A Scummy Alpha Supporting Character Accidentally Marks the Heroine After Transmigrating into a Book (GL) - Chapter 45

“…”

Yan Nanjue was startled by her words. After a few seconds of silence, she said coldly, “What kind of crazy talk are you spewing?”

Ji Ziyi slumped back into the sofa and propped her legs up on the coffee table. “Refusing to admit it? Do you really take me for a fool who can’t see it? Even if you manage to hide it from me, you can’t hide it from Wanjun. Her eyes are sharp as a hawk’s…”

Yan Nanjue denied it instinctively. “I told you, there’s nothing going on.”

Ji Ziyi let out an ambiguous, lazy snort. “Fine, deny it if you want. Keep being stubborn, A-Yan… No matter how well you think you’re hiding it, you can’t fool me. Do I not know your personality by now?”

“Setting aside everything else, last time Bai Wan was pushed into the pool, you jumped in to save her without a second thought. And afterward, you flew into such a massive rage. Jun-jun tried to fool me by saying you were just venting collateral anger…”

Ji Ziyi closed her eyes, the intoxication in her voice becoming blatant and unreserved. “What ‘collateral anger’? You were clearly acting that way because of Bai Wan.”

Yan Nanjue was struck dumb.

She cared about Bai Wan, and she kept a constant eye on her for a very specific reason!

Bai Wan was the female lead, her mission target!

The success or failure of this mission determined whether she could return to the real world and live again.

Yan Nanjue couldn’t possibly reveal that reason.

She understood why Ji Ziyi would guess this way—not just her, but Chen Wanjun, Lin Furuo… almost everyone familiar with her suspected her obsession with Bai Wan was born of love.

How could I possibly like the female lead? Just thinking about it made Yan Nanjue feel a hollow panic in her chest.

Me? Like Bai Wan?

It was completely absurd.

Yet Ji Ziyi continued to chatter away until Yan Nanjue grabbed a throw pillow from the sofa and hurled it at her.

“Ji Ziyi, if you’re drunk, lie down and rest. If you say one more word of nonsense, I’m calling that person surnamed Cheng.”

The pillow hit Ji Ziyi’s forearm. She let out a soft “ugh,” seemingly frightened by the name Yan Nanjue mentioned. She sat up groggily and muttered resentfully, “Fine, fine… I’ll stop talking. I won’t expose your secrets, Miss Yan.”

The System listened silently, wanting to comment that her current tension looked exactly like someone’s “shame turning into rage” after being exposed. However, with an outsider present, it usually refrained from speaking and swallowed the remark.

“Go to sleep.”

Yan Nanjue gave her a warning look. “I can tolerate you staying here for two months at most.”

Ji Ziyi yelled with her eyes closed, “Long live the Queen! Thank you for your grace!”

Yan Nanjue pushed the door open and walked out. The System’s voice rang in her ear: [Are you being a bit too high-strung?]

“No,” she replied casually, searching around the room.

She wanted to call Ji Ziyi’s mother to tell her that Ziyi wasn’t in A-City lately, but she couldn’t find her phone anywhere.

“Where is my phone? Did I lose it again?” Yan Nanjue wondered. “Did I leave it with Assistant Lin?”

Interrupted by her search, the System also forgot what it originally wanted to say. [Where’s your coat? Check the pockets.]

“It smelled like alcohol, it was making me uncomfortable, so I gave it to the butler.”

Yan Nanjue remembered something. “I’ve looked everywhere and haven’t seen it. It must be in the coat. I’ll go ask.”

The butler’s room was on the first floor. Yan Nanjue went down to ask, and the latter’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Did the Madam not give it to you? I asked her to bring it to you.”

Yan Nanjue frowned. “No.”

“I’ll go find the Madam now—”

“No need,” Yan Nanjue interrupted. “I’ll go get it from her directly. You go rest.”

She headed back upstairs and raised her hand in front of Bai Wan’s door.

[Why not just have the butler bring it? It’s a hassle running up and down.]

“The butler is getting on in years. Making her run errands for such a small thing would weigh on my conscience.”

Just as the words left her mouth, the door in front of her opened slightly.

“Come in.”

Yan Nanjue pushed the door open and scanned the room. Her gaze landed by the floor-to-ceiling window, where Bai Wan sat hunched over a desk, writing. A stack of drafts lay before her; she seemed busy.

“My phone.”

Hearing the voice, Bai Wan realized who had entered. Her fingers paused, and she slowly looked up, meeting Yan Nanjue’s clear, dark eyes.

“…”

Seeing her not reacting, as if she didn’t understand, Yan Nanjue reached out, her pale palm facing upward. “My phone. The butler said she gave it to you.”

Bai Wan’s eyelashes fluttered almost imperceptibly, and she suddenly looked down. “…I forgot.” She pulled the phone from her pocket and handed it over.

Yan Nanjue took it and turned to leave without staying a moment longer.

The moment her back was turned, Bai Wan’s downcast lashes snapped up. She stared at the retreating figure for several seconds. Even after the door closed, her brow remained tightly furrowed, her face a mask of undisguised confusion and bewilderment.

The words she had accidentally overheard echoed in her mind.

Through the thickness of the door, they hadn’t been perfectly clear, yet every word had been distinct enough that there was no possibility of a misunderstanding.

…How ridiculous.

Bai Wan thought cynically.

A madwoman like Yan Nanjue—emotionless, arrogant, and self-centered—someone like her is capable of falling in love?

She closed her eyes. Impossible…

Ji Ziyi sobered up the next day. When Yan Nanjue came downstairs, she saw Ziyi leaning against the dining table, eating watermelon while chatting with the butler. As the weather was getting warmer, she had changed into light clothes—a short top and shorts with a thin overshirt. Her long limbs were striking even in the most ordinary outfit.

“Oh, look who’s awake. Our busy-as-a-bee President Yan.”

Yan Nanjue’s gaze swept over the half-melon in her hand, feeling a bit envious.

Ji Ziyi hadn’t bothered to slice it; she was scooping it out with a spoon. The flesh was vivid red, and the rind was just a thin line of green.

“Where did the watermelon come from?”

Ji Ziyi replied nonchalantly, “I had someone buy it. Why? Am I not even worthy of a watermelon while staying here? Don’t be so stingy, President Yan.”

Yan Nanjue couldn’t help but debate with the System in her mind: Given the things Ji Ziyi said yesterday, if the female lead heard them, I wouldn’t even give her a watermelon seed, let alone the fruit.

The butler smiled warmly. “I had the kitchen slice some fruit. Miss, would you like some too?”

“Sure.”

Ji Ziyi leaned against the back of the chair and drew closer to her. “What exactly did you tell Wanjun? I got a call from her early this morning mocking me.”

Yan Nanjue looked at the yogurt fruit bowl the cook brought out and said flatly, “I told the truth.”

“Wow…” Ji Ziyi reached out, habitually trying to drape her arm over Yan Nanjue’s shoulder. “She’s going to laugh at me for another half-year.”

Yan Nanjue felt her body stiffen and instinctively dodged the contact. Remembering her persona, she added with disgust, “Stay away from me. You smell like alcohol.” Ji Ziyi had a minor habit: she became exceptionally relaxed around friends and liked to lean on people like she had no bones.

Aside from that, Yan Nanjue felt Ji Ziyi’s personality was good in every other way.

“Dammit, I’ve already showered, okay!”

Yan Nanjue glanced at her and walked away without a word.

Ji Ziyi saw the blatant disgust in that glance and clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Plenty of people would kill to get close to me.”

Yan Nanjue ignored her and poked at a few pieces of fruit. The fruit was freshly delivered from the orchard, tasting exceptionally sweet and crisp. She narrowed her eyes slightly in enjoyment, her shoulders relaxing.

The System observed silently and suddenly realized something: The only time Yan Nanjue truly relaxes, body and soul, is when she’s eating something she likes.

After two bites, Yan Nanjue sensed something and asked suspiciously, “System, why do I feel like someone is watching me?”

She instinctively turned her head and caught a glimpse of a pair of feet in slippers at the top of the stairs.

In this villa, only one other person wore slippers.

Was that Bai Wan?

“Was the female lead watching me just now?”

[System: Seems like it.]

Ji Ziyi followed her gaze. “No one’s there. What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” Yan Nanjue said, but a seed of doubt was planted in her mind.

Why would Bai Wan be secretly watching her?

That question went unanswered. Over the next few days, Bai Wan acted as usual, and the feeling of being watched didn’t return. It seemed the gaze Yan Nanjue felt that morning was just a fluke.

Yan Nanjue still felt something was off, even a slight chill down her spine. She shared her feelings with the System.

[System: I don’t think so. Hasn’t she been going to work normally? She looks fine. What behavior of hers do you find strange?]

Yan Nanjue thought seriously and answered honestly, “None.”

Bai Wan was the same as ever.

“Maybe I’m overthinking it?”

The System nodded. [Count how many times you’ve asked me that question already.]

Yan Nanjue turned her gaze away guiltily, watching the scenery flash by outside the window.

She and Yan Changqing were currently on their way back to the villa. She had casually mentioned Ji Ziyi staying over, and the latter simply nodded. “That Ji girl is more lively than you. Associating with her is good for you.”

Yan Changqing was returning to the villa to pack. She planned to move her belongings to another property and move there permanently once her wife returned to the country.

Yan Nanjue was happy with this arrangement. Compared to the original host, Yan Changqing was the most unpredictable person—a literal ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.

“The Ming family banquet is the day after tomorrow. Remember to attend with your wife. We must give the Ming family this face,” Yan Changqing instructed while watching the servants load the car.

Yan Nanjue was slightly stunned.

Speaking of which, she hadn’t seen Ming Yue in a long time.

How did the original book go? Ming Yue and Bai Wan mostly met at social gatherings. Almost every time, Ming Yue would witness Bai Wan’s most humiliating moments and then, out of kindness, help her out.

Since transmigrating, Yan Nanjue had declined these gatherings, indirectly preventing their meetings.

However, she found one thing strange: didn’t Ming Yue fall in love with Bai Wan at first sight? Why had she vanished into thin air lately, never appearing before Bai Wan?

Yan Nanjue was a bit worried. “Will it hurt my mission if the ‘Devoted Female Supporting Lead’ doesn’t show up?”

[System: Your mission hasn’t run into problems yet, has it? My advice was to avoid destroying the original relationships, not that they must be identical to the book. Ming Yue’s setting was just a few meetings plus ‘love at first sight.’ She has already fulfilled the conditions of ‘loving at first sight’ and ‘feeling pity.’ That’s enough. As long as the fundamental relationship exists, your mission won’t have major issues.]

“It sounds like a game achievement trigger,” Yan Nanjue noted.

[Understand it however you like.]

“By the way, Que, are your injuries fully healed?” Yan Changqing asked.

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

Yan Changqing asked only in passing, without much deeper concern. She could see the external wounds healing, but what she truly cared about were the things that couldn’t be seen at a glance.

“Don’t do such foolish things again. It’s not in your character, Que.”

Yan Changqing rested her knuckle against her chin, her words carrying a clear warning. “If you only see her as an interesting toy, your recent actions have already gone too far.”

Yan Nanjue frowned, responding with visible distaste, “I don’t need you to question how I do things.”

Yan Changqing was about to speak when she caught a glimpse of a hemline behind her daughter. A hand hung naturally there—very thin, with a pale, slender wrist.

She withdrew her gaze carelessly and continued:

“I won’t interfere too much in your life, but you must remember clearly: your life is not just yours. it concerns the Yan family and the entire Yan Corporation. In this car accident, you shielded her. Fortunately, your injuries were light. What about next time?”

Yan Changqing’s voice was steady, not lowering her volume in the slightest. “Next time you face danger, are you going to shield her again?”

“Your life is far more important than hers,” Yan Changqing said calmly. “Don’t forget, she is just a toy you snatched up while the novelty was fresh—”

Her words were interrupted.

“—Mother, she is not a toy.”