[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-love-life-begins-in-new-eliad":3,"chapter-love-life-begins-in-new-eliad-love-life-begins-in-new-eliad-chapter-76":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Love Life Begins in New Eliad",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2330163,4557,"Chapter 76: Mutual Probing","love-life-begins-in-new-eliad-chapter-76",76,"\u003Cp>“Let’s go.” Qingyi rose swiftly and called out to Ye Qingfeng to set off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Qingfeng deliberately opened the door and waited until Qingyi had stepped out before silently following behind her—a gesture that earned her a approving glance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her like meter hadn’t increased, but he’d nearly figured out the mechanism for raising it: before 40%, just chatting and making her happy was enough to boost it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After 40%, unless you deliberately did something specific, it was nearly impossible to raise it further—Zhu Yuan was the perfect example!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to her job, she rarely had opportunities to meet him; chatting via QQ was no longer effective unless he got straight to the point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Qingfeng suddenly realized this wasn’t such a bad idea!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingyi noticed Ye Qingfeng walking quietly behind her, giving off the vibe of a superior inspecting his subordinates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With anyone else, she’d have been happy with this—just a quiet, peaceful stroll and done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Ye Qingfeng was different… how to put it…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before, the only person she cared about besides Zhu Yuan was no one else, but now it was different—she was deeply curious about Ye Qingfeng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maybe it had something to do with Zhu Yuan; after all, anyone who could earn her affection was at least not a bad person, though he could be pretending.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingyi remained skeptical about that, but the second point was Ye Qingfeng’s attitude toward her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though her appearance looked like a child to everyone, she’d never actually been treated as one before—perhaps because of her uniform…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But from the moment Ye Qingfeng first saw her, he’d looked at her with the eyes of someone watching a child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last time they met on the street, he’d treated her like a child too—only improving slightly after learning her real age.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, she could detect a trace of that feeling in his eyes: a surface-level respect, but deep down, still seeing her as a child?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingyi herself wasn’t certain—it was just her intuition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If that were true, she was very curious why he’d think that way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, it was nearly noon, and many security officers had already gone to the cafeteria, leaving only a few on duty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Zhu Yuan’s rumored boyfriend walking with Qingyi through the security bureau, everyone cast curious glances their way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m just like Zhu Yuan—can I call you Qingfeng directly?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingyi ignored the surrounding stares and turned to ask softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Uh… of course.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Qingfeng was surprised by her question but immediately agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Could we find a place to talk? Uh…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingyi paused, then decided being direct was better—she could tell Ye Qingfeng was a shrewd one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you danced around him, he’d dance around you; better to cut straight to the point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m curious about you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingyi explained plainly the purpose of the conversation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Ye Qingfeng heard Qingyi wanted to talk to him, his eyes instantly narrowed like a cunning fox.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He guessed it was almost certainly about Zhu Yuan—he had some evidence for this assumption.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When walking with Zhu Yuan through the bureau, people kept coming over to greet them; but walking with Qingyi, no one approached at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only plausible explanation for this was… Qingyi was likely seen by the bureau as a tool.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Qingfeng’s thinking wasn’t unusual—most people defined robots as tools; someone like Qingyi with self-awareness might be considered a more advanced tool at best.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t agree with that view—if something had advanced self-awareness, whether robot or otherwise, it deserved equal treatment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the end, it was only his guess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At least it was clear Zhu Yuan treated Qingyi like a friend.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides seeing Qingyi laugh and chat with Zhu Yuan, he’d never seen her behave this way with anyone else—just casual greetings at most…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Qingfeng had no reason to refuse Qingyi’s request; refusing might make her think he had ill intentions, causing her to grow wary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingyi turned sharply and led the way the moment he agreed. “Follow me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t care whether he followed—she walked ahead on her own. Ye Qingfeng smirked and trailed after her silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, Qingyi stopped at the entrance to the reception hall, pushed open the door, and stepped inside; Ye Qingfeng followed right behind, entering the place again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingyi didn’t sit down immediately. Instead, she walked to the water dispenser, picked up a disposable cup from the table, dropped a small handful of tea leaves into it, then bent slightly to pour in hot water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Would you like tea?” she asked suddenly as the cup filled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Qingfeng replied politely: “Thank you, I’d appreciate it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she’d told him about herself from the start, he wouldn’t have treated her that way before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now there was some distance between them; at the very least, he needed to build a good relationship with her—more friends meant more paths, after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially since she was from the security bureau!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he made a name for himself with Nico-jie and had a few friends here too, wouldn’t that mean he’d have influence on both sides of the law?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, Qingyi brought two cups of tea over and placed one on the table in front of Ye Qingfeng, then pulled out a chair and sat down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Qingfeng waited until she sat before taking his own seat, lifting the teacup with both hands, sipping slowly, waiting for her to speak first.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qingyi didn’t rush either—no one would come at this hour, and she wasn’t in a hurry. Besides, this was a small interrogation tactic she often used.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaving a suspect waiting created psychological pressure, giving them time to reflect on their situation, weakening their mental defenses and encouraging them to confess voluntarily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It also allowed her to observe their reactions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t expect much from the first goal, but it gave her a chance to carefully study Ye Qingfeng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She sipped her tea slowly, watching for opportunities to sneak glances at his every move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three years ago, Ye Qingfeng would have been frantic by now—but prison had tempered his character.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He understood the situation: Qingyi was trying to apply psychological pressure to make him speak first and gain the upper hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Ye Qingfeng easily sensed her glances—or rather, she hadn’t hidden them much at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm~ Not bad!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Qingfeng relaxed his mind as much as possible, thought it through, then acted naturally—crossing his legs, lifting the cup with one hand, blowing gently into the rim a few times, then taking a large sip and sincerely praising it.\u003C\u002Fp>",1085,"2026-06-20T20:13:17.554Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b7023a376ace30730855d0c376ba5d1b171314a5dbf7146d1f7aa5037bc979d0","love-life-begins-in-new-eliad-chapter-77","love-life-begins-in-new-eliad-chapter-75",280,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Flove-life-begins-in-new-eliad-cover.jpg"]