My Queen, My Rules - Chapter 42

Chapter 42

The intimacy on the ceiling did not formally conclude until three in the morning.

Gu Kaiyang had long since drifted off to dreamland. Ji Mingshu lay on the other side of the bed, wrapped tightly in her little duvet, eyes closed, yet she remained wide awake.

At six in the morning, the alarm clock rang right on time.

Gu Kaiyang sat up in bed, let out a yawn, and grabbed her phone to order breakfast delivery.

Today was the monthly proofreading day for the magazine, which required an early arrival. Even if she hadn't slept enough, she still had to get up, wash, and put on makeup.

Once she was ready, Gu Kaiyang glanced toward the loft area and happened to see Ji Mingshu also slowly sitting up, leaning against the headboard.

As she wiped away the excess lipstick, she asked, "Why are you up so early? Did my alarm wake you?"

"No."

Because she hadn't slept at all.

Gu Kaiyang didn't ask further. She checked the time and hurried to explain, "I ordered breakfast. There’s soy milk, deep-fried dough sticks, and xiaolongbao on the dining table. If they’ve gone cold, just pop them in the microwave for thirty seconds. I’ve also left the key card on the table for you. Remember to eat, I have to go, I'm going to be late for work."

"Mm, go ahead."

Ji Mingshu replied, circling her legs with her arms and resting her chin on her knees. Her heart was beating rapidly from the sleepless night.

Hearing the front door shut with a "bang," she didn't move, just quietly closed her eyes.

Two days had passed since the incident occurred. Compared to the intense emotions at the beginning, her heart had returned to a state of calm.

Yet, in that very calmness, she felt an unprecedented sense of confusion regarding her future life.

In fact, way back when she misunderstood that Cen Sen was cheating with Zhang Baoshu, she had already been confused: if she were to divorce, how would she live?

Later, when she hesitated about joining the show, she had seriously considered Gu Kaiyang's advice to develop a career. It was just that having lived comfortably for over twenty years, it was hard for her to be prepared for danger in times of peace, or to live life like playing Go—thinking ten steps ahead for every single move.

Although she was in this situation now, she still traded barbs with Gu Kaiyang, unwilling to face the reality that this marriage couldn't be dissolved and that she was truly incompetent after leaving Cen Sen. However, in the quiet of the night when she couldn't sleep, she had thought a lot and reflected a lot.

She wondered if Cen Sen would apologize, compromise, and take her home;

She wondered, now that she understood her feelings for Cen Sen, if she could still be content with maintaining their former plastic-marriage lifestyle, willing to never receive his affection and respect;

She also thought about whether the root of all this was because—she wasn't good enough.

From the summer solstice to the winter solstice, the daylight hours grew shorter and shorter. At the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, the sky didn't suddenly brighten until seven-thirty in the morning.

The hustle and bustle of a new day began outside. Gu Kaiyang's little Beetle had already merged into the traffic. Ji Mingshu closed her eyes, slowly turned on her side, and then curled into a ball, drifting into a drowsy sleep.

She slept until two in the afternoon. When Ji Mingshu got up, the sun outside was already glaringly bright.

She went downstairs and happened to check her billing statement on her phone. Yesterday, she had casually added skincare products and household goods, which had actually cost nearly one hundred thousand yuan.

She flipped through the messages sent by the producer of the "Designer" show. She hadn't noticed before, but it turned out the payment for participating in the show had already been settled.

But the problem was, she hadn't cared for that small amount of money back then. The card she had filled in on the spot was neither brought with her nor bound to her phone; she had no idea in which dusty corner it was hiding.

So now, she only had the last one hundred thousand yuan Jiang Chun had helped her with.

She sat quietly for a while, then picked up the key card, changed her shoes, and went out.

The magazine office where Gu Kaiyang worked was not far from Xinggang International. Ji Mingshu bought an afternoon tea set at a nearby tea restaurant and headed straight to "Zero Degree."

Today was proofreading day, and the magazine office was extremely busy from top to bottom. Everyone was shuttling back and forth for their work and had no time to pay attention to her.

She spotted a familiar young assistant and stopped her to ask, "Where is your deputy editor?"

The assistant knew Ji Mingshu was Gu Kaiyang's best friend. She pushed up her glasses and said with difficulty, "Sister Gu, she... she is in the editor-in-chief’s office right now. She’s probably getting scolded."

She said the last part very softly, barely a breath of sound.

Ji Mingshu: "Why is she being scolded?"

The assistant carefully said, "Sister Gu asked for leave yesterday on short notice. The work wasn't handed over properly, and an issue arose by accident. It became a huge trouble during proofreading today. The entire layout is being rushed for a change, so..."

Ji Mingshu was stunned.

The assistant added, "Miss Ji, if you are looking for Sister Gu, why don't you wait in the office first?"

"No need," Ji Mingshu suddenly shoved the afternoon tea snacks she had packed into the assistant’s hands, "You guys eat it. Don't say it was sent by me, and don't tell your deputy editor I was here."

"Huh?"

The assistant watched Ji Mingshu's back as she turned and walked away, her mind completely blank.

In the Imperial Capital during autumn and winter, the sky gets light late and dark early. By six o'clock, the sunset is already gone.

On the way from the horse ranch to the club, Zhou Jiaheng reported the progress of the follow-up work in Xingcheng to Cen Sen.

Cen Sen leaned back in his seat, eyes closed, feigning sleep, and did not reply.

After Zhou Jiaheng finished his report, he paused for a moment and, without any change in his tone, shifted the conversation, "Madam went out at 2:30 this afternoon and stopped by a tea restaurant to pack some snacks. She arrived at "Zero Degree" magazine at 3:00 and came out at 3:10. She walked along Huainan 3rd Road all the way to the Lusende Supermarket at the intersection of Huainan 2nd Road and Dongjing Street and bought a bag of groceries. She walked back to Xinggang International at 4:30 and hasn't come out since."

Cen Sen still didn't reply; he just changed the position of his arms, which were loosely folded.

The Bentley drove all the way to Heyong Club. Jiang Che had returned to the Imperial Capital today to meet a professor from a chip R&D team and had made an appointment to meet him here.

Jiang Che was currently in the honeymoon phase, feeling pleased with himself, and was a bit prone to being preachy.

Seeing Cen Sen, who rarely drank during private meetings, order a bottle of whiskey upon entering, he suddenly said, "Have you noticed you have a problem?"

Cen Sen lifted his eyes slightly.

Jiang Che’s arm was stretched over the back of the sofa, his head tilted, looking lazy and improper.

The cigarette between his fingers leaked dots of scarlet, the smoke curling up, making his voice sound low, raspy, and lazy, "You are particularly bad at handling things that involve emotional factors. You don't know how to face the An family, and you don't know what to do about your wife."

Cen Sen lowered his eyes again. He never touched cigarettes on ordinary days, but today he took a light from Jiang Che and lit one, holding it low between his fingers, letting it glow and fade.

"Do you remember when you first arrived at Nanqiao Alley as a kid? Ji Mingshu liked you so much; she would bring little snacks to find you and play every day."

"Did she?"

He only remembered that Ji Mingshu was extremely "princessy" and childish; she seemed to have once gathered a few other kids to ostracize him.

"Of course she did. Back then, Shu Yang would always tease her for being overly enthusiastic only to get a cold shoulder, and said she had forgotten all about Cen Yang in a heartbeat, having no conscience."

Jiang Che brought up Cen Yang, and Cen Sen finally had some impression.

Because Shu Yang and Cen Yang shared a character in their names, they had always been very close. Because of this, Shu Yang didn't like him at first. Their group of childhood friends only started playing together later on.

Jiang Che flicked the cigarette ash, "Let me be objective. Actually, I quite admire Ji Mingshu’s personality—relatively simple and straightforward..."

Cen Sen glanced at him.

"I don't mean anything else. I just want to say that when dealing with a girl like your wife, you should be more direct. A tiny, trivial matter like Li Wenyin's could cause such a huge storm; you should take a large part of the responsibility yourself."

Neither Shu Yang nor Zhao Yang knew Cen Sen as well as Jiang Che did. Jiang Che had witnessed the entire period when Cen Sen and Li Wenyin were together.

To say that Cen Sen would disregard the friendship between the Cen and Ji families for the sake of Li Wenyin and insist on divorcing and remarrying—he would be the first not to believe it. Firstly, Cen Sen was not a man ruled by his heart, and secondly, Li Wenyin simply didn't have that capability.

Thinking of something, he suddenly teased lazily, "I’ll say one more thing I shouldn't: do you realize that your current behavior... running back the moment something happens to Ji Mingshu, and drowning your sorrows in alcohol and smoking when trouble arises, is exactly like what I would do when I fight with Zhou You."

Cen Sen paused slightly, snuffed out the cigarette in the ashtray, and said in a very faint voice, "If you shouldn't say it, shut up."

Jiang Che chuckled lightly.

They obviously weren't meeting just for idle chatter, and Jiang Che wasn't some busybody nanny interested in other people's emotional lives. After a few sentences, the topic quickly shifted back to the official business of the cooperative project.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the starlight of the night sky covered this city of vanity and luxury.

Cen Sen and Jiang Che were talking in low voices in the private room of Heyong Club. Gu Kaiyang had finally finished her overtime and rushed back to Xinggang International.

She was just worried that Ji Mingshu hadn't eaten properly. When she got home, she saw Ji Mingshu holding a bleeding finger, squatting in front of the coffee table and rummaging through the medicine kit.

"Ji Mingshu, what did you do? What happened to your hand?!" Gu Kaiyang was so nervous that she didn't even change her shoes before rushing forward, her eyes fixed on the finger that was oozing blood droplets, "Does it hurt?"

"Duh, of course it hurts!" Ji Mingshu scrunched up her face pitifully. Seeing Gu Kaiyang fully focused on helping her apply a bandage, she held it in and tried to act as if nothing was wrong, "But it’s okay, I just lightly scratched it. It won't hurt in a while."

Gu Kaiyang’s heart eased slightly as she continued to ask, "How did you manage this? What were you touching? Are you trying to scare me to death?"

"I wasn't thinking of anything other than how hard you work, so I wanted to cook a few dishes for you."

"..." Gu Kaiyang was speechless, "You, cooking?"

She turned back to look at the kitchen. Sure enough, there were traces of pots, bowls, ladles, and spoons being used. "So where is the food?"

"You're so annoying."

Ji Mingshu disgustedly swatted her hand away, sat up on her own, moved to the sofa, and was slightly guilty despite her righteous tone, "It’s just a lack of practical experience, still exploring the path of socialist construction, isn't it?"

That no food was made was within Gu Kaiyang's expectations. What shocked her now was that this young lady who wouldn't lift a finger to work had suddenly thought of cooking.

Ji Mingshu wanted to turn the page on this dark history, so she sat up straight and spoke seriously and earnestly to Gu Kaiyang: "Yangyang, I have thought about it carefully today. I think you are very right. I cannot keep relying on others to support me like this. Jiang Chun specially found some inside information for me today, saying that Junyi withdrew their funding from Li Wenyin's film two days ago."

Gu Kaiyang couldn't quite keep up with her train of thought, "That... isn't that a good thing? I said you and Cen Sen must have had a misunderstanding. Wait, why did you suddenly think about not relying on others for support..."

"Whether he handled it as official business and let Li Wenyin follow standard procedure, or whether he didn't know the content of the film at all, the fact remains that he never considered my feelings in the first place, nor did he respect me."

"He didn't respect me because he felt I was just a canary he kept, and there was no need to respect me. In the final analysis, it’s all my own fault for wanting both money and respect—I wanted too much. And my second uncle and the others—aren't they just betting on the fact that I can't survive without Cen Sen?"

Gu Kaiyang was shocked by Ji Mingshu’s seriousness, hesitating, "Are you about to transform into Niohuru Shushu?"

"Be serious, I’m being earnest. Isn't everyone trying very hard to live? Although Cen Sen is a difficult person to describe, his work attitude is still worthy of praise. I heard from his assistant that he once only slept three hours a day for half a month to negotiate a merger. And you—working so hard and diligently every day, only to be scolded by the editor-in-chief because of me, a burden. I should also..."

Gu Kaiyang: "Wait, how do you know I was scolded by the editor-in-chief?"

Ji Mingshu paused, then cleverly turned the tables, "Why are you like this? It’s all your fault for interrupting my train of thought. Now I’ve forgotten what I was going to say."

She checked the time, "It’s almost ten o'clock. Aren't you going to sleep? Gu Kaiyang, do you not have work tomorrow?"

Gu Kaiyang thought of the box of snacks she really liked that the assistant had brought in this afternoon, and suddenly understood something.

That night, Ji Mingshu and Gu Kaiyang both went to sleep early. Ji Mingshu closed her eyes, thinking of what she had heard when she went to the magazine office this afternoon, and thinking of the street vendors she had encountered while walking back in a daze, and pulled the quilt tighter.

In this world, everyone is working very hard to live on their own. Why couldn't she, Ji Mingshu, do the same?

She had to admit, when she received the news from Jiang Chun today, she felt a little bit of petty delight. But if she went back just like that without any backbone, Cen Sen would look down on her for the rest of his life, right?

She was so greedy; now she wanted not only Cen Sen's money, but also his respect, wanted him to like her, and wanted his heart.

When Ji Mingshu and Gu Kaiyang fell asleep early, the nightlife of the Imperial Capital had just begun.

Cen Sen was a very restrained person. Aside from social engagements, he rarely participated in entertainment activities and didn't go to nightclubs.

But since Jiang Che had come over and Shu Yang kept calling them to go to a pub, saying he wanted to treat them to drinks to apologize, the two moved to go.

This pub was the one where Ji Mingshu had stood up for Jiang Chun back then. After the publicity from the second young master Zhang’s birthday party, it had become the new favorite entertainment venue for the party animals in the Imperial Capital. The people inside who loved to party often bumped into each other on regular days.

When Cen Sen and Jiang Che arrived, the night scene was at its wildest. Red men and green women swayed on the dance floor, five-colored lights crisscrossing.

The two walked along the booth seats. Amidst the music and noise, Cen Sen suddenly heard someone nearby mention "Ji Mingshu." He followed the sound and turned his head slightly.

"I really don’t know what a 'Yangzhou thin horse' like her is being so arrogant about, wanting to divorce her husband. I’m dying of laughter. If she actually gets a divorce, I’ll write my name backward!"

"Writing it backward is nothing; I can even take her last name, hahaha."

"It’s not surprising she wants a divorce; her husband wants to invest in his first love's film. Damn, I’ve never seen such a novel and unique way to slap someone in the face. Her husband is truly something else."

"I heard the movie they’re going to shoot is to commemorate the two of them falling in love? It would be a miracle if Ji Mingshu could endure that. Haven't you seen how noble and cold she usually acts?"

"Hey, don't say that. This woman Ji Mingshu is really beautiful. If she actually gets this divorce, it wouldn't be bad. I’d love to get my hands on her and see what this princess..."

Before the vulgar words in the man’s mouth could finish, a flash of white light suddenly appeared before his eyes, and he felt some warm liquid slowly trickling down his temple.

"Ah——!"

The girls in the booth shrieked and scrambled to their feet, dodging the shattered glass shards of the wine bottle.