My Queen, My Rules - Chapter 85

Chapter 85

With Ji Mingshu’s lavish addition of funds further boosting the prestige of the Junyi brand, the promotional video was quickly pushed to the trending lists, and the number of shares rapidly exceeded ten thousand.

When the staff members involved in "Impressions of Old Streets" scrolled past this Weibo post, a row of comments flashed across the screen in double-speed full-screen mode: "Woooo, our hard-earned budget is burning away, someone please save the children!!!"

The art department, post-production, and others marched into the office, head held high, to interrogate the producer: Why spend the budget on such a flashy, superficial display!

The producer was stunned for a moment, then issued a triple denial: "I didn't! It’s not me! In my innocence, how could we possibly have that kind of budget left?"

When everyone calmed down and thought about it, it seemed they really didn't.

So, did the designer herself handle this promotion? It wasn't impossible, after all, it was common knowledge that this designer was the wife of Junyi’s President.

The President’s wife is so passionate about art—respect.

Other staff members soon accepted this setting with peace of mind and felt overjoyed by the sudden influx of popularity. However, the producer still couldn't quite believe it, so he specifically called Ji Mingshu to confirm.

Because he truly couldn't understand why a "nitpicking" designer like Ji Mingshu—who would make a legal team negotiate the recording fees, design fees, and specific clauses four or five times before barely agreeing, all for fear that the production side might take a single cent from her—would be so selfless and willing to slash her own wrists and bleed for the project after filming. It could simply be listed in the Annual Awards for Baffling Behavior.

During the call, the producer euphemistically expressed his confusion, and Ji Mingshu just as euphemistically provided an answer.

The producer fell silent, finally understanding her point. If her words were to be put bluntly, they would be: "What I care about isn't those meager recording or design fees, but my own worth. The lucky draw budget wasn't even enough to spend; did you think I actually coveted the pittance you people were offering?"

"Mm, the President’s wife is so passionate about art—respect."

In ancient times, heavy rewards were sure to yield brave warriors.

In the twenty-first century, heavy rewards are sure to yield heavy traffic.

It took less than half a day for the shares of Ji Mingshu’s promotional Weibo post to climb from ten thousand to over one hundred thousand, and it kept sprinting toward two hundred thousand, with the comments underneath growing just as rapidly.

【AWSL! A living, breathing President’s wife!】

【Beauty warning! Birkin warning!】

【Woooo, it’s just a documentary, right? I'll watch it, okay? Crouching and waiting for the President’s wife’s next business update! (Agrieved.jpg)】

【A woman who possesses beauty and wisdom, and she actually possesses wealth too!】

【You’re wrong, she also possesses a "twenty-four-filial-piety" President husband. /doge】

Although Ji Mingshu wasn't a celebrity or an influencer, she was a natural magnet for topics. She only posted such a Weibo update after more than half a year, and not only was it shared back and forth on Weibo, but it also ignited discussions about socialites and the "rich and beautiful" crowd on major forums.

Furthermore, insiders couldn't help but spill the tea: Ji Mingshu is truly a god-tier spendthrift!

That short, three-minute video on Weibo—for those who are rough around the edges, setting up a phone stand is enough; for the sophisticated, maybe they’d buy a ring light.

But our President’s wife hired a film crew of over a dozen people, covering everything from makeup, lighting, and camera angles to editing. Every single second on screen was truly refined from the strands of her hair down to her toenails!

Onlookers clutched their hearts and declared: "I will never call myself a 'refined piggy girl' again. So humble."

Ji Mingshu actually only meant to post a promotional Weibo for her show, but she didn't expect that with the support of various derivative leaks, the popularity would last for two to three whole days.

By the weekend, just as the popularity was finally showing signs of waning, an industry insider suddenly popped up and leaked a photo of Cen Sen attending the Asia-Pacific Financial Asset Management Summit a while back.

In the photo, Cen Sen was sitting in the first row, wearing a tailored suit and gold-rimmed glasses, legs crossed, leaning against the back of his chair. He was the definition of elite, his noble and indifferent aura seeming to overflow from the screen.

【Okay! I accept this President! From now on, every "Overbearing President Falls in Love with Me" I watch has a face!!!】

【What kind of godly beauty is this couple? Woooo, the "Overbearing President Couple" is just too easy to ship!!!】

【Seriously, can this couple just debut as a CP? With this face, this aura, and this body, not debuting is a complete waste of natural talent!!】

Some even dug up the Weibo post Ji Mingshu made showing off their affection on New Year's Eve, placing the photo she’d posted of them holding sparklers side-by-side with this newly leaked individual portrait, washing everyone’s brains back and forth: 【Look at our President! Cold and indifferent during meetings, but at home, he gently interlocks fingers with his wife to light a sparkler! It’s pure sugar, sisters!!!】

Others even turned his meeting photo into a meme: 【Finish your yapping already, I need to go home and light sparklers with my wife.jpg】

For a time, every major forum was flooded with "sparkler warnings."

This frontal photo was leaked too suddenly, and it wasn't through any media. By the time Cen Sen knew about it, it had already spread very widely.

He indeed didn't like having his private information exposed to the public. However, having learned from the incident where Ji Mingshu’s second uncle forcibly controlled public opinion at the height of the controversy, he didn't have anyone make any grand gestures, intending to let the popularity lower on its own in a couple of days before slowly cleaning up the traces.

When Ji Mingshu heard his plan, she looked at him with a bit of newfound respect.

She had thought this old antique’s understanding of the internet was only a tiny bit better than her second uncle’s, but it seemed he was quite savvy after all.

Speaking of being an "antique," Ji Mingshu had truly preconceived misconceptions about Cen Sen.

Although Cen Sen wasn't enthusiastic about social media, he wasn't completely ignorant of online trends.

The fact that the Junyi official Weibo could add to the stakes of Ji Mingshu’s lucky draw in the first instance was done with his authorization.

Moreover, he had looked at Ji Mingshu’s Weibo these past few days, and he had carefully read the comments underneath.

One comment, which didn't have a very high number of likes, caught his attention.

【Why does the number of posts on the President’s wife’s Weibo not match the number of posts actually visible?】

Someone replied below: 【That’s because she set some of her posts to "Friends Only" or "Private."】

Cen Sen silently noted this new piece of knowledge.

Returning to the topic, the effect of Ji Mingshu’s promotion was highly significant. "Impressions of Old Streets," which previously had zero footprint, attracted a large number of young viewers because of her.

Everyone had originally just wanted to gawk at Ji Mingshu’s god-tier beauty on the show, but after one episode, they discovered that the content of the documentary wasn't all that boring.

Furthermore, in the professional field of interior design, Ji Mingshu really wasn't just a poser raising her status with fake fluff.

Through the show, one could see that she truly had ideas and strong opinions, and what was most commendable was that from the process of "The Designers" to this documentary, she had learned to consider others.

In "The Designers," Ji Mingshu was in complete control and was very aggressive toward her team members.

In this program, she was also the lead designer for the renovations. Other designers, whose personalities weren't as outgoing as hers, would subconsciously be led by her. But whenever that happened, she would pause, switch roles to become a listener, and consult others for their opinions. This was very likable.

The show aired two episodes for its premiere. If the content of the first episode was relatively "hard," the second episode appeared much more down-to-earth because the second episode covered the renovation of the residential building.

The episode began with live footage of the Shanghai Street neighbors shopping for groceries, haggling, and playing mahjong. After entering the renovation theme, conflict arose.

The middle-aged men and women argued until they were red in the face over the use of half a square meter of public land.

And their arguments were quite analytical; each side held their ground, refusing to budge. Ji Mingshu, the interior designer, stood in the corner for a long time without being able to get a word in, her face written with "weak, pathetic, and helpless."

The barrage of comments on this segment surged instantly:

【Why is the President’s wife suddenly so cute, hahahahaha!】

【I’ve discovered that this is actually a dark-humor documentary, manually adding doge.】

【President’s wife: I’m a bit confused. Who am I, where am I, what did I do wrong?】

【President’s wife: Everyone, aunts and uncles, please stop arguing, I’ll just buy this half a square meter!!】

The premiere ended, and the show was well-received. The viewership and discussion levels were much higher than the production team had expected.

And Ji Mingshu gained another wave of fans on the spot, with her follower count quietly reaching three million.

At the same time, the amateur dating variety show Gu Kaiyang participated in had reached its third week of broadcasting.

A dating show naturally had more topics to discuss than a documentary, and after the first episode aired, the online popularity was quite good.

In the first two episodes, Gu Kaiyang was neither favored by the male guests nor particularly popular with the audience.

Because Gu Kaiyang didn't talk much, she was mostly silent, secretly observing in the background. The other female guests would show interest in their preferred boys either openly or covertly, but she displayed a completely "I don't need a boyfriend" or "I don't like any of them" bystander status.

But after the latest third episode aired the segment revealing their backgrounds, Gu Kaiyang’s image underwent a 180-degree reversal.

This silent "bystander" sister was actually the deputy editor-in-chief of Zero Degrees!

Others discovered a small surprise in the behind-the-scenes eggs; the "Male Number Four" would appear in the next episode and seemed to have a romantic arc with Gu Kaiyang.

People on the internet were deeply engrossed in digging for clues and discussing the details, but the show’s progress was actually far behind reality.

When recording ended, Gu Kaiyang didn't successfully pair up; she rejected Zhou Jiaheng’s final confession.

Of course, the actual situation wasn't exactly like that—

In fact, Gu Kaiyang actually had quite a good impression of the newly joined "Male Number Four," her old acquaintance Zhou Jiaheng. However, Zhou Jiaheng wasn't into Gu Kaiyang.

Zhou Jiaheng liked the gentle and petite type of girl. Gu Kaiyang, this kind of independent, self-reliant career woman, was completely contrary to his ideal type. They could be friends, but they couldn't be lovers.

As for the male guest confessing and the female guest rejecting him at the end of the show, that was just a script agreed upon with the production team in advance to save face for the female guest.

After the show ended, Gu Kaiyang felt low for a few days because of this.

Jiang Chun couldn't understand it: 【Why go by the script? If he confesses, just accept it! Confuse the hell out of him!!!】

Gu Kaiyang: 【?】

Gu Kaiyang: 【Sister, that’s too crude.】

Ji Mingshu, like Jiang Chun, couldn't understand it either. Her best friend is the best woman in the world! How could any man not be into her?! Especially since that man was Zhou Jiaheng! She couldn't wrap her head around it, and in her heart, she secretly plotted to go to the company to give him a hard time.

Gu Kaiyang was like a worm in her heart; before she could take action, she explicitly told her not to take personal revenge on Zhou Jiaheng, saying things like feelings can never be forced.

Ji Mingshu was unsatisfied. Since she couldn't give Zhou Jiaheng a hard time, she had no choice but to give Cen Sen a hard time.

Cen Sen didn't know the progress between Zhou Jiaheng and Gu Kaiyang, but being inexplicably nitpicked for two days, he thought Ji Mingshu was in a bad mood because her period was coming up.

Ji Mingshu’s period always liked to drag on for a week. Thinking that he couldn't get close for a week, Cen Sen arranged intensive aerobic exercises before her period started.

Having dug a pit and buried herself in it, Ji Mingshu felt she was also quite talented.

Waking up in the morning, she was completely drained. Cen Sen had already made breakfast, but she was still in a paralyzed state; brushing her teeth, washing her face, and getting dressed all required him to serve her.

Even when going downstairs to eat breakfast, she habitually acted like a spoiled child, wanting to be carried. Moreover, she was carried downstairs in a shameful posture, facing him with her legs wrapped around Cen Sen’s waist.

Since they were already this clingy, she didn't mind being even clingier. Throughout breakfast, she sat on Cen Sen’s lap, playing with her phone while letting Cen Sen feed her.

She was eating well, and Cen Sen seemed to enjoy the feeding process, but after Ji Mingshu drank a sip of whole milk, she suddenly felt a bit lightheaded. That faint, milky, fishy smell made her stomach churn uncontrollably in an instant. Without a word of explanation, she put down her phone, hurried off his lap, and rushed straight into the bathroom.

Cen Sen didn't overthink it, thinking she had an upset stomach. Catching a glimpse of her phone left on the table, he picked it up to look.

At this moment, Ji Mingshu’s phone was open to her own Weibo interface, where he could see a new post she had just made that was set to "Private/Only Me."

【I love my husband so much! I love it when he carries me! /shy /shy /shy】

Cen Sen paused, remembering the question he had seen in her comments earlier, and subconsciously scrolled down.

【How can that "Big Trotter" (bastard) not like our Gu-Gu! Angry! Birds of a feather, so Cen-shi Sen-sen is also a "Big Trotter"!】

【Sigh, why haven't I conceived a baby yet? qvq】

【Third day of a business trip, I miss him, I miss him, I miss him tvt】

【Sometimes I feel very lucky, I hope we can be together forever and ever! o.o!】

...

The earliest private Weibo post visible only to her could be traced back to the confession around the New Year, sitting right next to her outwardly cool and restrained New Year’s Eve post showing off their affection.

【Ahhhhh, he said he liked me! This must be the happiest day of my life! I, Ji-shi Shu-shu, must be the happiest little fairy in the world!!!】

Seeing this, Cen Sen smiled.