Cheng Ying stared blankly as Jiang Hanguang blew on her hand. To make work easier, Jiang Hanguang had her hair in a high ponytail today, but the bangs on her forehead still fell with her movements, brushing against Cheng Ying’s palm, strand by strand.
It was very comfortable, but too ticklish.
Cheng Ying finally couldn’t hold back, and her hand twitched slightly. Jiang Hanguang stopped what she was doing and looked up.
The cool breath moved away, and Cheng Ying almost instantly felt her palm sting painfully again, so much so that she couldn’t bear it.
Yet, Jiang Hanguang’s eyes, which looked exceptionally bright and moist up close, were gazing at her with such concern. Her tone of voice made it seem as if Cheng Ying were an incredibly fragile piece of porcelain. “Is it very painful?”
This was truly a novel experience.
Cheng Ying was twenty-five years old. Even by the standards of a centenarian, she had already lived a quarter of her life. But in these twenty-five years, no one had ever asked her such a question.
Before Cheng Mo’s death, she was the darling of the heavens, the future heir of the Cheng family, an incomparably fortunate child.
After Cheng Mo’s death, she became a notorious profligate, drowning herself daily in wine, women, wealth, and vice, living a life of debauchery. Although some inevitably lamented her misfortune and were angered by her lack of ambition, in everyone’s eyes, she was still more comfortable than most people.
As for those who knew the truth, they certainly wouldn’t ask.
A scientist conducting an experiment doesn’t care about the life or death of a lab mouse.
And Cheng Mo, perhaps, took pleasure in her suffering.
Mom… Mom rarely spoke to her. More often, the woman would just look at her arms, covered in needle marks, and cry. She cried so much that Cheng Ying had to smile and say it didn’t hurt at all.
Of course it hurt, but if expressing pain served no purpose other than to make those around you suffer more, what reason was there to cry and wail?
Cheng Ying looked at Jiang Hanguang, and the rims of her eyes suddenly grew hot. It was an unfamiliar sensation. She instinctively blinked, feeling a surge of hot moisture about to well up from her eyes.
She frantically wanted to touch her eyes, but her hand was still in Jiang Hanguang’s.
She struggled but couldn’t pull free, only to see Jiang Hanguang looking at her with a surprised and worried expression.
At the same time, the moisture finally condensed into a drop, spilled from the corner of her eye, and slid down her cheek.
She was actually crying.
The very instant Cheng Ying realized it, she forcefully pulled her hand from Jiang Hanguang’s grasp, roughly covered her eyes, and turned her face away.
So embarrassing. A lifetime of prestige, ruined in an instant.
Cheng Ying’s mind was a chaotic mess, and that was the only clear thought.
God knows how that one sentence from Jiang Hanguang had managed to trigger her tear ducts, which had never acted up on their own before.
Compared to everything she had suffered before, today’s exhaustion, which hadn’t even broken the skin, was not worth mentioning.
What was there to cry about, really?
Although Cheng Ying was despising herself immensely in her heart and trying very hard to hold back the tears that hadn’t yet fallen.
She was very good at controlling her emotions and very good at disguising herself.
But this time, she failed completely.
No matter how hard she tried, the wretched tears kept falling, and the inexplicable ache in her heart did not lessen in the slightest.
It’s all Jiang Hanguang’s fault, Cheng Ying thought, giving up on herself.
Unfortunately, although the room’s walls were mottled and the floor was old, it still did a good job of sheltering from the wind and rain. Otherwise, she could have claimed that sand had gotten in her eyes.
Cheng Ying froze there. She wanted to get up and grab a tissue to wipe her eyes, but it felt like fleeing in defeat.
Even though she wasn’t some kind of chauvinistic Alpha, she couldn’t bring herself to do something so humiliating.
Her arm was gently pulled back. Jiang Hanguang’s voice was very gentle, but it brooked no argument.
Just like that day when she was applying the medicine.
“Let me see, okay?”
Already in a state of self-abandonment, Cheng Ying let Miss Jiang turn her back around.
The indoor lighting was an old-fashioned incandescent bulb, and there was only one for the twenty-something-square-meter bedroom. The illumination was poor to begin with, and with Cheng Ying’s eyes full of tears, her vision was a blur. She could only see a shimmering, gold-rimmed silhouette.
She didn’t dare to think about what a mess she must look like right now. She only heard Jiang Hanguang get up, followed by the sound of running water from the bathroom.
Before she could take the opportunity to slip away, Jiang Hanguang came back.
A warm towel was placed over her eyes. Jiang Hanguang’s movements were still very gentle, as if she were drying the fur of a small, soaked animal.
The wrung-out towel absorbed the embarrassing tears. Cheng Ying blinked and saw the person in front of her clearly.
There wasn’t a trace of amusement in Jiang Hanguang’s eyes, only worry and heartache as she gazed at her.
It was as if a normal twenty-five-year-old Alpha crying after doing a bit of manual labor wasn’t something to be laughed at, but rather that she had truly been wronged in some great way.
While wiping the tear stains from her face, the woman asked gently, “Does it really hurt that much? Why don’t we go talk to Director Zhang and go back to Yunjing City…”
Before she could finish speaking, Cheng Ying threw her arms around her.
Because she realized that Jiang Hanguang was truly infuriating; if she kept talking, Cheng Ying wouldn’t be able to stop herself from crying again.
So embarrassing, so embarrassing.
A mix of shame and anger, Boss Cheng shamelessly wiped the fresh tears all over Miss Jiang’s shoulder, not forgetting to answer in a muffled voice, “I’m fine… just a little upset.”
But she had endured so much suffering and had never revealed even a hint of it to anyone.
There aren’t many people in this world who can knowingly and consciously walk a path to their own ruin, and Cheng Ying happened to be one of them.
Showing weakness to anyone was a compromise with that bitch of a fate. No tragic hero ever had a family in tow.
The conceited Cheng Ying had thought this way.
But Jiang Hanguang was truly too miraculous a person.
She was so fragile, so fragile that even a third-rate villain like Fan Jie could potentially destroy her.
She couldn’t be considered smart either, willing to give up a great future just for Xu Ning’s request. It was a kindness that bordered on foolishness.
Yet it was this very person who, time and again, had effortlessly walked into Cheng Ying’s heart, and now had even made her cry.
She was fragile, so she couldn’t threaten her. She was kind, so she wouldn’t be coerced or bribed into hurting her.
And at the same time, she possessed a tenderness so abundant it could almost drown a person.
Jiang Hanguang was truly a terrifying person.
Ambushed by Cheng Ying’s sudden hug, Jiang Hanguang didn’t struggle. She maintained an awkward, half-bent posture, and after a moment, patted her on the back. “That’s good. I haven’t changed my clothes yet, be careful not to get your face dirty.”
Yet, the person herself didn’t seem to think it was anything remarkable.
Having wiped her face clean, Boss Cheng rose from Miss Jiang’s embrace with an arrogant expression, as if nothing had just happened. She held out her still-reddened hand. “It still hurts. Blow on it for me again.”
Jiang Hanguang was amused by her ability to change expressions as quickly as flipping through a book. Seeing Cheng Ying’s displeased look, she quickly straightened her face, but the amusement in her eyes simply couldn’t be erased.
“Alright~”
The woman lightly cupped her hand and began to blow on it gently again.
Cheng Ying narrowed her eyes, trying hard to control herself. She didn’t want to give in to the urge to scratch Miss Jiang’s chin just because it felt too good. That would be harassment.
The short while she had spent burying her head in Jiang Hanguang’s shoulder like an ostrich was enough for her to stabilize her emotions and clear her thoughts. Objectively, she couldn’t think of a way to resist Miss Jiang, and subjectively, she didn’t want to resist at all.
Since that was the case, it was better not to overthink it. The priority was to coax a bit more blowing.
The sound of water splashed in the bathroom. A clean Cheng Ying sat cross-legged on the bed, glanced at the not-so-sturdy door, then turned to stare blankly at the mottled wall.
Cheng Mantou’s voice came out of nowhere, “Ying, let me interview you. What are your thoughts on sharing a room with the great beauty?”
Cheng Ying could only thank the production team for removing the cameras. Otherwise, if Cheng Mantou had seen that last scene, she would be laughed at until next year.
Not everyone was as kind as Miss Jiang.
Cheng Ying rolled her eyes. “It’s awesome. Are you jealous?”
Cheng Mantou’s defenses were instantly broken. “You have to build me a body when you get back! I want to sleep with the great beauty too!”
Cheng Ying: “…Even though you’re an AI, please try to talk like a human, baby.”
Ignoring the on-the-verge-of-a-rampage Cheng Mantou, she asked, “How are the comments outside right now?”
Cheng Mantou said reluctantly, “About the same. The audience is pretty happy. Although there are quite a few people cursing out those two pig teammates, the positive sentiment towards you and Miss Jiang is overwhelmingly dominant.”
“Mm,” Cheng Ying pinched the bridge of her nose and replied nonchalantly.
Cheng Mantou continued, “That Director Zhang of yours also started a popularity poll, I don’t know what she’s thinking…”
Before she could finish, the bathroom door creaked open.
A steaming Jiang Hanguang walked out.
There was no hairdryer here. The woman’s hair was dripping wet, and her originally fair face was steamed to an alluring pink by the water vapor.
She looked like a juicy peach, the kind that would be especially good to bite into.
She was wearing unromantic plaid pajamas, with the buttons done up to the very top, but she was still… full of charm.
Cheng Ying unconsciously averted her gaze.
Cheng Mantou’s laughter sounded in her ear, “Ying, why is your heart beating so fast again?”
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