: [...]
Ji Mingshu: [Are you dead yet? Should I send you a bottle of pesticide to help things along?]
Gu Kaiyang: [Hahaha why didn't you just say, "Good morning, comrades, thanks for your hard work!" Hahahahahaha!]
Ji Mingshu: [...]
Ji Mingshu: [I hope your words become as scarce as your money. jpg]
Ji Mingshu: [Blocked. If you need anything, send me a message in a bottle. jpg]
Ji Mingshu never imagined that after spending quite a while ranting in the group about "How did that pig-brain Zhou Jiaheng ever become the chief assistant?", "The entire senior management has something wrong with their brains," and "That dog man Cen Sen didn't even tell me there were people outside. He definitely did it on purpose to see me make a fool of myself," she would receive neither the comfort she had expected nor a united front of outrage. Instead, she was even mercilessly mocked by these two plastic friends.
Feeling that her fragile little bird heart had once again suffered 999 points of damage, so, in a fit of extreme sensitivity, she posted to her social feed: [The world isn't worth it.]
Cen Sen: [But little pork ribs are.]
"..."
Didn't he have any work to do?
Why was he so damn free???
Blocked.
The events of the morning were simply too embarrassing. Just recalling the scene made Ji Mingshu feel her heart stop and her breath cease. Naturally, she was in no mood to go back to sleep.
She sat at the computer and sketched for a while, but inspiration refused to come. Slumping back onto the couch, she started scrolling through her phone again.
Only then did she notice that An Ning had also commented on her post. Compared with the comments left by all the other assorted monsters, An Ning's simple "What's wrong, jie?" seemed almost painfully innocent.
She found An Ning in her contacts and explained that she had only been joking and that nothing had happened.
Actually, after arriving in Xingcheng, Ji Mingshu had thought Cen Sen would take her to see Chen Biqing and An Ning, but he had never shown any intention of doing so.
It seemed that the dinner at the An family home had been just that—a meal. He had never intended to reunite with the family he had once belonged to, all these years later.
Ji Mingshu chatted casually with An Ning for a moment.
An Ning happened to mention that her school was holding a sports meet soon, so Ji Mingshu followed up by asking, "Are you participating in anything?"
An Ning: [No. I have congenital heart disease, so I can't participate.]
Ji Mingshu: [Congenital heart disease?]
An Ning: [Mm.]
An Ning: [Actually, back then, Mom and Dad only agreed to return Cen Sen-gege to the Cen family because they needed the money for my treatment. I think Cen Sen-gege has never been able to forgive Mom and Dad because of this.]
Ji Mingshu didn't know much about what happened back then. She had assumed the Cen family had simply been too powerful for the An family to resist and forced them to agree to the exchange.
But now it seemed the exchange had not been forced after all. To save their biological daughter, they had chosen to give up the son who was not biologically theirs.
She suddenly understood why Cen Sen had held onto this resentment for so long.
After sending that message, An Ning seemed to realize it might not have been appropriate and cautiously changed the subject.
Ji Mingshu also felt that this was not a topic she should discuss with An Ning, so she simply asked a few concerned questions about her illness.
Remembering the building where they lived, she asked again: [Didn't Cen Yang come back? It isn't very convenient for you to keep living in that old neighborhood. Why don't you move to the capital with him?]
It took An Ning a long time to reply: [I'm not very close to Cen Yang-gege.]
Ji Mingshu remembered what Cen Yang had said and hesitated for a moment before asking: [Didn't he ask whether you wanted to move to the capital and live there?]
An Ning hesitated for quite a while and answered carefully: [He did, but that was probably just politeness... We hardly ever talk.]
Ji Mingshu understood and did not press any further.
She hadn't been in touch with Cen Yang much either lately, especially not since he intercepted that project investment from Cen Sen around New Year's.
In truth, she had vaguely understood that Cen Yang probably was not quite as carefree as he made himself out to be in front of her, but she wasn't willing to entertain malicious assumptions about him either.
Whatever the case, when it came to business competition, it was probably better to leave the real fighting to the men themselves.
Ji Mingshu pulled herself together and sat down to draw for a while longer.
Cen Sen might often wear that solemn, cold expression, but deep down, he actually had a bit of a natural talent for being a life coach.
The design advice he gave last night was all very insightful. They were the sort of ideas worth seriously pondering while sitting on the toilet.
Cen Sen had pointed out that what she studied at school was high-end design, and the cases she had worked on in the past were mostly artistic creations focused on pursuing aesthetic beauty.
Every field had its own specialty. There was really no need for her to dwell on failures stemming from areas outside her expertise. As long as she could draw even a little inspiration from this experience, something connected to the warmth and texture of ordinary life, that would already be enough.
As though struck by a sudden thought, she picked up another stack of white paper from beside her and quickly wrote down the flash of inspiration that had just passed through her mind.
While Ji Mingshu was busy drawing at the hotel, Cen Sen had already left Shuiyunjian and was rushing to a neighboring city for an industry conference.
The conference lasted until five-thirty in the afternoon, followed by another business engagement.
Cen Sen needed to return to Xingcheng, so he left promptly at eight and did not take part in the next round of activities.
Just before they reached the expressway, the road suddenly began to tremble strangely.
The driver sensed that something was wrong. After seeking permission, he slowed down and pulled over onto the broad roadside, turning on the hazard lights.
Driver: "Feels like an earthquake. But it shouldn't be around here. It'll probably be over in a moment."
Zhou Jiaheng received an urgent update. "A magnitude 5.8 earthquake has occurred in Xingcheng."
Without a word, Cen Sen took out his phone and dialed Ji Mingshu's number.
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