Zhou Ying interrupted Jiang Cheng: "You've already been very good to me. I just didn't know how to bring it up to you. There's no reason for you to shoulder my family's debts just because I'm with you. Although, at the very beginning, I did have some thoughts, like planning to sell these luxury goods you gave me to pay off the debt..."
After saying that, Zhou Ying looked at Jiang Cheng a bit sheepishly: "Will you be offended or angry if I say that?"
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng smiled: "Why would I be angry? I would have done the same in your position; it's only human. Besides, since I gave them to you, these things belong to you now. You can handle them however you like..."
Zhou Ying felt relieved upon hearing this: "That's good... Actually, I really feel for my mother. At the beginning, she was under immense pressure. Not only did she sell all her luxury goods to pay off the debt, but she also went out to find a job... She hadn't worked for over ten years, so there were many jobs she didn't know how to do, and people looked down on her, but she kept begging for a chance."
"However, the wages for those jobs weren't high, only a few thousand yuan a month. Aside from basic expenses, the money saved couldn't solve our family's troubles at all; it wasn't even enough to cover the monthly interest. That's why I went to become a car model."
After saying that, Zhou Ying looked at Jiang Cheng and smiled: "You know that car models get paid well. When I interviewed at the MixC in Chengdu, I was hired immediately. It was several hundred yuan a day. That was the first time I received a salary; you have no idea how happy I was. Although people's opinions of this profession aren't great, I didn't care as long as I could save money."
"But my mom's mindset wasn't as good. She was always very anxious. Later, she even wanted me to go on blind dates and marry Wang Yuan, hoping to solve our debt problems through his family. He's the man you met at Taikoo Li last time."
"The one who found someone to sing 'Mice Love Rice'??"
Speaking of this, Zhou Ying couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh: "Yes, I was deathly embarrassed by his arrangement back then. I've known Wang Yuan since I was a child. His character is terrible, and I don't like him at all. But my mom was under so much pressure then that she insisted I go. Luckily, you showed up later and messed things up."
Jiang Cheng nodded and said, "Your mother must have really disliked me back then."
"Not really. Once she saw you buying me a Cartier necklace and watch, she stopped interfering. Actually, my mom was quite materialistic when she was younger. Knowing you were wealthy, she was even a bit happy."
Seeing Zhou Ying honestly speaking ill of Fang Yuan, Jiang Cheng gave a helpless smile.
One thing Jiang Cheng liked about Zhou Ying was that she wasn't pretentious; she was even quite direct.
Just like now, she didn't sugarcoat her past, nor did she use it to gain Jiang Cheng's sympathy. She even spoke directly about those less-than-honorable thoughts.
"You certainly don't hide anything."
"I'm telling the truth. But I don't blame her; I only blame my dad. He put so much pressure on my mother."
"Your mother indeed hasn't had it easy. However, you can leave the debt to me. You should know that a few million is nothing to me."
Seeing Jiang Cheng offer to resolve the debt for her twice, Zhou Ying was moved beyond words.
She had thought about telling Jiang Cheng before, but she always felt their relationship hadn't reached the point where he could help her pay off her debts, so she never brought it up.
She hadn't expected that after just a brief mention, Jiang Cheng would so readily offer to pay off the debt for her.
"Jiang Cheng, you're so good to me. I almost regret not becoming friends with you sooner."
"Our timing right now is just right."
Hearing this, Zhou Ying rubbed her charming face against his chest: "The debt has already been paid off. When my grandmother passed away last month, she ignored everyone's objections and left a very nice property to my mother. My mom sold it to pay off the debt, so now we're both free."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng said jokingly, "So the car I bought for you doesn't need to be sold?"
"Right. I haven't told my mom about the car yet. Actually, I did have that plan. If there was really no way to delay anymore, I would have sold it secretly. Anyway, you probably wouldn't care whether I drove the car you gave me, right? Hehe."
Jiang Cheng stroked Zhou Ying's hair. Although Zhou Ying spoke of these things with a calm face, Jiang Cheng knew that the reality behind them certainly wasn't as easy as she made it seem.
"In the future, tell me if anything happens, okay? These things aren't complicated for me to begin with, so don't feel any psychological burden."
"I know La~~"
"How about I buy you a house? This place is too small, and the transportation isn't very good."
Zhou Ying's first instinct was to refuse, but after seeing the look in Jiang Cheng's eyes, she obediently nodded: "Then where do you think is a good place to buy a house?"
"Do you prefer living somewhere further away or somewhere more bustling?"
"Hmm... somewhere more bustling, I guess. Otherwise, ordering takeout would be such a hassle. A three-bedroom apartment is fine, it doesn't need to be too big. The main thing is that it must have an elevator."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng agreed wholeheartedly: "I couldn't agree more with that last point. Living on the fifth floor without an elevator is practically anti-human. Luckily, your family doesn't live on the top floor; otherwise, once you came up, you wouldn't want to go back down."
"Hahaha, I noticed just now. You definitely don't climb stairs often..."
...After staying for a while, Jiang Cheng drove away from Zhou Ying's home.
After all, with his Mother-in-law at home, it was better to avoid any suspicion.
Jiang Cheng sent his mom a message saying he wanted to eat hot pot when he got back, then started heading home.
Half an hour later, Jiang Cheng parked his car in the underground garage at home.
Then he brought up some gifts that had been sitting in the trunk for a while.
When he reached the door, he recalled his parents' wedding anniversary and then entered the code into the electronic lock.
He have to admit, this electronic lock was quite useful, especially for people like him whose parents were often away from home.
If it were like before, when he forgot his keys, Jiang Cheng would probably have to wait at a neighbor's house or on a bench in the garden downstairs for his mom to come rescue him.