The next few days passed uneventfully.
The direction of public opinion developed much as Cheng Ying had predicted. Lang Wenxing’s fans relentlessly attacked her for a few days, but when they received no response, they grew bored and dispersed. The popular comments section returned to its previous harmonious state of shipping couples and admiring appearances.
The only thing she wasn’t quite satisfied with was that during the days she was being attacked, although Jiang Hanguang didn’t get angry to the point of crying like the first time, she was still quite unhappy. Cheng Ying tried her best to joke around and cheer her up, but with little effect.
Since Jiang Hanguang was unhappy, Cheng Ying was naturally a bit unhappy too, which made the sight of Lang Wenxing—who stood around all day playing the part of a man with deep-seated grievances—even more displeasing.
Fortunately, Lang Wenxing had been exceptionally quiet these past few days and hadn’t come looking for trouble. Otherwise, they might have actually ended up in a fight.
As the machines were put into use and the four of them became more proficient, the work that originally needed to be done every day turned into working one day and playing the next.
The director team didn’t issue any new tasks. At Xie Chengcheng’s suggestion, they began to explore the small farm freely.
Today, they planned to go to the riverside where the production team had held a barbecue before, to see if they could catch some fish for a change of pace.
During the day, the small river looked crystal clear, its bed covered with round, smooth pebbles and not much sand or mud. The woods on both banks were a lush green. Being there, with a gentle breeze blowing, was quite cool and pleasant.
“I see it! I see it!” Xie Chengcheng was the first to run to the riverbank. Shouting excitedly, she took off her shoes, rolled up her pant legs, slowed her steps to the river’s edge, and suddenly leaped in.
“Ouch!”
Apparently, she had underestimated the difficulty of catching fish and overestimated her own athletic coordination. She lost her footing upon entering and instantly sat down in the river. Fortunately, the water only came up to her knees, so she didn’t choke on it, though her clothes were more than half soaked.
Cheng Ying raised a hand to cover Jiang Hanguang’s eyes and shook her head, unable to bear watching.
Xie Chengcheng was stunned for a moment before looking at the riverbed in frustration. The fish, of course, was long gone. She rubbed her bottom and stood up. “You guys be careful. These rocks are slippery, and that fish swims way faster than me.”
Cheng Ying said with a grin, “It’s an aquatic creature, after all. If it can’t even outswim a terrestrial creature like you, it might as well not bother living in the river.”
Wiping the water from her face, Xie Chengcheng said in confusion, “Then what do we do? There’s no way we can catch them like this.”
Cheng Ying sighed and took out a few simple hand nets from behind her back. “Humanity didn’t get to where it is today by swimming faster than fish or flying higher than birds.”
As she walked back to the bank, Xie Chengcheng chided, “You had tools and didn’t say so earlier?”
Cheng Ying was speechless. “Did you give me a chance to speak?”
Xie Chengcheng had boundless enthusiasm for all new things. She snatched the net from Cheng Ying’s hand and, shouting and yelling again, rushed back towards the river.
Jiang Hanguang walked past Cheng Ying to the riverbank. She saw that there were quite a few fish in the crystal-clear water, though they weren’t very big, only about the length of a person’s palm. They were crucian carp, the most common type in rivers, and she wondered if the production team had put them there.
In the time it took the others to walk over, Xie Chengcheng had already thrashed about in the water for a while. Her movements were too big, and she hadn’t fully adapted to walking in the river, resulting only in splashing water everywhere and catching nothing. Still, she looked happy.
Jiang Hanguang crouched down and trailed her hand through the clear water. The sensation was cool and refreshing.
In the middle of summer, even just playing in the water was comfortable.
Just as a flicker of eagerness to try it herself arose in her heart, a net was handed to her.
Jiang Hanguang turned her head to see Cheng Ying looking at her with a smile. “Want to try?”
Jiang Hanguang glanced at Xie Chengcheng, who had missed for the umpteenth time, and hesitated. “I probably can’t catch any.”
“Just think of it as playing. Does that one over there look like she can catch anything?” Without another word, Cheng Ying shoved the net into her hands, deftly rolled up her own pant legs, and started taking off her shoes and socks. “I’ll go with you.”
“Okay.” Jiang Hanguang glanced at the beautiful muscle lines on Cheng Ying’s exposed calves, her ears feeling a little hot. She nodded.
Cheng Ying watched as Jiang Hanguang sat obediently on the grassy bank, meticulously getting ready, placing her removed shoes neatly to one side.
The two pant legs were rolled up neatly and evenly, revealing a pair of slender, jade-like calves.
Although Jiang Hanguang looked thin, she was by no means frail. Her calves, like her waist, were slender, but one could tell from the firm curve that appeared when they tensed that they certainly didn’t lack strength.
Cheng Ying’s gaze involuntarily drifted downwards, and she saw Jiang Hanguang’s feet, which were excessively white and as exquisite as a work of art.
She stared, a little dazed. At times like this, she would get the illusion that Jiang Hanguang was a peerless and incredibly fragile piece of porcelain that should be placed on the softest brocade and kept in a spotless, sterile room.
It seemed only then would it not be a disservice to her.
But this woman had already suffered so much devastation. In those days, no one protected her, no one cherished her. Such a gentle person, unable to grow sharp claws and teeth against others, could only develop a closed-off shell, enduring it all in solitude.
The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to dote on her, yet she didn’t dare get too close, afraid of scaring her.
She really didn’t want to become a part of what hurt her, not before that not-so-distant calamity arrived.
“Xiao Ying…” Jiang Hanguang’s voice was tinged with shyness as she spoke softly.
Cheng Ying snapped back to her senses and realized she had been staring at the other’s feet for quite a while.
Jiang Hanguang’s face was flushed red. She had probably spoken up to remind her because she couldn’t stand being stared at any longer.
She scratched her head in embarrassment, her own face turning a little red. She gave a couple of dry coughs and made an excuse for herself, “I was just thinking about how to catch fish…”
After speaking, she jumped into the river first, then turned to take Jiang Hanguang’s hand. “Come down slowly, the river is cold.”
Hearing this careful warning, Jiang Hanguang felt a little like laughing. She was about to say there was no need to worry, that she often played by the river as a child and had been in the water before, but then she saw Cheng Ying’s eyes.
Those eyes, clearer than the sky, were filled with lingering affection, enveloping her like a soft cloud.
Jiang Hanguang was instantly speechless and could only obediently place her hand in Cheng Ying’s.
Xie Chengcheng was thrashing about over there, while the two of them entered the water as if dancing. The remaining person was watching their figures with a gloomy gaze.
Lang Wenxing had been in a state of conflicted agony these past few days. On one hand, he resented Jiang Hanguang for making him lose face in front of everyone; on the other, he harbored an irresolvable fantasy.
The night he was rejected by Jiang Hanguang, after being dragged back to his residence, he smashed a pile of things. He absolutely could not accept that he had actually lost to Cheng Ying.
Having had a smooth journey to become a top celebrity since his debut, he seemed to have been praised and elevated into a real prince. As long as he was willing, no one could resist his charm.
And Cheng Ying was just a notorious second-generation rich kid who only knew how to live off her family’s legacy.
Exhausted, he sat dejectedly on the floor and told Rui Cha he wanted to quit the show.
But Rui Cha made him change his mind with just one sentence.
“Do you think Jiang Hanguang really likes Cheng Ying?”
Right, there was no one in this world who would give him up for Cheng Ying. Unless… unless she wasn’t being sincere.
Lang Wenxing crawled into this custom-made turtle shell for himself. From then on, he saw himself as a victim oppressed by someone of higher status.
To make this identity more acceptable to himself, he even imagined Jiang Hanguang as a pitiful Omega who was being coerced by Cheng Ying and had no choice but to say one thing and mean another.
Naturally, he ignored the smiling light in Jiang Hanguang’s eyes when she looked at Cheng Ying, and instead picked out a thousand faults with Cheng Ying.
Just like a moment ago, Cheng Ying had actually stared at someone’s feet for so long. It was clearly, clearly… disgusting!
Cheng Ying and Jiang Hanguang got into the water, but before they could even start catching fish, they were splashed by the water Xie Chengcheng was kicking up, getting their clothes wet.
Cheng Ying turned sideways to block the splashing water for Jiang Hanguang and scooped up a handful of water to splash back. “Hey, you’re making such a commotion, all the fish in the river have probably run off.”
Xie Chengcheng wasn’t annoyed at being splashed. She was already pretty much soaked anyway and was just looking to drag others down with her, so she immediately splashed a sheet of water back.
“Perfect! Let’s have a water fight then. We can catch them this afternoon!”
“Hmph, I think you’re asking for it.” Seeing that catching fish was now impossible, Cheng Ying simply stood in front of Jiang Hanguang, retaliating without holding back while turning to egg Jiang Hanguang on.
“Hanguang, come help me.”
Jiang Hanguang had been feeling guilty towards Cheng Ying these past few days. Now, receiving her request for help, she suddenly felt a great sense of responsibility and happiness. She didn’t even consider whether it was fair for two of them to fight one person. She immediately bent down and, from behind Cheng Ying, sent a wave of water straight at Xie Chengcheng.
Xie Chengcheng was immediately outmatched. “Two against one, that’s not fair!”
Cheng Ying felt Jiang Hanguang leaning lightly against her and imagined the woman peeking out from behind her to aim at Xie Chengcheng. Her mood instantly lifted, and she teased.
“If you’ve got the guts, go find a helper too.”
Xie Chengcheng yelled and hollered. Seeing that Lang Wenxing had also entered the water over there, she quickly called out, “Hey, let’s team up and have a water fight!”
Although she didn’t like Lang Wenxing, at this very moment, she had to unite all possible forces to strike back at the unscrupulous, lovey-dovey couple across from her.
Lang Wenxing saw Jiang Hanguang leaning against Cheng Ying, her beautiful face peeking out, looking at Xie Chengcheng with a hint of a smile.
How can such a good person like you be coerced by someone like that?
He clenched his fists, walked up without a word, and swung his arm fiercely.
A column of water shot towards Cheng Ying’s face at an extremely fast speed.
Lang Wenxing came from a background as a singer-dancer idol, so his physical fitness was much better than a normal Alpha’s. Cheng Ying was busy teasing Xie Chengcheng and was caught off guard, taking the full force of the splash.
“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!” Water went up her nose and into her eyes at the same time. Cheng Ying couldn’t help but squeeze her eyes shut and let out a series of coughs, a burning sensation stinging her nasal cavity.
“Xiao Ying!” Jiang Hanguang’s alarmed cry came from behind her, and then her face was cupped by the woman’s soft hands.
A soft, rose-scented cloth wiped her eyes, nose, and mouth. She slowly caught her breath, and her blurry vision gradually cleared to reveal Jiang Hanguang’s face, her brows tightly furrowed.
It was the same expression as the first time she saw her being insulted. This time, although the woman didn’t cry, Cheng Ying knew she was angry.
“I’m fine…” She was just about to comfort Jiang Hanguang, not wanting her to get angry over such a person, when she saw the other woman turn around.
“Mr. Lang, what is the meaning of this?”
Jiang Hanguang’s words were, as always, perfectly articulated and polite, but this time, even Xie Chengcheng could hear the questioning tone within them.
Lang Wenxing watched her gently wipe Cheng Ying’s face, and the sour feeling in his heart bubbled up incessantly. Now, seeing her question him, he finally couldn’t stop himself from speaking his mind.
“Sister Jiang, don’t be afraid. I will protect you!”
Jiang Hanguang couldn’t comprehend his train of thought. “What are you talking about?”
Lang Wenxing said, “Did Cheng Ying threaten you to be with her and not me? Tell me the truth! Even if I have to fight her to the death, I will protect you!”
Cheng Ying: “…” If he weren’t having a fit, those words would actually be quite touching.
Jiang Hanguang: “?”
Xie Chengcheng: “What the f… What kind of plot is this?”
Jiang Hanguang looked at Lang Wenxing as if she didn’t know him. “How could you think that? Xiao Ying and I are…”
Cheng Ying interrupted her. “Mr. Lang, don’t spout nonsense without evidence. Believe it or not, I can sue you for slander.”
It would have been better if she hadn’t spoken. The moment she did, Lang Wenxing became like an ignited barrel of oil, completely uncontrollable. He pointed at her nose and cursed, “You shameless, lust-crazed fiend! Don’t think you can hide the sky with one hand just because you have a little money! I…”
“Shut up.” A sharp rebuke interrupted him. Jiang Hanguang looked at him angrily, speaking to someone in an almost severe tone for the first time. “You are so rude, maliciously speculating about others like this!”
Lang Wenxing was stunned for a moment by her tone, but he still retorted stubbornly, “If you weren’t being coerced by her, how could you suddenly stop being nice to me after being so nice before? Besides, you two aren’t a couple. This person was staring at your legs for so long earlier. That’s clearly being a pervert!”
“You!” Jiang Hanguang was rendered speechless with anger by his nonsensical pestering. She was also a little shy because her intimate interaction with Cheng Ying had been exposed in public, but she still tried her best to defend Cheng Ying. “She’s not like that! We…”
Before she could finish, Cheng Ying interrupted her again. “I already said I was thinking about how to catch fish. It’s because your own thoughts are filthy that you see others as filthy.”
Lang Wenxing wouldn’t let it go and sneered, “By your logic, are those people who stare up others’ skirts also just lost in thought?”
His words grew increasingly nasty, but Jiang Hanguang’s gaze fell on Cheng Ying.
Having been interrupted twice, she understood Cheng Ying’s meaning.
Cheng Ying didn’t want their relationship to be exposed, for reasons that were self-evident.
The same helpless anger she felt the first time she saw others insulting Cheng Ying rose in Jiang Hanguang’s heart again. The anger was directed both at those who fabricated things out of thin air and at Cheng Ying, who looked completely unconcerned.
The feeling of powerlessness, however, was directed only at herself, and it bred an even deeper anger.
She protects me so well, yet I can’t do anything for her.
A resolute thought suddenly formed in her mind: if she couldn’t stand under the eaves with Cheng Ying, then rushing into the rain together would be fine too.
It was better than feeling guilty alone.
Cheng Ying was still bickering back and forth with Lang Wenxing. In her eyes, it was an amusing activity, much like teasing a monkey.
The woman in front of her suddenly turned around. Before she had time to see the expression on her face, an arm hooked around her neck.
Jiang Hanguang’s beautiful face, so stunning it could make one’s brain short-circuit, instantly drew near.
A warm sensation touched her lips. She widened her eyes.
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