Phoenix A has Gone Viral Across the Entire Internet! - Chapter 14

Shen Nian reacted quickly, refusing to let the other woman catch her off guard. She continued eating her portion of dinner with a blank expression.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhiwan merely arched an eyebrow, picked up her utensils, and began to eat. She was far more disciplined than Shen Nian. It seemed as though the act of eating was not for enjoyment but rather the execution of a necessary protocol, and that protocol should not be handled too casually.

Shen Nian watched as Jiang Zhiwan unhurriedly raised her fork, twirling only a few strands of pasta at a time before bringing them to her mouth. At this rate, it felt like she would be eating for an eternity.

432 chimed in: “Just the basic professional quality of an actor. Eating like this creates a greater sense of fullness, so naturally, she eats less.”

“Unlike a certain someone who never worries about such things and just eats however she pleases.”

Shen Nian gave a light huff and delivered two mental punches to 432. Little System, you have certainly grown bold, haven’t you? How dare you insult me!

432 refused to admit it: “Hey, I did no such thing. I said ‘a certain someone.’ Are you that ‘certain someone’?”

Shen Nian had no desire to bicker with it. Her only thought was to finish quickly so she could retreat to her bedroom and be alone. In front of Jiang Zhiwan, she always had the nagging illusion that she was about to be seen through at any moment.

After Shen Nian left, Jiang Zhiwan ate only a few more bites of the pasta before returning to her own room. After changing her clothes, she habitually opened her messaging app, only to find a contact she had muted was tirelessly spamming her with voice call requests.

The account belonged to her father, who was still drawing breath, but the messages themselves were clearly the handiwork of her cheap stepmother. Jiang Zhiwan frowned, weighing her thoughts. For them to reach out to her out of the blue, they certainly were not up to any good.

It seemed that the period she spent hospitalized for her alcohol allergy in her past life had truly caused her to miss quite a lot.

Nie Lan wanted her help to push Li Yuling into the entertainment industry. Jiang Zhiwan sneered; they certainly had a beautiful imagination. With the Li family’s wealth, getting Li Yuling into some talent agency for packaging would actually be as easy as flipping a hand.

Yet, rather than using that method, Nie Lan and the others chose to seek her out personally. Their target, naturally, was still Shen Nian. After all, the Shen family was powerful, and their subsidiary, Yuemo Entertainment, was a renowned industry leader. They had access to countless resources. If they wanted to make someone famous on a whim, it would be no trouble at all.

Nie Lan’s wishful thinking was hitting a wall. Jiang Zhiwan originally had no intention of responding, but on second thought, she felt this might be for the best. If she never asked Shen Nian for help with these messes, the woman might eventually grow suspicious.

Despite deciding to intervene, Jiang Zhiwan followed her usual routine of reading but not replying, and she even blocked the contact for good measure.

On the other end, Nie Lan stared at the red exclamation mark on her screen, gnashing her teeth in rage. “That bit—” Halfway through the curse, she suddenly felt it would ruin her image and forced herself to swallow the word.

Li Yuling looked at her reaction, feeling uneasy. “Mom, do you think Jiang Zhiwan will really help if we ask?”

Nie Lan let out a cold laugh. “Why wouldn’t she? You are her sister in name, after all.”

Li Yuling muttered to herself, Only in name, not a real sister.

Nie Lan, however, was exceptionally confident. She squinted at her daughter and said, “Don’t worry, she won’t dare refuse. If she doesn’t agree, I’ll go to your father and have him speak to her personally.”

Little did she know that after blocking her, Jiang Zhiwan did not give the matter another thought. She simply checked the schedule for tomorrow and turned off the lights to rest.

In the master bedroom next door, Shen Nian was leaning lazily against the headboard, reading the new plot points 432 had just unlocked.

Since Jiang Zhiwan was the female lead, her backstory was not much different from other melodramatic novels: a divorced mother, a remarried father, a stepmother and stepsister who constantly caused trouble, and her own self, forever hovering on the edge of “blackening.”

Shen Nian nodded and gave her evaluation: “Very typical.” In other words, quite cliché.

Jiang Zhiwan’s surname was different from her Alpha biological father’s; she took after her Omega mother. The reason was simple: among the two families in the arranged marriage, the Jiang family was slightly more powerful. Li Wancai had always been resentful of this but was powerless to change it. Consequently, he naturally harbored a few extra layers of dislike toward Jiang Zhiwan.

That marriage, which existed in name only, was utterly dull. Thus, the first thing Li Wancai did after succeeding as the new head of the family was to get a divorce. Coincidentally, the Jiang family was also thoroughly disappointed by his performance over the years, so both parties went their separate ways immediately.

However, Li Wancai was incredibly cunning. To avoid completely losing the support the Jiang family could provide, he insisted on keeping Jiang Zhiwan to raise her himself. The Jiang family was not as thick-skinned as he was, so they eventually agreed, but they warned him that he must treat her well. This was why Li Wancai appeared obedient to Jiang Zhiwan on the surface and was always unwilling to truly burn bridges.

After the divorce, Jiang Zhiwan’s biological mother had flown far away to another country and rarely appeared in the plot outside of flashbacks. Meanwhile, the father who valued Alphas over Omegas, the wicked and greedy stepmother, and the scheming “green tea” stepsister showed up from time to time to hover in front of Jiang Zhiwan’s eyes.

What 432 sent to Shen Nian this time was the beginning of the stepmother’s troublemaking, which was also the reason Jiang Zhiwan would sign that near-sponsorship agreement with her.

Shen Nian had always acted willfully. Whatever she wanted, she would stop at nothing to get. After the drafted agreement was flatly rejected, her limited patience finally ran out completely.

With the power of the Shen family, if Shen Nian did not want to, she did not need to ask for Jiang Zhiwan’s consent. Pressuring the Li family directly would likely be far more effective than any other means.

Upon hearing that Shen Nian had taken a fancy to her cheap stepdaughter, Nie Lan was initially a bit jealous, secretly thinking that Jiang Zhiwan had truly struck gold. But after witnessing the various attitudes of that Eldest Miss Shen, only schadenfreude remained in her heart.

Li Wancai was originally a bit hesitant, feeling that even if just for show, he should ask for Jiang Zhiwan’s opinion. Unexpectedly, Nie Lan was an expert at manipulating his psychology. With just a few exaggerated sentences, the matter was settled directly.

On the surface, it seemed like an act of desperation, but in reality, they were actively handing Jiang Zhiwan over to Shen Nian.

Shen Nian grew furious as she read, cursing out every member of that family in her heart. 432 was not idle either, joining Shen Nian in a few insults while expertly reciting a poem to help her stay calm.

Shen Nian said with absolute certainty, “If I get the chance, I am definitely going to help Jiang Zhiwan settle this score!”

432 chimed in from the side: “It is okay, it is okay. After the female lead blackens, she will naturally take revenge ruthlessly, both physically and mentally, making them kneel on the ground and scream for mercy.”

Shen Nian: “?”

432 gave a human-like cough. The System was just talking nonsense; just pretend you didn’t hear that.

Although she knew that in the original plot, the scene 432 described was indeed possible, whenever Shen Nian tried to imagine it, what popped into her mind was a cold-faced Jiang Zhiwan brandishing a leather whip.

Wait, what is going on? She is a decent person.

Drowsiness hit her suddenly. Shen Nian relaxed her body, burrowed down, and tucked herself into the covers. 432 thoughtfully turned off the light for her: “Nian, sweet dreams.”

Shen Nian suspected it was exactly that extra comment from 432 that caused her to have nightmares all night long. Now, sitting opposite the other protagonist of her nightmare and eating at the same table, Shen Nian was, without a doubt, completely preoccupied with finishing as quickly as possible so she could make her escape.

For heaven’s sake, can someone tell her why she would dream of Jiang Zhiwan chasing her with a little leather whip all night? Next time, she would definitely stop letting her imagination run wild before bed.

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