The next morning, Lin Qingxue set her alarm early. After brushing her teeth and seeing Jiang Cheng still asleep, she considerately summoned all her strength to wake him up.
Enduring the soreness in her mouth, she still thoughtfully gave Jiang Cheng a full-body spa treatment.
Half an hour later, Jiang Cheng finally rose, refreshed and energized.
Watching Lin Qingxue rinse her mouth in the bathroom, Jiang Cheng declared that such morning wake-up services should definitely become a regular thing.
Although Jiang Cheng was very satisfied, Lin Qingxue herself wasn't entirely happy.
She was rinsing her mouth while poking her tongue about.
After fiddling for a while, she gave up in resignation.
Having witnessed Jiang Cheng's gifted flexibility, Lin Qingxue resolved to practice hard once she got back.
She aimed to reach his level as soon as possible.
After ordering room-service breakfast, Jiang Cheng went to wash up.
When he came out, Lin Qingxue was packing clothes.
She was holding a pair of ripped Balenciaga tights.
Looking both pained and conflicted.
In the end she folded them away.
"Why bother keeping them?"
Lin Qingxue stuck out her tongue, embarrassed. "It's not the crotch that's torn; I can still wear them normally. I'll just save the new pair for when I'm out with you."
Jiang Cheng's grin turned playfully dangerous at the mental image.
"I can picture that perfectly. If you dress like that, I'll definitely want to 'run into' you."
"Perfect—then I'll definitely wear them, so you'll think of me." Feeling even happier, she tucked the tights away, beaming.
Jiang Cheng shook his head in resignation.
Ever since their cafeteria encounter, he'd noticed that Lin Qingxue's finances seemed tight.
Combined with what Hao Liang had said last night, her family situation was apparently difficult.
Jiang Cheng didn't know the details, nor did he plan to ask.
After all, such sensitive questions were best left unspoken.
Soon Lin Qingxue finished packing everything.
She even helped Jiang Cheng into the freshly laundered clothes he'd changed out of the night before.
After breakfast, they drove back to campus.
In the parking lot, Lin Qingxue gave Jiang Cheng a kiss.
"I'll bring you milk tea later so you can recharge. Military Training ends in two days."
"Aren't you on your period? Skip the part-time job today." Jiang Cheng patted her round head.
Lin Qingxue looked at him with sparkling eyes. "If I quit, will you support me?"
"I'll support you~"
His words struck straight to her heart.
She suddenly pictured a scene from a Stephen Chow movie.
If any other guy had said it, she would have answered instantly,
"Add extra sauce when you're painting that pie, thanks."
But this was Jiang Cheng; she knew it would be effortless for him.
She had once longed for this very moment—her initial goal in approaching him.
Yet when he said it, though delighted, she felt too shy to agree outright.
Lin Qingxue said softly, "I'm actually quite expensive to keep."
After all, Jiang Cheng didn't know her family situation, and she feared he might feel uneasy once he did.
She had approached him with a personal agenda.
Now that the goal was achieved, instead of relief she felt a pang of guilt.
Because she realized she genuinely cared about his feelings.
Though she'd started out for the money,
now she privately hoped for a sweet romance with Jiang Cheng.
Who wouldn't fall for a guy so handsome and rich?
Seeing her stare blankly, Jiang Cheng didn't answer; instead he asked, "Doesn't it hurt?"
Lin Qingxue looked dazed. "Huh??"
They had… but only half crossed the final line.
What pain was there?
"Aren't girls in a lot of pain during those days?"
Jiang Cheng remembered watching cheesy dramas with his mom, Li Yan—every heroine's standard scene was stomach cramps.
Seeing his gaze on her belly, Lin Qingxue murmured, "It's okay, I don't hurt much. Just a bit uncomfortable today, but tomorrow I'll be fine."
Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow. "Was all that TV useless?"
Lin Qingxue giggled behind her hand. "Some do hurt. Everyone's different; maybe I just tolerate it well. If it's unbearable, you see a doctor."
"Looks like I won't get to play the devoted boyfriend with brown-sugar water."
Snap! One less chance to act deeply caring.
"All right, skip work and rest in the dorm," Jiang Cheng said.
Face-to-face, he took out his phone and sent ten wechat transfers of twenty thousand yuan each to Lin Qingxue.
He split it because each transfer capped at twenty thousand.
And the daily limit was two hundred thousand.
Lin Qingxue stared at the wechat balance, shocked, covering her mouth in disbelief.
Two hundred thousand could cover her family's living expenses for more than a year.
Her off-campus part-time job paid only nine hundred a month.
She never expected Jiang Cheng to send two hundred thousand in one go.
The contrast between 900 and 200,000 was overwhelming.
Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of the money.
He'd given her two hundred thousand without anything happening between them.
Where could she ever find such a guy again?
"Jiang Cheng, aren't you afraid I'm scamming you?"