“What did you say?” For a moment, Cheng Ying suspected her own ears.
This time, she turned her whole body and moved a little closer to Jiang Hanguang, her bright eyes gazing at the woman, a look of eager anticipation on her face, ready to listen intently.
Cheng Mantou roared in her mind: “She said you’re a good personnnnn~ Ying, are you deaf?”
Cheng Ying muted it.
Who cares what you have to say? Doesn’t this little brat have any sense?
Stared at like this, Jiang Hanguang finally couldn’t take it anymore. She averted her gaze, her voice softening a few degrees as she obediently repeated, “I said, you’re a good person.”
Is she praising me or cursing me?
In all her life, Cheng Ying had been given countless nicknames, none of which had anything to do with the word “good.”
Before Cheng Mo died, she liked to call her “Number Zero.” After Cheng Mo’s death, most people called her Boss Cheng to her face and “little good-for-nothing” behind her back.
So now, hearing this word “good” from Jiang Hanguang’s lips, Cheng Ying was momentarily at a loss.
To maintain her persona and not reveal a ridiculous, dazed expression, she smiled and made a flippant remark, “After all that, Hanguang still says I’m a good person. You don’t have a crush on me, do you?”
Jiang Hanguang looked at the smiling alpha before her. At this moment, she was leaning on the seat with one hand, watching her with great interest. Cute dimples appeared on her fair face, making her look like a cunning beast with no intention of causing harm.
Cheng Ying’s woody-scented pheromones lingered around the two of them, much like a mild perfume, completely devoid of aggression.
The pheromones that had provoked He Zhong so intensely a short while ago could not have been like this.
Jiang Hanguang didn’t know what kind of pheromones those were, but at the time, she had been standing less than a meter away from the two of them.
If Cheng Ying hadn’t deliberately controlled the release of her pheromones, there was no way she could have remained unaffected.
It wasn’t that Jiang Hanguang had never experienced a pheromone battle between alphas. In fact, back in high school when everyone had just presented, alphas with nowhere to vent their energy and desire for conquest often used this method to seek a sense of presence.
The young people were like two stags locking horns, attacking each other with pheromones. Their scents would quickly fill the entire classroom. The alphas would stand around laughing, clapping, and cheering, while the omegas would huddle in the corners, red-faced, too embarrassed and certainly too afraid to stop them.
In their student days, if an omega was overly affected by alpha pheromones, they would be mocked as being naturally “lewd.”
The teachers would certainly intervene, but in the end, they hadn’t caused any substantial harm. Those immature pheromones were very easy to control; they wouldn’t send anyone into heat, nor would they make anyone wet their pants.
Conversely, the stronger the pheromones, the harder they were to control, and the more likely their owner was to lose control.
He Zhong’s pheromones weren’t weak. To be able to suppress him so completely that he couldn’t fight back, it must have been a considerably high-grade pheromone.
And yet, while “viciously” threatening He Zhong, Cheng Ying had been tightly suppressing her own pheromones, not causing the slightest trouble for her, who was standing just a stone’s throw away.
In her thirty years of life, Jiang Hanguang had only ever met this one alpha who would be considerate of her feelings.
Moreover, she glanced at her sleeve, which had been pulled and was now wrinkled.
Even when leading her away, Cheng Ying hadn’t grabbed her hand directly.
This person had not only not offended her but had directly protected her, yet she was still carefully explaining herself, afraid she would overthink things.
For such a person, aside from “good person,” Jiang Hanguang couldn’t think of any other description.
Previously, she had always felt a sense of disharmonious dissonance from Cheng Ying. The person seemed harmless, but on rare occasions, she would exhibit an oppressive aura that made her uneasy.
And now, Jiang Hanguang was finally certain that no matter what kind of person Cheng Ying was, or what her purpose was in signing her…
…she was treating her with the respect due to a complete person.
She would ask for her opinion. She wouldn’t use her as a bargaining chip.
She wouldn’t harm her, and would even protect her.
Therefore, even though Cheng Ying was putting on that glib and slick act, Jiang Hanguang was no longer worried.
Although a bit of shyness was still unavoidable.
Cheng Ying saw a beautiful shade of red creep onto Jiang Hanguang’s jade-like ear, which was exposed as she turned her head.
She wanted to pinch it, but she resisted.
After all, she had just been praised.
The woman pondered for a moment before looking at her again and saying seriously, “If you really wanted me to be your omega, you wouldn’t have needed to control your pheromones just now, would you?”
Cheng Ying was stunned for a second, then couldn’t help but laugh again. “…Isn’t that what I should have done? I was trying to scare He Zhong, not you.”
Miss Jiang is really no ordinary person. Her angle for earning goodwill is quite sharp.
Cheng Ying truly didn’t think it was a big deal. Every grievance has its source, every debt its debtor. If you settle a score with someone and end up implicating an innocent person, it only proves your incompetence.
Jiang Hanguang, for once, stubbornly shook her head. “It is what you should have done, but… I’ve never seen anyone actually do it.”
The woman turned her head again to look directly into her eyes. Her tender white skin looked so delicate it might break with a puff of air. In the soft light of the car’s interior lamp, her dark pupils glowed with a warm, gentle light. Like a docile unicorn, she lowered her proud head to her. “Thank you for protecting me. I will work hard not to disappoint you.”
Cheng Ying thought she should make another glib remark at this point, something like “what’s there to thank me for,” but in reality, she couldn’t say a thing.
That impenetrable shell, the one named “profligate scion,” which she could construct so effortlessly, was now easily shattered by this gaze, unable to form again.
It had been a very, very long time since she had seen such a look in someone’s eyes.
Pure trust, pure reliance.
No probing, no fawning. This was just a simple act of entrustment.
A mutual entrustment.
Jiang Hanguang genuinely thought she was a good person, genuinely believed she would protect her, and genuinely wanted to repay her.
At least in Jiang Hanguang’s eyes, she wasn’t a profligate scion with ill intentions or a superior looking for a new toy.
She was the artist, she was the agent.
They each wanted something from the other, so they supported each other.
They were equals.
Bai Ruo and Xu Ning would never say such things.
Because they believed Cheng Ying only needed a “flower” to admire, not a person to interact with as an equal.
Before signing Jiang Hanguang, Cheng Ying had thought so too. She didn’t actually want to form overly close connections with anyone, not just because her own life was precarious, but also because she didn’t particularly like people.
After all, at an age when other children were listening to fairy tales, she had no idea how many times her skull had been operated on by scientists with benevolent faces.
And whenever she developed a slight fondness for the world of “mortals,” Cheng Mo would promptly remind her of the terrifying and despicable nature of humanity.
Her first friend in kindergarten pushed her down the stairs for a deluxe toy set given by Cheng Mo.
As Cheng Ying, with a broken arm, bit her lip and got up from the floor, she could still see the excited flush on that girl’s face.
Whether it was the thrill of the crime or guilt, Cheng Ying didn’t know, nor did she want to know.
She could find thousands of reasons for those who were coerced and bribed by Cheng Mo to hurt her. In fact, that’s what she did at the beginning.
The girl who pushed her down the stairs probably didn’t know that such a high flight of steps could break an arm; she might have thought it was just a malicious prank.
The class teacher who punished her by making her stand outside until she got heatstroke didn’t actually want to do it; it was just that her child’s illness desperately needed that money for medical fees.
It was all Cheng Mo’s fault. All of it was Cheng Mo’s fault.
…
Until later, Cheng Ying grew tired of it.
Cheng Mo was at fault, but that was a separate matter from those people being bastards.
Cheng Mo wasn’t human, and humans weren’t much good either.
Except for her mother, in the dozen or so years from her earliest memories until Cheng Mo’s death, not a single person had been willing to defy Cheng Mo to protect her.
But what had she done wrong?
Qin Guanyu once said that if Cheng Ying were willing to use her talents for the right purposes, humanity’s technological advancement wouldn’t be any slower than in Cheng Mo’s era.
Cheng Ying had just laughed it off at the time, adding a silent “Are they worthy?” in her heart.
Cultivating flowers was just a small, unexpected pleasure for Cheng Ying while she waited to eradicate Cheng Mo completely.
They bore her guilt, her desire for control, and the innate human craving to form connections with others, allowing them to touch a part of her true emotions.
They were certainly different, but that difference was neither enough to shake Cheng Ying’s negative impression of the world, nor enough to make her see them as equals.
She just wanted to cultivate flowers, not make friends.
She only wanted to bestow, not to take.
She saved them because they had no one else to trust but her, so they would cling to her like dodder vines wrapping around a tree, trusting her completely.
Such trust was simple, crude, and cheap.
That’s why Cheng Ying didn’t like Jiang Hanguang at first. Although Jiang Hanguang was docile and easy to bully, she would never truly become a “flower” that could be molded and shaped at will.
She had her own bones, a skeleton that could not be reshaped.
Forcibly holding her in her hand wouldn’t make her obedient; it would only destroy her completely.
The numerous scars probably still remained in the woman’s heart, constantly reminding her not to trust others.
But now, because of this unfortunate incident that had turned out for the better, Jiang Hanguang’s trust was in her hands. Cheng Ying was happy, yet strangely terrified.
Because something so pure and fragile could turn to dust with the slightest misstep.
Looks like I’ve really gotten myself into something big.
Cheng Ying sighed softly and gave Jiang Hanguang a brilliant smile. “Then here’s to our happy collaboration, Hanguang.”
Although it seems I’m quite enjoying it.
On the way back, Cheng Ying told Jiang Hanguang about them being temporarily blacklisted by Cheng’s Media. She only said it was a punishment from the higher-ups at Cheng’s for her recklessly releasing the edited material, not mentioning Hua Ran and Cheng Liang. She didn’t want Jiang Hanguang to worry along with her.
Even in the latest model sports car, it took quite some time to get from Cheng’s Media in the center of the New District to Xingwang Community on the edge of the Old District. Especially when approaching Xingwang Community, the complex route winding through buildings and alleys made the navigation system give up, forcing Cheng Ying to take over.
But Boss Cheng, who was practically omnipotent in a real sense, had never been to this Old District, built before the Blazing Crystal Stone energy revolution, since she was born. Now, looking at the tightly packed buildings and crooked roads, she couldn’t help but feel a little lost.
In front of Jiang Hanguang, she couldn’t very well ask Cheng Mantou to just hack a navigation satellite to guide her.
But she was also too embarrassed to admit she was lost. Getting lost the first time she drove an artist home was not something a reliable agent would do.
The second time she turned at the same intersection, Cheng Ying irritably wiped the sweat from her forehead, furrowed her brow, and decided to rely on her superior memory to find a way through.
Suddenly, the back of her hand was tapped twice. The touch was gentle and cool. Cheng Ying turned her head. Jiang Hanguang was smiling and pointing to the right.
Cheng Ying, “…”
She’d been found out.
Perhaps afraid of embarrassing her, Jiang Hanguang didn’t say anything. Even the thick-skinned Cheng Ying didn’t have the courage to make a joke at this moment.
After that, at every intersection, Jiang Hanguang would speak up at the right time to give Cheng Ying directions in advance.
“Left.”
“Right.”
“Straight.”
At every bewildering intersection, the woman’s clear and articulate voice would always sound just before Cheng Ying could get annoyed.
And Cheng Ying, while feeling embarrassed, also found it novel.
It was the first time she had been helped by her own artist, and also the first time she had given up thinking for herself and just completely followed another human’s directions.
It was actually quite interesting, especially since Miss Jiang’s service was not only thoughtful and thorough, but her voice was also very pleasant to listen to.
And she knew that Jiang Hanguang would never trick her into driving the car into the sea.
Under Jiang Hanguang’s direction, Cheng Ying, who had been fumbling around for twenty minutes without even finding the community gate, steadily parked the car in the Xingwang Community parking lot in the seventh minute.
The buildings in Xingwang Community were still traditional old-style apartment blocks. Judging from the gray, drab marks on the floors, they were at least over 20 years old.
The scorching midday sun meant the community was sparsely populated. Only under an old tree, whose branches had grown particularly abstract after years of neglect, a few elderly people were gathered around a small table, shouting and yelling, playing either chess or mahjong.
Sitting in the car, Cheng Ying only needed one glance outside to spot twenty-three unreasonable aspects of the community’s planning: the distance between buildings was too narrow, the greenery was unevenly distributed, the road layout was illogical…
But for some reason, she didn’t dislike this place. She even found it somewhat novel.
The colorful birdhouses painted on the overgrown branches, the groups of people gathered together playing and laughing from time to time, and the stray cats sleeping messily in the shade with their eyes closed.
This was a scene that would never appear in the high-end, fully intelligent, robot-managed luxury community where Cheng Ying lived.
High-intensity disinfection ensured that not even a single ant could survive there. People came and went on fixed paths and would never meet unless they invited each other over.
Jiang Hanguang, wearing a sun hat that covered the upper half of her face, got out of the car, and the movement attracted the attention of the few elderly people under the tree. But they only glanced over for a few moments before turning back to their game.
As Jiang Hanguang had said, this place was indeed a natural safe haven.
She smiled and teased Jiang Hanguang, who was leaning on the car door, “It’s the middle of the day. Aren’t you going to invite me to stay for a meal?”
It was just a simple joke, but the woman she was teasing thought about it with a serious expression, then leaned slightly into the car and said in a consultative tone, “Can we do it next time? I didn’t buy groceries today, so it might take a long time.”
Those bright black eyes looked at her with great sincerity, as if she would go buy groceries right now if Cheng Ying insisted on eating.
Cheng Ying burst out laughing. “I’m just kidding. I still have to go back and contact some variety shows for you. Next time.”
Jiang Hanguang showed the flustered expression of someone who had accidentally misunderstood another’s meaning. “Um… okay.”
This time, Cheng Ying finally couldn’t resist and reached out her hand toward Jiang Hanguang.
Noticing her movement, the woman flinched instinctively but didn’t back away. She just kept her eyes open, obediently waiting for her action, like a cat waiting to be petted by its owner.
Is she not afraid of me anymore?
Cheng Ying’s hand landed on Jiang Hanguang’s hat, gently pressing it down so that it once again covered the woman’s strikingly beautiful face.
Her tone was one of a gentleness she herself had never heard before. “Alright, hurry back inside. It would be a shame if such a fair face got tanned.”
Jiang Hanguang’s vision was blocked by the hat. She couldn’t see Cheng Ying’s expression, only hear her low, gentle voice.
It was completely different from her usual tone, like gentle waves washing over a sandy beach, soothing and comfortable.
The woman adjusted the brim of her hat with both hands, nodded obediently, and walked toward her apartment building.
Only after watching the omega’s tall, graceful figure disappear into the building entrance did Cheng Ying casually start the car.
“Mantou.”
“Binge-watching a drama. What’s up?”
“Hack a satellite navigation for me.”
“Has your brain really short-circuited? Didn’t the great beauty just give you directions?”
“I didn’t remember.”
“I get it. Your IQ has dropped because you’re blinded by lust.”
“Are you itching for a beating again?”
“Sowwy, I’m on it.”
After getting home, Jiang Hanguang didn’t eat first. Instead, she took a shower. He Zhong’s pheromones seemed to still linger on her clothes and in her hair, and she felt uncomfortable.
After showering and changing into her pajamas, a refreshed Jiang Hanguang opened the refrigerator door. As she expected, aside from a variety of beers, there was only a plate of wraps she had left for Lu Sigui that morning before she went out.
Lu Sigui had been excited until midnight yesterday when she got a call from her mom, telling her to hurry home for a blind date today or she would come over, pack her up, and take her back for some family discipline. Although Lu Sigui feared nothing, she really couldn’t win a fight against her mom, so she could only go to sleep cursing.
From the untouched state of the wraps, one could imagine she probably woke up late again and was dragged away by her mom before she even had time for breakfast.
Jiang Hanguang offered a half-second of silent mourning in her heart, then took the plate out and put it in the microwave to heat up.
Jiang Hanguang didn’t really want to go out to buy groceries right now. The drowsiness from waking up early, combined with the chaotic morning, made her just want to fill her stomach and then get some proper sleep.
She popped the steaming hot wrap into her mouth. Since it was made in the morning, it still tasted quite fresh. Jiang Hanguang nodded in satisfaction, and then thought of Cheng Ying again.
She wondered what Cheng Ying liked to eat. Maybe she should ask her next time.
She was still very confident in her cooking skills.
Jiang Hanguang herself didn’t even notice that whenever she thought of Cheng Ying, her mood would unconsciously lighten a little.
Because there was now one more person in the world who would do their utmost to protect her, the unpredictable road ahead didn’t seem so vast and uncertain anymore.
She was now starting to believe that she could become popular again, because she had Cheng Ying.
The wraps were made according to Lu Sigui’s appetite, so Jiang Hanguang was full after eating less than half. Just as she was wrapping up the rest for dinner, her phone rang abruptly.
The caller ID showed an unknown number.
Who could it be?
Jiang Hanguang held the plate in one hand and answered the phone with the other.
The other end of the line was silent, with only slightly ragged breathing indicating that this was not an insignificant spam call.
“Hello?” Jiang Hanguang asked, puzzled.
It was still silent on the other end. After a long pause, a hoarse female voice finally came through. “Miss Jiang… Hello, this is… Xu Ning.”
Jiang Hanguang almost dropped the plate in her hand.
“Miss… Xu?”
If the other person hadn’t identified herself, Jiang Hanguang would never have recognized her as Xu Ning.
Even though she had only met Xu Ning once, she remembered her voice.
That pleasant female voice and the hoarse voice on the phone now, which made one’s own throat hurt just listening to it—could they really have come from the same person?
A suppressed sob came from the other end, and Jiang Hanguang’s heart sank along with it.
She really couldn’t connect this woman crying unreservedly at her with the glamorous woman who had appeared in the infirmary a few days ago.
What happened?
Speaking of her connection to Xu Ning, it seemed to be only Cheng Ying.
Jiang Hanguang remembered Cheng Ying saying she had terminated her contract with Xu Ning. At the time, Cheng Ying’s tone had been very calm, as if it were truly just an amicable parting with an artist.
But from Xu Ning’s current state, things weren’t that simple.
Not knowing the full story, Jiang Hanguang could only listen to Xu Ning’s crying, not having the heart to interrupt her, nor knowing how to comfort her.
Fortunately, Xu Ning hadn’t contacted her just to perform a crying scene. After sobbing for a while, intermittent words came from the other end. The slow pace and broken sentences were like those of an elderly woman who wasn’t quite lucid. “Miss Jiang, I’m so sorry to bother you. If… if you have time, could I ask you out for a cup of tea? If it’s not convenient for you, you can pick a place and I can come to you.”
Xu Ning’s words were full of caution and timidity, as if she were terrified Jiang Hanguang would refuse.
This made Jiang Hanguang a little sad. Just a few days ago, she had been such a proud and beautiful person.
This timid Xu Ning reminded her of herself, and for a moment, she didn’t have the heart to refuse.
But the events of the morning were still fresh in her mind, and a faint worry stirred in her heart.
“In the Old District, on Guiyuan Road, there’s a rental-style tea restaurant called Yin Cha. I can meet you there.”
A so-called rental-style tea restaurant was a series of ultra-small dining rooms built with soundproof and externally opaque materials, created to cater to the modern human’s growing demand for privacy and quiet. Renters only needed to pay a rental fee to have the right to use the room for a few hours. The surveillance and access control systems inside and outside the restaurant could ensure that the host only let in the people they wanted, offering a decent level of security and privacy.
Xu Ning arrived surprisingly quickly. Less than five minutes after Jiang Hanguang sent the room number, the doorbell rang.
Jiang Hanguang checked via the monitor and the simple identification system at the door. After confirming that the visitor was indeed a slender omega, she chose to let her in.
The visitor wore a wrinkled black long-sleeved shirt and jeans, her face tightly covered.
She sat down opposite Jiang Hanguang and took off her hat, sunglasses, and mask.
Although she had already mentally prepared herself, Jiang Hanguang was still inevitably taken aback.
The Xu Ning before her was bare-faced, her eyes bloodshot. Her once clear, bright eyes were now filled with broken blood vessels, looking murky. The obvious bags and dark circles under her eyes indicated she hadn’t rested well in a long time.
Compared to a few days ago, she seemed to have aged a full ten years. Her eyes were filled with the twilight gloom of despair and regret.
Jiang Hanguang still didn’t know why she was like this or her purpose for meeting her, only that it was related to Cheng Ying.
Offering comfort without knowing the situation could very well become a blade that hurts someone again. Besides, she had only met Xu Ning once, and Xu Ning probably didn’t need useless pleasantries right now. Jiang Hanguang simply pushed the steaming cup of tea toward Xu Ning and said politely and gently, “You were looking for me. Is there something I can help you with?”
The woman opposite her swept a dull gaze across her face and slowly began to speak, her tone tinged with nostalgia. “When I was first signed by Cheng Ying, I always thought she wanted to sleep with me. Did you ever have such suspicions, Miss Jiang?”
Jiang Hanguang: “…Miss Xu?” She wasn’t in the habit of baring her soul to someone she’d only met twice, and she believed Xu Ning wasn’t either.
As expected, the question seemed to be just a lead-in for what Xu Ning wanted to say next, not really expecting an answer.
She continued on her own, “But the thing I was always worried about never happened. Although she likes to say all sorts of nonsense, she’s actually a very distant person and has never done anything out of line.”
Jiang Hanguang didn’t quite agree with these words. She remembered Cheng Ying wanting to touch her knee during their first meeting after signing the contract. Although she had stopped halfway, it could probably still be classified as “out of line,” couldn’t it?
“When I made a mistake, she apologized to the organizers for me. When I was bullied, she would stand up for me. Even when I was stuck on a scene, she was the one who found similar classic clips for me to reference.” Xu Ning’s gaze fell on Jiang Hanguang’s face, but her eyes were unfocused, as if looking through her at a time long past. A smile tugged at her pale lips. “It was wonderful, wasn’t it? I was never valued at home since I was little, nobody liked me. Later, when I entered this industry, they all thought I was making big money and spent every day thinking of excuses to ask me for it. No one, no one ever cared about me. Even when I was almost forced by an actor on the same set… I called home, and my mom just said, ‘Well, you’re fine, aren’t you? If you terminate the contract, you’ll have to pay a lot of money, right?'”
She looked straight at Jiang Hanguang, forcing the words out of her throat one by one. “Cheng Ying is the best person I’ve ever met in my life. She saved me. When I was completely worthless, she was the only one who treated me like a person. Can you understand that feeling?”
Jiang Hanguang, “…I understand.”
Of course she understood that feeling. It was just like the feeling she had when she thought of Cheng Ying while being threatened by He Zhong.
But she also felt that Xu Ning’s current state was very dangerous. Cheng Ying might indeed be very good, but that didn’t mean one should completely give up on oneself after losing her.
Cheng Ying was, after all, a free person, not some machine for soothing their pain.
She had the right to leave.
Xu Ning forced a smile that was uglier than crying. Tears suddenly fell like broken strings of beads. She clawed at her hair in anguish.
“But I made a mistake, and she doesn’t want me anymore. I can’t live without her!”
Jiang Hanguang pressed her lips together. She knew what Xu Ning had come to her for.
The woman opposite her suddenly grabbed her hand in a panic. “Miss Jiang, I’m begging you, please let me see her. She won’t answer my calls, and she won’t see me. But I’m really, really not resigned to this. I want a chance to explain to her, regardless of whether she forgives me or not…”
The woman’s sharp nails unknowingly scratched the back of Jiang Hanguang’s hand. She frowned and resisted the urge to pull her hand back, only consoling, “Miss Xu, please calm down.”
She certainly found Xu Ning pitiful, even feeling that ‘fox mourning the rabbit’ kind of sympathy. But in the end, this was a matter between Xu Ning and Cheng Ying. She had no right to make decisions for Cheng Ying.
Xu Ning shook her head, suddenly stood up from her chair, and before Jiang Hanguang had time to pull her back, she knelt down before her with a thud.
“Miss Xu?!”
A look of astonishment finally broke through Jiang Hanguang’s calm expression. She hurriedly tried to pull her up, but Xu Ning was like she had taken root in the ground, not moving an inch no matter how she tugged.
“I’m begging you, Miss Jiang, give her back to me. I’m filled with regret every day now, I can’t do anything. The psychologist says I’m already sick, and if this goes on, I’ll be completely ruined. I was with her for over a year. If you let me go beg her, she will definitely forgive me! I’ll give you all my money, all my resources, okay!” The woman just clutched her hand and pleaded bitterly.
Jiang Hanguang pressed her lips together, looking at the tear-streaked woman kneeling before her. The words “this has nothing to do with me” were impossible to say.
She couldn’t bring herself to extinguish someone else’s hope. If she could have freed herself from the kneeling woman’s grasp, she wouldn’t have married Feng Nan back then.
Just as Xu Ning said, let them meet, talk things out, and maybe Cheng Ying would forgive her. The two would reconcile, and everyone would be happy.
And then? What about her?
A sense of helpless powerlessness rose in Jiang Hanguang’s heart once again.
She had trusted Cheng Ying. She only had Cheng Ying.
But Cheng Ying wasn’t like that. Cheng Ying had choices.
Jiang Hanguang couldn’t bring herself to refuse Xu Ning with confidence.
Because she wasn’t sure if Cheng Ying would forgive her.
Or rather, she wasn’t sure if Cheng Ying would choose her.
If she could be certain that Cheng Ying wouldn’t go back, she could of course stop Xu Ning’s dangerous attempt without any guilt.
But when she and someone else were on opposite ends of a scale, she was always the one who was abandoned.
Jiang Hanguang closed her eyes, feeling the blood in her heart slowly turn cold. The beautiful illusion in her mind from lunchtime shattered in an instant, like a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water.
She heard her own exhausted voice say, “Okay.”
After returning to the New District, Cheng Ying, ignoring her slight headache from waking up early, immediately started contacting the live variety show crews she had selected.
But without the company’s support, her thin “face” as Boss Cheng was indeed not enough to influence the casting of those major show crews.
Out of fifteen variety shows, she had called the fourteenth, and all of them had been polite rejections.
Cheng Ying pressed her temples in frustration. Cheng Mantou offered a wild idea from the side, “Why don’t we start our own company to promote Miss Jiang?”
Cheng Ying rolled her eyes. “Speak like a human, kid. Starting a company is easy, but you need employees to run projects, right? Are you going to lead them or am I? You can’t just assign work through online chats every day, can you? If I wasn’t afraid of being exposed, I would have just gone to Qin Guanyu back then…”
Speaking of Qin Guanyu, Cheng Ying suddenly froze.
How could she have forgotten about her? She must be muddle-headed from sleepiness.
Although she couldn’t show her face, having President Qin invest in a variety show under the pretext of developing a side business would be a piece of cake, wouldn’t it?
Cheng Ying immediately dialed Qin Guanyu’s number.
No matter the time, the ever-busy President Qin’s phone was always reachable, including during this lunch break when everyone was drowsy.
The call connected. Qin Guanyu’s voice was a bit tired, clearly a result of Cheng Ying forcing the pace and causing her to work overtime as well. “Boss, any orders?”
Cheng Ying chuckled. “It’s nothing major. I just wanted to ask you to help invest in a variety show to support my artist.”
A loud crash came from Qin Guanyu’s end—it was unclear whether she had knocked over a teacup or smashed a fish tank. A moment later, it fell silent, leaving only Qin Guanyu’s puzzled question, “Have you finally gone crazy?”
Cheng Ying: “Are you being polite?”
“No, it’s just that you never used me for your previous two artists. I’m a little unused to it.” Qin Guanyu was telling the truth. When Cheng Ying was managing Xu Ning and Bai Ruo, she had encountered situations more severe than the current one and had never bothered her.
If she couldn’t sign a first-tier one, she’d sign a second or third-tier one as a transition. It would be the same once they built up popularity anyway.
So why this one in particular?
Before Qin Guanyu’s gossiping soul could even ignite, the answer came directly from the other end.
“She’s different.”
Qin Guanyu subconsciously retorted, “How is she different?”
Cheng Ying: “She’s a person.”
Qin Guanyu: “…I think you’re the one who’s not very human.”
Cheng Ying said impatiently, “Alright, get to it.”
Seeing that she was about to show her true colors, Qin Guanyu didn’t dare to joke anymore and quickly switched to work mode. “Understood. I’ll get on it right away. I’ll try to have it ready within three days.”
Cheng Ying hung up the phone. Thinking of the expression on Jiang Hanguang’s face when she received the news about the variety show, a smile involuntarily touched her lips.
She was now looking forward to collaborating with Jiang Hanguang more and more.
The next day, although there was still no news from Qin Guanyu, Cheng Ying received an invitation from an interview program, saying they wanted to interview Jiang Hanguang.
Since there was no work for the time being anyway, and every little bit helps, Cheng Ying happily accepted. She called Jiang Hanguang and asked her to come to the company so the two of them could first settle the tone and questions for the interview.
For some reason, however, Jiang Hanguang’s tone on the other end seemed a bit down, perhaps because she hadn’t rested well.
The two arranged to meet in a reception room. Cheng Ying arrived at the appointed place right on time, humming a tune.
The thought of seeing Jiang Hanguang’s pleasing face soon refreshed Cheng Ying’s spirits.
Beauty could indeed be considered a form of productivity.
“Huh, Ying, wait…”
Just as Cheng Ying’s hand touched the doorknob, Cheng Mantou’s hesitant voice sounded in her mind.
But it was too late.
The door opened. Cheng Ying didn’t smell the familiar scent of rose pheromones.
Instead, it was another scent, one that she had pushed deep into the embarrassing recesses of her memory, never wanting to recall it again.
In the clean, simple reception room with its gray and white color scheme, Xu Ning sat quietly, her eyes full of reverence and longing as she looked at her.
Her hoarse voice called out to her, “Ying.”
But Cheng Ying only felt disgusted. The moment she saw Xu Ning’s face, she was reminded of that night she was almost taken advantage of for free.
Every second she was controlled by her own pheromones was an utterly disgusting experience for her.
So she didn’t notice Xu Ning’s haggard face and red eyes at all, only feeling the shock and anger of opening a carefully prepared cake box to find a pile of vipers inside.
Why was Xu Ning here?
Cheng Ying’s brain reacted in an instant. Almost simultaneously, she let out a cold laugh, like that of an enraged beast.
Jiang Hanguang, Jiang Hanguang, you’ve really done it now!
