After Kissing the World-Weary Female Supporting Character [Transmigration] - Chapter 10

After watching Song Xingzi’s work, Lín Shū immediately enrolled her in essential basic acting classes, calling it reviewing fundamental knowledge and strengthening the foundation. But Song Xingzi understood: Lín Shū disliked the original host’s poor acting skills but couldn’t afford not to take her on.

Thanks to the original host’s habit of keeping a notebook, Song Xingzi, after a good cry, found a hidden compartment in the notebook containing important accounts and corresponding passwords. Not only did she see the original host’s utterly meager bank balance, but she also gained a clearer understanding of the original host’s personality, which felt much more real than the vague impression she got from the book.

Initially, when Song Xingzi read the book, through the author’s description, she only saw a pure, weak, and even cowardly Song Xingzi. So, she mimicked the behavior of the mountain’s Lily Spirit, who was prone to tears and feeling wronged but was always busy, in her interactions with the people in the book.

Those around Ji Ruyue who were unfamiliar with Song Xingzi naturally did not notice anything amiss. And though Ji Ruyue had been reborn many times, she was never a close friend to Song Xingzi. She viewed the world like a fish briefly jumping out of a pond: she sensed the abnormality but didn’t know the full picture. She was also utterly uninterested in the things around her, much less going beyond her existing impression to detect Song Xingzi’s anomalies.

After reading the original host’s diary and notebook, Song Xingzi actually began to admire the original host. She was only a human girl in her twenties. If she were a little demon, she would probably still be tumbling around in the mountains. The original host lost her mother early and finally got into a prestigious university, on the verge of a life turnaround, when her father was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. She juggled school and the entertainment industry to earn money, running background roles for three and a half years, yet she persisted and never complained. If not for running into that scumbag Li Yeběi, how would she have ended up on this path?

Song Xingzi didn’t understand the original host’s actions in the book, but this didn’t prevent her from seeing a resilient and kind living person. Having more direct contact with the original host’s inner world, the emotional Song Xingzi surprisingly managed to deceive those around her with her subpar acting skills.

Getting back to the story, after finding the password that day, Song Xingzi logged into the account, cleared all Weibo posts with one click, and then began a daily routine of waking up early for class, cooking, visiting the kind Second Female Lead in the hospital, feeding her (though not really) food, and then returning home to sleep.

Song Xingzi, who had been living in the Second Female Lead’s home for half a month, hadn’t once gone into the ward to see Sòng Xuélín, at most asking the caregiver to send reassurance. It was as if she completely didn’t remember the father, who had a very low sense of presence in the novel. More accurately, she didn’t know how to face the original host’s father, as she was a naturally born celestial demon who had never seen her parents’ faces.

Moreover, she was genuinely busy every day, worried about her complete lack of acting skills and also worried about the Second Female Lead’s refusal to eat properly.

Lying on the bed, Song Xingzi opened Baidu with a worried face, typing: “What to do if a child won’t eat?”

Alas, raising a child is too difficult! Repaying kindness is too difficult! Why am I not a kindergarten teacher? If I were a kindergarten teacher, would I be so clueless now?

In just over ten days, the perfect-score exam candidate Song Xingzi had adapted well to the novel world, learning many new expressions.

She scanned the first titled answer. It’s from the director of a provincial pediatric hospital. It must be very sensible. Thinking of Ji Ruyue’s cat-like appetite every time, Song Xingzi seriously clicked on the answer:

First, one must understand the child’s taste. Consider making foods similar to the child’s preferences; most children favor sweets. Second, have fixed meal times, and do not give the child any snacks after that time slot. Finally, long-term anorexia should be checked at the hospital and treated with medication under the guidance of a professional doctor. ①

Hmm, understand the Second Female Lead’s taste? Song Xingzi recalled the chicken soup, rice, and mushroom soup she had made over the past days…

The Second Female Lead didn’t seem to have any preference. She would only eat a few small bites. Occasionally, when Song Xingzi couldn’t stand it and offered to feed her, she would eat a little more.

So the Second Female Lead has no obvious preferences? Then what to do? Consider sweets?

Song Xingzi’s gaze lingered on the words “most children favor sweets.” She flipped over, held up her tablet, and pondered what delicious sweets she knew how to make.

Alas, thick walnut and almond porridge and my favorite pine nut candy! How could anyone in this world resist the combination of the two!! You picky Second Female Lead, I can definitely cure your bad habit of wasting food!!!

Song Xingzi sprang up from the bed, ran to the kitchen. Ji Ruyue’s home, with its colossal walk-in refrigerator, was stocked with top-tier ingredients flown in from various places—fresh and comprehensive.

Thinking of the pale, picky, and willful Second Female Lead in the hospital, Song Xingzi was full of fighting spirit and quickly selected the ingredients.

The beautiful, high-quality walnuts were placed in hot water to soak, while the sweet almonds and japonica rice were washed. The soaked walnuts were then drained.

Considering that she had no spiritual power now, Song Xingzi chose to use the microwave to bake the walnuts at a low temperature. Then, she heated an iron pot, added fine sugar and a little salt, poured in the treated walnuts, and kept stirring. When the walnuts turned slightly yellow, Song Xingzi turned off the heat, continued stirring for a while, then crushed them into a paste. She then added the paste, the treated sweet almonds, and the japonica rice to a pot of clear water and simmered the mixture over low heat.

While waiting for the fragrant porridge to be cooked, Song Xingzi stir-fried a little black sesame powder and fresh pine nuts in a separate pan to bring out the aroma.

Ji Ruyue’s kitchen didn’t have the hard-boiled candy that poor people ate, so Song Xingzi substituted it with high-grade rock sugar and maltose. She heated a separate pot, dripped in two drops of preheated oil, and then sequentially poured in the rock sugar, rose petal jam, and maltose.

She carefully monitored the heat. Just as the golden-transparent syrup was about to solidify, she added the stir-fried ingredients, rapidly stirred them, and began shaping them with long chopsticks.

In no time, a plate was piled high with small, zòngzi-shaped, transparent, golden pine nut candies. Song Xingzi sprinkled the snow-flake white rose sugar coating on top before finishing the work. ②

Just then, the walnut and almond porridge was ready. The rich, sweet almond fragrance and walnut aroma wafted straight to the nose. Song Xingzi nodded in satisfaction, packed the items, and took the car to the hospital.

Ji Ruyue closed her laptop, leaned back, and rested against the bed rail, staring expressionlessly at the empty chair beside the hospital bed.

It was already 5:30 PM. Usually, by this time, Song Xingzi would be sitting next to her, smiling sweetly, holding a bowl, and watching her eat.

It wasn’t that Ji Ruyue missed Song Xingzi or was unaccustomed to her sudden absence. After all, compared to the countless times she had repeated her life—the days of rebellion followed by the forced annihilation of her consciousness—the time the off-track heroine Song Xingzi had been by her side was insignificant, a drop in the ocean.

Her face showed no emotion, but her mind was pondering the following plot: According to the countless repeated memories, in a couple of days, Song Xingzi should enter a production crew to act, and I would also make my grand entrance, playing the role of the domineering and malicious second female lead. But the beginning of the story had been twisted. What kind of manipulation and distortion will fate impose on me so that I can reconnect with the subsequent plot?

She recalled her struggles, rebellions, and madness every time she awoke her consciousness… all of which had been devoured and erased by so-called fate, leaving no trace. Only her perpetually sinking, despairing soul proved that everything had been real.

Ji Ruyue curled her lips into a mocking smile, covered her face with her hand, and lay down on the bed.

Irresistible fate? I insist on tearing you apart piece by piece, burning down this twisted world.

…

Song Xingzi, who pushed open the door, only saw the picky child she had diligently cared for for over half a month with an unhappy expression, half her head buried under the blanket, staring blankly at the chair where Song Xingzi usually sat.

Her heart skipped a beat. Oh no! Seriously? Did the little one get confused from hunger after only being half an hour late?! Why is she staring blankly at the empty chair?!

Having arrived in this strange human world, she had successfully channeled all her homesickness and panic into curing the Second Female Lead’s bad habit of picky eating and finding her happiness, thus successfully being promoted to Ji Ruyue’s “mother-fan” and “career-fan.” Song Xingzi was terrified, but still remembered to maintain her persona. She said warmly, “Young Miss Ji, hurry up and get up to eat. Today, there’s sweet pine nut candy and thick walnut and almond porridge, oh.”

Ji Ruyue glanced at her, sat up, got out of bed barefoot, and sat properly on the edge of the bed.

Her injury wasn’t serious. The wounds from resisting the rules would automatically heal once the plot point passed. But Ji Ruyue hadn’t been discharged. To her, every place was equally boring; the hospital was just simpler and cleaner.

Song Xingzi and Assistant Zhang Yuán, unaware of the truth, both assumed she was too severely injured and needed quiet recovery in the hospital, so they came to see her on time every day.

Zhang Yuán came to report on work, while Song Xingzi came purely to repay kindness and, incidentally, to fatten up Ji Ruyue.

Song Xingzi sat next to Ji Ruyue, set down the insulated container, brought the cotton slippers over, placed them at Ji Ruyue’s feet, and watched her gently. “Young Miss Ji—”

Ugh, this little kid! She doesn’t pay any attention to her health! Walking barefoot on the cold tile floor. What if she catches a chill?

Ji Ruyue glanced at her, expressionless, but slowly put on the slippers.

Am I being too kind to the heroine? Or is she this troublesome and long-winded even with the male lead?

Song Xingzi, unaware of Young Miss Ji’s inner thoughts, smiled in satisfaction. She served two bowls of porridge, placed the porcelain spoons on them, arranged the crystal-clear pine nut candies, and placed them on the small table set up on the bed.

“Come and eat. I’m a little late today. Did Young Miss Ji get hungry?”

Ji Ruyue shook her head. She habitually ate little. Whether she ate or not, she would still be alive.

Taking the bowl and spoon, Ji Ruyue politely scooped a mouthful of porridge. Song Xingzi’s eyes lit up, staring intently at her, without even picking up her own bowl.

“How is it? Is it delicious? Come, have a candy,” Song Xingzi pinched a small, zòngzi-shaped pine nut candy, held it to Ji Ruyue’s mouth, her demeanor gentle and patient, much like a mother feeding a child.

Ji Ruyue, immersed in the rich, slightly sweet porridge, obediently opened her mouth.

The exquisitely fragrant pine nuts were evenly coated in the crystal-clear syrup. Snowflake-like sugar powder clung to Song Xingzi’s plump and cute index finger. Ji Ruyue gently took the candy, waiting for the syrup to melt in her mouth, revealing the fragrant and dense pine nut, like crushed ice melting under the warm sun in winter, exposing the tender green wheat leaves beneath.

“Is it delicious?” Although she firmly believed no one could resist her pine nut candy, this was the first time she had made candy without a large iron pot and wood fire, so Song Xingzi was still a little nervous.

Alas, she absolutely must like it! Otherwise, if a pine squirrel demon can’t even make pine nuts well, how embarrassing would that be for a demon!

“Sweet,” Ji Ruyue took another sip of the porridge. The pine nut candy was a hard candy, but it was luscious and delicious without being cloying. The porridge tasted mild at first, but had an endless aftertaste once swallowed. The two flavors neutralized each other in her mouth, climbing along the taste buds to her brain, stirring up a taste of warmth and happiness.

Jiji? Is it too sweet? That shouldn’t be right! The sugar I used wasn’t very pure, and the heat control was just right. How could it be too sweet? Does this mean I can’t achieve the great goal of making the Second Female Lead eat properly today?