Zhou Ying might be right; being happy in the moment is what matters most.
Just like her, the time when she was eighteen passed by in a flash.
Although she had enjoyed wealth and luxury with Zhou Ying's father, she had never experienced the taste of love.
Fang Yuan watched the confession on the opposite bank and silently took out her phone to record it.
Although Jiang Cheng was confessing to Zhou Ying, there was at least one photo of her included.
This could be considered indirectly helping her fulfill a romantic dream she had never achieved.
Seeing another public display of affection, the passersby along the Huangpu River began to gossip again.
"Damn, someone's handing out dog food again. Good thing I've had my fill tonight and can't eat any more."
"Didn't someone just celebrate the birthday of the Shark Streamer, Qiao Yinyin, the day before yesterday? Who is this woman today? She looks like a celebrity."
"Qiao Yinyin has opened a TikTok account. Have you followed her?"
"By the way, what does she do? Isn't she just a beauty Streamer?"
"Do you think the man confessing tonight is the same one who celebrated Qiao Yinyin's birthday the other day? Why does the setup tonight look so familiar?"
"Hmph, you men are just envious. When someone else is romantic, you just have to let your imagination run wild. This is what you call twisting the logic, you know? You should learn from him instead."
After saying that, the woman gave him a fierce glare and turned to walk away.
"..."
At this moment, the young man was speechless. He had only mentioned it in passing, and his girlfriend had stormed off in anger.
Besides, he also wanted to confess on the advertising buildings.
But unfortunately, his wallet wouldn't allow it.
Do you know how much it costs to run an advertisement on the buildings along The Bund?
The advertising fees for the Huaqi Building are calculated by the second.
It's 800 yuan for 30 seconds, which is 1,600 yuan per minute.
Although it doesn't sound expensive at first.
Usually, even if you want to set up a romantic confession ceremony, you'd need at least five minutes as a baseline.
With 300 seconds for the confession plus taking photos, you'd still have to hurry.
Otherwise, the advertisement might end before you've even finished speaking.
How embarrassing would that be?
And the advertising fee for just five short minutes is 8,000 yuan.
The price for each building is different.
What's even more exaggerated is the Zhendan Building.
If you want to place an ad on its screen, it must be done on a monthly basis.
Their billboards aren't rented by the minute,
nor by the day; they can only be rented by the month.
The monthly advertising rent is 960,000 yuan.
Yet Jiang Cheng could use their billboard without needing a monthly rental.
This is the benefit of having connections.
Advertisements on other buildings aren't as strict as the Zhendan Building.
But the other day, for Qiao Yinyin's birthday, the ad ran for a full hour.
All the advertising fees added up to over 300,000 yuan.
Tonight, Jiang Cheng did the same, running the ad for an hour.
So, being confessed to for over an hour on the most prosperous Bund in the Magic City—this kind of romantic gesture isn't something every girl can have.
After ten minutes or so, seeing that Zhou Ying was still clinging to Jiang Cheng, Fang Yuan couldn't help but clear her throat to remind her.
At this moment, even the passengers on the cruise ship were chattering away in discussion.
To prevent being recognized by the people on the ship, and with Fang Yuan's reminder, Jiang Cheng reluctantly pulled away from Zhou Ying's soft, fragrant body.
After all, people nowadays take photos at the drop of a hat, and Jiang Cheng didn't want to see his own pictures online.
A good man should still keep a low profile.
After leaving Jiang Cheng's embrace, Zhou Ying gave Fang Yuan a reproachful look.
After all, such a romantic scene had been interrupted by Fang Yuan.
Seeing her daughter looking like she was ready to sell herself out to Jiang Cheng, Fang Yuan rolled her eyes at her.
Although she admitted that if it were her in such a romantic scene, she probably wouldn't be able to help but lose herself in Jiang Cheng's arms.
But she was still right there.
Even if the two of them weren't embarrassed, Fang Yuan felt a bit awkward as an elder.
Looking at the beautiful pictures of Zhou Ying on the screen, even if it was her own daughter, Fang Yuan admitted she was indeed feeling a bit jealous.
"Ying'er, looking at it this way, you're even better looking than many celebrities," Fang Yuan said with quite a bit of pride.
"Mom, I'm your daughter, so of course you think I'm pretty. How could I possibly compare to them?"
"Why can't you compare to them? If our family hadn't ended up like this, with your father's connections, you would have been a celebrity long ago," Fang Yuan said dismissively.
Jiang Cheng chimed in, "Auntie is telling the truth."
"After all, a beauty score of 96 and a height of 172—just so you know."
This long-legged natural beauty was indeed more outstanding than many female celebrities.
Zhou Ying pursed her lips and shook her head. "I don't want to be a celebrity."
"Didn't you used to like performing? Have you forgotten? You used to tell your father that you wanted to be a big star when you grew up."
Seeing Fang Yuan bring this up, Zhou Ying glanced at Jiang Cheng shyly and said, "That was before. I don't want to now. I'm afraid Jiang Cheng will get jealous..."
After all, being a celebrity inevitably involves physical contact with others. Although she didn't know what Jiang Cheng thought, Zhou Ying herself couldn't get past that hurdle in her own heart.
Seeing her daughter's 'love brain' behavior, Fang Yuan shook her head in disappointment.
Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, pinched Zhou Ying's adorable cheek with great satisfaction.
"So good. You wanted to be a celebrity before?"
Zhou Ying nodded and said bashfully, "That was when I was a kid. I used to love imagining things while watching idol dramas, but I don't want to anymore."
Jiang Cheng stared into Zhou Ying's sparkling eyes and asked curiously, "Then what do you want to be now?"
Zhou Ying thought for a moment and shook her head uncertainly. "Now I just want to study music well. After graduation, I'll just find a job related to music. As for being a musician or something, I haven't thought about it. I haven't studied music for so many years; I'm already lucky enough to have gotten into a school like this."
Hearing Zhou Ying say this, Fang Yuan said with heartache again, "It's all because your parents held you back. With your talent, you should be standing in a place where you can shine."
Seeing Fang Yuan's guilt, Zhou Ying smiled and comforted her instead. "Mom, I don't think life is hard now. There's nothing wrong with living well on our own. Don't overthink it. Once I graduate and find a good job, everything will be fine."