After the Vicious Supporting Female Character Became the Heroine's Cat - Chapter 36.2

Zuo Ying had already tactfully slipped away. Cheng Jianian wrapped her arms around Shen Yunmiao, nuzzling and kissing her softly, her voice low. “I wish we could spend less time apart.”

“I don’t want to be apart from you either,” Shen Yunmiao replied.

Cheng Jianian buried her face in Shen Yunmiao’s embrace, inhaling the crisp, snowy scent of her. “I’m always afraid that in the blink of an eye, you won’t be by my side anymore.”

“That won’t happen,” Shen Yunmiao reassured her, trying to soothe her with her own warmth. “I’ll always be here.”

The midday sun streamed through the window, bringing with it a comforting warmth.

A few days later, it was finally Cheng Jianian’s turn to film her scenes.

Her first scene was an intense confrontation. Shen Yunmiao held the script, looking somewhat helpless. “Right off the bat, you have to push me.”

Cheng Jianian was even more displeased. “Why do we have to film this kind of scene for real?”

The scene depicted Ning Hanyu being pushed into the school’s artificial lake by the young mistress. In this part of the story, Ning Hanyu had already been beaten up by her own sister’s hired thugs.

The young mistress found it intriguing, unable to understand why this person didn’t know how to fight back. This marked their first confrontation.

Standing by the lake, she looked down at Ning Hanyu, her voice tinged with confusion. “Can you still stand up?”

Ning Hanyu’s eyes were vacant as she curled up by the water’s edge, motionless.

The young mistress sighed and crouched down, her expression calm neither pitying nor relishing in cruelty. Her tone was detached. “I’ll allow you to push me into the water.”

“But remember, if you do it this time, you’ll have to do it every time from now on. Not just to me, but to all those people behind me as well.”

Ning Hanyu’s gaze finally sharpened, slowly shifting to the people behind the young mistress. Their eyes were filled with glee and confusion, unlike the young mistress’s calm demeanor. They derived pleasure from violence.

She had to admit that this person before her was teaching her a survival method known as the law of the jungle.

But she didn’t dare.

So she could only watch helplessly as the young mistress, with just a light touch of her fingertip, pushed her into the abyss. In the icy water, her thoughts weren’t of retaliation but of death.

Cheng Jianian found it odd. “Does this young mistress not have a name?”

Jian Shen explained, “Oh, that’s a plot device. The nameless young mistress actually represents Ning Hanyu’s inner demons. She failed to overcome the evil within and fell into the abyss.”

“Tch,” Cheng Jianian scoffed, annoyed by such analytical interpretations. “Are you sure you just didn’t feel like coming up with a name?”

Jian Shen grew defensive, her voice tinged with grievance. “How could you say that? This is a legitimate screenwriting technique I’ve studied.”

“Is this why there’s no frontal shot of me in the film?” Cheng Jianian didn’t care about anything else, but the fact that there wasn’t even a single frame of her sharing the screen with Shen Yunmiao was truly frustrating.

Jian Shen sighed helplessly, “It’s a form of artistic omission, young lady. It represents the collective yearning for authority, the allure of darkness, and the inner desire for retributive justice.”

Cheng Jianian: “…”

Shen Yunmiao found this reasoning somewhat absurd as well, but perhaps it was part of some profound cinematographic technique.

She had no choice but to pull Cheng Jianian aside to rehearse their scenes.

Cheng Jianian possessed remarkable talent in acting she could slip into character effortlessly the moment the script was set aside. As soon as “action” was called, her entire demeanor transformed.

Gone was the clingy, coquettish aura from before, replaced by the cold, arrogant bearing of someone in power.

As someone who naturally held authority, once she stopped holding back, her unbridled haughtiness was laid bare.

Shen Yunmiao, too, quickly immersed herself in the role. In an instant, she was no longer the gentle actress but a timid, fearful middle school student, trapped in darkness and consumed by suffering.

The bustling crowd around them watched her, the bullies staring as if she were mere entertainment, devoid of any remorse.

Her body was already covered in injuries, with a large bruise marring her cheek.

Her dark eyes were dull and vacant, as if they could no longer focus.

She stood painfully at the edge of the artificial lake, both fleeing and threatening.

If they took one more step, she would jump.

Life had become so insignificant; no one cared whether she lived or died.

But death, after all, would bring less suffering than living.

It was already autumn, with a chilly wind rustling the bare trees by the lake. Withered lotus leaves floated on the water’s surface, and the sky was a dull gray.

The frail girl’s coat had been torn off, leaving her in a dirty, multicolored white school uniform short-sleeve.

She stared at the small patch of ground in front of her toes, watching as a pair of impeccably clean, polished leather shoes drew closer. The soles were so pristine, untouched by dust, as if they belonged to a different world altogether.

Ning Hanyu’s eyes held nothing but endless gray.

And this sudden intrusion of black was even more terrifying than the gray, it symbolized the oppressive color of authority.

“Are you going to jump?” the person asked.

She hunched her shoulders, refusing to answer. Past experience had taught her that any response would only invite harsher torment.

So she kept her mouth shut.

Covering her head, she quietly crouched down, bracing herself for the beating.

The naturally elegant figure of authority seemed amused, looking down at her condescendingly, “Can you still stand up?”

Ning Hanyu remained silent, ready at any moment to stumble and plunge into the unfathomable dark waters.

The person before her sighed, slowly crouching down until they were at eye level. Her gray eyes were like those of Satan, filled with infinite temptation:

“I permit you to push me in.”

Everything that followed unfolded just as the script dictated. Unaware that she had already shaken the fragile heart of this pitiful victim, the unresponsive Satan did not realize she was about to create a qualified destroyer for this cold, indifferent world.

The young girl, a gleeful offender, was her student.

And the final step in shaping this gleeful offender came from that very push.

Cheng Jianian crouched down and reached out, her fingertips brushing against the slender shoulder. But in an instant, she lost the emotional immersion in her character. Instinctively, she tightly embraced the disheartened young girl before her.

This move not only stunned her but left everyone on set speechless.

Although the two of them were already intimate enough and made no effort to hide it, to display it so openly during filming.

Everyone wore varied expressions.

Jian Shen helplessly called “Cut.”

The crew members exchanged glances but pretended not to notice anything.

Shen Yunmiao hugged the person in front of her in return: “It’s alright, the water here isn’t dirty, and it’s not cold either.”

Cheng Jianian didn’t know what had come over her just then. For a moment, she felt as if, many years ago, by a lakeside, she had been powerless to stop a young girl in white from falling into an endless abyss.

Trembling all over, she couldn’t utter a single word. It felt as if she were the one plunging into the icy lake, not the person before her. Her voice was even muffled: “I’m so scared, so afraid.”

Sensing her distress, Shen Yunmiao held her tightly and comforted her: “Don’t be afraid, I’m here, A’Nian, I’m here.”

The surroundings were tranquil, as if the world had narrowed down to just the two of them.

It took a long while before Cheng Jianian managed to pull herself out of that painful emotion.

Shen Yunmiao smiled gently, without a hint of reproach, her jade-like fingers brushing through Cheng Jianian’s hair: “Don’t be afraid, I will always be here.”

Realizing what she had done, Cheng Jianian felt a rare sense of embarrassment, her ears turning red as she nodded: “I don’t know what came over me just now.”

“It’s alright, it’s nothing. Let’s get up now, the ground is too cold.”

Only then did Cheng Jianian realize that she and Shen Yunmiao had been sitting face-to-face on the ground for a long time. She hurriedly scrambled to her feet and helped Shen Yunmiao up as well.

“Are you okay, Miaomiao.” Cheng Jianian worried that Shen Yunmiao might catch a chill.

Shen Yunmiao shook her head, suppressing her heavy thoughts with a tender smile: “I’m fine.”

The surroundings had long since cleared out on their own. Jian Shen rushed over anxiously: “President Cheng, Yunmiao, are you both alright?”

Shen Yunmiao shook her head: “We’re fine.”

Cheng Jianian pinched the bridge of her nose, her mood somber: “I’m sorry, Director Jian, I…”

Jian Shen didn’t dare blame her: “It’s alright, it’s alright, President Cheng. How about I modify the plot?”

After what had just happened, she truly didn’t dare to continue filming as planned.

Cheng Jianian hesitated, unsure of what to do. If the plot were changed, would this movie still allow Miaomiao to rise to the top as it originally did?

She didn’t know. Even though she was a foreseer, understanding the rules of this world and aware of her mission, it only made things more painful.

She wanted to change everything about this world, yet she found herself utterly powerless to do so.

After a long silence, Cheng Jianian hadn’t spoken yet, but Shen Yunmiao beside her showed no impatience or frustration, simply waiting quietly.

Finally, Cheng Jianian slowly uttered two words: “Make sure the water in the lake is warm and clean.”

This was an indirect way of saying they would continue filming.

Jian Shen breathed a sigh of relief, but Shen Yunmiao’s feelings were complicated.

That evening, after finishing filming and heading home, the atmosphere between the two was somewhat heavy.

Cheng Jianian forced a smile: “Miaomiao, forgive me. I didn’t mean to.”

Shen Yunmiao gazed at her calmly, his eyes serene yet gentle enough. “You’re not at fault.”

“It’s my mistake for not giving you enough sense of security.”

Cheng Jianian’s heart trembled, unable to suppress those hidden emotions any longer. She buried her face in Shen Yunmiao’s shoulder and wept softly.

Love, profound love.

Yearning for profound love.

Yet always plagued by anxiety after obtaining it, fearing to lose that profound love once again.

Cheng Jianian felt that in these day-by-day moments of closeness, she was being reshaped, no longer as aloof as she once was.

There was someone who quietly molded her into the person she had always wanted to become.

That person loved her deeply.

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