Xie Chengcheng felt that she must have slept too soundly last night and accidentally traveled through time to a parallel universe that was almost identical to her original one.
The reason for this delusion was her companions.
Lang Wenxing hadn’t changed much, but the other two had probably been possessed.
During breakfast, Lang Wenxing was still enthusiastically chattering away to Jiang Hanguang about this and that, which wasn’t strange at all.
What was strange was that Miss Jiang, who had been polite but practically avoiding Lang Wenxing like the plague for the past two days, was actually smiling and responding to his nonsense.
Although her smile was faint, and her words were far from intimate.
But given Miss Jiang Hanguang’s usually taciturn personality, this was already unprecedented.
The only person who had received this kind of treatment before seemed to be…
Xie Chengcheng’s gaze slowly and carefully shifted, landing on Cheng Ying beside her.
The person she was looking at was smilingly stirring the noodle soup in her bowl. The steady force made the soup ripple in neat layers, yet it never managed to cross the rim of the bowl.
Cheng Ying gazed at her bowl with such deep affection, as if it contained her little lover, and the two people chattering back and forth opposite her were just a couple of potatoes.
Xie Chengcheng, outside the storm: “…”
Something was definitely, definitely not right.
This feeling of wrongness persisted.
Because they hadn’t eaten the rabbits that Xie and Lang had caught yesterday, the four of them continued to harvest the remaining wheat in the fields today.
Lang Wenxing had probably gotten tired of driving the harvester all morning, so he requested they take turns. Xie Chengcheng happened to want to try it out, so she took over the job of operating the machine.
When she came back after a round, she saw the other three sitting in the shade of a tree. The distance between them was neither too far nor too close, but Lang Wenxing was craning his neck so far he was almost in Jiang Hanguang’s face, chirping away about his past adventures.
Jiang Hanguang, however, didn’t shrink back as she had the past two days. She still wore that lukewarm smile, occasionally nodding to show she was listening.
And Cheng Ying?
Cheng Ying was playing with ants with a blade of grass, her gaze as focused as a primary school student about to complete a summer observation assignment.
Xie Chengcheng thought Cheng Ying must have had a fight with Jiang Hanguang. Her intelligence wasn’t enough to figure out other complex issues; she just felt that their current state of “whoever speaks first is a puppy” was exactly like when she had squabbles with friends in elementary school.
Although that kind of squabble usually didn’t last long, that was when both parties were little kids.
Xie Chengcheng didn’t know to what extent adults could hold a grudge, so she decided to ask Cheng Ying.
After lunch, Jiang Hanguang cleared the dishes as usual, and Lang Wenxing stayed behind to accompany her. Cheng Ying got up to go back to her room. With quick eyes and hands, Xie Chengcheng grabbed her. The two of them walked one after the other to a corner out of the camera’s view before Xie Chengcheng spoke in a low voice, “What’s wrong with you and Sister-in… Miss Jiang?”
She had just gotten half a word of “sister-in-law” out when the alpha she had pulled over glanced at her coolly. Xie Chengcheng immediately swallowed the rest of the word.
Because she suddenly realized that if Jiang Hanguang was really Cheng Ying’s girlfriend, then Cheng Ying would be watching Lang Wenxing hit on her own girlfriend.
Xie Chengcheng shivered. That was too twisted.
“What do you mean, what’s wrong?” Cheng Ying raised an eyebrow as if she didn’t understand her words.
“You two haven’t said a word to each other today, and you’re not dissing that Lang Wenxing anymore.” Xie Chengcheng couldn’t quite summarize the tangled atmosphere between them, so she could only honestly report what she had seen and heard.
“Stirring up a CP, what’s so strange about that?” A playful smile touched Cheng Ying’s lips. “If I joined in, Miss Jiang would have to deal with both sides. How tiring would that be?”
“Uh…” Xie Chengcheng imagined that scene and indeed, it was bizarre. She didn’t understand the ins and outs of the industry and didn’t plan to delve deep, but she still had a question.
“Aren’t you angry?”
“Why should I be angry?” Cheng Ying looked as if she had heard a terrible joke, her smile half-forming before falling away. “It’s not like Xu Ning and Bai Ruo haven’t done this before. If I got angry every single time, how many lives would I need to have?”
“But…” Xie Chengcheng felt something was wrong, but Cheng Ying had already turned and walked away.
“If you have time to worry about these things, you’d be better off practicing driving the harvester. Look at the field you harvested this morning, it looks like a dog chewed on it.”
“That’s a personal attack,” Xie Chengcheng complained, but she had no choice but to walk towards her own bedroom. Before entering, she cast a worried glance at Cheng Ying’s door.
But she always felt that to Cheng Ying, Jiang Hanguang was different from the other two.
Whether as a friend or a farm employee, she hoped the two could make up.
She neither wanted Cheng Ying to be sad, nor could she stand that meddler, Lang Wenxing.
Unfortunately, things didn’t develop as she wished. The rest of the day continued in the same vein as the morning. The more Xie Chengcheng watched, the less she understood, but since Cheng Ying said nothing, she could only bottle it up.
At dinner, Zhang Zeyun announced that since the four of them had been making good progress with their work recently, the production team intended to sponsor a barbecue for everyone by the small river on the farm.
Xie Chengcheng cheered on the spot. After all, since coming here, she had been facing the yellow earth from dawn till dusk, going to bed early, waking up early, and eating healthily. She felt like it had been eight hundred years since she’d had heavy, oily, and spicy junk food.
The other three didn’t show as much enthusiasm, but no one objected. So, the four of them, along with the production team, headed to the small river in a large group.
The main channel of the river was in a small, not-too-large grove. The banks were covered in dense grass that only reached their ankles. Cheng Ying noticed that there were surprisingly few small insects in this grove. The production team had probably treated the area during the day to prevent this barbecue from becoming a feast for mosquitoes.
The overly excited Xie Chengcheng had rushed to the very front early on. Jiang Hanguang and Lang Wenxing were walking half a meter ahead of her. Lang Wenxing was still chattering on about his various exploits, and an occasional assenting word from Jiang Hanguang would make him screech and holler like a monkey that had gotten a peach, which was nauseatingly annoying.
Cheng Ying had been walking with her head down, concentrating, but now, unable to bear the noise, she looked up, intending to glare at the public nuisance. In an instant, however, her gaze was captured by Jiang Hanguang’s slightly turned face.
The moonlight was magnificent tonight. A round, bright moon evenly coated the entire land with a layer of cool, silent light, including this grove lush with trees and grass.
The snow-white moonlight was shattered by the swaying leaves, dappling Jiang Hanguang’s face, illuminating a flawless white. The woman, so beautiful that even the bright moon would flee in shame, had a faint smile on her lips, her gaze calm and gentle as she looked at the incredibly noisy young man.
Cheng Ying’s memory was suddenly pulled back to the banquet where she first met Jiang Hanguang. The woman had stood just like this amidst the laughing crowd, all smiles and pleasantries, poised and graceful.
Her heart once again throbbed with a sharp pain, as if someone had tightly gripped that piece of flesh and was kneading it fiercely.
She had forced Jiang Hanguang to put on that armor again, and now she was hypocritically feeling sorry for her.
Perhaps those who have seen a rose in full bloom cannot bear to see it turn back into that passionless, desireless plastic flower.
But Jiang Hanguang was so obedient to her. Wasn’t this exactly what she wanted?
Cheng Ying lowered her head. It was better not to look.
Lang Wenxing would eventually leave, while she would always be by her side…
As an agent and a friend.
When the three of them reached the river, they saw the small river, about two adult steps wide, shimmering under the moonlight, looking extremely clear. Many of the production crew had already set up the electric barbecue grills and brought out large platters of meat.
They were also looking forward to this barbecue. Even though they ate slightly better than the guests, in a place with nothing around, street food was out of the question. So, everyone was exceptionally enthusiastic. With many hands, the work was done quickly, and soon the aroma of meat filled the entire riverbank.
Xie Chengcheng held a handful of skewers, feeling as if she had already ascended to heaven. She had never thought barbecue could be this delicious.
Just as everyone was enjoying themselves, Zhang Zeyun’s voice suddenly rang out, “Everyone, hold on, we have another activity.”
She held a skewer in one hand and a plastic megaphone in the other. Behind her was the display screen that usually announced the popularity rankings.
“Even though we’ve changed locations for dinner, we still have to go through the usual procedures.” Zhang Zeyun smiled, a hint of mischief in her eyes.
The somewhat noisy riverbank instantly quieted down. Xie Chengcheng, who was in the middle of eating happily, suddenly noticed that both Cheng Ying’s and Jiang Hanguang’s expressions had turned a little grave.
Even someone as dense as her suddenly had a feeling of an impending storm.
“First place on the popularity pairing chart, congratulations to Jiang Hanguang and Lang Wenxing! As long as you complete our ambiguous challenge, you’ll get three on-demand barbecue meals!”
It’s all over.
A line of giant, bolded text flashed through Xie Chengcheng’s mind. She didn’t dare turn to look at Cheng Ying’s expression now.
But Zhang Zeyun wasn’t about to back down. She took a pack of Pocky from her pocket, pulled out one of the thin, stick-like biscuits, and said, “This time’s challenge is for the challengers to eat the biscuit from both ends. If the remaining part is less than one centimeter, you win.”
When she announced the first-place pairing, the crowd had automatically parted, leaving the four guests exposed. Now, all eyes were on Jiang Hanguang and Lang Wenxing. Lang Wenxing was smiling so wide his eyes had disappeared. He looked at Jiang Hanguang and said, “Sister, this sounds pretty good.” Jiang Hanguang still had that faint smile on her face, noncommittal.
Perhaps it was the wind by the river making people dizzy, or perhaps it was the beer they had drunk with the barbecue, but some troublemaking crew members in the crowd actually started to heckle.
“Do it! Do it!”
How is this any different from a forced marriage on the street, Xie Chengcheng cursed inwardly. She turned to look for Cheng Ying, only to see Cheng Ying’s back as she turned to leave.
“Hey, you!” Before Xie Chengcheng could call out to her, she was interrupted by the surrounding cheers.
People love to join in on the excitement, and the noise grew louder and louder, almost reaching the heavens.
Surrounded by the crowd, Jiang Hanguang felt a little suffocated. The layers of people were like an impenetrable wall, trapping her inside.
A strange panic rose in her heart, as if even though she was surrounded by people, she was still all alone.
So, even though she had made up her mind to do as Cheng Ying said, Jiang Hanguang couldn’t help but search for Cheng Ying’s figure.
It was as if she would have the courage to continue if Cheng Ying was still standing there.
To continue doing what Cheng Ying wanted her to do.
But Cheng Ying had left.
In the midst of the chaos, Jiang Hanguang only saw a glimpse of her back as it disappeared into the quiet, dim depths of the woods.
It was as if the bustling crowd and the noisy, lively cheers had nothing to do with her.
She, too, was all alone.
Jiang Hanguang didn’t feel sad for her own predicament. She thought that things like stirring up CPs were always unavoidable, but when she saw Cheng Ying’s solitary back, her heart suddenly ached uncontrollably.
It was as if, at this moment, a corner of Cheng Ying’s infuriating shell had finally cracked, revealing the lonely, angry, wounded little beast fleeing the crowd.
And Jiang Hanguang was willing to do anything for her.
Zhang Zeyun walked up to the two of them and asked with a smile, “Will you two accept the challenge?”
“Of course.”
“I refuse.”
The crowd fell silent. Everyone looked in shock at Jiang Hanguang, who had just uttered those surprising words.
Lang Wenxing had a look of betrayed disbelief. “Sister Jiang, why?”
The woman still wore that not-so-enthusiastic smile, her tone still so gentle that no one could find fault with it. “Mr. Lang and I are not familiar enough to play this kind of game. I’m sorry, I can’t accept.”
After speaking, her gaze fell on Zhang Zeyun. “I can refuse, right?”
“Of course.” Zhang Zeyun wasn’t smiling. At this moment, she finally sensed a bit of temper from this person who had always been somewhat submissive.
She just didn’t know who it was for.
Jiang Hanguang smiled at the crowd. “Sorry, I have a bit of a headache. I’ll go back and rest first. Everyone, eat and drink well.”
“Sister, I’ll go with you…” Lang Wenxing’s words were cut short as Xie Chengcheng grabbed him by the neck. “She’s going back to rest, what are you following for? Come on, come eat barbecue with me.”
Caught off guard, Lang Wenxing was dragged away by Xie Chengcheng. Jiang Hanguang took the opportunity to walk in the direction Cheng Ying had disappeared.
The crowd quieted for a moment, then returned to its fiery, lively state.
When Cheng Ying walked into the woods, she was walking slowly at first, but then she walked faster and faster, eventually breaking into a run. She ran without any rhyme or reason, so she didn’t get far before a stitch in her side forced her to lean against a tree to rest.
“Mantou, get out here.” After a while, once her breathing had stabilized a bit, she raised her arm and pressed the inside of her elbow.
“What’s up?” Cheng Mantou replied quickly.
Cheng Ying hugged her knees, buried her head in her arms, her voice muffled. “Tell Qin Guanyu to communicate with Lang Wenxing’s company and shelve him. I don’t care how much it costs, I don’t want to see him again!”
“Uh, are you sure?” Although Cheng Mantou didn’t know what had gotten into Cheng Ying, she knew this was a serious matter. Why would Qin Guanyu go after Lang Wenxing for no reason? Anyone with a mind to would trace it right back to Cheng Ying.
Cheng Ying silently lifted her head and began to pull at the grass beside her. After yanking out a barren circle in the once-dense patch of grass, she stopped and gave a bitter smile. “I’m kidding.”
“…” Cheng Mantou felt it was best not to say anything right now.
Cheng Ying looked up at the bright moon, partially obscured by the dense foliage. “Why? That bastard has been dead for ten years, and he still won’t let me go.”
Tortured by Cheng Mo as a child to the point where life was worse than death, and now as an adult, she still had to live in the shadow of destruction, without even the right to tell someone she loved them.
She tightened her grip on the grass in her hand. “I don’t want to deal with these things anymore. If the world is going to be destroyed, then let it be destroyed. What does it have to do with me? It’s not like I like…”
“…” Cheng Mantou didn’t know what to say. Even as a robot, she knew that the world was inherently unfair. Some people were born to suffer more, and might never find happiness in their entire lives.
It wasn’t because they weren’t good enough, but simply because they were short on luck.
She also knew that Cheng Ying was just venting. If she really intended to do that, the “Starlight” CP fans, even with a hundred hands, couldn’t out-spam Cheng Mantou, this final boss.
“Xiao Ying?” Jiang Hanguang’s voice came from above. Cheng Ying jerked her head up, meeting the woman’s hesitant eyes.
She hadn’t even heard Jiang Hanguang’s footsteps.
By the moonlight, Jiang Hanguang saw Cheng Ying’s face clearly.
The overly young-looking alpha’s face was streaked with tears. She looked like an abandoned child. Now, meeting her eyes, a flash of panic actually crossed Cheng Ying’s, and she got up as if to run.
Jiang Hanguang’s first reaction was to stop her.
She grabbed Cheng Ying’s arm, and afraid she would break free, she placed her other hand on the tree Cheng Ying was leaning against, loosely trapping her in her arms.
“Why are you crying?” Her voice involuntarily softened, afraid of scaring the alpha who seemed as if she would shatter at a touch.
Cheng Ying didn’t speak, shaking off Jiang Hanguang’s hand and trying to leave.
But although Jiang Hanguang’s strength was no match for hers, her reflexes were no slower. After being shaken off, she instantly closed in again, even closer this time.
The woman’s soft palm cupped her face, gently wiping away the tears.
“I really don’t know what I did to make you unhappy, but you can tell me, and I’ll change.” Jiang Hanguang’s bright black eyes were filled with panic and heartache, like a fool who had made their lover cry but didn’t know how to comfort them. “I don’t dare to guess on my own, I’m afraid you’ll get angrier. Can you just tell me, please?”
She was so cunning, looking at her like this, as if anything she did would be forgiven.
The better Jiang Hanguang was, the more unwilling Cheng Ying felt.
Why should she? She was the one who saved Jiang Hanguang. Jiang Hanguang liked her the most.
This was her flower. Why should she have to give her to someone else?
“You didn’t play that game with that guy?” Sanity was teetering on the brink.
“No, I… was a little worried about you.”
“Do you really want to know why I’m angry?” The trap was set.
“Of course…”
You walked right into my trap.
Jiang Hanguang’s unfinished words were stopped by a gentle kiss.
It was a fleeting, extremely bland kiss.
Yet it was like a heavy hammer, knocking Jiang Hanguang’s three souls and seven spirits out of her, leaving her stunned on the spot.
And the tear-streaked alpha seemed to have suddenly regained that self-assuredness of a superior.
She murmured, “It’s not enough…”
Her fingers traced the woman’s crimson lips, and she wrapped an arm around her waist, spinning her around and pressing her against the tree.
Leaning in again, her light blue eyes flickered with a prairie fire, as if to burn everything to ashes.
“You’re still not dodging? I’m going to kiss you.”
She smiled lightly, lifting the woman’s chin.
“Three, two, one, time’s up.”
She held the woman’s chin and kissed her fiercely.
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