The car screeched to a halt on Zhang Zeyun’s command. Cheng Ying still held Jiang Hanguang, feeling a fiery anger in every breath she took.
That moment had been too sudden; even she had barely reacted in time.
If she had been just one second later… Cheng Ying’s gaze fell on the thick iron railing.
Even if Jiang Hanguang’s life wasn’t in danger, she would have definitely been bleeding from her head.
“I-I’m sorry, Miss Jiang, I didn’t do it on purpose!” Li Wan knew she had caused a huge problem. She had been anxious about her dress getting caught and hadn’t thought about anything else. Now, she was flustered and quickly put on a pitiful expression.
Jiang Hanguang, held in Cheng Ying’s arms, seemed not to have recovered from the terrifying incident and had no reaction to her apology. Cheng Ying, however, shot her a cold smile. “Causing a fatal car accident isn’t intentional either. Does that mean you don’t have to take responsibility?”
“This…” Li Wan was left speechless. Cheng Ying didn’t spare her another glance, looking directly at Zhang Zeyun in the front. “Director Zhang, as far as I know, there are at least three types of vehicles safer than this SUV for traversing this kind of terrain. As the director, is this how you take responsibility for the safety of your participating guests?”
Li Wan was an idiot because she was just an idiot. But for Zhang Zeyun, a veteran of variety shows, to make such a low-level mistake was simply unforgivable.
Cheng Ying’s aggressive questioning chilled the entire scene to the freezing point. Not even the scorching summer wind could ease the stagnant air.
Xie Chengcheng looked around at the tense faces of the group, shrank her neck, and kept her mouth shut.
Jiang Hanguang was sitting on Cheng Ying’s lap. She had been snatched back from mid-air by Cheng Ying, so her posture was not quite proper; she was half-lying, half-sitting. The Alpha had one arm around her waist and the other supporting her back.
From her angle, she could only see Cheng Ying’s grim face. The last time she had seen such an expression on Cheng Ying was probably after she had tricked her into meeting Xu Ning.
The smile on the Alpha’s face had completely vanished. Her elegantly defined jaw was clenched tight, and her light blue eyes were fixed on Zhang Zeyun, awaiting an explanation.
In the past, as long as she wasn’t truly hurt, Jiang Hanguang would have already accepted Li Wan’s apology and happily proceeded to the filming location with everyone else.
But looking at the angry Cheng Ying, Jiang Hanguang ultimately just snuggled deeper into the Alpha’s embrace and said nothing.
If it were just about her, she could certainly forgive them, because she cared more about not embarrassing others than about her own near-injury.
But now, Cheng Ying was fighting for her, arguing with those who had made a mistake.
Cheng Ying believed that her near-injury was something worth making a big fuss over.
Cheng Ying cared for her.
She wasn’t so ungrateful as to side with the others at a time like this.
After a moment of stalemate, Zhang Zeyun, who was sitting in the front, jumped out of the car. She walked to a spot directly in front of Jiang Hanguang and bowed deeply. “Miss Jiang, I am very sorry. This accident was all due to my poor planning. If you feel any discomfort right now, I will immediately arrange for you to return to Yunjing City for treatment. The crew will wait until you have recovered before we start filming.”
With her taking the lead, Li Wan could no longer worry about her precious dress. She hurriedly jumped down as well, wading through the grass to stand before Jiang Hanguang.
“Miss Jiang, I’m really sorry. I acted without thinking… Are you okay?”
The sincere apologies from the two finally softened Cheng Ying’s expression a little. She looked down at Jiang Hanguang in her arms and asked, “Do you forgive them?”
The Alpha’s warm breath brushed against her ear, making Jiang Hanguang’s ears burn. She nodded lightly and said to the two, “I’m fine. I just hope something like this doesn’t happen again. Let’s go to the filming location.”
Li Wan let out a long sigh of relief and bowed again, this time with genuine sincerity. “Thank you.”
Zhang Zeyun said nothing more, only giving Cheng Ying a couple more glances. By now, Cheng Ying had reverted to her cheerful, smiling self and was helping Jiang Hanguang fasten her seatbelt.
It was hard to imagine that this person, grinning from ear to ear, had just stared her down and made her break into a cold sweat.
Zhang Zeyun had always known that Cheng Ying was not just the useless rich kid the news made her out to be, and now, she had once again confirmed her own judgment.
The group set off again in a joyful silence.
The driver, likely frightened by the incident, drove extremely slowly and gently when he restarted the car.
Cheng Ying could finally lean back leisurely against the not-so-soft seatback and admire the surrounding natural scenery.
The back of her hand was gently scratched. She turned her head slowly to meet Miss Jiang’s exceptionally beautiful face.
The woman’s expression was neutral, but there was a faint smile in her bright, dark eyes.
Her red lips parted, silently forming two words.
“Thank you.”
Cheng Ying smiled, placing her index finger to her lips and shaking it slightly, indicating that she shouldn’t have said that.
The smile in those dark eyes deepened. Jiang Hanguang didn’t insist and turned her head back.
Cheng Ying watched the summer wind sweep through her soft hair, and the unextinguished flame of affection in her heart surged even more fiercely.
When Jiang Hanguang was thrown from her seat earlier, she was like a light, fluttering petal that had almost slipped through her fingers.
But even though she had caught her and protected her in her arms, the lingering fear was still palpable.
It was that feeling that had fueled Cheng Ying’s anger.
Since they had already committed to this variety show, it was of course better to get along with the director.
The old Cheng Ying would have only given a subtle warning, never publicly embarrassing the other party.
Artists were not delicate children, and Cheng Ying was not a so-called motherly agent.
But Jiang Hanguang was different. Xu Ning and Bai Ruo had naturally faced unfair treatment before, but Cheng Ying had never been as agitated as she was today.
Xu Ning and Bai Ruo had also endured many hardships before meeting her, but Cheng Ying had never thought this way before.
After meeting her, Jiang Hanguang could never be bullied by anyone else again.
Due to its distance from developed areas and its dense vegetation, the sky in Longmen City was as blue as a freshly laid tablecloth. The SUV drove slowly through the city lush with green grass and trees, heading towards its destination under the shade that shielded them from the blazing sun.
About half an hour later, the vehicle drove up a small hill. Cheng Ying saw, on the overgrown slope, the faint outline of a small two-story building, exuding a dilapidated vitality under the golden sunlight.
The car stopped in front of a fence so broken that one could freely pass through it. Zhang Zeyun jumped out of the car.
“Welcome, everyone, to Little Little Farm! As you can see, this private farm of less than five hectares has been completely abandoned. Your mission is to bring it back to life within one month!” Zhang Zeyun pushed open the wooden door of the main farmhouse building. The door let out a loud creak, and the dust it stirred up made Zhang Zeyun sneeze several times.
Cheng Ying: “…Is this house even habitable, Director Zhang?”
“It is, it is.” Zhang Zeyun nodded while turning on the lights inside. The dim yellow light illuminated the interior. The living room of the main building, which wasn’t spacious to begin with, was piled high with junk, leaving almost no place to set foot.
“How are we supposed to live here if we can’t even get in?” Even Xie Chengcheng could see that this place was not fit for habitation.
Zhang Zeyun waved her hand to clear the dust in front of her and patiently explained, “To show the audience the real process of restoring a farm, the production team did not clean up the things inside. However, we have had a professional construction team reinforce this house. As long as you clean it up, it is absolutely safe to live in.”
Cheng Ying rolled her eyes. That was a fine thing to say, reminiscent of the Buddha telling the Monkey King that if he could leap out of his palm, he would acknowledge him as the boss.
Xie Chengcheng was more direct. “Are you kidding, Director? Just cleaning this house will take a month, right?”
“How could it?” Zhang Zeyun revealed a devilish smile, reasserting her professionalism. “We had a professional housekeeping company test it. It can be cleaned up in one day at most.”
Cheng Ying smiled, clearly unconvinced. “Did the housekeeping company bring an excavator?”
“They used this.” Zhang Zeyun pointed outside the door. The four of them looked over and saw that two staff members had, at some point, parked two metal wheelbarrows at the entrance.
Xie Chengcheng’s lips trembled as she pointed at the two wheelbarrows, speechless, perhaps unwilling to believe it.
But Zhang Zeyun’s next words shattered this fragile, beautiful atmosphere. “There are eight hours until dinner time. Please work together to clean out the dining room and bedrooms first. The production team will provide you with tools. If you finish cleaning, you can enjoy a normal dinner. Otherwise, you will have to eat this.”
Zhang Zeyun clapped her hands, and a staff member walked forward with a small plate. On the plate were several small, square pieces of black food.
“What’s this?” Xie Chengcheng picked up a piece and examined it curiously.
Zhang Zeyun smiled. “Whole-wheat black bread. You can try it.”
Hearing that it was food, Xie Chengcheng brought it to her nose for a sniff. Perhaps smelling the aroma of wheat, she casually tossed it into her mouth.
Cheng Ying pulled Jiang Hanguang a step back, away from Xie Chengcheng, and then…
“Blech!” Xie Chengcheng spat it out before she could even swallow, grabbing the water from a nearby staff member’s hand. She rinsed her mouth several times before managing to utter two words, “Disgusting…”
Zhang Zeyun was still smiling. “It is indeed a bit disgusting. After all, it’s a punishment for not completing the task. But I can guarantee that this bread is harmless and nutritious, and can fully meet your dietary needs.”
The implication was clear: clean up or eat black bread. No negotiation.
“Waaah, I want to go home…” Xie Chengcheng finally understood that being a celebrity wasn’t so easy. She was already feeling homesick.
Cheng Ying had no time for her drama. She had no interest in the dark, lumpy bread. She grabbed the slumping Xie Chengcheng with one hand and said to Jiang Hanguang, “She and I will haul out all this piled-up stuff. You and Miss Li can clean up inside the house.”
“Okay.” Jiang Hanguang also knew that time was tight and the task was heavy. She didn’t bother with polite refusals and nodded solemnly.
Cheng Ying efficiently put on the anti-abrasion gloves provided by the staff, picked up a shovel, and began loading the mountain of junk into a wheelbarrow. Once it was full, she pushed it towards a nearby junk pile.
Seeing that Li Wan had been called by Jiang Hanguang to wipe tables and mop the floor, and that no one had time for her suffering, Xie Chengcheng could only dejectedly follow in Cheng Ying’s footsteps.
Although Cheng Ying often stayed up late and drank, she had a habit of working out, so this kind of physical labor wasn’t too difficult for her. It wasn’t pleasant, though. Hauling things back and forth under the scorching sun, her clothes were soaked with sweat after just a couple of trips. Large beads of sweat rolled down her forehead, into her eyebrows, and were finally flicked away by her eyelashes. Her hands, gripping the wheelbarrow handles, ached from the rough gloves.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Cheng Ying cursed Zhang Zeyun in her mind, while also finding the director’s idea creative. It seemed “Little Little Farm” was going for the “torture the guests” route. In that case, Zhang Zeyun’s methods were indeed novel. The wicked audience was probably laughing themselves silly by now.
“Ying, I haven’t seen you in a while, and you’ve switched careers to a construction worker?” Cheng Mantou’s surprised voice sounded in her ear.
Cheng Ying: “…Do I look like I’m doing this voluntarily?”
“Ahem.” Sensing that Cheng Ying was in no mood for jokes, Cheng Mantou immediately changed the subject. “Do you know why I came to find you?”
“Spit it out.”
“You guys are on the hot search, number one. Judging by the search index, this variety show has already blown up.”
Just as Cheng Ying had thought, variety shows that tormented their guests were common, but ones that tormented them this much were not. Who wouldn’t want to see these two pampered, well-dressed rich kids doing manual labor? Who wouldn’t want to know how twisted their expressions would be if they failed and had to eat black bread?
With Jiang Hanguang’s star power, the popularity of “Little Little Farm” was already high. The near-accident in the middle of it all had scared the audience so much they clutched their hearts and sent it straight to the top of the hot search.
And the viewers who wanted to see just how bizarre the show could get saw the playgirl Cheng Ying, who usually filled the gossip columns, doing manual labor.
This was great entertainment.
On Flying Pigeon’s trending list, the top three topics were all about “Little Little Farm.”
#ChengYingDoesManualLabor# A sweaty, grimy Cheng Ying pushing a wheelbarrow.
#WhatDoesItMeanToBeBurstingWithAPower# A GIF of Cheng Ying catching Jiang Hanguang.
#ShesSoBeautiful# A grand collection of beautiful screenshots of Jiang Hanguang from the “Little Little Farm” live broadcast in Longmen City.
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