Fang Yuan looked at Jiang Cheng with a complex gaze, as if she wanted to see through his eyes into his inner world.
Jiang Cheng's response neither directly admitted nor denied anything.
This left her feeling even more confused and uneasy.
Jiang Cheng's answer was very clever; he didn't deny it, but instead described it as a phenomenon, making the originally sharp question become blurred.
However, upon closer inspection, one couldn't find any fault with it.
For a man as charismatic as him, even if he didn't actively seek them out, many girls would still pursue him.
Unless he chose to stay behind closed doors and cut off all social activities, it would be difficult to avoid contact with other women.
But that was clearly unrealistic.
Fang Yuan sighed, momentarily at a loss for words.
She couldn't change the current situation and could only accept the facts.
She said softly, "I just hope she can be happy and not get hurt like I did."
"Don't worry, I will definitely not hurt her. As long as she is willing to be with me, I will always treat her well."
Jiang Cheng's tone was firm and sincere, but Fang Yuan keenly detected the subtleties within.
Because Jiang Cheng did not explicitly state that he would only be good to Zhou Ying alone; instead, he emphasized that as long as they were together, he would do his best to take care of her.
This ambiguous way of expressing himself made Fang Yuan realize that he hadn't made a specific commitment.
scumbags are often skilled at using such vague rhetoric; they are unwilling or afraid to give a definite answer.
They are good at using the flexibility of language to maintain relationships while avoiding excessive responsibility and restraint.
They won't, and don't dare to, commit fully.
They only say the most crucial things, leaving a girl unable to either advance or retreat.
But Fang Yuan also knew there was nothing she could do.
After all, Jiang Cheng treated Zhou Ying very well, sometimes even making her feel a sense of envy.
Everything Zhou Ying possessed was given to her by Jiang Cheng.
Common sense dictates that one cannot have their cake and eat it too.
But as a mother, this situation left her very conflicted.
If she were in Zhou Ying's place, as long as Jiang Cheng treated her the way he treated Zhou Ying, she would be able to turn a blind eye to whatever happened and accept it gladly.
After all, such a man was already one in ten thousand; even if he had some flaws, what did they matter?
But the problem now was that Zhou Ying was her biological daughter, so she couldn't help but subconsciously worry and feel heartache for her.
Seeing that Fang Yuan didn't speak further but silently turned her gaze back to the window, Jiang Cheng didn't initiate any more conversation either.
It wasn't until Zhou Ying walked toward them from the direction of the restroom that Fang Yuan whispered to Jiang Cheng, "I hope you can always treat her like this."
"I will," Jiang Cheng replied.
Around 11 PM, after Jiang Cheng and Chloe finished their Sino-French friendly exchange, a message from An Xin came through.
An Xin: "Jiang Cheng, thank you for the gift you gave Annie today, but it's too expensive. After thinking it over, I still can't accept it; it's not right for a child to receive such a costly gift. I'll transfer the money back to you."
An Xin: "Transfer: 480,000."
Naturally, Jiang Cheng did not accept the transfer.
Jiang Cheng: "This is my gift to Annie. Since I've given it, there's no reason to take it back. Thank you for your help with the mining project; I'll treat you to dinner when I'm free."
Looking at Jiang Cheng's somewhat lukewarm reply,
An Xin didn't know how to respond... If Jiang Cheng really wanted to invite her to dine together,
Then at the very least, he should have clearly stated a specific time and asked if she was free.
But instead, he said he'd treat her to dinner "when he's free."
Could it be that Jiang Cheng had begun to intentionally distance himself from her?
In fact, she herself had clearly felt that the communication between her and Jiang Cheng had decreased significantly lately.
But after thinking it over carefully, she realized something.
It wasn't actually that Jiang Cheng was actively distancing himself.
Ever since she met Jiang Cheng, he had never actually made a special effort to take the initiative and keep in touch with her.