The grand actions of the two immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the film crew.

Little Zhu watched their sweetness, an auntie smile appearing on her lips.

Chen Wan watched them, her lips twitching slightly before she turned and walked away.

Zhou Ziqi's assistant excitedly leaned in toward Zhou Ziqi, "Wow, Sis, that's Qiao Jingjing's boyfriend."

"He doesn't care at all about being seen."

"Sigh... he looks so..."

As she spoke, the little assistant saw Zhou Ziqi's displeased expression and forcefully swallowed the word 'handsome' back down.

"Um... um... he's... okay... I guess?"

Zhou Ziqi sneered, "Isn't that just the classmate who plays games with her?"

"They've been photographed several times already."

Little Zhu suddenly noticed Zhou Ziqi's scrutinizing gaze. "Hmph~" she let out a soft huff and held up an umbrella to block the view in front of Chen Cheng and Qiao Jingjing.

This scene immediately made Zhou Ziqi fume with rage.

She turned her head, not bothering to look at that little hussy.

Qiao Jingjing hugged him for a while then let go of Chen Cheng. "Let's go to the lounge. I've finished this scene; there's no more filming until tomorrow."

Chen Cheng gently caressed her cheek. "Okay~"

As soon as Chen Cheng and Qiao Jingjing left, Zhou Ziqi turned her head and grumbled sourly to her assistant, "Look at them. They have no reserve as a female star at all."

"Hey, when my man came over, was I like this too?"

The little assistant shook her head like a rattle. "Definitely not!"

"You sat in the lounge, putting on quite the air."

Qiao Jingjing held Chen Cheng's hand, panting as they climbed a sand dune, and asked:

"Aren't you busy in Beijing with Company Name and the data center stuff?"

"How do you have time to visit the set?"

Chen Cheng smiled. "I'm done. Company Name reached a settlement with the SEC and has officially delisted from the New Home Exchange."

"The data center is also settled. The energy base is in Kubuqi, and the data center is in a nearby district."

"The rest is left for Li Na to handle."

"I was planning to return to Shanghai, but I suddenly missed you, so I came to see you."

Chen Cheng explained his recent busy schedule to Qiao Jingjing. Of course, he hid some of the details.

Qiao Jingjing's lips curled up slightly as she squinted at Chen Cheng. "You saw the trending searches, didn't you?"

Chen Cheng didn't deny it and nodded. "Yeah. I guess so."

He turned and pointed down the sand dune. "You were being bullied; how could I not step in?"

"You~" Qiao Jingjing reached out and poked Chen Cheng's waist. "I can handle small things like this. You didn't need to make a special trip."

"Mainly, I missed you," Chen Cheng talked nonsense without blushing or his heart skipping a beat.

Qiao Jingjing burst into laughter, the crescent moons of her eyes never fading.

The two talked and laughed as they returned to Qiao Jingjing's tent.

Calling it a tent, it was actually large enough to be a one-bedroom suite.

"Is it hot?"

As soon as they entered the tent, Qiao Jingjing pulled Chen Cheng to sit on a bean bag sofa and got him some water.

"It's okay," Chen Cheng shook his head and looked around.

Good grief, an 1.8-meter tatami, bean bag sofa, vanity, clothes rack—it had everything.

He teased with a laugh, "Did you move your whole house here?"

"Not at all," Qiao Jingjing plopped down onto his lap and rested her hands on his shoulders. "This is standard equipment for a desert film crew, okay?"

"We have to stay here for a month. There aren't any decent towns nearby, and we have to keep up with the schedule, so everything—eating, drinking, and sleeping—has to be handled in the desert."

"Of course, as the female lead, I get better treatment. Little Zhu and I share a large tent exclusively."

"Other crew members might have to share a room with several people."

Chen Cheng frowned. "In this desert, what about showering and stuff?"

Chen Cheng smiled, "You wouldn't know about this, would you?"

"The logistics water tanker brings water from a nearby town every day."

"You shower with cold water?" Chen Cheng was immediately displeased.

"Oh, no," Qiao Jingjing laughed and shook her head. "There's a water heater in the shower, solar-powered."

"In the desert, the one thing we don't lack is sun. The bathwater is scalding hot every night."

"That's more like it," Chen Cheng finally sighed in relief.

It's fine for grown men to shower with cold water in the summer.

"But it won't do for women. It's easy to get a cold uterus, and then they won't be able to have children later."

"Moreover, the temperature difference between day and night in the Western Regions is huge. No matter how hot the weather is, the water in the lakes and rivers is icy cold."

Although Chen Cheng had never thought that he must have children, he couldn't just watch his woman lose her fertility.

Qiao Jingjing leaned against his chest tenderly, feeling quite sentimental as she mentioned this.

"It's only because resources have been abundant in recent years that we have these conditions. When I first started in the industry, I really did take cold showers."

"Hm?" Chen Cheng frowned immediately. "It wasn't in the Western Regions, was it?"

"No," Qiao Jingjing shook her head immediately. "In the Film City, in the summer, the hotel had a power outage. I was smelly all over, and it was so uncomfortable not to wash."

"Oh, does our Jingjing have times when she's smelly too?" Chen Cheng teased with a laugh.

"Hmph~" Qiao Jingjing gave him a playful glare. "I'm human too, okay?"

After saying that, a mischievous smile appeared on her lips. "I've been sweating all day now, so I'm smelly..."

As she spoke, she pressed her lips against Chen Cheng's in a kiss.

Chen Cheng's lips curled up slightly as he responded passionately.

"Mmph~"

"I'm going to shower," after a long while, Qiao Jingjing finally let go of Chen Cheng, her face flushed red.

"Okay, and just in time, I'll take care of some business too," Chen Cheng agreed with a nod.

"Business?" Qiao Jingjing was stunned for a moment. "What business?"

"You don't know yet about us being put on the trending searches, do you?" Chen Cheng smiled.

"The two of us are on the trending searches?" Qiao Jingjing's eyes widened.

"Yeah, it happened at noon today." Chen Cheng nodded. "Since your fans were clashing online, it reminded some people."

"The photos of us going out shopping made it onto the trending searches."

"Huh?" Qiao Jingjing looked at Chen Cheng somewhat nervously. "They didn't... they didn't catch your face on camera, did they?"

Seeing her nervous look, Chen Cheng chuckled. He reached out and tapped her delicate nose. "Why so nervous? If we're caught, we'll just go public."

"Go public?" Qiao Jingjing was so angry she laughed. "With so many women around you, going public is just making things difficult for yourself."

"Do you want to be called a scumbag, or do you want me to be called a mistress?"

"Uh..." Chen Cheng was instantly at a loss for words. "That's true."

"Our situation is indeed not very suitable for going public."

"Hmph~" Qiao Jingjing gave him a huffy glare.

This bad man, why is he so endearing?

"Go shower quickly, I'm going to handle that business," Chen Cheng changed the subject.

"Then why haven't you taken your hand out yet?" Qiao Jingjing's fair cheeks were completely flushed.

"Oh~ I forgot, I forgot~" Chen Cheng laughed sheepishly. "Isn't this just a habit?"

"Hmph~" Qiao Jingjing huffed with a red face.

The two tidied up their disheveled clothes before walking out of the tent.