After Kissing the World-Weary Female Supporting Character [Transmigration] - Chapter 27

He Ya instantly felt a prickling sensation on her back. She pretended not to hear Ji Ruyue’s sarcasm and quickly walked onto the studio floor. The photographer had been waiting for a long time, mumbled a few words, and then started working.

Ji Ruyue slowly walked toward her exclusive makeup room. Song Xingzi lifted her long skirt hem and followed beside her, whispering, “Ji-Ji, Ji-Ji, you look so beautiful today.”

Ji Ruyue turned her head to look at Song Xingzi. A trace of joy still lingered in her heart, making Song Xingzi appear a little cuter than usual in her eyes. She couldn’t help but smile naturally, “Why do you say that?”

Has Ji-Ji separated from the character? She doesn’t seem to have that heartbreaking sense of loneliness from this morning. That’s wonderful. Ji-Ji should always be happy.

Song Xingzi smiled gently at Ji Ruyue, her eyes curving like crescent moons, tinged with a pure innocence. “Ji-Ji is more beautiful now. You look alive when you smile.”

The influence of playing a character is internal and external, especially for Song Xingzi, who had little social experience. It was like playing on a seesaw in her mind: once she fell into the role of the original Female Lead, she would monitor her words and actions to ensure they were gentle and compliant. Sometimes, even her inner thoughts unconsciously slid to that side, and her language became gentle. But when briefly acting like her true self, she would immediately slide back to the original Little Songzi, and her impulsive, naive energy would naturally reappear.

Ji Ruyue was stunned, taken aback by Song Xingzi’s sudden judgment.

I only look alive when I smile? But what is the meaning of a life that one can never choose? What kind of ‘living person’ am I?

Ji Ruyue lowered her gaze. Song Xingzi was holding her skirt hem, smiling radiantly, looking completely naive.

We live the same rigid lives, so why are all of you so unaware? Only me, only me alone.

She suddenly didn’t know what to say, so she placed her hand on Song Xingzi’s head and gently patted it in comfort.

He Ya, who was in the middle of her photo shoot, flinched when she saw this. She frowned deeply and pondered: Is this true? It’s not just a rumor? CEO Ji and Song Xingzi… That’s bad. The previous step was a mistake; I should have waited longer to act. Also, does President Li know about this? And what does he think of it?

“Ms. He, look at the camera!”

He Ya’s mind was wandering, and she kept failing to look at the camera. The young photographer couldn’t help but remind her.

“Oh, oh, I got it. Sorry for the trouble,” He Ya withdrew her gaze. Ji Ruyue and Song Xingzi had already walked far away, side by side.

Actually, this is a good opportunity. Given CEO Ji’s personality, if she really is with Song Xingzi, her engagement with President Li will surely be broken off. Wouldn’t that mean I could…

Stop! He Ya, you cannot indulge in wishful thinking, or you’ll lose what you already have.

He Ya smiled professionally at the camera, her thoughts drifting further and further away.

After the two removed their makeup, changed out of their complicated palace attire, and got into the company’s motorhome—which was like a mobile castle—they headed back to the hotel.

Ji Ruyue sat expressionlessly on the sofa in her hotel suite, looking out at the light rain through the floor-to-ceiling window. Song Xingzi was busy in the small kitchen in her room.

Song Xingzi was in a frenzy, having instructed her assistant to buy a live chicken, insisting on slaughtering it herself to celebrate Xiao Nian. She muttered, “On the twenty-third, sacrifice to the Kitchen God. How can we do it without chicken?”

Her room and Song Xingzi’s room were adjacent, both the best suites in the hotel, but only hers had a small kitchen. So, predictably, given Song Xingzi’s passionate obsession with cooking, she would be coming over to cook for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

How troublesome. If she needed this, we should have swapped rooms from the start.

Listening to the clatter and bang coming from the kitchen, Ji Ruyue’s lips curved up, but she quickly suppressed it, making herself look impatient. Yet, she genuinely liked the sounds of life; her pretense of dislike didn’t make her genuinely dislike them.

Ji Ruyue took out her laptop, opened the files Zhang Yuan had sent for processing, and began working.

Meanwhile, Song Xingzi, with a quick stroke of the knife, drained the blood, scalded it to remove the feathers, and quickly and skillfully processed the ingredients.

To prevent Ji Ruyue from being bothered by the smell of slaughtering the chicken, Song Xingzi deliberately locked the door and opened the window for ventilation.

She hung the plucked chicken to finish draining the blood before starting to wash the rice and cook. All the ingredients and seasonings had been prepared by her through a few junior assistants. They had only arrived this morning, so she was finally able to cook properly now.

Actually, the crew provided boxed lunches, and the hotel offered three meals a day, but the master chef, Little Songzi, always believed that Ji-Ji wouldn’t like food cooked by others, and no external food was as delicious as hers. So, no matter how tight the schedule, she insisted on cooking for Ji Ruyue.

Taking care of all three meals—this is the most sincere love from a little chef! Ji-Ji will definitely be happy!

Thinking this, Song Xingzi pressed the rice cooker button. She then gave the chicken a “big massage.” She steeped green tea leaves in hot water, then placed the chicken along with salt, ginger slices, and green onions into the cooled tea infusion. Star anise, fennel, and other spices were briefly blanched in boiling water to remove impurities, and then seasoned with light and dark soy sauce and other condiments to fully marinate.

After this preparation, Song Xingzi stuffed the chicken belly with green tea leaves and put it in a pot to simmer over low heat. She then started to deal with the kitchen smell, clumsily turning on the range hood and opening the large fan. After this series of operations, the kitchen finally smelled only of tea, rice, and meat.

Ji Ruyue smelled the aroma and was slightly tempted. She glanced at the time on the bottom right of her computer. It was barely past one o’clock. There was still plenty of time. The crew must have just started lunch; there was no rush.

Just as she was thinking this, Li Yu knocked on the door, carrying two special boxed lunches. “CEO Ji, Ms. Song, I’m here to bring you lunch.”

Ji Ruyue raised an eyebrow. Doesn’t Song Xingzi’s assistant know that her artist is obsessed with cooking for herself and eating? Why would she still come to deliver food?

Well, that was a long story. Half a month ago, when Song Xingzi first auditioned and Li Yu had just become her assistant:

Lin Shu had repeatedly warned Li Yu to take good care of Song Xingzi. This ‘care’ meant not only helping Song Xingzi deal with complicated matters and adapt to the entertainment industry but also managing her food, clothing, housing, and transportation, helping her become a qualified artist.

As an assistant to a female artist, how could Li Yu stand idly by and watch Song Xingzi eat meat and fish, consuming all kinds of high-fat, high-oil meals! So, naturally, she took on the duty of supervising her artist’s healthy diet and active exercise.

Song Xingzi was fine at home, where Li Yu couldn’t control her breakfast and dinner. But at the company, every noon, Ji Ruyue would be eating the loving bento box prepared by Song Xingzi, while the cook herself was limited to plain, clear broth and a single kernel of corn for her long lunch.

Song Xingzi was terrified of Li Yu’s celebrity meal plan. She had concealed the preparation of ingredients this time, giving instructions directly to a junior assistant, so Li Yu naturally didn’t know Song Xingzi had already prepared lunch.

After Song Xingzi removed her makeup, Li Yu went to pack up Song Xingzi’s costumes, jewelry, and other miscellaneous items. When it was time and Song Xingzi hadn’t come for her boxed lunch, Li Yu inquired and found out she had gone back to the hotel first. Worried that Song Xingzi might break her diet, Li Yu quickly took two bites of her own lunch, grabbed the special meal set, and rushed to knock on the door.

“CEO Ji, Ms. Song, are you there?” Receiving no response, Li Yu knocked again and asked.

She was out of breath from running all the way. Stopping now, she couldn’t help but sigh: I’ve sacrificed everything to find material! This is so hard. Taking care of an artist is too difficult, especially a disobedient one. I’m like a worried father, rushing around for her, and she only causes trouble!

Ji Ruyue closed her laptop and called out toward the kitchen, “Song Xingzi, your assistant is here.”

Song Xingzi, who was serving rice, trembled and nearly dropped the rice spoon. She asked tremulously, “Ji-Ji, which assistant?”

“Li Yu,” Ji Ruyue was slightly puzzled. Why does she look like she’s seen a ghost?

Song Xingzi shivered, remembering the fear of being controlled by the “celebrity meal plan.” “Huh? Which Li Yu? Tell her I’m not here. No, no, no, you better tell her we’ve already eaten.”

Ji Ruyue was completely unfazed. “She’s already inside. The door wasn’t locked.”

Song Xingzi, in a moment of excitement, popped her head out from the kitchen and asked crisply, “Ah, ah, ah, then what about our lunch?”

Ji Ruyue was somewhat confused. Where did this ‘mouse seeing a cat’ attitude come from?

Soon, Li Yu solved her puzzle.

Li Yu smiled, placed the boxed lunches on the table, and greeted Ji Ruyue, “Good afternoon, CEO. I heard you and Ms. Song returned to the hotel without getting your boxed lunches, so I claimed yours and brought them over. Have you eaten, CEO? Is Ms. Song here?”

Li Yu. I’m familiar with this person too. Song Xingzi’s assistant. A novelist. She entered the entertainment industry because of writer’s block and wanted to find material. Unexpectedly, she witnessed the entire tumultuous love affair between the Female Lead and Li Yebai and followed it all the way to the end. She even wrote a very famous novel based on them. Of course, she jumped off a building before the novel was finished, so I never read Li Yu’s story.

But the relationship between Li Yu and Song Xingzi is more like a mutually beneficial alliance. Li Yu looks down on the Female Lead’s weakness and incompetence, and the Female Lead finds it difficult to genuinely trust the sweet-faced, cold-hearted Li Yu.

But it shouldn’t be to the point of a ‘mouse seeing a cat’ demeanor, should it?

Ji Ruyue’s calm eyes stared at Li Yu for a moment, then she pointed to the small head peeking out of the kitchen. “Haven’t eaten yet. She’s in there.”

“Ah, ah, ah, ah, Ji-Ji, Ji-Ji, how could you tell Li Yu I’m here?” Song Xingzi shrieked and ran to Ji Ruyue’s back, her hands resting on the sofa back, her soft head rubbing against Ji Ruyue’s cheek.

“Why couldn’t I tell her?” Ji Ruyue’s gaze switched between Li Yu and the boxed lunches on the coffee table. Li Yu’s apple cheeks were red, and her chest was noticeably heaving; she must have just run over.

Does a tactical alliance warrant going to this extent for the other party?

Ji Ruyue narrowed her eyes and leaned back a little. Her cheek was right against Song Xingzi’s soft hair. It’s a little ticklish, she thought, and then moved slightly to the side.

Song Xingzi whined pitifully, “Wuwuwu, Ji-Ji, Xiao Yu’er won’t let me eat! Today is Xiao Nian, the Kitchen God Festival! I even made you a tea-infused chicken, and you still let her in!”

Li Yu was exasperated. “CEO, please don’t listen to Ms. Song’s nonsense. She has no self-awareness as an artist and is always thinking of sneaking food. Don’t let her lead you astray.”

She’s quite lively, and a little bolder. Is this a natural change?

Ji Ruyue turned her head to look at Song Xingzi. After some hesitation, she still attributed the Female Lead’s changes to the natural result of blocking her from the destiny of being abused by the Male Lead.

From her perspective, her reasoning wasn’t wrong.

In Ji Ruyue’s view, this world was like a frozen lake. The water was sealed off by a thick layer of ice, preventing the cycle of matter, which was why they kept repeating similar destinies over and over. The Female Lead’s change was like a giant stone smashing a small hole in the ice. Now, the lake water would evaporate, boil, and fall again through this small opening… Everything would follow this minute change, gradually overhauling the world.

The previous minor changes and her failed attempts at testing the world further corroborated her conjecture: to successfully escape this endless cycle of destiny, she had to generally follow the plot while making small changes bit by bit.

“You’re lying! I didn’t sneak food,” Song Xingzi resisted in a small voice, then complained tearfully to Ji Ruyue, “The meal Xiao Yu’er makes for me isn’t fit for human consumption! Ji-Ji, open the boxed lunch she brought. There’s no fat at all! Even the vegetables are blanched and eaten directly, with no seasoning whatsoever!”

“If you didn’t sneak food, what is that smell coming from the kitchen?” Li Yu’s usually serious, apple-shaped face made a look of amusement.

She’s such a child. As soon as she feels wronged, she runs to an adult to complain. I initially thought she was a deeply scheming White Lotus, or a weak and incompetent ‘Tuberose’ flower, but now she just seems like a simple, gentle child. No wonder everyone who interacts with her acts like a parent with a child.

Thinking of Lin Shu’s headache when dealing with Song Xingzi, Li Yu’s expression became even more subtle. “Stop complaining to the CEO. Hurry up and eat. We start the afternoon session at two o’clock.”

“Ji-Ji, Ji-Ji, the tea-infused chicken is ready! I’m going to serve you!” Song Xingzi saw the unappetizing broccoli and baby bok choy in the boxed lunch Li Yu had opened. Her face turned sour. She said it and darted into the kitchen.

“CEO, look at this. How am I supposed to explain this to the manager?”

Ji Ruyue listened to the clatter in the kitchen and said noncommittally, “Let her eat if she wants to. You don’t need to explain anything to anyone.”

Song Xingzi, carrying the tea-infused chicken, heard this and her eyes instantly reddened with genuine emotion. She tearfully accused, “Xiao Yu’er, did you hear that? Ji-Ji said I can eat what I want!”

Honestly, she’s too childish! My artist is too childish! Li Yu’s hand, which was setting down the chopsticks, froze. She thought of this with a mixture of anger and disappointment.

“Wuwuwu, Ji-Ji, you’re so good to me! I’m going to serve Ji-Ji some rice!”

“Serve a bowl for Li Yu, too,” Ji Ruyue added expressionlessly. She pointed to a round stool and told Li Yu, “Sit down and eat. Song Xingzi’s cooking is quite good.”

Li Yu sat down tentatively across from Ji Ruyue. She was not familiar with Ji Ruyue, and her only knowledge came from unreliable gossip.

For example, CEO Ji is infatuated with Li Yebai, but she observed that this brilliant, peerless genius was clearly more interested in her silly artist. For example, CEO Ji is hot-tempered, resolute, and difficult to get along with, yet she had only met her a few times, and the CEO remembered her name and even invited her to dine together. For example, CEO Ji is arrogant and never takes anyone seriously…

“Don’t be nervous,” Ji Ruyue straightened up and sat upright. “Is Song Xingzi always like this? If you give her that kind of meal, does she make a fuss with you?”

So, gossip cannot be trusted.

Li Yu’s expression was subtle. She nodded, about to explain in detail, when Song Xingzi came over with a tray holding three servings of rice.

“Xiao Yu’er, once you eat my food, you can’t control me anymore, and you can’t report to Uncle Lin. Ji-Ji is a witness! No backing out!”