Ji Sihuai is Ji Mingshu's older cousin. He works at a well-known university in the capital and was promoted to associate professor in his early thirties.
He laughed and replied, "There are quite a lot, not to mention graduate students, there are quite a lot of undergraduates too. Last year, a junior girl wanted me to be her advisor. I thought she was quick-witted and had good overall qualities, and I thought if she could get into graduate school, she could come to my lab. But before she even finished her junior year, she went straight to have a baby."
After listening with satisfaction, Ji Rubai looked at Ji Mingshu with a look that said, "Did you hear that? What I said is politically correct."
Immediately afterwards, Ji Rusong, her aunts, her cousins, and all of them turned to look at her, each with an expression that said, "Your second uncle is right."
Ji Mingshu held a mouthful of soup in his mouth but refused to swallow it.
Fortunately, Cen Sen spoke up gently to help her out of the predicament, saying, "Ming Shu is still young. We can prepare and take care of her health first. There's no rush to have a child in a year or two."
After saying that, he raised his wine glass slightly and toasted her uncles and cousins.
Since Cen Sen had already said that, no one could really offer any more advice. After all, no amount of nagging at their house every day could force them to have a baby.
After finally dealing with the Ji family, they went to Nanqiao Hutong for dinner that evening. The elders of the Cen family seemed to have been in cahoots with the Ji family, and after a few words, they brought up various examples to subtly probe the couple. When the two of them didn't respond, the elders directly asked when they planned to have children.
However, things were better for the Cen family than for the Ji family, because Cen Yingshuang returned home just in time for the New Year. This older unmarried woman was on the front line of being questioned by her elders, taking a lot of bullets for Ji Mingshu.
After the New Year's Eve dinner, night had fallen. The television was turned on, and the commercials were cheerful. The main house of the Cen family pavilion was filled with laughter. After finishing their meals, the younger generation all rushed out of the alley to get fireworks from the trunks of their cars. On their way back to the courtyard, they compared whose fireworks were newer and more sophisticated.
Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen chatted with the elders in the main room for a while. Ji Mingshu said she was a little full after dinner, so Cen Sen suggested taking her for a walk.
The adults teased the young couple for their affection. Ji Mingshu played along for three parts, but genuinely felt sweet inside. She said a few coquettish words to the elders, then got up and took Cen Sen's arm as they walked out.
The temperature in the capital city was very low on a winter night, and puffs of white breath could be seen in the air. The two of them strolled along the narrow alleyways.
Actually, the Ji family used to live in this alley, but they moved when I was in high school. More than ten or twenty years have passed, and this alley seems to be the same as it was when I was a child. The people are still the same, and the road is still the same.
Ji Mingshu saw the telephone pole at the alley entrance and suddenly pointed at it, saying, "Do you still remember it?"
Cen Sen looked at her.
"When I was a kid, my classmates and I often played hopscotch here. The hopscotch could be detached, so we would often fix one end to this utility pole."
"Then one time after we were divided into groups, we were short one person to stand there holding up the rubber band. You just came home from school, so I asked you to help out."
"Do you remember how cold you were back then! You gave me that icy look, didn't even utter a sound, and just went straight home. I was so angry! I argued with you and my classmates for a long time!"
"Really?" Cen Sen thought for a moment. "I don't remember."
Ji Mingshu rolled her eyes at him, silently thinking to herself: There are plenty of things you don't remember.
She took this opportunity to thoroughly expose Cen Sen's past transgressions. She recounted how she had sincerely wanted to be friends with him, but he had coldly rejected her and continued to do all sorts of outrageous things.
Cen Sen listened attentively but remained silent throughout, because he genuinely didn't remember much of what Ji Mingshu had said.
For the first two years after arriving in Nanqiao Hutong, he was still immersed in the world of his father, mother, and little sister and couldn't break free from it. Even when he heard his classmates call his name at school, he would be particularly resistant and would always silently correct himself in his heart: My name is not Cen Sen, my name is An Sen.
His English teacher gently asked him if he had an English name, and if not, she could help him choose one. Without hesitation, he wrote "Anson" on the registration form, and he has used this English name ever since.
Although he doesn't remember what Ji Mingshu said, he probably didn't trust or care about the world at the time, so he probably couldn't accept Ji Mingshu's well-intentioned but obviously "ulterior motives".
However, listening to Ji Mingshu list his hundred sins from childhood, Cen Sen suddenly remembered something Jiang Che had said before—
"Do you remember when you first came to Nanqiao Hutong as a child, Ji Mingshu really liked you and would bring you snacks to play every day?"
...
"Of course she did. Back then, Shu Yang used to laugh at her every day, saying she was heartless for forgetting Cen Yang so quickly."
Cen Sen turned his head and said, "Jiang Che said that when I first came to Nanqiao Hutong as a child, you liked me very much."
Ji Mingshu, who was still rambling on, suddenly paused, "Yeah, it's that kind of liking based on aesthetics, you know?" Ji Mingshu didn't deny it, but carefully explained.
"Have I become ugly?"
"...?"
"Really? If you're considered ugly as a result, how are others supposed to live?"
Ji Mingshu never hesitated to praise Cen Sen's appearance, as it was a form of affirmation of her aesthetic sense. Even when she unilaterally started a conflict right after their marriage, she would eventually say something harsh: "For the sake of this face, I'm too lazy to argue with you!"
Cen Sen seemed to chuckle, then asked, "So, do you still have feelings for me based on my looks?"
"..."
Trying to trick people into revealing information like that will get you thrown into a pig cage!
The two had reached the telephone pole at the alley entrance. Ji Mingshu's lips were tightly pursed, and her heart was pounding uncontrollably, but she didn't say a word.
A cold wind brushed my face at the alley entrance, and the streetlights on the long street cast dappled shadows, reflecting the snowflakes that suddenly fell in the dead of night, as well as the innocent faces of children across the street laughing and chasing each other while waving sparklers.
As Ji Mingshu was pondering how to answer, Cen Sen suddenly hugged her from behind, wrapping her entirely in his coat. His hands moved from behind to the front, encircling her waist. His lips brushed against her ear, cool and moist, with a hint of tickle.
Ji Mingshu's face flushed, and she flinched slightly.
To be honest... this goes a bit beyond the scope of affection expected from an arranged marriage, and actually, it seems like it has gone a bit too far before...
She had been trying to restrain herself from overthinking, partly because she was afraid that her feelings for Cen Sen were clouding her judgment, and partly because she was afraid that if she asked, she would get a disappointing answer.
But now she clearly felt that it wasn't her overthinking.
"Then, then answer me first."
"Um?"
"You...do you like me?" She didn't pause after asking, quickly explaining, "It's not that I'm narcissistic, it's just that you've been a little too nice to me lately. If you don't like me, it's your fault, because you've given me this kind of illusion, you know? Like before, because I rushed back from Paris early, and you bought me this and that..."
"You just realized that?"
Chapter 68
In fact, when Ji Mingshu looked back later, that New Year's Eve was quite ordinary.
Cen Sen hugged her for a while at the alley entrance. The snow fell more and more heavily, and the two of them walked back hand in hand along the path they had come out for a walk.
Back in the courtyard house, they watched the Spring Festival Gala with the elders in the main room for a while. Around midnight, they shared dumplings, but she couldn't eat any more and secretly gave most of them to Cen Sen.
Later, when the snow stopped, Cen Sen accompanied her outside to build a snowman. She used a twig to write "I like you" in the snow and tugged at Cen Sen to look at it. But after Cen Sen looked at it, he still wanted to hear her say it, so she shamelessly said it. The two cuddled in front of the snowman for a while, then went back to their room and snuggled in bed together, playing on their phones, chatting and laughing.
Cen Sen's smiles are always very gentle, his expression relaxed, the corners of his lips slightly upturned, and he rarely shows his teeth. But when someone who doesn't usually smile does smile occasionally, it makes them seem especially kind.
Later on, they didn't do anything inappropriate for children. When they got tired of chatting, they would hug each other and fall into a deep sleep.
It was such an ordinary night that Ji Mingshu woke up the next day and sat blankly on the edge of the bed, unable to tell whether it was real or a dream.
She once thought that some people might not be born with the ability to love, and that it was rare for them to even have a one-sided crush. But on New Year's Eve, the one-sided crush she had finally managed to send out suddenly received a response from the other person.
While brushing his teeth, Ji Mingshu, still with a mouthful of white foam, turned his head and asked indistinctly, "Did you say you liked me last night? Am I dreaming?"
Cen Sen had finished washing up; his bangs were slightly damp, and he looked clean and refreshed.
Seeing that Ji Mingshu's hair was messy and she was looking up at him with her little face asking questions, he took another glass of water and handed it to her, saying, "Brush your teeth properly."
Then he wrung out another towel.
Ji Mingshu stared intently, originally thinking that Cen Sen had suddenly changed his personality after confessing his feelings, and even knew to wring out a towel to wipe her face.
But she was secretly pleased for less than three seconds when she saw Cen Sen slowly wiping the toothpaste foam that she had accidentally sprayed on his clothes with a towel.
Ji Mingshu: "..."
She's so disgusted by a little toothpaste foam. How can she believe that this jerk truly loves her, will share joys and sorrows with her, stay by her side, have children, and spend the rest of her life with her?
Before she could voice her question from the depths of her soul, Cen Sen wrung out a towel and wiped her face.
His movements were neither gentle nor skillful, but they were meticulous.
After wiping her face, he leaned down slightly and kissed her on the cheek. "It's not a dream."
His lips were icy cold, and they smelled of mint toothpaste.
Pink bubbles rose little by little from the bottom of my heart.
Ji Mingshu nodded slowly, then turned to face the mirror, silently rinsed his mouth quickly, and decided to suppress the question he had just had deep in his soul.
The Cen family has a tradition of staying up all night on New Year's Eve. At this time of day, most of the adults have just gotten out of bed. Apart from Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen, only a few energetic little kids are sitting in the dining room.
With no elders around, Ji Mingshu didn't pay much attention to etiquette and even browsed Weibo while eating.
After the recent controversy surrounding her allegedly maliciously edited photos took a dramatic turn, she gained a whopping 400,000 followers on Weibo. Even after the incident subsided, she deleted all her Weibo posts, yet her follower count continued to grow steadily, and her private messages were flooded with questions about whether she was considering debuting, why she deleted her Weibo posts, and when she would start a new business…
Normally, female celebrities can gain more fans and generate more buzz by creating a fake "rich and beautiful" persona. So, it's quite intriguing to have a real, genuine, and highly individualistic top socialite right in front of you.
Ji Mingshu originally didn't want to appear in public much, hoping that everyone would forget about this matter soon and stop bringing her up in public every now and then.
But while things have calmed down on her end, the ongoing feud between Yan Yuexing and the production team continues like a never-ending drama. As one of the key figures in the incident, it's impossible for her to completely withdraw from the gossip and discussions anytime soon.
Plus, she was so eager to show off last night! The moment Cen Sen confessed his love to her, she wanted to announce to the whole world, "The person I love loves me too! I, Ji Shushu, am the happiest woman in the world! No arguments allowed!!!"
So after showing off on her WeChat Moments, she couldn't resist posting a photo of the two of them holding sparklers on Weibo, with the caption: "New Year's Eve spent with Mr. Cen."
She was limited by Weibo's traffic restrictions, and after posting, she only saw a few scattered responses, so she didn't bother to keep an eye on it.
But when you look at it now, her Weibo post showing off her love has already received over 5,000 reposts, likes, and comments, and there's even a small blue "Hot" label in the upper left corner.
Ji Mingshu hadn't used Weibo much and didn't know that this was the logo that appeared when someone bought her followers. She thought she was really amazing and had made it to the top of the trending list on her own merits.
So she rested her chin on her hand, scooping soup with a small spoon, and said to Cen Sen in a huff, "I have 500,000 followers on Weibo now. Any post I make can go viral, did you know that?"
Cen Sen gave a perfunctory "hmm" without even looking up.
He was wearing a loose black sweater and light gold-rimmed glasses early in the morning. He was sitting opposite Ji Mingshu, eating breakfast and reading financial news on his tablet. He looked casual and relaxed.
But this casual and homely demeanor, coupled with that half-hearted "hmm," instantly turned into indifference towards her, a blogger with 500,000 followers!
She suddenly stood up, moved closer to Cen Sen, and stuffed her half-eaten bun into his mouth, saying in a half-coquettish, half-warning tone, "Let me tell you, if you ever dare to treat me badly again, I'll post you on Weibo!"
"..."
Cen Sen put down his tablet, his long, slender fingers holding a steamed bun, chewing slowly and carefully. After finishing, he lowered his eyes and asked, "When have I ever been unkind to you?"
Ji Mingshu grabbed his arm, speaking with righteous indignation, "I was talking to you just now and you were watching the news the whole time. Isn't that just being mean to me and not caring about what I said?"
Her face clearly said, "Your little wife is very unhappy right now." Cen Sen took a sip of soup, rubbed her head, and slowly said, "You'll correct that in the future."
Ji Mingshu was finally satisfied. He then picked out the comments under his Weibo post that were shouting "The president's wife is so beautiful" and "The president's wife wants to debut," and broadcast them to Cen Sen in real time, trying to put some pressure on him so that he would realize just how popular his beautiful wife really was.
Several little kids who were also having breakfast nearby were eyeing the two of them and whispering among themselves in a corner of the round table.
Male Radish Head #1: "Never marry someone like my aunt in the future, she's terrifying!"
Male Radish Head #2: "Brother, you too. I think Dad is right. Being pretty isn't everything. We need to look at inner qualities."