Acting as the Vicious Second Lead [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 30

To capture a woman’s heart, you must first capture her stomach. — From “Qu Li’s Strategy for Flirting”

“Do you like it?”

“I like it…”

In the living room, the two sat opposite each other. The room was filled with the unique fragrance of fresh fruit mixed with a hint of creamy milk. On the wooden table sat a plate of lemon meringue tarts. The crusts were a perfectly even light caramel color, topped with peaks of toasted meringue piped high over the lemon filling and sprinkled with almond flakes. Each tart was small, dainty, and exquisite. They lay there, exposed and utterly seductive.

With one bite, the sweet-and-sour, silky texture sent Qin Xiaoxiao into a daze. The flavor seemed tailor-made for her; the sweetness was controlled perfectly, ensuring she wouldn’t get tired of them no matter how many she ate.

Then, as if suddenly realizing what she had just blurted out, she immediately straightened her expression. She glared at the gentle woman and added: “Psych! I don’t actually like the snacks you brought.”

Qin Xiaoxiao finished the tart in her hand, enunciating clearly as she teased her on purpose.

“Oh…”

Qu Li truly lived up to her reputation as a veteran actress. Upon hearing this, the beaming smile on her face vanished, replaced entirely by desolation. Like a spring flower withering, her expression turned so tragic that one couldn’t help but want to smooth out the furrow in her brow. The emotion flowed naturally—so realistic that not a trace of pretense could be found.

Having successfully seen the other person look “heartbroken,” the victorious Qin Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, but she wasn’t as happy as she thought she’d be. She was used to Qu Li being thick-skinned and unmoved by her insults; seeing her suddenly look like a grieving widow made Qin Xiaoxiao feel a bit out of sorts.

Just as she was about to soften her tone and offer a clumsy apology, she heard Qu Li continue—

“How regrettable. They didn’t suit your taste,” Qu Li said apologetically. “In that case, I’ll take the remaining tarts back and put them back in the oven. I’ll visit again once my skills have improved.”

With that, Qu Li stood up, leaned over, and reached for the plate, intending to take them away.

“Wait!”

Seeing this, Qin Xiaoxiao hurriedly stopped her.

Qu Li suddenly looked up. Seeing the girl’s panicked expression, the mirth in her eyes could no longer be hidden. “Pfft!” She couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s wrong?”

Realizing belatedly that she had been played, Qin Xiaoxiao’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot. Ignoring the woman’s question, she scrambled to protect the lemon tarts from those “evil claws.”

Qin Xiaoxiao was annoyed at her own stupidity. How could she not see that the heartbreak was fake? At the same time, she vowed never to be tricked by the same tactic again.

Then, Qin Xiaoxiao glanced at her with a straight face, her tone dominant and overbearing: “Heh. Let me tell you, once something enters my hands, there’s no logic in giving it back to you.”

“It’s good as long as you like eating them.”

“…I don’t like them.”

“Mhm-hmm~” Qu Li sat back on the sofa, her voice trailing off with a playful, doting lilt.

She gazed at the girl opposite her, who was clad in bear-themed pajamas. The clothes were likely a size too big, making her look small and swallowed by the fabric—especially now that she was hunched over to guard her food. Her posture was crooked, and her chest was flat against her knees.

The girl’s head was slightly lowered, her cheek rubbing against the brown collar. Perhaps because of the color contrast, or perhaps because she stayed indoors too much, her skin was excessively pale. Her originally rounded jawline had become somewhat sharp. Overall, she had lost a lot of weight.

A look of pity entered Qu Li’s eyes. Right now, she had only one thought: Fatten her up.

“…”

Feeling the starlet staring at her, Qin Xiaoxiao felt uncomfortable and glared back. “Stop looking at me,” she snapped.

“Alright.” Qu Li picked up her phone and started playing with it.

Qin Xiaoxiao felt like her punch had landed on a bag of cotton. Leaning back against the sofa, she picked up a tart that was still warm. She began to reflect on how things had ended up this way.

The story went back five hours.

Qin Xiaoxiao had seen Qu Li on the balcony and immediately retreated to her bedroom without looking back, intending to ignore the world and sleep. After a while, there was a knock on her door. Qin Xiaoxiao wrapped herself tighter in her blanket, playing the ostrich.

However, the person outside was incredibly persistent. The “thump, thump, thump” continued endlessly, as if they were prepared to break the door down if she didn’t open it.

Unable to take it anymore, Qin Xiaoxiao got up, put on her slippers, and opened the door. The moment she did, she saw Qu Li’s annoying face. She was about to get angry when she suddenly smelled something delicious.

She looked down. Her gaze landed on a plate of snacks in the woman’s hand. It was a food Qin Xiaoxiao loved—delicious and highly aesthetic. Instantly, all the insults she had prepared for the starlet got stuck in her throat.

If humans had tails, Qin Xiaoxiao’s would be wagging frantically right now.

The money her mother had left her had slipped through her fingers; there was barely anything left. She didn’t feel it while she was spending, but at the end of every month, she would stare at the massive bills in a daze. In this materialistic world, money was never enough.

She had thought about getting a part-time job, but her manager had stopped her. Lin Yu said jobs required ID, and given her current situation, a part-time gig wasn’t suitable. If her personal info leaked and an anti-fan found her workplace and threw acid at her, what then?

Hearing that threat, Qin Xiaoxiao shivered and dropped the idea. As for acting, the only well-paying role had been rejected by Lin Yu. Other crews were either full or stingy. Out of options, she had tried calling her mother again, only for her father to answer and scream at her to quit the industry and crawl back home. Then, click—he hung up.

A few days later, Qin Xiaoxiao tried the number her mother had used to call her. She found, tragically, that she was blocked… again. It seemed her father had discovered the 500,000 yuan transfer and decided to block her number entirely.

Left with no choice, she had to scrimp and save. She hadn’t touched sugar or meat in a week. So, when Qu Li claimed she had moved in and wanted to visit her neighbor with a handmade gift, Qin Xiaoxiao thought about it for a second and agreed.

Qin Xiaoxiao had said, “You can leave once you drop the gift off.” Qu Li shook her head, claiming she would only leave satisfied after watching her eat.

Because she couldn’t resist the temptation of good food, this was the current situation.

“Our drama airs at the end of the month,” Qu Li suddenly sighed, looking down. “Time really flies.”

Qin Xiaoxiao: “Oh.”

Qu Li: “You haven’t appeared on Weibo for months. If this keeps up, you’ll become irrelevant.”

Qu Li had sent her messages, but she never replied. Not seeing her active figure made Qu Li feel as if she had vanished from the world, causing a slight sense of unease.

“I don’t post, but I read the comments,” Qin Xiaoxiao said boastfully. “I actually have two loyal little fans who spend every day bashing your fans for me.”

“I’m envious that you have fans who love you that much,” Qu Li smiled, offering a sincere compliment.

The starlet’s smile made Qin Xiaoxiao feel a bit mushy. Assuming the other woman was jealous of her high-combat-power fans, she curled her lips upward. “Naturally.” Her tone was filled with a bit of pride.

“You have something on your face.” Qu Li set her phone on the sofa. She leaned in close to Qin Xiaoxiao. “Don’t move.”

“What is it?” Qin Xiaoxiao was puzzled. Seeing the woman’s face enlarge as she drew near, she suddenly felt shy and reached for a tissue to wipe her own face.

Qu Li very naturally took the tissue from her hand and gently wiped her. Her movements were light, as if she were cleaning a fragile antique. During the process, her finger—whether intentionally or accidentally—brushed against her cheek.

“It was cream,” Qu Li said softly. “There, it’s gone.”

“Mnh.” The woman’s fingers were soft and warm. Touching her face felt… kind of nice, Qin Xiaoxiao thought in a daze.

Suddenly, the voice of a moving company worker came from downstairs, breaking the ambiguous atmosphere. “Miss Qu! We have something to discuss with you!”

“Coming!” Qu Li called back.

She left the bedroom. Watching her receding back, Qin Xiaoxiao grabbed a tart and took a bite. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something glowing on the sofa.

It was Qu Li’s phone.

A mischievous smile appeared on Qin Xiaoxiao’s face. You looked through my phone while I was drunk. An eye for an eye.

She intended to peek at Qu Li’s phone. She stood up and reached for it. The screen was still lit, displaying a Weibo comment section—specifically, the comments under Qin Xiaoxiao’s latest post.

In the draft box at the bottom, there was a half-typed sentence:

[Protecting Xiao Yin]: You people keep arguing back and forth. All you do is harp on about Yin Ni changing boyfriends, and now you’re even rumoring that she has AIDS? You guys…

Qin Xiaoxiao: “…”

She couldn’t believe it. Was this not the “little fan” who was obsessed with her, crazy for her, and fought for her every day? A few months ago, she had been bored and read the comments; the ID “Protecting Xiao Yin” was one of the few standing up for her.

She stared at it for a long time before believing her eyes weren’t failing her. She gripped the phone tight.

Fake… it’s all fake.

Someone tell her—why would a top-tier starlet go through the trouble of using a “sock-puppet” account to follow her, wash her reputation clean, and get so aggressive that she even bashed her own fans for coming over to troll?

The information was too much to process.

At the doorway, Qu Li—who had run back because she forgot her phone—saw Qin Xiaoxiao standing by the sofa, head lowered, radiating a deep, dark aura of resentment.

The beautiful woman froze.

I’ve been caught.

The smile on Qu Li’s lips faded slightly. She had a feeling this was going to be bad.

So… should she go in? Or stay out?