Huayu 2021: Isn’t he in the technology field?

Chapter 121 Sister Meng, who can't hide a thing
At 7 p.m., Sun Molong invited the main cast and crew to dinner together under the guise of welcoming Meng Ziyi.

As dusk fell, smoke rose from the open-air food stalls on the harbor, and the plastic tablecloths fluttered in the sea breeze.

Jiang Qing thought to herself that she had eaten more seafood in the past two weeks than she had in the entire previous year.

But in Xiamen, it seems a bit unreasonable not to eat seafood.

And I must say, in this kind of weather, eating seafood, drinking beer, and enjoying the night breeze at a food stall is just so enjoyable!
After everyone finished ordering, Meng Ziyi suddenly waved to the owner who was busy at the next table.

"Boss! Two more servings of steamed scallops with garlic and vermicelli, please!"

"Is Teacher Meng trying to bankrupt Director Sun?"

Huang Jue's eyes narrowed into slits as he laughed.

"It's okay, I'll pay!"

She patted her canvas bag with an air of grandeur.

"I didn't get enough seafood hot pot at Taohuawu Jiangqing last time, so I have to make up for it this time!"

Zhao Jinmai paused in her hand as she picked up some food.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Jiang Qing reaching out to untangle the straps of Meng Ziyi's sun protection clothing. His fingers hooked the mint green ribbon and wrapped it around twice. This action reminded her of the scene in the Peach Blossom Pavilion program where he tied an apron for Zhou Ye.

"Eat as much as you want, it's definitely on me, that's the agreement."

Sun Molong tapped the beer bottle cap with a smile.

"Teacher Meng's posture makes me feel more hungry."

He joked with a smile.

"Then I'll have to eat more."

As Meng Ziyi spoke, she pulled out the chair opposite Jiang Qing, unexpectedly not sitting next to Jiang Qing.

"It's easier for me to serve the food while I'm sitting here. Hehe, you have to be prepared to be a freeloader."

She grinned and smiled.

Everyone burst into laughter. Liu Yijun and the others deliberately took their seats, leaving the seat to Jiang Qing's right empty.

Seeing this, Zhao Jinmai straightened her hair and sat down gracefully without any hesitation.

Meng Ziyi pursed her lips and glared at Jiang Qing fiercely when their eyes met.

She deliberately avoided appearing too close to him, fearing that the crew would suspect their relationship, thus giving Zhao Jinmai some space.

If it weren't for the fact that his pairing with Xiao Ye became so popular as Peach Blossom Village continued to air, and she was afraid of attracting controversy, she would have already stuck to him.

Meng Ziyi thought she had done a very good job and considered everything carefully, but she never expected that her little scheme had already been seen through by everyone.

Although she deliberately tried not to be so close to Jiang Qing, they were both actors. How could people not tell whether you were being genuine or just acting?
Seeing her attempt to cover up her blunder, Liu Yijun and the others exchanged glances, all with expressions of anticipation for a good show.

At the same time, they secretly speculated that, aside from Zhou Ye, whom they had never met, Tian Xiwei from last time and Meng Ziyi in front of them both seemed to have a close relationship with Jiang Qing.

Tian Xiwei and the others could also tell that although she and Jiang Qing were close, the fact that she would still compete with Mai Mai in the crew for his affections meant that she and Jiang Qing had not yet reached a happy ending.

Meng Ziyi's behavior, however, confused them somewhat. What did it mean by deliberately restraining herself and not being so close?
The more you try to hide your relationship, the more curious people become.

Jiang Qing naturally noticed something from their reactions and couldn't help but admire Sister Meng's actions.

Normally, people might not think much of it when you're just getting along, but you insist on keeping your distance, yet your body language and eye contact reveal absolutely nothing.
When the steaming seafood platter was served, the conversation had already swirled to the ranking of celebrity chefs.

Meng Ziyi scooped up a full spoonful of shrimp paste and poured it into Jiang Qing's bowl, subconsciously raising her chin at him.

"Are you sure about that?"

She paused abruptly, then suddenly turned and poured the shrimp paste into Sun Molong's bowl.

"Director Sun, you've worked hard! Please eat more!"

Liu Tao chuckled and couldn't help but tease her.

"Teacher Meng's spoon-throwing was even more abrupt than a plot twist."

"Dr. Jiang doesn't seem to like shrimp paste very much."

Zhao Jinmai spoke softly, while pushing the chilled plum juice toward his hand.

This is something she observed during her recent dinners.

The sound of the waves suddenly became clear, and Meng Ziyi paused, her hand holding the soup spoon still.

Jiang Qing calmly took the crab leg from her bowl.

"I do eat it, but I don't like it as much."

"Yeah!"

She scooped up two spoonfuls of seaweed soup and put them in her mouth, panting as they were scalded.

“There was a time when you made shrimp paste in Peach Blossom Village and you barely touched it. Xiao Ye and I ate the rest and we were so full.”

As Meng Ziyi recalled the scene, the corners of her lips couldn't help but turn up in a smile.

As Jiang Qing recalled the scene, the downward curve of her eyes deepened.

As Zhao Jinmai observed the expressions of the two, she suddenly wondered if everything would have been different if she had met Jiang Qing first.
At this moment, Huang Jue tapped the glass with his chopsticks.

"Just eating isn't very interesting, let's play a game. The latest photos in your phone's album must be shared!"

As he spoke, he took out his phone and unlocked the screen.

Others responded in unison, each taking out their phones and placing them on the table.

Zhao Jinmai's hand trembled as she unlocked the screen; she hadn't had time to encrypt the profile picture of Jiang Qing that she had secretly taken that morning.

When it was Meng Ziyi's turn, she casually showed off photos taken during her time in Peach Blossom Village, as well as various selfies taken on the set of "Agarwood Like Crumbs".

"Look! The famous scene of Dr. Jiang frying soft-boiled eggs in Peach Blossom Village!"

In the photo, Jiang Qing, wearing an apron, is frowning as she is burned by hot oil, while in the background, she is laughing heartily with a spatula in her hand.

"Cough cough..."

While Zhao Jinmai was counting the pearl dumplings, she suddenly choked on one of them. Jiang Qing's hand, which was handing her a tissue, bumped into Meng Ziyi's hand, which was handing her a lemonade.

"The oil in the pan was smoking, but our proud Dr. Jiang didn't want to admit he'd messed up, so he kept frowning and flipping it over!"

Meng Ziyi withdrew her hand, and when she got excited, she slapped the table, causing an oyster shell to fall into Liu Yijun's soup bowl.

"So this viral image was actually a result of a mistake?"

Liu Yijun waved to Meng Ziyi, who had her hands clasped together, and slowly fished out the oyster shells.

"That's it!"

Meng Ziyi nodded with a grin, completely oblivious to Jiang Qing's exasperated expression.

When she realized it a beat too late, she immediately shrank back when she met Jiang Qing's cold gaze, which made everyone at the table burst into laughter.

Zhao Jinmai suddenly stood up.

"I'll go check if the eel is ready."

With that, he got up and walked toward the boss.

Huang Jue poked at the crab shell in front of Jiang Qing with the tip of his chopsticks.

"Has President Jiang stirred up a spider's web?"

"It's more like stepping into a food variety show."

Liu Yijun, while disassembling a crab leg, spoke with an air of nonchalance.

"Teacher Meng's loud and boisterous personality complements Mai Mai's quiet and reserved nature."

"But he just talks faster than he thinks, not as clever as that Xiao Tian from last time."

Jiang listened to his description, smiled, and nodded in agreement, finding it quite apt.

Liu Yijun and his companions were all shrewd people who had lived half their lives. Although they couldn't be completely certain about some things, they could guess the general idea. He didn't intend to explain anything; some things were understood by everyone and didn't need further explanation. Suddenly, the sound of breaking dishes came from the side.

As everyone turned around, they saw Zhao Jinmai squatting on the ground picking up porcelain shards. Meng Ziyi quickly stepped forward, holding up her cut finger and shouting.

"A band-aid! I have one in my bag!"

She hurriedly pulled out a band-aid from her bag.

"I'll handle it."

Jiang Qing pulled away the band-aid with the cartoon strawberry printed on it, but Zhao Jinmai withdrew her hand.

"I can do it myself."

"Let me do it."

Jiang Qing didn't give her a chance to refuse and quickly stuck it on her.

Zhao Jinmai looked at the serious-looking boy in front of her and silently pursed her lips.

After the brief incident, everyone took their seats.

Just then, a sea breeze swept by and lifted the sun-protective clothing that Meng Ziyi had draped over the back of the chair, revealing a crooked graffiti of the character "Jiang" on the lining, which was clearly added later with a marker.

Liu Yijun and the others caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of their eyes and exchanged smiles, all amused.

This girl really can't hide anything.

When Zhao Jinmai silently threw the blood-stained tissue into the trash can, Liu Tao smiled and sighed.

"Youth is wonderful; even a minor injury feels like a major event."

Once the conversation started, Liu Yijun and the others began to reminisce about their youth.

As night deepened, beer bottles were arranged in a matrix on the corner of the table.

With her cheeks flushed, Meng Ziyi held up the grilled squid and danced around excitedly.

"You guys don't know, Dr. Jiang's chopped chili fish head at Peach Blossom Village was absolutely delicious. He used to fish a lot back then, and at first he had a pretty good catch. But then we noticed the fish didn't taste right, so we secretly followed him and found out that after the newbie protection period, he was often empty-handed. In the last few days, he had to buy fish. He thought we didn't know, hehe..."

"Meng! Zi! Yi!"

Jiang Qing snatched the beer can from her hand with a dark expression.

"You have an early flight tomorrow!"

"Know it!"

She rested her head on his shoulder and turned to look at Zhao Jinmai.

“MaiMai, let me tell you, he…”

Seeing her intimate gesture, Zhao Jinmai suddenly tightened her grip on her knee.

Liu Yijun picked up his coat and tried to smooth things over.

"Let's go, let's go, I'm feeling dizzy."

Everyone responded.

On the way back in the van, Meng Ziyi leaned against the window, humming a song out of tune.

While waiting at a red light, she suddenly leaned close to Jiang Qing's ear.

"I deliberately broke up that soft-boiled egg."

The smell of alcohol mixed with the scent of coconut wafted towards his neck.

"Who told you to serve it to Ono first?"

Zhao Jinmai sat in the passenger seat, gripping the seatbelt tightly, and slightly lifted her eyelids.

In the rearview mirror, Jiang Qing pressed Meng Ziyi's swaying head back onto the seat.

"be honest."

"Oh~"

She responded blankly, then leaned against his shoulder to find a comfortable spot. Soon her breathing became deep, and she occasionally let out a few indistinct mutterings, looking quite adorable.

Zhao Jinmai turned to look at the receding city lights outside the car window, momentarily lost in thought.

Back at the hotel, Jiang Qing helped Meng Ziyi say goodbye to Sun Molong and the others at the elevator entrance.

Then, under Zhao Jinmai's watchful gaze, he helped Meng Ziyi turn and leave.

The moment the elevator doors closed, Zhao Jinmai wanted to rush out and offer to help take her home, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

She hoped that Jiang Qing would simply take her home and then leave...

After swiping the card to enter the room, Jiang Qing lifted Meng Ziyi up a bit, but as her knees touched the edge of the bed, the person in his arms suddenly slid down.

The moment the warm yellow light shone down, he could clearly see Meng Ziyi's eyelashes trembling like the fluttering wings of a butterfly.

"If you keep pretending, I'll throw you in the bathtub."

He curled his lips into a smile, as if to let go.

"you dare!"

The girl in his arms suddenly opened her eyes, and her arms wrapped around him like vines.

The collar of the sun-protective clothing was rubbed crooked, revealing a small patch of skin near the collarbone that was stained red with alcohol.

"You were staring at Mai Mai in the rearview mirror in the car just now, don't think I didn't notice!"

Jiang Qing braced himself on the mattress with one hand and used the other to pry open the fingers that were wrapped around her neck.

"I can only see the roof light in the rearview mirror."

"That means thinking about her in your mind!"

Meng Ziyi bent her knee and nudged his side, her canvas shoes falling onto the carpet with a thud.

"You attract so many men! It's annoying! I want to..."

Before she could finish speaking, her cheeks were pinched, her puffed-out cheeks resembling a squirrel stuffed with pine cones.

"Then how should we settle this between us?"

"That's different. I'm very proactive, and I'm even willing to accept you and Ono..."

She gave a vague rebuttal and reached out to hook his calf.

"The way MaiMai looks at you is almost exactly the same as how XiaoYe looked back then."

The bedside table suddenly shook, and the two of them turned their heads at the same time.

The lit-up phone screen displayed messages from the "Zhou Gong's Interpretation of Mencius" group, with a Samoyed emoji sent by Zhou Ye grinning and sticking out its tongue.

Jiang Qing raised an eyebrow at the name, and taking advantage of her distraction to pull her arm away, the next second she was pulled by the collar and thrown into the fluffy bedding.

"You're not leaving until you explain yourself clearly!"

Meng Ziyi flipped over and straddled his waist, her long, loose hair brushing against his chin.

"What are you talking about? Dressed so sexily and wandering around outside, I haven't settled accounts with you yet!"

Jiang Qing scrutinized the small piece of fabric on her body, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"I'll wear it! How can you, a stinky man, have your eye on me if I don't dress myself up sexy? I... ah!"

Meng Ziyi, hands on her slender waist, looked down at him, but before she could finish speaking, Jiang Qing suddenly stood up and interrupted her.

With a gasp, she was completely covered by Jiang Qing.

The night gradually began to become alluring.

(End of this chapter)