Ma Yong drove in silence.

In the passenger seat, the window was open, and waves of intense heat washed over Chen Cheng's face.

Chen Cheng frowned and muttered, "Filming in the desert in this weather, won't you get heatstroke?"

As he spoke, Chen Cheng glanced down at the temperature display on his watch.

Goodness.

35°C.

"The temperature difference between day and night is huge here. Once the sun goes down around seven or eight in the evening, it'll be better," Ma Yong replied. "It might even get a bit cold at night."

Chen Cheng smiled and answered, "Hmm."

He raised a hand to adjust the square sunglasses on his face and continued looking out the window.

This Western Region was truly desolate. Less than ten minutes after leaving the airport, they were already on the desert highway heading toward their destination.

Along the way, aside from a twenty-meter stretch on either side of the road with some low-lying roadside trees and sand-fixing grass grids, there was nothing.

A bit further out lay the Gobi Desert, dotted with sparse, low-lying vegetation.

Further still was the endless desert.

Come to think of it, the Zen data center was in a similar location, though the average annual temperature there was even lower than this.

In the future, the maintenance engineers for the Zen AI data center would certainly be considered to be working in harsh conditions.

"This really is a century-long project," Chen Cheng thought, smiling self-deprecatingly.

It took over two hours to cover the hundred-plus kilometers.

Ma Yong parked the car near the area where the crew had set up their tents.

Before Chen Cheng even got out of the car, he spotted Little Zhu looking around.

He had notified her right after getting off the plane.

Seeing the Little Girl looking so flustered, Chen Cheng couldn't help but chuckle.

"Old Ma, you take a break. I'll have Little Zhu bring someone over to unload the things in a bit."

After telling Ma Yong this, Chen Cheng pushed open the door and got out, walking over to her.

Little Zhu's eyes lit up the moment she saw Chen Cheng. A smile spread across her face as she grabbed a parasol and trotted over.

"Teacher Chen, long time no see."

"Long time no see," Chen Cheng replied with a smile.

His smile left Little Zhu momentarily starstruck.

She stared at Chen Cheng's handsome face with wide eyes, speechless.

Chen Cheng frowned slightly and said with a smile, "Hey... what are you looking at?"

"Where is Jingjing?"

"Oh!" Little Zhu finally snapped out of it. "I'll take you to her."

"Hmm," Chen Cheng replied with a smile, following her toward a distant sand dune.

After walking for a while and crossing a small dune, Chen Cheng spotted Qiao Jingjing under a tent, watching the monitor and listening intently as the director explained the scene.

"She's quite serious," Chen Cheng muttered with a smile.

"Mm-hmm," Little Zhu agreed, holding the parasol high with an adoring look. "Jingjing has been working incredibly hard this year; she basically hasn't taken any breaks."

Chen Cheng smiled. He had to shoulder much of the blame for Qiao Jingjing pushing herself so hard these days.

He turned and took the parasol from Little Zhu's hand. "Let me hold it. You're too short; it's too much effort for you to hold it over me."

"Hehe," Little Zhu giggled, letting Chen Cheng take the umbrella.

It wasn't that Chen Cheng was being fussy; in this season in the Western Region, the sun at six in the evening was still scorching.

Especially out here in the desert, with absolutely no shade.

Once down the dune, Chen Cheng didn't go over to interrupt Qiao Jingjing's work; he stood under a crew parasol and waited for a while.

After Qiao Jingjing finished listening to the director's instructions, she stood up and prepared to head to her mark for a retake.

As she walked, she suddenly caught sight of Chen Cheng standing under the parasol.

At first, she thought she was seeing things, but then she glanced at Little Zhu standing beside him, and her eyes went wide.

A radiant smile instantly spread across her face as she brushed back the hair that had been tousled by the wind.

She looked back at the director sitting in front of the monitor, then turned to Chen Cheng, smiled, and gestured toward the set, signaling him to wait for her.

Chen Cheng smiled and nodded.

Qiao Jingjing suppressed a smile and turned to walk to her mark.

Chen Cheng crossed his arms, watching Qiao Jingjing with interest.

This was the first time he had watched her film a period drama.

Qiao Jingjing was dressed in a white robe layered with black sheer gauze, her long hair coiled up and tied high on her head. At a glance, the outfit clearly marked her as a wandering martial artist.

A ridiculously beautiful wandering martial artist, at that.

Before Qiao Jingjing had even reached her mark, a woman approached Chen Cheng.

She tentatively called out, "Chairman Chen?"

"Hmm?" Chen Cheng looked at her, slightly taken aback. "Do you know me?"

"I wouldn't say I know you," the woman replied, shaking her head. "I just caught a glimpse of you at the film studio once."

"Oh, I see," Chen Cheng realized.

He smiled at the middle-aged woman, who had big wavy hair and a slightly stout figure. "Hello."

"Hello, Chairman Chen. I'm Chen Wan from Tenda Entertainment, and I'm the producer of this show," the woman said, hurriedly introducing herself.

"Hello," Chen Cheng said with a smile, shaking her extended hand. He joked, "We share the same surname, then."

"Indeed," Chen Wan replied. "I'm from Xiangzhong."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Chen Cheng looked toward the set, where a woman was sitting in a camping chair with her legs crossed, a female assistant standing respectfully behind her. He asked Chen Wan,

"Is that woman Zhou Ziqi?"

Chen Wan turned to look at Zhou Ziqi, her expression becoming quite interesting.

So that's why this Chairman Chen traveled all the way out to the desert.

He was here to stand up for his girlfriend.

Chen Wan gave a sheepish smile. "That's her."

"Heh," Chen Cheng snorted softly and remarked casually, "Truly plain yet confident."

Chen Wan's eyes widened. He was certainly blunt.

Chen Wan gave a sheepish smile and didn't respond.

In her mind, however, she had already blacklisted Zhou Ziqi.

Only a fool would offend a top-tier tycoon for the sake of an irrelevant artist.

Speaking of fools, Zhou Ziqi was certainly one.

The news of Qiao Jingjing terminating her contract to go solo was common knowledge in the industry. Yet, Zhou Ziqi still insisted on making trouble for Qiao Jingjing every chance she got.

It was simply... looking for trouble.

Qiao Jingjing's take went very smoothly, and the director called cut in less than three minutes.

Qiao Jingjing suppressed a smile, glanced at Chen Cheng, and then went to the monitor to check the playback.

"How was it? Are you satisfied?" the director asked with a smile.

Qiao Jingjing watched the take in its entirety, then nodded with a smile. "It's good. I'm quite satisfied."

"Alright then. Good work. Take a break now, okay?"

"Okay, thank you, Director."

Qiao Jingjing exchanged a few words with the director and then turned to walk out from under the canopy.

She could no longer suppress the smile on her face. As soon as she cleared the canopy, she ran toward Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng smiled slightly and opened his arms.

Qiao Jingjing threw herself into Chen Cheng's arms and gave him a big hug.

"You bad man, I missed you so much."

Chen Cheng smiled but said nothing, quietly enjoying the long-awaited embrace.