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

Chapter 213 Jiang Qing's Home Ground, Effortlessly

The next day, as dawn broke, the Wutong Avenue on the West Campus of the University of Science and Technology of China was already bustling with activity.

A boy wearing a loose short-sleeved shirt weaved through the crowd on a shared bicycle, the cover of "Introduction to Deep Learning" in the basket rattling in the wind.

"Would Jiang Shen really enter through the east gate?"

A girl wearing round-framed glasses was constantly refreshing the campus forum by the roadside, muttering to herself with her companion.

"The school administration notice said the film crew would register and enter the school at 7:30, and it's already 7:50."

Before the words were finished, a sound suddenly erupted from the direction of the east gate.

The dense crowd surged toward the east gate like iron filings drawn by a magnet.

At this moment, the East Gate Square was already crowded with students holding textbooks, looking like a sea of ​​dumplings being dropped into a pot.

As the security captain, Lao Liu, wearing a red vest, adjusted the cordon for the third time, he turned around and saw several boys hanging banners on a tree.

"It's time for Jiang Shen to pay back the public lecture he owes!"

A female student from the journalism department set up a tripod on the edge of a flower bed and aimed her camera at the banner at the school gate.

"Welcome back to Dr. Jiang, and welcome to our school for filming of 'Lighter and Princess Dress'."

Two girls behind her were applying gold leaf to a support banner when they suddenly heard a commotion in the crowd.

"They're here! The River God is here!"

Someone shouted, and everyone in the room turned their heads at once.

More than ten cars slowly stopped outside the school gate. The moment the door of the second car opened, the reporters who had been waiting rushed forward like bees smelling nectar.

As Jiang Qing, sporting blond hair, bent down to get out of the car, the morning breeze lifted the hem of his school uniform jacket, making him look incredibly youthful.

He was wearing the same outfit Li Xun wore when he first appeared: a black and white school uniform. It was an ordinary outfit, but he wore it so neatly and sturdily.

He reached out to help the cameraman who was almost knocked over, looked up and saw the dense crowd at the school gate, and waved to the younger students with a smile.

"Dr. Jiang, I passed the new laboratory assessment!"

"Welcome back to school, Jiang Shen!"

"Blonde hair is cool, but skipping class isn't!"

"Look at me, Jiang Shen! My primary goal for this internship is to find Wuwen!"

“Dr. Jiang…”

The shouts from the crowd instantly rose eight octaves.

As soon as Zhang Jingyi stepped off the film crew's bus, she was so shocked by the scene before her that she took a half-step back.

She glimpsed several boys in T-shirts struggling to unfurl a ten-meter-long banner next to the school gate pillars about twenty meters away.

The ink strokes on the yellowed Xuan paper are vigorous, clearly an excerpt from the paper "Application of Convolutional Neural Networks in Image Recognition".

Is this a celebrity meet-up or an academic conference?

Zeng Keni stared in disbelief through the car window.

"Dr. Jiang's popularity at USTC is ridiculously high!"

Zhao Zhiwei swallowed hard, shocked by what he saw.

This is the University of Science and Technology of China!
"Jiang Shen, look this way!"

The boy in the plaid shirt and his classmates unfurled a two-meter-long banner with the code "while(true){waiting for Jiang Shen to start class}" written on it.

Laughter erupted from the crowd, and many mischievous boys even whistled.

Although Jiang Qing had expected it, her eyelids still twitched at the actions of these younger students.

Zhang Jingyi's gaze swept over and she happened to see him take the megaphone from the security guard.

He casually tapped the microphone, and the static immediately silenced the entire room.

"Dear handsome and beautiful junior students, I can feel your enthusiasm, but I must say that Professor Wang's numerical analysis class is better than mine."

"Professor Zhang's matrix theory is also very insightful, and I would like to learn more from him."

"you……"

"We want to hear about Jiang's optimization algorithm!"

The girl, who was holding a book on "practical machine learning," interrupted him, her voice cracking from shouting.

Jiang Qing returned the megaphone to the security guard and turned to the crew, shrugging helplessly.

Looks like we'll have to pay the toll today.

As soon as he finished speaking, a dozen boys suddenly raised A4 sheets of paper, each with a QR code printed on it.

Zhang Jingyi took a closer look and almost burst out laughing.

These are all screenshots from the Academic Affairs Office's course selection system.

"USTC students have an exceptional level of execution!"

Liu Junjie stroked his chin and chuckled.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a middle-aged man carrying a camera suddenly rushed out from the side.

The microphone bearing the logo of "Luzhou Evening News" nearly pierced Jiang Qing's nose.

"Dr. Jiang, I heard you turned down the invitation to the ICML conference. Is that so you can focus on filming?"

"This year, we've switched to online meetings."

Jiang Qing casually straightened the reporter's crooked tie clip.

"Besides, our lab's papers are already posted on arXiv."

"How do you view the academic community's questioning of your status as an artist?"

"Can't people who work in science and technology have some hobbies?"

Jiang Qing turned around with a smile and bumped into Zhang Jingyi being squeezed to the edge of the green belt.

He reached out and grabbed the girl's sun-protective clothing hood, lifting her up to his side like he was carrying a kitten.

"Excuse me, you're squeezing the female lead so much she's practically a paper doll."

Zhang Jingyi staggered half a step, looked up and saw seven or eight cameras all turning towards her, and subconsciously shrank behind Jiang Qing.

This action drew good-natured cheers from the crowd. A group of boys in the front row exchanged glances and suddenly shouted in unison.

"Hello, sister-in-law!"

"Don't make trouble."

Jiang Qing picked up a draft notebook that someone had dropped, rolled it into a tube, and pretended to hit the nearest boy on the head.

"You scared away the female lead, so you're going to play Zhu Yun?"

Amidst the laughter, Zhang Jingyi hurriedly ran to Zeng Keni and Qian Didi's side, only to be teased again, making her stomp her feet in embarrassment and annoyance.

Seeing this, Jiang Qing smiled, walked into the crowd, looked around, and suddenly smiled as she looked at the excited young faces.

"Next Friday at 2 PM, same place as always, this time let's talk about robots."

"Wow!"

"Jiang Shen is awesome!"

"Hurry and grab a spot!"

The cheers almost knocked the sparrows off the sycamore tree.

Many people had already taken out their phones to check the class schedules, and one boy wearing round glasses was so excited that he threw his "Data Structures" textbook into the air.

Zhang Jingyi followed the main crew into the campus, only to find that no one paid any attention to them, the actors, a situation she had never encountered before.

She saw several girls chasing after Jiang Qing with questions about integral neural networks, a reporter carrying a camera almost crashing into a tree while filming backwards, and even an old man sweeping the roadside holding up his phone and shouting, "Dr. Jiang, look at the camera!"

"It was the first time I felt like I was invisible."

Zeng Keni nudged Zhang Jingyi's arm.

"Look over there!"

Qian Didi suddenly tugged at their sleeves.

The three girls looked in the direction she pointed, and the LED screen on the outer wall of the laboratory building suddenly switched to a photo of Jiang Qing giving a speech at an academic forum, with scrolling text saying "Welcome Dr. Jiang home".

The group exchanged glances, all looking at the figure who was now completely surrounded.

Only now, in this situation, do they understand the special status Jiang Qing holds at USTC.

As I passed by the library, more than a dozen heads suddenly popped out of the second-floor windows.

Someone threw a paper airplane down, which Jiang Qing caught precisely and unfolded. It had a crying panda head drawn on it, along with the words "If I don't make up for the open class, I'll fail the course."

He waved helplessly upstairs, which elicited a chorus of howls and wails.

Ma Ke sidled up to Zhang Jingyi and the others and whispered something.

"If I had received this kind of treatment back then, I would have won over the school beauty long ago."

"Wake up! First, you have to be handsome, which you meet, but you also have to be a PhD!"

Zhao Zhiwei popped a mint into his mouth. "And it's a double one!"

Ma Ke immediately covered his face, and the girls laughed so hard they bent over.

When I arrived at the third teaching building, dozens of cups of coffee were neatly stacked on the steps.

Jiang Qing picked up the top receipt, glanced at it, and turned to ask the logistics director.

"Which labs distributed subsidies this week?"

"The students sent them voluntarily; they were already here before seven o'clock."

The logistics director explained, wiping his sweat.

"Don't worry, Dr. Jiang, everything has been checked."

"Ok."

Jiang Qing smiled and nodded, then turned to look at the crowd following her.

"Thank you, fellow juniors."

Immediately, a chorus of "You're welcome!" rang out from the audience.

Jiang Qing smiled and handed the cup labeled "30% sugar" to Zhang Jingyi, while taking an Americano for herself.

When I turned around, I found the crew members staring blankly at the pile of coffee. I smiled and waved.

"Everyone who sees it gets a share, so please don't be shy."

The crowd cheered and surged toward the pile of coffee. Zhang Jingyi, biting her straw, asked in a low voice.

How did you know I like my drinks with 30% sugar?

"You also drank three-tenths of an ounce of alcohol yesterday during the reading session, just like last time in Xiamen."

Jiang Qing swirled her coffee cup, a teasing smile on her face.

"And the position where I bite the straw is always the same."

She almost choked, her ears turning red as she changed the subject.

Which classroom should we film in?

“308, the old classroom where I attended classes during my freshman year.”

Jiang Qing pointed to the window on the third floor.

"I haven't been here in a long time. Before the press conference starts, let me take you upstairs for a look."

The main cast members readily agreed and surrounded him as he moved forward.

They also wanted to see what the classroom where the top student used to be looked like.

As people ascended the stairs, the honor roll on the wall caught their attention.

In the "Distinguished Alumni" section, Jiang Qing's photos are arranged year by year, from his early days to his mature years, with a line of small print under the latest photo.

"Some of the equipment in this building was donated by Wuwen Technology."

"Is this for filming or a pilgrimage?"

One of the stagehands held up a reflector and clicked his tongue in amazement, which drew nods of agreement from many others.

Zhang Jingyi carefully examined the photo and compared it with Jiang Qing beside her, her eyes more curious than ever before.

So this is what he looked like in college! He looks so well-behaved!
Hehe...

As Jiang Qing reached the corner on the second floor, a boy wearing roller skates suddenly stopped in front of her, carrying a stack of hardcover books in his arms.

"Jiang Shen, could you sign your name for me? Our science fiction club wants it to be our prized possession!"

Jiang Qing took the top book, "Galaxy Empire," and asked questions as she signed it.

Have you received the reviewers' comments on the Nebula Award essay you submitted to Science Fiction World last week?

The rollerblading boy almost dropped his book because his hand trembled.

"How do you even know this?!"

"Your club president tagged me when he asked a question on Zhihu."

Jiang Qing stacked the signed books neatly.

"It is suggested that the energy source of the alien spacecraft be changed to..."

"Teacher Jiang!"

The executive director shouted from upstairs.

"We need to hurry."

He shrugged regretfully, while the rollerblading boy excitedly spun around in place, clutching his book.

"That's enough! This prompt is sufficient!"

"That's good."

Jiang Qing patted him on the shoulder approvingly, then walked past him and left.

"Thank you, Jiang Shen!"

Zhang Jingyi followed behind him, her gaze sweeping over the two of them, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly.

It felt like a martial arts master in a TV series casually gave some pointers, and the other person immediately had their Ren and Du meridians opened up.

This is too amazing!
Pushing open the door to classroom 308, sunlight streamed through the glass windows and fell onto the podium.

Jiang Qing stopped in the second aisle, his fingers tracing a mark on the corner of the table.

Zhang Jingyi, who followed in, took a closer look and discovered that the letters were faded “JQ”.

"Did you carve this here during your freshman year of college?"

She couldn't help but chuckle as she touched the dent.

"No, it was to help my roommate pursue girls."

Jiang Qing tapped on the report card on the back wall.

"He scored 61 points here back then."

Following his gaze, in the "Algorithm Analysis" score column, the 100 points after "Jiang Qing" stood out.

Zhang Jingyi suddenly noticed that all the report cards had been carefully laminated, except for this one, which had fine cracks.

"I heard that this old teaching building has been unused for two years. Every year at the start of the semester, new students come to touch Jiang's belongings to pray for good luck in their exams."

The script supervisor who followed in explained with a smile.

"It's said to be a kind of metaphysical ritual."

Zhang Jingyi couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle, never expecting that students from a school like the University of Science and Technology of China would believe in metaphysics.

Jiang Qing walked to the front of the classroom to adjust the multimedia equipment and casually wiped away the calculus formulas on the whiteboard.

As chalk dust rose, Zhang Jingyi vaguely saw an eighteen-year-old boy writing fluently on the podium.

Jiang Qing suddenly raised her hand towards Liu Junjie.

“The ‘Discrete Mathematics’ textbook for the sixth table in the third group should be replaced with the 2015 edition.”

The props team leader hurriedly checked the photos.

"It really is! The current cover is the new version!"

Zhang Jingyi watched the staff hurriedly changing the books and couldn't help but sigh.

"You should share half of your performance with me."

"Eat more walnuts."

Jiang Qing took a bag of nuts out of his pocket and tossed it to her.

There should still be a chance.

The girl hurriedly caught the bag, and when she came to her senses, she couldn't help but frown.

Does this mean she's not smart?
Students gradually gathered outside the classroom, and a bold girl clung to the door frame and shouted.

"Can we take a photo together after Jiang Shen finishes filming today?"

"You can complete my question during the next open class."

Jiang Qing replied without looking up, which caused a chorus of wails.

Zhang Jingyi lowered her head and stroked the walnut packaging, when she heard Zhao Zhiwei sighing at the door.

"Wow, if you didn't know better, you'd think we were filming a documentary called 'Jiang Qing's Memories'."

She nodded in agreement, and when she turned around, she saw Jiang Qing leaning against the window reading a script, with ginkgo leaves falling onto the page.

Looking at that profile outlined by the sunlight, she suddenly understood the students frantically pressing the shutter.

When I'm with him, it's so easy for my heart to flutter.

(End of this chapter)