After Encountering My Deceased Wife, I Became the Male Lead's Love Rival - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Evil Scheme

Not long after Fang Ziyue returned, Director Chang conducted a thorough investigation of the program staff. He kicked out several dishonest members and brought in a few quick-handed, honest workers. The primary reason was that after recovering from his illness, he realized his foolish apprentice had nearly caused a major disaster. Letting guests enter a deep forest in the middle of the night for a task wasn’t that playing a joke on the guests’ personal safety?!

However, when he investigated, he found that the person who incited his apprentice had already resigned using an excuse and vanished. In the end, he couldn’t trace which agency had sent them. As for his foolish apprentice, he was scolded and sent back to school for retraining.

Now, with Director Chang himself announcing the tasks, the timing and content were much more “human.”

“Team members need to finish weeding their respective fields before 10:00 AM. The first group to complete the task will receive a snack gift pack from the program team.”

A snack gift pack?!

The eyes of the three people on Fang Ziyue’s side lit up simultaneously. Ling Qiu loved snacks; whether it was the fan Cang Jinyu or Fang Ziyue—who was single-mindedly chasing her wife—both secretly straightened their backs, full of drive. Ling Qiu, meanwhile, pretended not to care, struggling to maintain her image of someone who wasn’t greedy. That look of being “snack-hungry” yet keeping a stiff face made Fang Ziyue’s heart soften with affection.

Regardless, she had to win that gift pack.

In contrast to the high morale on Ling Qiu’s side, everyone on Lin Mingcheng’s side was reluctant. Lin Mingcheng maintained a “flower on a high peak” persona clean and aloof; the thought of wading through mud made him want to vomit.

As for Cang Jinyao and Lin Mengyan, they were the types who “never dipped their fingers in spring water” and practically wanted to use bread as stepping stones to cross a mud puddle. Naturally, they were unwilling. However, with the cameras rolling, they had no choice but to enter the fields and pull weeds begrudgingly.

The two teams’ fields were right next to each other. Seeing this, Fang Ziyue unhesitatingly chose the outermost side. Cang Jinyu, worried that the Lin family would sabotage Ling Qiu, specifically chose the innermost side; she happened to be right next to Cang Jinyao. Ling Qiu was sandwiched in the middle, seemingly well-protected, but actually vulnerable on the inner flank.

Fang Ziyue caught a glimpse of Cang Jinyao constantly looking for an opportunity to make a small move. A cold smile appeared on her lips. She would see just what kind of tricks Cang Jinyao could pull.

Unaware that her movements had been noticed, Cang Jinyao continued to observe her surroundings. Because Cang Jinyu had never done manual labor, she was clumsy and lagged behind Ling Qiu, positioning herself right alongside Cang Jinyao. There were fish in the rice paddies, and Cang Jinyao was looking for a dead fish that someone had thrown nearby earlier.

Half an hour passed. To create a better opportunity for Cang Jinyao, Fang Ziyue intentionally accelerated her pace, pulling far ahead of Ling Qiu and Cang Jinyu. Ling Qiu, busy teaching Cang Jinyu, remained a step or two away from her. Meanwhile, the Lin couple was advancing at a snail’s pace.

Only Cang Jinyao kept close to Cang Jinyu; though she pretended to work hard, the comments knew better. Aside from her hardcore fans trying to “whitewash” her actions, everyone else said she was clumsy and just going through the motions without actually pulling the weeds.

What else do you want Yao-yao to do? She’s already working so hard! Exactly. Not everyone is born poor. Our Yao-yao comes from a wealthy family; is it strange she doesn’t know how to weed? Boosting the comment above. Sisters are right. Yao-yao isn’t like those two who clearly have ‘mud-leg’ (peasant) parents. It’s strange how such poor ghosts can get famous. Heh, who knows what they relied on to get there.

Cang Jinyao’s fans were notoriously toxic; within three sentences, they’d be insulting someone’s family. Passersby had a terrible impression of them. But because Cang Jinyao’s backers were powerful, people in high positions didn’t care about this “fly,” as she couldn’t touch them anyway. Those in lower positions could do nothing about her; in fact, Cang Jinyao’s reputation was even worse than Lin Mengyan’s.

Just as Cang Jinyao’s fans were busy “corpse-whipping” anyone who spoke ill of their idol, a sharp scream from Cang Jinyao suddenly rang out. Cang Jinyu, who was bent over weeding, didn’t have time to stand up before she was violently shoved from behind. Her stick-thin frame couldn’t take it, and she lunged forward right into Ling Qiu, who was turning around!

Ling Qiu, startled by the scream, was shoved by Cang Jinyu and fell defenselessly onto her knees in the mud. The sudden splash of muddy water soaked Ling Qiu completely, missing neither her hair nor her neck. In summer, people wear thin clothes; Ling Qiu, who wasn’t fond of the heat, was only wearing a long-sleeved top. Now soaked in muddy water, the fabric clung tightly to her body, clearly outlining her exquisite figure.

In the live stream, many people saw the wet clothes clinging to Ling Qiu’s upper body, sketching out those seductive curves. They went wild. Large yellow text saying “Wife, I can!” flooded the screen.

Unfortunately, this “benefit” didn’t last long before it was covered by a blue jacket. Ling Qiu wiped her face, and a wet hand suddenly reached out in front of her. She looked up and saw Fang Ziyue, her pants covered in mud, standing before her. In the depths of her dark eyes was a chilling coldness and displeasure.

Ling Qiu froze, momentarily unsure if the other was annoyed that her clumsiness had crushed the crops. But in reality, Fang Ziyue was only angry that her wife’s wet silhouette had been seen by others! Cang Jinyao, that idiot what kind of pathetic harm-inducing trick was this? How could a fool with such a crippled brain manage to set up so many people?! Tsk…

Cang Jinyao’s shove seemed to have lit a fuse. Not only did she cause Cang Jinyu and Ling Qiu to fall into the mud, but Lin Mengyan behind her was also so startled by the scream that she jumped aside, splashing Lin Mingcheng with mud. Lin Mingcheng’s face distorted; he was on the verge of cursing but was calmed by a whisper from Lin Mengyan. After a moment of realization, he looked at Ling Qiu with endurance, anticipating Cang Jinyao’s next move.

Sure enough, Cang Jinyao scrambled up in a panic and shouted: “There’s something moving under the water! There’s a snake!”

Seeing her pale face and disheveled state, Director Chang held back his scolding and only responded: “There are no snakes; there are only fish in this field.” Director Chang almost blurted out, “Didn’t I tell you guys before?” They had already seen half the script; what was wrong with this Cang Jinyao?! Was she intentionally causing trouble?

In the comments, the various fanbases were at each other’s throats. However, looking back at the footage, something indeed rolled under the water and kicked up a splash; it seemed justifiable that Cang Jinyao was startled into lunging forward. To maintain their public image, the fans of Cang Jinyu and Ling Qiu gritted their teeth and re-watched the stream, posting angrily: “You’d better not let us catch your idol causing trouble on purpose!”

Because Ling Qiu, the Cang sisters, and Lin Mingcheng were covered in mud, the program team had to send someone to lead them to change. Lin Mengyan stayed behind voluntarily, ostensibly to work, but actually to monitor and distract Fang Ziyue. However, Fang Ziyue maintained a cold “don’t come near me” face, weeding quickly without saying a word.

Soon, Fang Ziyue finished her field. Just as everyone thought she would help finish the fields of her teammates Ling Qiu and Cang Jinyu, she left the field to rest.

The comments immediately flooded with: “Speechless, she only cares about herself?” “I told you she was faking it. She acted so hardworking in front of Best Actress Ling, but the moment she leaves, her true colors are exposed?” “Crap, she really can act.” “If she couldn’t act, how would she have the nerve to approach Best Actress Ling after being the other woman? How does she dare?”

Haters and hired water armies seized the opportunity to stir up trouble. Fang Ziyue’s recently improved reputation turned sour again, and “Black History” was spammed in the comments, fearing passersby might miss it.

Lin Mengyan, who was sweating from her clumsy weeding, felt a flash of nervousness. She quickly put on an exhausted, pitiable look and called out to Fang Ziyue, who was about to leave: “Ziyue, you’re so amazing to finish the work so fast. Um, could you give me some guidance?”

Lin Mengyan not only acted like she was humbly seeking advice but also said consciously: “You don’t have to pull them for me, just tell me the correct way to weed.” Having said that, she pressed her hands together and swayed slightly, which looked cute to the audience.

However, the woman, who was currently washing her feet and putting on shoes with her back turned, didn’t pay her any attention. In fact, she gave her a warning glance before leaving. That glance made Lin Mengyan feel cold to the bone, as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. She instinctively took a step back as a terrifying thought surfaced in her mind:

Did Fang Ziyue… discover our plan?!

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