How could Huang Zonglei not understand his own daughter's thoughts?
Throughout the entire meal, her eyes had never left Jiang Cheng.
Huang Zonglei shook his head at Huang Yiyi, feigning disappointment. "You're a girl; you should be more reserved. Look at how you were acting just now."
Hearing this, Huang Yiyi secretly rolled her eyes.
Reserved? She was already being so proactive, yet there were still so many women around Jiang Cheng.
If she were any more reserved, Jiang Cheng probably wouldn't even remember who she was.
Her personality had been like this since she was a child; if she liked someone, she liked them, and she couldn't hide it at all.
Huang Yiyi's eyes darted around as she decided to try a different approach.
"Oh, Dad, the way I was acting just now was all an act."
Huang Zonglei was taken aback. The stars in his daughter's eyes when she looked at Jiang Cheng at the dinner table hadn't even faded yet, so how could she change her tune so quickly?
He frowned. "That's not how you were behaving just now. Seeing how you acted during the toast made me want to shake my head. You were even calling him 'Jiang Cheng' so affectionately."
"Didn't I tell you? It was an act!" Huang Yiyi immediately raised her voice, intentionally putting on a "you don't understand" look.
"I just think he's capable. If I build a good relationship with him, maybe he can help our company. See? Didn't he agree to help us? I'm telling you, if I were really to fall in love, I wouldn't choose a 'goody-two-shoes' like him. I like boys who are a bit bad, talk tough, and have an arrogant streak, not someone like Jiang Cheng."
Hearing this, the expression on Huang Zonglei's face darkened.
There was clearly more worry in his eyes.
He knew his daughter well; although she was usually blunt and lighthearted.
But she wasn't brainless. Her words when she first used the license plate to get close to Jiang Cheng were very measured.
Not to mention, she managed to hit it off with people from several girls' dormitories on the very first day of school.
Huang Zonglei had always been confident in her emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills.
What he usually worried about most was that his daughter would be deceived by the superficial flashiness of a 'punk' when she fell in love.
A few days ago, seeing her take an interest in Jiang Cheng, he had secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Now, hearing Huang Yiyi's words, his heart was in his throat again.
"Most of those who look arrogant have no real skill; they only know how to talk big and squander money. What's so good about them?"
"You don't understand; there's a generation gap between us. Someone as old-fashioned as Jiang Cheng is so boring and dull. And did you know? He actually donated to rebuild a hundred Hope Primary Schools. I seriously suspect he's just putting on a show. I hate entrepreneurs who put on a show like that."
Huang Zonglei looked at Huang Yiyi in surprise. "A hundred? Are you sure??"
Huang Yiyi nodded. "Really. I looked him up. This matter was on the Social Media Platform's trending search before, but a lot of the posts have been deleted now."
After saying that, Huang Yiyi added with a bit of uncertainty, "I used our Xindun Risk Control system to search. The information I found was personally collected by Xingchen Company, so it should be true."
Normally, Huang Zonglei would definitely scold Huang Yiyi for using such a tool to pry into someone's privacy.
After all, doxxing others wasn't something honorable.
With a service system like theirs that involves user privacy, it's actually very easy to look things up.
After all, there was that little princess of Duniang who got into a shouting match with netizens because they insulted her.
After the argument, she still wasn't satisfied and ended up doxxing them online.
So, as the internet becomes more advanced, it sometimes becomes harder to guarantee the privacy of ordinary people.
Fortunately, Huang Zonglei's mind was entirely on the hundred Hope Primary Schools now, so he completely overlooked the fact that Huang Yiyi had used their own server.
Although Huang Zonglei didn't know why Jiang Cheng wanted to build a hundred Hope Primary Schools, he had already looked into the company Xingchen Investment.
Although it was a newly opened company, all its procedures so far had no loopholes and were legal and compliant.
Given Xingchen's profits, it shouldn't need to resort to money laundering.
"How can he be putting on a show if he's deleting posts? I've already investigated Xingchen thoroughly over the past two days; their accounts and taxes are all fine. Is it possible he's actually doing charity and you're overthinking it?"
Seeing the approval for Jiang Cheng in Huang Zonglei's tone, Huang Yiyi's little scheme began to click into place even more.
She immediately refilled Huang Zonglei's small glass with moutai.
"Oh, anyway, I think he's too arrogant. Plus, so many girls like him, but I just happen not to."
"Nonsense!" Huang Zonglei was already slightly tipsy. His eyebrows knitted into a knot, and he slammed his glass onto the edge of the table with a soft thud.
"There's something wrong with your thinking. So many girls like him because he's outstanding. Nowadays, many Second-generation rich only know how to squander money and show off their wealth without having any real skill. You saw it yourself just now; look at how steady Jiang Cheng was when discussing business."
After saying that, Huang Zonglei reached out and poked Huang Yiyi's head in frustration.
He continued, "This kid is much more decent than others his age. He's not impulsive, and for someone so young, his aura is incredible. Plus, his professional knowledge is solid; it's clear he's put in the work. He's already this capable; if things go smoothly, he'll definitely achieve great things in the future."
Seeing Huang Zonglei start to praise Jiang Cheng, a small arc curved at the corner of Huang Yiyi's mouth, but her voice was intentionally dragged out with a soft, aggrieved tone: "Jiang Cheng is steady, sure, but he's no fun."
"What do you mean 'no fun'?" Huang Zonglei grew anxious and used the serving chopsticks to put a rib on her plate, his tone softening. "Jiang Cheng is capable yet low-profile, and he even donated a hundred Hope Primary Schools. Someone kind-hearted and responsible like this is hard to find even with a lantern. You should spend more time with him, learn from his maturity, and stop thinking about those flashy things."
He became more and more serious, talking from Jiang Cheng's business vision to his interpersonal skills, finally patting her hand.
He said, slightly tipsy, "Listen to your father, my dear daughter! You haven't started dating anyway, so why not give it a try with a talented young man like Jiang Cheng? I'm not against you dating, but you absolutely cannot find some random person. You're our only precious daughter; don't make your mother and me worry..."
Huang Yiyi looked up suddenly, her eyes wide, intentionally acting reluctant with her cheeks slightly puffed out. "Do you really think Jiang Cheng is good?"
"Of course he is!" Huang Zonglei nodded and couldn't help but sigh. "To be honest, after getting to know him, I think he's so outstanding that I'm actually afraid you won't be able to handle him."
Hearing this, Huang Yiyi started acting like a drama queen, pouting as if she were defiant. "You're joking! How could I not handle him?"
Huang Zonglei looked at her huffy appearance.
He intentionally raised an eyebrow, using reverse psychology.
"Otherwise? Compared to Jiang Cheng, do you think you're outstanding? In terms of ability and mind, you're far behind him. If he could take a liking to you, that would be your good fortune. You saw it just now; he can excel even without going to school. What about you? Sigh..."
Normally, if Huang Zonglei praised someone else's child like this, Huang Yiyi would definitely argue back while acting spoiled.
Now, however, she deliberately slammed her juice glass on the table and said with a crisp, stubborn voice, "Just you wait! As long as I want to, there's no way I can't get him. No joke, I'll definitely make him like me!"
Listening to his daughter's huffy and somewhat competitive words, Huang Zonglei's hand holding the wine glass paused. A trace of helplessness flickered in his eyes before being replaced by the softness brought on by the alcohol.
He sighed inwardly.
A grown daughter cannot be kept at home.
She was his only daughter; he hadn't wanted her to start dating so soon.
But if his daughter fell for one of those punks, she'd be ruined.
It was better for her to interact with a talented young man like Jiang Cheng before any tragedy occurred.
Even if it didn't work out between them, so what?
Letting his daughter spend more time with someone like Jiang Cheng was better than her hanging around with shady characters.
At least her standards for men would be higher in the future, knowing what kind of person is worth entrusting herself to. It could be considered helping her avoid many detours.
Thinking this way, Huang Zonglei's previously knitted brows completely relaxed, and he even found his daughter's "competitive" spirit to be somewhat cute.
What he didn't know was that Huang Yiyi, sitting across from him, had another scheme in mind.
Seeing her father's relaxed expression, Huang Yiyi was laughing hysterically inside.
The reason she had played her father like this...
...was because she knew Jiang Cheng had more than one woman around him like Lin Qingxue; he was a philandering scumbag.
But now that her father had said those words, if she really ended up with Jiang Cheng and her father opposed it, she could use them to shut him down: "You were the one who said Jiang Cheng was great and told me to get close to him!"