Damn It! I Fell for the Hated Villainess Again! - Chapter 20.3

The two younger girls burst into laughter at Dacheng’s thick northeastern accent. Jiang Yao, flattered and slightly overwhelmed, accepted the cup of mare’s milk wine, clinked it against Dacheng’s flask, and took a sip. The sour, milky aroma mixed with the sharp tang of alcohol, making her cough lightly.

Seeing her reaction, Xiao He across the table pushed over the plate of milk tofu, her voice much colder than Da Cheng’s. “This goes well with the milk wine.”

Jiang Yao thanked her awkwardly, picking up a small piece of milk tofu to eat.

With the arrival of top-tier Alpha Da Cheng, the atmosphere on the felt rug livened up considerably. The four girls chatted animatedly while the Boss bustled in and out with copper basins, soon filling the low table with an array of meats.

Lin Sheng hadn’t arrived yet. Taking advantage of the moment before anyone touched their chopsticks, Jiang Yao snapped a photo of her first meal in the Northwest and sent it to Yu Tanning.

Xiu Xiu took a phone call and told them to start eating while she and Lan Lan went to fetch Lin Sheng.

Despite her words, the group didn’t rush to eat. Ten minutes later, the latecomer Lin Sheng was finally led in by Xiu Xiu and Lan Lan.

Da Cheng greeted him warmly as usual, but Lin Sheng merely grunted behind his mask, casting a cold glance around the room before settling down next to Xiao He.

Jiang Yao noticed Lin Sheng was still carrying his livestreaming equipment. Glancing at Xiu Xiu and Lan Lan’s slightly awkward expressions, she spoke up, “Please make sure we’re not in your livestream.”

Da Cheng, who also had a poor impression of Lin Sheng, chimed in, “Yeah, we’d rather not be on camera.”

Xiu Xiu and Lan Lan nodded in relief.

A flicker of displeasure crossed Lin Sheng’s eyes, but he said nothing, simply ending the livestream.

Just then, the Boss strode in, holding aloft a perfectly roasted leg of lamb. The minor awkwardness quickly faded as the group raised their glasses and picked up their chopsticks, ready to feast.

Da Cheng, who had grown up eating roasted lamb leg in northeastern China, expertly demonstrated how to carve the meat with a Mongolian knife. Jiang Yao, however, proved surprisingly clumsy, her knife repeatedly straying from the bone, leaving behind shredded scraps.

Seeing her struggle, Da Cheng affectionately piled his own beautifully carved slices onto Jiang Yao’s plate and pressed a pair of disposable gloves into her hand. His voice boomed heartily, “Hey sis, when you’re eating meat in a yurt, you gotta grab it with your hands and take big bites! That’s how you really enjoy it!”

Xiu Xiu and Lan Lan were already happily digging in with their hands. Jiang Yao, abandoning her hesitation, followed suit, grabbing the warm lamb and dipping it into the wild onion sauce.

The tender meat juices mingled with the spicy aroma of the sauce, exploding on Jiang Yao’s tongue in a surprisingly delightful burst of flavor. Before long, the entire table of mutton had been devoured.

Full and satisfied, Dacheng and Xiao He wanted to watch the bonfire performance. Xiu Xiu and Lan Lan were getting a taxi back to the hotel and invited Jiang Yao to join them, but Jiang Yao was too stuffed and insisted on walking a bit to digest her meal.

Outside the restaurant, only Jiang Yao and the taciturn Lin Sheng remained.

Remembering how Lin Sheng had been putting on an act even more elaborate than her own, Jiang Yao couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him. Without a word, she opened her navigation app and started walking toward the hotel.

The night scenery of Pear City’s urban area wasn’t particularly impressive, so Jiang Yao, bored and alone, pulled out her phone to scroll through social media.

After replying to Yu Tanning’s “I’m so hungry!” message, Jiang Yao noticed that the short video platform had recommended a video featuring Lin Sheng.

And they claim this stupid app doesn’t listen to us!

Jiang Yao was about to tap “Not Interested” in disgust when she suddenly recalled the awkward expressions on Xiu Xiu and Lan Lan’s faces when they had picked up Lin Sheng earlier. Reluctantly, she decided to play detective again and clicked on Lin Sheng’s profile to search for incriminating evidence.

Amidst a sea of nauseating male thirst traps, one travel vlog stood out as relatively normal, having been posted just ten minutes earlier.

Jiang Yao clicked on the video, skipping past the initial scenes of superficial self-discipline and borderline vulgar airport workouts. She scrolled to the part where Lin Sheng arrived at the yurt restaurant.

Xiu Xiu and Lan Lan greeted him at the entrance. The two young women, likely assuming Lin Sheng was like the submissive male characters in BL novels, couldn’t suppress their curiosity and peppered him with questions. But Lin Sheng wore his misogyny on his face, his icy demeanor making them visibly uncomfortable.

Jiang Yao opened the comments section and, as expected, found people cursing Xiu Xiu and Lan Lan as “female hooligans.” The nauseating comments about how “it’s so dangerous for a submissive to travel alone” made her want to vomit.

Lin Sheng had been live-streaming at the time, so the online attacks against the girls were likely even more vicious.

Jiang Yao’s fingers reached for a furious response, but her account was restricted from commenting, in addition to being banned from live-streaming. This allowed the pretentious bottom—who thrived on female fans while simultaneously undermining women—to escape unscathed.

Fuming, she returned to her hotel room, showered, and went to bed, plotting how to “deal with” this pretentious bottom in the Gobi Desert the next day. After a night of simmering anger, she barely managed to drag herself out of bed after hitting the snooze button for ten minutes.

Fortunately, she didn’t have much to pack. After a quick tidy-up, she found herself being the first to arrive at the designated meeting point.

Hearing a van honk behind her, Jiang Yao checked the license plate and opened the rear door.

Her gaze swept upward, landing on the driver’s youthful face, barely in his twenties. Jiang Yao froze, instinctively saying, “I must have gotten into the wrong car,” and moved to close the door.

Old Han quickly explained, “Hey, hey, beautiful! You’re in the right place. I’m the only one around here with a van for hire today. Isn’t your group’s license plate 666?”

“Oh, you look so young, sir! I thought someone who’d been driving for over a decade would be closer to forty,” Jiang Yao said, bewildered as she climbed into the van and settled into the prime single seat behind the driver.

Old Han replied, “My experience isn’t fake. This area used to be dirt poor, and kids barely went to school. I dropped out at fourteen to drive trucks with my mom, mostly running routes to the Gobi Desert. When the tourist industry boomed, I got my driver’s license and became a guide. I know this place like the back of my hand.”

Seeing Jiang Yao’s movie star-like beauty, Old Han grew even more enthusiastic. He opened the glove compartment to show her. “Beautiful, do you get carsick easily? I’ve got fruit candies and motion sickness pills here, all brand new and unopened.”

Jiang Yao politely declined, but as she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Lin Sheng sauntering toward them, a mischievous idea struck her. She chuckled softly, “Don’t worry about me, Master. We have a teammate who needs your attention more—he’s delicate, pampered, and a major internet celebrity.”

Old Han was surprised. “A big influencer? Who is it?”

Jiang Yao grinned. “Just search for Lin Sheng. He has over a million followers.”

“A million followers? Impressive!” Old Han pulled out his phone to search just as Lin Sheng, holding his camera, approached the car and opened the back door.

Jiang Yao pointed to the front passenger seat, hinting, “If you get carsick, you should sit up front.”

Hearing this, Old Han glanced back at Lin Sheng and exclaimed in delight, “Oh! It really is Lin Sheng! You take the front seat—I’m a huge fan!”

He’s even more of an actor than Yu Tanning, Jiang Yao thought with a sigh.

Lin Sheng’s gaze swept over Old Han’s ruggedly handsome face. With an air of arrogant resignation—Since you’re insisting, I suppose I have no choice—he closed the back door and settled into the front passenger seat.

Lanlan and Xiuxiu arrived at the meeting point soon after. Jiang Yao noticed their slightly red eyes, guessing they had seen the nasty comments from Lin Sheng’s fans the night before, which only intensified her resentment.

The remaining two teammates arrived quickly, and the car pulled out of Pear City. The asphalt road gradually gave way to rough, gravelly terrain.

With a fierce battle looming, Jiang Yao first caught up on some sleep. When she woke, the scenery outside the window had transformed from dusty adobe houses to an endless expanse of ochre-red desert. In the distance, rolling hills looked as if they had been scorched by fire, their crevices encrusted with glittering salt crystals that shimmered coldly under the sun.

“This is the Black Gobi,” Old Han announced, pointing out the window. “We’ll reach Agate Beach in another twenty kilometers.” He turned to Lin Sheng. “See those mounds on the right? Don’t they look like a herd of camels lying down?”

Lin Sheng, clearly relishing being singled out for attention, gave a slightly bashful nod.

Jiang Yao snapped a photo for Yu Tanning. Noticing Lin Sheng was still live-streaming, she pulled out her phone and tuned into his broadcast.

This bastard really knows how to play the crowd, she thought.

Jiang Yao had assumed Lin Sheng was filming the scenery, but the dog had switched to the front-facing camera, framing himself and Old Han together.

The comments weren’t about wanderlust; they were a frenzy of shipping and yaoi fantasies. “Rough Northwest alpha male paired with a delicate, submissive uke!” “Hope those two women from yesterday piss off and stop interfering with their CP!” The ridiculous comments flooded the chat.

Jiang Yao’s heart gave a cold laugh. She forwarded the livestream to Li An’an, instructing her team to boost the CP’s popularity for a good old-fashioned “death by hype.”

Li An’an, having understood the situation, quickly took care of the arrangements.

Jiang Yao watched the livestream’s popularity skyrocket, her fingers gliding rapidly across the screen, a calculating smile playing on her lips.

As expected, under her deliberate hype, Lin Sheng began glancing at Old Han more and more frequently.

As the car bumped along the gravel road, his camera would casually pan over Old Han’s rough hands gripping the steering wheel or the healthy, sun-kissed tan of his neck.

The chat went wild, “I’m dying from this sweetness!” flooding the screen at lightning speed. Some even started sending gifts, demanding the two interact more intimately.

Old Han, a straight man through and through, remained completely oblivious to the subtle “bromance” being manufactured. He continued enthusiastically describing the passing scenery: “We’ll be at Agate Beach in ten minutes! Let’s hope we get lucky and find some treasures today!”

Someone spammed two Carnival gifts, demanding Lin Sheng act cute and flirtatious with Old Han.

Lin Sheng bit his lip, finally succumbing to the pressure. He awkwardly blurted out, “Ge, will you come agate hunting with me later? Just the two of us?”

Old Han blinked in surprise, then burst into hearty laughter. “Ha ha! The signal’s terrible at Agate Beach, and it’s easy to get lost. We can’t wander off! Let’s all go together! Don’t worry, stick with the group and you’re sure to find some good stuff!”

Lin Sheng’s expression darkened slightly. In the live stream, fans flooded the chat with comments like “Such a clueless top!” and “Poor baby, you’re being mistreated!” Suddenly, the car hit a patch of rough gravel, the jolt causing Lin Sheng to lean involuntarily toward Old Han. He instinctively reached out, his fingertips hovering half an inch above the back of Old Han’s hand, as if about to touch him before pulling back. This perfectly timed ambiguity sent the chat into a frenzy, with gifts and comments exploding across the screen.

“They’re touching!” “Baby, you’re so good at this! The top is going to fall for you so hard!” The messages scrolled across the screen at lightning speed, instantly propelling the live stream to the top spot.

Old Han’s phone began ringing incessantly. He plugged in his headphones, his expression growing increasingly grim as he spoke. Jiang Yao, watching the scene unfold in the rearview mirror, quickly pieced together what was happening and couldn’t help but suppress a mischievous smile.

Lao Han’s friends must have seen the live stream and told him about Lin Sheng’s scheme to exploit their bromance for views, she thought.

Sure enough, as soon as the car stopped at Agate Beach, Old Han began avoiding Lin Sheng like a lamb fleeing a wolf. He refused to trust the man again, sticking close to the group of girls and never letting them out of his sight.

Lin Sheng watched Old Han’s retreating figure as he ducked into the crowd of female tourists, his fingertips restlessly tracing the edge of his live-streaming phone. The chat exploded with skeptical comments: “Can these women just leave already?” “Why aren’t they interacting anymore?” “Did they have a fight?” “Boring, I’m out.”

The mood in the chat had soured, and the live stream’s popularity plummeted. Lin Sheng grew increasingly anxious as several top-tier female viewers, bored, began to leave.

Suddenly, a loyal fan’s comment flooded the chat: “Time for a ‘suffering act’ to win back your man!”

Gritting his teeth, Lin Sheng clutched his stomach and doubled over, his performance remarkably convincing. “Brother… I think I ate something bad. Can you take me somewhere private?”

“I feel really awful.”

Old Han’s face twisted with reluctance, his inner conflict evident. After a long struggle, his years of professional ethics finally won out. With a heavy sigh, he warned Jiang Yao and the others to stay put, grabbed his entrenching tool, and strode toward Lin Sheng.

Time to reel him in. Time to drop the act.

Jiang Yao’s lips curved into a smile as she pretended to focus on her phone, secretly edging in the direction the two men had gone.

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