Chapter 428 – The Movie Emperor’s Beloved Neighbor – Jasmine Green Tea (11)
Beads of sweat the size of beans formed on Heng Xingjian’s forehead as he struggled to endure the pain in his arms.
Bai Tang scrambled to his feet in a panic. Most people’s attention had been drawn to Li Manpei, so there weren’t many gathered under the tree.
“A Jian, A Jian, I’m sorry…” The boy’s eyes were filled with moisture, and with a blink, tears streamed down.
“It’s okay. As long as Tang Tang is fine.” Heng Xingjian’s handsome face was pale. Half-embracing the boy, his bloodless lips gently kissed away the tears at the corners of his eyes. “Don’t cry, I’m fine.”
The boy sniffled softly. Seeing he couldn’t help much, Liu Lingfan ran to the luggage they had left not far away and began searching for the medical kit. Each person could only bring three items, and one of hers was a small first-aid kit.
Bai Tang glanced at the camera filming them. He had Qiu’er and Xiao A create a distraction, then took the opportunity to pull Heng Xingjian behind a nearby tree.
Once he was sure no one could see them, Bai Tang used his healing ability to slowly repair the injury in Heng Xingjian’s arm.
His control over his powers had grown more refined—the healing light was contained within a small range, with no leakage at all.
“A Jian, I lied just now. There wasn’t any snake in the tree. That Li Manpei is just too annoying, so I wanted to scare her a bit,” the boy confessed honestly, apologizing for his behavior.
His tears had already stopped, but his voice still sounded muffled.
“No matter what, I’ll stay by Tang Tang’s side.” It was a simple sentence, yet it carried Heng Xingjian’s deepest promise.
“A Jian~” Bai Tang buried himself in his chest, his heart burning with emotion at such deep affection.
“Tang Tang…” Heng Xingjian hugged him tightly, as if he wanted to press the boy into his very bones.
I love you—from the very first moment I saw you outside the hospital.
“Tang Tang, Heng Xingjian, where are you?” Liu Lingfan had found the first-aid kit, but in the chaos, she couldn’t spot the two people she most wanted to see.
What had attacked Li Manpei wasn’t the “green snake” everyone thought—it was just a vine that looked like one.
Li Manpei stopped wailing. The abrasions on her face throbbed faintly, but they were nothing compared to the anxiety of having mistaken a vine for a snake.
When she came back to her senses and realized that the scene just now had likely been seen by all her fans, her face burned with embarrassment.
What should she do? Her image…
Li Manpei lowered her head and said nothing. To her devoted admirer, Gu Xinrong, it looked like she had been frightened and injured, too embarrassed to face anyone.
He glanced around and spotted Liu Lingfan standing in the open with the first-aid kit. He quickly walked over, leaned in, and said softly, “Let me borrow that, thanks.”
Gu Xinrong was in a hurry and quite strong. When he grabbed the first-aid kit, Liu Lingfan didn’t have time to let go and was pulled forward, stumbling and nearly falling.
“Hey, I never agreed to lend it to you!”
Even the most easygoing person has their limits. The first-aid kit had been snatched away—what about Tang Tang and Heng Xingjian?!
Liu Lingfan pushed her way into the crowd, trying to get the kit back, but Gu Xinrong was faster. The kit had already been opened, and the accompanying doctor was carefully treating Li Manpei’s wounds.
Liu Lingfan was furious, but she couldn’t exactly snatch it back midway through treatment.
“Woof, woof, woof…”
The sound of two small dogs barking came from nearby. Liu Lingfan felt something tugging at her pant leg. Looking down, she saw a little husky biting onto her pants, seemingly trying to lead her somewhere.
Dogs protect their owners—these two must know where Bai Tang was.
Liu Lingfan bent down, grabbed some disinfectant and gauze from the first-aid kit, and followed the two puppies to the tree where Bai Tang and Heng Xingjian were.
“Tang Tang, are you hurt?” Liu Lingfan pulled him out of Heng Xingjian’s arms and lifted his chin—no injuries on his face, good; she rolled up his sleeves—his arms were smooth, also fine; she started to roll up his pant legs…
“Hm?”
Her movements were suddenly stopped by Heng Xingjian. She looked up and met his deep, stormy gaze, and her body froze as if she had been immobilized.
“Sorry to make you worry, Xiao Fan. I’m not hurt~”
The boy’s voice broke the frozen tension, and the atmosphere warmed again. Liu Lingfan also realized she had been too rash. She gave an awkward smile and let go of Bai Tang’s pant leg.
“It’s good that you’re not hurt… really good…” Liu Lingfan held the disinfectant awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Heng Xingjian’s presence was too overwhelming—just standing there made her unsure of herself.
Bai Tang let go of Heng Xingjian and instead looped his arm through Liu Lingfan’s. “How is it over there?”
With someone changing the subject, Liu Lingfan was more than happy to escape the awkwardness.
She glanced toward the crowd and curled her lips. “Tsk, making a fuss over nothing.” Clearly, even the “female lead” didn’t think much of that troublesome supporting character.
After treating Li Manpei’s minor scrape, everyone sat down quietly in a circle.
Bai Tang stuffed the small red flag into Heng Xingjian’s hand. “Ours.” If anyone wanted to snatch it, they’d have to get past Ah Jian first.
Xuan Xiuxian weighed the difference in strength between himself and Heng Xingjian, then reluctantly withdrew his gaze.
So far, their team hadn’t obtained a single flag—and now they even had two injured members.
He looked at the group that had split into two factions and sighed inwardly. Three days… and only one had passed so far. This was going to be tough.
The production team had clearly thought of this as well. Several of them stepped aside and huddled together, seemingly discussing something. Just as Bai Tang and Heng Xingjian finished packing and were about to set off, the cameraman—who had previously shared a “roast chicken” connection with Bai Tang—spoke up.
“Bai Tang, you’ve seen the situation. There’s conflict between Li Manpei and Yi Haoguang. If they stay together, things might escalate even further. So… would it be possible…”
The cameraman awkwardly expressed the production team’s request to swap team members. Creating drama was one thing—but they definitely didn’t want things to spiral into something serious.
After a day of observation, the staff had already figured out Bai Tang’s position within the team. As long as he agreed, Heng Xingjian and Liu Lingfan wouldn’t object.
Being able to get away from that “green tea,” Yi Haoguang couldn’t ask for more.
With bruises still covering his face, he moved closer to Bai Tang. “Look at this injury on my face…”
Bai Tang: “!!!”
Ke Lianggong explained, “He got it from a fight with Gu Xinrong. Just a small conflict.”
Ke Lianggong tried to downplay the situation. Deep down, he also wanted to separate Yi Haoguang and Li Manpei—once they were apart, there would be far fewer problems.
Even without hearing the full truth, Bai Tang could already guess what had happened.
Qiu’er and Xiao A were even commenting on Li Manpei’s acting skills.
“‘Innocent girl’? Please, don’t insult actual innocent girls. She’s more like a cup of jasmine green tea.”
“This is the worst slander jasmine green tea has ever suffered.”
The viewers in the livestream also found something off about Li Manpei.
[“The more I watch her, the more something feels wrong. That “green tea” vibe is really strong.”]
[“No bias here—Li Manpei is just a delicate girl. Her clothes were soaked, and a man suddenly barged in. Wouldn’t you scream too?”]
[“She’s not a bad person. She’s been blaming herself for leading everyone the wrong way, and she even kindly warned them about a snake in the tree.”]
[“Give me a break—“kindly”? How is she any different from those “Don’t argue, it’s all my fault, I’ve always wanted to get along with my sister” green tea girls? Only straight guys can’t see through it.”]
[“It’s not that straight guys can’t tell—they just want to have it both ways.”]
Just then, Liu Lingfan, who had been firmly against swapping team members, was still refusing. Their group only had three people—who would leave, and who would join?
Maintaining her soft and fragile demeanor, Li Manpei walked up to Bai Tang. “Senior Bai, please don’t argue because of me. It’s all my fault. I’ve always wanted to do something for everyone, but I keep messing things up.” She turned to Yi Haoguang. “Yi Haoguang, I’ve always wanted to get along with you peacefully, but you misunderstood me…”
Xiao A: “See? What did I tell you.”
Qiu’er: “Impressive. I’ve learned something.”
Female viewers: [“That’s next-level.”]
Male viewers: [“Something feels off, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”]
People of the same kind are especially sensitive to each other. While Ke Lianggong was talking to Bai Tang, Yi Haoguang had been subtly on guard against him all along. It wasn’t obvious, but it was definitely there.
Bai Tang’s eyes flicked back and forth between them. He pulled Heng Xingjian aside, and the two whispered about something. Then Bai Tang jogged over to Liu Lingfan. She cast a strange glance at Ke Lianggong and the others—then agreed to the team swap.
She agreed!!!
Yi Haoguang’s eyes widened. He jumped up in excitement, only to pull at his injuries again and cry out in pain.
“You, be careful.” Ke Lianggong rubbed Yi Haoguang’s arm, a hint of indulgent affection on his face that even he himself didn’t notice.
It was an equal exchange—female for female. Not only did it separate Li Manpei and Yi Haoguang, it also kept things relatively fair for both teams.
As everyone packed up, Gu Xinrong still felt uneasy, worried that Bai Tang and Heng Xingjian might bully Li Manpei, so the two teams ended up traveling together.
Along the way, everyone finally got to witness what it meant to be doted on by an award-winning actor.
For example, right now—
“Tang Tang, the path ahead is slippery. I’ll carry you across.”
“Okay~”
The man crouched down, and the boy shyly climbed onto his back, hiding half his face against the man’s shoulder.
“We’ve passed it already. Put me down—I’m heavy.”
“You’re not heavy, Tang Tang. I could carry you for a lifetime.”
“A Jian, are you hungry? These chestnuts are really good—I’ll feed you.”
“Open your mouth, ah—”
“Ah—”
The two of them led the way at the front, leaving no room for anyone else to join in.
Li Manpei bit her lower lip, glanced ahead, then lowered her gaze in silence.
Under the blazing sun, everyone was sweating profusely. When they stopped to rest at noon, Bai Tang quietly sat to the side, weaving grass. Gu Xinrong watched for a while, found it boring, and turned away to chat with Li Manpei.
Heng Xingjian started a fire. At some point, the husky and the golden retriever—who had disappeared earlier—came running back, one carrying a chicken in its mouth, the other a fish. They dropped them beside Heng Xingjian and barked, “Woof, woof…”
“Good dogs. Go see what Tang Tang is doing.” Afraid the fire might burn them, Heng Xingjian shooed them off to Bai Tang.
“Woof…” The black-and-white husky and the golden retriever trotted over and nudged Bai Tang.
“Come here—try these on and see if they look good.”
Bai Tang had woven several grass hats. Two smaller ones were clearly meant for the little ones.
Qiu’er wore the grass hat Bai Tang had specially made for him and strutted over to Li Manpei and the others, showing off proudly.
Hmph, a bunch of mortals—do you have love-filled grass hats personally woven by my Tang Tang?
With the hats on, they no longer had to worry about the sun pounding on their heads. Everyone looked on enviously, and Qiu’er grew even more smug.
Heng Xingjian stepped up to Bai Tang. “Tang Tang, where’s mine?”
“Of course I made one for you.” Bai Tang pulled out a hidden grass hat from behind him. “Come on, try it—see if it fits.”
The boy placed the hat on Heng Xingjian’s head. A few stray blades of grass stuck out, but instead of ruining his looks, they gave him a more down-to-earth charm.
“So handsome!” The boy’s eyes curved into a smile.
“It’s because Tang Tang is so skilled.” The man’s lips curved upward, and in his brown eyes, only one person was reflected.