She didn't know how to explain her somewhat complicated relationship with Jiang Cheng to her father.
After a few seconds of silence, An Xin said, "He and I are just friends."
Seeing An Xin still saying this, An Jingsheng gave her a dissatisfied glare. "You are my daughter, after all. Although I don't know his family's situation, is a man worth you being so conflicted like this? If you like him, say so. It's not like you're not good enough for him, right? If you don't like him, then don't act like this. It's annoying to watch."
Suddenly being disdained by her own father, An Xin's face instantly turned red.
She glanced at An Jingsheng with embarrassment, wanting to retort but unable to find the words.
"Dad, what are you talking about? I didn't think that." An Xin's voice was very small, and her expression was extremely unnatural.
"Am I wrong? Neither your mother nor I were as innocent as you back then. Tell me, I worked so hard to earn so much money and raised you for over twenty years, yet you haven't even been in a relationship. It's one thing that you're not my biological daughter, but being so indecisive about a man you like... I really don't know what to say about you." An Jingsheng's tone carried a hint of frustration that she wasn't living up to expectations.
He also didn't know what to do with this daughter of his.
At this age, the friends and relatives around him already had grandchildren, but what about her?
Forget children, she hadn't even been in a relationship once.
An Xin had always been sensible since she was a child and never made him worry.
Only these matters of the heart made him extremely worried.
An Xin didn't know how to talk to her father about such a sensitive topic, so she stomped her foot and walked straight upstairs.
She returned to her room.
She closed the door and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Her father's words from just now echoed in her mind.
She knew her father meant well for her, hoping she could find a good man and live a happy life.
However, the person she liked just happened to be Jiang Cheng...
If Jiang Cheng didn't have a girlfriend, her mood certainly wouldn't be like this right now.
In the following few days, Jiang Cheng had been coordinating some matters with Tianlong Real Estate.
Under Chen Xueer's negotiations, Xingchen finally acquired forty-nine percent of the shares in the Eastern outskirts for 3.9 billion.
Once this capital was invested, Jiang Cheng's current savings dropped to over 3.25 billion.
"The Host earns 6 yuan for every second spent in this world."
[Name: Jiang Cheng.]
[Age: 18 years old.]
[Height: 185.]
[Appearance: 93 points.]
[Level: 16.]
[System Reserve Fund: 3,344,566 yuan.]
[System: 6 yuan/second.]
[Upgrade Experience: 36.704 billion / 40 billion]
At the dining table, Jiang Cheng was looking at the messages sent by Zhou Ying.
Zhou Ying had sent several links to news reports, every single one related to the Zhengde Group.
[Zhengde Group's cement plant clinker silo collapsed; fortunately, there were no casualties.]
[Zhengde Group's cement conveyor belt caught fire, with thick smoke billowing from the scene.]
[Breaking news: After investigation, the cause of the fire on Zhengde Group's cement conveyor belt has been identified as being triggered by the high temperature of the clinker.]
Jiang Cheng didn't even need to open them to know this was the masterpiece of the Security Team.
Before Jiang Cheng could reply to Zhou Ying, he saw a new friend request message.
Immediately after, Zhou Ying sent another message: "darling, my mom said she has something to talk to you about regarding my uncle's company, so I let her add you."
Before Jiang Cheng could respond, he saw Li Yan glance at him with a bit of disdain and say, "The holiday has been over for so long, when are you going back to school?"
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng rubbed his nose awkwardly. "Soon, the matters are almost finished being handled."
He had thought his parents didn't care about his studies at all.
"What matters do you have? Go back as soon as you're done. When you're at home, I have to cook for you from time to time; it's a hassle."
Before Li Yan could finish, Jiang Jianmin interrupted, "You were nagging about him every day when he wasn't home, and now that he's finally back, you're rushing him to leave. As the saying goes, distance creates beauty. Son, come back less often in the future so your mom and I can enjoy our time as a couple."
"What kind of nonsense are you talking? I'm afraid he'll neglect his studies."
"There's nothing good about studying that stuff," Jiang Jianming said dismissively.
"If he doesn't study well, he'll end up just like you."
"What's wrong with me? If you study well, you work for someone; if you don't, you become a boss like me. Tell me, which is better?"
"Isn't your son better than you now?"
After Li Yan said this, Jiang Jianming immediately glared at Jiang Cheng. "Go back as soon as you're done, so your mom doesn't keep belittling me."
"Exactly what matters are you handling?"
After Li Yan asked, before Jiang Cheng could speak, Jiang Jianmin said, "He invested in a piece of land in the Eastern region."
Unlike the pride Jiang Jianmin showed, Li Yan clearly didn't have much interest.
She waved her hand and said, "Business matters, don't tell me, I'm not interested."
Jiang Jianmin complained helplessly to Jiang Cheng, "Your mom is like this; she gets a headache as soon as she hears about this kind of thing. When I first started doing business, I asked her what I should do, and she told me to go to a construction site to carry bricks."
Jiang Cheng stopped chewing upon hearing this and asked in surprise, "Carrying bricks? For real?"
Speaking of this, Li Yan immediately laughed. "Your dad didn't know how to do anything and wasn't good at studying. What else could he do besides carrying bricks?"
"Are you two joking?"
Jiang Jianmin nodded. "Of course. At that time, your mother was pregnant with you, and we only had twenty thousand yuan between us. If I didn't carry bricks, we wouldn't even have been able to afford a place to live."
"So, you really built everything from scratch on your own."
After Jiang Cheng finished, Li Yan said proudly, "That's for sure. Your father learned the trade for several years and knows every step of the process. If we let him renovate the house himself now, he probably could."
"That impressive? But I remember when the water or electricity in our house broke before, didn't someone from Dad's company always have to come and fix it?"
When Li Yan said this, Jiang Jianmin's face suddenly turned red. "You're exaggerating too much."
Hearing this, Li Yan immediately explained, "Well, after all, we didn't have the tools at home... Your dad really was capable back then. He started from scratch as one person, relying on nothing, and slowly developed it into a company worth tens of millions today."
While shoveling a mouthful of rice, Jiang Cheng said indistinctly, "Isn't the family doing quite well? Why did you have to endure such hardships for no reason?"
Speaking of this, Li Yan glanced at Jiang Jianmin and then glared at Jiang Cheng.
"What do you mean by enduring these hardships? Only by enduring the bitterest of hardships can one rise above others. I didn't suffer while following Old Jiang. Eat, eat."
Seeing that Jiang Jianming was unwilling to talk about these things, Jiang Cheng didn't ask further.
Then, while eating, he opened his phone and replied to Zhou Ying, "Okay, I've accepted it."
Zhou Ying: "Mhm, I'm going to the cafeteria to eat with my classmates. After eating, we're going to the practice room to rehearse. I'll find you tonight!"
"Okay!"
After replying, he opened Fang Yuan's wechat.
Fang Yuan: Xiao Jiang, do you have time to chat?
After reading it, Jiang Cheng replied.
"Auntie, I'm here. I'm free."
Although he knew why Fang Yuan was looking for him, Jiang Cheng didn't point it out directly.
Although Jiang Cheng had stood up for Zhou Ying regarding Fang Wende's matter,
it didn't mean he had to take full responsibility for the process of this matter from start to finish. In
the art of conversation, there is a technique called proactive attack and passive answering.
Since it was Fang Yuan who took the initiative to talk to him about this, Jiang Cheng planned to be the passive respondent.
He would wait for Fang Yuan to bring it up herself. This way, for Jiang Cheng, it would become Fang Yuan proactively requesting his help with the matter.
And for Fang Yuan, since she was the one who spoke first, she would be in the position of a petitioner.
Therefore, Jiang Cheng didn't rush to mention Fang Wende's situation.
Fang Yuan: Do you know what has happened to the Zhengde Group these past two days?
Jiang Cheng: "I know."