Seeing Jiang Cheng wearing only a bath towel, Fang Yuan remembered that Zhou Ying was currently taking a shower.
She hadn't expected her daughter to be having it so good.
A hint of envy rose in Fang Yuan's heart once again.
Her daughter was truly very lucky.
Deep in Fang Yuan's heart, that feeling of envy grew stronger and stronger,
along with a trace of sadness for her own faded youth.
Deep inside, that long-hidden thought uncontrollably bubbled up once more.
Fang Yuan thought silently, if the person she had met when she was young had been Jiang Cheng, what a completely different scene would that have been?
If she had never met Zhou Yings Father and never entered that marriage, how wonderfully would her life trajectory have changed?
These thoughts kept circling in her mind, causing a trace of confusion and longing to appear in her eyes.
Fang Yuan adjusted her emotions slightly and asked with some anticipation, "By the way, the holidays are coming up soon, and it's almost the Spring Festival. When are you two coming back?"
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng suddenly thought of Chen Ping's words.
He wondered if his father was really going to Kyoto for the New Year. If that were true, he definitely wouldn't be able to spend this Spring Festival in Chengdu. Jiang Cheng pondered for a moment before replying, "I can go back anytime on my end. I'm just waiting for Ying'er to start her break, then we'll head back together."
Hearing this reply, a visible hint of joy rose on Fang Yuan's face. "Good."
Hearing Jiang Cheng's answer, a visible hint of joy rose on Fang Yuan's face.
That joy was like the warm spring sun, instantly dispelling some of the haze in her heart.
She nodded gently and said, "Good."
Just then, Zhou Ying's crisp and pleasant voice suddenly drifted over from not far away.
Hearing this voice, for some reason, a wave of inexplicable guilt suddenly surged in Fang Yuan's heart.
A flash of panic crossed her eyes. She hurriedly made an excuse and then quickly reached out to hang up the video call.
However, before her finger could touch the hang-up button, Zhou Ying walked in wrapped in a soft bath towel.
Zhou Ying's wet hair was draped over her shoulders, and crystal-clear water droplets slid down the ends of her hair, dripping onto her fair and smooth skin, looking like a fresh and refined image of a lotus emerging from the water.
The sight made Jiang Cheng's Adam's apple bob up and down uncontrollably.
He quickly looked away, coughed lightly, and reminded her, "Auntie said you weren't answering your phone, so she called on video."
Originally, Zhou Ying wanted to cling to Jiang Cheng like an octopus just as she had before.
Hearing this, she abruptly stopped her legs mid-dash.
Following the direction of Jiang Cheng's gaze, she looked toward the phone on the bedside table.
With one look, a sense of nervousness, like a student caught in a forbidden romance by their parents, surged in Zhou Ying's heart.
She panicked and clutched the bath towel to her chest. With shifting eyes and a look of trepidation, she quickly walked over and picked up Jiang Cheng's phone.
To avoid revealing too much of her towel-clad appearance, she pulled the camera close, showing only the upper half of her face.
At this moment, Zhou Ying's mind was filled with the embarrassment of being seen by Fang Yuan while wearing a bath towel.
She didn't think for a second that there was anything inappropriate about Jiang Cheng wearing only a bath towel while video calling Fang Yuan in the room.
On the other side of the video call, Fang Yuan had actually seen Zhou Ying's towel-clad appearance long ago.
However, at this moment, she could only force herself to stay calm and pretend she didn't know.
Her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the first time she went to Shanghai,
and the shock she felt when she saw the dazzling array of bags and jewelry Jiang Cheng had bought for Zhou Ying.
At that time, her first reaction was to think that Zhou Ying was just like her when she was young, selling her body to get what she wanted.
Although Zhou Ying had strongly denied it at the time, deep down, Fang Yuan didn't believe her.
It wasn't until after some time spent together that she gradually became certain that no such relationship had actually occurred between the two.
She knew well that once the barrier between a man and a woman is broken, that hazy sense of curiosity and the vague, constant urge to lean on each other would no longer exist.
While cruising the Huangpu River at night, Fang Yuan saw very clearly that they were just a young couple who had recently started dating; there was absolutely no boundary-crossing intimacy in their behavior.
And yet, in such a simple relationship of just holding hands and kissing, Jiang Cheng had actually spent so much money on Zhou Ying.
But after returning to Chengdu later, Fang Yuan clearly felt that the relationship between the two had become very natural and close.
Although she already knew that the barrier between them had long been broken, seeing this scene face-to-face still made her feel a bit awkward.
Fang Yuan cleared her throat in an attempt to ease the slightly awkward atmosphere.
Then she looked at Zhou Ying and said, "Mom was scared to death just now. Why didn't you answer your phone?"
Her tone carried a hint of reproach, but it was mostly concern.
Hearing this, a trace of nervousness appeared in Zhou Ying's eyes, but she still tried her best to remain calm and answered quickly.
"Oh, Mom, my phone just ran out of battery. It's charging right now."
"What happened? I was scared to death when you said the planes were about to collide. You've been terrified of flying since you were a child. How could something like this happen?"
Fang Yuan's eyes reddened again, and her voice trembled slightly. Clearly, she still had lingering fears from recalling the terrifying scene.
Seeing how worried Fang Yuan was, Zhou Ying quickly comforted her, "It's okay, just a small accident. Don't cry. I'm really fine. I'm most afraid of you crying."
Seeing Zhou Ying coaxing Fang Yuan like a child, Jiang Cheng shook his head helplessly.
Hearing the chuckle, Zhou Ying gave Jiang Cheng a reproachful look and then said again, "Sigh, let me call you with my own phone. Wait for me."
After Zhou Ying finished speaking, Fang Yuan nodded and then hung up the call first.
As soon as the call was hung up, Jiang Cheng gently hugged Zhou Ying from behind.
His hands seemed to have a mind of their own, slowly rubbing her waist, his fingers lightly brushing the edge of her bath towel, bringing a faint itchiness.
A hot kiss began to move quickly down from her neck, first leaving a series of light, tiny kisses on that delicate skin.
Like a dragonfly skimming the water, yet carrying an irresistible intimacy and attachment.
Every kiss was accompanied by his warm breath spraying onto Zhou Ying's neck, causing her breathing to falter instantly...