The inexplicably angry Boss Cheng thoroughly experienced just how annoying Lang Wenxing was over the next two days, and she temporarily placed him second on her list of most hated people.
Because of Jiang Hanguang’s foot injury, coupled with the fiasco of a guest dropping out last minute, the production team announced a two-day break from work. During these two days, the team would provide food, which was undoubtedly a good thing for the three of them who had been constantly busy.
If Lang Wenxing wasn’t there, that is.
For the past two days, this guy was like a starving ghost that had smelled a delicious meal. Whenever he had nothing to do, he would try to squeeze into her and Jiang Hanguang’s bedroom, and he was like superglue, impossible to peel off.
“Hey, what right do you have to lock me out? Let me in, I want to talk to Sister!” Lang Wenxing’s rude shouts came from outside the door. Cheng Ying leaned against the door, pressing on her throbbing temples, wishing she could just humanely euthanize the egocentric, prince-syndrome-suffering patient outside.
In fact, in the middle of the previous night, she had already ordered Cheng Mantou to search the entire internet for dirt on Lang Wenxing, to see if she could manufacture another incident of a mid-show withdrawal.
Unfortunately, the results weren’t optimistic. Unlike Hua Ran, who used her family’s power and influence to do as she pleased, Lang Wenxing was a top-tier idol who had risen to fame based on his solid, exceptional singing and dancing skills. He had a large group of die-hard fans with formidable combat power. Even the previous uproar caused by 《White Robe》 hadn’t managed to hurt him fundamentally; after all, his main profession wasn’t acting.
The most crucial thing was that since his debut, he had cultivated a persona of a carefree, overly friendly, sunny big boy. The biggest advantage of this persona was that rudeness could be spun as being artless and genuine, making it one of the most suitable personas for shipping CPs.
And aside from this, Lang Wenxing himself had no other scandals. If she tried to attack him over this ambiguous point, she would be hit with a 100% backlash from his fans.
Cheng Ying, who was too angry to sleep, quickly skimmed through Lang Wenxing’s resume and discovered that his rise to fame could also be called a history of CPs. During dance competitions, he was shipped with his teammates. After his solo debut, he was shipped with his seniors. When filming, he was shipped with cast members.
Although each of these CPs seemed coincidental on the surface, with Cheng Ying’s intelligence, she almost immediately determined that there were traces of a team’s manipulation behind them.
Shipping CPs to attract fans was one of the industry’s tacitly understood methods; after all, 1+1 is greater than 2. But this was a skilled job. If one just did it crudely without any strategy, it would almost always backfire.
So, although this method was very effective, everyone used it very cautiously. For the top-tier idol Lang to be able to ship four consecutive CPs in just two years, each time making a fortune, parting peacefully, and emerging unscathed, there must be a team behind him that was skilled in this art.
And now, it was obvious they had set their sights on Jiang Hanguang.
Tossing and turning, Cheng Ying glanced enviously at Jiang Hanguang’s profile, faintly visible in the darkness. She, on the other hand, was completely unaffected, sleeping quite soundly.
As it stood, she couldn’t just kick Lang Wenxing off the show. If she had Qin Guanyu apply direct pressure, Lang Wenxing’s team would definitely not agree. The ensuing fight would tarnish 《Little Little Farm》’s reputation, and all her previous work would have been for nothing.
So, should she just let it be?
Cheng Ying stared at the ceiling, an overly calm voice echoing in her mind.
Judging from the outcomes of those who had been shipped with Lang Wenxing before, although Prince Lang reaped the biggest benefits, the popularity of the other parties also saw a relative increase. It could be considered a case of each getting what they needed and parting on good terms.
Cheng Ying then recalled what Jiang Hanguang had said two days ago, “Aren’t the two of us supposed to be a CP? Then I should keep my distance from others.”
After all this time, the frustration in her heart had not only failed to dissipate but had instead festered and become more and more unbearable. Now, it had turned into a feeling akin to spite.
If I let you be a CP with him, would you be as good to him as you are to me?
On the third day, Jiang Hanguang’s foot was almost better, and Zhang Zeyun timely issued a new task: repair the wheat harvester and flour mill, and use it to successfully produce ten kilograms of flour.
When they received the task, the farm workers’ formation, which had previously been two pairs close together, changed into a group of three and a single one.
Jiang Hanguang stood next to Cheng Ying, Lang Wenxing stood next to Jiang Hanguang, and Xie Chengcheng stood two steps away from the trio, feeling like there was no place for her over there.
The four of them discussed it and decided to split into two groups for the morning. One group would go hunting, the other would repair the machine. In the afternoon, they would all gather in the wheat field to start harvesting.
Xie Chengcheng raised her hand. “I’ll go hunting. I don’t know how to fix that thing anyway.”
Lang Wenxing looked at Jiang Hanguang as if it were a matter of course. “I’ll go with Sister.”
Cheng Ying’s brow furrowed. She was about to make a sarcastic remark but forced herself to hold it back.
She wanted to hear Jiang Hanguang reject Lang Wenxing, even though the reason for the rejection might not be what she wished for.
Jiang Hanguang glanced at Cheng Ying’s fake smile and seriously refused, “I want to be with Xiao Ying.”
Lang Wenxing was about to say something else when the female Alpha, who was about the same height as him, stepped in front of Jiang Hanguang. She said with a grin, “She said she wants to be with me. Don’t tell me you can’t even understand plain words?”
Lang Wenxing said, unhappily, “…Fine.”
After all, he couldn’t really force Jiang Hanguang to be with him.
Cheng Ying’s anger subsided a little, and the smile on her face became less fake. She took Jiang Hanguang’s wrist with one hand, deliberately swung it back and forth in front of Lang Wenxing a couple of times, and walked away with a swagger.
Xie Chengcheng watched the two of them leave and looked at the unhappy Lang Wenxing beside her. She suddenly had the illusion that she was now the most mature person among all the farm workers.
The wheat harvester and flour mill was parked at the edge of the golden wheat field. The dark green machine was about the size of a small car, but it was covered in rust spots, looking like it hadn’t been used in a long time.
Cheng Ying carried the repair tools in one hand and casually flipped through the maintenance manual provided by the production team.
This was a complete act. For such an old machine with a simple principle, as long as she had the tools, she could build one herself.
Jiang Hanguang walked around the machine twice and said nostalgically, “I remember my grandmother used to have one at her house too.”
“Your grandmother’s family also ran a farm?” It was rare for Cheng Ying to hear Jiang Hanguang talk about her past, so she asked with great interest. At the same time, she pried open the machine’s main engine cover. She had to first confirm that the main power source was still functional.
“Yeah. When I was little, I always wanted to try riding on it, but my grandmother wouldn’t let me.” Jiang Hanguang leaned closer and saw that under the pried-open cover were all sorts of complex, interwoven mechanical parts. They were covered in grease, and some parts were even rusted.
Not minding the dirt, Cheng Ying rolled up her sleeves and reached in to feel around. Jiang Hanguang, for one, wanted to help, and for another, seeing the toy she had longed for in her childhood so close, her hands couldn’t help but itch. She also reached out, wanting to touch the parts.
Smack. Cheng Ying lightly and deftly slapped her hand away with her clean one. “Don’t touch. Isn’t it dirty?”
Jiang Hanguang, “…Then what should I do?”
Cheng Ying pointed to a shady spot nearby. “Sit over there. When I get tired from repairing, I can look at you to refresh myself.”
For once, Jiang Hanguang found Cheng Ying a bit unreasonable. She hadn’t stopped Cheng Ying from digging sweet potatoes just because she didn’t know how. So she tried to fight for it, “Can I stay here and hand you the tools?”
Cheng Ying switched tools, met the woman’s sparkling, child-like, eager eyes, and sighed softly. Resting one hand on the machine, she smiled and said, “Baby, one of us has to have clean hands, right? Otherwise, I won’t even be able to wipe the sweat from my eyes in a bit.”
The Alpha’s “baby” was spoken so softly and gently, yet it was like a fire had been lit in Jiang Hanguang’s ears.
Her ears burned. She only remembered to nod obediently. “I understand.”
The machine’s condition was much better than Cheng Ying had expected. The main parts weren’t damaged. It just needed a few screws replaced, and the rusted spots needed to be oiled and polished clean.
Apparently, the production team didn’t actually expect the guests to turn into mechanics; they just wanted to show the process to the audience.
After Cheng Ying finished cleaning the grime inside the machine that was affecting its operation, her hands were covered in grease. Like a canine shaking itself dry after a bath, she shook her head hard to fling off the beads of sweat and looked around, puzzled.
She actually didn’t see Jiang Hanguang.
Cheng Ying felt a little uncomfortable. Although she knew Jiang Hanguang wouldn’t leave for no reason, she was still not very happy.
Didn’t I tell her to stay here and wipe my sweat? Where did she run off to?
The petty Boss Cheng let out a dissatisfied little huff and went back to work.
Suddenly, Cheng Mantou’s voice came from her mind. “Ying, did you miss me?”
Cheng Ying, who was not in a very good mood, replied, “Spit it out.”
Cheng Mantou said, “…You’re being cursed out online. Want me to handle it?”
Cheng Ying: “By whom?”
“Lang Wenxing’s fans. They’ve spammed several topics, saying you’re a bully who throws your weight around and doesn’t speak like a human.”
Cheng Ying sneered, “Just because I said that guy can’t understand words? Why don’t they talk about how their own idol leeches off others every day?”
“Uh, so what should we do? Should I ban their IDs?” Cheng Mantou asked.
Cheng Ying said, “Ignore them for now. I can take a few insults. Release some old photos of Lang Wenxing being overly familiar and annoying people to distract them, but don’t start a real conflict.”
“Got it,” Cheng Mantou replied. Then it added, “There’s one more thing. Someone is deliberately shipping the great beauty and that overly friendly guy.”
Cheng Ying’s hand, which was still rummaging through parts, paused. “How can you tell?”
Cheng Mantou chuckled. “Could it be any more obvious? Since he joined this show, several related topics have had their data explode in a short period of time, hitting the trending lists and attracting a lot of attention.”
“Is that so?” Cheng Ying continued her work, her tone somewhat nonchalant.
“If you’re not happy about it, I can block them a bit?” Cheng Mantou tried to read her expression.
But it failed.
Cheng Ying’s face was impassive. “What’s there for me to be unhappy about? Let them be.”
It was just shipping a CP, anyway. It wasn’t like she’d lose a piece of flesh.
Besides, Jiang Hanguang had already said what she said.
Suddenly, a cool, sweet sensation touched her lips. Cheng Ying subconsciously opened her mouth, and a small, round thing was placed inside. It burst open the moment it touched her lips and teeth, its sweet juice moistening her parched throat.
Cheng Ying spat out a small pit and looked up at the shadow above her.
Jiang Hanguang had a slightly smug smile on her face, holding a small bowl of bright red cherries in her hands, which gleamed beautifully in the sunlight.
For a moment, Cheng Ying couldn’t tell which was more tempting.
“I picked them on the way back from getting water for you to wash your hands. They’re quite sweet.” As Jiang Hanguang spoke, she offered another one, bringing it to Cheng Ying’s lips.
The vibrant cherry and the woman’s fair, delicate fingers together looked like a meticulously composed painting, exceptionally whetting one’s appetite.
Cheng Ying’s throat bobbed slightly. The sweet taste in her mouth had already faded to the point of disappearing.
As if bewitched, she leaned forward slightly, caught the cherry Jiang Hanguang was feeding her, and bit it open right from the woman’s hand.
As expected, the bright red juice splattered onto Jiang Hanguang’s fingers. Cheng Ying’s tongue darted out and quickly swept over them.
It curled away the remaining half of the cherry.
Jiang Hanguang snatched her hand back, looking at Cheng Ying in astonishment.
But Cheng Ying nodded as if nothing had happened. “They are quite sweet. But can you help me wipe my sweat first? It’s about to run into my eyes.”
“Oh, okay.” At her words, Jiang Hanguang shook off the strange feeling from that moment and went to get a towel for her.
Cheng Ying turned back to her work, but her breathing was a little more rapid than before.
That was close. She almost couldn’t resist sucking on them.
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