My Queen, My Rules - 77
Date
Perfect. Just perfect.
Ji Mingshu felt her understanding of Cen-shi Sen had just climbed to an entirely new level.
Although Cen Sen had never admitted it outright, if she translated the meaning behind his roundabout explanation into plain language, it was essentially this: Yes, I knew your best friend was appearing on the show. Zhou Jiaheng was sent there by me. I hope your friend will focus on her own life from now on and stop having nothing better to do than meddle in our marriage.
Ji Mingshu: "Are you insane?"
Was work not keeping him busy enough? He actually had the spare time to arrange for his own assistant to hit on his wife's best friend!
Cen Sen stared at her for a while before nodding. "You actually believed me."
He loosened his tie and suddenly let out a quiet laugh.
Ji Mingshu: "..."
Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, but there was something inexplicably indulgent about Cen Sen's smile, as though he were saying: Oh, darling, I just love how you believe everything I say with that adorably stupid look on your face.
She broke out in goosebumps. Rising onto her toes, she pinched Cen Sen's cheeks and tugged them from side to side. "No laughing!"
"Okay. No laughing."
Cen Sen rested his forehead against hers, pressed a kiss to her lips, then asked in a low voice, "Shower together?"
Ji Mingshu: "Pervert!"
What happened during their little bout of ‘perversion’ shall remain unmentioned, but somewhere in the middle of it, Ji Mingshu still managed to pester Cen Sen into explaining Zhou Jiaheng's appearance on the show.
As it turned out, the whole thing really had been a coincidence.
Zhou Jiaheng's family had been urging him to find a girlfriend for the past few years. He always used work as an excuse to brush them off, and eventually, at their wits' end, his family resorted to a rather underhanded tactic. Without telling him, they submitted his résumé and signed him up for a dating show.
With his résumé, naturally, he sailed through both the preliminary and second rounds of selection. He didn't find out about the whole thing until the production team notified him that he had to attend an interview.
Zhou Jiaheng actually had no intention of going, and Cen Sen had not planned on letting him go either. But after learning that Gu Kaiyang was also participating in the show, he approved Zhou Jiaheng's leave and even gave him a little nudge. If he was interested, he could see where things went with Gu Kaiyang. If he wasn't, he could at least help Gu Kaiyang hit it off with one of the other male guests.
Although Cen Sen's explanation was quite reasonable, Ji Mingshu still wanted to warn Gu Kaiyang that Zhou Jiaheng had ulterior motives and was no good. However, Gu Kaiyang seemed quite pleased about Zhou Jiaheng joining the show mid-season as the fourth male participant; she could not stop singing his praises.
Gu Kaiyang: [I always thought Zhou Jiaheng was just that fussy mom-type assistant, but it turns out his actual position at Junyi is Vice President of Greater China. Can you believe it?]
Gu Kaiyang: [And he did his bachelor's at Tsinghua and his master's at USC. That's a seriously impressive academic background. I had way too many preconceptions against him before...]
It was no wonder Gu Kaiyang's opinion of Zhou Jiaheng had changed so dramatically. After all, without comparison, you never knew how far apart people really were.
On the third day after moving into the villa, the production crew finally allowed everyone to reveal their ages, educational backgrounds, and occupations.
For the first three days, the other guests had carried themselves with such lofty airs that Gu Kaiyang had assumed they were all Harvard or Cambridge graduates, elite professionals making millions a year in their respective fields. She had been under tremendous pressure every time she returned to the villa during those days.
Who would have thought that when the big career reveal finally came, the supposed kings instantly turned into paupers? Their degrees and jobs sounded impressive on the surface, but once you squeezed out the water, there was enough fluff to drown a whole cow. Sitting there, Gu Kaiyang's back unconsciously straightened.
As for Zhou Jiaheng, his qualifications were practically a league of his own among this so-called group of elite professionals.
The female guests' brutally transparent reactions said it all. One of them had already been developing a fairly obvious mutual interest with one of the male guests, but after Zhou Jiaheng arrived, she suddenly started finding all sorts of opportunities to spend time alone with him.
After hearing Gu Kaiyang praise him like that, Ji Mingshu could hardly bring herself to rain on her parade. Besides, they were still in the process of getting to know each other, and nothing had actually developed yet.
Still, Ji Mingshu could not quite rest easy. Once she finished the hotel design drafts, she used concern for Cen Sen's health as an excuse and deliberately chose a time when Zhou Jiaheng would be at work to make a special trip to Junyi.
Inside the President's office—
Borrowing his authority, Ji Mingshu sat in the office chair. Mimicking Cen Sen's usual inscrutable expression, she asked coolly, "Assistant Zhou, your actual position at Junyi is Vice President of Greater China?"
Zhou Jiaheng replied modestly, "It's just a titular role."
"When did you get that title? Don't tell me someone temporarily gave it to you before you went on the show?"
She cast a meaningful glance toward Cen Sen, whom she had banished to the sitting area to drink his soup.
Zhou Jiaheng said, "No. I've held this position ever since I came back from Australia."
Ji Mingshu nodded, then asked, "Assistant Zhou, you're not from the capital, right? Was it very difficult for you to get into Tsinghua?"
Zhou Jiaheng remained as modest as ever. "It was all right. I ranked third in the province on the gaokao that year. Getting into Tsinghua or Peking University wasn't particularly difficult."
"......"
Ji Mingshu was rendered speechless for a long moment.
Whether Cen Sen could no longer stand listening or had some other reason, he suddenly gestured for Zhou Jiaheng to go out and hurry along a document.
Once he was gone, Cen Sen asked Ji Mingshu, "You think Zhou Jiaheng isn't good enough?"
"Not really." Ji Mingshu propped her chin on her hand and thought for a long time. "It's just that Gu Kaiyang is my best friend, and if her boyfriend were my husband's assistant... wouldn't that be a little weird?"
Cen Sen replied gently, "Zhou Jiaheng's annual salary should be enough to buy three of Gu Kaiyang's apartments. He also owns shares in the group. And being an assistant is simply part of his training. He won't be an assistant forever. You're worrying about too much."
"She's my best friend. Of course I'm going to worry!"
Without even thinking, Cen Sen said, "And it's your best friend who will be dating, not you. It's just a show. If she decides he's not suitable, naturally nothing will come of it."
Oh, you just had to say it! You and your big mouth!
Ji Mingshu fixed him with a death glare.
Seeing that he remained completely oblivious and continued drinking his soup, Ji Mingshu stormed over and covered the bowl in front of him. Deliberately picking a fight, she said, "I also want to date! I married you directly without even experiencing the process of dating! Don't you feel even a little guilty? And you still have the nerve to be so self-righteous! I've seen your true colors now!"
Cen Sen: "..."
Her mood changed faster than a tornado. It was not until he heard the office door slam hard enough to shake the walls that Cen Sen finally managed to make sense of the sudden barrage of accusations Ji Mingshu had hurled at him.
He rubbed the bridge of his brow and suddenly gained a profound understanding of what people meant by a sweet burden.
Outside the office, Zhou Jiaheng happened to run into Ji Mingshu again after retrieving the document.
Before he could even greet her, Ji Mingshu launched into him like a little firecracker, rattling off a furious warning that if he failed to take good care of Gu Kaiyang while filming the show, and especially if he dared to toy with her feelings, he would be a dead man.
Zhou Jiaheng felt more wronged than a saint in the stocks. Why would he dare toy with Gu Kaiyang's feelings? Did he have a death wish?
At this point, when he returned to the villa every night, he and Gu Kaiyang were nothing more than relatively familiar friends. That was all.
Ji Mingshu listened to his earnest explanation, then proceeded to interrogate him about how the men and women in the villa were pairing off.
From what Zhou Jiaheng told her, it sounded as though Gu Kaiyang currently had no male guest she was interested in, and no male guest was interested in her either.
Gu Kaiyang not having a male guest she was interested in was perfectly normal. But how could there be no male guest interested in her?
No. This was unacceptable. That'd be a serious blow to her pride.
She abruptly changed tack and began dropping increasingly obvious hints to Zhou Jiaheng that he should be more attentive toward Gu Kaiyang. At the very least, he needed to act attentive whenever the cameras were rolling. She even proceeded to teach him all sorts of ways to pursue a girl and create romantic surprises.
Whether Zhou Jiaheng actually used those methods to help Gu Kaiyang get the attention she deserved would have to wait until the show aired. In any case, after Ji Mingshu left, Zhou Jiaheng relayed every single one of her suggestions to his boss.
Cen Sen looked them over.
“Order flowers every day and make her coworkers and the other female guests envious.” —That clearly did not apply to Ji Mingshu. She had no coworkers, and if he sent her flowers, she would simply admire them alone at home.
“Give her gifts.” —That did not apply to Ji Mingshu either. He already gave Ji Mingshu gifts every few days as it was.
He suddenly asked, "How do people usually date these days?"
Before Zhou Jiaheng could answer, he continued on his own. "I shouldn't be asking you. You don't have any experience either."
Zhou Jiaheng maintained a neutral expression, silently complaining in his heart: You say that as if you have plenty of experience yourself.
Cen Sen paused. Strictly speaking, he did have experience.
It was just that all that remained of that experience in his mind was a blank space. There seemed to be nothing worth remembering, and nothing worth missing.
He took off his glasses and rested his forehead against one hand, thinking for a long time.
Finally, he picked up the phone beside him and slowly typed out a line.
[Baby, are you free for a date tonight?]
He stared at the words for a while, taking a good long moment to overcome the discomfort in his heart at such a cheesy tone, then tapped "send."
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