When The Scheming Female Supporting Character Is Forced To Seduce The Female Lead - Chapter 29

Du Jingmo felt her current state was somewhat precarious.

She changed the subject. “What were you two talking about earlier? I saw you spill water on him.”

Zhao Qingdai hadn’t expected Du Jingmo to witness her encounter with Lu Anshi today, but she didn’t intend to lie. She offered a simple explanation: “He holds a grudge against Gu Cheng. He was the one behind the smear campaign and online harassment against Sister last time, because Gu Cheng likes you.”

“It’s utterly illogical and infuriating just listening to it, so I lost my temper.”

Du Jingmo was unaware of the complex backstory, but Zhao Qingdai’s actions and attitude lifted her spirits.

“Those things are all in the past now. Brother will handle this for me. You don’t need to confront him privately and risk trouble.” She stood up and took Zhao Qingdai’s hand. “Don’t worry. He won’t have time to bother us anymore.”

The moment Lu Anshi approached Zhao Qingdai, Du Jingmo vaguely understood why Zhao Qingdai hated Gu Cheng so much.

Some people don’t need to do anything; their mere existence is already irritating.

Du Jingmo’s finger traced up Zhao Qingdai’s palm, then pinched her wrist. “You seem to have gained a little weight.”

Zhao Qingdai felt guilty. “…I think I have.”

Living with her sister had been too indulgent. The meals were good, making it easy to slack off and naturally gain weight.

“I’ve gained a little too,” Du Jingmo said, licking the corner of her lips. Her gaze drifted forward as she casually added, “My dad noticed during our last video call. He even thought Auntie’s cooking had improved and was fattening me up.” After a pause, she looked back at Zhao Qingdai. “It’s been a while since I’ve visited Dad. Why don’t you come with me this weekend? He hasn’t seen you in a long time and kept asking about you.”

Zhao Qingdai’s lips parted and closed, her fingers tightly interlaced. Sweat formed on her palms within breaths. She stammered, “Maybe… maybe it’s best to forget it. It’s not a special occasion this weekend. Why would I suddenly show up?”

She realized her refusal had been too abrupt and cold, inevitably hurting Du Jingmo’s feelings. “Besides, Sister, you proposed it so suddenly. I wasn’t prepared at all. Next time, I’ll definitely visit Uncle.”

“Alright then, we’ll go next time. It’s not long until the New Year anyway. Why don’t you come home with me for the Du family reunion this year?” Du Jingmo revealed her true purpose. “You’ve spent the last two New Years at school. That’s so pitiful. Please, come home with me.”

That year, Zhao Qingdai had suddenly distanced herself from her, so she hadn’t returned home for the New Year either. Her father and grandfather had asked what was wrong, but she couldn’t articulate it, leaving only awkwardness.

This year, she was determined to break that pattern.

Zhao Qingdai felt a momentary daze. “Right, there are only about two months left until winter break.”

Du Jingmo had rescued her from the water back when school first resumed. It was still sweltering in September in the south, and now, nearing the end of October, the oppressive heat lingered, making it easy to lose track of time. The New Year was drawing closer.

A sudden sense of contentment washed over her. “This year, I’ll go home for the New Year with Sister.”

All she had ever wanted was a home.

Later, she realized her heart’s desire had grown to include Du Jingmo.

If only she were an ordinary person, not a supporting character in a novel, her life wouldn’t be driven by plot. Then, no villains or male leads would come to disturb her life with her sister.

At that moment, Zhao Qingdai couldn’t have imagined that Lu Anshi, the villain who had been causing trouble throughout the story, wouldn’t reappear until the very end, would remain eerily quiet for a long time, as if he didn’t exist at all.

She and Lu Anshi had only interacted offline, and their two meetings hadn’t been pleasant. They hadn’t exchanged contact information, so she had no way of knowing what he was up to.

Her gaze naturally turned to the only person she knew who might have information: Du Jingmo.

“Oh, you mean Lu Anshi?” Du Jingmo poured herself some tea and took a sip, visibly perking up. “The truth about him and Gu Cheng being brothers has come to light. He’s so busy scrambling to save himself that he hasn’t the time or energy to scheme against me in the shadows.”

Lu Anshi had been able to survive until the end of the story because he had been secretly manipulating everything from the shadows, his identity remaining hidden.

But now, thanks to Zhao Qingdai, he had been exposed too early, and his identity revealed. Naturally, this disrupted the related plotlines.

Du Jingmo patted Zhao Qingdai’s head. “Don’t worry. He’ll never have the time to harass you again.”

“What about Gu Cheng?” Zhao Qingdai asked urgently. “Will he try to harass Sister?”

Constrained by the original plot’s progression, she dared not approach the male lead as freely as she might a villain, fearing she’d be misunderstood as a failed reformed villain trying to seduce him.

Every time she saw Gu Cheng using petty schemes to try and get closer to Du Jingmo, she maintained a calm facade, but inwardly, she was already raging, waves of fury crashing in her mind.

What kind of male lead is this? Which other male lead is this annoying, scheming more than me, the vicious female supporting character? Ugh, he’s driving me insane!

Du Jingmo took out her phone and opened WeChat. Gu Cheng’s messages had already been pushed down to the bottom of the inbox; it had been at least half a month since their last contact.

“Old Man Gu has plenty of sons, and now even a particularly ambitious illegitimate one has emerged. I doubt he has any time to spare for me right now.”

“After all, women only slow down his reflexes.”

Zhao Qingdai struggled to suppress her laughter.

The male lead and supporting male characters were locked in a relentless power struggle, their conflicts never-ending. Meanwhile, Du Jingmo, the female lead, had quietly distanced herself from those entanglements and grudges, leaving them far behind.

Instead, her connection with Zhao Qingdai, the Vicious Female Supporting Character, had grown increasingly deep.

Zhao Qingdai dragged out the System, which hadn’t surfaced in ages. “Listen here, you piece of software,” she demanded, “am I not the most accomplished host you’ve ever had? The Female Lead is mine now!”

System: “You’re really something else. Sometimes I wonder if I was assigned to the wrong user. If you’d been assigned to the ‘female supporting character’s revenge’ department, they’d be bragging about you for at least a quarter.”

As for things like sticking to the original plot, it had long since given up on that.

Having Zhao Qingdai as its user, just managing to complete tasks was impressive enough. Now it was content with small victories, not daring to ask for more.

Zhao Qingdai threw herself onto the bed and sighed, “Days like this are so blissful. If only we could live like this forever.”

Just being with Du Jingmo, even without doing anything, was enough to fill her with anticipation and joy.

Then the next day shattered her dreams.

That morning, Zhao Qingdai felt a chill. She reached for her phone to check the time—6:30 AM—and noticed the window was still shrouded in mist.

“Why is it so cold today? And why is dawn so late?” Worried about Du Jingmo next door kicking her blanket off and catching a cold, she yawned and dressed in the dark.

Slipping on her slippers, she pulled back the curtains and froze at the sight outside.

“Holy shit!” she blurted out, “What the hell is this? It’s not even November yet! Why is it snowing?!”

When does it ever snow this early in the south? It was still crisp autumn just yesterday—how did we suddenly leap into winter overnight?

“Isn’t this perfectly normal?” the System floated into view, conveniently donning a hat that perfectly matched the occasion.

Except the color was all wrong.

It was a green hat.

“It’s like when you’re reading a novel,” it explained. “Do you really pay attention to every detail of the protagonist’s daily routine? When the plot isn’t advancing, time just… skips ahead.”

The Female Lead and her supporting cast were practically settling into married life, and the power struggles between the Male Lead and his rivals were tedious filler for most readers—skippable unless there was a crucial development.

That’s why time had jumped from autumn to winter in the blink of an eye.

Zhao Qingdai pressed her hand against the glass and fogged it with her breath. “So my entire past life was just a blur like this?”

Thinking back, the pain she’d once felt so acutely seemed to be fading as her consciousness sharpened.

After all, if she treated that past as mere backstory, it wasn’t so significant.

“Am I the only one who notices that time has jumped forward overnight?” Zhao Qingdai wondered aloud.

The System nodded. “Logically, yes.”

“This feeling of being the only sober one in a crowd of drunks is truly lonely.” She drew a heart on the glass, then wiped it away with a breath, and padded over to the neighboring room.

“Sister, Sister, wake up! It’s snowing outside—big, fluffy flakes! Want to go build a snowman?”

[System: “I don’t see any signs of loneliness at all.”]

“Snowing?” Du Jingmo rubbed her eyes, noticing the room was darker than usual. She switched on the bedside lamp. “What’s going on? Why is it suddenly snowing? It’s only…”

She trailed off, her mind going blank for a moment. Then a flood of memories rushed back, filling the gap in her memory with every detail of her interactions with Zhao Qingdai over the past two months.

“Oh, right. It’s not the end of October anymore. It’s already the end of December, almost New Year’s Day.” Still feeling a sense of unreality, she muttered to herself, “Time has passed so quickly. It feels surreal.”

She tapped her forehead and looked up, only to find Zhao Qingdai staring at her, eyes wide and mouth agape, utterly speechless.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“N-no reason.” Zhao Qingdai shook her head, trying to suppress the storm of shock within her.

It turned out she wasn’t the only person in this world who could sense the abnormal flow of time. But Du Jingmo, still bound by the limitations of being a fictional character, accepted the new premise in the blink of an eye.

If only Sister could also awaken to this reality and break free from the story’s control, she thought, biting her lower lip and forcing a strained smile. Then, just maybe, she could learn to like me too.

Like I like her.

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