Jiang Chunzhen had no idea what she had done wrong. She hadn't even woken up from her nap in the middle of the afternoon when someone forced open her mouth and stuffed her with dog food.
She forced herself to swallow this dog food, but it didn't feel quite real, because she couldn't really imagine what it would be like for Cen Sen, a cold-faced tycoon who thought, "Every second I waste talking to you is a hundred million less in earnings," to extend a date invitation.
However, she didn't need to imagine it, because Ji Mingshu was too boastful. After picking out the clothes, he couldn't hold back and insisted on showing her the chat screenshots.
Cen Sen: [Baby, do you have time to go on a date with me tonight?]
Jiang Chun gently slapped herself.
Yeah, it hurts a little, it's not a dream.
Jiang Chun: [Is this your husband?]
Ji Mingshu: [Otherwise what?]
Jiang Chun: [Did you call your husband? It looks like your account was hacked?]
Ji Mingshu: [...]?
Ji Mingshu: [Can't you speak properly?]
Jiang Chun: [No, this message is too surreal. Think about it yourself, is it reasonable for Cen Sen to call you "baby"? Even Tang Zhizhou isn't this greasy...]
Ji Mingshu: [You've successfully offended three people with just one sentence. /smile]
Jiang Chun: [...]
Jiang Chun: [Humble.jpg]
Jiang Chun's cold water clearly couldn't dampen Ji Mingshu's enthusiasm for their date. After all, she and Cen Sen had been married for nearly four years, and apart from that time they went to the movies and had hot pot on Christmas Eve, they hadn't had a proper date yet.
She carefully applied her date makeup, styled a relaxed yet subtly sophisticated hairstyle, and changed into a less formal dusty pink off-the-shoulder dress, perfectly showcasing her delicate and sexy collarbones.
After changing her clothes, she felt that something was still missing. She remembered that a bracelet she had left at Bai Cui Tian Hua would match her outfit today. She thought about it and then informed Cen Sen, and asked the driver to take her to Bai Cui Tian Hua.
At 4:57 PM, the senior management meeting at Junyi was still deadlocked, with the heads of two key projects arguing heatedly over resource competition.
Normally, everyone is a leader, and they can pretend to be polite and amiable to their superiors and subordinates. But when it comes to matters of interest, leaders are no different from old ladies in the market arguing with vendors over a few cents.
If you really have to find a difference, it's that they're fiercer and more powerful, taller and stronger. If the conference table weren't so wide and their arms so short, they probably would have rolled up their sleeves and fought to the death right there.
The other attendees all adopted an indifferent attitude, offering at most a few perfunctory words of advice, while mostly directing their opinions towards the big boss, Cen Sen, who sat at the head of the table.
Ke Cen Sen remained calm and composed, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, his gaze quiet, revealing no true thoughts.
Some people were convinced that this was the calm before the storm, after all, Cen Sen's consistent style was that he either didn't speak at all, or when he did, he went all out.
After waiting patiently for three minutes, Cen Sen finally showed signs of making a big move, "Manager Huang, Manager Song."
The argument suddenly stopped.
The room fell silent, and everyone turned to look at the person in the main seat.
Cen Sen looked up and said calmly, "It's five o'clock. That's all for today. Meeting adjourned."
...?
Meeting adjourned?
None of the attendees, including managers Huang and Song, were quite quick to react.
While there is usually a time estimate for meetings, when the big boss is in charge, there's no concept of when the meeting should end. Back in my school days, if the principal was giving a speech that lasted all morning, could the homeroom teacher really tell him to stop rambling on?
Everyone was still in shock from the sudden turn of events, but Cen Sen had already gotten up and straightened his clothes, and Zhou Jiaheng also stepped forward to help him tidy up the meeting materials.
They watched as Cen Sen calmly walked out of the conference room, their minds racing, frantically trying to imagine the true meaning behind his inexplicable departure.
The two managers had finally realized what had happened. Remembering how undignified their argument had been in front of Cen Sen, they broke out in a cold sweat, feeling like they were about to be executed later. So they clung to Zhou Jiaheng, their lifeline, and wouldn't let him leave, insisting on getting to the bottom of things.
Zhou Jiaheng was speechless. It was just a meeting adjourned, no need to be so scared. Weren't you all so capable when the meeting started? He's busy comforting his wife, he doesn't have the mind to listen to your battle.
At 5:30, Cen Sen's car stopped right downstairs at Bai Cui Tian Hua Building, and he made a phone call to Ji Ming Shu.
Ji Mingshu casually replied, "Wait a minute," then took out his small binoculars and peered out the window.
Although she had nothing to do and was just waiting for Cen Sen to pick her up, she still had to go through the usual procedures for dating Nacho.
However, Qiao's words were so irritating to her that she couldn't stand it for more than five minutes before she hurriedly went downstairs.
Seeing that she was wearing a pink dress and pretending to be aloof while flipping her hair, Cen Sen got out of the car and opened the passenger door for her.
Ji Mingshu glanced at the driver's seat. "You're driving yourself?"
Cen Sen hummed in agreement, picked up the pink and white roses from the passenger seat and handed them to her. He then looked her up and down and praised, "You look especially beautiful today."
A CEO is a CEO; the word "extraordinarily" is clearly something he's studied carefully, effectively eliminating the possibility of girls asking, "Am I not pretty normally?"
Ji Mingshu gave him a "you know what's good for you" look and carefully helped Hua into the car.
This bouquet only has eleven flowers; it's not large, but it's fresh and exquisite.
Ji Mingshu was so enamored with it that she took dozens of selfies along the way, and even gestured for Cen Sen to turn his head and take a picture with her while they were waiting at a red light.
However, Cen Sen's angle in the photo didn't look quite right, so she simply took a side view photo of Cen Sen driving.
Ji Mingshu: [Going on a date with Mr. Cen~/Cute]
Two additional pictures are attached.
The post on WeChat Moments instantly garnered a surge in likes and comments.
Zhao Yang: [You two, like an old married couple, are being way too mushy.]
Shu Yang: [I think I need to take my pet to the vet.]
Zhao Yang replied to Shu Yang: [No need to look, you're already stuffed from all the PDA.]
Gu Kaiyang: [Today's dose of Shu Bao beauty essence has been absorbed!]
Jiang Chun: [Shall we make some arrangements for the baby?]
Cen Yingshuang: [How about making arrangements for a second child?]
Ji Mingshu replied to each of them, but before she could finish, Cen Sen stopped the car and reminded her, "We've arrived."
"So fast."
She was slightly surprised.
Actually, it wasn't that fast, considering it took her almost forty minutes to take and edit the photos.
Cen Sen didn't explain, but just hummed in agreement and leaned over to help her unbuckle her seatbelt.
They went to a French restaurant.
The thought of eating out with Cen Sen, especially a long French meal, gave Ji Mingshu a headache as a conditioned reflex.
But when it comes to dates, you have to eat, so she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and went straight in.
Surprisingly, this meal was not an agonizing experience of being urged to hand in the exam paper by a proctor; on the contrary, it was quite comfortable and pleasant.
Cen Sen ate very slowly and was very considerate of her feelings, pouring her water and red wine, and even trying to find topics to chat with her about.
Moreover, he skillfully steered the conversation, chatting seriously for a while, then rambling on about trivial matters.
Ji Mingshu found it quite strange that he suddenly adopted a talkative persona while eating.
He only talks this much when he's lecturing her or flirting with her in bed.
Of course, it's undeniable that she really enjoyed it when he kept looking at her and talking about random things; it gave her the feeling that he was genuinely trying to connect with her.
After dinner, the two held hands and strolled aimlessly outside, continuing their conversation about their school days, which they had mentioned earlier at the restaurant, and had a rare heart-to-heart talk.
Everything was perfect, and it met Ji Mingshu's definition of a date for couples—if they hadn't gone to see that 4D movie.
After walking around for about half an hour, Ji Mingshu was a little tired, so Cen Sen suggested that they go see a movie.
When buying tickets at the cinema, she saw that there was a 4D screening. Cen Sen asked her if she wanted to try it. Being a love-struck woman, she naturally agreed to whatever her husband said. She obediently nodded, and then began a nightmare of being passively danced around for two hours.
The movie opened with a car chase scene. Before Ji Mingshu could even settle in, her seat started shaking wildly without warning, and the ice cream cone in her hand was smeared all over her face.
After wiping her face, she planned to drink some cola to calm her nerves, but the back of the chair suddenly punched her, following the gunshot scene in the movie, hitting her right on her shoulder blade, spilling half a cup of cola onto the floor.
The most terrifying thing was the cold air and water mist that came at intervals of less than thirty seconds on average, which was like a real-life version of "cold, icy rain slapping haphazardly on her face." She was shivering even though she was wrapped in Cen Sen's coat. The only thing she could be thankful for was that her makeup was light and waterproof today, so she wouldn't be sprayed with soot like a black mountain witch.
By the end of the movie, she was half-paralyzed from being beaten by the chair. Her dress was wrinkled, and her carefully styled hair was in disarray. She looked as if she had been humiliated by Cen Sen eighteen times in the movie theater, and her whole body exuded weakness, pitifulness, and helplessness.
Cen Sen also paid to suffer for two hours, but he still kept a straight face and maintained his aloof and domineering CEO persona.
He stood up, straightened his clothes, and then reached out to Ji Mingshu.
Ji Mingshu grasped his hand and stood up shakily, stumbling half a step towards his arms as she stood.
He then hugged Ji Mingshu.
Exhausted and furious, Ji Mingshu's eyes were bright and moist. She leaned against him, looking aggrieved, and whispered, "Did you do this on purpose?! I'm so angry! I want a divorce!"
Chapter 79
Ji Mingshu's talk of getting a divorce was just talk, and Cen Sen obviously didn't take her angry words seriously. However, after watching the 4D movie, the second half of the date was indeed a complete and utter disaster.
Cen Sen had originally planned a drive along the river and a visit to an open-air bar for drinks and music, but as soon as they left the movie theater, Ji Mingshu showed a sense of relief as if she had survived a disaster, as well as a strong desire to go home and think, "I can still be saved."
Seeing her like this, Cen Sen had no choice but to cancel the subsequent arrangements at the last minute.
Fortunately, the night breeze in the capital in early spring was gentle and pleasant. The breeze blowing on the way home helped to dispel much of the suffocating mood in Ji Mingshu's heart.
After calming down and thinking it over carefully, she felt that Cen Sen couldn't be entirely blamed for this.
Cen Sen, an old-fashioned person from the last century, probably only went to the cinema a handful of times. How could we expect him to know in advance what a mind-numbing experience 4D movie watching would be like?
The fact that he took the initiative to invite her to send flowers and chatted with her attentively during meals is already a big improvement. There's plenty of time, no rush.
Having exonerated Cen Sen in this way, Ji Mingshu finally felt some self-comfort.
But the next second she checked WeChat, and the mental preparation she had just made crumbled instantly. Her smile gradually disappeared, and her expression gradually stiffened.
Overjoyed about her date today, she posted a new update on her WeChat Moments almost every hour to show how it went.
Before entering the theater, she took a picture of their movie ticket stubs together and captioned it: "Watching a movie with Mr. Cen~/Happy"
She didn't look at her phone after sending the message, so she didn't know that Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun had actually given her a friendly reminder and a high-energy warning two hours earlier.
Gu Kaiyang: [Are you two alright? Going on a date to see a 4D movie?]