Zhou Jiaheng frowned slightly upon hearing this news. "Where are the bodyguards?"
The driver replied, "They followed the lady into the mall, but I don't know if they can keep up."
Hearing that there were bodyguards protecting him, Zhou Jiaheng felt much more at ease. "I understand. Report to me immediately if anything happens."
He was about to accompany Cen Sen to meet Chi Li, the second young master of the Chi family in the west of the city, who had cultivated a persona of not fighting or vying for power for many years, but suddenly seized power and changed his ways.
Chi Li is no simple character. Zhou Jiaheng knew that Cen Sen had some personal ties with him, but he was not sure how deep the relationship was. So he was unsure whether he should bring up Ji Mingshu's matter with Cen Sen.
If Cen Sen were to lose his mind and abandon the huge investment in the Nanwan project for Ji Mingshu's sake, then Zhou Jiaheng would be the number one sinner of Jingjian.
But if Ji Mingshu really is causing trouble and he doesn't tell Cen Sen in time, then his days of packing up and leaving won't be long.
"what's on your mind."
Cen Sen stood in front of the car and glanced at Zhou Jiaheng, who was so lost in thought that he forgot to open the car door for him.
"Oh, no...it's nothing."
Zhou Jiaheng snapped out of his daze and hurriedly went to open the car door for Cen Sen.
After driving a short distance, Zhou Jiaheng struggled with his thoughts for a moment, but finally couldn't help reporting, "It's like this, Mr. Cen, Madam just went out and went to Huijia Department Store. However, the driver said that Madam seemed a bit off; she was wearing sunglasses and seemed a little nervous. He's worried that she might do something like she did last time, moving to Xinggang International without warning, so..."
Zhou Jiaheng was trying to find a more euphemistic way to describe "sneaky" and "run away from home," but Cen Sen interrupted him without even looking up, saying, "Don't worry, she won't run away from home."
Zhou Jiaheng: "..."
He vaguely remembered that when Ji Mingshu ran away from home last time, their CEO Cen was just as confident as he was about to go to the supermarket to buy ribs to cook at home.
Cen Sen paused, then suddenly instructed, "Contact Zhao Yang and have him arrange a thorough prenatal checkup in the next couple of days."
"...?"
What kind of sudden and bombshell news is this?
Zhou Jiaheng paused for a moment, then replied with a "Yes."
Ji Mingshu was unaware that her sneaky and roundabout way of buying a pregnancy test had become so unnatural that even the driver was on edge.
She followed the navigation, wandering aimlessly, until she reached a pharmacy across the street and bought a few pregnancy tests.
Just when she thought she had succeeded and could go home to test it, she suddenly received a slightly unexpected phone call from Cen Yang.
"Xiao Shu, I'm going back to America."
His voice was the same as when he first returned to China, only now it seemed to carry a hint of weariness amidst its gentle and clear tone.
Ji Mingshu paused for a few seconds before answering, "Why?"
Cen Yang remained silent.
Ji Mingshu belatedly realized that his question seemed somewhat redundant, so he asked again, "When?"
"Today, I am now getting ready to leave for the airport."
Just as he was about to get into the car, Ji Mingshu heard a short, sharp rustling sound from the suitcase wheels, followed by a loud "bang" as the trunk closed.
Cen Yang opened the car door and got into the driver's seat. "I probably won't be coming back this time."
A brief silence.
He continued, "Xiao Shu, I'm sorry. You may not know, but during the time I've been back, I have indeed done some things that were not good for you, and I'm really sorry."
Ji Mingshu wasn't stupid. Although Cen Sen hadn't told her, the timing of the incident and the subsequent interception was so coincidental that she had a premonition.
For some reason, she found it difficult to feel hatred towards Cen Yang, and even felt a little sad when she heard Cen Yang say that he would not come back.
It seems that those childhood days when I would play with Brother Cen Yang whenever I had nothing to do, and ask Brother Cen Yang for help whenever I needed it, are truly gone forever.
Ji Mingshu stood at the entrance of the pharmacy, and after a long silence, finally said, "I'll go to the airport to see you off."
Upon hearing that Ji Mingshu had gone to the airport, Zhou Jiaheng's heart was pounding. However, Cen Sen was discussing the specifics of the investment with Chi Li, and he was caught in a dilemma: interrupting was wrong, and not interrupting was also wrong. The struggle was a hundred times more difficult than before.
After struggling for about twenty minutes, Chi Li noticed Zhou Jiaheng's nervousness and unease. He lowered his eyes, adjusted his cufflinks, and said, "Your assistant seems to have something to say."
Cen Sen turned his head slightly.
Zhou Jiaheng couldn't care less about anything else. He bent down and whispered to Cen Sen, "Madam has gone to the airport."
After a moment of silence, Cen Sen suddenly picked up his phone and called Ji Mingshu, though the telephone was probably invented so that people could lose contact at crucial moments.
Seeing this, Chi Li quietly removed the cap from his pen, signed the contract at the end, and then gestured for the legal department to affix their seal across the seam.
"I've signed it, it won't hold you back."
Cen Sen didn't stand on ceremony, just grunted in response, then told Zhou Jiaheng to put away the contract and get up to leave.
Zhou Jiaheng paused for a few seconds before realizing that he had underestimated the friendship between the two.
Before he even left the private room, Cen Sen suddenly received a call from Cen Yang. Before Cen Yang could speak, Cen Sen asked, "Is Ming Shu with you?"
Cen Yang paused for a few seconds, then said, "Yes."
Cen Sen: "What do you want to do?"
Cen Yang: "What do you think?"
"Where is she?" Cen Sen asked in a low voice, his obvious nervousness evident.
Cen Yang remained silent. Actually, he had wanted to keep the conversation going and ask a few more questions, but he didn't know what to say next, so he simply asked, "Do you think I would kidnap her?"
At this moment, it was Cen Sen's turn to fall silent.
"Concern leads to confusion." Cen Yang uttered these four words and hung up the phone abruptly.
Ji Mingshu was completely dumbfounded.
What kind of riddle are they playing?
After deciding to see Cen Yang off at the airport, she reminisced about her childhood and felt sentimental for a while in the car. It wasn't until she entered the airport that she remembered to inform Cen Sen, but her phone was out of battery.
After meeting Cen Yang, the two chatted for a few minutes. She was still thinking about notifying Cen Sen, so she asked Cen Yang to lend her his phone to make the call.
Cen Yang asked her if she wanted to call Cen Sen, and she truthfully replied that she did. Then Cen Yang said he would make the call. Anyway, she just wanted to tell Cen Sen that she was coming to the airport to see Cen Yang off, so it didn't seem to matter who made the call, and she agreed.
And that's what he said?
Does this have to be such a wild imagination, even involving kidnapping?
And what's wrong with Cen Sen? Doesn't he even consider what might happen to her at the airport? Is he out of his mind?
These two seemed to be on completely different wavelengths from her. Cen Yang hung up the phone, put his hands in his pockets, and commented with considerable satisfaction, "Xiao Shu, he really cares about you."
Ji Mingshu nodded, but in her heart she thought, "If my husband doesn't care about me, why would he care about you?"
Cen Yang's flight was still early, and judging from the tone of his voice on the phone, Cen Sen seemed to be on his way to the airport, so Ji Mingshu chatted with Cen Yang for a while longer.
As Cen Yang was talking about his plans to help Chen Biqing and An Ning immigrate after returning to the United States, Ji Mingshu suddenly felt her hand being pulled back in a restrained manner. She was stunned for a moment, and before she could react, she fell into a familiar and warm embrace.
Cen Yang paused, swallowing the words he hadn't finished saying. He simply looked at the two people in front of him quietly, suddenly feeling that everything that had happened yesterday was like a dream. Many things had already been settled, but he was still clinging to things that didn't belong to him, wasting a lot of time in vain.
Fortunately, everything was a little late, but there was still time to get back to the starting point.
Chapter 87
The airport is bustling with people, and amidst the hustle and bustle of conversations and the rumble of suitcases, announcements are made, and electronic screens are updated in real time, showing farewells and reunions every moment.
Originally, Cen Sen's appearance was meant to mark the end of this farewell—Ji Mingshu slowly withdrew from his embrace, and Cen Yang also tactfully prepared to leave.
Suddenly, with a "thud," several unidentified objects inexplicably fell into Ji Mingshu's pocket.
Cen Yang was the first to react and helped pick it up, glancing at it with a rather interesting expression.
Cen Sen didn't care what it was, coldly snatched it away, and glanced at it.
Then the two of them looked at Ji Mingshu.
Ji Mingshu: "..."
The air was silent for several seconds before Cen Yang was the first to react. He coughed lightly and said gently, "Congratulations."
Ji Mingshu tucked her hair back and pursed her lips.
Although pregnancy is not something shameful, it's so embarrassing that the pregnancy test just fell out like that it was almost suffocating.
She glanced at Cen Sen seemingly casually, but little did she know that Cen Sen was staring at her intently.
She just wanted to end this awkward farewell as soon as possible. She took small steps over, took his arm, cleared her throat, and said to Cen Yang, "Well, you still have to go through security and customs. You should go in early. We won't see you off any longer. Let's meet again next time we're in the US."
Cen Yang nodded, said nothing more, and waved goodbye.
The airport was constantly receiving arriving flights, and planes were constantly taking off and flying away amidst the roar of engines.
After Cen Yang left, Cen Sen asked, "You went out so sneakily today just to buy this?"
"I wasn't acting suspiciously," Ji Mingshu awkwardly changed the subject. "By the way, what brings you here? Weren't you supposed to be discussing that investment today? Did you finalize it?"
Cen Sen: "The contract has been signed."
"That's good." She breathed a sigh of relief.
Cen Sen: "You haven't answered my question yet."
"What?"
Cen Sen lowered his eyes and glanced at the pregnancy test.
Ji Mingshu paused for a moment, then organized his thoughts to explain, "Well... I threw up this morning, and then Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun said I might be pregnant, so I thought I'd buy a test to check. It wouldn't be right for me to go to the hospital alone, right?"
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Weren't you going to talk about the contract? I originally wanted to get the test results first and then have you come with me to the hospital for the checkup."
Cen Sen paused for a moment, not dwelling on the topic any further. "I've already asked Zhao Yang to arrange the prenatal checkup. We'll go now."
It's all arranged so quickly?
But I didn't see him make a phone call.
A question mark slowly appeared in Ji Mingshu's mind.
After getting into the car with Cen Sen, she felt a little dazed and nervous.
Some people tend to talk a lot when they're nervous, and Ji Mingshu is one of them. After getting in the car, she kept muttering to herself, recounting everything that had happened since she received Cen Yang's farewell call.