My Queen, My Rules - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Pei Xiyan was a genuine, bona fide star-child. His mother was the household-name film queen Su Cheng, who held an exceptionally high status in the industry, while his father’s identity remained a mystery, constantly speculated upon by the outside world.

Some guessed his father was Su Cheng's second husband, a certain jewelry tycoon; others in the know leaked that he was her first husband, a certain high-ranking official in the Beijing circle. The leaks even claimed that Su Cheng would soon remarry that very official.

Pei Xiyan had first become known to the public when Su Cheng brought him onto an outdoor parent-child variety show at the age of six. He had striking looks and, despite his young age, a very distinct personality. As soon as the show aired, he had captured a massive crowd of "older sister" and "mom" fans.

Unfortunately, he didn't appear in the public eye for many years afterward. He was only occasionally photographed with Su Cheng or made cameos in film works, lingering on the extreme fringes of the entertainment circle.

Last year, the film The Last Time, in which he played the teenage version of the protagonist, unexpectedly became a massive hit in both box office and critical acclaim. Overnight, the once-rebellious, aloof boy re-entered the public consciousness. Not only had he grown up well, he was handsome to an infuriating, heaven-defying degree. Naturally, he easily harvested a vast number of young girls' hearts, and his popularity skyrocketed like a rocket.

Although Ji Mingshu was no longer a young girl, she was among those harvested.

She didn't know much about fan culture—airport pickups, voting, and the like were all quite foreign to her—but last year, in order to see Pei Xiyan, she had even shamelessly followed her cousin to sneak a meal at Bureau Chief Pei's house.

Pei Xiyan happened to be home at the time. He gave them a cold, indifferent greeting, grabbed a bag of ice-cold milk, and went upstairs, never coming down for lunch.

If that had been Cen Sen, Ji Mingshu would have already mentally slapped him with a series of negative labels like "impolite," "low EQ," or "cold and arrogant." But because it was Pei Xiyan, Ji Mingshu only felt that her "baby boy" had such personality! He was so rebellious! He was so edgy! He was so youthful! Loved it, loved it!

"Do you think I should wear this? Does it look dignified and professional?"

Ji Mingshu changed into a skirt suit, twirled in front of the full-length mirror, and turned to ask Cen Sen.

Cen Sen lifted his eyes for a glance, his voice extremely faint, "You look like a real estate agent."

"......?"

Was there ever a real estate agent this beautiful?

After being told that by Cen Sen, Ji Mingshu examined herself more closely and felt that the skirt was indeed a bit too professional.

She proceeded to change into four or five more outfits, but every time she asked Cen Sen, he would find fault with them.

"Too tight."

"The color is too gaudy."

"Are you going to a talent show?"

Having been criticized repeatedly, Ji Mingshu finally ran out of patience.

She dumped all the clothes from her suitcase onto the bed and snapped, "Then you choose! You choose, you choose, you choose!"

If you don't pick out a good-looking outfit, you should just commit hara-kiri!

Cen Sen paused slightly, put down his document, and pointed to a black tracksuit, "This one is nice."

Ji Mingshu: "?"

"You are going to do interior design, so of course you should wear clothes that are casual and convenient."

Ji Mingshu: "..."

No, I’m not going to do interior design; I’m going to protect my baby boy : )

The second recording was three days later. After much deliberation, Ji Mingshu decided to wear the shirt-dress that Cen Sen said looked a bit tight.

She felt that this shirt-dress perfectly outlined her curvaceous, delicate, and charming figure, making that little drama queen from the girl group look invisible by comparison. At the same time, it embodied her professionalism, elegance, and elite status as an interior designer.

It was just that since Cen Sen said the dress looked a bit tight, she figured she might have been a bit indulgent with her diet lately, so she arranged a lighter menu for herself and even did a day of intermittent fasting in between.

On the day of the recording, Ji Mingshu changed into the dress at the hotel and spun in front of the mirror, feeling that only two words could describe it: perfect.

She winked at the mirror and held her hands in a gun-shooting gesture.

Coincidentally, Cen Sen had just come out of the bathroom, his hair still dripping wet.

The two stared at each other in silence through the mirror for thirty seconds. Ji Mingshu suddenly remembered the previous disaster at Bo Cui Tian Hua. Perhaps her IQ had dropped along with her weight from being hungry these past few days; she asked nonsensically, "...Do you... want to hear me sing a rap for you?"

"..."

"No."

The second recording of The Designer took place directly on-site at the house.

The house Ji Mingshu’s group was to renovate was a school-district property in the old city area of Star City, with a construction area of eighty-nine square meters. The owners were a newlywed couple.

The house was an old property left behind by the woman's parents, and the decor was very dated.

The newlyweds' request was to renovate this old house into a sweet world for two that had an artistic atmosphere and a nostalgic feel, while also reserving one room that could easily be converted into a nursery once they had a baby.

Ji Mingshu had seen other groups' design challenges. Other groups always had challenges like "the family has sick elderly and children, so it must be convenient for their lives" or "the area is outrageously small, but it still has to be used like three square meters for every one," which were points of interest that allowed for deep exploration and showcased the art of spatial design.

By comparison, the challenge assigned to their group had no explosive difficulty, no tear-jerking backstory behind it; one could say it was utterly mediocre with no highlights at all.

The camera crew followed them from the moment they got off the car.

It was just the time for elementary school students to go to school, and a large crowd of students stood in a line crossing the street.

The drama queen Yan Yuexing immediately cupped her face with starry eyes and began her performance—it was nothing more than saying how much she missed her elementary school life and how interesting it was back then, while also revealing a sense of superiority about how popular she was with the boys in elementary school.

Ji Mingshu felt that such irrelevant conversation would definitely be cut by the editors later, so she couldn't be bothered to engage, focusing only on the hope of seeing Pei Xiyan as soon as possible.

Half an hour later, after Ji Mingshu, Feng Yan, and Yan Yuexing had finished observing the old house, Pei Xiyan’s nanny van finally appeared downstairs in the residential compound.

Hearing the director’s team talking from afar that Pei Xiyan had arrived, Ji Mingshu and Yan Yuexing secretly pulled out small mirrors to tidy their makeup.

"Pei Xiyan, Pei Xiyan!"

"He's really handsome!"

"Did you bring the photo? Let's go over later and get an autograph."

"I brought it, I brought it!"

The makeup and costume assistants were also whispering and discussing excitedly.

Ji Mingshu didn't even blink, staring at the cold, aloof teenager who was taking off his mask as he walked inside, her little heart thumping wildly.

Although Pei Xiyan was only sixteen or seventeen, his height was already nearing 1.8 meters. At this rate, he would probably reach 1.85 meters by the time he finished his college entrance exams. He had that sense of clarity unique to youth.

Introduced by the director, he shook hands and greeted his partners one by one.

When it was Ji Mingshu’s turn, she put on the perfect smile she had practiced for three days, looking at him with beaming eyes, her voice gentle and reserved, "Hello, I really like your work."

Pei Xiyan lifted his eyes, swept a glance at her, and responded with polite detachment, "Hello, older sister."

The handshake was just a light, fleeting touch—the sensation wasn't even very perceptible. After withdrawing her hand, Ji Mingshu stood near Feng Yan, pretending to be casual as she tucked away a stray hair.

Ahhhh! Yan-zai! Older sister loves you! Mom loves you! Mom won't wash her hand ever again, woooo! This is the feeling of an electric shock! I feel like I've become ten years younger in a second!

While Ji Mingshu’s heart was fiery and her surface calm, the director had already started explaining the next recording content and the simple shooting of sponsor advertisements. Ji Mingshu didn't hear it particularly clearly; she was still in a dazed, dizzy, and lightheaded state.

Feng Yan handed her a script card. She remained absent-minded, looking at Pei Xiyan first before finally looking at the content of the card.

"Let design walk into the home, Junyi Yaji, your..."

Wait, what the hell?

Ji Mingshu paused, looking closely.

"What is this Junyi?"

Feng Yan, being helpful, whispered back, "It’s the same Junyi from Junyi Zhanghua and Junyi Shuiyunjian. I heard their group poured money into sponsoring our show in order to launch a new brand of hotels."

Ji Mingshu: "..."

She remembered. The issue of naming had been mentioned in that document about the designer hotels back then.

There had been over a dozen options. She hadn't recognized it at first glance, but now it suddenly clicked—"Yaji" was indeed one of them.

In other words, Junyi was the sponsor of this show.

The Cen-family Sensen was the sponsor of this show.

Very well : ) This dog-man’s mouth was tighter than the hole in a pair of denim jeans that had been sewn up. Since he was so good at keeping secrets, why didn't he go to the Ministry of State Security or go abroad to be a spy?

Ji Mingshu took thirty seconds to calm down; for some reason, she felt dizzy and nauseous.

After suppressing that wave of discomfort, she encouraged herself to think on the bright side—wasn't this just "fan-girling on public funds"? There was nothing wrong with that. Right, nothing wrong with that.

Ji Mingshu secretly asked Feng Yan to fill her in on the class she had just missed.

It turned out the director had just said that the main task for today was to set the preliminary renovation plan and distribute tasks like running to the market to buy materials and finding construction teams.

In principle, the production team would provide a one-hundred-thousand-yuan fund for hardware decoration and a one-hundred-thousand-yuan fund for soft furnishings, so renovation costs wouldn't be an issue.

However, each family had wished for a new home gift. The director hinted: in order to enhance the show's watchability, they suggested the guests exchange labor to earn part of the funds, which would be used to purchase gifts for the homeowners once the construction was finished.

Ji Mingshu thought she had misheard; she confirmed with Feng Yan, "Only two hundred thousand?"

That might be enough to decorate a low-end toilet, and they call it "no issue with renovation costs"—how could the production team even say that with a straight face?

Feng Yan nodded affirmatively, "Yes, two hundred thousand."

That dizzying, nauseous feeling came back again.

After the director finished giving these instructions, the rest was left for them to play by ear.

As the designer, the right to assign tasks naturally fell to her.

However, these tasks had long been scripted. The production team had hired specialized screenwriters to write plots that could create CP chemistry and conflict. But these were just for reference; they still had a fair amount of autonomy.

Ji Mingshu saw that the arrangement written in the script was for Yan Yuexing and Pei Xiyan to go to the building materials market together.

She changed the arrangements without blinking an eye. In the end, she smiled sweetly at Pei Xiyan and said, "Little Yan, why don't you come to the building materials market with me?"

Pei Xiyan paused, his voice slightly low, "I might be more suited to looking for some decorations like..."

Understood, understood, arranged immediately.

But when Ji Mingshu proposed that she go with him to look for decorations, he pushed back, saying the designer was the backbone of the program and should be responsible for the more important parts.

Ji Mingshu wasn't happy.

She thought messily: Does Yan-zai hate her? Has Yan-zai forgotten they met at the Pei residence? Woohoo, did Mom do something wrong? Is it because I'm too pretty and the baby boy is afraid that after the show airs, rumors of a romance between an older sister and a younger brother will spread? Woohoo, that must be it! tvt

Regardless of how she consoled herself, Ji Mingshu’s mood was exploded with misery.

After distributing the tasks, the group went downstairs and set off for their respective destinations.

Ji Mingshu and Yan Yuexing were in a group; she didn't want to say a single word, curling up in the backseat, feeling utterly dejected and sullen.

But Pei Xiyan didn't get into his own car. He suddenly walked to the side of their car and knocked on the window on Ji Mingshu’s side.

Ji Mingshu rolled down the window, her mood suddenly brightening, only to see Pei Xiyan cover his mouth and cough lightly, saying somewhat awkwardly, "Sister Mingshu, I'm sorry, Brother Sen hopes that you and I can... keep a distance."