Cheng Ying strongly suspected that Zhang Zeyun had deliberately extended the time, just waiting for her to make a fool of herself.
But Boss Cheng’s long-standing good habit of disguising herself stubbornly restrained her actions at this moment.
So even though all sorts of wild subtitles were popping up in her mind, her body remained seated steadily.
Until that sentence, “Time’s up!”
Cheng Ying leaned back slightly, and without anyone noticing, slowly exhaled the long breath she had been holding in her chest for a long time.
“Congratulations, you two. The drinks are in the fridge on the production team’s RV. You can come get them anytime.” Zhang Zeyun seemed quite satisfied with the footage they had captured, speaking with a beaming smile.
Cheng Ying rolled her eyes inwardly, only then realizing that the clothes on her back were soaked through. They clung to her skin, cold and damp, as if a ghost was stuck to her back.
The smile on her face was a bit stiff.
This was truly too embarrassing.
Miss Jiang opposite her was much more at ease. Although her expression was faint, the corners of her eyes and brows held a light smile. She just looked at her, as if wanting to celebrate this incredibly easy victory with her.
…It would be better to stay a little farther away from Miss Jiang in the future. Cheng Ying returned Jiang Hanguang’s smile, but only she knew the bitterness it contained.
In the following days, the four of them were directed to do all sorts of house-cleaning chores. Under the threat of black bread, they actually managed to tidy up this house, which originally had a haunted house atmosphere, into a brand-new residence.
Probably because she didn’t want Cheng Ying and Jiang Hanguang to get too many benefits and cause the show to lose its fun, Zhang Zeyun announced on the second evening that the popular pairing’s “ambiguous game” would be held once a week. That was the first time since arriving that Cheng Ying felt Director Zhang was somewhat human.
But the popularity rankings and comments would still be broadcast punctually every day at dinnertime.
Cheng Ying could understand Zhang Zeyun’s purpose in doing this. As a live variety show of the isolated-from-the-world type, the show’s guests would constantly be in a state of disconnection from the outside world.
They couldn’t browse Flying Pigeon to know if their performance was pleasing the audience and make timely adjustments, so it was inevitable they would get stuck in their comfort zones without making any changes.
After all, they were all in their twenties and thirties; none of them truly believed they were completely worthless.
And a variety show that took tormenting its guests as its mission absolutely could not let them stay peacefully in their comfort zones.
That popularity ranking was a whip to lash the guests. Since they had gone to the trouble of participating in this variety show, they naturally all wanted to rank first on the popularity chart.
The guests would inevitably make changes in response to the popularity rankings and comments to gain higher popularity. Although it might not go as they wished, the process of struggling and painfully changing was probably what the production team most wanted to film.
Cheng Ying watched the comments on the screen while sipping her soup, a playful smile on her lips. Zhang Zeyun’s calculations were good, but unfortunately, the target of those calculations wasn’t very responsive.
Jiang Hanguang was firmly in first place, needless to say. She and Xie Chengcheng didn’t care about popularity. The only one who was provoked was…
Cheng Ying looked at Li Wan’s back in front of her, which seemed to be emitting a dark aura, and shrugged helplessly.
These past few days, Miss Li Wan had been scheming to change her fate of being last in popularity. She persistently tried various personas like the straightforward big sister, the girl next door, and the cool, beautiful Omega, making the other three often feel as if they were on some film set.
Unfortunately, although Miss Li worked hard, she simply lacked the talent. No matter what delightful persona she put on, she could never hide the calculating and hypocritical nature that seeped from her very bones.
Today’s audiences are all micro-expression analysis masters who have seen countless films; naturally, they wouldn’t be fooled.
After this series of maneuvers, not only did Miss Li fail to reverse her decline, but she was even left in the dust by Xie Chengcheng.
Because Xie Chengcheng was at least a stable good-for-nothing. She didn’t switch personas like a lunatic, nor did she think about harming others.
One could believe that in this world, most people prefer a good-for-nothing over a villain.
It seemed Miss Li was also reaching her limit. Hopefully, she would cause a scene soon and create some trouble for that black-hearted Director Zhang.
Another morning came, and the four gathered in the dining room received their latest instructions.
“The house is all cleaned up. Today, please try to find your own food.” Zhang Zeyun drew a simple map of Little Little Farm on the display board and circled two areas on it.
“I recommend the sweet potato field and the small hunting ground. The sweet potatoes in the field can be a staple food, and the hunting ground has free-range rabbits and chickens. We will provide you with the necessary tools. I suggest you still split into two groups. A word of warning,” Zhang Zeyun said with a smile, rubbing salt in the wounds of the four worried women, “from today onwards, apart from black bread, we will no longer provide you with any other food.”
Xie Chengcheng let out a mournful cry, but fortunately, after so many days, she had gotten used to it.
The four looked at each other. Jiang Hanguang said, “Wan, which side do you plan to go to?”
She had also noticed that Li Wan had been extremely down lately, so she always tried to accommodate her.
Li Wan’s eyes darted, and she declared with great bravado, “We’ll go to the small hunting ground. We’ll definitely bring back a fat rabbit for you all for lunch!”
Cheng Ying sneered inwardly. It seemed Li Wan was using the “straightforward big sister” script today. It was just a pity that the straightforward big sister had to take on the rough work, and Miss Li was truly unwilling to let her face get all dusty and grimy while walking through the sweet potato field under the scorching sun.
“Alright.”
But since Jiang Hanguang had no objections, Cheng Ying went along with it.
The four were given their tools. Cheng Ying and Jiang Hanguang each received a back basket and a short-handled, pointed shovel.
Little Little Farm was small but had all the essentials. Outside the main building’s fence was a boundless golden wheat field, dotted here and there with plots of land for other crops. Seen from above, they looked like green leaves scattered on a golden sand tray.
The sweet potato field was less than three hundred meters from the farm’s main building. It was a small, circular plot of fenced-off land, covered with lush green sweet potato leaves, looking very pleasant.
Unfortunately, Cheng Ying and Jiang Hanguang had no leisure to admire the beautiful scenery and fresh air. It was now eight-thirty in the morning, and the proper thing to do was to finish the work early before the sun became too harsh.
“Mm, these sweet potatoes are growing really well.” Jiang Hanguang rustled the green leaves and praised them, then turned her head to see Cheng Ying frowning slightly at the small shovel in her hand.
Her expression of not knowing what to do looked quite cute.
“Do you need me to teach you how to dig?” Jiang Hanguang smiled unconsciously and said gently.
The Alpha paused, shaking her head like a rattle drum. “No need, I’ll do it myself.”
Jiang Hanguang was amused by her flustered refusal and laughed again. She just assumed that the so-called Alpha pride had suddenly awakened in her, making her unwilling to learn from her and wanting to figure it out on her own. So, she didn’t insist. “Let’s get started then.”
This time, Cheng Ying didn’t dare to delay. While secretly glancing at Jiang Hanguang’s movements, she bent down, pushed aside the obstructive leaves with her hands, and strenuously plunged the shovel into the sun-baked, hard soil.
Isn’t it just digging something out of the ground? It’s just physical labor. There’s no need for any more intimate contact with Jiang Hanguang, Cheng Ying thought optimistically.
After experimenting for the past few days, she had discovered that as long as she could maintain a “normal” distance from Jiang Hanguang, restraining her desire for her was quite easy.
But she couldn’t be too deliberate about it… although it didn’t really matter.
Cheng Ying didn’t really want Jiang Hanguang to discover that she was deliberately distancing herself. Although, given the woman’s personality, she would most likely say nothing and tacitly permit this baseless abandonment.
But whenever she thought of the look in Jiang Hanguang’s eyes at that time—that look of being clearly disappointed yet desperately holding it in and forcing a smile—Cheng Ying’s heart felt terribly heavy.
Her threshold for going soft on Jiang Hanguang seemed to be getting lower and lower.
Although Cheng Ying was optimistic about her sweet potato digging prospects, it was clear the sweet potatoes didn’t feel the same way.
With a crisp crack, Cheng Ying guiltily froze on the spot.
This was the third sweet potato she had snapped.
And compared to Jiang Hanguang, her digging speed was also too slow.
Cheng Ying glanced at Jiang Hanguang, who was already two body lengths ahead of her and deftly placing a whole sweet potato into her back basket. Then she looked at the decapitated sweet potato in her own hand, with half of it still buried in the dirt, and felt a rare sense of helpless frustration.
But she had already boasted. To admit defeat now would be too embarrassing.
While cheering herself on inwardly, Cheng Ying decided to solve the problem with brute force.
And so, the sweet potato field suffered.
The ground was dug up into a mess, and the sweet potato leaves were pulled out and scattered everywhere.
Yet, this person still hadn’t dug up a single whole one. She was practically no different from a wild boar.
At this point, Jiang Hanguang felt the basket on her back was getting a bit heavy. She stood up, wiped the sweat from her forehead, pounded her aching lower back a couple of times, and turned around, planning to first put the dug-up sweet potatoes under the large tree outside the field and then come back to dig some more.
But when she turned around, she got a shock.
Why did this patch of ground look like it had been rooted up by a wild boar?
Not far away, Cheng-the-wild-boar, dressed in brown work clothes, was huffing and puffing as she dug, having a grand old time.
Both exasperated and amused, Jiang Hanguang walked over, extended a finger, and poked Cheng Ying’s head.
“This is what you call ‘doing it yourself’?”
The poked Alpha looked up abruptly, a hint of panic in her eyes, just like a primary school student who hadn’t finished their summer homework and was suddenly called on by the teacher for an inspection. Her fair face now had a smudge of dirt on it, which, combined with her overly youthful features, made her look rather cute and pitiful.
Jiang Hanguang’s heart instantly softened for the most part, and her voice also grew gentler. “You can’t dig like this. I’ll teach you in a bit. First, get up and let me wipe your face.”
Cheng Ying was still stuck in the embarrassing emotion of having her failed attempt at showing off exposed and couldn’t extricate herself, so at this moment, she didn’t bother to avoid Jiang Hanguang.
Jiang Hanguang took out a wet wipe, carefully wiped her face, and then beckoned for her to squat down together.
The woman took hold of the hand that was gripping the shovel and patiently taught her, “Look, the direction of this vine shows that the sweet potato is growing more to this side. Don’t use so much force at the beginning. First, let its head poke out.”
The woman’s soft hand guided Cheng Ying’s, and with a light and skillful motion, she dug out a small section of the sweet potato.
“Follow the direction it’s growing in, loosen the soil next to it, and when it’s about right, give it a hard pry. See, it comes out whole this way.”
Jiang Hanguang was focused on teaching, completely absorbed, but she didn’t notice at all that her student’s gaze was entirely on their overlapping hands.
The Omega’s hands were so soft and slender, yet they seemed to possess infinite strength.
The sweet potato that had refused to come out obediently for her was now lying docilely on the ground.
It didn’t matter if she was a little clumsy; it was no problem if she messed up.
Anyway, Jiang Hanguang wouldn’t leave her because of it.
She would only come to her side and patiently help her, bit by bit.
For the first time in her life, Cheng Ying had the illusion that it was okay even if she failed.
A unique and wonderful illusion that only Jiang Hanguang could give her.
She’s so wonderful. There’s only one thing that’s not so good…
Just as Jiang Hanguang, having finished her lesson, let go to let Cheng Ying try it herself, the Alpha’s hand—which had been obediently enveloped in her palm but was a size larger—dropped the shovel and suddenly clasped her wrist.
Before Jiang Hanguang could react, her palm was forcibly turned upwards.
The Alpha’s brow furrowed slightly, making her look like a doctor examining a patient.
“Ying?”
Cheng Ying looked at the conspicuous red marks on the Omega’s fair, tender palm, chafed by the shovel handle, and her heart ached sharply.
Her finger gently scraped over the red mark, and the woman flinched like a startled cat.
“Does it hurt?”
She doesn’t know how to cherish herself at all.
Sorry for the delay; I’ve been travelling due to work, and of all the times, my laptop decided to take a paid leave now. I’ll try my best to get the chapters out daily.
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