"I didn't tell her; I wanted to give her a surprise."
"I'll go back to the room to take a shower first. You go get Ying'er, and we'll eat out tonight?"
Jiang Cheng had long since heard about Fang Yuan's cooking skills.
Her cooking was likely on par with his own mother's.
Jiang Cheng nodded. "Alright."
He gently opened the door to Zhou Ying's room and saw that, sure enough, she was sleeping while hugging her quilt tightly.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a doting smile.
Then, he tiptoed into the room and quietly took off his slippers.
After doing this, Jiang Cheng quickly lifted a corner of the quilt and slipped inside.
"Ah!" Zhou Ying suddenly let out a startled cry.
Clearly, she was quite frightened by this sudden "attack," and her body jerked violently.
"I hate you, you scared me to death." Seeing it was Jiang Cheng, Zhou Ying scolded him playfully, her voice still trembling slightly from the shock.
The scream was so loud that Fang Yuan, who was in the next room, heard it clearly.
She couldn't help but prick up her ears, listening to the movement coming from Zhou Ying's room.
Then, Fang Yuan heard the sounds of Jiang Cheng and Zhou Ying playing around, along with their cheerful laughter.
That laughter was filled with sweetness and happiness.
Fang Yuan's eyes unconsciously drifted toward the door, a hint of envy showing in them.
She wasn't jealous of Zhou Ying; she just envied this kind of sweet love between young people.
Zhou Ying was now held in Jiang Cheng's arms.
Zhou Ying's screams were quickly muffled by Jiang Cheng's kiss.
"Mmph..." Her eyes widened, and after seeing who it was, her shock instantly turned into a pleasant surprise. She lightly pounded her fist against his chest. "You scared me to death! Why are you back so suddenly? Didn't you say you'd arrive in the evening?"
Jiang Cheng chuckled, pulling her closer and rubbing his nose against her cheek. "I missed you. I couldn't sleep last night, so I set off early this morning."
Hearing this, Zhou Ying's heart instantly turned into mush.
Although her video calls with Zhu Yan over the past two days had filled her with an indescribable sense of insecurity...
...at this moment, being held tightly in Jiang Cheng's arms, her unease seemed to gradually melt away from his body heat.
Jiang Cheng's embrace was so warm that Zhou Ying couldn't help but think of the boy from high school who used to sweat it out on the playground. Back then, he was sunny, confident, and full of youthful vitality.
"Liar." Zhou Ying scolded playfully, yet her arms involuntarily wrapped around Jiang Cheng's waist.
Jiang Cheng didn't speak; he just quietly enjoyed the moment, deeply inhaling the faint scent of jasmine from Zhou Ying's hair.
Among many women, only the scent on Zhou Ying could calm him down instantly.
Allowing him to find a sliver of pure peace amidst the inflation of his status tonight.
"Did you miss me?" Jiang Cheng asked softly.
Zhou Ying's face instantly turned bright red, and she nodded shyly.
However, just then, as if she had suddenly remembered something important, she abruptly pushed Jiang Cheng away.
"Wait! My mom is still home!" Zhou Ying's voice betrayed a hint of panic.
A mischievous grin appeared on Jiang Cheng's face as he whispered, "Auntie went to take a shower. She even said we're eating out tonight."
"Oh, my mom will definitely take a long time..." Before Zhou Ying could finish, her lips were sealed.
Jiang Cheng's kiss was both gentle and domineering, as if he wanted to pour all his longing from the past few days into it.
It wasn't until they were both breathless that Jiang Cheng reluctantly let her go.
"Auntie is going to take a long shower? Are you hinting at something?"
Seeing the prosecutor-like look in his eyes, Zhou Ying immediately realized what he meant.
Fang Yuan's showering routine was indeed very elaborate; it didn't just involve washing her face and hair.
She even used body scrubs to massage her skin.
After washing, she would apply moisturizing body lotion.
Finally, she had to blow-dry her hair and do her skincare.
The whole process could sometimes take over an hour.
Zhou Ying denied it with a flushed face. "My mom takes at least an hour to shower, but that's not what I meant. We can't..."
Before she could finish, Jiang Cheng had already buried his face in Zhou Ying's chest.
"Say no more, I understand..."
The nerves in her body were instantly teased into arousal.
Zhou Ying couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.
"Mmm... more... ah, be gentler..."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng lifted his buried face.
Zhou Ying began to snap back to her senses.
Looking down, her face instantly exploded in a deep red.
"I hate you..."
...Half an hour later, Zhou Ying clung to Jiang Cheng and refused to move.
"Just five more minutes..."
This kind of acting spoiled was a lethal weapon against Jiang Cheng.
He sighed and lay back down, letting her rest her head on his arm.
"Did you have fun in Kyoto?" Zhou Ying asked casually while absentmindedly scrolling through her moments on her phone.
"It was alright," he replied vaguely, his fingers gently combing through her long hair. "It's just..."
"Just what?"
"It's just that I missed you so much. I wanted to watch the fireworks in Chengdu with you. There are no fireworks during the New Year in Kyoto, so I'm not quite used to it."
Zhou Ying was touched by Jiang Cheng's words. Like an obedient kitten, she gently rubbed her head against his chest.
"You can see fireworks from the balcony here at night. The fireworks over at Taikoo Li haven't stopped since the Spring Festival. Let's watch them together tonight, okay?"
Listening to Jiang Cheng's heartbeat...
...Zhou Ying felt all the doubts in her heart dissipate.
She knew what kind of person Jiang Cheng was, and she knew her place in his heart.
That was enough.
Soon, Zhou Ying let out a small laugh.
Then, she handed the phone to Jiang Cheng.
It was a post on moments from Zhou Zhiyun.
Zhou Zhiyun had taken a photo of a mahjong table.
Although it was only a waist-up shot...
...one could see it was a gathering involving three men and one woman.
The Girl's chest size looked decent.
Zhou Zhiyun: "This Girl has run out of money. What should happen after she loses this round? [Smirk]"
The comments below were quite something.
Huang Cheng: Hehehe.
Wang Xiaochui: Where are you? I'm coming right now. I've been looking for a place to spend my New Year's money, and I'd like to treat the beauty to a meal.
Chen Zhiyong: "Is the party starting??"
Yun: "You bunch of animals."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng shook his head mockingly. "Damn, they're all a bunch of dog scumbags. I really can't stand it."
After saying that, Jiang Cheng reached for his phone from the nightstand.
He opened moments, found Zhou Zhouyun's post, and started typing.
Jiang Cheng: "If she's out of money, tell her to get lost and go home. Don't let her take up a seat."
After reading this, Zhou Ying covered her mouth and laughed.
"I bet Chuxi will complain to me again after reading this."
Soon after Jiang Cheng left his comment, the number of replies underneath began to grow.
Xu Ya replied to Jiang Cheng: "Wow, I finally see a normal man."
Jiang Yun replied to Zhong Chuxi: "If only those guys were more like Jiang Cheng, I wouldn't have to scold them."
Zhong Chuxi: "I'm calling the police~~"
Zhong Chuxi replied to Jiang Cheng: "For the first time, I think straight men are actually quite alright, haha"