Cheng Ying’s “baby” was as flippant and ambiguous as ever, but Jiang Hanguang’s reaction was much more interesting than before. The woman took a step back, her back against the tree trunk, standing ramrod straight like a primary school student being punished. But her fair face was flushed with layers of red, each deeper than the last.
She looked like a particularly tender and juicy honey peach.
Cheng Ying suddenly felt an itch in her teeth, a desire to take that soft and tender cheek in her mouth and nibble on it a couple of times.
As the thought crossed her mind, her gaze instantly turned dangerous. Jiang Hanguang met her eyes and dodged away as if she’d touched fire, answering incoherently, “Mm, but it’s better not to. I’m still a little…”
Afraid of that intense feeling that seemed like it could melt her whole being, and not yet mentally prepared to give herself over completely.
The cautious little rabbit had received the greatest kindness and love of its life, but its source was a wolf.
Even if this wolf had never shown its claws or bared its fangs at her, it didn’t change the fact that it could snap her throat in a single bite.
Thankfully, Cheng Ying didn’t seem angry.
Jiang Hanguang despised her own cowardice on one hand, while feeling a little fortunate on the other.
She didn’t want to hurt Cheng Ying, and even more so… she didn’t want to lose Cheng Ying.
It had only been two short days, but she’d had enough of the feeling of being ignored and given the cold shoulder by Cheng Ying.
Whenever she secretly glanced over, all she could see was the Alpha’s smiling but warmthless profile.
That warm, blue ocean that had gazed at her was gone.
Every time she looked, an empty ache would bloom in her heart.
That ever-growing emptiness had tormented her, and only this kiss had finally filled it completely.
The initial panic and fear dissipated, followed by relief and trepidation.
Cheng Ying was angry because she liked her, not because she disliked her and wanted to stay away.
She could still have Cheng Ying’s attention and love, and even more.
To this day, Jiang Hanguang still felt she wasn’t good enough for Cheng Ying, but at the same time, she was unwilling to imagine what it would be like if Cheng Ying grew tired of her and left.
This was a dangerous sign.
When you subconsciously refuse to associate a person with bad things, it often means you’ve already handed them the rope that could strangle you.
Jiang Hanguang struggled between her own wishes and pleasing Cheng Ying, finally choosing a compromising turn of phrase.
I can, but it’s better not to.
I don’t like it, but if you want to, I can bear it.
Because of the hardships she’d endured since childhood, Jiang Hanguang had little concept of her own charm. Therefore, she could hardly imagine how this conflicted and timid appearance of hers would evoke such tender affection in the eyes of the person she was trying to please.
The Omega, a size smaller than herself, clearly didn’t even dare to look her in the eye, yet she still nodded and agreed to what was practically a teasing joke.
Her voice once again took on that soft, sweet accent that made one’s heart itch. In that fleeting glance, there was so much careful indulgence, and a tiny bit of hope.
Hope that I won’t be overcome by lust and bully her?
Cheng Ying’s heart melted. Even the smile on her face and the words that came out of her mouth became gentle. She stepped back a little, raising four fingers in a swearing gesture. “I was just kidding. I promise I absolutely won’t kiss you on my own initiative until you feel it’s okay.”
“Mm.” For some reason, this sentence hit another of Jiang Hanguang’s embarrassment points. The woman’s face grew even redder as she answered in a small voice.
Cheng Ying didn’t forget to ask the most important question. “So, are we together now? Look at me and tell me, okay?”
This wasn’t her deliberately bullying the other woman; it was just that Miss Jiang Hanguang hadn’t really looked her straight in the eye since that kiss.
No matter how magnanimous Cheng Ying was, she didn’t want her lover to still be so evasive at a time like this.
Jiang Hanguang raised her head and saw the Alpha’s eyes.
They no longer held the desire that made her blush and her heart pound. There was only an unmelting tenderness and hope.
Jiang Hanguang’s racing heart finally calmed down a little. She nodded lightly. “We are.”
That was a promise she could afford to make.
Cheng Ying smiled in satisfaction. Just as she was about to say something, a distinct “gurgle” came from her stomach.
Cheng Ying: “…”
What a mortifying, mood-ruining thing.
Jiang Hanguang: “Haha…”
The woman couldn’t help but laugh out loud, immediately earning a reproachful glare from the Alpha in front of her. She quickly straightened her face, but the laughter in her eyes hadn’t completely faded.
“You didn’t eat anything over there?”
“Isn’t it all because of you?” Cheng Ying grumbled while looking at her resentfully. “Who told you to keep chatting and laughing with that annoying pest? I was too angry to eat.”
Luckily, Jiang Hanguang was good-tempered and didn’t hold this blatant attempt to shift the blame against her. She just glanced in the direction she had come from. “They probably haven’t finished yet. You should hurry back and get something to eat.”
“What about you?” Cheng Ying immediately noticed the key part of Jiang Hanguang’s sentence.
“I…” The woman uttered one word and her ears started to turn red. “I told everyone I wasn’t feeling well and was going back to my room first.”
Cheng Ying accurately extracted the information she wanted from that sentence. “To come find me?”
“Mm, I saw you leave by yourself and was a little worried.” The blushing Omega nodded obediently.
“Heh.” Cheng Ying couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s a rare opportunity. Come back with me and eat some more.”
“Wouldn’t that be bad?” Jiang Hanguang was thin-skinned, after all, and wasn’t one to do something like go back on her word.
“What’s so bad about it? If you’re not feeling well, aren’t you allowed to get better?” Cheng Ying couldn’t be bothered with such things. Right now, she didn’t want to be separated from Jiang Hanguang at all.
Even if she couldn’t kiss or hug her, just smelling her scent made her happy.
Seeing Jiang Hanguang still hesitating, she moved closer, tugged on the woman’s sleeve, and said with a wronged expression, “I was so angry at that guy that I ran out. You’d have the heart to let me go back alone?”
The usually flippant Alpha was exceptionally effective when playing pitiful. Looking at her wronged eyes, Jiang Hanguang found it impossible to say no and could only nod again.
“Okay.” Cheng Ying’s beaming expression immediately returned. She was about to reach for Jiang Hanguang’s hand when she abruptly stopped.
Seeing the person before her freeze, Jiang Hanguang looked at her strangely.
She saw Cheng Ying look at her with great solemnity. “Hands, can I hold yours?”
Jiang Hanguang: “…”
Is she afraid of making me uncomfortable?
Jiang Hanguang’s heart felt like it had been stuffed with a giant cotton candy, sweet and soft. For a moment, she was speechless and simply placed her hand in the Alpha’s palm.
Cheng Ying’s palm was dry and warm, while Jiang Hanguang’s hand was soft and gentle, like a cub hiding in a safe den. The two of them slowly walked back.
When they came, one was filled with resentment, the other fraught with worry. On their way back, their footsteps fell one after another on the soft grass, moving from the silence toward the clamor of human voices.
The moon was still the same moon, but the thoughts of the people beneath it had already taken a thousand twists and turns.
The one who had been resentful was now lightly humming a cheerful little tune, having temporarily cast aside the heavy matters of the world’s survival, immersed in the rose fragrance that belonged to her.
The one who had been worried now gazed with a smile at the tall, straight back of the person holding her hand, a thought that made her blush popping into her mind—This is my Alpha.
Two planets that had once gazed at each other from afar had finally found their proper orbits beside one another.
At this very moment, they were the closest people to each other in the world.
When they were still a dozen or so meters from the riverbank, Cheng Ying smelled the appetizing aroma of meat.
Before, when she was sulking at Jiang Hanguang, she hadn’t noticed the allure of the barbecue at all. Now, with an empty stomach, she took a couple of sniffs and her stomach immediately gurgled twice more.
The barbecue was now in its latter half. Aside from the crew members conscientiously handling the livestream, almost everyone else, except for those allergic to alcohol, had a couple of empty beer cans by their side.
A clear summer night, a cool breeze by the river, meat skewers sizzling with grease on the grill, and ice-cold beer with condensation beading on the cans.
The audience outside the screen yearned for it, while the people on screen were getting a little tipsy.
Listening to the successive bursts of laughter and clamor, Cheng Ying chuckled lightly. “They seem to be having a lot of fun.”
Jiang Hanguang was still a little embarrassed. “Should we sneak in quietly?”
Cheng Ying spotted Zhang Zeyun sitting next to the camera, chatting with the cameraman, and sighed. “Looks like that’s impossible.”
Since they couldn’t hide, they might as well be open about it.
Cheng Ying led Jiang Hanguang by the hand and walked into the crowd as if nothing had happened.
The staff naturally noticed them, but they weren’t the guests being filmed. It was one thing to be part of the rowdy atmosphere, but they couldn’t just go up and ask why the two had gone and come back. So, they all pretended not to see and continued eating.
As for Xie and Lang, they had just seen Lang Wenxing get drunk to the point of vomiting by Xie Chengcheng. He’d thrown up so much his face turned pale, and now he was nowhere to be seen.
Although Xie Chengcheng wasn’t good at much else, her alcohol tolerance had been trained since childhood. She could drink three bottles of hard liquor mixed with beer without even getting flushed. Lang Wenxing, who felt he was better than this useless rich kid in every way, got provoked after she mocked him for drinking like he was tasting tea. He downed two bottles of beer in a fit of pique and was immediately unsteady on his feet.
Cheng Ying led Jiang Hanguang to a food station, asked the barbecue staff for a handful of skewers, found a seat, and popped open a bottle of beer with one hand. She took a big gulp and let out a satisfied sigh. “Ahhh, refreshing.”
Seeing Jiang Hanguang looking at the beer in her hand with some curiosity, she smiled and swished it a couple of times. “Never had it before?”
Jiang Hanguang shook her head. With her upbringing, forget beer, even drinking a bottle of cola would have earned her a beating. As an adult, she never developed a taste for it. Unless she was at a banquet where she might take a couple of sips of red wine, she didn’t touch a drop of alcohol at any other time.
Cheng Ying took a disposable cup, poured a shallow amount from the more than half-full can of beer she had left, and pushed it over. “Want to try?”
“Mm.” Jiang Hanguang picked up the cup. The Alpha across from her watched with a beaming smile, her light blue eyes filled with a ceaseless, tender affection.
Like a parent encouraging a child to walk.
Jiang Hanguang’s ears grew hot before she even took a sip of the beer.
If it were up to her, she wouldn’t have made such an attempt.
There was nothing to regret about never having tried beer; it wasn’t a good thing anyway.
But she had just seen Cheng Ying take that hearty, satisfying gulp, seen the Alpha’s throat move as she swallowed, and seen her look of contentment.
Jiang Hanguang suddenly felt a little thirsty. She suddenly wanted to taste what beer was like.
She also wanted to know what the taste Cheng Ying liked was like.
So she looked solemnly at that small sip of beer, raised her hand, and drank it all in one go.
She immediately frowned at the spreading sour and bitter taste, relying on her formidable self-control not to spit it out on the spot.
Cheng Ying watched as the Omega’s delicate features scrunched up. Then, she glanced doubtfully at the empty disposable cup, and then at the beer can in her own hand, her eyes filled with deep confusion.
As if she couldn’t understand how anyone could like drinking this stuff.
She was just too cute.
For the umpteenth time, Cheng Ying’s heart raced from the cuteness, and the smile on her face became a little unrestrained.
The Omega glanced at her and set the cup down on the table. “Is it that funny?”
“No.” Cheng Ying’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately sat up straight, but her tone was still not entirely serious. “I just think the way you try so hard even when just tasting beer is so cute.”
Jiang Hanguang’s previously somewhat hurt expression was instantly replaced by a blush, and her voice softened. “Stop making fun of me…”
Cheng Ying wished she could connect her brain to Jiang Hanguang’s to prove her innocence. “Really, I…”
Before she could finish, she suddenly frowned and reached out to stop someone who was stumbling toward them.
“Mr. Lang, watch your step.”
Cheng Ying stood up, righted the person who had almost lunged at Jiang Hanguang, and said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Lang Wenxing looked drunk. He shot her a sideways glance and tried to shake her off, but failed. So he could only let her hold him up, looking pitifully at Jiang Hanguang, who was still seated.
“Sister Jiang, why did you refuse to do that challenge with me earlier?”
Cheng Ying looked at Lang Wenxing’s still-punchable face, but felt little anger in her heart.
It was probably the pity of a victor for the vanquished.
After all, Jiang Hanguang liked her. At this thought, Cheng Ying actually laughed out loud.
Her laughter startled Lang Wenxing. The Alpha, who had been questioning Jiang Hanguang, turned to glare at her angrily.
“What are you laughing at?”
“I thought of something happy.”
“What?”
“Hanguang played that challenge with me before.”
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