Transmigrating as the Female Supporting Character: Dumb with Deep Pockets - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Chen Jia, Have You Ever Kissed Anyone?

Why?

Why did she have to call her name in front of everyone?

Faced with all those sets of eyes—bright and searching as spotlights—Chen Jia felt the suffocating awkwardness of being put on the spot. But she couldn’t bear Su Su’s eager gaze, and more importantly, she truly wanted to sabotage the Jiang family’s shameless calculations.

She nodded and replied, “Yeah. We saw them. It was… quite intense.”

Now, the Su family’s expressions toward the Jiangs became even more complicated. It was one thing to offer a marriage alliance, but to offer “second-hand goods” was just plain disgusting.

Xie Ting stared at Chen Jia with dislike, but fearing she might offend a relative of the Sus, she suppressed her anger and asked, “Whose child is this? I haven’t heard of her before, nor have I seen her.”

Bai Xue looped her arm through Chen Jia’s, saying affectionately, “This is my daughter’s friend. Our child doesn’t have many friends, so when she brings one home, we treat her like our own daughter.”

Seeing how close she was with Chen Jia, Xie Ting swallowed her retort. “Oh, I see.”

Su Su shot her a look. “And what of it?”

She’s not young anymore, yet all she thinks about is bullying the weak, Su Su thought.

Jiang Hanting took a sharp breath. “Yes, I have a girlfriend I’ve been seeing for a while. I’m sorry for making a scene. Today, my parents just wanted me to come over and make friends with Miss Su. After all, we’ll both be managing our respective family businesses in the future. Getting to know each other might lead to a win-win cooperation later.”

Though everyone understood the Jiang family’s true intentions, these things couldn’t be stated plainly. With one sentence, Jiang Hanting redefined the gathering as a business-oriented private dinner, effectively flipping the narrative and saving his family from further embarrassment.

This caused the patriarch, Su Min, to look at him with a bit more respect.

Chen Jia was inwardly impressed. As expected of the “Child of Destiny” destined for a hundred-billion-dollar fortune; when he wasn’t blinded by romance, he was actually quite sharp.

Su Su curled her lip and whispered to Chen Jia, “Even if I have money in the future, I’m not doing business with him. I’ll let him starve!”

The whisper wasn’t quiet enough; Xie Ting and Jiang Botao heard it, and their faces turned dark. But since they were the ones asking for favors, they had to swallow their pride.

If there weren’t so many people around, Chen Jia would have loved to cover Su Su’s mouth. Our luck is already worse than theirs; can you please stop picking fights?

Fortunately, the Su family didn’t want the girls stuck with the Jiangs either. After dinner, they were sent off to play on their own.

Su Su found staying in the same room as the Jiangs suffocating, so she dragged Chen Jia out to the garden. The Su family garden was meticulously maintained, with various plants arranged so that every angle offered a unique view. Though Su Su had long grown tired of these plants, wandering with Chen Jia made every corner feel like it had a new story to tell.

Suddenly, voices drifted from a distance. The two looked over—it was that annoying pest, Jiang Hanting.

Su Su crouched down, suddenly very interested. “What is he doing here all sneakily by himself? Come on, let’s go see.”

Chen Jia had been observing her closely. Seeing that Su Su truly disliked him, she felt a bit relieved. But now, seeing her so interested in his business, Chen Jia’s heart skipped a beat again.

When Chen Jia didn’t move, Su Su looked back in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“Why watch him?”

“For the gossip! What else?”

Chen Jia stared at her face for a long time until she was certain that Su Su was simply obsessed with drama. The two of them crept behind a thick shrub.

Through the gaps in the leaves, they saw Lin Yue’er in a white dress, looking pure and pitiable, questioning Jiang Hanting through her tears about why he was betraying their relationship.

Lin Yue’er: “Since you’ve found a better place for your heart, we should just break up.”

Jiang Hanting: “What ‘better place’? There’s no such thing. If you don’t believe me, I’ll get that girl named Su to explain it to you. Just don’t talk about breaking up, okay?”

Lin Yue’er shook her head, weeping. “I know you can’t let go of our years together, but the Jiang Group needs the Su family’s capital. Let’s… let’s just end it.”

Jiang Hanting couldn’t stand to hear that. He wanted nothing more than to shut her up. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, ignoring her struggles.

Even from that distance, Su Su and Chen Jia could hear the wet, squelching sounds of the kiss.

Chen Jia found the scene dull, but when she turned her head, she saw Su Su frowning with a look of intense focus, as if she were studying a complex scientific theory.

The heart Chen Jia had just let settle rose into her throat again. She waved a hand in front of Su Su’s face. “Let’s go. What are you looking at?”

Su Su grabbed her wrist, her gaze falling on Chen Jia’s full, hydrated lips. She swallowed instinctively. “Chen Jia, have you ever kissed anyone?”

Is a mouth really that delicious? Why do those two look like they can’t get enough, biting each other for so long? Looking at Chen Jia’s lips, she thought they looked like jelly. Would a bite taste sweet?

Chen Jia thought she had misheard. “What did you say?”

“I asked if you’ve ever kissed anyone.”

“…”

Sometimes, Chen Jia felt truly helpless. She couldn’t understand how Su Su could ask such a question with such a pure, innocent tone. Knowing Su Su would keep pestering her if she didn’t answer, Chen Jia pursed her lips. “No.”

“Oh.”

The tone was disappointed, but her heart was secretly dancing. “Your lips look very kissable.”

Did I just get hit on? Chen Jia thought. She was the type of person who liked to play along—she might be shy with strangers, but with people she knew, she couldn’t stand being outdone.

“You want to try?”

That stumped Su Su. Her cheeks burned, and her mouth moved faster than her brain. “I want to take a bite.”

“…”

For a moment, neither spoke. They simultaneously looked away, their eyes darting everywhere except at each other. After a while, Su Su explained with forced composure, “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant your lips look like jelly. I just haven’t had jelly in a long time.”

What am I saying? she thought. I’m a terrible person for making a dirty joke to my only friend.

Chen Jia had never interacted with someone like this before—especially someone with Su Su’s “clingy” personality. She figured this was just her unique way of expressing closeness.

“Is that so? Then maybe it really has been too long since you’ve had jelly.”

“Then… should we go buy some?”

“Sure.”

Two hours later, Bai Xue looked at the two large bags of jelly on the living room table, filled with different brands and flavors. “Why did you buy so much?”

Su Su was struggling to open a cup, eventually taking a huge scoop. “I had a craving.”

In her mouth, the artificial fruit flavor exploded—it was sticky and sweet, nothing like what she had imagined. After one bite, she found it hard to swallow. But on principle of not wasting food, she gulped it down. She tossed the empty packaging, feeling bored.

“You child,” Bai Xue noted. “What’s there to crave about jelly? You bought so much; how long is it going to take to eat it all?”

Su Su quickly gathered the bags into her arms before her mother could touch them. “Every flavor is different! The one I just had wasn’t great; maybe there’s one I’ll like in here. If you want some, Mom, I’ll buy more for you tomorrow.”

She was convinced the first one just wasn’t the right flavor.

Bai Xue pulled her hand back and teased, “Fine, I won’t eat your treasure.” She glanced at the silent Chen Jia. “Jiajia, you too. You went all that way with her just to watch her eat?”

She worried that Chen Jia might be feeling out of place or inferior due to her background. “In this house, you don’t need to be so reserved. You and Bao Bao are friends. Her monthly allowance is more than enough; don’t be polite with her.”

To Bai Xue, a person’s background wasn’t as important as their determination to improve their life. Chen Jia reminded her of Pan Yuanyuan years ago—alone and without support.

Chen Jia, seeing the solemn look on Bai Xue’s face, couldn’t fathom how a cup of jelly could trigger such a deep thought. “I don’t really like things that are too sweet, so I didn’t want any.”

Bai Xue watched her for a moment and, seeing she truly wasn’t just being shy, relaxed into a smile.

Meanwhile, Su Su packed her jelly away and asked her mother to stop inviting Jiang Hanting over. “I really hate him. And I don’t think he’s that impressive. If he were, would he be at the same school as me?”

Chen Jia: “…” I feel personally attacked.

Su Su realized her mistake and squinted her eyes with a smile. “Not you! You’re already amazing.” Getting into university from her background was impressive.

“Don’t worry,” Bai Xue promised. “No more random people for dinner. This time was an exception to return a favor.”

“Good. No one else either. I have no plans to date for now.”

Bai Xue glanced at Su Su’s leg, which was currently resting across Chen Jia’s lap, and gave a perfunctory nod. “Got it, got it.”