Reborn as an Alpha and Still Wanting to Engage in Lesbian Relationships - Chapter 14

The room was filled with the sweet scent of peaches and sandalwood, enveloping the little one nestled in the middle of the bed. The child slept soundly, stretching out comfortably.

Jiang Man, like a little piglet, slept with her bottom slightly raised and didn’t wake until noon, lured by the sweet aroma of bottled milk. Even before her eyes opened, her tiny hands had already firmly grasped the bottle. Nestled in her mother’s fragrant embrace, she drank eagerly.

In no time, most of the milk was gone, and Jiang Man, now fully recharged, opened her eyes with renewed energy!

Xu Nuo’s plan next door, ostensibly a gathering but actually a scheme to let Wen Qing continue bonding with Manzai fell through shortly after it was conceived. The producer was determined to have the four little ones act independently.

The live streams of the little golden retriever and Teacher Xiao Bo always featured two entirely different scenes. In contrast, Manzai and Wen Qing’s streams, though technically from two separate channels, differed only in camera angles.

This was a blatant disregard for the producer’s hard-won, high-cost investment in filming equipment! An insult! A lack of respect!!!

Wen Qing’s wish to become a little “Man-absorber” again was shattered. For the next week, she would have to live alone as a solitary little one.

Xu Nuo couldn’t help but glance sympathetically at Qingzai, feeling as though the chubby little one’s surroundings had faded to monochrome.

But for Jiang Man, who had previously been closely guarded by her mothers in the old mansion, this kind of life felt entirely manageable. Moreover, Jiang Feng and Liu Ying had relaxed their protective net considerably during the filming process.

When she returned home in the morning, Jiang Man immediately spotted the folded stroller placed in the entryway!

Seeing the beaming little one, Liu Ying couldn’t help but smile, her voice soft and gentle as she pressed her cheek against the child’s plump face. “Manzai is so full of energy! Would you like to come with Mommy to see where she works?”

Remembering her mother’s profession, Jiang Man’s eyes instantly sparkled. Her round, bright eyes blinked at Liu Ying, making everyone’s hearts melt.

Since making a comeback as a guest star alongside Manzai, the business offers Liu Ying had once turned down now came flooding back to her like snowflakes. Following her agent’s advice, Liu Ying accepted a few well-produced cameo roles.

Though these were only minor appearances, as a trial for her comeback, Liu Ying had to give her best to showcase her abilities to the market.

Of course, the most important reason was that Ms. Liu Ying personally wanted to show her little one just how charming her mother could be.

No one could resist a chubby little one, with short, plump hands cupping their cheeks, round eyes blinking like twinkling stars! At the very least, Ms. Liu Ying couldn’t resist!

Clearing her throat lightly, the award-winning actress instantly slipped into her professional demeanor, directing Jiang Feng to fetch her phone. She called the director and mentioned she would be bringing Manzai along to the shoot.

The director, thrilled at the prospect of an award-winning actress making a comeback in a cameo role, a surefire audience draw readily agreed.

The little one watched with starry eyes as her poised mother swiftly ended the call, picked her up, and dressed her in a milky-blue onesie adorned with delicate pink flowers. After a reluctant farewell from her mother, they stepped into a modest-looking but luxuriously equipped nanny van.

Seated in the infant car seat of the nanny van, Jiang Man nibbled on a teething biscuit, curiously watching her mother, who was intently studying the script.

Ms. Liu Ying, a true award-winning actress who had swept all major film and television honors, wore every one of her titles as a testament to her talent and acclaim.

Jiang Man observed as her mother flipped through just two pages of the script, yet the notebook beside her was already densely filled with annotations.

Unfortunately, Jiang Man was a little illiterate who could understand spoken words but couldn’t read. Leaning in for a closer look, all she saw were rows of curved, squiggly characters whose meanings eluded her.

Her furtive peeking didn’t go unnoticed. Noticing her curiosity, Liu Ying lifted Manzai out of the safety seat and settled the little one in her lap. In a gentle voice, she began explaining the script’s content to her inquisitive child.

Truth be told, the plot wasn’t particularly eye-catching. The story relied entirely on the emotional development between the two main characters, with the remaining roles existing solely to propel the protagonists’ relationship forward.

The cameo role Liu Ying had taken was no exception.

In the drama, her character was the stepsister of the female lead Omega. This character wasn’t exactly good, nor was she entirely evil. If one had to describe her, she was more like a delusional madwoman cloaked in human skin, masquerading as a normal person.

But she disguised herself well.

As someone who had briefly imprisoned the female lead Omega during her childhood, the stepsister even smiled while watching the two female leads marry in the grand finale.

This role was both easy and difficult to portray.

If the performance fell short, the character would lose her unique charm half-sane, half-mad. If overacted, she would come across as a purebred obsessive lunatic.

Finding the right balance was the primary challenge Liu Ying was currently grappling with.

As her mother’s soft analysis filled her ears, Jiang Man’s mind suddenly conjured an image of the stepsister from the script.

Under what circumstances would a flawed Omega develop such an obsession with her high-quality Omega stepsister?

Was it love? No.

If it were love, given her personality, she would never have stood by and watched her beloved marry someone else.

Was it familial affection? That didn’t seem to fit either.

The moment the agent stepped into the van, she was met with the sight of the mother-daughter duo strikingly similar in appearance, both frowning in deep thought as they stared at the script.

The assistant, upon seeing the agent, was about to speak but was promptly silenced by a gesture.

The agent pulled out her tablet, aimed the camera at the pair engrossed in their script analysis and—

Click!

The sound of the shutter snapped both out of their reverie. Jiang Man emerged from her thoughts and looked up, bewildered, at the elegantly dressed auntie before her.

The adorable little one, wearing a lace-trimmed bonnet with short straps tucked under her chubby chin, had round eyes full of confusion, yet she showed no trace of shyness.

With just one glance, the agent’s heart melted.

Having worked with the agent for years, Liu Ying knew her colleague’s temperament all too well.

The script, which had been resting on the toddler’s short legs, fell to the floor as Liu Ying’s strong arms tightened around her child, pulling her close.

From above, her mother’s wary voice rang out: “Sun Miao, if you want one, go have your own. Don’t even think about laying a finger on Manzai.”

Her plump cheeks squished from the embrace, little Jiang Man wriggled until her round face popped out from her mother’s hold.

Having worked together for so long, Sun Miao was well aware of Liu Ying’s temperament. She deliberately narrowed her eyes, wearing a mischievous grin as she leaned in and extended her “claws” toward the little one in Liu Ying’s arms.

“Hand her over!”

The dazed little one blinked and found herself in the unfamiliar auntie’s embrace. Her chubby cheeks couldn’t escape the “claws” as the strange auntie proceeded to squish and knead them.

The toddler was so thoroughly ruffled that she felt dizzy. She heard the unfamiliar auntie let out an evil-sounding chuckle: “Why bother with natural birth when you can just snatch one? Liu Ying, why don’t you let me adopt Manzai?”

“I’ll be her godmother! I’ll spend my salary on her!”

Trapped in her arms, the little one was rubbed and tousled until she lost all sense of direction.

Jiang Man felt as though her tiny brain was being kneaded into mush.

The toddler’s resistance was about as threatening as a kitten patting someone with its soft paws utterly ineffective.

It was Liu Ying who couldn’t stand it any longer and snatched Manzai back from her arms.

While straightening Manzai’s clothes, Liu Ying lifted her gaze and shot her agent an exasperated look. “If you want one, go have your own. You can’t just close off your heart because of one scumbag, can you?”

Hearing this, Sun Miao shrugged indifferently, found a comfortable position, and slumped into her seat.

Her “like a dead pig fearing no scalding water” attitude made Liu Ying’s eyes ache.

Ever since Manzai was born, Liu Ying had become increasingly nagging.

Seeing that Liu Ying was about to speak again, Sun Miao preempted her by pulling out the photos she had just taken and handing them over. “What were you two thinking about just now? Look at these furrowed brows, you look exactly alike!”

Seeing the photos, Liu Ying couldn’t help but smile. She lowered her head and poked her little one’s chubby cheek. “Mommy was just thinking about how to portray her character. What were you thinking about, Manzai?”

Sun Miao chimed in casually, “Maybe Manzai was thinking about the same thing as you.”

Little did Sun Miao know that her offhand remark made the toddler in Liu Ying’s arms stiffen slightly.

Buried in her mother’s embrace, Jiang Man’s big eyes widened with barely concealed shock:

Does this auntie have some kind of special mind-reading ability? How did she guess?!

Her little heart leaped into her throat as she pricked up her ears and listened intently to the adults’ conversation.

Only when she realized that Sun Miao had merely made a random guess that happened to be right did Jiang Man’s anxiously pounding heart slowly settle back into her chest.

Oh my goodness, that nearly scared this little one to death!

The crew van had been parked on the outskirts of the set for quite some time. The assistant, whose conversation had been interrupted earlier, knocked on the door with a schedule in hand and leaned halfway inside. “Sister Liu Ying, the director said to get ready. After this scene wraps up, you’ll go shoot the part where the stepsister finds out the female lead has presented as an Omega and imprisons her.”

Liu Ying acknowledged the message, ending her banter with Sun Miao. She took the script that Sun Miao picked up and continued studying it while holding Jiang Man.

If she merely acted according to the script, the stepsister’s character would come across as one-dimensional and bland, a complete stereotype.

What Liu Ying was struggling with now was how to find the character arc for the stepsister.

After all, it wouldn’t make sense for an Omega to develop an obsessive, crazy fixation on another Omega out of nowhere, resort to imprisonment, and yet show no trace of romantic inclination.

That just didn’t add up.

The little one in her arms craned her neck, peering at the script in her mother’s hands, lost in thought.

After hearing her mother’s analysis, Jiang Man felt that the stepsister’s feelings toward her sister were more like…

“An obsessive friendship?”

On set, the director watched Liu Ying, who had already changed into her costume, and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

When the production team first sent the script to Liu Ying, they offered her the role of the antagonist, a character designed to create endless obstacles for the leading A and O couple’s romance from start to finish.

But no one expected that Liu Ying would turn down that role and instead choose a minor character with limited screen time, one that functioned more like part of the background or a passerby.

Such characters typically only serve to propel the romantic plot forward. Few people ever stop to consider their motivations or underlying intentions.

It was a stereotypical, one-dimensional role.

To support her decision, Liu Ying pulled out the script and a notebook she always carried with her, handing over the brief character profile she had written for this minor role.

Jiang Man, who was being held by her aunt Sun Miao, watched as the director took the notebook filled with her mother’s notes. The director’s eyebrows alternately rose and furrowed intensely.

It looked as though her brow muscles were getting a workout fierce enough to knock out a villain with one punch.

That notebook contained her mother’s hard work. Even though Jiang Man was too young to read, she didn’t want to see her mother’s ideas dismissed or ignored.

Jiang Man’s heart fluttered up and down along with the director’s expressive eyebrows.

The set had been inactive for a while, and soon, waiting actors and crew members began gathering around unnoticed.

Liu Ying’s notebook, filled with character notes, was soon surrounded by curious colleagues craning their necks to see.

Suddenly, the striking woman seated beside the director stood up. With a fiery gaze, she stepped forward and, under Jiang Man’s puzzled stare, grasped Liu Ying’s hand.

“Goddess!”

“I’m the screenwriter, Li Jing. Please, just call me Xiao Li!” Li Jing shook Liu Ying’s hand, her eyes sparkling so brightly that Liu Ying was momentarily dazed.

Before Liu Ying could respond, Li Jing released her hand, snatched the character profile from the director, and hurried off to the side. She pulled out her light-brain and began typing frantically.

The rapid, intense clatter of the keyboard snapped everyone back to attention.

The director wiped his forehead, though there was no sweat to be seen, and said to the still-stunned Liu Ying, “Sister Liu Ying, why don’t you take a break in your car for now? Xiao Li revises scripts very quickly!”

“No need,” Liu Ying replied, coming back to herself. She took her child from her agent’s arms and sat on the small stool the screenwriter had just vacated, smiling warmly. “I’ll stay here and observe. I’ll wait for Screenwriter Li.”

Seeing how agreeable she was, the director breathed a sigh of relief.

Filming for Liu Ying’s scenes couldn’t proceed for now, but the rest of the crew continued as scheduled.

At the director’s command, the entire set sprang into action busy yet orderly.

Sitting in her mother’s arms, Jiang Man could easily see the moderately sized screen in front of the director.

On the screen, the actors shed their real-life identities and became entirely different people, living out another’s life.

The little child’s eyes grew brighter and more captivated the longer she watched. Her chubby body leaned unconsciously toward the recording screen, completely engrossed.

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