In the end, the two plush bears they had won as spoils were each given by Jiang Fuyue to the two families who had failed the game earlier.
Originally, both families had already left the riverside beach with their children. Jiang Fuyue happened to run into them at the parking area.
By coincidence, the two families’ cars were parked right beside Xie Dingyuan’s McLaren.
And the reason they had lingered so long was mainly because the two dads, lacking any self-restraint, had been seduced by the supercar and were circling it, looking and sighing.
“My god! This exterior, this color, amazing!”
“And it’s the limited edition, top configuration. It must take at least eight digits to get one, right?”
“…”
“Mom, what is Dad doing?”
“Being envious.”
“…Oh. I’m not envious. I’m just hungry.”
“Pfft!”
By the time Jiang Fuyue and Xie Dingyuan arrived, the two dads had already finished a round of admiration toward the supercar. During that time they had wanted several times to reach out and touch it, but in the end politely restrained themselves.
Xie Dingyuan took out the key. The car’s internal sensing system activated, and the domineering scissor doors opened automatically.
The two dads were startled and hurriedly stepped back, then realized the owner had arrived.
It was… quite awkward.
“Brother, sorry about that. Your car is just too cool. Couldn’t help taking a few more looks.”
Xie Dingyuan waved his hand. “It’s fine. Everyone likes a good car.”
“I agree with that! We men love cars the same way women love bags.”
Xie Dingyuan neither confirmed nor denied it.
After all, Jiang Fuyue didn’t love bags, she only loved laboratories…
“Bear bear!”
“So cute, ”
At that moment two childish voices rang out at the same time.
For little kids, no matter how luxurious a car was, it couldn’t compare to the two plush bears in Jiang Fuyue’s hands.
The two tiny kids ran over with their short legs, pattering up to her side.
Jiang Fuyue simply gave one bear to each of them.
The little boy got the brown bear, and the little girl got the pink one.
“Thank you, big sister!”
Then they turned to Xie Dingyuan: “Thank you, uncle!”
The children’s mother reacted the fastest. “Wrong. You should call him older brother.”
The little boy: “?”
The little girl: “Thank you, handsome big brother!”
Only then did the stiffness at the corner of Xie Dingyuan’s mouth slowly relax. “Good.”
The two got into the car, and the McLaren drove away.
As fellow men, the two dads couldn’t help sighing,
“The guy’s handsome, the girl’s beautiful, and they can even win balloon-shooting games. I really want to go back and see whether that boss’s mouth twisted crooked with anger.”
He had mocked them for blaming the toilet pit when they couldn’t poop, sooner or later a big shot would teach him a lesson!
“Luxury car and beauty, this… definitely a life winner! But don’t you think the two of them looked a bit familiar?”
“Now that you say it, yeah, kind of.”
But they were wearing sunglasses, so it wasn’t very clear.
…
After leaving Binjiang Avenue, Xie Dingyuan took Jiang Fuyue to a book exhibition.
“How did you know I wanted to come?!”
As early as half a month ago, Jiang Fuyue had felt tempted when she saw the promotional poster.
But afterward she had been soaking in the laboratory and got busy enough to forget.
It was said that this book exhibition was the last one of the year and also the largest. It was divided into twelve exhibition zones, and the newly added “Scientific Research Works” zone had never existed in previous years.
Xie Dingyuan: “…I heard there’s Newton’s Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy,” he paused, then emphasized, “the second edition.”
Jiang Fuyue’s eyes lit up.
“I knew you’d be interested!” Xie Dingyuan’s fingertip moved slightly. Unable to resist, he tapped the bridge of her nose.
Jiang Fuyue took the opportunity to hold his hand, their fingers interlocking. “Where is it? I want to go take a look.”
Xie Dingyuan had already asked around before coming. “Let’s go.”
He moved ahead, leading Jiang Fuyue through several twists and turns.
“You’ve been here before?” she asked. He seemed so familiar with the place.
Xie Dingyuan: “No.”
“Then how did you…”
“There was a floor map at the entrance.” Before entering, he had already looked at it and memorized it.
Soon the two arrived at the display stand and looked at the old, yellowed out-of-print book inside a vacuum glass case.
As everyone knows, Newton was a great physicist, but at the same time he was also a theologian.
Especially in his later years, when his scientific research had reached its peak, he began to turn toward theology.
He tried to use theology to explain why the world existed with such wondrous and perfect laws.
In the second edition of Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, he proposed anti-Trinitarian ideas.
At that time, this viewpoint was regarded as “an extreme theistic heresy even more dangerous than atheism.”
Perhaps Newton himself realized that such views were not suitable for public publication, but he still couldn’t resist hinting at them subtly in the second edition.
Jiang Fuyue suddenly turned her head. The vacuum glass reflected her smooth side profile, while beside it was the sharply defined, handsome face of Xie Dingyuan.
Sensing her gaze, the man suddenly turned his head.
Before the great work, their eyes met. At that moment the ambiguity floating in the air seemed to take on a hint of solemn rigor.
Jiang Fuyue curled her lips. “Einstein said that the end of science is theology. Newton also wrote in this book: the most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being. Do you think God exists?”
Xie Dingyuan laughed. “I’m a firm materialist.”
Jiang Fuyue: “Weren’t Newton and Einstein materialists too?”
But in the end, didn’t they both go study theology?
The man raised an eyebrow. “Do you believe in God?”
Jiang Fuyue nodded, then shook her head. “Perhaps ‘God’ isn’t a person, but a mysterious force in the universe that hasn’t yet been discovered. It possesses miraculous creative power, allowing the Earth to operate so suitably and humans to exist so exquisitely.”
Xie Dingyuan curved his lips.
“What are you laughing at?”
“I’m laughing because you’re like a child, curious about everything and daring to think about anything.”
“One standard for youth is an active mind.”
“Tsk… That sounds like there’s a hidden meaning?” The man rubbed his chin.
Jiang Fuyue blinked.
“Mocking me for being old? For having a lazy mind?”
“If you insist on applying it to yourself, I can’t help it!” After saying that, she ran off in big strides.
Hey! Can’t catch me!
Xie Dingyuan looked helpless and immediately chased after her.
Finally he caught her in front of a row of bookshelves. “If you want to talk, then talk. Why attack me personally? That deserves punishment!”
Jiang Fuyue leaned back with a smile. While struggling, she accidentally knocked a book off the shelf.
Both of them crouched down at the same time, one grabbing the head, the other the tail.
At that moment, the cover and title inevitably came into view.
A warm-colored cover, cute artistic lettering, and the picture showed a pair of cartoon man and woman, the man cold and handsome, the woman gentle and delicate.
If nothing unexpected happened, they should be a couple, because they were hiding under a window kissing, while willow branches drooped outside the window and fallen petals drifted down.
Then look at the title,
《Please Take Care, Young Master Quan》!
A line of small words below: In this life, she comes for revenge. Step by step she plots, turning Ning City upside down, yet unintentionally provokes the Great Demon King.
Uh!
Yes, that’s right, Jiang Fuyue and Xie Dingyuan had mistakenly entered the youth romance novel section.
And this seemed to be a… domineering CEO story?
Jiang Fuyue tried to pull the book out and put it back on the shelf, but she used force and it wouldn’t budge.
Xie Dingyuan was holding the other end and simply refused to let go. A trace of laughter appeared in his eyes. “Just now we were talking about punishment. How should I punish you?”
Jiang Fuyue: “?”
“How about this?” The man lowered his head, meaningfully glancing at the man and woman on the cover.
Before Jiang Fuyue could react, the kiss followed immediately.
The male and female leads on the cover were under a window.
And they were between the bookshelves.
…
When they left, Jiang Fuyue’s lips were inexplicably red, and a little swollen.
Perhaps because of guilt, or maybe because of a guilty conscience, Xie Dingyuan not only voluntarily took the stack of books she selected to the counter to pay for them, but after they went outside he even bought her milk tea to appease her.
Her request: “Add ice.”
Ice is good, it helps reduce swelling.
Jiang Fuyue: Heh!
Professor Xie didn’t even dare open his mouth to argue.
Only after entering the hotpot restaurant did Jiang Fuyue’s expression soften.
This season, neither cold nor hot, was the most suitable for eating hotpot.
Nowadays Xie Dingyuan had already adapted well to that choking spiciness, and he didn’t care anymore if there would be a lingering smell on his body after eating.
He skillfully ordered dishes, put them into the pot, used a slotted spoon to drain the oil, and then placed them into Jiang Fuyue’s bowl.
Recently, for some reason, he had started researching the best formula for dipping sauce.
Whether to add scallions or not, how many scallions; whether to add garlic, how much garlic; and whether to include oyster sauce, MSG…
He studied it like researching pharmaceutical ingredients, precisely controlling everything, conducting multiple experiments.
Jiang Fuyue became the lab rat, tasting at least three dipping sauces every time they ate hotpot, then choosing the best one.
After continuous testing, Xie Dingyuan finally found the flavor ratio she liked the most.
For this he was rather proud: “What’s called scientific spirit? This is it.”
Jiang Fuyue gave him only three words: “Too much free time.”
However, the dipping sauce Xie Dingyuan mixed was indeed tastier than the one she made herself.
Thus Professor Xie gained another task: every time they ate hotpot, he would mix the dipping sauce for his wife.
He would even adjust certain ingredients depending on the spiciness of the broth, the weather, and even the environment of the private room.
For example, if the broth was very spicy, he would add a little more sesame oil.
If the weather was too humid, he would add some Sichuan pepper powder.
Even eating hotpot could be turned into so many variations by him. Jiang Fuyue truly admired that.
(You can’t help but admire it, he’ll keep fussing until you submit, or kiss you until you submit.)
(So annoying.)
…
After eating, Xie Dingyuan drove Jiang Fuyue home.
Night had just fallen, and brilliant lights glittered.
The blue McLaren drove through the bustling downtown streets, turning heads almost one hundred percent of the time.
Many young people whistled at them; a single “Wow~” expressed envy and admiration.
Jiang Fuyue turned her head and looked at the man’s still handsome side profile in the shifting lights and shadows.
“What are you looking at?”
“You.”
“Am I good-looking?”
“Not bad.”
“Just not bad?”
Jiang Fuyue corrected herself: “Very good.”
Xie Dingyuan lifted the corner of his mouth in satisfaction.
He liked the way Jiang Fuyue looked at him with focused attention, and he liked the sincerity in her tone when she praised him.
In the past he had never cared about other people’s evaluations. Now he cared about hers.
…
The car stopped outside the villa.
Moonlight spilled down, spreading a cold brightness over the ground.
Before Jiang Fuyue could get out of the car, Xie Dingyuan grabbed her waist and kissed her fiercely.
In the name of: a goodnight kiss!
Jiang Fuyue was kissed until she was short of breath, and her lips turned red again.
She lowered the mirror in front and looked at herself. “Tsk, look what you did!”
If you’re going to kiss, just kiss, why bite?
Are you a dog?
Xie Dingyuan coughed lightly to hide his embarrassment. He hadn’t meant to; he just… couldn’t hold back.
Jiang Fuyue snorted coldly and got out of the car.
This time Xie Dingyuan didn’t stop her. He got out too, picked up the bag of books, and attentively escorted her through the iron gate and across the small garden.
Jiang Fuyue turned around and stood on the steps in front of the door, arms folded, looking at him with a half-smile.
“How about helping me carry them inside? You could also drink some water and rest your feet before leaving.”
“Ahem… I’d like to…” He was just afraid the four Vajra guardians of the Han family would beat him up and throw him out.
Jiang Fuyue reached out her hand. “Alright, that’s far enough. Give me the books.”
“Not angry anymore?” he asked, raising his head.
Jiang Fuyue snorted lightly. The next second, she suddenly pounced forward. While the man was distracted, she bit his lips fiercely.
Xie Dingyuan’s eyes went blank, his cheeks burning hot.
“You deserve punishment too!”
After saying that, she grabbed the bag from his hand and turned around to go inside.
Xie Dingyuan stood there stupidly, stunned for who knew how long.
Only when a cool breeze brushed his face and dispersed the heat did he suddenly come back to his senses.
When he left, he foolishly smiled and touched the place Jiang Fuyue had bitten.
He began to think about how he could get more of this kind of punishment in the future.
…
After Jiang Fuyue got home, she first returned to her room and put the books away.
While organizing them, she discovered that the romance novel 《Please Take Care, Young Master Quan》 was also among them.
Xie Dingyuan must have secretly bought it and slipped it in!
Looking at the passionately kissing couple on the cover, the scenes with Xie Dingyuan that afternoon couldn’t help surfacing in her mind.
“Tsk…”
Alright, Jiang Fuyue admitted that at one moment she really had been teased by him.
After categorizing and arranging all the books onto the shelf, Jiang Fuyue went downstairs.
She had just sat in the living room for less than two minutes when Han Shen and Han Ting, father and son who had been gone all day, returned.
“I’m really a genius?” Han Ting’s voice came from the entryway, full of obvious astonishment and disbelief.
After changing into his slippers, he floated toward the living room.
Han Shen followed half a step behind. Hearing this, the corners of his mouth twitched, but he didn’t reply.
“Dad, I’m asking you. Why aren’t you answering?”
“Do you need me to remind you? You’ve asked this question eight times on the way back. This is the ninth.”
Han Ting scratched his head. “Did I ask it that many times?”
“…This stupid son is really a chess genius?” Han Shen began to suspect that the old man might be old, with failing eyesight and faulty judgment.
After hearing Jiang Fuyue’s words last night, Han Shen had specially freed up time today. He didn’t even go to the company, canceled several important meetings, and personally took his son to the house of Elder Qi, a former national chess master.
The old man first asked a few simple questions, such as how long he had studied Chinese chess and what insights he had gained.
Han Ting had been a bit confused at the time. After carefully grooming himself and being personally escorted by his father, wasn’t he supposed to be taken to some arranged marriage to become a wealthy family’s son-in-law?
Instead it was just to meet an old man?
And he had been made to dress so flamboyantly, even wearing a tailcoat?
Was that really necessary?
At the time Han Ting genuinely felt that his father had some serious illness.
But this old man was even more amusing, every three sentences came back to Chinese chess.
Was this how conversations started nowadays?
Han Ting’s eyes rolled. “Chinese chess? What Chinese chess? I’ve never learned it!”
“Insights? Maybe something like, the horse moves in an L, the elephant flies across the field, then checkmate?”
Old Master Qi: “?”
Han Shen slapped him. “Stop being cheeky. Speak properly!”
In the end, Old Master Qi didn’t ask more questions. He set up the chessboard and gestured for him to sit down,
Whether it’s a mule or a horse, you’ll know after taking it for a walk!
Two hours later, Han Ting won.
Old Master Qi stared at the chessboard, disbelief filling his eyes. Finally his whole body began to tremble.
Grabbing Han Ting’s hand as if he had found a long-lost grandson, “Good! Good! Good!”
He said it three times in a row, visibly excited.
Han Shen’s eyes shone brightly.
Only Han Ting was still completely confused.
Truly worthy of being a hidden genius who had grown up into a simpleton.
The two books had a small crossover here. Yes, recommending my completed book 《Please Take Care, Young Master Quan》 hahaha! It also fulfilled my dream of publishing.
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