After spending so much time together day and night, Jiang Hanguang had grown accustomed to the scent of Cheng Ying’s pheromones. Now that it was gone, she couldn’t help but feel a little dazed for a moment.
“Be careful.”
Cheng Ying’s voice sounded by her ear. Jiang Hanguang snapped back to her senses, only to see that the massive machine had already reached the end of the wheat field and was about to rush out.
She panicked and immediately reached for the brake button.
Her outstretched hand was caught by another. Cheng Ying’s hand, which had been lightly resting on the steering wheel, suddenly tightened. Her long, slender, well-defined fingers formed a powerful line as she yanked the wheel hard to the side, going with the machine’s forward momentum.
The machine let out an ominous roar, then struggled twice like a wild horse being tamed by a warrior before reluctantly making a turn, scraping along the edge of the wheat field and veering back in.
Inertia threw Jiang Hanguang backward. Cheng Ying let go of her hand and moved to shield Jiang Hanguang’s back, taking the heavy bump for her. Her other hand precisely controlled the steering wheel until the machine had completely turned and slowed down, only then did she press the brake button.
The machine slowly came to a stop. Jiang Hanguang, still shaken, looked around. The commotion had alerted Xie Chengcheng and Lang Wenxing, who were gathering wheat behind them. Xie Chengcheng shouted from a distance, “What’s wrong? Are you guys okay?”
Cheng Ying turned her head and replied, “We’re fine. I accidentally hit the accelerator just now.”
“Oh,” Xie Chengcheng said, not suspecting anything. “Be careful, that’s no joke.”
Cheng Ying snorted with laughter. “Give me a break. To think I’d hear those words from you in my lifetime. That’s a new experience.”
“Hey, hey, hey, why did that turn into a personal attack?” Xie Chengcheng grumbled.
Their back-and-forth banter didn’t register in Jiang Hanguang’s ears. She stared blankly at Cheng Ying’s smiling profile.
It was clearly her fault, so why did Cheng Ying…
Was she afraid I’d be blamed?
Jiang Hanguang had just recovered from her terror when she fell into a state of guilty sweetness.
On one hand, she felt guilty for making a mistake and having Cheng Ying take the blame for her. On the other, she was moved by this unreserved protection.
The guilt deepened the sweetness, and the sweetness gave rise to more guilt.
The two emotions intertwined, creating a mix of feelings.
But Cheng Ying acted as if nothing had happened. After their banter, she turned back, started the machine on her own, and then turned to Jiang Hanguang with a smile. “Let’s continue.”
Jiang Hanguang, however, didn’t touch the steering wheel again. In a low voice that only the two of them could hear, she said, “I’m sorry.”
Cheng Ying: “Hm?”
She looked at the Omega beside her in surprise. She saw her beautiful eyes drooping listlessly, her red lips moving slightly. “I didn’t do it right. I got you into trouble.”
Cheng Ying: “…”
It was probably because of her susceptible period that she was more easily affected by Jiang Hanguang.
Otherwise, how could she barely suppress the surge of affection in her chest, wanting nothing more than to pull her into her arms right now, kiss her downcast eyes, and tell her.
Everything you do is fine. You can do no wrong.
I will always protect you.
The young Alpha clenched her jaw, forcing the inappropriate thoughts back into her mind. In the end, she just ruffled Jiang Hanguang’s soft hair and took her hand, placing it on the steering wheel.
“Who doesn’t make mistakes? If you drive it out a hundred times, I can pull it back a hundred times. Relax. I told you, I’m here. It’s no problem.”
Jiang Hanguang looked at Cheng Ying’s faintly smiling face, and the sweetness in her heart swelled rapidly like whipped cream, devouring that heavy piece of guilt.
It felt as if it were a matter of course, that she deserved the Alpha’s love without needing to cautiously curry favor or repay it twofold.
Is that really okay?
She wanted to ask, but in the end, she just nodded and started the machine.
The roar of the machine once again echoed through the wheat field. Jiang Hanguang no longer let her mind wander, concentrating fully on steering, just as she had longed to do in her childhood.
As a child, she wasn’t particularly fond of the scorching sun or the unpleasant smell of the machine operating; she just thought that every worker sitting high on the machine with an arrogant expression looked very imposing.
That roaring machine, ah, it seemed like it could easily escape that small farm and go anywhere in the world.
Now, of course, she knew that was just a childhood fantasy. Although she was nostalgic for it, it wasn’t an obsession.
Yet, someone had taken her casual remark of nostalgia to heart, carefully protecting her and fulfilling this silly fantasy.
The fulfilled fantasy dissolved into an insignificant mist, leaving only a thick sweetness in her heart.
But it wasn’t because of this rusty machine, but because of the person beside her.
As long as she was with her, no matter what they did, it was joyful.
Xie Chengcheng watched the sweet couple on the machine, then thought about how she came on a variety show only to be dumped by her girlfriend and subjected to labor reform. A wave of sorrow washed over her, and she thought, everyone has their own fate.
Then she glanced at Lang Wenxing next to her, his face ashen and his eyes burning with fire, and felt a little comforted.
As the saying goes, worse than some, but better than others. At least she had completely given up on Li Wan and escaped the pit of fire. The guy next to her still looked dazed; it was obvious he was more miserable.
The work on 《Little Little Farm》 had become much easier than at the beginning. The four of them went back early to shower. Jiang Hanguang was the main cook, and after tidying up, they started dinner.
Zhang Zeyun, as usual, brought out the daily required procedure: the display board.
On the popularity chart, Jiang Hanguang still held the top spot, with Lang Wenxing close behind. In reality, when it came to the number of die-hard fans, Jiang Hanguang was far behind Lang Wenxing, who had been a top star for several years.
But 《Little Little Farm》’s initial popularity was almost entirely driven by Jiang Hanguang, whose fame was exploding at the time. Many of the casual viewers drawn in had a good impression of her. Coupled with Jiang Hanguang’s rather outstanding performance on the show, she was just barely able to stay ahead of Lang Wenxing.
On the popular pairing chart, the “Xingguang” CP, having suffered a major blow, had gloomily fallen to second place. The “Guangying” CP once again took the lead with an absolute advantage.
The order of these two charts was within the four’s expectations, so it didn’t cause much of a stir.
When it came to the comment section, the atmosphere was not so harmonious.
Comment 1: As a Guangying CP fan, I’ve reached nirvana. This is what you call mutual protection and a two-way street! Certain other CP fans shouldn’t throw shade at other CPs just because they’re not getting any sweet moments. So uncultured.
Comment 2: Heh, what two-way street? I see one after money and one after looks. A gold digger meets a useless rich brat. A match made in heaven, I guess.
Comment 3: A word of advice to Lang Wenxing’s fans, don’t be disgusting. If Hanguang were really a gold digger, why would she have divorced her ex-husband? Your idol is a habitual harasser, and his fans are no better.
Comment 4: Miss Jiang’s fans, don’t get worked up. Wenxing’s fans have no problem with Miss Jiang. That highly-liked comment is from a crazy Xingguang CP fan. But are you really going to ship Guangying along with those brainless CP fans? I don’t need to tell you how bad Cheng Ying’s reputation is. Don’t help count the money after your idol has been coerced.
Comment 5: To be fair, putting the matter of Jiang Hanguang and Lang Wenxing aside, didn’t Cheng Ying date both Bai Ruo and Xu Ning before? An Alpha with no A-morals like that… Hanguang, don’t get tricked by her.
Comment 6: Maybe she was threatened? Look, yesterday during the day, Miss Jiang was getting along fine with Wenxing. Then at night, she disappeared with Cheng Ying for a while and came back acting like that. Who knows what that person did behind the scenes.
Comment 7: Just a casual viewer, but Cheng Ying’s smug look yesterday was really disgusting.
Comment 8: #UnscrupulousAgentChengYingGetOutOfTheEntertainmentIndustry#
Comment 9: #ChengYingHarassesUnderTheGuiseOfWork#
Comment 10: Will Lang Wenxing’s bitch fans ever stop? Are you bullying Cheng Ying because she’s not in the industry and has no fans?
After the ten comments were displayed, a strange silence fell over the dinner table.
Xie Chengcheng found those two hashtags hilarious and turned to tease Cheng Ying, but was startled by Jiang Hanguang’s expression first.
The beautiful Omega’s brows were knitted together, her expression more severe than Xie Chengcheng had ever seen.
Her cowardly instincts made Xie Chengcheng swallow her teasing remark and turn to look at the other two’s expressions.
Lang Wenxing was gazing at Jiang Hanguang with a complicated expression, like a devoted warrior watching a princess being carried away by a dragon.
Xie Chengcheng felt a bit nauseous and could only turn her gaze back to Cheng Ying.
But the person at the center of the storm had the most normal expression of all, as if she wasn’t the one being showered with insults.
Cheng Ying nonchalantly picked up a piece of chicken with her chopsticks and was about to eat it. Noticing the other three were staring at her, she seemed to finally realize she should say something and put down the meat that was almost in her mouth.
“Only that last brother said something fair,” she remarked, then buried her head in her food, apparently not intending to say anything more.
Since the main subject had dropped the topic, the others naturally couldn’t elaborate on it and could only continue eating in silence.
But Jiang Hanguang’s brows remained furrowed.
It wasn’t until they returned to their bedroom that Cheng Ying urged her to take a shower. Seeing the Omega still looked unhappy, she comforted her, “It’s okay. The worst wave is over. In a couple of days, after those CP fans are done with their frenzy, it’ll be fine.”
Cheng Ying naturally knew how public opinion had developed to this point; she had been involved in the whole process through Cheng Mantou.
At first, Lang Wenxing’s fans came on strong, targeting Jiang Hanguang directly, vowing to completely crush this bad woman who was toying with their idol’s feelings.
Jiang Hanguang’s fans naturally fought back, but being outnumbered, they were completely suppressed for a while, and public opinion was trending towards siding completely with Lang Wenxing.
Then that night, the hashtag #IsThisLangWenxingBeingOverlyFamiliarOrIsItSexualHarassment# hit the front page of Flying Pigeon.
A blogger compiled dozens of screenshots of Lang Wenxing in close contact with others who were smiling awkwardly, including a shot of Jiang Hanguang being harassed on the set of 《White Robe》.
After presenting the screenshots as evidence, the blogger provided a well-reasoned analysis—this kind of harassment under the guise of being “overly familiar” is what people should be most wary of. Jiang Hanguang had never made any inappropriate moves towards Lang Wenxing; on the contrary, Lang Wenxing had been pestering her relentlessly. If this could be called “playing hard to get,” then wouldn’t anyone who rejects an enthusiastic suitor be labeled as such?
This analysis resonated with the public, and since Lang Wenxing’s screenshots were indeed quite cringeworthy, the situation reversed in an instant.
Viewers expressed that the fans were shameless for twisting the truth, and that Jiang Hanguang was the real victim.
Lang Wenxing’s fans had to retract their accusations against Jiang Hanguang. They played the victim card pitifully while claiming their idol didn’t mean it, that he was just simple-minded and lacked a sense of personal space.
But Lang Wenxing’s team, having successfully hyped CPs for years without disaster, naturally had a few tricks up their sleeves.
They quickly found a new target to divert attention.
That was Cheng Ying herself, who had neither a fan base nor a good reputation.
Attacking Cheng Ying allowed them to avoid the public’s condemnation while also subtly implicating Jiang Hanguang, suggesting that her change in attitude towards Lang Wenxing was due to Cheng Ying’s coercion.
Just as Cheng Mantou was rolling up its sleeves, ready to fight them to the end, it received an order from Cheng Ying to retreat.
Cheng Ying’s goal had been achieved. Jiang Hanguang was extricated from the situation. No matter how you looked at it, she was the pitiful victim, attracting a great deal of sympathy.
And the move by Lang Wenxing’s team was essentially an admission of defeat. Lang Wenxing’s studio issued a statement admitting that he had indeed behaved inappropriately in some respects and promised to be more careful in the future.
As for attacking Cheng Ying, it was merely a way to give the frustrated fans and CP fans an outlet, preventing them from having a mental breakdown and turning from fans to haters.
Cheng Ying’s own reputation was a case of “too many debts to worry about.” She didn’t want to push those guys to a desperate point where they’d turn around and bite Jiang Hanguang again. After all, since Lang Wenxing had no other scandals, she couldn’t completely crush him with public opinion alone, so she decided to let it end there.
Anyway, the malice of those fans wouldn’t last long before they moved on to the next fan war. As long as Jiang Hanguang was protected for now, that was enough.
Cheng Ying was quite satisfied with the outcome of this battle, but she saw Jiang Hanguang still standing there, her lips pressed tightly together, with a faint glint of tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Although she was baffled, she immediately pulled out a tissue to wipe the other’s tears.
But Jiang Hanguang sniffled, lowered her head, and after a moment, squeezed out, “How could they curse you like that?”
The woman’s voice held a faint sob, like a child who had been deeply wronged.
Cheng Ying’s outstretched hand froze in mid-air. She never would have thought the other woman was upset for this reason.
Jiang Hanguang certainly knew how viciously those fans could curse people.
Before the disaster of 《White Robe》, her Flying Pigeon comments were filled with extremely unfriendly greetings from Lang Wenxing’s and Hua Ran’s fans.
Even a word like “slut” was considered polite there.
At that time, Jiang Hanguang had remained calm and composed, going to work, acting, and being bullied as usual, without showing any sign of resentment.
But now, just because she had been insulted a few times, Jiang Hanguang was this angry.
A feeling of exasperated tenderness rose in Cheng Ying’s heart. She crouched down slightly to wipe the tears from the woman’s lowered head, her tone almost coaxing. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve been cursed for so long, and I’m still fine, right? Don’t get angry over that nonsense. It’s not worth it.”
Jiang Hanguang grabbed her hand and glared at her, seemingly dissatisfied with her dismissive attitude. “It does matter. You’re not like what they say…”
Her eyes were red-rimmed, making her look like a rabbit. Cheng Ying was half-dead from the woman’s rare, cute childishness. With a selfish desire to hear some praise, she coaxed, “Then tell me, what am I like?”
The face of the person she was gazing at was flushed with anger. Still looking at her with that wronged expression, she said earnestly, word by word, “You are the person who treats me best in this world.”
In that instant, Cheng Ying felt as if someone had sprinkled a few drops of water into an already boiling pot of oil. The boiling oil splattered with a crackling sound, enough to make a person scream from the burn.
She subconsciously pulled her hand back and pressed it against the nape of her neck. The covered scent gland was currently emitting an unusually high temperature, as if it were about to burn through the thin shielding patch.
The shielding patch is still there. No problem. Control yourself.
Don’t scare her.
She reached out both hands, gently wrapped them around the woman’s shoulders, and pulled her into an embrace.
She transformed that roaring desire into a soft, whispered hug.
The Alpha stroked the soft hair of her lover, who was feeling wronged on her behalf.
“With those words from you, even if I were cursed another ten thousand times, it wouldn’t matter.”
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