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

Chapter 212 It's Different, the Wind in Luyang Can Turn into Magic
At 6:13 p.m., the sunset was fading to a crab-shell blue as the script reading ended.

Jiang Qing closed his laptop and stood up, his sleeves stirring up a gust of wind. Zhang Jingyi quickly grabbed the script that had been blown away and looked up to see him raising an eyebrow at her.

"A local applying to be a guide?"

He tapped the mineral water bottle in front of her with his finger.

"I know a restaurant whose braised river fish is so delicious it'll make your tongue tingle."

Zeng Keni immediately stood up from the opposite side and supported herself on the table.

"Is President Jiang treating us?"

"I can even make food stalls using gutter oil?"

Zhao Zhiwei pretended to take out his wallet.

Jiang Qing waved her hand, a smile playing on her lips.

"The Huizhou Merchants' Banquet is a three-courtyard restaurant with a stage. The owner is my senior fellow apprentice."

"President Jiang, we can't accept this. The production team should be the ones to arrange the first get-together."

The representative from Kuzi Video stepped forward with a smile.

"It's alright, the crew can arrange it next time. I'm just doing my duty as the host today."

"Then let's take advantage of the big spenders."

Zhang Jingyi, with her hands behind her back and her eyes crinkling into a smile, chimed in.

"You'll be full."

"That's a good feeling."

Their eyes met, and smiles filled their eyes.

The people standing nearby exchanged glances, all with ambiguous expressions.

And so, the first get-together of the main cast and crew was decided.

As everyone cheered and surged toward the parking lot, Zhang Jingyi deliberately lagged behind.

Jiang Qing slowed his pace to wait for her, keeping a perfect 20-centimeter distance between his white sneakers and her canvas shoes.

"Did the ad shoot not go well yesterday?"

He spoke suddenly.

"what?"

Zhang Jingyi was so startled that she stepped on a pebble and stumbled half a step. Jiang Qingxu's hand was already hanging on her elbow to support her.

"That's right! The director is never satisfied with the results, and the brand representatives always add demands at the last minute."

She gestured as she spoke.

"Anyway, I wasted a lot of time, which is why I missed my flight. I'm so sorry~"

The girl dragged out the last syllable, her soft, sweet voice carrying a strong sense of coquetry.

"Oh~"

Jiang Qing nodded with a look of realization, then swayed away.

"Oh what do you mean?"

Zhang Jingyi stared at his retreating figure for a moment, then stomped her foot, puffed out her cheeks, and chased after him.

This person did it on purpose!
snort!
In about forty minutes, they arrived at their destination.

The ancient-style buildings of the Hui-style architecture stand out in the night.

Jiang Qing greeted everyone as if they were in her own home.

Zhang Jingyi looked at the enthusiastic young man in front of her with a strange gaze. She recalled how he had spoken eloquently during the Tsinghua University lecture a week ago and felt that he was somewhat out of place.

In fact, it wasn't just her; Zhao Zhiwei and others felt the same way.

I was worried that Jiang Qing might be difficult to get along with in private, but I found that she was very approachable, which made me feel much more relaxed.

A group of people followed Jiang Qing inside. When they reached the blue brick gate, two lanterns lit up, and a waiter in a horse-face skirt lifted the carved wooden door.

Jiang Qing reached out and braced herself against the door frame to let everyone go in first, then turned to look at Zhang Jingyi.

"Look at this brick carving of magpies on plum blossoms on the gate. It was covered with yellow mud during the sensitive period and thus escaped destruction."

"This magpie seems to be tilting its head!"

Zhang Jingyi tiptoed closer to the brick carving, her nose almost touching the cool blue brick.

Jiang Qing took out her phone and turned on the flashlight function, the beam of light traveling along the magpie's wings.

"The old craftsman deliberately sculpted it in a dynamic manner; from the left, it looks like it's about to take off, and from the right, it looks like..."

"Like choking on a plum you've been secretly eating!"

She suddenly pointed at the magpie's round neck and burst out laughing.

"You're very observant!"

Jiang Qingchong gave her a thumbs up, and when he saw the girl tilt her head and raise her eyebrows triumphantly, he couldn't help but shake his head and laugh.

As Jiang Qing walked through the long corridor filled with rubbings of Shexian inkstones, her narration was interrupted by the constant clicking of camera shutters.

Zhang Jingyi was squatting by the beauty's bench taking pictures of the koi pond when she looked up and saw him standing in front of the moon gate. The twilight gave his blond hair a soft glow, making him look like a young master from a martial arts film who had hidden a secret manual.

"This is a Ming Dynasty official's residence that was moved from Yixian County in its entirety."

He tapped on the painted decoration on the winter melon beam.

"See the bat pattern? It symbolizes good fortune overcoming a hundred misfortunes."

Ma Ke deliberately touched his stomach and wailed.

"President Jiang, could you please ruin my stomach first?"

"Ha ha……"

Everyone laughed out loud.

Soon, they entered the antique-style private room.

A charcoal stove in the center of the round table was simmering chicken soup, and Zhang Jingyi naturally sat down next to Jiang Qing.

When the waiter brought over the Shexian-style bamboo shoots, Jiang Qing stood up and took the blue-and-white porcelain bowl.

"Be careful of the burn."

With a flick of his wrist, the soup bowl landed steadily in front of her.

"This dish of Wenzheng Mountain bamboo shoots needs to be flavored with cured pork."

With his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, he continued his introduction.

Legend has it that Zhu Yuanzhang...

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Zhang Jingyi tapped the rim of the bowl with a spoon to interrupt her words.

"Ladies and gentlemen, next up will be Mr. Jiang's stand-up comedy routine, 'A Bite of Huizhou'!"

Amidst the laughter of the whole table, Jiang Qing picked up a piece of hairy tofu and paused it above her plate.

"Are you sure you don't want to follow the secret recipe? This kind of long-haired fermentation..."

"I was wrong, I was wrong!"

She clasped her hands together in a gesture of begging for mercy, her eyelashes fluttering like a startled deer.

"Teacher Jiang, please continue the lesson."

Zeng Keni held up her phone to record and cheer.

"Can this segment be included in the behind-the-scenes footage?"

"You have to pay more."

Jiang Qing joked with a smile, and then turned the braised pork knuckle with rock sugar to Zhao Zhiwei.

"This dish, improved by Su Dongpo, was popular back then..."

"Help!"

Qian Didi clutched her head and wailed.

"Dinner or history class?"

Everyone laughed, but no one took it seriously.

Everyone knew perfectly well that Jiang Qing was doing this on purpose, so that they could quickly get to know each other better.

For someone of his status to achieve this much was truly a pleasant surprise to them.

I guess that's how he was introduced to this place before.

What they didn't know was that Jiang Qing had always been like this.

How can you always be so careful when speaking to someone you're about to work with?
Zhang Jingyi scooped a spoonful of stinky mandarin fish into Jiang Qing's bowl.

"Quickly, use magic to defeat magic!"

She wrinkled her nose and made a face.

"Fight fire with fire!"

Jiang Qing ate the fish without changing her expression.

"This is called pickled fresh mandarin fish, a dish popular among Huizhou merchants when they sailed the seas back in the day."

"stop!"

This time it was a protest by everyone.

Zhang Jingyi laughed so hard she leaned back in her chair, her chopsticks almost poking the soy sauce dish.

Jiang Qing reached out and held onto the back of her chair, her golden hair falling across her forehead as she looked down.

"Zhu Yun, don't you respect your teachers?"

"Teacher Jiang, I was wrong."

She sat up straight, suppressing a laugh, her eyes shining as if they were filled with mountain spring water.

"As an apology, I'll perform a special skill for you."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, she pulled out a chopstick and tapped it on the celadon plate, then spontaneously hummed a Huangmei opera tune.

The birds in the trees are always in pairs.

Jiang Qing stared at the girl and suddenly spoke up to finish the sentence.

"Green mountains and clear waters bring smiles~" The deep voice startled everyone, causing them to gasp in surprise.

Amidst the applause from the table, Zhang Jingyi stared at him with wide eyes.

"You still listen to opera?"

"My grandmother was a fan of Yan Fengying's operas."

He smiled as he poured tea for himself and the girl.

"When I was a child, I often listened to the radio with the song 'The Female General'."

"Teacher Jiang is truly a person whose appearance doesn't tell you anything!"

Zhang Jingyi clapped her hands, her face full of admiration.

Zhao Zhiwei and the others echoed his sentiments, and then used this as an excuse to take turns toasting Jiang Qing.

After a few rounds of drinks, Jiang Qing got up and went outside to answer a phone call.

Zhang Jingyi stared at the untouched sweet fermented rice balls in his bowl, and suddenly a brilliant idea flashed in her mind. She used the serving chopsticks to pick up a piece of green vegetable and arranged it into a smiling face.

When Jiang Qing returned, she raised an eyebrow when she saw the smiling face lying in her bowl.

"Zhu Yun."

He tapped the rim of the bowl.

"Is this performance art?"

"The art of grains".

She rested her chin on her hand and smiled slyly.

Every grain is the result of hard work.

"Fine, then I'll eat art."

Jiang Qing smiled as she picked up some greens and put them in her mouth. Seeing the girl glare at her, she chewed even more vigorously.

"Humph~"

She gave a soft hum, and as she turned her head, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

Before long, the waiter brought over a fruit platter, and Jiang Qing used a toothpick to pick up a piece of pear.

"Open your mouth."

"what?"

As Zhang Jingyi froze, a sweet pear slice was already pressed against her lips.

Amidst the cheers and jeers at the table, she hurriedly bit into a piece of pear and heard Jiang Qing say in a low voice.

"It's good for your lungs, but your voice cracked while singing opera just now."

"Jiang Qing!"

She raised her chopsticks to hit him, but he blocked her with a fruit plate.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket, and a new message notification popped up in the family group chat.

When Zhang Jingyi clicked on the video, she found that her mother had taken a picture of her younger brother screaming when he saw the video she shared in the group chat about the joint laboratory between Wuwen Technology and the University of Science and Technology of China.

"Look!"

She proudly shoved her phone screen in front of Jiang Qing.

"My brother mistook your lab for a Transformers base."

Jiang Qing leaned closer for a closer look and smiled slightly.

"Boys are more interested in this kind of futuristic look. Tell them that if they have the chance to come to Luyang, they can touch a real mecha."

"You said so!"

She typed a reply quickly, her dimples appearing and disappearing at the corners of her mouth.

"Don't complain about the kids being noisy when the time comes."

"Then you'll have to keep an eye on him."

"No problem, leave it to me. He's scared of me."

"The legendary bloodline suppression?"

"Hmm... I guess so."

……

The two chatted as if no one else was around, which made everyone at the table smile like doting aunts.

Director Liu Junjie and screenwriter Zhou Yong exchanged a glance as they watched this scene, both showing expressions of satisfaction.

The male and female leads are so compatible and have such great chemistry, they already possess the most basic potential to become a hit idol drama, which is certainly a good thing for them.

As the moonlight climbed over the gable wall, the crowd gathered and walked to the outdoor parking lot.

Jiang Qing magically produced more than a dozen paper bags from the trunk.

"Don't eat too much Shexian Huizhou ink pastry as a late-night snack."

When Zhang Jingyi received her share, she was handed a blue cloth package.

"This is wild tea from Wenzheng Mountain, which can cure someone's insomnia caused by drinking coffee."

How did you know me?

The girl clutched the tea bag, stunned, and blinked at him.

“You were still sending dog videos to the crew group at 3 a.m. the day before yesterday.”

Jiang Qingguan paused for a moment, his hand hovering over the trunk.

"Next time you have insomnia, you can talk to me about the script."

"Ok!"

With her senses returning, Zhang Jingyi stared at him and nodded emphatically.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhiwei and the others quickly and tactfully waved goodbye, and in the blink of an eye, the area around the two became quiet.

Jiang Qing didn't pay any attention to it, but instead looked at the girl and extended an invitation.

"Take a walk?"

"Okay."

She tucked the stray hairs from her forehead behind her ear, a faint smile on her clean-cut face.

The two strolled along the roadside path. The streetlights cast Jiang Qing's shadow long, and Zhang Jingyi hopped and skipped along, having a great time, stepping on his swaying shadow.

He would occasionally glance at her from the side, and when their eyes met, the girl would always grin and reveal a bright smile.

When she laughed, he was infected and laughed along with her.

Neither of them spoke, enjoying the tranquility of the moment.

My phone suddenly vibrated, and a Weibo notification popped up.

Zhang Jingyi took out her phone and saw the hashtag "#LighterAndPrincessDressCreationDinner" followed by the word "hot," with over 30,000 comments in less than half an hour.

In the candid photo, she is serving food to Jiang Qing, with the caption: "Help, they seem to be really talking!"

It looks like it was secretly taken by one of the waiters who served them.

Do you want clarification?

She waved her phone screen, a charming smile on her face.

Jiang Qing shook her head slightly, took out her phone, took a screenshot of the trending topic, and typed rapidly.

A minute later, he posted his third update on Weibo: "The photos are good, but I didn't get a picture of the stinky mandarin fish."

The accompanying photo shows Zhang Jingyi with her face contorted as she bites into a stinky mandarin fish.

"When did you take this picture without my permission?!"

The girl instantly bristled and made a move to snatch the phone, but Jiang Qing had anticipated this and turned to dodge it.

"Delete this ugly photo immediately!"

"Quite cute."

"Cute you big-headed devil!"

……

On the way back to the hotel, Zhang Jingyi pressed her forehead against the car window to cool down, her cheeks still flushed.

She suddenly burst out laughing, which made Fangfang, who was next to her, look at her in confusion.

"What's wrong, my little darling? Are you possessed?"

"No way, don't talk nonsense!"

Zhang Jingyi blushed and spat at her, then turned to look out the window.

The evening breeze tousled her long hair, with a few strands playfully sticking to her fair face.

She breathed on the car window, her fingertips drawing a crooked string of candied hawthorns on the fogged glass.

Gradually, the girl stared blankly at the streetlights through the car window.

It was as if a golden lion was running through the neon lights in my eyes, and the passing streetlights were like popcorn scattered by the wind, flashing and dimming as they entered my eyes.

It turns out that the evening breeze in Luyang can work magic, turning the whole city into a popping candy jar.

"Fangfang, look!"

She suddenly turned around, grabbed the back of the chair, and pointed at the moon on the horizon, which was marked with teeth marks by the clouds.

"Doesn't it look like the sweet fermented rice balls that Jiang Qing stole a bite out of?"

"what?"

Fangfang looked at her blankly.

"Ancestor, I wasn't there when you were eating."

"Oh, right."

Zhang Jingyi chuckled, curled herself into a cotton candy ball, and tapped the front seat with the toes of her canvas shoes to keep time.

The car radio suddenly switched to a segment from "The Fairy Couple," and as she hummed along, she noticed that her ending notes were bubbling up.

My mind wandered, and I imagined that when traditional opera singing meets 21st-century traffic lights, it can ferment into the flavor of orange soda.

(End of this chapter)