Transmigrated as the Future Movie Queen's Arch-Nemesis - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The steam rose, blurring the faces of everyone present.

The sound of the boiling water bubbled and gurgled, as if even their nerves were being boiled along with it.

Xia Lei forcefully fished a piece of meat out of the pot, dipped it in sauce, and stuffed it fiercely into her mouth.

Although they were out for a meal, the atmosphere between the girls was inexplicably heavy.

“Does anyone know what kind of nerve Su Mi is tripping on?” Another girl was the first to speak. “How is it that after just one weekend, she’s suddenly all cozy with Xin Keke? Didn’t she hate her guts before, wishing Xin Keke would just disappear?”

Her words immediately drew agreement from the others.

“Exactly. She was the one who couldn’t stand the sight of Xin Keke the most, and now she’s acting like Xin Keke’s lapdog?”

“She even acted all sarcastic toward Teacher Xia today. Honestly, just because her family has a bit of stinking money.”

Hearing this, Xia Lei, who was eating meat on the side, let out a half-smile and a hum.

“Isn’t that stinking money exactly what you prize about Su Mi’s family?” Her words were prickly. “You, me, we’re all the same—acting humble and subservient just so she might drop a tiny scrap of opportunity from between her fingers.”

The remaining girls looked at each other.

“But I’m damn well baffled,” Xia Lei slammed her chopsticks onto her dipping bowl. “In just one weekend, how did Su Mi become a different person? Is she possessed?”

“I feel that way too…”

“Yeah, she’s completely different from before.”

“I actually heard that the night before last, Su Mi prepared something ‘fun’ for Xin Keke. She drugged Xin Keke’s drink.”

A girl who hadn’t spoken the entire time checked her surroundings and lowered her voice: “Don’t you all know? It seems she actually slept with Xin Keke.”

Everyone immediately made expressions of disgust: “How gross!” “A woman sleeping with a woman?”

“The biting dog doesn’t bark.” Xia Lei shook her head, picking up a leaf of vegetables. “How did we not know Teacher Su had that kind of fetish? But look at how it turned out—it could have been anyone, yet she let that Xin Keke get in there first.”

A girl beside her said, “The way I see it, we sisters are all about to lose favor. We might as well take this chance to choose a different path; this Su Mi can’t be relied on.”

“Choose what you want. I’ve followed Su Mi for so long; even if I don’t have glory, I have the merit of hard work. And did you see? How did she treat me today?” At the mention of today’s events, Xia Lei became resentful. “I’m definitely getting revenge for today. Su Mi and Xin Keke better watch their backs.”

Amidst the bubbling sound of the hotpot, everyone revealed knowing smiles.

“A-choo!”

Su Mi rubbed her nose with teary eyes, wrapping her light jacket a bit tighter around her.

As the seasons shifted between autumn and winter, the climate in Dingjiang City changed rapidly. The day she arrived, it was warm enough for short sleeves, but today a jacket was mandatory.

A little “salted fish” like her had to protect her body; she couldn’t afford to catch a cold.

Speaking of which, Dingjiang City in this novel was a bit like a mix of the Capital and the Magic City (Shanghai). It was one of the larger cities in the country, rich in cultural heritage, and adjacent to the Dingjiang River, making water and land transport very convenient.

Though she didn’t plan on staying long, Su Mi still needed to understand the general situation of this original world.

At this moment, Su Mi was standing below her apartment building, waiting for her family to pick her up.

Yes, that’s right, family.

The original host’s family.

Her three buckets of KFC! She wouldn’t be able to eat them tonight.

Near the end of the afternoon, Su Mi had suddenly received a call from the butler, telling her that the Old Madam and her parents missed her dearly and wanted to pick her up for dinner tonight.

This made Su Mi feel like she was facing a formidable enemy. In the original text, the original host was only a minor villain in the early-to-mid stages; the author naturally wouldn’t spend much ink writing about her family. All she knew was that the relationship between the original host and her family was quite bad, eventually leading to them turning against each other and cutting ties.

However, the smiling appearance of the butler last time made Su Mi feel that things might not be as simple as the author wrote.

Well, after all, they were all living people now. What the original author skipped in a single stroke of the pen might be decades of someone’s life.

Su Mi spent some more time figuring out the relationships within the Su family.

The Su family was still presided over by the Old Madam, the original host’s grandmother, but the old lady’s health wasn’t ideal.

The original host’s parents had initially wanted the original host and her younger brother to inherit the business, but since the original host only wanted to develop a career in the entertainment industry, the couple had now pinned all their hopes on the younger brother.

Honestly, why call me back for dinner so suddenly! Don’t you know the relationship is bad?

It felt like a surprise inspection.

The sky today was a bit gloomy, and the breeze was chilly. The butler hadn’t arrived yet, and Su Mi, waiting at the entrance, felt like an idiot. Rubbing her arms, she decided to wait inside the building.

Just as she was skipping toward the main door, she happened to brush past Xin Keke, who was walking toward her.

Xin Keke acted as if she didn’t see her, but Su Mi chirped happily: “Xin Keke!”

“…” Xin Keke’s footsteps paused, but she didn’t say anything to Su Mi. Without looking back, she stepped out the door and headed down the stairs.

Su Mi wasn’t discouraged. She quickly changed direction, following Xin Keke down the steps: “Are you off work? Good work today! What are you planning to eat tonight?”

“None of your business.”

“Oh, I was just asking casually.” Seeing Xin Keke’s pace down the stairs getting faster, Su Mi hurriedly said, “Be careful, if you go down the stairs too fast you might roll down.”

“…”

Xin Keke glared at her.

But Su Mi’s skin grew thicker with every setback. Even if Xin Keke gave her the cold shoulder, Su Mi didn’t mind. Rather, she had long since prepared herself mentally, knowing there would be a long period of tug-of-war with Xin Keke.

She watched the accelerating Xin Keke; in no time at all, she was already well ahead of Su Mi.

Su Mi suddenly had a hot-headed idea: “Do you want to come back to the Su family home with me?”

It was a sentence with no beginning or end.

Such a confusing question made even Xin Keke, who had already walked ahead, turn around with a frown, looking at Su Mi in confusion.

The expression on her face seemed to ask, “Are you okay in the head?”

“Oh, it’s just that my family wants me back for dinner tonight, so I wanted to ask what you were eating and if you wanted to go back with me. Anyway, it’s just a matter of adding another set of chopsticks.”

Su Mi had already generously accepted on behalf of her family.

Xin Keke let out a long sigh through her nose. She didn’t even say a word to Su Mi; she simply shook her head slightly, rolled her eyes, and turned to leave.

“Xin Keke!”

Su Mi suddenly called her name again from behind.

She thought Xin Keke would just walk away, but to her surprise, despite being impatient, the other girl actually stopped.

Su Mi secretly rejoiced: “Tomorrow, we…”

“Miss!”

A very loud voice forcefully interrupted Su Mi’s intended invitation.

Su Mi turned her head and saw the butler in his suit, smiling as he stood by the car. Seeing her look over, he considerately pulled open the car door: “Miss, I’ve come to take you back.”

It was currently off-work time. Although it was an entertainment company, some people still left on the dot. With the butler shouting like that, all the people leaving work were staring at her. Su Mi was extremely embarrassed, her toes immediately beginning “construction” (cringing).

She couldn’t worry about this butler who seemed to be having a bout of “eighth-grader syndrome” (chuunibyou) right now. She wanted to say something more to Xin Keke, but when she turned back, the fox-like girl was no longer in front of her.

Su Mi sat in the car feeling incredibly depressed.

She had originally wanted to ask if Xin Keke wanted to eat together tomorrow. Though, it did feel a bit like she was just looking for an excuse to talk.

Sigh, since Xin Keke is gone, I’ll just go find her tomorrow.

Having been a law-abiding commoner for her entire real life, this was the first time Su Mi had seen such a grand two-story villa.

From the outside, it looked like a castle hidden in the woods, with a touch of mystery. After entering the iron gates of the villa, the surrounding gardens, lawns, and the various helpers and servants nearly made Su Mi’s jaw drop in shock.

Actually, God hadn’t been too cruel to her, had He?

It was just that the timing of the transmigration was a bit bad. She knew the original host’s family was wealthy, but she hadn’t expected them to be this rich!

This time, no matter what, she wouldn’t let the Su family kick her out.

“Miss, the Old Madam and the Madam are upstairs waiting for you to dine,” the butler said considerately after parking the car in the garage. “The Old Madam has missed you dearly lately; please speak with her more.”

Su Mi nodded: “Oh, okay.”

Pretending in front of family was probably the hardest, as they would definitely be the ones who knew the original host best.

However, Su Mi hadn’t planned on acting exactly like the original host anyway. If anyone asked, she would just brush it off with an excuse.

To her surprise, as soon as she entered the front door, a young man in his early twenties in the living room saw her and was the first to laugh: “Yo, our big star is back. Su Mi, last time you said you’d be a big star the next time you returned. How much do your autographs sell for now?”

It wasn’t a friendly sort of teasing, but genuine sarcasm.

Looking at this face that shared some resemblance with the original host, Su Mi recognized him immediately. This was the original host’s younger brother, Su Bin.

Great. He started coming for her the moment she stepped in.

Returning home felt like entering a game dungeon of unknown difficulty, where the player had to figure things out for themselves.

But clearly, he didn’t come with good intentions.

Su Mi curled her lip slightly, pulling a fake smile: “What’s the rush? Once I’m famous, I’ll give you the first one. You can go sell it and find out for yourself how much it’s worth.”

She just replied nonchalantly. Since she hadn’t figured out the family dynamics or whether she had a backer yet, she had to keep her fire suppressed for now.

Su Bin looked her up and down: “If you want to be famous, you should dye that pink hair back first. What big star has pink hair? If you aren’t ashamed of lowering your status, I am. Don’t tell people you’re my sister when you go out.”

Su Mi was sparing with her words: “I like it.”

What’s wrong with pink hair? I fully support the original host’s choice!

A silent battle began between her and Su Bin the moment she walked in, with sharp words flying back and forth.

But before they could bicker for more than a few sentences, a voice suddenly came from the top of the stairs: “Xiao Bin is right. Su Mi, you really need to find time to dye that hair back for me.”

Su Mi looked up.

A woman who was maintained quite exquisitely was leaning against the staircase railing, looking down at them. But no matter how carefully she maintained herself, a hint of age could still be seen in those eyes.

Fine. No need for much introduction, this was the original host’s mother.

Judging by the tone, she was also one to play favorites.

Su Mi’s mouth twitched.

What is this? I’d rather deal with ten Xin Kekes at the office than get involved in this family mess.

No wonder the original host eventually fell out with her family. With a mother who favored sons over daughters like this, anyone would feel suffocated.

Su Mi quietly cracked her knuckles.

Forget it. I can’t ruin the relationship with the family yet. I’ll take it one step at a time.