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

Chapter 159 Smiling Eyes Again, A Shock from Jiang Qing
At 8:23 p.m., when the hashtag “Jiang Qing appears at JD.com headquarters” became a trending topic and sparked heated discussions among netizens, he was busy fending off drinks.

The brass door knockers of Li Family Cuisine gleamed matte in the twilight, while a lively scene unfolded inside one of the private rooms.

A marble round table was covered with various dishes, and more than a dozen JD.com executives with their sleeves rolled up sat around the table, while Liu Qiangdong was pouring a bottle of Moutai into a decanter, creating a long stream of liquor.

"President Jiang, please try this!"

He pushed the wine cup towards him in a loud voice.

"It was just transported from Moutai. You're in for a treat today."

"Making me drink this is like a cow chewing on a peony."

Jiang Qing gave a wry smile. He had just taken a sip when Liu Qiangdong tilted his head back and downed three glasses in one go, patting Jiang Qing's shoulder with wine stains on his collar.

"You techies always love to dawdle, drink up! After you finish, I'll show you something good!"

As she spoke, she pulled out a photo from her phone, which was the scene from "The Beginning" where Jiang Qing was covered in dust and dirt from the explosion.

"Our PR director bought it from a proxy buyer, how about we put it on your press conference?"

He proudly waved his phone.

"This look is even dirtier than the delivery guy who brings our goods to our house. Remember to let me know when it airs and I'll buy a trending topic! I'll push it to the top of the list!"

Amidst laughter from the table, the female VP of purchasing and sales raised her glass.

"General Jiang is incredibly charming both on and off screen. I'll drink it, you can do as you please!"

After saying that, he tilted his head back and chugged the liquor. Because he drank too fast, the liquor dripped down his chin and into his shirt. Jiang Qing quickly reminded him.

Amidst laughter from the table, Xu Lei, head of JD Logistics, jokingly held up half a crab claw.

"I heard that President Jiang is treating everyone to afternoon tea on set every day?"

"Isn't it?"

Jiang Qing pinched a crab leg and dipped it in ginger vinegar.

"I have to coax the director not to cut my scenes."

"what……"

The crowd laughed even harder.

After a few rounds of drinks, Liu Qiangdong suddenly slammed the bottle on the table.

"If you ask me, Mr. Jiang is being too polite. He should have said so earlier if he wanted a spokesperson for JD Supermarket!"

He tapped his fingers on the edge of the table, a mocking expression on his face.

"If President Jiang just asks, I would gladly offer this cooperation even if it weren't for this one."

The JD Supermarket director, slightly drunk, interrupted.

"Could it be that President Jiang has been bewitched by some female celebrity?"

"That's what I said!"

Jiang Qing picked up the wine bottle and filled Liu Qiangdong's glass.

"70% of JD.com's users are women, so finding an attractive spokesperson isn't a bad deal, is it?"

With a flick of his wrist, the wine fell precisely into Liu Qiangdong's glass.

"Isn't this the truth, Mr. Liu?"

"President Jiang is really cunning!"

Liu Qiangdong laughed and cursed as he downed another glass.

"But I..."

Before he could finish speaking, there was a gentle knock on the door of the private room.

A waitress in a dark blue cheongsam opened the door and stepped aside to let four or five people in. Leading the group was Li Yayun, the head of JD.com Technology, who had just gone to the restroom.

"Mr. Liu, I ran into Mr. Zhang. He heard you were here and came to say hello."

As Li Yayun introduced him, a middle-aged man stepped forward, holding a wine glass.

He glanced around the private room, his gaze lingering briefly on Jiang Qing before settling on Liu Qiangdong's face, a familiar smile spreading across his face.

"Mr. Liu, it's been a long time! I heard you were here, so I came with a wine glass. I didn't expect to see the renowned Mr. Jiang here as well. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Mr. Zhang, you're too kind. Without further ado, let's go for a drink."

Without saying a word, Liu Qiangdong raised his hand and clinked glasses with him.

Jiang Qing pinched the bridge of his nose; his alcohol tolerance was really not up to par in this kind of situation.

His gaze suddenly froze.

The woman at the back of the crowd wore a short blue suit jacket, with a matching A-line skirt that accentuated her slender waist. Her white skin, visible between her black strapless top and flat stomach, was dazzling.

She was tilting her head to fix her high ponytail, her crescent-shaped smiling eyes widening suddenly when she caught sight of Jiang Qing.

Jiang Qing!?

What's he doing here?!
Immediately, she smiled and her eyes crinkled.

Looking at it this way, we really are destined to meet!

Li Yitong twirled the tip of her ponytail with her fingertips, her crescent-shaped eyes curving as if they could hold all the light in the room, and gently winked at the person.

A slight smile appeared in Jiang Qing's eyes as he looked at the smiling beauty in front of him who had left a deep impression on him and nodded gently.

Besides her, he also spotted another familiar figure: the female artist named Yang Chaoyue, whom he had seen at the opening of the Tencent press conference yesterday. She was also staring at him with a look of surprise on her face.

Beside the two girls was a very tall boy, even taller than him at 185 cm. He was also very good-looking and probably an artist. When he looked over, he bowed awkwardly.

Suddenly, everyone in the room realized that something was wrong, and their eyes all turned to Jiang Qing and the other person.

Zhang Liang, who had just raised the decanter to pour the wine, froze in mid-air, his eyes darting back and forth between the two men.

"Does Yitong know President Jiang?"

His words caught Liu Qiangdong's attention. When he saw Li Yitong opposite Jiang Qing, his first thought was, "Isn't this the girl in Jiang Qing's phone?"

"It's obvious that President Zhang doesn't care about the artists under his company. I visited President Jiang's company before, and it even made the trending topics."

Li Yitong began to criticize her boss.

"You agree, Mr. Jiang?"

Immediately, he turned to look at Jiang Qing.

All eyes immediately turned to Jiang Qing.

"Teacher Li is right, that's how it is."

He smiled and nodded in affirmation.

Li Yitong's smile deepened, clearly enjoying this subtle, unspoken understanding.

"That's my problem. Mr. Jiang, I've heard a lot about you. Today, thanks to Mr. Liu, I'd like to offer you a toast."

Zhang Liang first gave Li Yitong an apologetic smile, then raised his glass and walked up to Jiang Qing, gesturing with his hand.

"Mr. Zhang, you're too kind."

Jiang Qing lightly touched his glass together and sipped her wine.

"President Jiang may not know much about President Zhang, so let me introduce him to you."

Liu Qiangdong stepped forward, raised his hand to lightly support Zhang Liang's shoulder, and looked at Jiang Qing.

"Mr. Jiang may not know that Mr. Zhang Liang is the son of Mr. Zhang of R&F Properties. In 17, he acquired Tianma Film & Television, renamed it Chuandi Entertainment, and entered the entertainment industry. Now, he is developing in film, television, variety shows, and other fields, and can be described as very successful!"

Jiang Qing nodded in realization, finally understanding why Liu Qiangdong was so familiar with the owner of an entertainment company. It turned out he was the heir of R&F Properties, which made it no surprise.

"President Liu, please don't make fun of me in front of President Jiang. How could I dare to say anything about being successful in front of you two? You're making me feel ashamed."

Zhang Liang waved his hands repeatedly, showing great humility.

Yang Chaoyue and the others, who rarely saw their boss being so low-key, secretly chuckled to themselves.

Li Yitong observed with great curiosity Jiang Qing, revealing a side of himself she had never seen before—the side of a tech upstart.

For someone as powerful as Liu Qiangdong to act so approachable, and for their boss, the head of a top entertainment company, to treat them with such humility, was remarkable. At that moment, Yang Chaoyue gently nudged her shoulder and handed her her phone screen.

When she saw the trending topic "Jiang Qing appears at JD.com headquarters," she realized that she hadn't been paying attention to the trending topics today and had missed this information.

Otherwise, she should have been mentally prepared when she entered, and could have touched up her makeup beforehand.

Oh dear, I was careless!

"Since we all know each other, let's all sit down together. Waiter, please bring a few more bowls, chopsticks, and chairs."

Without giving Zhang Liang and the others a chance to refuse, Liu Qiangdong glanced at Jiang Qing and Li Yitong, and made a decision with a wave of his hand.

If it were Zhang Liang's father, he naturally wouldn't be so domineering, but since it's Zhang Liang, there's no need to worry about him.

He's just a second-generation rich kid; giving him a smile is already giving his father face.

"In that case, let's take advantage of President Jiang's presence today and try President Liu's fine wine."

Zhang Liang grinned, showing no dissatisfaction whatsoever, and even feigning surprise and delight.

At the same time, he turned his head and winked at Li Yitong and the others, who immediately showed a delighted expression.

Jiang Qing looked at Liu Qiangdong and saw him raising an eyebrow at her, which made her feel both amused and exasperated.

Sure enough, nothing could be hidden from these people; they could get a general idea of ​​what was going on in just one glance.

"By the way, you two should also introduce yourselves to everyone here."

While the waiter was adding seats, Zhang Liang gave instructions to Yang Chaoyue and the boy next to her.

"Hello everyone, I am actress Yang Chaoyue."

Dressed in a black dress, Yang Chaoyue was the first to bow to everyone in the room, greeting them in a generous and open manner.

"President Jiang, I saw you from afar at the Tencent annual press conference yesterday. I didn't expect to see you again today."

After the introduction, she turned to Jiang Qing and mentioned what happened yesterday.

She acted very naturally, no longer the little girl who would cry if she couldn't dance well when she participated in the talent show.

"Miss Yang has a good stage presence."

Jiang Qing smiled and nodded, her opinion on the failed case that Yang Wei had mentioned had changed somewhat.

At least she's not entirely useless; I heard she did well on variety shows, and you can see some clues from her performance.

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Jiang."

Yang Chaoyue grinned, showing no sign of surprise even though she knew her performance yesterday hadn't been good.

She had long understood that success in the entertainment industry often doesn't depend on professional skills.

Jiang Qing smiled and said nothing more.

Li Yitong glanced at Yang Chaoyue beside her, her lips slightly curved, but her expression remained unchanged.

The boy then introduced himself somewhat nervously, and Jiang Qing learned that his name was Zhang Linghe.

Compared to Li Yitong and Yang Chaoyue, he was clearly much more nervous.

"Since Miss Li is friends with Mr. Jiang, why don't you sit together? It'll make it easier for you to talk."

Liu Qiangdong pulled out the chair next to Jiang Qing and waved to Li Yitong with a smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Liu."

Li Yitong quickly bowed to express her gratitude and gracefully stepped forward to sit down.

"Everyone, please sit down. Don't just stand here."

Liu Qiangdong then started calling out to the others, and soon the round table was full of people, but even so it didn't feel crowded.

After taking their seats, he raised a glass first, and everyone at the table responded by raising their glasses as well.

Immediately, everyone tacitly identified their targets, leaving space for Jiang Qing and Li Yitong.

"President Jiang, I never expected our reunion to be like this."

Li Yitong smiled and turned slightly to Jiang Qing's side, lowering her voice to start a conversation.

As soon as she got closer, Jiang Qing immediately smelled a faint citrus scent.

"Teacher Li is right, I didn't expect that either."

"Didn't I tell you last time to call me Yitong or Tongtong?"

"Doesn't Teacher Li also call me General Manager Jiang?"

"Then...Jiang Qing?"

"Yes, Tongtong."

The two exchanged a smile and simultaneously raised their glasses in perfect unison.

The others noticed the two whispering to each other, and their eyes met with ambiguous glances.

Seeing the intimacy between Li Yitong and Jiang Qing, Zhang Liang's eyes sparkled, and he thought to himself that he should find more scripts for Li Yitong.

"What are you two chatting about so happily? I'm quite curious."

About ten minutes later, seeing that the two were still chatting enthusiastically, Liu Qiangdong, who was to Jiang Qing's left, deliberately spoke up to start a conversation.

"Replying to Mr. Liu, I was asking Mr. Jiang how he felt about playing the male lead for the first time."

Li Yitong didn't care at all about the teasing looks from the crowd, straightened up and smiled sweetly.

This time, "General Manager Jiang" was used.

Jiang Qing glanced at her, secretly praising her in her heart.

"President Jiang, what do you think?"

Liu Qiangdong looked intrigued, as did the others at the table.

After all, it's already quite eye-catching that Jiang Qing, a tech upstart, is crossing over into acting.

"It felt pretty good; it was quite a novel experience."

Jiang Qing's words were concise, but judging from the smile on his face, everyone felt that what he said was probably true.

"I'm just curious, how much did Mr. Jiang get paid for acting in this drama?"

Liu Qiangdong suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to look at him.

"Why is Mr. Liu asking this?"

"You promised me the logistics system two months ago, but you went off to film a movie and only delivered it to me today. How can I not be curious?"

A burst of laughter immediately erupted inside the private room.

Jiang Qing glanced at Li Yitong, who was covering her mouth and giggling beside her, and looked helpless.

"Two million."

"What?!"

Liu Qiangdong suddenly laughed out of anger.

"I paid President Jiang 300 million, but you went to film a movie for 2 million, delaying my delivery time!"

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, and he slammed his fist on the table.

At this moment, apart from a group of JD.com executives who were laughing and watching the spectacle, everyone else suddenly fell silent.

Jiang Qing made 300 million yuan by creating a system for JD.com in two months?
Moreover, he was still filming for a long period of time in between!
Is working in technology really that lucrative?
Zhang Linghe almost dropped his chopsticks, and Yang Chaoyue's mouth opened slightly as she stared blankly at Jiang Qing.

Li Yitong held her fingertips above the crab meat lion's head meatball, gasping for breath.

She lowered her eyes as she picked up food, the silvery light in her pupils shimmering intensely.

"Three."

The last syllable was bitten between her teeth, and the waistline of the A-line skirt suddenly tightened.

As she adjusted her napkins, she tilted her head, her gaze following the folds of Jiang Qing's shirt, which was rolled up to his elbows, as if trying to remeasure the business empire of the man beside her through the light gray fabric.

Jiang Qing, is this the real you?
(End of this chapter)