The pub was bustling at night. Once everyone had arrived, Zhang Er Gongzi, wearing a birthday hat and holding a microphone, spoke on stage. He then performed a tone-deaf song, which drew laughter and applause from the audience.
Jiang Chun arrived just before the cake was about to be cut. She wasn't sure whether she should go up and talk to Ji Mingshu, but when Ji Mingshu saw her, he nodded at her. Jiang Chun naturally ran over to him eagerly.
The group of "plastic sisters" had just finished mocking Jiang Chun for being cheated on by Yan San, and were wondering why Ji Mingshu hadn't said a word or even smiled. Now, seeing her take the initiative to call Jiang Chun over, their expressions became even stranger.
Ji Mingshu, however, was quite unfazed and even asked someone to move aside a bit to make room for Jiang Chun.
Jiang Chun felt a strange sense of pride. She secretly tugged at Ji Mingshu's skirt and whispered, "You went to the toilet yesterday..."
Ji Ming gave him a look that said, "Please mute and forget everything immediately."
Jiang Chun stopped talking in time and asked, "How do I look today?"
Ji Mingshu looked her up and down, and whether it was out of revenge or not, he plunged a knife straight into her heart.
"You'd better stop dressing up, you little country bumpkin."
Jiang Chun: "..."
Why would she want to invite humiliation upon herself?
When Ji Mingshu arrived, people paid attention to him; naturally, when Jiang Chun arrived, people also paid attention to him.
Many minor celebrities and internet personalities were sitting near Zhang Baoshu, one of whom was the innocent girl who cheated on her boyfriend.
When she saw Jiang Chun come in, she acted as if nothing had happened and lamented to her friend how small the social circles in Beijing were, then feigned affectation and said, "What should I do? She's his ex-girlfriend. How embarrassing!"
Her friend comforted her, "What's there to be embarrassed about? Yan likes you, she wouldn't be such a sore loser."
Soon, several more people joined the conversation.
Given Xiaobaihua's status, she naturally wanted to show off her connection with Yan, and these people were all openly and secretly flattering her.
The innocent-looking girl mostly maintained her persona, timidly remaining silent, only adding softly at crucial moments, "Yan and she were only engaged because of their family ties. She also knew that Yan had a girlfriend outside, and wanted to maintain this formal engagement. Actually, it takes two to tango..."
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly noticed a pair of sparkly high heels entering her field of vision.
Before she could react, "smack!" A crisp, loud slap landed on her, and she felt a brief ringing in her ears.
"Listen to this, does a slap make a sound?"
Chapter 13
Inside the pub, the music was still lively and the lights were still colorful, but when this slap was delivered, it was as if it had a spotlight effect, and all eyes around Ji Mingshu converged on him.
"Listen to this, does a slap make a sound?"
—"A loud, deafening noise."
The onlookers silently answered in their hearts.
Xiao Baihua recently starred in an ancient costume web series. The web series was lighthearted and mindless. Although it lacked logic, it generated a lot of discussion and became a minor hit. As the second female lead, she also became somewhat familiar to the public.
Following the sound, many people recognized her, and flashes of camera flashes accompanied whispers.
Actually, people weren't too concerned about the origin of the fight; they were more surprised that someone would start a fight at Zhang Er Gongzi's birthday party. Did this young lady want to slap Zhang Er in the face or was she deliberately causing trouble?
Zhang Baoshu, who was sitting not far away, was also completely stunned.
She couldn't see Ji Mingshu's face clearly from a distance, but now that she saw him up close, she unconsciously began to agree with what Cen Sen had said that night.
With a pearl at hand, why bother with fireflies?
The scene, amidst the hustle and bustle, fell silent for several seconds for no apparent reason.
Xiaobaihua's friend snapped out of her daze and quickly protected her, shouting at Ji Mingshu, "What are you doing? Who are you?! Why are you hitting people?"
“That’s right, can’t you just talk things out? Don’t you have any manners?” another person chimed in.
Little White Flower herself didn't say anything, only biting her lip and looking pitiful as if she hadn't come to her senses.
But she quickly remembered that it was this same woman who stood up for Jiang Chun in Paris and forced Yan to apologize.
Yan seemed unwilling to escalate the argument with this woman, so this woman might have some connections.
Thinking of this, she pursed her lips, lowered her head, and remained silent, completing the three-part "white lotus" act in one go.
Her friends were completely oblivious, acting as if they were in the right, demanding an explanation from Ji Mingshu.
Ji Mingshu didn't even lift his eyelids. He took the warm towel that the little goose had magically produced from somewhere, and slowly wiped his hands. His eyes and brows were full of nonchalant arrogance, perfectly embodying the arrogant and fearless attitude of "I'll hit you if I want, but I don't care when I pick a day."
If anyone here tonight had fought with Cen Sen, they might have noticed that this couple were exactly alike in their condescending attitude when dealing with people.
Before long, Young Master Zhang came over after hearing the noise.
Xiaobaihua's friends were also incredibly fake. When they saw Zhang Er coming over, their voices suddenly became gentle, and they even wanted to take this opportunity to scold him, "Boss Zhang, what's wrong with this young lady? She just came over and started hitting people. Today is your birthday party, isn't this disrespecting you?"
Zhang Er was stunned for three seconds by the coquettishness. He looked left and right, still unable to figure out how these completely unrelated women could have anything in common.
Fortunately, he hadn't started drinking yet, so his mind was perfectly clear. After figuring out who had hit whom, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He quickly turned around and asked solicitously, "Sister Shu, is your hand alright? Does it hurt? Should I get someone to get some medicine?"
Ji Mingshu chuckled, "It's alright, I'm sorry, it's your birthday, I should have held back."
She never intended to cause trouble, but coincidentally, she had just gone to the restroom with Jiang Chun when that hypocritical "it takes two to tango" remark reached her ears. In a moment of impulse, she acted without thinking.
Zhang Er waved his hand dismissively, "Hey! It's no big deal! Sis, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters!"
He summoned someone else to bring Ji Mingshu a new towel to warm his hands, and a string of sycophantic words poured out.
He glanced back at Xiaobaihua and her sisters when he had a spare moment, but didn't do anything to them. After all, it was his birthday, and he didn't want to ruin the atmosphere.
But some people are tactless. Ji Mingshu didn't want to cause any more trouble at someone else's birthday party, and yet some people still wanted to put on a show of cold snorting after she turned away.
Ji Mingshu paused slightly and looked back.
The one who snorted was the innocent-looking friend; she was quite arrogant and wouldn't even give her a second glance.
Little White Flower kept covering the side of her face that had been hit, tears welling up in her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall.
Ji Mingshu found it amusing, "You've already become a mistress, yet you're still not prepared to be beaten at any time. Your professionalism is lacking."
Zhang Er suddenly got angry, turned around, frowned and said impatiently, "What's wrong with you guys? Who brought these bastards in here? Are you trying to ruin my thirties? It's my birthday and you're here making a scene. What have I ever done to you?"
Startled by this, the little white flower suddenly let the tears that had been skillfully welling up in her eyes fall.
Zhang Er was so angry he was practically fuming. He didn't want to say a word, and just gestured for people to get rid of these unlucky guys.
The people around fell silent, unsure whether they were still processing what had happened or were stunned by Zhang Er's illogical double standards.
Even after the birthday party ended, Jiang Chun was still in a daze.
She pulled Ji Mingshu aside and asked directly, "Why is Zhang Lin so obsequious to you? Isn't the Zhang family quite powerful? It's really unnecessary to be like this; it's unbearable to watch."
“His brother doesn’t need to, but he wasn’t born to Mrs. Zhang.” Ji Mingshu said casually.
Jiang Chun looked completely bewildered. "What? He wasn't born to Mrs. Zhang? But he... wasn't he very favored in the Zhang family?"
"Being favored doesn't contradict the fact that he's an illegitimate child. Have you never studied logic?"
"No," Jiang Chun replied earnestly.
Ji Mingshu choked up and asked again, "You've been in the capital for several years, how come you don't know anything?" She was truly astonished by this little country bumpkin's ignorance.
Jiang Chun, however, was not ashamed but proud, acting like a fool who was ignorant but self-righteous, and said to her, "No one has ever told me this before. You know everything, so teach me."
"don't want."
"You just stood up for me, aren't we good friends now? Haven't you heard the saying 'once sisters, always sisters'?"
Never heard of that. Who's best friends with you, you little country bumpkin?
Ji Mingshu gave him a look that said, "Please stop this staged accident immediately."
Jiang Chun grabbed her arm and wouldn't let go, even threatening her with the fact that she had used the men's restroom, insisting on dragging her to his car, saying he wanted to take her to see the luxury apartment he had bought in the city center.
Along the way, Ji Mingshu was pestered by Jiang Chun to tell her many secrets of wealthy families, leaving Jiang Chun stunned as she listened.
As they entered the apartment elevator, they were still discussing a model couple in their circle.
Jiang Chun asked in surprise, "Is it really that chaotic? I thought they were very much in love. If that's the case, then everyone is just getting what they want, and not many people are truly in love."
Ji Mingshu was about to nod and tell her the painful truth that "reality is a mess."
But after swiping the elevator card, Jiang Chun corrected herself, saying, "No, I think you and Cen Sen are doing quite well. Cen Sen spoils you a lot."
...?
Ji Mingshu was unable to refute it for a moment.
Jiang Chun's apartment is not far from Bai Cui Tian Hua, about a ten-minute drive away. It is also in a prime location, but the commercial area is more densely populated here, so it can be a bit noisy at night.
But Jiang Chun herself really likes it; all the milk tea shops she loves are within a 500-meter radius.
Ji Mingshu was stunned as soon as she entered the door.
Jiang Chun proudly showed her around, "Look, look here, and here, these are all things I asked the designer to change. It was originally a fully furnished apartment, but the original design was too inhumane and ugly."
"Could it be uglier than what you changed?" Ji Mingshu looked at the wall of plastic flower sliding door wardrobes reminiscent of the rural-urban fringe, feeling as if he had been transported back to the 1990s overnight. "Are you planning to open a farm stay at home?"
Ji Mingshu looked at the ugly house that Jiang Chun treated like a treasure and didn't even know where to start.
But Jiang Chun was very stubborn, dragging her around with no interest in visiting the place, trying to change her aesthetic sense.
Ji Mingshu stopped in front of the bookshelf and looked at the books inside: "My Secret Makeup Techniques," "How to Capture His Heart," "How to Become a Beauty with Elegance," "One Hundred Ways to Improve Emotional Intelligence," "The Cold-Hearted CEO and the Quirky Angel"...
Seeing Ji Mingshu staring at the book with "CEO" in its title, Jiang Chun pulled it out and handed it to her, saying, "The title is a bit unpleasant, but it's actually quite good. Take a look."
Ji Mingshu avoided it like the plague, looking disgusted. "Take it away. I never look at this kind of stuff. What kind of taste do you have?"
Jiang Chun: "Really not reading them? How can a girl not read romance novels? You're so strange."
"I don't even read these old-fashioned, simplistic romance novels, okay?" Ji Mingshu muttered to himself, expressionless.
Jiang Chun even tried to persuade her to download the Jinjiang app, saying, "But I don't read paper books much anymore. Why don't you download the Jinjiang app? The novels on Jinjiang are quite good."
Ji Mingshu did not respond.
After touring the ugly house, the two sat on the sofa and chatted.
Ji Mingshu has never had a concept of time; as long as he's not sleepy, he can stay awake until dawn.
Jiang Chun suddenly reminded her, "G, it's almost midnight. Why don't you send your husband a message to let him know you're not home so late? He'll be worried about you."