Mrs. Cen's Bearing

Cen Muxiao had the feeling that the Guo Lantai before him seemed different from the man he had met when their two families had discussed the marriage.

That day, the man's eyes had clearly been full of infatuation. He had spoken softly and gently, doing his best to present himself well at every turn, terrified of giving Cen Muxiao any reason to call off the arranged marriage on the spot.

Yet today, not only had he boldly kissed him in public, but his later words had become much sharper as well. On the surface, he went along with Cen Muxiao, but underneath, he was secretly competing with him and deliberately making him uncomfortable.

Heh! Did he think that, now that the matter was set in stone, he could no longer be bothered to keep acting? Did he think he could act without restraint just because the position of Mrs. Cen was already within his grasp?

He even dared to demand an apology from Song Anning!

Had he forgotten the nature of this arranged marriage? If the two of them had truly been in love and willing, they might have made a convincing lie of it, but what were they?

How could he possibly have the chance to grow spoiled by favor?

After dealing with Guo Huaiyuan and his wife, Cen Muxiao grabbed Guo Lantai and dragged him into another VIP room on the top floor.

This time, he did not pin him to the wall. Instead, he flung him onto the sofa and said in an unquestionable tone, "I'll handle the rest. You stay here and behave!"

Guo Lantai landed on the sofa, propped himself up on one arm, and looked up at him. "Are you afraid I'll go out and say something reckless? Or do I look too embarrassing to be seen with you?"

Cen Muxiao did not even need to choose between those answers. Song Anning was exactly his type, pleasing to the eye, but Guo Lantai was also strikingly handsome, having perfectly inherited his parents' best features.

In terms of appearance alone, he and Cen Muxiao were a perfect match.

It was just a pity that he was not Cen Muxiao's type!

"Didn't you say anything?" Cen Muxiao asked coldly, clearly unconvinced.

"That's an interesting thing to say. You think I'd smear you and that Song Anning, don't you?"

Guo Lantai sat upright and asked bluntly.

He had known it. As long as the waiter's words had been delivered properly, Cen Muxiao would surely let his imagination run wild and label him a sinister villain who would seize every opportunity to slander Song Anning.

The grudges and feuds of wealthy families had always drawn attention, let alone a confrontation between the legal wife and the third party's beloved white moonlight. It was exactly the kind of topic entertainment reporters were most interested in. Whoever got the firsthand material would seize the advantage for the headlines, and anyone with a bit of sense would definitely keep their eyes on him, Mrs. Cen.

Everyone could see Guo Lantai's dissatisfaction with Song Anning. Just one ambiguous remark from him could completely focus the spearhead of public opinion on Song Anning.

That was not something Song Anning, who had only just returned to the country, could withstand!

In order to protect his white moonlight, Cen Muxiao would certainly find a way to shut him up. To ensure there was no room for error, the most direct and effective method was to isolate him from those media people entirely.

That was how domineering CEOs operated: they strangled every bad sign in the cradle.

"Whether you said anything or not, it can easily invite speculation. Rather than let others use it to make an issue, it's better not to give them the chance!"

After saying that, Cen Muxiao turned on his heel. With his back to Guo Lantai, he emphasized, "Since you're going to be Mrs. Cen, you should show the bearing of Mrs. Cen. If you do, I might think more highly of you. What do you say?"

After throwing those words down, he strode out, leaving behind only the heavy sound of the door closing.

"Heh! The bearing of Mrs. Cen!"

Seeing how decisively he had left, Guo Lantai snorted. "You scumbag. I hope that, when you see Song Anning's true face someday, you can still maintain the bearing a domineering CEO ought to have!"

Thinking about how, at the grand wedding, he as the main character would not even get the chance to show his face in the end, Guo Lantai felt a little depressed. There did not seem to be any scene in the original novel where the domineering CEO ordered him confined like this!

He had not even entered the Cen family's front door yet, and he was already getting put in his place. How heartless!

It seemed his arrival really could change the course of the plot. Good, good. That proved his path of fighting back and surviving was full of hope!

Once he thought of it that way, the little bit of displeasure from Cen Muxiao's repeated reprimands and warnings vanished completely!

It was better if they did not need him to appear. Before transmigrating into the novel, he had stayed up several nights in a row. He was badly sleep-deprived!

"Sleep!"

No matter how big the world was, sleep was still the greatest. Guo Lantai simply curled up on the sofa to catch up on sleep, and before long after closing his eyes, he fell into a deep slumber.

Before losing consciousness, he thought expectantly, When I wake up after sleeping, could I transmigrate back again?

But could the real-world version of himself still be saved?

He could accept dying from overwork after staying up late and working overtime, but if he had been literally angered to death by a novel's plot, would that not be utterly humiliating?

Author Hit Me for My Idle Hands, you really wrote this... so... well!

Not long after Cen Muxiao left Guo Lantai and returned to the banquet hall, a waiter came to summon him.

Song Anning suddenly felt unwell and wanted to let Cen Muxiao know before going to the hospital himself.

The moment Cen Muxiao heard that, how could he possibly feel at ease letting him go to the hospital alone? Seeing that he had nearly finished handling the matters in his hands, he asked several cousins from his own family to help wrap things up and personally accompanied Song Anning to the hospital.

Before leaving, he only briefly instructed his secretary, Wu Tong, to remember to take Guo Lantai back to the villa after finishing up.

"It's just a stomachache. I can go to the hospital myself and get some medicine. You haven't finished with your matters yet. You shouldn't leave early."

Song Anning held his stomach with both hands, his face pale, and his words were full of guilt.

"It's fine. Whether I'm there for the rest makes no difference."

Cen Muxiao reassured him, then asked in a low voice, "Did you skip meals again?"

"Mm. There were too many things to deal with before I came back, so I overlooked it. I didn't eat much on the plane either, and after getting off, I came straight here. But it's an old problem. It's nothing serious."

Song Anning spoke slowly. In truth, failing to eat on time was not the main trigger. Anxiety, anger, and bottling up his frustration were enough to give him stomach spasms.

He had only casually mentioned it just now, never expecting Cen Muxiao to still be the same as before. Whenever he had so much as a headache or fever, Cen Muxiao became terribly nervous.

Now, Cen Muxiao was even abandoning his own wedding banquet and leaving behind his newlywed spouse just to personally take him to the hospital. That concern could not have been more considerate.

"I overlooked it. I should have had someone bring you food separately!"

After saying that, Cen Muxiao looked up at Xiao Liu, who was driving, and ordered, "Xiao Liu, once we get to the hospital, go buy some hot porridge and easy-to-digest pastries first."

Xiao Liu kept his eyes on the road and answered swiftly, "Yes, President Cen."

"There's no need to go to so much trouble!" Song Anning hurriedly tried to stop him.

Cen Muxiao said, "It's no trouble. Eat something before taking medicine. Your stomach will feel better."

Hearing that, Song Anning pursed his lips and smiled. "All right, I'll listen to you."

After the scumbag took his white moonlight on a trip to the hospital, he went straight back to Cen Muxiao's villa.

Seeing that the first half of the night was nearly over and Mrs. Cen, Guo Lantai, who should have been home long ago, still had not appeared, Cen Muxiao finally remembered to call and ask.

But he did not even have Guo Lantai's phone number!

So he called his secretary, Wu Tong, directly. "What's going on? Why hasn't Guo Lantai returned to the villa yet?"

Wu Tong on the other end of the line was clearly baffled. "President Cen, there's no one in the lounge. I couldn't find Mr. Guo. Didn't he go back early?"