Jiang Cheng's eyes seemed to hold a trace of a smile, and a bit of a teasing intent.
Looking at it made Xu Yan's face heat up slightly.
After uncomfortably avoiding Jiang Cheng's gaze, she turned to look at Shen Shuang.
"Shuang Shuang, why are you so late? We've already finished eating..." Xu Yan's voice was a bit low, as if she felt a little guilty.
Hearing this, Shen Shuang's brow furrowed, and she gave Xu Yan a huffy glare, grumbling, "You still dare to say that! I'll settle the score with you later!"
After saying that, she turned around and shouted to the owner not far away, "Boss, a bowl of sweet soy milk and a sugar cake! Please hurry it up!"
Shen Shuang's voice was crisp and loud, with an authentic Kyoto accent, and the end of her sentences had a bit of a sharp, brisk tone.
After taking several deep breaths, she looked at the empty bowl placed in front of her.
Curiously, she asked, "Who ate this? Who else did you guys invite..."
Xu Yan quickly explained, "I'm telling you, Shuang Shuang, we just had breakfast with Lei Jun..."
"Lei Jun?? Rice's Lei Jun??" In her surprise, Shen Shuang looked at Jiang Cheng: "You know him??"
Jiang Cheng shook his head upon hearing this: "Don't know him, just added him on WeChat, it's a coincidence."
Xu Yan's eyes sparkled as she spoke, "This is the first time I've seen President Lei in person! I used to think big entrepreneurs were very distant, I didn't expect you all to be so down-to-earth, actually eating soy milk and pickles with us at the morning market."
Seeing her like this, Jiang Cheng chuckled.
"Not down-to-earth? Am I supposed to ascend to heaven or something?"
Xu Yan couldn't help but laugh at his teasing and gave him a playful glare, "It's just that I rarely see news of ordinary people running into him online. What I see are videos of press conferences and such, so it feels a bit novel."
"Girl, you have to realize that for the big shots, you only see the news they want you to see online. What they don't want you to see, you'll never come across."
After saying this, Shen Shuang nodded in agreement, "I agree with that."
Xu Yan continued to ask, "Since you've invested in TikTok and Sina, does that mean you can control public opinion??"
Jiang Cheng shook his head, "That's definitely not the case. It's just that if I want to delete a post, it's relatively easy. And because I've participated in the investment of these information platforms, even if I don't have shares in other platforms, as long as I have the need, those platforms generally won't refuse my request."
"Why??" Xu Yan followed up.
"It's not about 'control,' it's a tacit understanding in the industry. Haven't you noticed? You see trivial matters about celebrities online every day, but rarely are there private scandals of top entrepreneurs leaked—it's not that they don't have lives, it's that there's an unwritten rule among the heads of several major information platforms: they leave 'clean ground' for each other, not proactively releasing each other's private information. If there's something that really needs coordination, a quick word will usually get them some face. After all, everyone is in the same circle, seeing each other often, there's no need to tear each other down."
After saying that, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but pinch Xu Yan's face.
Watching Jiang Cheng's action, Shen Shuang's expression was clearly a bit unnatural.
Previously, she had only noticed that Xu Yan paid a high level of attention to Jiang Cheng, including some of her actions.
But she didn't expect Jiang Cheng to also... Shen Shuang chimed in from the side, nodding in agreement, "That's exactly it. If you really want to get serious, they all hold some of each other's resources or information. Giving each other 'clean web' convenience is actually giving each other a way out."
Jiang Cheng naturally saw Shen Shuang's expression.
However, Jiang Cheng had deliberately made this move in front of her.
After withdrawing his hand, he changed the subject and asked, "By the way, are there any residential complexes near your school that seem pretty good?"
When Jiang Cheng pinched her just now, let alone Shen Shuang, even she herself was a bit stunned.
After glancing at Shen Shuang with an unnatural expression, Xu Yan took up Jiang Cheng's question somewhat guiltily.
"Why are you asking this?? Are you going to rent... no, are you going to buy??"
Jiang Cheng didn't beat around the bush and gave a slight nod.
These words instantly caused a trace of bitterness to rise in Xu Yan's heart. She asked with a testing tone, "Buying an apartment near our school, it couldn't be for the convenience of seeing Chu Ran, could it?"
Jiang Cheng still nodded, but added a sentence, "You're only half right."
While Xu Yan was waiting for him to continue, she heard Jiang Cheng speak calmly, "This apartment isn't for me, it's for Chu Ran."
Cough... cough cough! As soon as he said this, Xu Yan was choked by the soy milk in her mouth and coughed repeatedly.
After recovering, she looked at Jiang Cheng, her words a bit stuttered, "You, you're going to buy it for Chu Ran? Do you know the housing prices in Kyoto..."
She stopped halfway—how could Jiang Cheng not know the housing prices in Kyoto? Asking this was truly redundant.
In the end, Xu Yan simply slumped her face and complained with a self-deprecating tone, "I'm really jealous! Why did I accompany you out for breakfast early in the morning? This isn't eating breakfast, it's clearly coming to eat dog food!"
Shen Shuang's expression wasn't much better.
The soy milk she had just asked the owner for hadn't even been sipped a few times before she was choked and kept coughing.
Seeing Jiang Cheng pinch Xu Yan's face just now, she had thought Jiang Cheng's feelings for Jiang Churan had faded or that he had had a change of heart.
But then he turned around and said he was going to buy a house for Jiang Churan.
What exactly did this mean??
Her brain stalled for half a second, and her gaze toward Jiang Cheng was full of testing: "Buying it for Chu Ran? Then how big are you planning to buy? In this area of Kyoto, especially near the school, the budget would have to be quite significant."
Jiang Cheng picked up a bit of side dish from the plate, his tone as light as if he were saying "buying a cup of soy milk."
"How big? I haven't thought much about it, as long as the environment is good and it's comfortable to live in. As for the budget..." He glanced up at Shen Shuang, the corners of his mouth curling, "For things bought for her, do I need to calculate a budget? I'll buy it as big as I want."
As soon as these words came out, the breath Xu Yan had just caught almost failed her again.
It wasn't that she felt bad, it was just that she truly felt Jiang Cheng's concern for Jiang Churan was much heavier than she had thought.
Shen Shuang also completely lost her earlier "speculative" thoughts.
She only felt that Jiang Cheng's style of doing things truly disregarded what others thought.
She spoke up to complain, "Who did I provoke? Dragged out for breakfast early in the morning by your wechat bombardment, and as it turns out, what kind of breakfast is this? It's clearly dog food!"
Xu Yan also followed with a hum and a laugh, "Isn't that right! I feel like my stomach is getting a bit of acid reflux now, what should I do?"
The two of them complained back and forth, and after a few words, Shen Shuang brought up serious business: "I don't have time to waste with you today, I have to go to rehearsal in a bit."
Seeing this, Xu Yan also nodded in agreement, "I have rehearsal at noon too. As for houses, I don't understand them either."
Jiang Cheng naturally understood her thoughts and didn't say much, only nodding: "Alright, let's leave after eating then. I'll ask Wang Congcong."
Xu Yan nodded and said directly to Jiang Cheng, "I can just leave with Sister Shuang."
Jiang Cheng naturally understood her thoughts and didn't say much, only nodding: "Alright, then I'll head out first."
Once Jiang Cheng's car had driven far away, Shen Shuang suddenly turned to stare at Xu Yan, her eyes full of mischief: "Insisting on dragging me over early in the morning, I knew there was definitely something going on!"
If this were usual, Xu Yan would definitely deny it.
But at this moment, Xu Yan looked up at Shen Shuang.
Her gaze held a bit more seriousness: "Shuang Shuang, if... if one day I fall in love with Jiang Cheng, what should I do?"