In the midsummer night, there was heavy rain, lightning tore through layers of dark clouds, followed by muffled thunder, rumbling.
In the Imperial Oil Painting Institute, the medieval church-style stained glass window is full of bright lights inside. "Zero Degree" will hold a fashionable charity dinner here tonight to commemorate the tenth anniversary of its founding.
Before the dinner, there will be a conversation, and the guests will sign autographs and pose for photos in front of the exhibition boards, or in social.
On such an occasion, if you don't stay with people you know well to chat and joke, it will inevitably appear awkward and out of place.
Fortunately, Ji Mingshu never had such troubles.
"Jiang Chun isn't coming tonight?"
"Shouldn't be coming."
"That's right, I spent several million to order a pile of junk, and if I want to do charity, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it for the time being."
The few female voices are gentle and gentle, if you don't listen carefully, you really think they are caring and regretful. The topic was also on the point, the ladies exchanged glances, and smiled at the same time.
Ji Mingshu, who was surrounded in the center, kept silent. Although he chuckled, it was not difficult to see that she was not interested, and even a little absent-minded.
Seeing this, someone changed the subject without any trace, "Ming Shu, is this dress you tried on in Paris two days ago? It's so beautiful."
"No, I just made a preliminary sample of the one I tried two days ago, and this one was ordered during the autumn and winter haute couture week last year." Ji Mingshu replied.
Everyone has done haute couture, and it's not uncommon to have a few pieces, but dresses cost millions of dollars, so it's not easy to wear them repeatedly, and ordinary evening dresses like Ji Mingshu's are too extravagant to wear.
None of them concealed their envious expressions, as usual, they echoed the praise along the lines of the conversation.
Ji Mingshu didn't know if he had listened, and his expression was flat. In the end, I still gave them face, drank half a glass of red wine, and left a sentence of "enjoy", and then left with Gu Kaiyang, the deputy editor-in-chief of "Zero Degree", who was about to take office.
As soon as Ji Mingshu left, the ladies secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
Tonight, Ji Mingshu was clearly out of shape, saying that Jiang Chun was not interested in making jokes, and complimenting her skirt didn't respond, why was it so difficult to serve her.
"What are you thinking about? You still have the time to listen to those plastic flowers flattering you. Help me to watch the banquet hall. Tonight is your sister's big day. If that bitch Shi Qing dares to make trouble in the banquet hall, You tore her apart!"
Gu Kaiyang smiled and nodded frequently to greet the guests as he walked towards the banquet hall. The voice drifted out from between the raised lips, and was suppressed by three points at the same time.
Ji Mingshu raised his eyebrows, and before she could answer, there was a sudden commotion behind them, and the two turned their heads one after another.
I don't know which big name arrived, and the click of the flashlights at the door became urgent. The reporters who were still doing interviews all gave up the object at hand, and rushed to the display board at the end of the red carpet, huddled together.
Gu Kaiyang half-closed his eyes to identify, "It seems that Su Cheng is here, please help me look here, I will go first."
She reacted quickly, halfway through her words, she had already moved forward.
Ji Mingshu looked at the crowded outside room from a distance, and didn't pay much attention at first, but suddenly caught a glimpse of the familiar yet unfamiliar figure beside Su Cheng through the gap, and his back straightened instantly.
As if in response, the figure standing beside Su Cheng also looked in her direction. His eyes passed through the crowds and bursts of white light, as if they were tainted with the coolness of the summer rainy night, cold and distant. .
A quarter of an hour later, the red carpet shooting and interviews in front of the exhibition boards were all over, and the guests were ushered into the banquet hall, where they were seated one by one according to the positions they had arranged earlier.
The layout design of the banquet hall tonight was designed by Ji Mingshu.
The lighting in the hall was like a waterfall, and the band performed Mozart's "Symphony No. 40 in G Minor" live. In the center of each table are warm jade white roses that just arrived by air this morning. The petals of the roses are fresh and plump, and the edges are still glowing with warm light pink. The waiter in a vest and a bow tie held the disc with one hand and shuttled back and forth between the room.
Flashy, but that's all.
Gu Kaiyang's previous worries were a bit unnecessary. Knowing that Ji Mingshu personally held the banquet, the people who wanted to be monsters stopped thinking about it eight hundred years ago. Until the president of the group came to speak on stage, there was no mistake in the banquet hall.
After the CEO finished his speech, it was time for Miss May, the editor-in-chief of "Zero Degree" to take the stage.
Sister May loves to talk about expired chicken soup, probably to pay tribute to the "devil head" Miranda's strategizing, this time the chicken soup is cold and there are seismic changes inside the magazine.
Everyone at the scene was human, and when she cueed to the "new deputy editor", everyone subconsciously looked at Gu Kaiyang.
Gu Kaiyang stood up like a little white swan who was triumphant, with uncontrollable joy in the corners of his eyes and brows.
There were also people who only glanced at her before looking at Ji Mingshu who was sitting beside her, such as Su Cheng.
Su Cheng is in his 40s this year, holds numerous actress trophies in his hand, and has married bigwigs three times successively. Whether in the showbiz fashion circle or in the current celebrity circle, he has a pivotal position.
She tilted her head slightly, approached the man beside her, and joked in a tone of prying gossip from the younger generation: "Why didn't you accompany Mingshu? Are you having trouble?"
The man raised his eyes and looked at Ji Mingshu who was not far away. He tapped the wall of the cup lightly with his fingertips, and the frequency was surprisingly consistent with the movement of the platinum watch on his wrist.
After a while, he didn't answer, he seemed to be smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
Su Cheng only regarded him as acquiescing, and whispered to him how to coax girls.
He nodded without looking back—
I haven't seen him for two years, but Ji Mingshu is still the same as before. Even though he is cold and expressionless, his face is so bright that it is not inferior to the starlight in the room tonight.
The after party after the dinner was arranged as a charity auction, and the remaining guests moved to the small hall on the other side.
"Lot 029 Tahitian natural black pearl and diamond necklace, donated by Ms. Su Cheng..."
The auctioneer on the stage was introducing the auction items, but Ji Mingshu scanned the information on the auction items first.
She laughed lightly in her heart, guessing that someone was going to spend a lot of money tonight, so the queen of the show smiled.
As soon as this idea was spinning in my mind, the auctioneer reported: "The starting price is 800,000!"
"Eight hundred and fifty thousand!"
"Nine hundred thousand!"
"one million!"
As soon as the words fell, the price quickly refreshed.
When the bidding price reached 3 million, many people looked sideways at Ji Mingshu's right back, and some even couldn't help whispering in this situation.
Ji Mingshu didn't move, she didn't need to turn her head, she could also imagine the calm look of that person when he frequently raised his cards.
"Five million, now it's five million."
"One time for five million, two times for five million, three times for five million!"
"Boom!"
The hammer fell with a dull sound.
"This necklace, five million...? Who is that man?"
The starlet who had just entered the circle and sat with him at the bottom seat also saw that the transaction price of this necklace was too high, so he couldn't help asking the manager next to him softly.
"Cen Sen..." the manager murmured thoughtfully, "Why did he come back suddenly?"
The little girl entered Vanity Fair for the first time, and everything she saw and heard felt fresh. She caught the key words and asked, "That man's name is Cen Sen? Is he very powerful?"
The little rookie can't catch up with Cen Sen for the time being, and he will see the world when he is brought out today. The manager didn't bother to explain to her, so he just lowered his head and clicked his phone under the table, giving the other girls with more experience The stars deliver first-hand news.
There are not a few people on the scene who have tipped off like this agent.
The prince of Jingjian Cen's family went to Australia to explore overseas markets, and has not shown up in China for two years. Appearing without warning on an occasion like tonight, and acting in an uncharacteristically high-profile manner, this seems to be a signal—
Beijing Construction's years-long civil war is over.
If there are no accidents, after tonight, there will be another influential figure in Sijiu City that people talk about.
In fact, attending this charity dinner was not originally planned by Cen Sen.
But he has always been impeccable in his affairs, and was temporarily entrusted by someone to accompany Su Cheng to attend. Not only did he show the patience he had when he accompanied his elders to attend various activities in the early years, but he also took pictures of the pearl necklace donated by Su Cheng, which was said to be a beloved item for many years.
This kind of small auction held by a fashion magazine was originally intended to be a donation to take a photo of a heart. Cen Sen raised the price so much, it can be said that he did Su Cheng enough face.
Su Cheng groaned with a smile, and said slowly: "Old Pei is free some other day, you and Ming Shu come to our house for dinner."
This is accepted.
When the auction ended, many people's eyes fell on Cen Sen.
Still sitting in the dim light, he loosened the Windsor knot at his neckline, crossed his legs, and leaned back.
There were many guests tonight, and he and Su Cheng arrived relatively late, so many people didn't know he was here.
Now that I know it, those who know each other will naturally come forward to greet and chat, and those who don't know will create conditions to get acquainted with each other.
Ji Mingshu sat motionless in his seat, staring straight at the empty booth with an expression as cold as ice.
Gu Kaiyang was terrified when he saw it. The excitement of defeating his class enemies and getting a promotion and salary increase faded away when Cen Sen repeatedly bid for Su Cheng's pearl necklace.
She asked in a low voice, "When did your husband come back? Did you two quarrel?"
"without."
Ji Mingshu only answered the latter question, because she didn't know the answer to the former question either.
After an unknown amount of time, a pair of black leather shoes slowly entered her sight.
The style of the shoes is familiar, and the lacing method is unique. Almost the moment his eyes touched the upper of the shoe, Ji Mingshu had the appearance of its owner in his mind.
"Mingshu, you're home."
His voice was neither high nor low, ordinary, which gave Ji Mingshu the illusion that they were a normal couple and would meet every day.
"I'm driving here...I really..." Gu Kaiyang stepped on a ten-centimeter stiletto heel, and was secretly pulled out by Ji Mingshu, a little unsteady, "You go home when you go home, why pull me, I don't need to send... "
"You want to send it."
Ji Mingshu looked at the past coldly, and blocked all the rest of her words in his throat.
The rainstorm outside the oil painting academy had just stopped, and the night was so thick that there was no light at all. The wind blew over, half of it was cool, and half of it was hot and humid in summer night.
The driver respectfully opened the passenger door.
Seeing that Cen Sen didn't show signs of sitting on it, Ji Mingshu subconsciously took a step forward, but Cen Sen suddenly raised his hand to block it, and then looked at Gu Kaiyang without a trace.
Gu Kaiyang shivered, and hurried forward in small steps, especially consciously sitting in the co-pilot, to make room for the young couple in the back row.
"Well, just send me to Xinggang International, thank you."
After Gu Kaiyang reported the address to the driver, he took a peek at the indifferent couple in the rear seat from the rearview mirror.
——The two looked ahead, ignoring each other, and the distance between the seats was about enough for a fat man of two hundred catties to sit.
The Bentley drove into the main road, and there was no sound in the car for a full three minutes. Gu Kaiyang felt that if it was so quiet, the four people in the car might be suffocated to death.
She was preparing a topic and wanted to break the silence in the car, when Big Boss Cen suddenly said, "Miss Gu has been promoted, congratulations."
Gu Kaiyang followed his instinct and laughed dryly, "Thank you, thank you." By the way, the business exchanged a few words, "It's been a long time, Mr. Cen, and he's having a blast tonight."
Ji Mingshu gave her a blank look in the rearview mirror.
"A exploded?" Cen Sen was relatively unfamiliar with new vocabulary.
Without waiting for Gu Kaiyang to explain, Ji Mingshu casually added: "It's fine if you think you've exploded."