After the Vicious Supporting Female Character Became the Heroine's Cat - Chapter 25.2

After Cheng Jianian’s car accident, she began scheming for herself. But despite all the unscrupulous things she had done, the multi-billion-dollar project from Jian Shen still ended up in Zuo Ying’s hands.

Li Shengran was already unsettled by this, and with Qiao Jingshu fanning the flames, her anger ignited completely. Balancing multiple interests, she decided to make both Jian Shen and Shen Yunmiao meet with misfortune.

That way, the film project would fall into her hands, the female lead would go to Qiao Jingshu, and the director would naturally be someone she appointed.

Who would have thought that last night, that damned cat Shen Yunmiao would suddenly appear and ruin her plans? As if that weren’t enough, Cheng Jianian woke up at this very moment.

Li Shengran was already overwhelmed with frustration and had no time to argue with Qiao Jingshu. Suddenly, the phone rang, it was Zuo Ying.

“Hey, Shengran, Boss Cheng is looking for you. You’d better come to the hospital right now.”

The Cheng family, being an old and influential clan, had its own private hospital and convalescent home. Cheng Jianian had been staying there since the car accident, and Li Shengran was no stranger to the place. But being summoned now she didn’t know whether it was a blessing or a curse.

She grabbed her bag and headed out, but not before reminding Qiao Jingshu, “Make sure you clean everything up, understand?”

Qiao Jingshu rolled her eyes. “Alright, just go. Don’t you trust me?”

Despite the reassurance, Li Shengran remained uneasy. But Zuo Ying’s tone on the phone made it clear she needed to hurry.

For the moment, she had no choice but to set aside her worries and go with a heart full of apprehension.

Suburban Convalescent Home.

As soon as Li Shengran entered the courtyard, she was taken aback to see Zuo Ying crouching among the flowers, picking blossoms. Puzzled, she asked, “Xiao Ying, what are you doing?”

Zuo Ying glanced at her and continued carefully selecting the prettiest flowers, casually replying, “The boss wants them. You’d better hurry inside.”

Li Shengran’s heart sank further. She had no idea what Cheng Jianian, already known for her unpredictable moods, was up to now.

Flowers from the convalescent home? What did she want with them? Was Zuo Ying trying to warn her? But that didn’t make sense, she had handled everything quite cleanly.

Lost in these thoughts, she soon reached the door of the hospital room. She knocked, and a familiar, cold voice from inside said, “Come in.”

It was unmistakably Cheng Jianian’s voice.

Li Shengran pushed the door open to find Cheng Jianian scrolling through her phone. A tablet lay on the bedside table, though it was unclear what she was doing with it.

Respectfully, Li Shengran said, “Boss Cheng, Xiao Ying said you were looking for me.”

Cheng Jianian gave a noncommittal “Hmm” and ignored her further.

Li Shengran understood this meant she was to wait, so she stood by the door, anticipating further instructions.

However, it was unclear whether this young head of the conglomerate was intentionally testing her patience, as he remained silent for a long time. Li Shengran kept her eyes lowered, repeatedly telling herself to stay calm. As time ticked by, she broke out in a cold sweat, her anxiety growing, yet she dared not look up.

She felt physically sore and mentally strained, with the psychological torment far outweighing the physical discomfort.

She was no stranger to such tactics. Young CEO Cheng was notorious for being ruthless, and her management philosophy could be summed up in four words: reward and punishment.

Rewards came in the form of bonuses. Mercury Entertainment, including the Cheng Group, was full of talented individuals who rose through the ranks based on merit. Some employees’ bonuses were even enough to start their own companies.

As for punishment, the methods were varied. The endless waiting she was experiencing now was the simplest of them all. Only when the punished individual’s psychological defenses were on the verge of collapse would Young CEO Cheng mercifully offer a definitive response.

Li Shengran kept reassuring herself that everything would be fine that the CEO couldn’t possibly know trying to fortify her mental defenses with positive affirmations.

Little did she know that the person she deeply feared was, at that moment, swiftly scrolling through Flow with her fingertips.

Cheng Jianian hadn’t given Li Shengran a second thought. What Li Shengran had done was certainly despicable, but she herself wasn’t worth much of Cheng Jianian’s attention. For actions that didn’t cross the line, Cheng would simply issue an industry blacklist; for anything more serious, she’d let the law handle it.

At that moment, Cheng Jianian was simply going about her own business. Earlier, before tackling company matters, she had asked Zuo Ying to get her an account that looked like it had been used before.

Though Zuo Ying didn’t understand why, she carried out the task as instructed.

Meanwhile, the inwardly excited Young CEO couldn’t resist opening Flow on her main account and following Shen Yunmiao’s profile.

Shen Yunmiao had only recently opened her Flow account, purely for movie promotions, and had barely posted anything.

Even so, after Qiao Jingshu’s earlier antics, Shen Yunmiao had still faced a wave of criticism.

Thankfully, her beloved Miaomiao had strong mental fortitude and hadn’t turned off her private messages.

Young CEO Cheng thought with relief.

After finishing up on her main account, she picked up the tablet logged into her alternate account, quickly followed Shen Yunmiao, and typed out a lengthy confession letter thousands of words long expressing her admiration, which she then sent to Shen Yunmiao via private message.

The letter was written in a tone reminiscent of an obsessive fan, with the core message being that she had been paying attention to Shen Yunmiao for a long time, adored her, found her incredibly beautiful, thought her movies were excellent, and admired her gentle temperament, vowing to support her forever.

As Cheng Jianian wrote, her heart soared. She swore that every word was a genuine expression of her feelings. After reading it through, she found it deeply moving and heartfelt.

She was certain that Miaomiao would eventually notice her devoted fan.

This was one of Cheng Jianian’s strategies. Thanks to that wretched Qiao Jingshu and Li Shengran, her image in Miaomiao’s eyes had likely plummeted. Given Miaomiao’s personality, even if they were to meet again, she probably wouldn’t be willing to deepen their relationship.

But Cheng Jianian wasn’t discouraged. She believed that, with her persistent efforts in the future, Miaomiao would eventually change her mind.

To prevent opportunists like Ji Hanfeng or Xu Baiyang from taking advantage of the situation in the meantime, she needed to provide Miaomiao with enough warmth and support.

She planned to bare her heart on Flow every day, and if she was lucky, occasionally exchange a few words with Miaomiao. Surely, Miaomiao would be touched by her sincerity.

With these thoughts, Cheng Jianian grew even more excited, her fingers flying faster across the screen.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Zuo Ying who had been laboriously picking flowers took a break and opened her phone. A Flow notification glared brightly on her lock screen. The moment she processed the text, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets:

[International Film Queen Cheng Jianian Breaks 12-Year Zero-Following Streak on Flow! The Reason Behind the Name Reveals Why She’s Trending!]

With trembling hands, she tapped the notification, closed her eyes, clasped her phone between her palms, and prayed it wasn’t what she feared.

Soon, her suspended heart plummeted to its death.

“Cheng Jianian Follows Shen Yunmiao” now dominated the top search spot, trailed by a glaring red “explosive” tag and a rising heat arrow.

Feeling dizzy, Zuo Ying opened the eye-catching push notification. The post was from a notorious big V known for spouting nonsense, who had penned a thousand-word analysis dissecting the trending topic.

Starting with why Cheng Jianian would suddenly follow an obscure, controversy-ridden actress, to how this move might impact Mercury Entertainment and its parent Cheng Group, the analysis sounded almost convincing.

The gist was: Qiao Jingshu, as Mercury’s rising star, had incited cyberbullying against a near-amateur actress through inappropriate remarks. As the behind-the-scenes boss, Cheng Jianian had to lead by example and apologize.

Moreover, Cheng Jianian might have recognized the new actress’s talent and wanted to sign her. There was even speculation that Shen Yunmiao landing the female lead in Jian Shen’s next film was backed by Mercury, and Qiao Jingshu’s actions might have been a gesture to uplift a junior.

Regardless, Cheng Jianian’s move not only boosted Mercury Entertainment’s stock but also gained her new fans, helped Qiao Jingshu shed negative press, and raised Shen Yunmiao’s public profile, a masterstroke killing multiple birds with one stone!

Zuo Ying was stunned. The more she read, the more plausible it seemed. If she didn’t know her boss had already joined the ranks of obsessive admirers, she might have bought it!

Just as she hesitated over what to do, a WeChat message arrived from the very protagonist of that analysis, her shrewd, calculating boss. She opened it:

[Get that “Entertainment Know-It-All” post deleted immediately! What if Miaomiao misunderstands and thinks I have ulterior motives instead of pure, heartfelt affection?!]

Zuo Ying: “…”

If anyone still wanted this job, they were welcome to it.

She was exhausted. Cheng Jianian was even more so. She couldn’t believe it a simple, sincere gesture of admiration twisted into some calculated business strategy.

Young Master Cheng refused to acknowledge that her past ruthlessness had painted her as shady, blaming the world instead for seeing everything through a dirty lens.

Frustrated, she snapped her phone shut and glanced coldly at the person still standing by the door. Her expression turned icy, gray eyes devoid of warmth. “Submit your resignation. And while you’re at it, turn yourself in at the police station.”

Li Shengran froze, unsure what Cheng Jianian had uncovered. Desperate, she steadied her voice and defended herself, “CEO Cheng, I don’t know what you’re referring to, but I’ve been with the Cheng Group for eight years. If nothing else, I’ve put in hard work. How can you just.”

“Enough,” Cheng Jianian raised a hand, palm upright to signal silence. “You know my temperament spare me the unnecessary talk and let’s get moving.”

“If you don’t want to resign, that’s fine. You’re aware of the legal department’s efficiency. We’ll see you in court tomorrow.”

Without sparing her even a glance, Cheng Jianian swiftly scrolled through his phone notifications: “How to Get Along with Your Idol,” “Ways to Catch Your Idol’s Attention,” “100 Days of Dating Your Idol,” and similar topics.

He casually added, “After all, once you’re convicted, you’ll be automatically terminated anyway.”

Li Shengran was both shocked and terrified, her teeth chattering. Having heard this much, she knew full well that Cheng Jianian was already aware of the things she had done behind the scenes.

But she refused to yield. A suffocating anger lodged in her chest, refusing to dissipitate. Having stood for two hours, her body was already stretched to its limit; with the slightest movement, she could almost hear the creaking of her bones throughout her entire frame.

Suppressing her breath with difficulty, Li Shengran spoke haltingly, “Director Cheng, do you have any evidence? If not, isn’t this just using power to bully others? Aren’t you afraid that in the future, people will—”

Mid-sentence, she was interrupted again by Cheng Jianian, who seemed to find the situation laughable. She let out a soft, derisive chuckle and lifted her gaze. Her gray eyes were heavy with mockery and disdain. “Power? Yes, I am using power to bully you. What can you do about it?”

“Li Shengran, weren’t you quite pleased when you used power to bully others? What’s wrong? Now that it’s happening to you, you can’t take it?”

She lowered her eyes, her long lashes casting a faint shadow over her eyelids. Her silver-gray gaze was intimidating, and her tone was light and unhurried, as if toying with her prey:

“What a pity. The one with power now is me, not you. So you’ll just have to endure it.”

“As for evidence. I did have some. But since I’m resorting to power, there’s no need to show it to you, is there?”

Every word she spoke, and indeed her entire demeanor, radiated the arrogance of someone in a position of authority. Only her gaze, fixed on the unresponsive chat window, betrayed her as a complete subordinate, anxiously awaiting a reply from her “idol.”

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