When the Cannon Fodder Meets the Love-Brained Female Supporting Character - Episode 8

Jiang Nan hid in the shadows, her emotions tangled.

If she were to ask about her wrist now, Xiao Ran would surely read too much into it.

Jiang Nan felt she needed an excuse: “If you really want to make it up to me, then on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, leave a jar of your homemade fruit wine under the century-old locust tree on East Main Street in Paper Mill Lane.”

Xiao Ran didn’t understand the request but nodded immediately.

There were still two months until the festival.

Jiang Nan didn’t actually want the fruit wine. In the original plot, on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Xiao Ran would gift Jiang Huai a jar of her homemade fruit wine.

Jiang Huai would drink it, get drunk, and take the chance to kiss her forehead, whispering sweet promises.

Of course, those promises meant nothing, but an innocent teenage girl would still be swayed, mistaking them for genuine devotion.

If Jiang Nan had the fruit wine sent to her instead, this scenario would never happen.

________________________________________

Jiang Huai had stormed off in apparent anger, but not long after, he doubled back with a dozen guards in tow, lying in wait outside.

As soon as the person who had outbid him for the bronze mask emerged, he would “invite” them to his residence for a proper discussion.

The bronze mask was non-negotiable.

As dusk settled, the crowd gradually dispersed. Jiang Huai scrutinized every departing figure with paranoid intensity, but none matched the one he sought.

When the auction hall was empty, he approached a staff member with a dark expression. “Where’s the person from Booth Eight?”

The staff member turned, confused at first, then nodded in recognition upon seeing Jiang Huai. “No one came out.”

“Do you know who was in Booth Eight?”

“Seemed to be a man and a woman. The man was unfamiliar, and the woman’s face was covered, couldn’t see clearly.”

A man and a woman perhaps a couple? Jiang Huai mentally combed through any couples he might have offended but came up empty.

He glanced at the deserted auction hall, then at the unchanged Booth Eight upstairs, and without hesitation, led his guards up.

The bronze mask, Jiang Huai was determined to get it at any cost. Returning empty-handed would mean facing his father’s wrath.

He refused to believe anyone in Yang City could rival the Jiang family’s influence. As he ascended, his mind raced through a dozen ways to coerce or bribe the culprits.

But the moment he pulled back the booth’s curtain, he froze.

Inside, only a dim lantern flickered in the corner—no one was there. His eyes darted around until he spotted the window, left ajar just wide enough for a person to slip through.

How had he not considered they might have already fled?

Jiang Huai’s face twisted as if he’d spent three days in the foulest latrine. He strode to the window and found a note wedged in the frame.

Unfolding it, his eyes burned with fury.

Scrawled across the paper were four bold characters: You’re too late.

The words seemed to morph into mocking mouths, jeering at his incompetence.

Jiang Huai shredded the note.

“Find out who was hiding in this booth!”

He slammed a fist against the window, his hatred extending to the auction house itself.

________________________________________

Xiao Ran carefully cradled her mother’s lost hairpin against her chest, an unease lingering in her heart.

For her, a stroke of luck was as thrilling as it was unsettling.

She never took kindness from others for granted. There was no such thing as unconditional goodwill in this world.

On her way home, Xiao Ran kept replaying the events in her mind. In the moment of panic, some details had only flashed briefly through her thoughts. Now, with time to reflect, certain things came back to her.

For instance, in her dazed state, she had noticed the figure was slender perhaps a woman, or maybe a frail man.

Then there was the jade pendant at the person’s waist, exquisitely carved with a vividly rendered, fierce-looking teng snake coiling upon it.

The more she recalled, the more enigmatic the person became in her mind.

She didn’t know their intentions, nor who they truly were or why they had helped her. Was it really just for a bottle of fruit wine?

Perhaps they had some grudge against Jiang Huai and had seized the opportunity to toy with her.

Xiao Ran’s thoughts grew increasingly tangled.

The only thing she was certain of was that anyone who dared oppose Jiang Huai was no ordinary person.

Maybe she would find out when she delivered the fruit wine.

A breeze swept by, carrying the sweet fragrance of osmanthus from the roadside, refreshing her senses. Her mood inexplicably lightened. Toward this benefactor who had returned her hairpin, she felt both gratitude and unease.

It wasn’t until she neared home that she thought of Jiang Huai again. Strangely, the image that surfaced was his retreating back and the memory of her wrist being seized leaving only a faint sense of displeasure in her heart.

________________________________________

Jiang Nan took the clothes and veil she had worn that day to the outskirts and burned them all. Changing into a pre-prepared outfit, she dusted herself off and headed to the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion.

Earlier, she had sent covert guards to gather Bantianyao tea leaves, and they had returned with results.

They came back not only with a full harvest but also some tea seeds. Jiang Nan planned to purchase a tea plantation on the mountainside to cultivate them.

She carefully examined the Bantianyao leaves—flat, elongated ovals in a deep green hue. To the untrained eye, they might easily be mistaken for ordinary foliage.

With one of the Four Great Tea Varieties, Bantianyao in hand, Jiang Nan was confident she could elevate the teahouse to new heights.

By the time Jiang Nan returned to the Jiang residence, the sun had just begun to set.

But luck wasn’t on her side, she ran into Jiang Huai.

He was pacing outside the estate, too anxious to enter. Spotting Jiang Nan’s return, followed by a young man, he paused. “Where have you been, Cousin?”

Ayu answered for her: “The Hidden Fragrance Pavilion acquired a rare batch of Bantianyao tea. The owner went to inspect it today—this is it.”

Ayu gestured to the load he carried, two baskets filled with tea leaves.

Jiang Huai nodded absentmindedly. “A rare find indeed. The flavor must be exceptional.”

Ayu was busy winding silver thread around a kite. Seeing Jiang Nan return, she stood and directed Ayu to place the tea baskets in the courtyard before greeting her with a smile. “Is this the tea? It looks so fresh and green. You’ve worked hard, Miss.”

“It’s the newly acquired Bantianyao tea for the Hidden Fragrance Pavilion. Distribute some to the other courtyards later,” Jiang Nan said, removing her thin coat. Noticing the kite discarded on the ground, she asked, “What are you up to?”

Ayu quickly acknowledged the order before explaining, “Don’t you know, Miss? In a few days, it’ll be the Jiang family’s annual kite-flying festival. Master Jiang, in his kindness, has granted us servants a day off to fly kites and play. All the young masters and misses in the household will invite friends to join—it’s quite lively!”

“This is the kite I made for myself and for you, Miss.” A’Tuo picked up the two paper kites from the ground, holding them up to face Jiang Nan.

One kite was large, the other small. The one she made for herself was tiny, covered with patterns of birds and flowers that nearly filled the entire surface, a riot of colors. To others, it might seem overly flashy, but judging by A’Tuo’s expression, she was genuinely pleased with it.

The one A’Tuo made for Jiang Nan, however, was a full size larger than hers and completely blank.

“Ah-Man and the others always say my taste is tacky, so I didn’t dare draw anything on yours without permission,” A’Tuo said, scratching her head sheepishly.

Jiang Nan handed some payment to Ayu, who had been waiting outside the courtyard, and sent him on his way. Then she took the large blank kite A’Tuo had made for her, picked up a brush, and began painting with effortless strokes.

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, a brand-new, entirely green kite appeared before A’Tuo’s eyes. Jiang Nan even sprinkled a bit of tea on it.

A’Tuo was silent for a moment. “This is…?”

Jiang Nan smiled. “Don’t you think this green looks very healthy? And if you sniff closely, there’s even a faint tea fragrance. Come on, let’s go try flying it.”

And so, outside the side courtyard, two kites soared into the sky—one green, the other a dazzlingly colorful black.

That night, the moonlight spilled silver across the stone paths and shimmered over the emerald-green lake, casting rippling reflections.

Jiang Nan spotted the same figure sitting by the lake, gazing at the moon, and frowned.

“What’s wrong with him now?” she asked A’Tuo.

“Oh, Miss Yu Qian is returning in a couple of days,” A’Tuo replied.

The female lead is coming back?

With the plot now in motion, the key characters were making their appearances one after another, as if stepping onto a stage.