My Queen, My Rules - Extra Chapter 9

Extra Chapter - A Complete Conclusion

New Year’s Eve, 8:00 AM.

The sound of firecrackers popping came from outside, occasionally interspersed with the giggles of children playing.

Gu Kaiyang pulled off her sleep mask, let out a yawn, sat up slowly from the bed, and stretched her arms high to work out the kinks.

She was busy with work, and the few days of the New Year holiday were the only time all year she could get a proper night’s sleep.

Because of the continuous stream of New Year greeting messages, the phone on her nightstand had been lighting up automatically.

She didn't look at it; she no longer needed to be on edge, gripping her phone constantly for fear of missing an important call from her superiors.

Gu Kaiyang was thirty-five this year, the editor-in-chief of Zero Degree, a top-tier domestic men’s fashion magazine. Because she had participated in a reality dating show for non-celebrities some years back, she had entered the public eye and slowly developed into a well-known fashion blogger with thirty million Weibo followers.

The small loft apartment she had bought by emptying her life savings back then had long since been replaced by a sprawling, panoramic river-view luxury flat, and her Volkswagen Beetle had been upgraded to a Ferrari.

The life she had fantasized about at fifteen was now fully hers at thirty-five.

The only minor flaw was that, at thirty-five, she remained single.

For all these years, Gu Kaiyang hadn't dated. She had no time, nor had she encountered anyone who caught her eye and was worth wasting her time on.

Tracing back her last moment of romantic interest, it seemed she had to go all the way back to Zhou Jiaheng, whom she met on that reality show.

Zhou Jiaheng was now the actual person in charge of the Junyi Group, having married a gentle and pretty high school English teacher a few years ago.

When he got married, Gu Kaiyang was on a business trip in Milan and couldn't make it to the wedding, so she had generously sent a monetary gift via WeChat.

For nearly half a month afterward, Ji Mingchu and Jiang Chun had spoken to her with extreme caution, afraid of stepping on a landmine and making her angry.

Gu Kaiyang felt both helpless and amused.

In truth, she really didn't feel there was anything to avoid. When she participated in the show, she had indeed been interested in Zhou Jiaheng. He had excellent qualities and handled himself with grace; coupled with the behavior of the other male guests, feeling a spark for him had been a very natural thing—a point she had never denied.

It was just that she, Gu Kaiyang, wasn't someone who couldn't let go of what she couldn't grasp. The two of them had never even started, and Zhou Jiaheng had absolutely no interest in her. After being dejected for a few days, she had simply turned the page.

She had explained to Ji Mingchu and Jiang Chun more than once that this was in the past, but the two of them saw too many dramas and would force roles upon her every so often, leaving her truly helpless.

Although she was awake, Gu Kaiyang didn't want to get up to wash, much less go out for breakfast. There was no other reason: as long as she crossed paths with her parents and the gossiping aunts and uncles who came over for the reunion dinner, the conversation would inevitably be three parts about finding a partner.

In a big city like Pingcheng, it wasn't rare for a thirty-five-year-old to be unmarried. But back in her hometown, no matter how capable or wealthy she was, it was inevitable that she would be labeled an "old maid."

Sometimes, she had the urge not to go home for the New Year at all.

Her hometown was mostly patriarchal. Back when she was the only child, her parents hadn't shown such tendencies and had even funded her studies abroad in design.

She had always thought her parents were different, but the year she graduated from college, they had given birth to a little brother without telling her and would remind her every now and then that since they had paid for her to study abroad, she would have to do her best to support her brother in the future.

Slowly, her relationship with her family had inexplicably grown distant. After she started working, the money she sent home increased, but the phone calls became fewer and fewer. Adding that to the relentless matchmaking pressure of the last seven or eight years, the affection had worn thin, and they could no longer find common ground in conversation.

She lay flat for another half hour. The commotion outside grew louder; the aunts and uncles had likely all arrived, and it would be inappropriate for her to keep hiding.

She got up to wash and apply makeup, picking up her phone to take a look.

Zhan Xingyi: Editor-in-Chief Gu, Happy New Year. /grin

Seeing the latest message from Zhan Xingyi, Gu Kaiyang was slightly surprised.

Zhan Xingyi was a male celebrity. His official age was twenty-seven, though she guessed he was likely a year or two older. Fortunately, he possessed a youthful aura. After struggling for a few years with no result, he had skyrocketed to fame in the last two years thanks to two breakout dramas, quickly joining the ranks of young, popular internet-famous actors.

She and Zhan Xingyi met occasionally due to work. Before the New Year, when she returned from a business trip to Paris, she happened to run into Zhan Xingyi, who was being pressured by sasaeng fans and had swapped outfits with his assistant. He had been recognized by casual fans and couldn't escape for a long time. She hadn't thought much of it at the time and helped him cover his tracks, giving him a lift back to his hotel on the way.

At the time, Zhan Xingyi had been extremely grateful. She hadn't been polite and had asked him for a stack of signed photos on the spot, thinking they would be perfect to hand out to the young star-struck girls among her relatives back home.

Seeing the WeChat message from Zhan Xingyi, Gu Kaiyang paused for two seconds. Out of consideration for the signed photos, she casually replied, "Happy New Year."

Zhan Xingyi began deliberating how to continue the conversation upon receiving her reply, but she didn't take it to heart. After replying, she tossed her phone aside and went outside to socialize with her relatives.

During the reunion dinner, the round tables in the living room were fully occupied. As the "old maid" of the Gu family—the most successful one, yet unmarried at thirty-four—Gu Kaiyang was naturally the focus of everyone’s attention. The topics revolving around her invariably centered on dating and marriage.

Having anticipated this, Gu Kaiyang had prepared herself mentally long ago. Since she only saw them once a year anyway, she would just listen and respond; it wouldn't kill her.

Her mental preparation was quite solid, but she couldn't stop some distant relative who really thought too highly of herself from climbing up the ladder and speaking in an increasingly unacceptable way, seeking superiority in the name of being an elder who "cared" about her.

Gu Kaiyang endured it again and again, but when a cousin ten degrees removed mentioned wanting to introduce her to a nearly forty-year-old minor civil servant who had been married before, she couldn't help but retaliate with a similarly sarcastic tone, "Cousin, do you have some misunderstanding about what a 'good condition' is? His annual salary isn't even as high as the bank interest I earn in a month. How would we even live?"

The cousin’s face flushed red and then pale, "He’s an honest man!"

Gu Kaiyang gave a light scoff, "At that university right across from our house, I could find a male college student and support him for hundreds of thousands a month. I imagine he’d be pretty honest too, and he’d be young, and I wouldn't have to help support a drag-along."

"Gu Kaiyang!"

"How can someone in their thirties be so rude!"

Her mother put down her chopsticks and scolded her with a stern face.

Gu Kaiyang: "Isn't it enough to be able to make money if you don't know how to speak well?"

The atmosphere at the table grew awkward. Other relatives changed the subject to smooth things over. She had finally vented her pent-up frustration and was in no mood to stay, so she left the table with a random excuse.

Just as she was preparing to report her glorious battle record to her sisters, she opened WeChat and discovered that Zhan Xingyi had sent several new messages.

Zhan Xingyi: Thanks to you for helping me hide that time.

Zhan Xingyi: By the way, Editor-in-Chief Gu, what are your plans for the New Year?

Zhan Xingyi: Are you in Pingcheng?

Gu Kaiyang wasn't some naive young girl. Staring at these messages for a good while, she sensed something unusual.

She carefully recalled her previous interactions with Zhan Xingyi.

This guy was actually quite sunny.

He had a bit of a "puppy dog" attribute.

His reputation in the industry was decent.

But he wasn't even thirty yet.

Gu Kaiyang didn't know what she was thinking, but after a long while, she retorted: And you?

Zhan Xingyi replied instantly: I’m in Pingcheng.

Zhan Xingyi: I’m spending New Year alone this year.

Zhan Xingyi: If you’re in Pingcheng, would you like to have a drink tonight and watch the New Year’s Gala?

Gu Kaiyang stared at the words "watch the New Year’s Gala" for quite a while, unable to help but curl the corners of her lips upward.

Gu Kaiyang: Okay.

After replying, she opened her travel app and booked a flight back to Pingcheng.


New Year’s Eve, 2:00 PM.

The snow had stopped in Pingcheng, and a thick layer of fresh snow covered the ground. Jiang Chun and Tang Zhizhou were wrapping dumplings in the courtyard with their children.

Jiang Chun and Tang Zhizhou had given birth to twin boys in the third year of their marriage. Their grandmother had named them Tang Jingxing and Tang Xingzhi.

Jiang Chun had specifically looked up the origin of the names: "High mountains to look up to; righteous paths to walk upon."

After reading the definition, she had grumbled quietly to Tang Zhizhou, "Jingxing corresponds to the high mountains. Did his grandmother think Tang Gaoshan didn't sound as good as Tang Xingzhi, which is why she didn't make their names symmetrical? But this 'hang' and 'xing' are so tongue-twisting. It would have been much smoother to call them Tang Dalu and Tang Gaoshan."

So, every time Jiang Chun was angry, she would shout:

"Tang Gaoshan! If you don't eat now, you’ll never eat again!"

"Tang Dalu! Turn off the TV immediately! Or you’ll never see Ultraman again in your life!"

Because of the daily brainwashing by their "devil mother" Jiang Chun, young Tang Jingxing had once gotten confused during a first-grade exam and actually written his name as Tang Dalu. Afterward, the test paper was integrated into the files of a kid in another class who was actually named Tang Dalu, causing quite a mix-up.

But Jiang Chun hadn't repented; even while wrapping dumplings for the New Year, she didn't forget to use their nicknames to whip the two little ones into shape:

"Tang Gaoshan, where are the pleats on your dumpling? If they’re this ugly, Zhuo-Bao definitely won't eat them."

"Tang Dalu, use less meat! Zhuo-Bao is so small, how could she eat a piece that big?"

That’s right—Jiang Chun was a farsighted planner. From the moment Zhuo-Bao was born into Ji Mingchu’s family, she had internally and forcibly reserved Zhuo-Bao as her future daughter-in-law, taking her two kids to show their faces in front of Zhuo-Bao every three days, and encouraging her two boys to compete fairly.

But no matter how Jiang Chun whipped them, the final dumplings the two boys produced remained a catastrophic sight.

On their way to deliver dumplings to the Ji residence, Jiang Chun sighed sorrowfully, "Depending on these two, I might never be able to become in-laws with my little Shushu in this lifetime."

Tang Zhizhou backed the car into the garage, leaned over to help her unbuckle her seatbelt, and touched her little belly, his voice filled with laughter, "You can still count on her."

Hm... The little one in her belly had been confirmed to be a little girl. If she were to be Cen Yan’s wife, that didn't seem like a bad idea either.

Thinking of this, Jiang Chun smiled happily, her eyes crinkling.


New Year’s Eve, 7:00 PM.

Ji Mingchu and Cen Sen were following their usual custom: lunch at the Ji residence, and the evening at Nanqiao West Lane. The difference from before was that they now had to bring Cen Yan and Cen Zhuo along whenever they went out.

In the evening, Cen Zhuo had eaten two dumplings sent by her "Little Goose" aunt and was already drowsy with her little mouth open. Cen Yan and the other Cen family children were busily moving several cardboard boxes out of the trunk, excitedly preparing to set off fireworks.

Ji Mingchu felt a bit full, acting spoiled toward Cen Sen as she took his arm to go for a stroll to help her digestion.

Nanqiao West Lane hadn't changed at all over these years and had even been included in the plans for historic street preservation, so it would likely keep its original appearance in the future.

The snow was deep. Ji Mingchu walked forward, her little sheepskin boots sinking into the drifts, and looking at the familiar street scene, she couldn't help but recall some old memories.

"Do you remember that you confessed to me on a New Year’s Eve, right in this spot?" Stopping before a utility pole at the end of the alley, Ji Mingchu suddenly remarked with emotion.

Cen Sen hugged her gently from behind, "I remember."

Ji Mingchu couldn't help but smirk secretly, wondering what she had remembered.

"Hm? What are you smiling at?"

Ji Mingchu quickly straightened her expression and cleared her throat in all seriousness, "Nothing... it’s just, I feel that this is what they call 'whoever falls in love first loses.' Look, you confessed to me first, and now you’re completely wrapped around my finger, right? So, I think we have to raise our Zhuo-Bao to be a bit more cold and detached so she won't be cheated away so easily. Don't you agree?"

Cen Sen couldn't help but think of the quiet confession Ji Mingchu had made while he was asleep back then. The corners of his lips pulled upward, but he only followed her line of thinking and agreed, "Mm, yes."


New Year’s Eve, 12:00 AM.

Clusters of New Year fireworks ascended into the sky, the silent night of Pingcheng illuminated in an instant as if it were broad daylight.

Gu Kaiyang and Zhan Xingyi, their entire faces covered except for their eyes, clinked their glasses in a small bistro, laughing and wishing each other a Happy New Year.

Jiang Chun, Tang Zhizhou, and their two little ones sat at the dining table eating steaming dumplings, not forgetting to count down along with the host on TV.

Ji Mingchu and Cen Sen had finished building four stream-of-consciousness snowmen in the courtyard. Zhuo-Bao was still asleep, and Cen Yan considerately covered her little ears.

The contract of the old year expired at this moment, and the New Year’s renewal began.

May year after year, we have this day and this moment again.