After the Vicious Supporting Female Character Became the Heroine's Cat - Chapter 48

Cheng Jianian reverted to her clingy demeanor, sticking closely to Shen Yunmiao without a moment’s separation.

Seeing her like this, Shen Yunmiao felt a mix of sweetness and helplessness in her heart.

Her emotions had always been restrained; she rarely expressed them overtly and seldom faced such intense affection.

What made it even more awkward was that Shen Yunmiao had to inform everyone she had just asked for help that Cheng Jianian had been found.

Zuo Ying was the quickest to react, asking, “Miss Shen, do you need a car to pick you and the boss up?”

Shen Yunmiao glanced at Cheng Jianian, who seemed emotionally stable for now, and tentatively asked, “A’Nian, where should we go now?”

Cheng Jianian blinked. “Of course, I’ll take you home.”

As she spoke, her ears even turned slightly red.

Shen Yunmiao: “…”

She tried to keep her tone as calm as possible. “Did you drive here?”

Cheng Jianian nodded.

Shen Yunmiao sighed helplessly. “I drove here too. Shouldn’t we just go back to our own homes?”

“Simple,” Cheng Jianian replied swiftly, pulling out her phone. “I’ll have Zuo Ying send someone to drive my car away tomorrow.”

Shen Yunmiao: “…”

She looked at Cheng Jianian’s enthusiastic expression and realized there was probably no stopping her from taking such a roundabout approach. Reluctantly, she said, “Alright, that works. My car is a manual transmission can you drive it?”

Cheng Jianian nodded emphatically, flashing a bright smile that revealed two rows of pearly white teeth. “I can drive anything. I passed my driver’s test on the first try.”

She then turned to Shen Yunmiao, her eyes sparkling as if waiting for praise.

Shen Yunmiao forced herself to say, “That’s amazing. Let’s hurry back now.”

Cheng Jianian promptly strode over and gracefully opened the car door, making a “please” gesture. There was no trace of her earlier desperate state.

Shen Yunmiao breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

On the way back, they made idle conversation, their minds elsewhere.

They arrived quickly. Cheng Jianian seemed to sense Shen Yunmiao’s subdued mood but said nothing.

To their surprise, Jiang Ying was waiting at the entrance of the apartment building.

As soon as the car stopped, before Cheng Jianian could even take in her surroundings, she heard a click, the car door, which had just been unlocked, was locked again.

Cheng Jianian frowned, confused, when Shen Yunmiao exclaimed beside her, “It’s my sister. She has the keys and can lock the car.”

Cheng Jianian: “?”

Calmly, she unfastened her own seatbelt and then, as if it were nothing, helped Shen Yunmiao with hers. Poor Shen Yunmiao was completely unprepared to discuss these matters with Jiang Ying.

Although she had spoken about making amends to Jiang Ying together with Cheng Jianian and facing these challenges side by side, tonight was far from the right time. If she brought it up now, Jiang Ying might think she was still trapped in the virtual pod, not yet fully lucid.

Only Shen Yunmiao knew that wasn’t the case. She glanced at the person beside her, who was searching for the manual unlock switch. The flickering streetlights cast shifting shadows across her face, accentuating its sharp, striking beauty.

There was no doubt about it, she was an exceptionally beautiful person.

Shen Yunmiao thought to herself that long, long ago, when she first developed this project, she had imagined how wonderful it would be if one day she could meet this person again in another world.

How wonderful indeed.

And then, as if her words had cursed the outcome, they did meet again but it wasn’t wonderful at all. Both of them were suffering.

In truth, they were never a good match. Even without all that had happened before, the virtual pod had proven that much.

Shen Yunmiao couldn’t make Cheng Jianian happy enough, couldn’t give her a sufficient sense of security. In the end, she became anxious and insecure, turning into someone unfamiliar and tormenting herself.

But Shen Yunmiao also couldn’t make Cheng Jianian into a gentle and tolerant person.

She was already gentle enough, accommodating everything, yet it still wasn’t enough to make the ending a good one.

Shen Yunmiao hesitated, unsure whether she should confess everything.

She cautiously glanced around and, as expected, spotted the person standing lazily on the steps, dark eyes glinting with a teasing smile.

Jiang Ying had a lollipop in her mouth, she was trying to quit smoking recently, though the results were, frankly, quite unimpressive.

Jian Jingqiu couldn’t ease her stress, so she had replaced all the cigarettes in Jiang Ying’s pack with lollipops.

Jiang Ying acted as if she didn’t notice, pulling out a lollipop to eat whenever she felt like smoking. And now she was eating one again for obvious reasons.

Shen Yunmiao didn’t dare speak, bracing herself for judgment.

With a soft click, Shen Yunmiao heard Cheng Jianian let out a long sigh: “Found it.”

She beamed at her: “It’s open.”

Shen Yunmiao froze for a moment, then frantically yanked the door open and stumbled out of the car.

Her mind was a chaotic mess.

As soon as she stepped out, Jiang Ying followed her down a few steps, asking with a grin, “Did you have fun? You’re back so late.”

Shen Yunmiao didn’t dare meet her gaze, feeling inexplicably guilty. She stared down at her toes, at a loss for what to do.

Jiang Ying let the tension hang in the air for a few seconds, watching as Cheng Jianian quickly got out of the car and approached, before sighing and saying, “Alright, let’s go up first. It’s quite cool down here.”

The summer night breeze drifted gently, cooling Shen Yunmiao’s muddled mind. She waved at Cheng Jianian, signaling for her to go back quickly.

Cheng Jianian watched the two figures heading into the complex. Though her heart ached, she knew this wasn’t the time to be willful at the very least, she couldn’t make Miao Miao feel so torn again like in the virtual pod.

She was still deeply afraid, haunted by the experiences in the virtual pod, terrified that the feeling of loss would return. She had no way to withstand it, unable to bear the pain of losing someone she loved so deeply.

So she turned back and got into the car again. Shen Yunmiao’s car carried a faint scent of fresh snow clean, crisp, and pleasant, yet gentle like clear water.

Cheng Jianian leaned over the steering wheel, letting herself sink into that refreshing, snowy fragrance.

Seeing Cheng Jianian retreat back into the car, Shen Yunmiao finally relaxed but unfortunately, her distraction didn’t escape Jiang Ying’s notice.

Jiang Ying turned to look at her, a half-smile playing on her lips. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“Friends again? I don’t mind you making friends, but this kind of friend isn’t really appropriate, is it?”

Jiang Ying spoke casually, the green glow of the emergency exit sign flickering across her face, casting a chilling, intimidating light.

Shen Yunmiao answered honestly, “She’s not a friend!”

“She’s my girlfriend.”

As soon as the words fell, Jiang Ying’s sharp gaze swept over, landing precisely on Shen Yunmiao’s neck.

That fair neck bore no marks. Looking further up Jiang Ying had some experience in such matters and confirmed that nothing had happened between them.

Only then did she relax, lazily retorting, “What if I disagree?”

“Sis, I’m sorry!” Shen Yunmiao obediently admitted her fault, lifting her head with dewy mist in her eyes. “But I really like her. You know, I’ve always liked her.”

Seeing her like this, Jiang Ying’s heart softened slightly, but her tone remained stern. “Shen Yunmiao, wake up. Do you know what she’s done? Do you even know?”

As she spoke, her voice choked up slightly not for her own bleak youth, but for the hardships they had endured in those difficult years.

She could only watch helplessly as the perpetrator entered their lives with the air of a savior, unable to speak out for fear of pushing Shen Yunmiao into an even deeper abyss.

She composed herself, her tone returning to calm. “I won’t say anything else. Just think about what happened in the virtual pod. Can’t you see through her? She’s a lunatic, an absolute madwoman. Being with her means giving up your most basic rights as a person, living like a pet, with every word and action under her control.”

Jiang Ying lifted her head, her gaze sweeping over Shen Yunmiao indifferently. “Are you willing to accept that?”

This time, Shen Yunmiao did not avert her eyes but met Jiang Ying’s gaze firmly. “I am willing.”

She said, “Sis, I know. I know everything you’ve said. I know she might not be perfect, but I’m certain she treats me very, very well. She won’t hurt me.”

“When emotions run deep, everything seems fine. But what about the future?” Jiang Ying’s eyes were filled with pain. “I used to think that nothing could withstand the intensity of two people’s feelings, but there are things that can. I won’t say anything else. I just ask you, Miaomiao, have you thought about how to deal with Cheng Su?”

“Cheng Su is even crazier than Cheng Jianian. She’s an absolute madwoman. You’re only thinking about the happiness of the moment, but have you considered the future?”

Shen Yunmiao looked at her stubbornly. “Sis, I have thought about it. I’ve even thought about just dying with her in the virtual pod, where nothing exists, everything is fake, and only our feelings are real.”

“But I can’t bear to. I want to wake up with her. I want her to see the sunlight again.”

She reached out, tugging at Jiang Ying’s sleeve as if pleading. “Sis, I can’t let go of you either.”

Jiang Ying could no longer control her emotions, her eyes glistening with tears. She grabbed the hand clutching her sleeve, her voice trembling. “Do as you please. It’s not like you’ll listen to me anyway.”

She had already turned and was walking toward their home, a one-elevator-per-household setup where the door was right outside the elevator. Shen Yunmiao looked at this small home that belonged to the two of them, her heart aching with sorrow.

Once, they had been powerless, only wishing for a place of their own in this city to call home.

But later, they had found a home.

Suddenly, she wanted so badly to love someone, and finally, she had the ability to love someone, the ability to express the deep affection hidden in her heart.

Everything she had yearned for in her youth.

she had stumbled and faltered, but in the end, she had attained it.

She clearly heard her sister say:

“Let’s do it in a couple of days, invite her over for a meal.”

Jiang Ying’s voice sounded unnatural:

“I don’t mean anything else by it. She wants to invest, right? Then let’s talk about investment.”

The wounds of the heart must eventually be overcome.

Shen Yunmiao stared at her blankly for a long moment before letting out a choked, trembling whisper:

“Okay!”

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