Becoming the Comfort Alpha for the Aloof Movie Queen - Chapter 87

“Release your pheromones.”

Liang Ruojing’s arms tightened once more.

Pride, reputation, likability—none of it mattered anymore. Her heart had been melted into a soft puddle by Ming Tanqing.

She said she acted well!

Liang Ruojing’s nose felt even more sore. Since the age of fourteen, she had rarely cried, which made her feel somewhat awkward and self-conscious now that the tears had passed.

She peeked up cautiously to observe Ming Tanqing’s expression.

One moment, Ming Tanqing looked heavy-hearted; the next, upon meeting Liang Ruojing’s gaze, a wealth of irrepressible tenderness surfaced in her eyes.

Why was she looking at her like that? It made one… overthink.

Liang Ruojing sniffed loudly, the tips of her ears turning red.

Amidst her racing thoughts, the two of them entered the bedroom. The moment the door closed; the overhead lights were extinguished.

The Omega’s voice drifted from the bedside: “Time to sleep.”

The darkness allowed Liang Ruojing to relax. She no longer had to hide her expressions; Ming Tanqing’s figure was reduced to a blurred silhouette outlined by the moonlight.

Liang Ruojing dove under the covers and hugged her—her soft-hearted goddess.

Ming Tanqing was pressed down into the mattress, their distance so close that their breaths warmed each other’s skin.

“When will the audition results be out?”

“Seven working days.”

A finger pressed against her forehead. Ming Tanqing didn’t have much strength, yet she still managed to poke Liang Ruojing back up.

“The results aren’t out yet, so how do you know it’s impossible?”

In this world, there is a thing called intuition.

Liang Ruojing was struggling to find the words when she heard Ming Tanqing say, “Back when The Sinful Flower was up for awards, the subject matter was sensitive. Everyone thought it was impossible.”

Ming Tanqing chuckled softly; a sound filled with the composure of someone who had weathered the years.

“You know what the final result was.”

She had won two Best Actress awards and four nominations.

In the dark, the Omega’s tone was gentle and persuasive: “How do you feel you performed?”

The confidence she had long abandoned miraculously began to recover.

Liang Ruojing hesitated: “It seemed… alright?”

“Mm, then that’s correct,” Ming Tanqing brushed the hair away from Liang Ruojing’s forehead. “I could do it, and so can you.”

An invisible tail began to wag frantically.

Even in the darkness, the massive grin on Liang Ruojing’s face was clearly visible. Although she and Ming Tanqing started from different points, and although Ming Tanqing was talking about winning awards while she was just auditioning…

But!

Ming Tanqing said they were the same!

It felt as though, in a miniature war, they were on the same front. They were allies.

Liang Ruojing said modestly, “You also said I still have room for improvement.”

Ming Tanqing’s tone was calm: “That is the truth. That you acted well is true, and that you still need to improve is also true. For example, your—”

Halfway through Ming Tanqing’s serious analysis, her lips were sealed by the Alpha.

Liang Ruojing did it on purpose; a smile flooded her innocent puppy-dog eyes, making her look vivid and spirited. She lightly held the other’s slender waist, the force controlled to a limit where the Omega could either push her away or endure it. Her tongue grazed the soft interior of the mouth, teasing wickedly from the outside.

Ming Tanqing’s eyes flickered, and she cupped Liang Ruojing’s head, deepening the kiss of her own accord.

The next morning, they headed to the airport together.

The studio’s clarification statement had already been released. Liang Ruojing clicked on it and immediately saw a sentence—”Ms. Ming Tanqing is currently single.”

This sentence wasn’t technically wrong. But from Liang Ruojing’s perspective, it felt strange. It stripped everything bare, as if the mark that even an isolation patch couldn’t hide had never existed.

Obviously, the general public wasn’t buying it either. After all, a few months ago, a certain Best Actor had maintained his “single” persona right up until the eve of his secret marriage being exposed.

Once the statement was out, the shipping frenzy online grew even more intense. After all, Single = Free to Ship.

Seeing this, Liang Ruojing decisively borrowed Xiao Xing’s alternate Weibo account and reposted:

“I am the 4th fan applying to create the ‘Ming-Ri Ruo-Jing’ Super Topic! We only need 6 more people to meet the application requirements! Everyone, click here to help me speed it up! ~”

It was fine. If there was no home, she would build it herself.

Liang Ruojing switched back to her own alt account. Just as she finished giving the boost, a notification popped up in the background. A giveaway she had previously entered had announced the winners—Liang Ruojing was lucky enough to win a signed photo of Ming Tanqing.

VOGUE: Please provide a delivery address.

With the previous stalking incident fresh in her mind, Liang Ruojing didn’t dare fill in her own address. After thinking for a few seconds, she entered her family home’s address. She would have her family forward it to her later.

The plane was preparing to land. Liang Ruojing looked out the porthole. It was still raining here; the sky was a dismal grey, and raindrops continuously pelted the glass.

Suddenly feeling a gentle touch on the back of her hand, Ming Tanqing walked toward the exit alone and came to a halt. Liang Ruojing immediately chased after her, pulled an umbrella out of her bag, and expertly opened it, shielding Ming Tanqing’s shoulder as they walked down together.

On the way back to the hotel, Liang Ruojing remained buried in her phone, fighting on Weibo.

Ming Tanqing also took out her phone.

Work groups on WeChat were buzzing with messages. The giveaway held previously had concluded, and the list of winning accounts, addresses, and contact info was sent to the group in an Excel sheet for the organizers to review.

Ming Tanqing clicked in, and one ID caught her eye.

“Ming Tanqing’s Industry Girlfriend”?

Scrolling further, her gaze lingered on the address for a long time.

This residential complex…

Ming Tanqing opened a navigation app and entered the address. A few seconds later, a familiar photo of the complex popped onto the screen.

So, this person is—

Ming Tanqing looked up and turned to glance at Liang Ruojing.

The Alpha was doing who-knows-what, her eyes shining with an unusually intense focus.

Teacher Ming, is the list okay?

It’s fine.

Liang Ruojing was completely unaware that her alt account’s cover was on the verge of collapsing.

Lately, she was busy clashing with the fans who shipped Yu Feng and Ming Tanqing. She could tolerate other things, but not this! What was wrong with everyone’s eyesight?

Tanqing-jie clearly disliked that person. He was arrogant, conceited, and an annoying Alpha.

Please don’t ship them randomly. Are they even close?

Where did this little ‘policeman’ come from? What does our self-entertainment have to do with you? Go post in your own Super Topic, okay?

Case closed—the person above’s ship is too obscure; they don’t even have a Super Topic yet.

Hurry and go look! Yu Feng released an interview and admitted they were classmates!

Liang Ruojing went to check it out.

The interview was fresh. The reporter held a microphone and asked, “We heard that you and Ming Tanqing were classmates in university. Is this news true?”

Yu Feng gave a very flamboyant smile: “It’s true.”

The fans below exploded.

Liang Ruojing was speechless. Being classmates meant nothing. He was just taking advantage of the fact that Tanqing-jie was too lazy to personally respond, so he could leach off her popularity. Shameless!

Liang Ruojing resumed her battle and successfully earned over a hundred blocks. Having no choice, she had to shout into the void on her own Weibo page.

When she clicked on her profile, she was surprised to find she had gained a follower. It had a default avatar and a gibberish nickname; the profile was empty. It looked exactly like a bot account pushed by Weibo.

Liang Ruojing ignored it and continued trying to find people to help her establish the Super Topic. Why had it been three days and she was still one person short of ten?

That night, after Ming Tanqing returned from filming and showered, she and Liang Ruojing lay on the hotel bed watching a variety show.

The screen was playing the final episode of Peach Blossom Land: Ancient Town Edition. Ming Tanqing seemed very interested in slow-paced variety shows; she had watched every episode of the Ancient Town edition. Liang Ruojing only knew this from casually browsing the watch history.

A suspicion formed in her mind. Could Tanqing-jie still be jealous? Because the CP she and Liu Lanshi were pushed into had been quite successful—at least their Super Topic had surpassed 5,000 fans.

As Ming Tanqing watched the Alpha on screen diligently hoeing the fields, a fluffy head suddenly popped up on her shoulder.

With a smile, Liang Ruojing reported to her as if clarifying: “That day, we were just working together. Later, when she helped organize the baskets and I turned around, it was because she mentioned you to me.”

“Me?”

Liang Ruojing took out her phone and showed Ming Tanqing her chat background.

“I used it as my lock screen before, but she saw it, so I changed it to my chat background.”

“Am I not very cautious?” Liang Ruojing tilted her head up, her desire for praise blatantly obvious.

Ming Tanqing thought of the person’s flamboyant alt account, let out a soft laugh, and turned her head away.

Liang Ruojing was confused. What was she laughing at?

She continued watching. The show reached the segment where they were descending the mountain. Liang Ruojing suddenly remembered something and leaned closer to the Omega again.

“Tanqing-jie, did you already know that Sister Liu has a partner?”

Ming Tanqing was slightly surprised: “You know?”

“He came after we finished filming. I think his name is Xie Xing.”

Recalling what she saw that night, Liang Ruojing felt a sense of longing: “They should be getting married soon.”

“Liu Lanshi told you?”

“Yes,” Liang Ruojing said. “A seven-year relationship marathon, finally getting married.”

After speaking, Liang Ruojing even performatively raised an eyebrow at Ming Tanqing, looking very much like she was hinting at something.

Ming Tanqing pursed her lips and, despite there being thirty minutes left of the show, decisively turned it off.

Liang Ruojing misunderstood her action and couldn’t help but chuckle: “Are you unhappy?”

“Why would I be unhappy?”

“Because I’m in a ‘ship’ with her,” Liang Ruojing’s hand wandered around the Omega’s waist as she leaned down, trapping Ming Tanqing in her shadow. “You cared.”

Ming Tanqing’s expression remained calm: “You knew I cared, yet you still, did it?”

Liang Ruojing rubbed against her aggrievedly, her lips brushing Ming Tanqing’s ear, whispering softly: “But I only like you.”

Ming Tanqing was momentarily speechless.

Just when she thought Liang Ruojing was about to pull her into a dizzying passion, the Alpha sat up and lay beside her, playing with a strand of her ebony hair.

Liang Ruojing promised her: “I won’t do any more CP pairings in the future.”

“Why?”

Hmph, asking what you already know.

Liang Ruojing: “Because leaching off someone’s popularity isn’t good.”

Speaking of leaching popularity, Liang Ruojing thought of Yu Feng. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Compared to Liu Lanshi, Ming Tanqing’s popularity was far greater.

While Ming Tanqing was thinking, Liang Ruojing wiggled over like a caterpillar, her “paws” clinging to her again.

“Tanqing-jie, I think leaching popularity is very unethical,” Liang Ruojing said indignantly.

She wanted to denounce Yu Feng but lacked a suitable status, so she could only beat around the bush and hint at it in different ways.

“When small actors do it, sometimes it’s the company’s arrangement.”

“But when a veteran who has been in the industry for a long time does it, their intentions are malicious.”

The Alpha’s minty scent lingered at the tip of her nose; the warmth impossible to ignore. Every sentence spoken triggered an undeniable tingle on the skin. It was the perfect manifestation of “pillow talk.”

Ming Tanqing’s eyelashes fluttered, and her heart began to beat rapidly.

As her gland approached maturity, her tolerance for the Alpha’s pheromones had grown stronger. Physical contact that was once tolerable now became excessively distracting.

Ming Tanqing breathed, unable to stop her own pheromones from leaking out.

Liang Ruojing’s teeth were almost grazing Ming Tanqing’s ear, yet the Omega still didn’t seem to get the hint. She just nodded.

She agreed: “You have a point.”

Liang Ruojing felt a deep sense of defeat. Perhaps such trivial matters were truly beneath the consideration of Movie Queen Ming.

Liang Ruojing shut her mouth and rolled back onto her own pillow. What should she do? She was unhappy now, too. Even now, the “Ming-Ri Ruo-Jing” Super Topic was still missing one person to be established.

Ming Tanqing closed her eyes, fully prepared, but several seconds passed and the Alpha’s pheromones beside her actually grew faint. Liang Ruojing was staring at the ceiling with her hands behind her head, lost in thought.

It didn’t look like she had any intention of continuing.

What an “outrageous” Alpha.

While Liang Ruojing was brooding alone, the light above her was suddenly blocked by a shadow. Ming Tanqing straddled her, a hand gently and slowly brushing against her face.

“Ruojing, release your pheromones.”