After Kissing the World-Weary Female Supporting Character [Transmigration] - Chapter 22

“What? CEO Ji is utterly weary of life? Why haven’t I noticed that?” Wang Qiang scratched his head, his big belly jiggling, a look of simple confusion on his plump, round face. “I just think CEO Ji is aloof, bossy, and rather unreasonable. But the CEO is genuinely impressive! She can manage Starlight so well at just twenty-three, just like in the dramas.”

Qi Nanchun’s pen never paused. Her gaze shifted between the monitor screen and the script in her hand. Catching a glimpse of Ji Ruyue’s eyes fixed on Song Xingzi, she excitedly pounded the table and shouted, “Ahhh! It’s really similar! She really looks like the ‘Wooden Beauty’! Wooden, beautiful, and strong—it’s absolutely amazing! Just not tragic enough!”

“Who is it? Who is the ‘Wooden Beauty’? Why do I feel like you’ve gone mad, Chun Chun? I can’t see anything.”

Wang Qiang and Qi Nanchun were talking to themselves, their thought processes existing on entirely different dimensions.

“Yes, exactly like that! In the drama, she can be tragic! Forced to enter the palace as a young girl, she blankly accepts her fate, getting entangled with the rest of the concubines out of necessity, yet her heart still longs for freedom. She meets Fang Miao, who is pure, genuine, and like a little sun, and she can’t help but feel protective of her. But she dies because of it, spurring Fang Miao to truly embark on her palace rank-climbing journey! I knew CEO Ji joining wouldn’t be a bad thing! Fang Miao’s transformation was too abrupt! Now it’s all fixed. Once I revise the script, I’ll see if little Yu still grumbles!”

“Chun Chun, what are you saying? Wouldn’t that change Mu Yu’s character entirely? She was originally set up as a gentle and pure, ‘white lotus’ character who rises unsullied from the mud. The book fans will verbally abuse us, and wasn’t Fang Miao already set to follow the upgrade path?” Wang Qiang stood behind Qi Nanchun, leaning his round head over to peer at the script, but he couldn’t decipher a single word of the scribbles written by an overexcited Qi Nanchun. Rubbing his head, which had a worrying lack of hair, he asked in confusion, “How come I can’t understand a word?”

“If you could understand it, you wouldn’t still be just an assistant director after twenty years in the business. Phew, phew, phew, sorry, Big Qiangzi. I mean, if you could understand it, wouldn’t my job as screenwriter be pointless? Anyone could steal my title as ‘Golden Screenwriter’ then.” Qi Nanchun scribbled furiously, adding simple musical notation lines next to the messy handwriting, marking all the points of change. She finally took the time to answer Wang Qiang’s question.

“The book fans won’t complain. After all, Mu Yu doesn’t have many scenes anyway. Even if they do complain, CEO Ji won’t care. Why do you worry so much about it? Producing a good work is what we producers should focus on. Phew—” Qi Nanchun put down her pen, breathing a puff of air onto the chaotic script as if it were a rare treasure. Then, she carefully packed it into her bag.

“Fine, you’re young; I won’t hold it against you.” Wang Qiang rubbed his plump stomach and sat down next to Qi Nanchun. Although he lacked talent in directing and screenwriting, he had an excellent temper and was skilled at maintaining harmony within the crew, which is why he became Starlight’s designated assistant director within a few years of joining.

“Since it’s revised, shouldn’t we make our entrance? I see they’re nearly finished eating. It’s going to be awkward if we go in now.” Wang Qiang looked at the group on the screen who were finally chatting happily, pondering the possibility of their sudden arrival ruining the atmosphere.

Well, there’s a 100% chance the atmosphere will freeze.

Revising the script in one go was simply miraculous and made Qi Nanchun extremely pleased. Her tone was completely casual: “Let’s go. We’ll just say there was traffic. After all, a traffic jam in the Imperial Capital lasts three to five hours.”

“Alright, let’s hurry up then. I wonder if the CEO will be angry?”

Qi Nanchun was decisive: “No! In her eyes, we are completely insignificant, not even comparable to a blade of wild grass on the roadside.”

Wang Qiang felt a little reassured: “I’ll follow your lead. Cultural people always have accurate instincts.”

The two finished their discussion, left the monitoring room, took the elevator up, and quickly arrived at the private room.

“Oh my, I am so sorry! The traffic jam lasted over two hours, and we’re only just getting here. I hope everyone hasn’t been waiting too long?” Wang Qiang, in his honest manner, greeted the group, who were discussing “which restaurants are best for weight-conscious celebrities,” and sincerely explained the reason in a few sentences.

“No rush at all, Director Wang, please sit down. Screenwriter Qi, please sit as well.” He Ya stood up and gestured to the empty seats next to her. She was the only one there who wasn’t a Starlight artist. Although she was worldly and quickly struck up a conversation with everyone, it wasn’t as familiar as those who were “family.” Therefore, she had to seize every opportunity to build a good relationship with the crew.

Wang Qiang glanced inside and saw that the “aloof, bossy, and rather unreasonable CEO” was, as Qi Nanchun predicted, not even looking their way. He then sat down with relief.

“Hahaha, everyone knows that traffic in the Imperial Capital is really frequent.”

“That is true,” the male actor playing the Emperor nodded solemnly.

The young actor playing the Prince added, “There’s also the smog and sandstorms. That’s the only bad thing about the Imperial Capital.”

Everyone added their input, and the atmosphere quickly picked up again.

Wang Qiang, who hadn’t eaten all evening, confidently picked up his chopsticks and started eating. Qi Nanchun’s mind, however, was not on the food.

Qi Nanchun was seated directly across from Song Xingzi. Her gaze was intense on Song Xingzi, who was looking down at her phone, but she pulled her sight back whenever Song Xingzi looked up.

This is great. My eldest daughter, Deep Palace Chef Queen, has many flaws. Although the subject matter is novel, it can’t withstand being criticized by the brainless. That’s why I gave it to little Yu as a practice project to help him get used to filming TV dramas instead of just focusing on art-house films. But I never expected to meet such a suitable actress. Heaven is truly helping me.

Who is staring at me? So scary! It’s just like a wolf that’s been hungry in the mountains for half a month.

Goosebumps instantly rose on Song Xingzi’s skin. She looked up in confusion, but seeing no one paying attention to her, she mumbled and lowered her head to continue chatting with Ji Ruyue.

Ever since the atmosphere warmed up, Song Xingzi had spoken little. First, it didn’t fit her ‘pitiful little lily’ persona. Second, Ji Ruyue was sitting alone on the side. Even if she couldn’t appear too close to Ji-Ji, she couldn’t abandon Ji-Ji to make new friends.

She lowered her head and sent a message to Ji Ruyue:

“Ji-Ji, the screenwriter and the others are here! So when can we leave? Are you hungry? I just felt like someone was watching me, but when I looked up, there was no one. That’s so strange.”

When Wang Qiang and Qi Nanchun first entered, Ji Ruyue had observed them. Neither of them looked rushed or impatient. Qi Nanchun even tightly held her crossbody bag as if it contained a treasure. It was clear from their demeanor that they had been observing them from backstage and had just arrived from nearby.

Ha. Quite a few people are using ‘traffic’ as an excuse recently.

“Not hungry,” Ji Ruyue mocked with a laugh. But what did this have to do with her? If she weren’t worried that the Female Lead would still connect with the Male Lead outside of the main plot, she would never come to such a place—it was annoying and boring, just a group of people feigning courtesy. What was the point?

She looked up and saw Song Xingzi sitting obediently among the group. She hadn’t touched her food much, and she had only taken a few sips of the “delicious” fruit wine she mentioned.

“You want to leave? Are you hungry?”

Song Xingzi was mindful of her persona: “I can’t leave; that would be too rude. But if Ji-Ji is hungry, I can ask for leave and go back to cook for you first.”

Why does the Female Lead always think I’m hungry? I’m not a glutton who wants to eat all day long.

Ji Ruyue completely forgot that just a few days ago, she had whined to Song Xingzi in the middle of the night about wanting candy. She thought suspiciously about their daily interactions. It seemed the phrase Song Xingzi said to her most often every day was, “Ji-Ji, are you hungry?” and “Ji-Ji, what do you want to eat?”

…

The nickname ‘Ji-Ji’ certainly fits the Female Lead’s clingy, honeysuckle-like persona, but why does she always want to feed me? Is this a plot correction after I stole the Male Lead’s role? Because she wasn’t forcibly taken and didn’t have to repay the ‘sugar daddy’ plot with her body, she chose to take care of me instead to follow the plot?

Ji Ruyue’s eyebrow twitched. The possibility of this conjecture was very high, but she didn’t object to it.

Whatever. Song Xingzi’s cooking is quite good, and the pine nut candy is also very sweet. I wish I really did steal the Male Lead’s plot. Now that I’ve taken the role of Mu Yu, how am I supposed to continue the later plot? The vicious Second Female Lead turns into a white lotus?

“Heh,” Ji Ruyue thought, laughing mockingly out loud.

Her voice was quiet, but the highly perceptive Wang Qiang caught the sound of that scornful laugh. His raised chopsticks froze mid-air. His sparse hair seemed to stand on end in alarm. He couldn’t move or remain still, waiting for Ji Ruyue’s next sentence: “Eat, eat, eat. Are you all gluttons? You arrive so late, and you still have the nerve to eat?”

Wang Qiang winked at Qi Nanchun: What is the CEO doing? My food immediately doesn’t taste good anymore.

Qi Nanchun didn’t get his signal. She was wondering what to do after dinner. She already knew how to revise the script; she just needed to go back and work on the dialogue. Did they really need to sit face-to-face and discuss the plot? I shouldn’t have listened to Wang Qiang. I should have just blown off the dinner and let him come alone while I went back to revise the script.

Thinking this, Qi Nanchun gave Wang Qiang a look: Big Qiangzi, it’s no wonder you haven’t made a name for yourself all these years!

Wang Qiang: Chun Chun wants me to eat without worry? Wonderful! Cultural people have sensitive instincts. Listening to her is always right.

The two, whose brainwaves were not on the same frequency, perfectly exchanged information, and Wang Qiang settled down to continue eating.

The exchange of looks between the two lasted only a few seconds. Song Xingzi, not having received a reply from Ji Ruyue, sent her another message: “Ji-Ji, are you bored over there?”

“Completely not.”

Ji Ruyue, who was outside the circle of people and completely unbored—even finding the solitude quite peaceful—replied indifferently.

“Oh,” Song Xingzi was a little disappointed. Noticing her own emotions, she shook her head secretly and admonished herself: Songzi, what are you thinking? Isn’t it better if Ji-Ji isn’t bored? Do you want her to invite you to accompany her? Uncle Lin specifically said you shouldn’t be too intimate with Ji-Ji in front of outsiders!

After quickly reviewing her behavior, Song Xingzi suddenly didn’t know what to say. Ji-Ji wasn’t hungry or bored.

She thought for a moment and asked Ji Ruyue, “Ji-Ji, I’m a little bored, actually. Is that bad? Screenwriter Qi hasn’t said anything official yet.”

Troublesome and wordy, and she overthinks things.

Ji Ruyue frowned, thinking this. She tossed her phone into her bag, picked up the thin gold chain of her clutch, rose from the leather sofa, and strode toward the dining table.

Suddenly, everyone was on edge.

Wang Qiang, who knew his boss’s temper well: What should I do? Is CEO Ji annoyed we’re taking too long? Is she going to scold us?

He Ya, who had complicated feelings for Ji Ruyue, sat up straight, presenting herself as a proper young lady.

The others didn’t know what to do and started conversing in pairs with the people next to them.

Meanwhile, Qi Nanchun, who had already finished revising the script and had insight into the relationship between Ji Ruyue and Song Xingzi, continued to eat calmly and enjoy the show.

Sure enough, Ji Ruyue stood in front of Song Xingzi, looking impatient, and said, “Get up. We’re going back.”