My Queen, My Rules - 81
The Price
Jiang Chun was a strange one. Sometimes she was sharper than a tack, picking up on a cue with just a glance. Other times, she might as well have been legally blind, completely oblivious even when someone was standing right in front of her.
Ji Mingshu could only stand there and watch as Cen Sen stopped behind Zhou Zhen and his ABC fiancée. He exchanged a meaningful look with her, then turned toward Jiang Chun, seemingly intent on listening to this self-appointed superfan shower him with an endless stream of extravagant praise.
Zhou Zhen and his fiancée were starting to look uncomfortable.
They weren't fools. Jiang Chun's lavish praise of Cen Sen was essentially her way of telling them, "Her husband can leave you in the dust without even trying. Please don't have such a high regard for yourselves, thank you very much.."
Still, compared with the ABC fiancée's sour expression, Zhou Zhen's emotional composure was considerably better. Of course, that was also because he didn't really believe all the outrageous things Jiang Chun was saying.
He had spent all these years abroad and had no idea that Ji Mingshu was married, much less that her husband was Cen Sen, the Cen family's formidable heir who could turn the tides of the business world with a flick of his hand. That was why he'd entertained the idea of showing off a little in front of Ji Mingshu.
Hearing the news from Jiang Chun did leave him somewhat embarrassed.
But surely Jiang Chun was exaggerating far too much. The marriage between Cen Sen and Ji Mingshu was obviously a family arrangement. How well could Cen Sen possibly treat Ji Mingshu?
He also had a one-sided acquaintance with Cen Sen. After all, Cen Sen had been something of a legend back in their school days. Zhou Zhen's older cousin had been Cen Sen's classmate, and the two had even shared a dormitory for a time.
The Cen Sen he remembered certainly wasn't some paragon of a husband who would wash his wife's clothes and cook her meals.
After finishing another round of praise, Jiang Chun finally paused for breath.
Zhou Zhen smiled and smoothly cut in. "I had no idea you and Senior Cen had gotten married, Mingshu."
Ji Mingshu had no interest in dealing with him. Her entire mind was occupied by one question: Was it because they were outdoors that nobody could feel Cen Sen's built-in refrigeration aura? It was one thing for Jiang Chun to be so absorbed in her performance that she hadn't noticed him. But weren't these two just not planning to turn around?
Zhou Zhen clearly had no intention of turning around. His mind was wholly occupied on salvaging his dignity in front of his fiancée, and he even took the opportunity to show off, launching into an animated account of his cousin's relationship with Cen Sen. His words subtly placed the Zhou and Cen families on roughly equal footing. He even casually alluded to Li Wenyin before concluding with a smile, "So, I suppose Senior Cen and I are connected by fate too."
What kind of fate?
The fate of having stepped in the same pile of shit?
Ji Mingshu rolled her eyes inwardly. She truly couldn't stand this man's talent for bringing up exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time. The polite curve of her lips suddenly widened into a full-blown smile, her eyes lighting up as she called sweetly in Zhou Zhen's direction, "Honey!"
Zhou Zhen and his fiancée both froze. Once they realized what she'd said, they turned around in unison, following her gaze.
Cen Sen didn't look at either of them. He merely lifted his eyes, his gaze meeting Ji Mingshu's across the space between them.
For some inexplicable reason, he read a very clear threat in her bright eyes: If you don't cooperate with my performance, I'll make sure your family line ends with you.
After a moment, he gave a slight nod and walked naturally over to Ji Mingshu, reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Ji Mingshu just as naturally slipped her arm through his, her voice sweet with a hint of coquettishness. "Why did you come so early? Are you done with work?"
Without changing expression, Cen Sen gave a quiet "Mm." "There's not much going on this afternoon, so I thought I'd come pick you up early."
He turned to greet Jiang Chun, then looked toward Zhou Zhen and asked mildly, "And this is?"
Before Ji Mingshu could introduce him, Zhou Zhen volunteered the information himself. "I'm Zhou Zhen. Nice to meet you, Senior. I also went to the affiliated high school. I'm one year below you and one year above Mingshu."
He added, "I don't know if you remember Zhou Xian. He was your roommate, and he's my older cousin."
Cen Sen corrected him. "We were only roommates for those three days of military training."
Zhou Zhen's expression stiffened slightly.
Cen Sen continued, "Though I just met your cousin this morning. We discussed a potential partnership."
Zhou Zhen visibly relaxed and was just about to speak.
Cen Sen went on, "But it didn't work out."
Zhou Zhen's smile turned awkward. After a long moment, he finally managed, "That's... such a shame."
"Not at all." Cen Sen said lightly.
Zhou Zhen: "..."
He had no idea what expression he was supposed to wear anymore.
Cen Sen's mockery was so obvious that only an idiot could have missed it. Zhou Zhen's fiancée looked mortified. She tugged him twice and hurriedly dragged him away.
Jiang Chun, standing to the side, was struggling mightily to hold in her laughter. Once they were gone, she nearly collapsed on the spot. It was only after Ji Mingshu pinched her and warned her to mind the occasion that she finally managed to rein herself in.
Perhaps because he'd overheard Jiang Chun's one-woman hype-squad performance, Cen Sen was unusually patient today and even exchanged a few more words with her. Jiang Chun, however, decided she was entirely unworthy of such an honor and soon used looking for Gu Kaiyang as an excuse to retreat from Ji Mingshu's side.
The event had actually only just begun. Even the customizable new pieces reserved for VIP guests hadn't been brought out yet, so Ji Mingshu couldn't very well leave with Cen Sen immediately. The two of them therefore wandered casually around the venue arm in arm. They looked intimate enough, yet for some reason neither of them said a word.
"...The signature feature of this classic design is the distinctive diamond-shaped quilted pattern across the surface of the bag. It takes ninety-five meticulous steps to complete, with both visible stitching and hidden seams..."
The brand representative was introducing the new interpretation of one of the season's classic bags, while guests and reporters gathered around.
Ji Mingshu finally couldn't stand it anymore. She nudged Cen Sen and looked up at him, asking in a low voice, "You met with Zhou Zhen's cousin about a partnership this morning? What did... what did his cousin say?”
"What do you think?"
Cen Sen deflected the question with effortless ease.
Ji Mingshu fell silent for a moment. She understood. The fact that he'd come charging straight over with the air of someone demanding an explanation meant that, nine times out of ten, Zhou Xian hadn't had anything good to say.
A small, secret happiness stirred in her at the thought that Cen Sen might have been jealous over her. But more than that, she felt awkward about having to explain herself. After all, nearly becoming the subject of someone's “pond” wasn't exactly a glorious chapter of her life.
"Don't listen to people's nonsense. There's nothing between me and Zhou Zhen.”
That was all she offered by way of explanation. She didn't elaborate.
Mostly because Cen Sen hadn't seemed particularly bothered, and if he wasn't making a big deal of it, there didn't seem to be much point in eagerly rushing to clear her name.
Cen Sen remained perfectly normal throughout the rest of the event, even accompanying her as she selected several seasonal new pieces.
Later, there was a small auction for vintage pieces from the brand. Ji Mingshu didn't really fancied any of them, but Zhou Zhen's fiancée had her eye on one particular bag. Eager to impress her, Zhou Zhen kept bidding against another lady, looking very determined to win.
Seeing this, the other lady eventually stopped bidding. But just before the hammer came down, Cen Sen didn't even blink before doubling Zhou Zhen's bid.
The price had already climbed to a frankly ridiculous level. Zhou Zhen couldn't bear to pay that much, and neither could his fiancée. In the end, they could only watch in dismay as Cen Sen won the bag.
Ji Mingshu hadn't expected Cen Sen to pull something like that either. She looked at him in surprise. "I don't need this. I already have one."
Cen Sen remained completely unruffled. "Just bidding for fun. If you don't like it, give it to one of your best friends."
Zhou Zhen and his fiancée were sitting not far away. Hearing this, they almost choked on their own blood.
Jiang Chun was sitting nearby too, just one row ahead of them. At those words, she spun around in delight and stared at Ji Mingshu with wide, pleading eyes, practically broadcasting her hopes without saying a word.
In the end, Ji Mingshu still couldn't bring herself to give that particular bag away. After all, Cen Sen had won it specifically for her. But she did promise to give Jiang Chun another bag of the same style from her own collection.
For that, Jiang Chun showered her with praise for three straight days, then proudly showed off about it in front of Gu Kaiyang like an elementary-school kid.
Gu Kaiyang didn't hold it against her, but Ji Mingshu had always been fair and impartial when it came to her best friends, so she carefully picked out another bag and gave one to Gu Kaiyang as well.
The best-friend jealousy war sparked by a single handbag could be set aside for now. When they returned home that evening, the paragon-of-a-husband Cen Sen had prepared a sumptuous dinner and opened a very fine vintage red.
Cen Sen had been buried in work lately and hadn't had much time to cook, so it had been quite a while since Ji Mingshu had enjoyed one of his meals to her heart's content.
This meal featured many of her favorite dishes, including, of course, the long-missed braised pork ribs.
She ate with immense satisfaction, so satisfied that she'd long since tossed the minor annoyance caused by Zhou Zhen to the back of her mind.
After the meal, she even played the part of the virtuous wife, donning an apron and washing the dishes together with Cen Sen.
She'd known the moment those little ribs appeared on the table that something was probably going to happen later that night. A small part of her had even been looking forward to it. What she didn't know was that the price for tonight's ribs would be far higher than usual.
Cen Sen seemed to have suddenly become a completely different person. The gentle warmth he'd shown during the day was nowhere to be found.
In the past, whenever she couldn't take it anymore, a few sweet words and a little surrender on her part would be enough to soften him.
Tonight, however, none of that worked. He was unyielding, leaving her no room to resist. She cried and begged to no avail.
Shaking and breathless, Ji Mingshu finally realized, amid her repeated surrender, just how displeased Cen Sen really was. She became exceptionally cooperative and confessed everything about her barely-worth-mentioning history between her and Zhou Zhen.
With the dark hair at his temple slightly damp and his eyes faintly reddened, Cen Sen asked in a low, hoarse voice, "You had feelings for him?"
She answered haltingly, "Back then... he was good-looking, so I had a little... a little crush on him. Isn't that normal? I had crushes on... on plenty of male celebrities too. And it was only a little crush… not like you... you actually dated Li Wenyin...”
The moment she'd finished speaking, Ji Mingshu realized she absolutely should not have opened her mouth. This was no time to dredge up old history, and she certainly wasn't going to win a prize for it.
Sure enough, she immediately regretted it.
She'd long since given up on resisting. Whimpering softly, she clutched at the curtain and tearfully repented, swearing that she never wanted to eat those little ribs again and would never again let her appetite get the better of her.
Even so, Cen Sen showed no intention of letting her off. Ji Mingshu was utterly despairing.
In matters like this, it was usually the woman who had a harder time enduring it. Ji Mingshu managed to cling to a shred of pride for a while. Eventually, pride? There was no such thing.
Out of options, she abandoned her repentance over the ribs and start proclaiming her boundless love for Cen Sen instead. Saying things like she only liked him and only loved him without any psychological burden.
Not only that, she launched into a merciless takedown of Zhou Zhen.
"What could I possibly have with someone like him?"
"He's not as tall as you, not as handsome as you, and not as rich as you."
"What would I want from him? The ability to chat with five girls at once and watch Harry Potter movies six different times?"
As it turned out, the tactic worked surprisingly well. At the very least, Cen Sen suddenly became much gentler. Though it couldn't be ruled out that he was simply running out of steam.
Just as things were nearing their end, Cen Sen suddenly leaned close to her ear and asked in a low, husky voice, “Should we have a baby?”
Ji Mingshu: “...?”
I'm still a baby myself!!!
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