Even if she were to suffocate in the toilet today, she would never risk being called a pervert for using the men's restroom when there are other people outside!
She stubbornly squatted there for a long time, and as time passed, Ji Mingshu didn't know how many knocks she had silently blocked. In short, she had lost all feeling in her lower body.
After a long time, the restroom suddenly fell silent.
Ji Mingshu's heart was revived, thinking that there was finally no one outside.
But the moment she tried to stand up, there were several more knocks on the door: "Knock knock knock."
Despairing :)
She squatted on the ground, hugged her knees with both hands, buried her head in them, and didn't say a word.
"Ji Mingshu, open the door, it's me."
Chapter 11
The voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but slightly lowered, carrying a familiar calmness.
Ji Mingshu's mind went blank!
How is that possible?
What's he doing here?
As if to test the possibility with her, Cen Sen knocked on the door again.
"If you don't open it, I'm calling for help."
"No!" Ji Mingshu reflexively spoke up to stop him.
Jiang Chun chimed in at this moment, shouting into the men's restroom, "Ji Mingshu, you can come out now! Your husband has cleared the area, there's no one outside!"
Ji Mingshu: "..."
Please, rather than have this jerk see her in this pathetic state, she'd rather rush out before he even arrives, or just flush herself down the drain and disappear from the face of the earth!
This girl has been standing outside for so long without offering any help, and she's even attracted the last person she wants to see come and make a fool of herself. What is she doing? Is she out of her mind? Does heartbreak come with a brain-draining debuff?
Cen Sen was clearly not very patient. Seeing that she remained silent and motionless for a long time, he was about to call his assistant, "Zhou Jiaheng..."
"etc!"
Ji Mingshu raised his voice to drown out his own, and promptly reached up, groping upwards, and laboriously tried to pull the door latch.
The next second, the cubicle door opened gently outwards.
Cen Sen lowered his eyes and saw Ji Mingshu squatting on the ground, looking weak, pitiful, and helpless.
She hugged her knees with both hands, burying her face tightly in her arms, but Cen Sen could still vaguely see her bright red ears through the gaps in her hair.
Before Cen Sen could speak, Ji Mingshu said in a muffled voice, "My legs are numb, I can't stand up."
She's quite good at taking the initiative.
Cen Sen remained indifferent and did not respond.
Ji Mingshu waited for a long time without seeing any action. She didn't know if this jerk was pretending not to understand and wanted to see her make a fool of herself, or if he was just too clueless and didn't understand what she meant. So she had no choice but to bite the bullet and directly order, "Carry me out."
Cen Sen stood there without moving, seemingly lost in thought.
Ji Mingshu felt uneasy, fearing that he was deliberately trying to embarrass him.
Fortunately, after a few seconds of silence, Cen Sen finally made a move.
He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, took off his suit jacket, and covered her head with it.
Then he leaned forward slightly, wrapped one arm around her slender shoulder, and slipped the other arm under her legs to hold her shapely legs, lifting her up in a scoop.
In the instant her body was suspended in mid-air, Ji Mingshu's legs felt extremely numb and tingly, as if thousands of tiny insects were gently stinging her. Then, Cen Sen caught her and lifted her up, instantly intensifying the numbness and tingling; she wondered if he was doing it on purpose.
The restroom was temporarily cleared out by Cen Sen, and it was very quiet inside. Once outside, the sounds of conversation, laughter, and the rolling of suitcases blended together, making it noisy.
Ji Mingshu felt extremely guilty at the moment, and felt that everyone was pointing fingers at her. She didn't care about the ridicule she would have to endure from Cen Sen afterward. Her body instinctively shrank into his arms, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, as timid as a quail, without saying a word.
Cen Sen had a faint, clean scent of fir trees about him. Ji Mingshu nestled against his chest and unconsciously took a few more deep breaths.
Cen Sen noticed this, glanced at her, but didn't say anything.
Outside, Jiang Chun was exchanging luggage with Zhou Jiaheng. Seeing Cen Sen completely blocking Ji Mingshu and giving him a princess carry with maximum boyfriend power, she felt envious and jealous, and silently cursed Yan with two scissors in her heart.
Actually, she had always thought that Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen were a typical arranged marriage, showing affection when they needed to appear together, and otherwise doing their own thing and ignoring each other.
But after witnessing this scene today, she realized that she had been blinded by jealousy before, presuming that other people's marriages would be unhappy without knowing anything. It was simply too malicious. She was clearly a kind person, so when did she become so vicious?
On the way to the parking lot, Jiang Chun followed behind them, silently reflecting.
Sitting in the back seat, she watched Cen Sen carry Ji Mingshu into the car and drive away. Suddenly, she tore off the matching couple's watch she wore with Yan and thought angrily: Today is another day when lemons bloom and bear fruit. Scumbag, go to hell!
The sun shines brightly outside the window. In the sweltering summer of the capital, the sun is scorching and the air is stuffy and dry.
Sitting in the car, Ji Mingshu still covered her head with Cen Sen's suit jacket and remained silent.
Cen Sen ignored her and kept talking on the phone with his business partners.
After finally finishing his work call, his home phone rang again. He glanced at the caller ID, then at Ji Mingshu, and pressed speakerphone.
"Ah Sen, have you picked up Xiao Shu yet?"
Upon hearing Grandma Cen's strong and resonant voice, Ji Mingshu's ears perked up instantly.
Cen Sen hummed in agreement. "I received it."
Grandma Cen urged from across the table, "Then hurry up and come over! Aunt Zhou has cooked a huge feast today, all your favorite dishes are included!"
Wait, going to eat in Nanqiao Hutong? She's going to eat in Nanqiao Hutong looking like a stinky ghoul?
Ji Mingshu suddenly popped out from under his suit jacket, shaking his head repeatedly at Cen Sen.
Cen Sen looked at her with a calm gaze and said nothing.
In a moment of quick thinking, Ji Mingshu moved closer to him and tentatively massaged his shoulders and back.
After enjoying a massage for more than ten seconds, Cen Sen switched hands to hold his phone and said, "Grandma, I have to attend a meeting tonight. Xiao Shu is still jet-lagged and a bit tired. She fell asleep in the car."
"I see." Grandma Cen was very understanding. "Then you can take Xiao Shu home to rest first, and come over for dinner next time."
"good."
Grandma Cen added, "Don't work too hard, take good care of your health."
Cen Sen responded with another "Okay".
Ji Mingshu finally breathed a sigh of relief after the phone call ended, and stopped massaging her shoulders and back. She quickly returned to her seat as if nothing had happened.
Cen Sen was probably used to her ruthless temper and didn't take it seriously. Ji Mingshu herself, however, felt a little guilty and kept looking out the window, refusing to turn her head.
But the more she looked, the more something seemed off—
That's not right, this is the way back to Mingshui Mansion.
She realized what was happening and turned to glare at Cen Sen, but Cen Sen had already crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair to rest with his eyes closed.
Cen Sen had been on a business trip for the past two days and had just flown back to the capital from Changsha two hours ago. After getting off the airport expressway, he received a call from Nanqiao Hutong and learned that Ji Mingshu was returning to China today.
He asked Zhou Jiaheng to check the flight schedule, and coincidentally, the flight back from Paris had just landed.
So he instructed the driver to turn around and go back to the airport, intending to pick up Ji Mingshu and go to Nanqiao Hutong for dinner.
He was originally sitting in the car, waiting for Zhou Jiaheng to get out and pick him up. Unexpectedly, instead of meeting Zhou Jiaheng, Zhou Jiaheng called, and he heard a young woman on the other end of the line shout, "Mr. Cen, your wife is trapped in the men's restroom and can't get out!"
Recalling that scene, Cen Sen subconsciously rubbed his brow bone.
It was already dusk when Ji Mingshu returned to Mingshui Mansion. He wrapped himself in a suit and walked inside, never taking off his sunglasses and keeping his lips tightly pressed together.
She walked quickly, and as soon as she entered the house, she went straight up to the bathroom to turn on the water and take a shower.
Upon hearing the sound of water, Cen Sen only glanced up before continuing to change his shoes.
As he walked to the refrigerator to get some water, another series of piercing screams came from upstairs, "Aaaaaaah!!!"
The scream was clearly not due to accident or fear. Although it was only a short syllable, Cen Sen could hear the deep frustration and regret in it: "How could I have done such a stupid thing?", "My lifelong reputation has been ruined like this?", "Mom, let me die again."
He chuckled softly and took another sip of water.
Cen Sen held a video conference downstairs, which lasted for nearly two hours.
Seeing that there was no more noise coming from upstairs, Cen Sen went upstairs to take a look and found that Ji Mingshu was still in the bathroom.
He knocked from the outside, "Ji Mingshu?"
"what."
"Have you become addicted to spending time in the toilet?"
He had barely finished speaking when the glass door was pushed open with a thud.
Ji Mingshu wore a hair drying cap and was only wrapped in a bath towel. After removing her makeup, her face was clean and clear, with a rosy glow from the steam. Her collarbone, arms, and calves were all fair and slender, making her look both innocent and sexy.
She walked out barefoot, and deliberately moved closer to Cen Sen, "Smell it, is there still any smell?"
She didn't know if she was just imagining things because of the smell in the men's restroom, but she felt like she smelled terrible all over.
Cen Sen's voice was slightly lower, "Yes."
"?"
Ji Mingshu immediately wanted to lower his head to sniff again.
Cen Sen, who hadn't had any relief for days, was easily tempted. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he suddenly pulled Ji Mingshu close, pressing her against himself. His hand moved from her back to her tailbone, and he whispered in her ear, "Trying to bribe me?"
"???"
What's the line of thinking?
Ji Mingshu's mind went blank for a moment, followed by a dizzying sensation. She felt herself being suddenly lifted into the air and then suddenly thrown onto the bed.
It wasn't until she lay down beneath Cen Sen and felt a chill in front of her that she realized Cen Sen meant she had deliberately seduced and bribed him to stop mentioning the men's restroom incident to save face?
Excellent! No wonder she's a Harvard graduate; her thinking is so brilliant. How come she didn't think of that?
Ji Mingshu suddenly put her arm around Cen Sen's neck and asked matter-of-factly, "Then if I bribe you, will you accept?"
Cen Sen's eyes held a visible desire, and his voice rolled and became very low.