Transmigrating as the Female Supporting Character: Dumb with Deep Pockets - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Chen Jia, Mwah Mwah Mwah

Chen Jia pushed open the bathroom door, and Su Su reached out her arms toward her.

Chen Jia picked her up, carried her from the bathroom back to the bedroom, and placed her gently on the bed.

Su Su looked at the neatly made bed and then at the pajamas in Chen Jia’s hand. “Are you sleeping here tonight?”

“Mhm. It’s inconvenient for you right now. If you need anything during the night, it’ll be easier to call me.”

Before taking her own shower, Chen Jia helped Su Su blow-dry her hair. “Go to sleep if you’re tired. I’ll shower and be right back.”

“Okay.”

Su Su was actually quite sleepy, but she wanted to wait for Chen Jia. She sat on the bed scrolling through her phone. An incoming message notification popped up—a friend request from Ning Qingyuan.

She initially wanted to decline it, but then she thought better of it. Ning Qingyuan knew her secret and was a chatterbox; if she didn’t keep an eye on her, who knew what she might let slip?

The moment the request was accepted, the “typing…” indicator flickered wildly. A message appeared:

“I heard your leg is snapped?”

“…”

“Don’t try to hide it from me. I happened to go home today for some errands and was going to drop by to check on you, but I was afraid of being a third wheel. Consider this my way of caring. Rest up. Neither of you looks like you can cook, and my mom loves making soup. I’ll bring some pig trotter soup tomorrow. Eat more of it, and you’ll definitely recover faster.”

“Is that a real thing? What’s the science behind that?” In Su Su’s memory, she had never seen her mother, Bai Xue, cook—though her aunt said her mom’s cooking was actually terrible.

“Eat the part to heal the part. Don’t knock it until you try it.”

Su Su remained skeptical, but since the offer came from a place of kindness, she couldn’t bring herself to be as sharp with Ning Qingyuan as before.

“Oh. Where did you get my WeChat?”

“Asked one of your classmates. By the way, we need to work hard on the competition. I’ll see you tomorrow and we can discuss it then.”

“Okay.”

Just as Su Su sent the message, the bathroom door opened. Chen Jia returned to the room, radiating a post-shower warmth. Su Su immediately tossed Ning Qingyuan to the back of her mind and waved Chen Jia over. “Come here, I’ll blow-dry your hair.”

Chen Jia shook her head. “You’re injured. Just sit still and rest.”

“My foot is hurt, not my hands.” She looked at Chen Jia expectantly, as if she wouldn’t be able to sleep unless she got to touch that hair.

Chen Jia sighed but handed her the hairdryer. She moved the small stool Su Su had been using and sat by the bedside, allowing Su Su to sit on the edge of the mattress to dry her hair.

“Go ahead.”

The hairdryer whirred to life. Chen Jia’s thick, dark hair slipped through Su Su’s fingertips, tickling her palms. Su Su gently tucked the shorter strands behind Chen Jia’s ears.

“Your hair is getting long. When I go to get mine dyed, you should come along and get yours trimmed.”

“We’ll talk about that after your injury heals.”

“Okay.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Su Su caught sight of Chen Jia’s elbow, which was red and swollen from the shower water. Her finger twitched, and she clicked off the hairdryer. “You’re hurt too?”

Chen Jia, thinking her hair was dry, looked at her arm and said dismissively, “It looks worse than it is. It’s not a serious wound, just a scrape.”

Su Su didn’t say anything but reached out to touch it. Chen Jia couldn’t help but hiss, “$Sss!$”

“And you said it was fine?” Su Su glared at her.

“It really is.” Afraid of worrying her, Chen Jia went downstairs to get the first-aid kit and dabbed the wound with gentian violet. “There. It won’t even hurt tomorrow.”

She blew on her eyelashes, the smile gradually fading from her face. Su Su knew what she was thinking. She reached out and touched Chen Jia’s warm palm.

“Don’t blame yourself because your injury isn’t as bad as mine. We should be glad. If we were both crippled, it would be even worse.” She knew that regardless of how bad Chen Jia’s injury was, she wouldn’t have been able to sit calmly in the stands anyway—especially since someone had tripped her on purpose.

Chen Jia gave a soft “Mhm,” her clear eyes swirling with complex emotions. After a pause, she spoke in a low voice: “Let me think about it.” She didn’t specify what she was thinking about.

…

As she drifted off to sleep, Su Su remembered what Ning Qingyuan had said. “She’s coming over tomorrow. She said she’s bringing soup her mom made.”

Chen Jia blinked, surprised. “Okay.”

Su Su let out a yawn, her eyes barely staying open. Chen Jia tucked the blanket around her. “It’s late. Go to sleep.”

Because she was sleeping next to a “patient,” Chen Jia didn’t dare sleep too deeply. In the middle of the night, while in a daze, she suddenly heard Su Su whisper: “Chen Jia…”

Chen Jia snapped awake and flicked on the bedside lamp. The warm yellow glow illuminated a corner of the room. “Su—”

She was about to ask what was wrong, but she realized the person beside her was just talking in her sleep. Su Su’s pale lips were slightly pouted. “Chen Jia… mwah mwah mwah…”

“…”

What on earth is she dreaming about?

As Chen Jia recovered from her shock, Su Su shifted her head, burying half of her face in the pillow. Her light-colored hair obscured her face, leaving only those cherry-pink lips visible. She smacked her lips as if tasting something delicious, a faint smile lingering at the corners of her mouth.

Chen Jia shook her head, trying to dispel the ridiculous thoughts forming in her mind. She stared at Su Su’s face for a long time, sighed softly, and went to the foot of the bed to lift the covers, checking if Su Su had moved her leg in her sleep. Seeing the foot resting properly, she sighed in relief and climbed back into bed.

Just as she pulled up the quilt, Su Su reached out and tugged at her hem. Her eyes were open just a crack; it was impossible to tell if she was awake or asleep.

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere. I’m right here in the room.”

Chen Jia looked up, and the person who had been looking at her was already fast asleep again.

…

The next day at noon, Ning Qingyuan sent a WeChat message before coming over, telling them to just steam some rice—she was bringing the dishes from home. Around 11:30, the doorbell rang.

When they opened the door, Su Su and Chen Jia discovered Ning Qingyuan wasn’t alone. Behind her stood a young girl who looked about sixty percent like her, sporting two shallow dimples when she smiled.

With one look, Su Su remembered who she was. It was the girl they had seen walking in the neighborhood—the one who had asked for Chen Jia’s contact info. Instantly, Su Su went into high-alert mode.

Ning Qingyuan didn’t know her sister had “confessed” to Chen Jia, but she knew her sister used to have feelings for her. She felt a bit awkward and glared at her sister. “Sorry, I didn’t know she followed me. This is my younger sister, Ning Qingke.”

“Hello, big sisters.” She gave a shy smile. Since they were already at the door, Su Su couldn’t exactly turn them away.

She forced a smile. “Come in, come in.”

“Thank you!”

Ning Qingyuan smiled at them, then turned to whisper something to Ning Qingke. “You two live in such a big house alone? Aren’t you scared?”

Su Su was speechless. “You just said it—there are two of us, not one. Why would we be scared?”

Since the previous night, Chen Jia’s mood had been strange. Part of her couldn’t believe it, yet she couldn’t stop noticing Su Su’s every move. They say liking someone can’t be hidden; even if you hide the smile, the love leaks out through the eyes.

But Su Su didn’t seem to be trying to hide it at all. No matter where Chen Jia walked, a certain gaze followed her—a gaze filled with an undeniable, lingering tenderness. When Chen Jia met Su Su’s eyes, she looked away in a panic.

“Sit down for a bit. I’ll go get some water.” Her movements were a bit frantic, almost walking with the same arm and leg forward.

Ning Qingyuan had never seen Chen Jia like this. “What’s up with her?”

Su Su’s smile faded, her thick lashes drooping slightly. “I don’t know.” She wasn’t usually the most sensitive person, but she could clearly feel the change in Chen Jia. She had a gut feeling that Chen Jia had discovered something. But she couldn’t figure out where she had slipped up.

“Nothing, really.”

Ning Qingke sat down beside her. “You two aren’t actually together, are you?”

Su Su looked up, eyes full of wariness. “So what if we aren’t?”

“Nothing! Don’t misunderstand, I’m not here to compete with you.” Unlike Ning Qingyuan’s tomboyish personality, Ning Qingke was a true “sweet girl.” Su Su realized where Ning Qingyuan had tried to learn her “act” from—it was just that the elder sister’s version felt like fake “Green Tea,” whereas Ning Qingke’s sweetness was completely natural. Even knowing she once liked Chen Jia, Su Su found it hard to dislike her.

“Oh.” Compared to Ning Qingke’s enthusiasm, Su Su was lukewarm. But Ning Qingke wasn’t deterred by the cold shoulder. She leaned in and asked in a low, serious voice: “Do you want me to help you?”

Su Su looked at her. Ning Qingke winked. “I’m serious.”

Chen Jia returned and placed the water on the table. Ning Qingyuan breathed a sigh of relief seeing her sister hadn’t caused trouble, and opened the insulated containers to introduce lunch.

“I didn’t know your tastes, so I just had my mom make a few things. Since Su Su is injured, it’s mostly light stuff.”

Ning Qingke watched expectantly. “Good thing I followed her. The moment you left, Mom was yelling in the kitchen that she was going to kill you—there were five dishes, and you packed every single one of them away.”

Chen Jia and Su Su’s lips twitched.

Ning Qingyuan’s face turned red as she glared at her sister. “Nonsense! I left… one bite.”

“You left exactly one bite. Mom also said you should bring your classmates to the house for dinner next time. Stop being stingy and shuttling food back and forth—it loses its flavor.”