My Queen, My Rules - Chapter 57

Chapter 57

The snow at Mingshui Lake fell for an entire night. By seven or eight in the morning, the pitter-patter sound of falling snow became surprisingly rapid, and the evergreen trees on the island were bent under the weight of the thick snowdrifts.

Outside, the daylight remained a dim grayish-white, but the reflection from the snow was somewhat blinding. Cen Sen pressed the remote to draw the curtains, then suddenly remembered to apply medicine to the unconscious Ji Mingshu.

This was his first time dealing with the task of applying medicine; his touch was a bit heavy and not very skilled. Ji Mingshu, in her sleep, frowned and even unconsciously kicked him.

He tilted his head to dodge without taking offense, only applying a bit more pressure to hold Ji Mingshu’s ankle steady. After finishing the medicine, he checked the time, unbuttoned his shirt, stood up, and walked toward the bathroom.

With less than a month left before the Lunar New Year, Junyi’s year-end work had already entered its final stages. Most employees could breathe a sigh of relief, slack off a bit, and wait for their vacations to return home for the New Year.

But as the group president, Cen Sen had no such thing as a vacation. If he had to be busy, he could genuinely manage to work 365 days a year without a single day off, just like those two years he spent in Australia.

It was just that this year, he had gone against his usual habits. From mid-January until the eighth day of the New Year, he hadn't let Zhou Jiaheng arrange any travel itineraries. His pre-New Year work schedule was also relatively simple: he only needed to go to the company to handle daily affairs and attend a few sporadic social engagements.

The sound of running water trickled in the bathroom. Ji Mingshu was groggy and thought it was raining outside. She turned over, and a wave of cool relief unexpectedly washed over her previously swollen and painful areas. She shivered, and her consciousness gradually returned amidst the bustling, fragmented "rain sounds" that finally cut off abruptly.

By the time she struggled to open her eyes, she happened to see Cen Sen walking out of the bathroom. He lifted his chin slightly, buttoning the first button of his collar.

Almost without thinking, she immediately closed her eyes and curled up tightly in her little quilt, shivering.

It was too terrifying; this pervert Cen Sen was truly too terrifying. Ji Mingshu now felt that the version of herself from before last night knew absolutely nothing about this pervert!

Ascetic, frigid—those didn't exist. This pervert hadn't even been this ruthless the first time they "paid their grain tax" after returning to the country.

Last night, after entering the bathroom, she had thought it was over, but she hadn't expected the nightmare to have only just begun. And this morning, just as she was waking up, she had been pinned down like an innocent salted fish on a chopping board, dying and reviving over and over again.

Now, she was in such a state of listless despair that she would never crave braised pork ribs ever again in this life. Regret—she was feeling extremely regretful right now.

Just as she was letting her thoughts run wild, a cool kiss landed on her forehead. Her nerves tensed, and she didn't dare to open her eyes.

Cen Sen didn't force her, only saying in a low voice, "I'm heading to the company. You aren't feeling well, so don't go out today. Let the housekeeper make whatever you want for lunch; I’ll cook for you when I get back tonight."

Ji Mingshu kept her eyes closed and shook her head continuously, the lower half of her face retreating uselessly into the quilt as she muffled, "I don't want you to cook."

"..."

He understood, and he felt a bit like laughing.

"Alright, I'll solve it myself. Go away, just go!"

Ji Mingshu started shooing him away, her head retreating further into the quilt.

Cen Sen didn't say anything more. He tucked her stray hair behind her ears, stood up, and left.

As he closed the bedroom door, his gaze still lingered on the curled-up shrimp-like lump by the bedside, his eyes holding a softness he hadn't even noticed himself.

"55, 56, 57, 58..."

Zhou Jiaheng watched the second hand of his watch move rhythmically; his obsessive-compulsive disorder forced him to wait until he hit the full minute mark before he suddenly stopped counting.

One hour and fifty-three minutes.

Hmm, today the boss left an hour and fifty-three minutes later than usual.

He saw Cen Sen in the distance, pressing his knuckles and loosening his shoulders and neck; a thought flickered in his mind as he wondered what the boss had been thinking about.

As Cen Sen walked closer, he quickly got out of the car, respectfully opened the back door, and even reached out to shield the top of the car for Cen Sen, casually greeting him, "Boss, morning."

"Morning."

Cen Sen was the type of superior who didn't let his emotions show on his face, but Zhou Jiaheng had followed him for several years and ultimately understood him better than others.

Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, Cen Sen was cold-blooded and ruthless for three hundred and sixty of them. But today, his aura was gentle and his state was relaxed; it was clear he was in a very good mood. Encountering a day like this was truly more rare than suddenly being notified of a promotion and a salary raise.

Zhou Jiaheng was sharp. After reporting on his work in the car, he paved the way with a long string of arrangements for employee New Year benefits, then mentioned his own docked year-end bonus without leaving a trace.

Sure enough, Cen Sen didn't even lift his eyes as he replied, "The year-end bonus will be issued as scheduled. If you have anything else, say it all at once."

Zhou Jiaheng felt a bit embarrassed. "As expected, nothing can be hidden from you, Boss."

He rubbed his hands together and deliberated, "I actually do have a matter I need to trouble you with. You know my six-year-old nephew, right? I've mentioned him to you before; he looks just like me, very cute..."

Cen Sen rubbed his brow bone.

He hurried to the main point, "My little nephew was studying in Nancheng before, and my brother and sister-in-law want to transfer him to the Imperial Capital to study at Qingxiao Elementary. But it's so hard to get into Qingxiao..."

Cen Sen raised a hand to interrupt, "Wait for me to take a call from Director Zhao later."

"Ah, thank you, President Cen. Thank you, President Cen."

Zhou Jiaheng was so happy he kept nodding.

Qingxiao Elementary was no ordinary school. Even though he had a bit of pull with Director Zhao, he couldn't guarantee that the matter would be handled. But if Cen Sen made the call, there would naturally be no issues at all from start to finish.

However, on any ordinary day, he wouldn't have been embarrassed to open this topic with Cen Sen.

Projects worth tens, hundreds, or billions of dollars were waiting in line; it was truly strange for him to bring up such trivial trifles as a child’s school transfer in front of such a person.

Moreover, if he had mentioned it, Cen Sen would probably have looked at him with the expression of, "Have you earned enough money and want to go home to retire?" He wouldn't have been as easy to talk to as he was now.

Zhou Jiaheng silently thanked Ji Mingshu a hundred and eighty times in his heart, and he very gratefully mentioned a private collection auction happening before the New Year. He talked about how rare some jewelry sets were, which set was suitable for elders, which for juniors, and which was suitable for his wife.

Cen Sen leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes to rest. Somehow, his mind was filled with the image of Ji Mingshu’s delicate, whimpering appearance under him last night.

He involuntarily rolled his Adam’s apple, his voice turning deep and hoarse, "Bid for them."

The Bentley arrived at the Junyi headquarters building thirty minutes later, and Cen Sen began his busy day of work.

On the other side, Ji Mingshu drifted between waking and sleeping, not fully recovering until the evening.

—Before this, she never would have imagined that her first day back home would be spent entirely in bed.

After the silent turbulence of last night, the sharp-witted Gu Kaiyang naturally guessed what kind of unspeakable, shameful things Ji Mingshu and Cen Sen had been up to. Early in the morning, she acted as a hero in the group chat, completely lacking the "playing dead" and guilty conscience of yesterday's traitor.

10:00 AM—

Gu Kaiyang: [Ji Mingshu, sister, when are you coming to move your luggage? Are you still moving it or not? If you’re not moving these Hermès, I’ll reluctantly accept them, okay?]

3:00 PM—

Gu Kaiyang: [Sister??? You still haven't woken up??? Were you screwed into bed by your husband???]

Jiang Chun: [???]

Jiang Chun: [Square-rooted confusion.jpg]

Jiang Chun: [Gu’s-speak is too scary!]

Jiang Chun: [Mom, I want to leave the group!!!]

Jiang Chun: [Wuwuwu, I feel like I'm no longer that pure little cute goose!]

Gu Kaiyang laughed merrily, wearing the malicious look of a mother "taking you to see the world."

This little "earth goose" Jiang Chun had no firm willpower either. Her rookie integrity lasted less than five minutes before she was completely brainwashed by Gu’s-speak, stretching out her probing little goose feet to start exploring a brand-new territory.

When Ji Mingshu opened the chat messages in the evening, the group had spiraled out of control since Jiang Chun’s line, "President Cen actually seems quite frigid, eh," heading straight toward the point of getting the group banned. One veteran driver and one little rookie had genuinely explored over four hundred topics related to the two sexes.

During this, "Editor Gu" also kept throwing out golden lines—

"Men who are openly flirtatious are half-real, while the other half are just elementary school brats, but 90% of men who are 'damp-flirtatious' (closeted perverts) are very lustful."

"A man like President Cen is clearly someone who does big things; he must definitely have endless tricks up his sleeve."

"Ji Mingshu doesn't eat or exercise; I’m afraid her stamina isn't great. Based on a simple estimation, she probably won't be able to get out of bed for three days and three nights."

Ji Mingshu fell silent, muttering internally: She could get out of bed right now, she just didn't want to, okay?! Haven't you ever heard that there are only tired oxen, not broken fields!

However, Gu Kaiyang’s first two sentences were actually quite right... This pervert Cen Sen was truly very lustful.

She had been married to Cen Sen for quite a while. In the past, when they had marital relations, she didn't seem to feel shy, because it was always in the pitch black and very routine; they would just get it over with, wash up, and sleep. But last night, he had actually leaned over... and later, he had even deliberately carried her to the mirror, slowing his pace to coax her into watching!

Recalling the details, Ji Mingshu suddenly grabbed the quilt and covered her head again, her whole body flushed red.

Because last night had left a violent impact on both her body and mind, she had no mood to care about the latest developments after Li Xiaolian’s salon, nor did she have the mood to deal with Gu Kaiyang.

The Designer program production team sent a message asking her to retweet the Weibo post about tonight’s premiere. She responded with a "Sure" in a detached manner. From her real-life self to her WeChat, she radiated a kind of "peace & love" white-lotus-vibe of peaceful years.

Ji Mingshu didn't usually play on Weibo; she just read the news and clicked likes, occasionally entering the fray to help Pei Xiyan roast someone.

It was only after the production team sent endless messages that she reluctantly verified her "Yellow V" as an interior designer. Her name, which had previously been a string of characters she typed randomly while mashing her keyboard, was changed to the proper "Ji Mingshu."

Her account originally only had a few hundred followers—half were bots used for advertising, and the other half were plastic friends from her social circle who insisted on mutual follows.

After the verification passed, the production team bought her thirty thousand followers, specifically notifying her in a "don't thank me" tone. She was speechless at the time and didn't even reply to the message.

At this moment, she logged onto Weibo, mutually followed the program’s official account, retweeted the post, and then went offline immediately. She didn't even bother looking at the new followers or private messages. Her whole mind was occupied by whether Cen Sen would continue to torment her when he came back tonight, whether Cen Sen had taken some kind of medicine, and how she should act to appear natural in front of him...

Unexpectedly, things went exactly as she had hoped—Cen Sen had to meet a long-term real estate partner tonight. The man had come from afar for a special visit, so it wouldn't be appropriate to refuse, and as for what time he would return, it was hard to say.

Ji Mingshu looked at the message Cen Sen had sent, replied with a simple "Okay," and exited the chat interface. But three seconds later, she suddenly clicked back in and scrolled up through the chat history for a while.

Strange, when did this scumbag develop the habit of reporting his itinerary to her? Still, this was a good habit. Hmm, he could keep it up.

And so, the night Ji "Shushu" spent alone in an empty house was simply spent appreciating the newly expanded walk-in closet. When it hit eight o'clock, she turned on the TV to watch the premiere of Designer.

She guessed that Cen Sen must have spoken to the production team again; she hadn't been edited out. Both the opening drawing of lots for grouping and the selection of design plans featured shots of her.

Although there weren't many, every shot was beautiful, as if she had her own "Apple lighting." The whole person looked stunningly breathtaking and prominent, making the flamboyant teen idol Yan Yuexing next to her look like a low-budget, nameless extra.

She didn't know that gossiping forums were currently discussing—before, people only felt there was a wall between actors and idols, but they hadn't expected there to be a wall even between ordinary people and idols.

Ji Mingshu was quite satisfied with the on-screen effect. She ate grapes while watching, but the more she watched, the more she felt something was wrong.

Why did the broadcasted content feel so different from what they had recorded? Many sequences and even the order of the speaking lines didn't match up.