After being bitten, Cen Sen seemed to become more awake, and the restlessness in his heart slowly dissipated.
He braced himself against Ji Mingshu's waist, his fingertips slowly tracing across her bleeding lower lip as if he felt no pain. His eyes were fixed on Ji Mingshu, scrutinizing her inch by inch, as if admiring a delicate work of art.
After a while, he got up and stood by the bed, slowly straightening his collar, his gaze becoming calm.
"Your uncle and I both think you need to calm down. You stay here and are not allowed to go anywhere."
Ji Mingshu struggled to sit up in bed, but before she could get up, Cen Sen walked out of the bedroom, slammed the door shut, and locked it from the inside.
She paused for three seconds, then stepped forward and turned the doorknob without even putting on her shoes.
It's really locked.
Cen Sen locked her in this bedroom?!
Ji Mingshu stood at the door, feeling as if her brain was about to explode, her thoughts completely unable to keep up with the unfolding events.
Why won't Cen Sen let her leave?
Did he feel it was too unfair for Li Wenying to be branded as a mistress after she left? Or did he want to wait until the three-court trial was over so that the Ji family could settle accounts for all the money she had spent over the years?
This is absurd! In the 21st century, there are still people who lock their wives in a room when they can't win an argument. Is this imprisonment?
After leaving the room, Cen Sen stood at the top of the stairs, motionless for a long time. He closed his eyes, recalling the series of things he had just done, but he couldn't seem to find any logic in them at all.
The only thing he was clear about was that he couldn't let Ji Mingshu leave.
It seems that everything spiraled out of control from the moment Ji Mingshu uttered the word "divorce," from in Xingcheng, from boarding the plane, and from the moment he returned home without saying a word.
He rubbed his brow and called Zhou Jiaheng, "Junyi has no reason to withdraw its investment in Li Wenying's movie. Find another way to contact Li Wenying and send it to me."
Ten minutes later, he dialed the unfamiliar number that Zhou Jiaheng had sent him.
"Hello." The woman's voice was gentle and intellectual.
"I am Cen Sen."
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, then that gentle voice rang out again, "Oh, is there something you need? Did Ming Shu... say something to you?"
He went straight to the point: "Ms. Li, we dated for three months, and almost ten years have passed since then. I don't think there's anything between us that's worth making a movie about as a memento."
Li Wenying paused for a moment, then chuckled lightly, "These days, movies all need some kind of promotional strategy. Audiences won't buy into a movie without a story. You can rest assured, I won't reveal your identity, and I don't intend to ruin your relationship with Mingshu... if I did."
Cen Sen's voice was indifferent. "I'm not interested in these things. I'm only calling to let you know that you can continue filming, but my wife and I don't like being used for entertainment in any form by anyone. So, I can't guarantee that Ms. Li's movie will be released smoothly."
After saying that, he hung up the phone.
Chapter 40
The weather forecast is being updated in real time. It will rain in Beijing tomorrow, and the temperature will drop sharply to 8-10°C. Citizens are advised to keep warm and travel safely.
The temperature is not expected to drop sharply until tomorrow, but signs of it appeared tonight.
Ripples spread across Ming Shui Lake, and fallen leaves outside were swept up by the late autumn night wind, creating a hazy and desolate beauty under the warm yellow glow of the streetlights that shone throughout the night.
Cen Sen did not return to his bedroom or rest in the guest room all night.
After making that phone call, he leaned back on the living room sofa and closed his eyes, pretending to doze off.
The four windows on the south side are half-open, letting in the sparse night breeze and the rustling of leaves. If you listen carefully, you can also hear the low chirping of insects.
The upstairs area remained quiet throughout.
After he locked the door, Ji Mingshu did not cry out in despair, shout angrily, or kick or thrash the door in vain.
She was too tired.
After crying, my head felt very heavy, like a heavy lump of paste was piled up inside. It kept shaking and ached with every movement.
Her lips, neck, and cheeks still felt like they had been kissed fiercely, as if the warmth of Cen Sen's lips still lingered.
She curled up at the foot of the bed, hugging a pillow and burying her face in her hands.
She originally wanted to calm down and soothe the discomfort after the emotional rollercoaster, but unexpectedly, she hugged her pillow and fell asleep without realizing it.
It's probably because I think about it during the day and dream about it at night.
She dreamed of Li Wenying all night.
Li Wenying's father was the Ji family's driver. He and Ji Mingshu's parents died in a car accident while on their way to show affection for each other.
After he left, the Ji family, pitying that only his widow and orphan daughter remained in his home, gave him a generous compensation.
However, Li Wenying's mother refused, stating that her husband's death was an accident on his way to work, and the Ji family had done nothing wrong to him. She and her daughter had no reason to accept such a large sum of compensation. If it was out of a sense of guilt, she hoped the Ji family could provide her with a job so she could earn a living through her own labor.
Since she had said so, the Ji family readily agreed.
So later, this formidable woman naturally moved into the Ji family with Li Wenying, becoming the full-time nanny of Old Mrs. Ji. She even used the Ji family as a stepping stone to find a new husband who was far superior to her husband.
I remember when Li Wenying and her mother first arrived at the Ji family, everyone in the household took care of them. Li's father had worked for the Ji family for many years; even if he hadn't done anything particularly meritorious, he had certainly worked hard. Although he's gone now, the affection remains. When Li Wenying reached school age, Old Mrs. Ji even suggested that she go to the children's school with the other children in the compound.
Whether the Ji family genuinely helped her or didn't want to be seen as ungrateful, Li Wenying's life was indeed fundamentally changed because of the Ji family.
When they were children, Ji Mingshu argued with her and, provoked, said something he didn't mean. He once angrily pointed at her and yelled, "You're just a nanny's daughter, what right do you have to boss me around!"
Unfortunately, Old Mrs. Ji overheard this and scolded him severely, even slapping his palm.
At that time, Ji Mingshu did not understand that the reason why the old lady of the Ji family punished her was not because she had hurt Li Wenying by scolding her, but because she did not allow the girls of the Ji family to speak so rudely.
She was so angry! She hadn't done anything wrong; it was Li Wenying who came to mock her first, saying that she was shameless for playing with dolls at her age. But in the end, she was the one who got scolded and punished!
This kind of thing happened many times when he was a child, not only at home but also at school. Ji Mingshu suffered in silence many times and became much smarter. Gradually, he was no longer easily provoked by Li Wenying.
Moreover, in junior and senior high school, people are not as innocent as they were when they were young, and they pay more attention to family background and relatives.
In this respect, Ji Mingshu has a natural advantage. Sometimes, without her having to explain much, a group of people will spontaneously stand on her side.
But this doesn't mean that Li Wenying, during junior and senior high school, had no other way to keep haunting her:
Ji Mingshu and her roommate shortened their school uniform skirts, and the next day they were caught by Li Wenyin, who happened to be on duty during her shift, and had points deducted from their scores.
Ji Mingshu doesn't like sports and runs at a snail's pace, so Li Wenyin can easily overtake her by a lap and then mock her with disdain when she does.
Ji Mingshu told her friend that a certain senior was handsome, and a few days later, Li Wenying was chatting and laughing with that senior, eating together in the cafeteria, and discussing upperclassmen's problems...
All of these things continued to recur in Ji Mingshu's dreams.
The dream scenes shifted and became bizarre, and in the latter half, Cen Sen appeared beside Li Wenyin.
She seemed to be watching Li Wenying and Cen Sen from the perspective of a non-existent third person, watching them hold hands at the night market next to the school, watching Cen Sen gently rub Li Wenying's hair with a smile on his lips.
Even as she floated transparently and observed from the sidelines, she felt a subtle, bittersweet ache in her heart.
Cen Sen didn't know what Ji Mingshu was dreaming about. He only saw her lying on the bed, her body curled up like a tiny shrimp, her brows furrowed, and her hands tightly gripping the pillow.
He didn't turn on the room lights or make any noise. In the dim moonlight outside the window, he carried Ji Mingshu to the head of the bed and gently tucked her outstretched arms under the covers.
After doing all this, he sat quietly on the edge of the bed, looking down at Ji Mingshu's sleeping face.
He had a strong urge to reach out and touch it, but for some reason, his hand remained on the side of the bed and never lifted up.
After sitting for a while, he got up again, tucked the blanket around Ji Mingshu, and then silently left the room.
At three in the morning, the night wind subsided.
Begonias by the windowsill remain awake.
When Ji Mingshu woke up the next morning, her eyes were still sore and swollen. When she touched them, she could feel that her eyelids were slightly swollen and there was a slight stinging sensation.
Emotions come and go quickly.
She cried and made a fuss last night. When she woke up, she felt empty inside. When she thought about the scene in her dream, all her desires were very faint.
After sitting on the bed for a while, she got up and went to the bathroom to wash up quickly.
My phone, which is on silent mode, has been on the bedside table for a while now, but since yesterday afternoon, the screen has been lighting up every now and then because of new messages.
After washing up, she picked up her phone and glanced at it.
There were so many messages on WeChat, from acquaintances and strangers, some comforting, some probing—I didn't miss a single one.
She scrolled down but didn't reach the end, so she scrolled back up and saw the news that Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun were still unconditionally insulting Li Wenying for giving her advice late last night. Her heart warmed.
Gu Kaiyang was unaware of her changing feelings towards Cen Sen. He assumed she was just angry and upset because Cen Sen and Li Wenying had embarrassed her, and even created a meme: 【Shu Bao, don't be a coward, just do it.jpg】
Gu Kaiyang: [Rumors are circulating in your circle that you're getting a divorce?! Absolutely not! How can you let that scumbag and that little bitch get away with it so easily! Don't his grandparents like you a lot? Go to his grandparents today and cry your eyes out! They'll definitely step in and make him behave himself! Our baby, please don't get sick from all this anger!]
...
She read through them one by one, a slight smile playing on her lips, and sent a message to Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun: "I'm fine."
After sending the message, she suddenly paused, her fingertips pausing as she subconsciously glanced at the head of the bed.
No, she slept directly on the bed last night without a blanket. And she was curled up sideways at the foot of the bed, not at all as proper as she was when she got up.
For some unknown reason, Ji Mingshu put down her phone, walked to the bedroom door, and turned the doorknob.
Unlike last night when no matter how much force she used, the door wouldn't budge when she turned it, this time it opened with just a gentle twist.
The moment the door opened, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Cen Sen wasn't so perverted as to actually lock her in the house.
She cautiously peeked her head out.
There seems to be no one outside?
As you descend the spiral staircase, the sound of rain pattering outside fills the air.
There was a faint aroma of porridge coming from the direction of the central island. Ji Mingshu walked over and found that there was porridge warming in a small clay pot, which contained preserved egg and lean pork.
She hadn't eaten for nearly twenty hours, and couldn't help but pick up a small spoon and take a couple of bites.
She moved quickly, and after finishing her drink, she immediately put down the spoon and looked around. Only after confirming that no one was around did she lift the lid and continue scooping porridge.
Although she wasn't full yet, she was very restrained and only drank a shallow layer. She washed the spoon and put it back in its place, so that the change was not noticeable unless you looked closely.
Her phone was still receiving messages non-stop. She looked them over carefully, but there were none from Cen Sen, nor in her inbox.
What does he mean by that?
Have you figured it out? Let her go wherever she wants.
So this porridge is farewell porridge...?
Ji Mingshu sat in the living room for a while, still thinking about what happened yesterday.