After he finished looking at Wang Yuyan's profile, Jiang Cheng finally tapped to accept Peng Shiqi's friend request.
He accepted it, but he didn't start a conversation.
The moment the request went through, he opened Lin Qingxue's wechat.
He hadn't seen this black-silk senior in ages.
Back when her mom had surgery, Lin Qingxue had taken more than a month off.
After a short stretch back on campus, winter break had started.
Lin Qingxue sent him a photo of the cafeteria food.
Lin Qingxue: "darling, I've been drowning in assignments. The canteen's closed, so it's instant-noodles again."
Jiang Cheng: "What do you want? I'll have someone deliver it."
Lin Qingxue: "Really? A jumbo hot-dog and two tea eggs."
Reading that, Jiang Cheng burst out laughing.
When a beauty flirts, us guys might as well retire.
Jiang Cheng: "No can do. Only I'm allowed to bring it. Bear with me a few more days."
Lin Qingxue: "Promise? I'm starving—waiting for you~~"
Thumbing his phone, Jiang Cheng glanced toward the exit.
After several looks, a woman sitting by the exit in a café started sizing him up on the sly.
From her angle, it seemed Jiang Cheng kept sneaking peeks at her.
Seeing he was handsome and dressed in designer gear, she lazily traced a fingertip along her coffee-cup rim, lips curving upward.
She'd been hit on plenty of times.
But never by a guy this hot.
Watching him bow his head over his phone, her heart raced with anticipation.
She was already scripting how to play hard-to-get when he walked over.
Moments later, as she rehearsed her lines, Jiang Cheng stood up.
Thinking he was coming for her, she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
The move looked casual, but she'd practiced it for maximum soft allure.
She let her gaze drift past him, pretending to wait for his approach.
She was sure her expression was perfect—
a measured smile, just enough reserve mixed with eagerness.
But the approach never came; Jiang Cheng didn't even glance her way.
He simply walked past her table
and headed for the entrance.
Her hope collapsed. She frowned, eyes chasing after him.
He was walking toward a girl in a light-grey hoodie.
Most of her face was hidden by a mask, only smiling crescent eyes showing.
The moment she spotted Jiang Cheng, her eyes lit up and she ran into his arms.
The coffee-woman's cup clinked sharply against its saucer.
Flames of rage shot through her.
Her imagination felt insulted.
So he's got a girlfriend and still ogles? she cursed inwardly.
Watching Qiao Yinyin listen meekly to Jiang Cheng only stoked her anger.
"Hmph, that clueless girl has no idea her man's a scumbag."
The more she thought, the madder she got.
She stood, swaying her curves, heels clicking as she strode toward them.
In a flash she planted herself in their path.
"Handsome, wait up." Despite her fury, her voice came out sickly sweet.
She even leaned in closer to Jiang Cheng.
Waving her phone, she cooed, "I saw you staring. Want to get to know me? Let's add WeChat."
As she spoke, she shot a sideways glance at Qiao Yinyin, expecting hurt or rage.
But Qiao Yinyin didn't flinch.
Instead she smiled,
slipped her arm through Jiang Cheng's, and pressed closer.
"darling, you sure have good taste," she teased with a wink.
The coffee-woman froze, phone in mid-air, smile crumbling.
What was going on? Wasn't she this man's official girlfriend?
Watching another woman openly hit on her boyfriend and still able to smile?
At this point the woman even wondered if she was seeing things.
Her gaze flicked again to Qiao Yinyin's arm hooked through Jiang Cheng's.
The way she clung to Jiang Cheng, rubbing her chest against him—where was the slightest hint of jealousy?
Qiao Yinyin had been the first woman to learn Jiang Cheng had a girlfriend and still take the initiative to be with him.
A few days ago, when she saw Jiang Cheng with Bai Xiaoxiao during a video call, she hadn't dared show anger on her face, let alone over something this minor.
Besides, based on Qiao Yinyin's understanding of Jiang Cheng, the girl in front of them was fairly pretty, but nowhere near stunning enough to make Jiang Cheng sneak glances over and over.
To Qiao Yinyin, only one explanation fit: this girl was overflowing with misplaced confidence, foolishly trying to chat up Jiang Cheng with such a lame excuse.
Jiang Cheng, startled by the woman who'd popped up, was about to speak when Qiao Yinyin tugged his arm.
Meeting Qiao Yinyin's crescent-moon eyes, he instantly understood and couldn't help curling his lips.
'Sorry, my phone's contact list is full,' Jiang Cheng said as casually as if remarking on the weather, then stepped aside and left with Qiao Yinyin.
The girl was left dumbfounded by Jiang Cheng's words.
Contact list full? Yeah, right.
How old is this Handsome Guy, and his wechat is already at the friend limit?
If he were a businessperson like her, adding clients every day, maybe.
But judging by his age, Jiang Cheng clearly wasn't in business.
If wechat really were full, only one possibility remained: he's a player.
What she couldn't figure out was, if Jiang Cheng truly was a player, why the girl beside him showed zero jealousy.
Even when they left, Qiao Yinyin glanced back and gave her a polite nod—eyes clear and calm, without a ripple.
Standing there phone in hand, she suddenly felt like a buffoon; her smug self-satisfaction shattered into pieces.
And when Jiang Cheng turned sideways, she noticed the Patek Philippe peeking from his cuff.
Young, head-to-toe designer labels, wearing a Patek Philippe?
So he's Second-generation rich? And that girl—?
Moments later, black-clad Bodyguards appeared from nowhere and confirmed her guess.
Several guards already held Qiao Yinyin's two suitcases, trailing behind Jiang Cheng.
Just as Jiang Cheng and Qiao Yinyin passed through the café's revolving door.
An invisible force seemed to push the woman; she grabbed her Gucci chain-strap bag and stumbled after them.
The winter night wind hit like a torrent, whipping her carefully styled curls across her cheeks.
Yet the biting gale couldn't blow away the shock in her eyes—an astonishment beyond words.
When her gaze landed on the two matte-black rolls-royce Phantoms at the curb, her mouth snapped into a perfect 'O' as if by magic.
The two luxury cars loomed like silent beasts, exuding suffocating majesty.
The drivers briskly and reverently opened the rear doors.
Qiao Yinyin slipped into the first car, her coat hem fluttering like a butterfly over the gold-embossed interior.
The two vehicles pulled away like shooting stars, vanishing round the corner, leaving only plane leaves swirling on the cold pavement.
She stood frozen, staring at the scattered leaves as if to glimpse the departing cars through them.
Her mind replayed everything; wave after wave of shock crashed against her reason.
'That man isn't a scumbag, that woman isn't some naïve pushover—so I was the only one performing a one-woman show?'
No—what scumbag? This was the man of her dreams.
The moment Jiang Cheng settled into the second backseat, Qiao Yinyin hugged him uninvited.
'darling, I missed you so much.'
Looking down at her sparkling eyes, Jiang Cheng smiled indulgently and raised the privacy partition.
As the partition rose, Qiao Yinyin's lips met his.
The detected favorability value of 96 climbed to 98 as her nimble tongue and squeezing skill activated.
Well, as the saying goes: the best way to deepen affection is kisses and hugs.