Cen Sen raised his eyes, his voice cold and indifferent, "Do I look like someone who likes to joke around?"
"go out."
"You don't need to come anymore."
Male assistant: "..."
It seems the big boss only likes to show his interesting personality to his wife, who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. How humble! :)
When Cen Sen finished work and returned to the hotel that evening, Ji Mingshu had already returned to the hotel as well.
Upon seeing Cen Sen, Ji Mingshu only slightly raised his eyes, listlessly ignoring him.
One reason is that he was feeling down because he lost the battle;
Secondly, because I had my period, my physical condition was limited, so I couldn't go out and have fun. Being forced to stay in the hotel every day like a waiting-for-husband stone felt like playing a prison play, but only a prison play with no play.
Ji Mingshu wasn't one to sit still. After wearing a face mask for a while, she suddenly had a brilliant idea: since the show wouldn't start filming for another week, she could go back to the capital and have some fun first, and then come back to this shabby little place when it was time to film.
So she suddenly rushed out of the bathroom with a diatomaceous earth mask on her face to discuss it with Cen Sen. Cen Sen naturally had no objection to this, since his opinion was usually useless anyway.
The next morning, Cen Sen took Ji Mingshu to the airport.
On the way, Ji Mingshu was touching up her makeup when Cen Sen received a phone call.
The phone call didn't last long, and his replies were all quite brief, consisting of nothing more than a few interjections like "um," "ah," "oh," and "okay."
But after hanging up, he suddenly instructed the driver to turn around and gave a destination name, "Go to Xingda Faculty Apartments."
Ji Mingshu paused, a vague premonition already in her heart, "...Is something urgent?"
Cen Sen pressed his brow bone, and after a moment of silence, said, "I'm going to the An family's place. Why don't you come with me and have lunch?"
Ji Mingshu: "..."
He thought that by spending less time in Xingcheng, he could escape his fate as a spy, but at the last moment, he still couldn't avoid being caught in the middle and betraying his own side.
She tentatively suggested, "Then... how about you take me to the airport first and then go over? That won't take up too much time, will it?"
Five seconds later: "...Put me down, I can call a private car to the airport myself, it's not far anyway."
Ten seconds later: "Fine, whatever you want."
Ji Mingshu actually only wanted to be a beautiful, expensive vase and didn't want to delve into the story behind the aloof boss. However, she suddenly felt like fate had grabbed her by the throat.
Chapter 25
In fact, Ji Mingshu knew very little about the Cen family's past. It wasn't until her second year of junior high school that she accidentally learned that Cen Sen had a rather dramatic and bizarre background.
He and Cen Yang were switched at birth.
Ji Mingshu didn't know exactly how the baby was switched at birth or how it was discovered when she was seven or eight years old. She only remembered that her first feeling when she found out was shock.
The day before learning about this, junior high school student Shu Bao had just finished reading a romance novel about a rich girl who was deliberately switched at birth by a wicked nanny; the female lead was, of course, the real girl.
After watching it, she automatically put herself in the shoes of the fake prostitute, and even fantasized in her mind: what if she was switched at birth? What if when she got married, a white lotus ugly duckling suddenly appeared and tried to steal her identity, property and husband? Then she used all sorts of means but failed to defeat the white lotus heroine and ended up in a miserable, penniless and loveless tragic end.
My second thought was that Cen Sen was absolutely, utterly, utterly detestable!
It's said that the Cen family's initial idea was this: they wanted to bring Cen Sen back to be recognized as part of their family. As for Cen Yang, they had raised him for so many years and had developed a very deep bond with him; they would continue to raise him as their own child. The two brothers could also keep each other company, and the Cen family certainly didn't lack the small amount of money to raise children.
But to everyone's surprise, Cen Sen disagreed.
Despite his young age, he was unusually assertive, stating directly that if they wanted to take him back to the Cen family, Cen Yang had to leave.
The Cen family is a very traditional family. On the surface, they appear harmonious, but in reality, they favor sons over daughters and direct descendants over collateral branches, not to mention the distinction between relatives and bloodlines.
Therefore, when faced with a choice, the Cen family would definitely prioritize satisfying Cen Sen's demands as the true crown prince, and without any objection, they would directly sentence Cen Yang to exile.
Cen Yang was packed up and sent back to his family home in Xingcheng. The Cen family also gave the An family a large sum of money for their upbringing, allowing them to move abroad and forbidding them from ever setting foot in the capital or Xingcheng again until they reached adulthood. From then on, the Cen family in Jingjian consisted only of Cen Sen, and no one was allowed to mention Cen Yang again.
At that time, Ji Mingshu thought, "Why didn't you just come back? Why did you have to make Brother Cen Yang leave?" It turned out that Brother Cen Yang didn't go to study abroad, but was forced away by this male version of the ugly duckling.
This Ugly Duckling is far too ruthless. If she's this cruel at such a young age, what will she be like when she grows up?
She genuinely empathized with Cen Yang's character and felt his pain. She also genuinely disliked and loathed Cen Sen, this ruthless and taciturn iceberg. This truth can be said to be the direct trigger for Ji Mingshu's constant antagonism towards Cen Sen during her adolescence.
However, as she grew older, Ji Mingshu gradually forgot her childhood feelings for Cen Yang, and she became more and more able to think from Cen Sen's perspective.
In fact, from beginning to end, he was not the one who was wrong. No one has the right to stand by and watch the show, and even sympathize with his generosity.
The Maybach turned around at the airport and drove all the way to the faculty apartments of Star City University.
The closer Ji Mingshu got to Xingda University, the more nervous she became. Every now and then, she would raise a small mirror to check her makeup, and she would smooth her hair again and again to make sure it was as smooth as silk.
Before getting out of the car, she changed to a more understated lipstick color and pulled a trench coat out of the trunk to put on. She looked very serious and even more nervous than Cen Sen.
Unfortunately, she didn't have a mother-in-law, and Cen Yuanchao was in poor health, spending most of his time recuperating in his garden on the outskirts of Beijing, and visits weren't allowed. So she hadn't had much interaction with her in-laws or their generation.
An's parents raised Cen Sen for several years and accompanied him through the most innocent period of his childhood. No matter how little contact they had or how much they cut off communication, there must still be some affection between them.
Logically speaking, these two could be considered her half-father-in-law and half-mother-in-law. Moreover, they were both professors at Xingda University, so she was genuinely a little nervous about meeting them for the first time.
Ji Mingshu was so preoccupied with his own nervousness that he didn't notice Cen Sen's unusual silence along the way.
Standing in front of the old faculty apartment building at Xingda University, she tidied her makeup one last time, took out her wedding ring from her bag and put it on, then affectionately took Cen Sen's arm, perfectly embodying the image of a dutiful and virtuous wife.
However, this dutiful daughter-in-law was stumped when it came to going upstairs.
The Xingda faculty apartments have been around for who knows how many years. Not to mention that they don't have elevators, the stairs are really narrow, small, high, and steep.
Ji Mingshu happened to be wearing a pair of pointed, delicate, bling-bling CL shoes, and after climbing just two flights of stairs, she was already feeling quite unwell. Meanwhile, the An family lived on the impossibly far-off sixth floor. :)
"No, I can't take it anymore, I need to rest, I'm too tired."
On just three floors, Ji Mingshu had practically turned herself into a panting salted fish. She held onto Cen Sen, refusing to move an inch, resembling a professional con artist who could lie down and feign unconsciousness ten meters away on the street, begging for a hug.
Cen Sen glanced at her, said nothing, but walked down two steps, bent slightly, and said in a low voice, "Come up."
Ji Mingshu: "...?"
She rubbed her calves, still somewhat incredulous that this scoundrel had suddenly become human.
As they climbed to the sixth floor, Ji Mingshu dismounted from Cen Sen's back and quietly observed him: It was strange, as he hadn't seen Cen Sen exercise much, yet he carried someone up six floors in one go without even breaking a sweat.
Did he secretly take Xin Gai Zhong Gai brand high calcium tablets?
No, it must be because she is consistent inside and out, and as light as a canary.
The soundproofing in this old apartment building probably wasn't very good. The two of them had just gone upstairs when the very old-fashioned security door on the right creaked open from the inside.
A thin, handsome face peeked out from the doorway. "Excuse me, are you An...Cen, Brother Cen Sen?"
The girl looked to be around nineteen or twenty years old. Her hair was tied in a ponytail with a black hair tie. She had no makeup on and looked like a pure and simple female college student.
Cen Sen paused for a moment, then quickly regained his composure, nodded, and hummed in agreement.
The girl stared at Cen Sen for a long time without looking away, and when she saw Ji Mingshu behind him, she was even more stunned.
She had never seen such a beautiful woman in real life. She was so beautiful that she seemed to be glowing. Standing there, the whole building seemed to become more valuable.
The girl stood there dumbfounded for a long time before stammering as she led the two into the house.
This apartment is nearly 140 square meters, making it the largest unit in the entire Xingda faculty apartment complex. This is only possible because both of An's parents are professors, which allows them to secure such a spacious apartment.
However, just as a certain female celebrity said that anything under one carat is called a "broken diamond," in Ji Mingshu's concept, anything under 300 square meters can only be called a "broken house."
Upon entering the room, she was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of the era and the cramped space, feeling somewhat at a loss and unsure of where to stand.
She looked at Cen Sen expectantly, but Cen Sen ignored her. His gaze lingered on everything in the room, displaying a tenderness different from his usual demeanor.
After welcoming them in, the innocent-looking female college student, who seemed rather clueless, neither introduced herself nor served tea or water. Instead, she hurriedly went into the kitchen to inform Chen Biqing.
A short while later, Chen Biqing, An's mother, wearing an apron and with her hair already streaked with silver, rushed out of the kitchen.
Chen Biqing must have been a beauty in her youth. Perhaps it was her inner beauty, born of knowledge and refinement, that gave her an elegant, scholarly air, even in simple clothes and an apron. However, she didn't quite resemble a returned overseas Chinese who had immigrated over a decade ago; she possessed a weathered, experienced air.
The old apartment was very dusty. As the light shone in from the window, the dust particles were illuminated in beams, floating motionless in the air.
The apartment was quiet, with only the faint sound of the range hood coming from the kitchen.
Chen Biqing stood three or four meters away from Cen Sen, and her eyes reddened almost the instant she saw him.
She then covered her mouth, staring intently at Cen Sen, tears streaming down her face.
For some reason, at that moment, Ji Mingshu's heart felt as if it had been violently clenched.
This is so strange. She's the kind of person who can laugh and nitpick at plot holes in pure love movies, but for some reason, she feels that if she had a mother who loved her very much, the way she looked at her should be like Chen Biqing's.
She glanced at Cen Sen.
No expression.
He remained expressionless in the face of the person he had called "mother" for seven or eight years.
She felt that she would probably never see any more emotion on Cen Sen's face again in her lifetime.
At noon, dinner was served. Ji Mingshu did not see Cen Yang, whom she had not seen for many years, nor An's father, who should have been there. At the small square table, there were only Chen Biqing, Cen Sen and her, and Cen Sen's sister, An Ning.
When Cen Sen left, An Ning was only one year old, still a baby. The two didn't have much of a sibling bond, so naturally they had nothing to say to each other. Cen Sen was already silent, and Chen Biqing was constantly choking up, so she could only try to distract herself by picking up food from her plate. Thus, the responsibility of livening up the atmosphere fell to Ji Mingshu.
Ji Mingshu felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. She didn't know how to address Chen Biqing. She could call her by Cen Sen's name, but Cen Sen never did. It wouldn't be appropriate to chat about recent events either. Her intuition told her that An Ning's father and Cen Yang were landmines she couldn't step on. She even felt that asking An Ning where she was studying might be a sure way to trigger a landmine.
Since that's the case, we can only start a conversation about the dishes in front of us.
"This lotus root sandwich is so delicious! I've never had it before."
That's because she never eats fried food.
"This green vegetable is so fresh and smells wonderful."
—That's because it was fried with lard. She would never normally touch lard, a weight-loss killer.
"This fish is so tender..."
In an attempt to praise the fish, Ji Mingshu picked up a large piece and swallowed it whole.
The next second: "Cough! Cough cough!"
She suddenly grabbed Cen Sen's arm, pointed to her throat, and coughed until her face turned red.
Chen Biqing: "What's wrong? Are you stuck?"
Anning: "Sister-in-law, are you alright? Try swallowing a spoonful of rice, try to put some effort into it."