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

Chapter 339 Greed, the Abstract Princess
The waves gently lapped against the rocks, and the evening breeze, carrying a slightly salty mist, swept across the beach. In the distance, the lights of the hotel cast a warm yellow glow in the deep blue night.

As Jiang Qing approached, Zhang Jingyi was waiting for him barefoot on the soft sand.

She wore a pure white spaghetti strap dress, the hem of which was lifted lightly by the wind, like a soft cloud cascading down to her ankles.

Her long, black hair was not tied up, but flowed smoothly over her shoulders and back, highlighting the smooth and beautiful lines of her exposed shoulders and neck. The moonlight cast a light shadow on her delicate collarbone.

She wasn't wearing makeup, and the lines from her nose to her lips were clean and sharp, like a meticulously sculpted plaster statue. The most wonderful thing was her eyes, with naturally drooping corners, which were now filled with undisguised joy as she looked at him with a beaming smile.

"I thought Dr. Jiang was overwhelmed with work emails."

She joked, her clear voice blending into the sea breeze.

Jiang Qing walked to her side, his gaze lingering on her for a moment. She was glowing white in the moonlight.

"Balance work and rest."

He smiled and walked alongside her along the damp beach.

The sand beneath my feet was slightly cool, and the waves gently washed over me, then receded, leaving trails of moisture.

Do you remember that coffee shop on Xiamen Island?

Zhang Jingyi suddenly turned her head and asked him, her eyes sparkling.

"I ordered an iced coconut Americano, and you ordered an iced latte with half sugar. In the end, I gave your coffee to the fan site admin."

Jiang Qing chuckled softly as her memories became clearer.

"I remember you used a book to cover your face back then, and you just pretended to be an ostrich."

He imitated her movements at the time.

"Hey!"

Zhang Jingyi pretended to be angry and slapped his arm, but couldn't help but laugh out loud herself.

"Who told you to show up so suddenly! And later at the food stall, your shirt got stained with coconut juice, and I..."

She recalled the awkwardness of her position at the time, her ears burning slightly, and then she changed the subject.

"And that Blue Star! I clearly learned three tricks from a magician in Hengdian! But I messed them all up in front of you, and you still have the nerve to talk to me about topology!"

She glared at him angrily, but her eyes were full of laughter.

"Scientific principles, truthful and honest."

Jiang Qing responded seriously, laughing freely.

"However, the way you chase the waves is definitely more interesting than topology."

"right!"

Zhang Jingyi raised her chin triumphantly, then, as if remembering something, her smile deepened.

"And that time at Wang Sulong's concert, I was wearing a bucket hat and sunglasses, all bundled up like a dumpling, and I still bumped into you while picking up a lipstick. I asked you how you explained it, and you actually said..."

She paused deliberately, mimicking his tone at the time.

"It might be Murphy's Law."

After she finished imitating, she started giggling to herself.

"Dr. Jiang, did you have a premonition back then?"

"What do you sense?"

Jiang Qing glanced at her sideways, her face showing confusion.

"I have a feeling...we'll end up like this."

Zhang Jingyi stopped and turned to face him, her eyes open yet with a hint of cunning.

When "Murphy's Law" was mentioned, the relaxed atmosphere between the two suddenly turned serious.

The laughter gradually subsided, leaving only the endless murmur of the waves.

They stood a few steps from the sea, the moonlight casting long shadows of the two of them.

After a long while, Zhang Jingyi took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind.

She raised her head, her gaze no longer darting away, looking directly into Jiang Qing's eyes, which reflected the moonlight and her own clear reflection.

"Jiang Qing."

Her voice was soft, yet unusually solemn, piercing through the sound of the waves.

"I made a request to the production team for my new drama that is about to start filming."

She paused, staring intently at Jiang Qing.

"No kissing scenes, no intimate scenes."

The sea breeze seemed to pause for a moment at that instant.

Jiang Qing looked at her; her eyes held a resolute and determined look, like a burning flame.

He understood almost immediately the meaning behind her words and what she was trying to achieve.

There was no surprise, nor was there any questioning about the details.

Jiang Qing simply met her gaze, her Adam's apple bobbing slightly as she uttered a single syllable.

"Ah."

He got it.

I received her silent declaration.

Zhang Jingyi was not satisfied with this concise response.

A fleeting hint of disappointment crossed her eyes, but it was quickly suppressed by an even brighter light.

I lowered my head, my toes unconsciously grinding against the small seashells in the sand, trying to calm my surging emotions.

A few seconds later, she looked up again, her face no longer tense, but instead sharp and inquisitive, her words going straight to the heart of the matter.

"Jiang Qing."

She called his name, her voice soft but carrying an undeniable air of authority.

Am I worse than Zhou Ye?

The problem came unexpectedly.

Jiang Qing looked into her bright eyes under the moonlight. There was no grievance or inferiority in them, only a pure desire for proof and an unyielding stubbornness.

Without hesitation, he shook his head, his tone resolute.

"Of course not, you're great."

This answer was exactly what Zhang Jingyi expected.

She pressed on with her questions, speaking a little faster.

"Is it because I arrived at the wrong time?"

Her gaze was fixed on him, not missing a single subtle change in his face.

Jiang Qing remained silent for a moment.

A sea breeze carries the faint sound of voices from afar.

He thought about it carefully before slowly nodding, acknowledging the impact of this time difference.

"That's it."

This answer carries a realistic element and also highlights the earlier connection he established with Ono.

Even if he had actually met her earlier.

Zhang Jingyi did not stop there.

She tilted her head slightly, her eyes revealing a sharp, all-knowing glint, and her smile became somewhat complicated as she posed a more crucial question.

"What about Chen Duling? What about Tian Xiwei? And what is your relationship with them?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it hit the nail on the head, like a small hammer striking the silent air, pointing directly to the tangled and complicated relationships around him.

This question is like a precise scalpel, dissecting all the unspoken ambiguity.

Jiang Qing's expression finally changed noticeably, a silence that seemed to have been struck at its core.

He didn't answer immediately, shifting his gaze from her face to the dark sea undulating in the moonlight in the distance.

The sound of the waves seemed to be amplified infinitely at this moment, filling the distance that had suddenly widened between the two.

This long silence is itself an answer.

Zhang Jingyi suddenly smiled brightly.

The smile no longer had its former brightness; instead, it carried a knowing mockery, an almost cruel clarity.

She took a step forward, instantly closing the distance between them until Jiang Qing could see his own silent face reflected in her pupils. "Ha~"

She chuckled softly, her voice slightly nasal, her eyes sparkling like stars ignited by fire.

"Jiang Qing, you really are a greedy person."

Her tone was not accusatory, but rather a statement of a fact she had long recognized.

Jiang Qing's gaze returned to her face.

Faced with her direct judgment, he did not defend himself, deny it, or show any anger.

This is true.

He simply looked at her quietly, a complex and unreadable emotion flashing across the depths of his eyes before finally settling into calm.

He immediately nodded calmly.

"Yes, I am greedy."

Jiang Qing was frank with him.

He acknowledged his emotional greed and admitted that he could not give everything to one person.

This frank admission, like a floodgate, only made the burning flame in Zhang Jingyi's eyes burn even more fiercely.

The smile on her face suddenly vanished, replaced by a desperate courage.

"but……"

Her voice suddenly rose, carrying a sense of declaration, each word resounding with conviction.

"I'm even greedier than you!"

She stepped forward, and their toes almost touched.

With her face tilted back, her gaze, like that of a hawk locking onto its prey, pierced straight into Jiang Qing's eyes, revealing an almost obsessive possessiveness.

"Jiang Qing, I only want you to be mine!"

The moment the words left her lips, without any warning, Zhang Jingyi suddenly stood on tiptoe and quickly and forcefully hooked her arms around Jiang Qing's neck, pulling him closer to her!

Jiang Qing was completely taken aback by her direct action, and her body stiffened for a moment.

In that split second, Zhang Jingyi's soft lips, carrying the coolness of the sea breeze, pressed precisely against mine.

This was not a gentle touch, but more like a stamp that carried a declaration.

Brief, yet extremely impactful.

The sensation of their lips touching was crystal clear, carrying her faint fragrance.

Instantly separate!
Before Jiang Qing's brain could react, just as his instinctive urge to respond was beginning to sprout, Zhang Jingyi, like a ray of light breaking free from its restraints, swiftly and decisively released her grip and took a large step back.

She showed no shyness or panic; instead, a bright smile bloomed on her face, radiating the triumph of someone who had accomplished a challenge.

Under the moonlight, her eyes sparkled, as if filled with shards of diamonds from the entire starry sky.

"I'm going back!"

Her clear voice rang out, tinged with laughter, and rising at the end.

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned around without hesitation and deftly lifted the long white skirt with both hands.

Her slender, fair ankles shimmered in the moonlight, and like a nimble deer, she ran towards the brightly lit hotel without looking back.

Her white skirt fluttered in the night wind, and her long, black hair drew flowing arcs behind her before quickly blending into the hazy light and shadow in the distance, leaving only a series of rapidly receding footsteps and the lingering aura of cleanliness and freedom that seemed to linger in the air.

Jiang Qing stood alone in place, like a statue frozen in the moonlight.

The cool, soft touch on my lips seemed to still linger, carrying a trace of her presence.

The sea breeze whips up waves that crash onto the beach and then recede, creating a monotonous and perpetual lapping sound.

He gazed in the direction she disappeared, at that dimly lit spot, for a very long time.

The sea surface shimmered with tiny silver lights under the moonlight, calm and profound, as if it could swallow up all the clamor in one's heart.

In the end, Jiang Qing said nothing, but simply exhaled deeply into the boundless night.

Then, he withdrew his gaze, turned around, and silently followed the path he had taken, walking step by step back to the hotel.

The warm water washed away the fine sand from my body, leaving behind the salty scent of the sea breeze.

Jiang Qing changed into comfortable pajamas and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window in the bedroom.

Outside the window, the night sky over Qingdao remains gentle, with the faint sound of waves lapping the shore.

He leaned against the window, his fingertips brushing against his lower lip, where a trace of another person's warmth seemed to linger.

"Thirteen."

He called out to the air.

The phone screen on the bedside table flickered slightly, then slowly lit up, revealing a cartoon figure in a tuxedo made of flowing blue data streams.

It hovered in the center of the screen, performing a perfectly standard gentleman's salute, its electronic voice carrying a deliberately created liveliness.

"It's my pleasure to serve you, my esteemed, handsome Dr. Jiang, who seems to have been kissed by the moon goddess tonight! Do you wish to check global stock market fluctuations, or hack into the Pentagon's database? Or have you finally decided to order that private satellite? Thirteen is ready at any time, and will accomplish his mission!"

Thirteen made an exaggerated salute.

Jiang Qing's lips twitched as she watched its funny antics, completely ignoring its nonsense.

"Look what Jingyi is doing right now?"

"Received! Target identified: Ms. Zhang Jingyi!"

In an instant, Thirteen transformed into a serious detective, conjuring up a magnifying glass out of thin air and pretending to scan in front of him.

"Retrieving real-time data stream... Oh no!"

It suddenly let out a strange cry filled with surprise.

"what's the situation?"

Jiang Qing turned around and frowned as she looked at it.

Thirteen reported in a mysterious tone.

"Boss! Major discovery! After Ms. Zhang returned to her room, her network activity was abnormal... uh, abstract!"

It paused for a moment, as if organizing its thoughts, and then began broadcasting in an electronic voice that seemed to be suppressing laughter.

"She first entered keywords into multiple search engines: 'How to get a jerk back,' 'Signs that a jerk is coming back,' 'One hundred ways to make a jerk devoted to you,'..."

Jiang Qing: "..."

Thirteen completely ignored its master's instantly frozen expression and continued to report in an excited tone.

"Now she's switched her search focus again: [How to get a playboy to settle down], [Successful cases of playboys coming ashore], [The ultimate strategy to defeat a playboy's fishpond]..."

Jiang Qing's lips twitched uncontrollably again, and it seemed as if black lines were sliding down her forehead.

"Then!"

Thirteen's voice suddenly rose, his excitement causing the data stream to surge wildly.

"She seems to have entered some kind of... uh, academic research phase? She opened several sentiment analysis forums, and the posts she was browsing most closely included titles such as '[On the essential differences between a scumbag and a playboy and coping strategies], '[Personal experience: How I made a prodigal son turn over a new leaf], and 'Technical analysis: The possibility and risk assessment of a playboy settling down]...'"

It even simulates the light effects of fast page turning.

An eerie silence fell over the air.

Jiang Qing stood by the window, looking at her blurry reflection in the glass, remaining silent for a good ten seconds.

Finally, he raised his hand, somewhat wearily pinched the bridge of his nose, and waved to Thirteen.

"Alright, I got it. Go play by yourself."

"Yes, sir! Great Dr. Jiang! I need a relationship consultant at any time! I will be at your service!"

Thirteen gave a funny bow, his virtual image flickered a few times, and then disappeared from the screen with a "whoosh".

Jiang Qing remained standing in the same spot, her gaze fixed on the deep sea outside the window.

The outrageous yet relatable search terms that Thirteen just reported were like a series of discordant notes, forcibly inserted into my mind.

It involuntarily brought to mind the image of Zhang Jingyi sitting cross-legged on the hotel bed, holding her phone, frowning, and seriously typing "how to get a jerk back" into the search bar...

The idea felt absurd yet...perfectly in line with his understanding of her.

He shook his head, trying to shake off the overly abstract image, but the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up slightly.

"This girl..."

He muttered to himself, his voice a mixture of helplessness and amusement.

"It's really fun."

(End of this chapter)