If there were a place right now that could stop the tears.
To hide their vulnerability, they would surely pounce without hesitation.
At this moment, Zhu Yan's emotions outweighed her reason.
Seeing Jiang Cheng suddenly move his chair closer to her.
She also decided to start facing the difficulty proactively.
While grasping this rare warmth, she silently let Jiang Cheng wipe away her tears.
Just like with Zhu Yan, Jiang Cheng's sudden approach made Chen Xueer's face flush red.
In Chen Xueer's eyes, Jiang Cheng's action was an attempt to flirt with her.
For a split second, she almost leaned in to kiss him.
Uh, how could Jiang Cheng not notice Chen Xueer's momentary hesitation?
However, his handle was currently being held firmly by Zhu Yan.
Jiang Cheng didn't dare to make any rash moves.
If this situation wasn't handled well, everything would fall apart.
Standing up wasn't right, and neither was crouching down.
He could only bite the bullet and silently maintain the status quo.
Unlike Jiang Cheng's outward calm, Chen Xueer was clearly a bit at a loss.
She didn't know how to respond to Jiang Cheng's action,
Mainly because Jiang Cheng didn't move.
Finally, in the silence of their locked eyes, Chen Xueer said coquettishly, "What? Want to kiss again? President Jiang shouldn't be lacking in kisses usually..."
Looking at Chen Xueer's shy expression.
Looking at Chen Xueer's shy expression, Jiang Cheng's heart couldn't help but stir. Even though Zhu Yan was sitting right there, he still couldn't suppress his impulse and replied flirtatiously, "Whether I lack them is one thing, whether I want them is another..."
As soon as those words were out, Chen Xueer's face turned crimson, and she quickly sat back in her chair.
The curve of her lips was significantly more pronounced than before.
"You certainly aren't shy, saying such things when you haven't even wiped the lipstick off the corner of your mouth..." Chen Xueer said reproachfully, her voice tinged with a mix of anger and shyness.
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng's expression immediately became a bit awkward.
It was all because they were in such a hurry.
Normally, for a good man, wiping clean before heading out would be standard procedure.
Without batting an eye, he pulled a tissue from the box on the table and, while nonchalantly wiping the corner of his mouth, explained, "You misunderstood. This is just some ketchup from the fries."
However, after wiping a few times, Jiang Cheng's eyebrows shot up.
The tissue was perfectly clean; there was no lipstick mark at all.
Right, Zhu Yan had only applied a thin layer of pink lip gloss today.
This... so he had been played by Chen Xueer... Across from him, Chen Xueer looked at him and gave a meaningful smile.
Chen Xueer didn't actually believe Jiang Cheng's talk about ketchup.
She had already vaguely guessed it when she saw Zhu Yan's silk scarf earlier.
With Jiang Cheng's personality, it would be a miracle if he could restrain himself around a beauty like Zhu Yan.
Looking at the situation, the two of them must have been quite busy just now.
A feeling of helplessness gently welled up.
After all, she and Jiang Cheng had long since reached a tacit understanding and shared mutual feelings.
But they had agreed to let things take their natural course and weren't in a hurry to define their relationship.
Since she had chosen this path, she naturally had to accept the possibility of other people appearing by his side.
The shyness in Chen Xueer's eyes was replaced by cunning: "President Jiang, you're so nervous. Could it be that you really kissed so hard just now that you can't even remember?"
Hearing these sour words, Jiang Cheng instantly dropped his playful grin.
He had already been played by her once.
Anything he said now would seem like a cover-up.
So it was better to put on a serious face and take the initiative.
Anyway, by putting on a look of displeasure and dissatisfaction,
He could make Chen Xueer think she was overthinking and put an end to the flirting.
And it would make Zhu Yan underneath feel less uncomfortable.
Their words were like a stone, landing with a "thud" in Zhu Yan's heart.
Chen Xueer and Jiang Cheng... they weren't just a normal superior and subordinate?
Actually, Zhu Yan had thought about this when she first came into contact with Chen Xueer.
After all, she knew Yu Xiaoxiao was Jiang Cheng's woman.
Jiang Cheng had even bought her a mansion at The Bund.
Now, she hadn't expected Chen Xueer to also have an extraordinary relationship with Jiang Cheng.
However, it seemed like the relationship between Chen Xueer and Jiang Cheng was still in the ambiguous stage?
Otherwise, Chen Xueer probably wouldn't just be sitting across from Jiang Cheng.
She would have sat directly on Jiang Cheng's lap... Seeing Zhu Yan's busy hand stop.
Jiang Cheng reached out and patted her head.
Feeling that Jiang Cheng was trying to coax her a bit.
The corner of her mouth also curved up noticeably.
She naturally wouldn't give Jiang Cheng attitude because of Chen Xueer.
Last time when video calling Zhou Ying in Kyoto, she had noticed that Jiang Cheng was clearly very dissatisfied with this kind of confrontational approach.
She had understood him from the very beginning.
Naturally, she wouldn't be foolish enough to act out of jealousy.
Not to mention she currently needed a favor from Jiang Cheng.
But now that she knew Chen Xueer and Jiang Cheng were in an ambiguous relationship, Zhu Yan suddenly felt like playing a prank.
She looked up at Jiang Cheng with a smile.
That look clearly said, "Exciting, isn't it??"
Seeing the crimson fade from her shy cheeks, replaced by an eager, mischievous look.
A hint of surprise rose in Jiang Cheng's heart.
So this Girl's competitive spirit was actually stirred up after hearing him flirt with someone else.
People online always used to say that Girls all have a bit of a masochistic streak.
Looking at it now, there was some truth to it.
Jiang Cheng's lips curled, and he directly launched an "attack" on Zhu Yan's head.
With her head suddenly pressed down by Jiang Cheng, Zhu Yan almost cried out.
Fortunately, Jiang Cheng's attack was very accurate; with one move, he gave Zhu Yan a substantial "hush money."
In an instant, Zhu Yan's passive defense turned into an active offense.
The force wasn't great, but it carried a clear teasing intent.
Thus, the power of being proactive was immense.
So immense that Jiang Cheng couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Even his breathing hitched for a moment.
Jiang Cheng suddenly let out a low hiss; it wasn't loud, but it carried a hint of endurance.
Chen Xueer had felt something was off when she saw Jiang Cheng's serious face.
Seeing Jiang Cheng suddenly frown, she immediately asked with concern, "What's wrong, President Jiang?"
Looking up at Chen Xueer, Jiang Cheng cleared his throat, feigning composure.
"It's nothing. I ate too much ketchup, and my stomach suddenly hurts a bit."
After saying that, Jiang Cheng maintained his previous expression.
He just stared straight at Chen Xueer.
His gaze darkened, without a hint of jest.
The light atmosphere in the air seemed to be cut short by something.
Chen Xue felt a sudden panic, and her fingertips subconsciously curled.
She had felt she had the upper hand just a moment ago.
Now, being stared at like this, it felt as if she had said something wrong.
What did he mean? Why was his expression so serious?
Could he really be angry?
Or did he think the joke she just made was a sign of distrust?
Is he angry? Was he hurt?
Could it be... could it be that she really wronged him?
Did he really only eat ketchup at noon??
And not kissing Zhu Yan back and forth??
Chen Xueer didn't feel at all that Jiang Cheng was fooling her.
After all, his expression was perfectly on point.
Chen Xueer's tone began to soften: "Are you okay? Did you eat something bad? Do you need some medicine?"
Seeing Chen Xueer's teasing attitude turn into guilt.
The corners of Jiang Cheng's mouth slowly curled up.
Sometimes it's just like that.
When you suddenly become serious, it becomes difficult for the other person to distinguish truth from fiction.
And they end up being played by you instead.
Jiang Cheng shook his head with a serious face: "It's fine, I'll just endure it for a while. Let's talk about business first..."
The current situation was urgent, especially for him.
He felt like he was on the verge of a major eruption due to Zhu Yan's offensive.
There wasn't much time left for him to dawdle.
Sure enough, hearing this, Chen Xueer also began to get serious, not daring to delay Jiang Cheng any further.
She gave Jiang Cheng a brief overview of the CMB proposal.
Two minutes later... "I don't think we need to be in such a hurry. A loan quota of over a billion—whichever bank secures it, the interest alone will make their annual performance look much better, not to mention being able to establish a connection with Xingchen through this project. There will be plenty of cooperation opportunities in the future, so everyone from top to bottom is keeping an eye on our Xingchen right now..."