Jiang Ling could feel Mo Ran’s subtle, warm breath up close, making her neck shrink from the ticklish sensation, her face filled with confusion. “What?”
Seeing this, Mo Ran naturally slipped her arm around Jiang Ling’s shoulders, drawing her closer. With a soft laugh, she leaned in, their noses almost touching. The gentle brush of skin sent ripples through Jiang Ling’s heart.
“I said—”
“You considered her feelings, but what about me?”
Mo Ran maintained that tantalizing, ambiguous distance between them, her tone slow and impossible to read.
These words snapped Jiang Ling back to reality.
Ah… that’s true.
She had really been a bit too selfish. While she’d thought about Fang Wannian’s feelings, she hadn’t considered Mo Ran’s at all.
Thinking of this, a wave of guilt surged in Jiang Ling’s heart, and she instantly fell into a dilemma.
They were both her adorable teammates—how was she supposed to choose?
Seeing Jiang Ling’s tightly furrowed brows, Mo Ran could easily guess what she was thinking. The corner of her lips lifted briefly before dropping again, and she loosened her arm.
Jiang Ling felt her shoulder lighten, and in the next instant, Mo Ran’s expression—like porcelain breaking—flashed before her eyes, filled with loneliness.
“Did I make things difficult for you?”
Her gentle, soft voice sounded different this time, laden with an emotion that made Jiang Ling’s heart clench painfully. Her brows furrowed even more as she subconsciously reached out her hand, only to watch as Mo Ran stepped half a pace back.
The intimate distance between them was suddenly pulled far apart.
Jiang Ling’s mouth hung half open, her face full of helplessness.
Her mind was a complete blank now. She could only force out a shaky voice: “I’m sorry, I…”
“Pfft.”
Before she could finish, Mo Ran turned her face aside and laughed quietly.
The sound startled Jiang Ling into staring at her for a long moment before she finally realized—she’d been tricked again!
Her tense face relaxed at once, and she pouted, muttering under her breath, “Why did you have to scare me, seriously.”
“Well, I just wanted you to really understand the situation.”
Mo Ran picked up the cookbook again and flipped a page. “Though I don’t actually mind, I do hope that from now on, you’ll consider everyone’s feelings a bit more before you act.”
That made Jiang Ling lower her head sheepishly. “I just… discovered what was really going on all of a sudden, and got too excited, so…”
“What do you want for dinner, stir-fried pork or minced pork with eggplant?”
Mo Ran casually shifted the topic and didn’t press further.
“…Stir-fried pork.”
Hearing Jiang Ling’s answer, Mo Ran glanced over and saw her poking her fingers together, lost in thought, and couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless and worried inside.
She really is a complete idiot.
Who knows how angry Nan Nan will get.
The news of the upcoming Christmas special performance was released online through the official account. Xu Nuo had been working overtime to produce a batch of Christmas special merchandise. The products weren’t too different from before, but featured a wide variety of character illustrations and designs.
When Jiang Ling went to find her, Xu Nuo’s dark circles were practically dragging on the floor. In the end, Bai Xue had to force her to take a few days off.
Stage arrangements were progressing smoothly, with the setlist full of Christmas-themed songs, and the costumes were picked out just right. Everything was coming together perfectly—except…
Jiang Ling cautiously glanced up at Fang Wannian, who was packing up her things to leave, and felt torn inside.
She’d thought that after her last in-depth analysis, things between them would ease up. But in reality…
Not only did things not improve, they actually got worse!
Previously, even though Fang Wannian wouldn’t start conversations with her, at least she would listen seriously when Jiang Ling talked.
But now, forget about conversations—they couldn’t even make eye contact!
Even when the dance formation brought them close, Fang Wannian just ignored her and walked around.
This made Jiang Ling anxious and a little sad.
Wuwu, a woman’s heart is truly a needle at the bottom of the ocean!
As the publicity heated up, the Christmas special performance arrived as scheduled.
Inside the venue, there was a super-sized Christmas tree. Supposedly, Mo Ran had found it as a rare bargain while grocery shopping and bought it on the spot. The little gift boxes and sparkling lights strung around it were hung up by the whole group together, and they really did draw the eye.
A few minutes before the performance, Jiang Ling checked her equipment as usual, then tugged at her skirt. Once she confirmed everything was ready, she went on stage with everyone else.
The opening number was a classic Christmas song. Bathed in orange light, everyone sang with beaming smiles, and the atmosphere was warm and cheerful.
Afterwards, all the NOVA members introduced themselves as usual, and moved on to the chat segment.
“Today’s questions were submitted by our staff,” Mo Ran said with a smile, pointing at the big screen beside her. “Let’s take a look at the first question—”
“What are your plans for Christmas?”
Following the order, Lin Xiaoyu, who was sitting on the end, answered first.
She thought seriously for a few seconds, then replied with a straight face: “Lying in bed reading manga until I fall asleep.”
“Homebody, you should go outside for once!”
A “mom fan” shouted from the audience, followed by laughter.
Next was Bai Xue. She played with her curly hair, looking troubled. “Honestly, I’m still hesitating… whether to work overtime or take a break…”
“Ah, just take a break at a time like this!”
Mo Ran and the fans in the audience all said in unison. Mo Ran then beamed at Jiang Ling. “What about you, Little Bell?”
Jiang Ling shook her head honestly. “I don’t really have any plans—probably just a normal day. Hmm, maybe I’ll peek at some manga by Little Fish.”
As soon as she finished, the CP fans in the audience started shouting: “YuLing win win win!”
“Ah, sounds great! I want to join too~”
Mo Ran joined in the fun, and when the cheers from the audience were nearly loud enough to bring down the ceiling, she raised her hand for quiet. “Alright, actually, I’ll be making some snacks for everyone as usual.”
“Always our Mama-chan, so reassuring~”
Amidst the chatter, everyone’s gaze turned to Fang Wannian, who looked a bit distracted.
“What about Nan Nan?”
Fang Wannian stared at the screen for a long while, her fingers clutching at the sides of her skirt unconsciously, and answered softly, “I’ll probably… spend it alone at home.”
Seeing her obviously lost look, Mo Ran smoothly shifted the topic back. “Then let’s check the next question, shall we?”
After a short chat segment, it was time for the next stage performance.
This special performance went off without a hitch—everything progressed unusually smoothly.
Meanwhile, as the show and talk segment went on, discussions about NOVA suddenly started trending online.
[Did anyone else notice that Nan Nan seemed off today?]
This immediately got a lot of agreement.
[So I used my sharp eyes and observed her. She seemed normal with everyone else, but whenever she ran into 00, she deliberately avoided eye contact, as if… they’d broken up!]
[Ah! Is this that irresistible “divorce couple” CP? Hello everyone, today I’m born—these are my mom and my mommy.]
As fans debated heatedly, Jiang Ling felt both relieved that the stage had gone well, and anxious at the same time.
But since the show was still ongoing, she kept chatting with everyone as if nothing was wrong.
“So, for today’s game segment, we’ll pick two members. Since it’s a special show, let’s let the audience decide—shout out their names!”
Mo Ran held the microphone out toward the audience, and in an instant, the audience erupted in unison: “00!”
Jiang Ling wasn’t surprised at all—after all, she was always the one to suffer during these game segments.
“And who’s the next one?”
Suddenly, a bad feeling welled up in Jiang Ling’s heart.
As if to prove her hunch right, after the initial hubbub, the fans shouted out almost as one—
“Nan Nan!”