Blushing, Qiao Jingjing created a duo queue room and invited Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng entered the room and turned on voice chat, clearing his throat. "Ahem~ You sent me a skin?"

Hearing his voice, Qiao Jingjing paused for a second and nodded gently. "Mm, I'm so bad at the game, since I'm asking you to carry me, I had to send a gift."

The corners of Chen Cheng's mouth curled up slightly. "Then doesn't that mean I have no choice but to carry you?"

Qiao Jingjing grinned. "Of course."

Chen Cheng's mouth twitched. "Stop messing around, start the game quickly."

"Alrighty~"

Qiao Jingjing was very sycophantic; she selected her position and quickly clicked start.

The two of them still went to the Gold Lane together.

Entering the game, Qiao Jingjing asked while controlling her hero to the lane:

"Have you been playing for a long time? I haven't seen you play the same hero twice yet."

"No, I just downloaded it a while ago."

Qiao Jingjing's eyes widened in surprise. "Ah? You're a newbie too?"

"Then how are your mechanics so smooth?"

Chen Cheng frowned as he last-hit minions, letting out a light chuckle. "I can only be considered a newbie."

"This game was developed to compete with LOL."

"The map design, hero skills, and control logic are very similar in many aspects. I played LOL when I was in school, so it's relatively easy to pick up."

"..."

Qiao Jingjing went silent, watching Chen Cheng control Di Renjie, suppressing two players by himself.

She couldn't help but wonder, was this really just because he had played LOL before?

While using her skills to help Chen Cheng recover health, Qiao Jingjing casually started a conversation: "What are you doing now?"

"Aren't I playing games with you?"

Qiao Jingjing's face flushed with embarrassment, and she let out a cute huff. "I mean, what kind of work do you do now?"

The corners of Chen Cheng's mouth curled up slightly. "Woman, when you get curious about a man, it's the beginning of danger."

Huh?

Qiao Jingjing's eyes went wide, her face crimson, but she remained stubborn. "Who's curious?"

"I'm just... showing some concern for an old classmate."

Chen Cheng chuckled, suddenly remembering that in the drama, Qiao Jingjing seemed to have an ex-boyfriend in finance.

After thinking for a bit, he said, "I went abroad to study before and only returned to the country this year. I occasionally participate in some financial projects."

"I will return to being a student next year."

"Ah? A student?" Qiao Jingjing was stunned.

"Mm, a professor invited me to join her lab for a PhD a while ago, and I agreed."

"A PhD! You're already doing a PhD!" Qiao Jingjing was shocked beyond measure.

Chen Cheng chuckled. "This is my second PhD project. The previous one wasn't very interesting, so I suspended it."

Qiao Jingjing's eyes widened. "Ah? What are you researching?"

She actually spaced out for a moment, forgetting she was still in the game.

"Hey hey hey~ Qiao Jingjing, use your skills, use your skills."

Hearing Chen Cheng's call, Qiao Jingjing snapped back to reality and hurriedly clicked all her skills, not caring if the second skill was aimed correctly.

Seeing Di Renjie's health rise, Qiao Jingjing finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Disengaging from combat, Chen Cheng explained: "I studied economics in university, and my master's was the same. My first PhD project was also economics-related, specifically Behavioral Finance and Market Microstructure."

"Recently, I started an Artificial Intelligence project and wanted a professor to endorse it. In exchange, I had to agree to do a PhD under her."

Qiao Jingjing's mouth twitched. "An exchange?"

Chen Cheng nodded. "Mm, an exchange."

"I won't actually work in the lab, but I need to publish papers under the lab's name."

"This way, I'll be labeled with the lab's affiliation."

When talking to Li Fei, Chen Cheng actually knew what she meant.

She just wanted to wait until he became famous so that Li Fei's lab would also gain some glory.

'Look, that guy who can be written into the history of Artificial Intelligence development came out of my lab.'

Or she could attract more talent and obtain more funding.

At the very least, she could shout, 'That's my student!'

Academia is also about factions, power, and resources.

This was also why Old Madam Ouyang had always wanted him to teach at the university.

On one hand, it was for the shared glory; on the other, she truly liked Chen Cheng as a student and wanted him to inherit her legacy.

Qiao Jingjing was stunned. "Is your academic world also this complicated?"

Chen Cheng smiled. "Is there any circle that is simple?"

Uh...

Qiao Jingjing was at a loss for words. It seemed that in the adult world, nothing was simple.

Wherever there are people, there is a society with its own struggles.

Open conflicts and secret maneuverings are countless.

The entertainment industry, this vanity fair, has even more monsters and demons.

"Fine, you're right. No one is simple."

"Whatever, I won't think about it. Games are more fun."

Qiao Jingjing muttered and shifted her attention back to the game.

The two of them chatted and played until past Eleven o'clock.

Anna came downstairs and, without a word, snuggled into Chen Cheng's arms.

"Alright, no more playing. Time to sleep!"

Having won all night, Qiao Jingjing was also very excited. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!"

Chen Cheng responded and exited the game room.

He closed the game and sheepishly put down his phone.

He looked down and kissed the smiling Anna.

On the other side, Qiao Jingjing giggled as she watched the game replay from just now.

From Chen Cheng's perspective, the immersion was very strong.

Kill, kill, kill!

After a long while, Qiao Jingjing suddenly felt something was wrong.

Hey!

Qiao Jingjing, are you kidding me?

You're almost thirty, and yet you're still like this just because you saw someone play games well...

So full of admiration.

She put down her phone and lay back on the sofa, thinking.

He might already be bald... he might already be so fat he's out of shape.

What are you getting so excited for?

But, he really plays games so coolly.

A smile reappeared on Qiao Jingjing's face. She picked up her phone and took a screenshot of the match results.

She casually sent it to her manager, Sister Ling.

She sent a voice message: "Look at me playing as the game character, I can already go a whole match without dying once."

Listening to the voice message, Sister Ling's brow furrowed tightly.

"Qiao Jingjing! It's so late and you're still not sleeping, do you not care about your face anymore?"

Qiao Jingjing's mouth twitched, and she quickly typed: [Sleeping! I'm sleeping!]

"Phew~"

Putting down her phone, Qiao Jingjing finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Calming her emotions, she hurried to the bathroom to wash up.

A female star's face is still very important.

The next day.

Chen Cheng didn't go to the company; he had Eleven take Anna to get her driver's license.

A temporary license only requires a translation of the original license.

But Chen Cheng wasn't sure how long Anna would stay. In any case, Chen Cheng wouldn't proactively ask her to go back to New York.

The art gallery had a director in charge; her absence as the principal wouldn't have any impact for a while.

So he simply had her apply for a formal domestic driver's license.

She needed to retake the exam. It would take some time. Having something to do would keep her from being bored.

He opened his computer to monitor the market trends and watched the Japanese quantitative trading for a while.

Chen Cheng went downstairs and sat on the sofa, taking out his phone and thinking of Qiao Jingjing again.

He frowned, remembering the plot.

He recalled his high school memories of this life.

After the memories of two lives merged, the early memories of this life wouldn't come to mind unless he actively recalled them.

The memories from before the fusion were like being stored in a corner of his brain.

Chen Cheng's brow furrowed. There was a person named Yu Tu, but his appearance didn't seem to have anything to do with the 'Prince of Poise' at all.

Chen Cheng spread his hands. "Where did the real 'Prince of Poise' go?"