Fake Cannon Fodder A Becomes a Sensation in Romance Variety Shows - Chapter 35

Passersby stopped to watch the commotion.

Wen Huiyun’s eyes widened in shock.

A graceful arc sliced through the air.

The brick flew straight through the window of Li’s Fried Wonton shop crash shattering the glass into pieces.

The shards scattered across the ground, much like the hearts of the Li couple, shattered and ice-cold.

Ye Zhuoyan picked up a second brick, her expression frigid. “The Solace Eatery had over a dozen windows smashed. Your shop only has four. You’d better start thinking about how to compensate for the rest!”

She raised her hand, and the beta woman from Li’s shop frantically pulled out her phone to record, screeching at her, “Go ahead! Throw it if you dare! Aren’t you some kind of celebrity? I’ll film your brutish behavior and post it online! Let everyone see how you bully the little people!”

The beta shop owner chimed in, backing up his wife, “Yeah, we’ll expose you! Let the public judge! Aren’t you on some variety show? Trying to get famous, huh? Ha! Trash like you with no morals don’t deserve fame! You’ll rot in obscurity!”

The shop owner jabbed his finger accusingly at them while his wife trailed behind, phone camera trained on them.

Ye Zhuoyan clenched her jaw so hard her molars ached, her eyes sharp as daggers.

She knew acting impulsively in public could backfire, but when rage took over, she couldn’t swallow the injustice just like when she’d cursed her father for being a social climber, or when she’d injected herself with suppressants.

Ye Zhuoyan pointed right back at the shop owner. “Go ahead, post it. I have footage of you smashing Solace Eatery’s windows too. Let the public judge us both!”

One window was already gone, why keep the other three for New Year’s? She hurled the brick, the sound of shattering glass deeply satisfying.

The shop owner’s wife plopped onto the ground, wailing like a hen flapping its wings, “Aiyo! The big star is wrecking our shop! Everyone, look! Bullying the little folk is there no justice?!”

The shop owner brandished his phone. “I’m uploading this right now! You’ll regret this!”

Ye Zhuoyan glared icily, the air so thick with tension it felt like freezing needles piercing the two troublemakers.

Fine. Post it.

She was ready to battle Li Jie and the company over this. She wasn’t in the wrong, she had evidence. No one was pinning this on her.

The shop owner, now reckless, bared his yellowed teeth in a sneer. “I’m just a wonton seller, I don’t care about insults. But you? One scandal and your career’s over! Your company will be begging me for mercy, paying me off!”

These street thugs had calculated that they had more to lose, if they endured, they’d suffer silently; if they fought back, they’d face a PR nightmare.

Ye Zhuoyan saw through their game and snapped, “You did this on purpose.”

Suddenly, an overwhelming alpha presence engulfed the scene, as if an invisible dome had descended, pressing down on everyone.

Especially the Li couple their faces twisted in agony, as though countless sharp blades were drilling into their skulls, every nerve screaming like a saw grinding through wood.

This was—

Ye Zhuoyan turned to look at Wen Huiyun. This wasn’t the first time she’d experienced Wen Huiyun’s psychic assault, the original Wen Huiyun had used it against her before.

In the past, the original host had forced Ye Zhuoyan with psychic power. Ye Zhuoyan had resisted desperately, even threatening to jump off a building. Fortunately, the nanny had quickly called Wen’s parents, averting disaster.

Now, Wen Huiyun was using this formidable alpha ability to protect Ye Zhuoyan and punish the scoundrels who had harmed them.

This time, the psychic energy deliberately avoided her, leaving her completely unaffected. Ye Zhuoyan’s gaze softened as she looked at Wen Huiyun, surprised that even in the midst of chaos, Wen could still spare the focus to shield her.

Wen Huiyun withdrew her alpha’s psychic attack. She wasn’t a true alpha yet she could only trigger psychic power by stimulating her glands with injected pheromones. This method drained her stamina and couldn’t be sustained for long.

The Li couple barely managed to stay upright by bracing against the table. Wen Huiyun took their phones and placed them flat on the surface. The two glared up at her, eyes burning with hatred, but fear of her power kept them from acting rashly.

Wen Huiyun pulled over chairs, helping Ye Zhuoyan sit before gesturing for the Li couple to do the same.

Calmly, she said, “Listen to me first. Then you can delete the video. Agreed?”

The young boss scoffed. “Why should I delete it? You’ve already bullied me, now you expect me to roll over like a coward?”

“You struck first. You know exactly how this started. No amount of excuses will change the facts.”

Wen Huiyun opened her bag, took out a student ID, and slid it across the table toward them.

The couple’s faces paled instantly. The boss shot up, grabbing for Wen Huiyun’s collar. “What did you do to my daughter?!”

Wen sidestepped effortlessly. “It’s hard for betas to raise children. You’ve sacrificed a lot for her.”

The Li couple’s expressions darkened, the wife turning her face away in distress.

Wen continued, “Lanlan left this with me yesterday. She often stops by Solace Eatery after school for free snacks and chats. She told me you didn’t originally sell wontons here, the rent is high, prices are steep, nothing like the suburbs where you were before. But you took out loans to move here because this district has one of City A’s top ten middle schools.”

The boss’s eyes reddened slightly, fists clenched. “What would you know? You’re an alpha born strong, handed the best from day one. You don’t understand our struggles.”

“I do. Strength isn’t wrong. Abusing the power it grants is. That’s why I’m talking to you now.”

Li Lan, the couple’s daughter, was a beta like her parents. She attended the prestigious middle school nearby, her grades decent, though her tuition was always paid late.

One evening, Lanlan had stood outside Solace Eatery in worn rubber-soled shoes, backpack heavy, watching timidly from a distance. Wen Huiyun had offered her cranberry cookies, but Lanlan had shyly refused. “Mom and Dad work too hard for their money. I’ll just look. I’m not hungry. Thank you, sister.”

Wen Huiyun told Li Lan that the cookies were free, which made her happily accept them. In return, she gave Wen Huiyun a leaf-cut artwork she had made herself.

Li Lan said, “My parents said that ever since the Worry-Free Eatery opened at the old street corner, using media tricks to steal customers, our wonton sales have plummeted. Mom even skimps on laundry detergent to save for my tuition. I was so angry that I came to see for myself.”

“But sister, you’re nothing like what my parents described. You don’t play tricks or steal customers. I’ve seen you give bread to delivery guys and make soy milk for sanitation workers before dawn.”

“Sister, you’re just like my parents, ordinary people trying to light a spark of warmth in this city for everyone.”

Wen Huiyun relayed Li Lan’s words verbatim to the Li couple, leaving them speechless with shock. The proprietress even teared up, her eyes glistening.

Wen Huiyun showed them Li Lan’s leaf-cut artwork, a silhouette of three people, a family.

“I knew it was you causing trouble even before checking the surveillance. Li Lan told me everything. She’s terrified I’d retaliate against you, yet she also knows what you did was wrong. You’ve sacrificed so much for her education, hoping she’d grow knowledgeable and principled. But as parents, you’re also role models. Instead of setting an example, you’ve put her in a moral dilemma. Aren’t you ashamed?”

Wen Huiyun pulled out her tablet, displaying a partnership proposal she’d prepared days earlier, and placed it before the Li couple. Stunned, they looked up at her. “You’re willing to collaborate? Help us with online promotion? Why?”

“I’m here to do business, not steal it. Monopolizing is theft; flourishing together is commerce. That’s my principle.”

“Not just you, the other shop owners who vandalized my windows can join too.”

“If you ever face unfair competition, I’ll help. The environment belongs to everyone. But if it’s not unfair, then you must improve your own competitiveness.”

The shop owner frowned, wavering. “Why should we trust you?”

Wen Huiyun smiled, tapping the table lightly right beside their phones. “Or you can choose not to.”

She turned her gaze, gentle yet firm. “Trust me, delete the videos, sign the agreement, and I’ll promote your wontons online. The Worry-Free Eatery will co-brand with you, opening up e-commerce. Don’t trust me? I’ll submit the vandalism footage to the police immediately, followed by a lawyer’s letter from Changxin Entertainment. I’m not forcing you just exercising my rights as a citizen.”

“……”

After negotiations, the shop owner calmed down. His wonton shop had gained some reputation; he wasn’t foolish. He knew the value of becoming an internet-famous store.

More importantly, this alpha was willing to negotiate as equals with a struggling beta like him. Any other alpha would’ve called the police long ago, who wouldn’t care about their hardships.

Their vandalism had been an act of desperation, never expecting to walk away unscathed. Now, not only could they settle amicably, but there was also a chance to earn big. Only an idiot would refuse!

The shop owner took his phone and deleted the videos himself, instructing his wife to do the same.

“We choose to work with you.”

“Alright. But before that, I need you to apologize to my partner. You’ve destroyed so many of my things, and I’m letting it go out of consideration for Lanlan, but I won’t be responsible for fixing your window either. Consider this the price you pay.”

As the sun set, orange streetlights flickered on, stretching the shadows of pedestrians along the avenue.

The Li couple bowed to Ye Zhuoyan and sincerely said, “We’re sorry, we were wrong.”

Understanding their difficulties, Ye Zhuoyan felt her anger subside. Since Wen Huiyun had reconciled with them, she decided to forgive them too.

Ye Zhuoyan frowned, her voice cool and clear: “It’s in the past. Don’t ever do something like this again.”

The Li couple nodded.

Wen Huiyun added, “I’ll send over the agreement tomorrow. Please make sure to sign it, Brother Li and Sister-in-law.”

The shop owner quickly interjected, “No need for formalities, just call me Old Li.”

“Alright. I’ll come by this weekend when Lanlan’s off school to film the video footage. Here’s the Christmas cookies I promised Lanlan she likes milk chocolate.”

The shopkeeper’s wife, tears still glistening at the corners of her eyes, accepted the gift box with trembling hands. “Thank you, really, thank you so much!”

Shops along the street lit up one after another.

The workday ended, and crowds began to surge.

Wen Huiyun and Ye Zhuoyan walked along the roadside.

Ye Zhuoyan took a few steps and remarked, “I like milk chocolate too.”

Wen Huiyun pulled out a small, palm-sized heart-shaped gift box from her bag, neatly wrapped.

“I know,” she said, keeping her gaze forward.

Ye Zhuoyan stopped in surprise and delight, taking the box and unwrapping it. “I was just saying that offhand, do you do magic tricks? You pulled out another one just like that.”

Wen Huiyun smiled slightly, watching as Ye Zhuoyan’s delicate face bloomed like a water lily, radiant with joy.

She longed to gently touch her cheek but restrained herself, merely saying, “Private magic, just for you.”

Ye Zhuoyan smirked at her, broke off a piece of chocolate, and fed it to Wen Huiyun. “Here, your magic, do you think it’s sweet?”

Wen Huiyun’s lips brushed against her fingertips, sending a faint electric tingle through her. She smiled without answering, simply nodding.

Ye Zhuoyan laughed and popped the other half into her own mouth, mumbling adorably, “Wen Huiyun, I’ve noticed you’re not just different from before you’re different from most alphas too.”

This piqued Wen Huiyun’s curiosity. “How so? What are most alphas like?”

“Most? Take Ming-jie, for example. Though not all alphas are as extreme as her, many still have that subconscious ‘I’m the best’ mentality.”

“And me?”

“You?”

Ye Zhuoyan turned to look at her, eyes soft with affection.

“You’re adorable.”

“Eh? I’m just adorable?”

Wen Huiyun had expected praise like “You’re amazing” or “You’re so kind,” but instead got the universal compliment “adorable.” Ugh.

The next moment, warmth enveloped her.

Stunned, Wen Huiyun held her arms out awkwardly as Ye Zhuoyan wrapped them around her from behind, pressing her cheek against Wen Huiyun’s back. The sound of her breathing was unusually clear.

When Ye Zhuoyan spoke, the vibrations from her chest resonated softly, each word echoing in Wen Huiyun’s heart.

“You’re adorable for forgiving desperate people’s mistakes, adorable for helping that beta family, adorable for your sweet little magic tricks.”

Wen Huiyun held her breath, cheeks warming. “Wow, so many ‘adorables’ I must be pretty impressive.”

“You deleting the video for me was adorable, and so was you using your psychic powers to protect me specifically.” Ye Zhuoyan paused, sniffled slightly, and said, “Thank you.”

Wen Huiyun smiled happily, only to hear the little cotton candy behind her add, “But from now on, I don’t want you performing ‘private magic tricks’ for anyone else.”

Ah, this… Was Zhuoyan referring to her giving Li Lan milk chocolate too? But Li Lan is just a middle schooler.

Ye Zhuoyan cooed softly, “The treats conjured by private magic should only belong to that one special person.”

Wen Huiyun’s cheeks flushed pink as she gently intertwined her fingers with Ye Zhuoyan’s.

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