She quickly sat up straight and brought the topic back on track.
"Let's talk business. The fire has been lit, so what now? What should we do next? We can't just watch."
Seeing this, Jiang Cheng also knew when to stop. He regained his composed posture of having everything under control and spoke lazily.
"What's the rush? Public opinion is like boiling water; it has already reached its boiling point. Right now, we aren't the ones who should be feeling the heat or unable to sit still." His eyes turned slightly cold as he looked out at the deep night outside the window. "Next, we just need to wait patiently. Someone will jump out, and someone... will be forced to move. What we need to do is prepare our next move and wait for the people who should enter the fray to step onto the stage themselves."
Hearing this, Qiu Yihe nodded.
After taking a sip of milk, she glanced at Jiang Cheng with a hint of reluctance. "I'll be leaving Kyoto soon. As for Qiu Li's matter... I'll have to trouble you with it..."
"Going back to the Magic City?"
Qiu Yihe nodded. "I have to report back to my team first..."
"So, you're going somewhere else too?"
Although she couldn't say, she knew Jiang Cheng's questioning was out of concern for her.
"Mhm, I plan to resign after this mission is over..."
Jiang Cheng had already noticed that Qiu Yihe had such thoughts before.
"Then will you return to Kyoto?"
Qiu Yihe knew her father's current situation; the people around him were all arranged by Jiang Cheng's father.
If she returned to Kyoto, she would either have to accept Qiu Wu's arrangements or rely on Jiang Cheng's family.
However, even if she wanted to rely on the Jiang Family, Qiu Wu might not necessarily agree.
After all, Qiu Zheng was already with the Jiang Family. Given Qiu Wu's personality, he would definitely want to hedge his bets on both sides.
So, this matter was truly uncertain.
Don't be fooled by how this grand-uncle of hers usually tried to please both sides; he was no fool either.
Qiu Yihe could see that beneath his smiling face was a wealth of shrewdness.
It could only be said that there were few simple characters among those who could take root in Kyoto for so many years.
With her current strength, it would be useless even if she wanted to say no to these people.
Unless she still planned to be an obscure little police officer like she was now.
In that case, she wouldn't have to be controlled by others.
But then she would only ever stop there.
Just like now, being powerless when facing Qiu Li.
After a silent sigh, she spoke, "We'll see. This isn't something I can decide..."
Seeing Qiu Yihe say this, Jiang Cheng thought of what his father had said: "This child is smart; she rejected your grandfather's arrangements..."
Jiang Cheng nodded. "Alright, if you need anything then, you can find me..."
"Find you? For free?" Qiu Yihe pressed.
"Hmm? If you want, it could be 'paid in kind'... I'm not like you. I'm not a stingy person..."
"You're so annoying, I'm not talking to you anymore..."
...Around noon, Jiang Cheng arrived at Renji Villa.
When he opened the door, he found Xu Yan and Shen Shuang both huddled in the corner of the sofa.
Sunlight poured in through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, cutting bright patches of light onto the light-colored carpet.
Xu Yan sat on the side near the balcony, wearing a loose cream-colored knit cardigan over a simple white camisole, paired with light blue denim shorts. Her long, well-proportioned legs were casually crossed, her ankles slender.
She looked up almost the instant Jiang Cheng's gaze fell on her, her eyes sparkling as if they held stars.
She was the first to wave, the corners of her mouth lifting in a bright and slightly playful curve. Her voice was a bit drawn out, carrying a hint of coquettishness. "Big boss, you're here~~"
After saying that, while Shen Shuang wasn't fully looking over, she quickly and boldly winked her right eye at Jiang Cheng.
Like a cat that had stolen a dried fish, she looked triumphant and thrilled.
Is this what having an affair feels like? How exciting~
However, although it was exciting, Brother Cheng didn't recommend ordinary men do this.
Unless the money was right; otherwise, forget about lasting until the late stages—the one without a formal status might not even be able to hold back for a moment of excitement.
Sitting across from her with a square throw pillow between them was Shen Shuang.
She was dressed in a more subdued smoke-gray slim-fit long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of black casual cropped pants, revealing her slender ankles.
She had originally been leaning slightly against the sofa armrest, her hand unconsciously fiddling with the tassel of a throw pillow, her gaze somewhat vacant as if she were lost in thought.
Hearing Xu Yan's voice and the sound of the door opening, she finally snapped back to her senses and turned her head to look at Jiang Cheng.
With just one look, a faint blush uncontrollably and quietly spread from the base of her ears.
It added a bit of liveliness to her fair cheeks.
Her gaze met Jiang Cheng's for a fleeting moment before she instinctively looked down slightly, her thick long lashes trembling a bit before she looked up again.
She tried to keep her tone steady as she spoke, "Chu Ran is in the bedroom changing..."
Although she tried her best to remain calm, the inadvertent blush on her face still betrayed her.
Most importantly, she thought of the scene from last time when Jiang Cheng saw her taking off her clothes in the bedroom.
Jiang Cheng feigned a cold and aloof nod to the two women before heading straight into the bedroom.
As soon as he opened the door, he was pulled into a full embrace by Jiang Churan.
Jiang Cheng naturally held her and kissed her directly.
After kissing Jiang Churan until she was soft, he reached out and patted her rounded buttocks.
He feigned a look of dissatisfaction. "I suspect you did this on purpose, didn't you? How am I supposed to be intimate with you while the two of them are here?"
Jiang Churan's face turned red, and she stuck out her tongue. "It's only a ten-minute walk from the Dance Academy. If we don't want to eat at the cafeteria at noon, we come here together. Don't worry, they aren't staying here tonight..."
"Hmm... It's not bad if they stay here. Anyway, this bedroom is soundproofed, and I have to go to Chengdu tomorrow. I'll feel more at ease with them accompanying you."
After hearing this, Jiang Churan's lips pouted as she asked reluctantly, "Then when will you come over next time?"
Jiang Cheng's main reason for returning to Chengdu was to meet with An Jingsheng to discuss the matter of Company bottom-fishing in Chengdu, and to stop by Company Name as well.
Jiang Cheng had parachuted two managers into Company Name, Zhou Shoucheng and Li Zhenguo, whom he hadn't met yet.
Although these two were system rewards and their loyalty was absolutely not an issue, no matter how small a Company was, the person at the helm still had to show their face occasionally.
Moreover, this Company was given to him by his father. Jiang Cheng knew that this Company held a special commemorative meaning for him.
Naturally, he would manage it well.
Picking up Jiang Churan, Jiang Cheng walked toward the bathroom.
"I also have to go to Gansu Province to see what the Hope Primary School looks like now that it's completed. I'll try to come back as quickly as possible..."
Hearing this, Jiang Churan's restless body went still.
With these two trips, it seemed Jiang Cheng wouldn't be back anytime soon.
Although she was a bit shy, the thought of not being able to see him for a long time made her want to seize the moment to be intimate with Jiang Cheng.
In reality, there were still some things Jiang Cheng hadn't mentioned.
That was the fact that he still had to go to Tyrande. Arranging all these matters would indeed take quite a bit of time.
Soon, Jiang Churan obediently sat on the vanity.
She even cooperated with Jiang Cheng to start measuring the square footage of the bathroom.
After a round of measurements, it turned out that the bathroom was indeed very spacious.
The only downside was that the glass mirror fogged up easily...
As soon as Jiang Churan got a little closer, she couldn't see clearly.
Half an hour later, with Jiang Cheng intentionally speeding up the process, Jiang Churan changed into a new set of clothes.
As she picked out her clothes, she said to Jiang Cheng, "darling, I've noticed that Sister Shuang seems very worried lately because of family matters..."
Seeing Jiang Cheng glance at her, she walked over somewhat sheepishly, straddling one leg over both sides of Jiang Cheng's lap and sitting down skillfully.
"I just wanted to ask if you could help her. Of course, it's fine if you can't..."
Seeing her speak so cautiously, looking like she was afraid he would be angry, Jiang Cheng reached out and pinched her nose. "I can see that you and Shen Shuang really have a good relationship..."
If they weren't particularly close, Jiang Churan wouldn't have felt the need to speak to Jiang Cheng about this on her behalf.
Although the two of them already knew each other inside and out, given the unequal financial relationship between them, bringing certain things up naturally carried a feeling that might make one overthink.
Jiang Churan wrinkled her nose. "Mhm, our relationship is very good. If it's the two of them, I'm willing to be good to them."
"How good of a way?" Jiang Cheng asked back intentionally.
After thinking for two seconds, a mischievous smile appeared at the corners of Jiang Churan's mouth. "For example, like what the two of them often say—that they are both willing to stay by your side. If it's the two of them, I'm actually willing. What do you think?"
Jiang Cheng inwardly exclaimed: There's such a good thing?