The refusal stuck in her throat; for a moment she didn't know how to answer Jiang Cheng.
Sensing Huang Yuqi's fluster, Jiang Cheng curved his lips, shifted the topic, and casually started chatting about something else.
After all, he and Huang Yuqi had only met a couple of times.
Saying such things too often would not only make him seem frivolous but also a bit greasy.
So even if he did say them, he had to act as if it were unintentional.
Jiang Cheng went on, "After I got back, I told my father about the planned scale of Rongshan Hope Primary School and asked for some advice. Because of the shortage of teaching staff and the local social environment, everyone suggested I scale the project down…"
Seeing Jiang Cheng calmly bring up the Hope Primary School, Huang Yuqi suddenly felt she might have been overthinking.
Perhaps his earlier wish to spend more time with her had simply been a lead-in to discuss the school.
She tucked away her little thoughts and nodded in agreement.
"That makes sense. For children from poor families there really aren't many resources, sometimes not even enough spare time to learn anything beyond the basics. Partly it's because they lack the horizon—many things are simply beyond their understanding; partly it's the lack of qualified teachers…"
All the way, their conversation revolved around the Hope Primary School, so the ride felt natural and not at all awkward.
Soon the car reached a neighborhood of one-story houses inside the Second Ring Road.
Jiang Cheng had assumed Huang Yuqi's place would be decent—after all, it was within the Second Ring Road.
But once he stepped out and saw the dim, narrow alley and the surrounding plain dwellings, he felt a trace of doubt.
When Jiang Cheng offered to walk her home, Huang Yuqi quickly waved him off. "Better not. I'm afraid you'd find it uncomfortable."
She added, as if worried he might misunderstand, "I'm not saying you… uh… I mean, my home is deep inside this big courtyard compound. The lanes are a maze; I'm afraid you'd get lost on the way out. And it's tiny—just over twenty square metres—nothing to see. I'll treat you to a meal another day."
Since Huang Yuqi had put it that way, Jiang Cheng didn't insist.
"All right, we'll do it your way. I'll wait for your call tomorrow."
Huang Yuqi gave a gentle smile, waved to him, and turned into the alley.
Only after her figure disappeared around the corner did Jiang Cheng turn back and climb into the rolls-royce.
With a low rumble the car pulled away, leaving a faint wisp of exhaust in the air.
Given Wang Sheng's familiarity with the capital, Jiang Cheng asked, "There are still this many one-story houses inside the North Second Ring Road?"
Wang Sheng laughed. "Young Master Jiang, you don't know. Although the North Second Ring sits at the foot of the old imperial city, in the very center, both it and the West Second Ring are actually rather modest neighborhoods.
"These big courtyard compounds go way back, usually passed down for generations. Each little room is only ten or twenty square metres, yet a whole family lives inside, often without separate kitchens or bathrooms—hence the nickname 'big mixed courtyards.'"
Seeing Jiang Cheng's surprise, Wang Sheng continued, "These days there are almost no forced relocations; under the new policy people just stay put. When I trained in the capital, I saw three generations sharing two rooms: half a kang, three pieces of furniture—bed, table, TV—nothing else…"
Jiang Cheng clicked his tongue in amazement.
He hadn't expected such scenes to exist amid the prosperity.
Then again, this was the capital, so he supposed it wasn't that strange.
With average housing prices around a hundred thousand per square metre, even native Beijingers could hardly afford to move.
After leaving the somber courtyards behind, the car soon arrived at Jiang Cheng's Courtyard House.
Stepping out, he gazed at the quiet courtyard and walked inside.
The moment he entered he saw Reba in a black-red slip nightgown, half-propped on the bed, absorbed in a small white notebook.
Jiang Cheng's eyes first drifted to the faintly visible, snow-white skin at her chest.
Then his gaze lingered on the round curve beneath her lifted hips.
Before Reba could rise, Jiang Cheng strode over and pressed his legs against her long, fair ones.
He pinned her down from behind in one smooth movement.