A Vicious Female Rival Omega is Sweet and Soft - Chapter 4

They say a drunk person is heavier than a pig, and honestly, they aren’t wrong. Even though Shen Qingran had a rather slender build, dragging her out of Xishe Restaurant entirely on her own took a massive amount of effort from Ye Yixi. Shen Qingran didn’t put an ounce of strength into her own body, hanging completely limp and boneless over Ye Yixi. It was hard to believe that half a glass of wine could trash someone this badly. It would be incredibly dangerous if she drank like this while out alone. I am definitely never egging her on to drink again!

Fortunately, Ye Yixi was an Alpha in this world, meaning her physical stamina was inherently better than an average person’s; otherwise, she might not have been able to haul her at all. When she finally dumped Shen Qingran into the backseat of the car and slid in beside her, she let out a massive sigh of relief. The driver glanced back through the rearview mirror a few times, a knowing, smirking expression blooming on his face. Ye Yixi got goosebumps just looking at him. It was all because the original owner’s reputation as a scum was so widespread that her subordinates were completely desensitized to this stuff!

Shen Qingran was fast asleep, resting heavily against Ye Yixi’s shoulder with her tangled hair veiling half her face. The driver likely hadn’t recognized that this was the oldest daughter of the Shen family. Ye Yixi tilted her head, unable to resist studying her. Stripped of her usual overbearing aura, the drunk Shen Qingran looked exceptionally sweet and obedient in her quiet state. Looking from this angle, one could appreciate her sharp, pert nose and beautifully shaped lips… Suddenly, the memory of kissing Shen Qingran flashed through her mind, making Ye Yixi shudder. Even though it was the original owner who had committed the crime, she still felt inexplicably awkward, forcing her to pull her gaze away, clear her throat, and scoot a bit further to the side.

By the time they finally made it back home, the sky had completely darkened. Ye Yixi tucked Shen Qingran straight into a first-floor guest room; she was far too lazy to climb up three flights of stairs. Initially, she wanted to get a warm towel to wipe Shen Qingran’s face, but the system kept blaring its OOC warning. Left with no choice, Ye Yixi simply threw a quilt over her, planning to pat her skirt and leave. Right at that moment, Shen Qingran regained a sliver of consciousness, mumble-whispering something under her breath. Curious, Ye Yixi turned back and squatted by the bedside to listen.

“Candy… give me candy…”

As Ye Yixi leaned closer, she caught those few words, only to realize her sleeve had been securely snagged by Shen Qingran’s hand. She let out a silent laugh. How is Miss Shen acting so much like a little kid?

The next morning, Ye Yixi was jolted awake by a frantic pounding on her door. The irritable morning attitude she woke up with evaporated the instant the door swung open, because Shen Qingran was standing right outside her bedroom clutching a pillow, looking absolutely furious—clearly there to demand answers.

“Just to make things clear, I absolutely did not touch you. You passed out in the restaurant yesterday, and I merely took you in for the night out of the goodness of my heart.” Ye Yixi spoke first with sleepy eyes, cutting Shen Qingran off mid-breath with a yawn. It actually managed to leave her speechless.

Shen Qingran eyed Ye Yixi with deep suspicion, then leaned in closer to sniff all around her neck like an inquisitive cat. Only after confirming that there wasn’t a trace of aroused pheromones lingering in the air did she nod in relief.

“Ye Yixi, I’m warning you—keep your distance from me.”

Leaving behind that domineering line, Miss Shen clicked her heels and marched all the way out of Ye Yixi’s villa, even managing to grab a random piece of cloth from somewhere in the house to drape over her head, utterly terrified that someone might recognize her.

Watching Shen Qingran’s stealthy, fleeing figure, Ye Yixi was temporarily at a loss for words. Is this really the vicious female rival of this book? How does she seem a little lacking in the brain department…

Three days flew by. The new main quest required Ye Yixi to head over to S-Entertainment’s corporate headquarters today to bail out the female lead, Zhen Xiaobai. Reward: 2 Points.

Ye Yixi looked at the files sent over by her scheduling assistant in her messaging app. On her drive there, the System informed her that today was the final casting call for S-Entertainment’s upcoming blockbuster movie—a xianxia film with a budget of several hundred million yuan. They had already filtered out countless candidates nationwide, making today the final decision. This film happened to be an equal joint venture with the Y Group, a deep-level collaboration project. Therefore, Ye Yixi, who was in charge of this specific venture, needed to be on-site to help finalize the selection for the female lead.

And Zhen Xiaobai was participating in the talent selection at S-Entertainment’s headquarters today. For a massive star-making enterprise like S-Entertainment to forgo pushing its own signed rookie actors and instead hold a nationwide open casting call for completely inexperienced amateurs? As expected, every plot point existed solely to pave the way for the female lead’s ultimate counterattack.

The moment she stepped into the selection venue, Ye Yixi spotted Shen Qingran right away. Smoothing back her hair and clutching her small designer bag, she purposely swayed her hips as she walked over to sit right next to Shen Qingran, who was representing the other investment side. She suddenly found that playing the antagonist against Shen Qingran was turning out to be quite an amusing pastime.

Predictably, she received a harsh roll of the eyes in return. Ye Yixi nearly burst out laughing, half-covering her face as she worked hard to keep her expression in check. Looking around carefully to ensure no one was paying attention to her, she wanted to strike up another conversation with Shen Qingran, but heaven didn’t give her the chance—the theme performances had begun.

Since it was already the final round, there weren’t many candidates left—roughly a dozen or so. These rookies entered the room one after another according to their numbers, and Ye Yixi spotted Zhen Xiaobai waiting near the back of the queue.

The performance was split into three themes, requiring the candidates to portray different stages of the character’s life. The person with the highest cumulative score would land the lead role of the disciple in this massive xianxia production. The film’s premise centered on a romance between master and disciple; the role of the master had already been locked down by a highly popular, trending young actress, meaning they were all competing for the role of the disciple.

Ye Yixi truly didn’t understand the fine arts of acting, but even if she hadn’t butchered a pig, she had seen one run—she had binged plenty of television dramas back home. Consequently, the performances of these candidates exceeded her expectations. Their expressions and dialogue delivery were actually quite solid. As expected of a pool filtered down from thousands across the nation; they definitely had some skill.

As the scenes repeated one after another in front of her, what had felt interesting initially gradually turned into heavy eyelids and sleepiness. It wasn’t until Zhen Xiaobai took the stage that she snapped out of it to watch intently—a rapid shift in expression that was captured entirely by Shen Qingran’s eyes.

“When Master abandoned me beneath the Bone Cliff all those years ago, did you ever imagine that today you would be kneeling before your disciple, at my absolute mercy?” Zhen Xiaobai’s gaze burned with a mixture of profound hatred and lingering attachment, portraying the corrupted disciple’s complex emotions toward her master to absolute perfection.

Ye Yixi was genuinely impressed. She truly hadn’t expected that clumsy, dim-witted Zhen Xiaobai to possess this level of talent. Was this the fabled “Female Lead Halo” at work? Her performance skill tree was completely maxed out.

After a few rounds, both the performance judges and the other corporate shareholders gave Zhen Xiaobai exceptionally high marks. Barring any accidents, the lead role of this xianxia film was practically gift-wrapped for her.

So what exactly am I supposed to be bailing her out from? Ye Yixi was deeply confused during the intermission, but the trouble arrived right on schedule. An Omega from the same selection group reported Zhen Xiaobai to the organizers for stealing a wallet—and that wallet happened to belong to Shen Qingran.

Ye Yixi felt the gears of the plot grinding into motion, pulling the character lines tightly together. In reality, the early-stage Shen Qingran hadn’t gone out of her way to make life miserable for the female lead, but a feud was built precisely on petty incidents like this. Of course, the most critical catalyst for Shen Qingran’s later villainous descent was that they both fell in love with the same Alpha—Zhen Xiaobai’s official love interest. This bit of lore was something Ye Yixi had caught on the novel’s synopsis page before transmigrating.

Right now, the accuser was gripping Zhen Xiaobai’s wrist with one hand while using the other to yank open her canvas bag. Under the watchful eyes of the entire room, a pretty pink wallet was exposed to the light.

“I didn’t steal any wallet! I didn’t put that in there!”

“Miss Shen’s wallet is sitting right inside your bag. If it wasn’t you, who else could it be?”

The accuser was aggressive, acting as though she had caught the thief red-handed. Zhen Xiaobai was frantic, completely at a loss for words and able only to repeatedly deny the claim. If a moral stain like this were proven true, Zhen Xiaobai’s shot at the lead role would instantly vanish.

Shen Qingran arched an eyebrow and slowly walked over. Her powerful aura immediately forced the two bickering rookies to shut their mouths. She glanced at the wallet resting inside the canvas bag; it was indeed the one she had brought out today. Taking it into her hand, she jingled it slightly at Zhen Xiaobai. “Do you have anything else to say?” She clearly looked as though she had already bought into the narrative.

…Watching this ancient, cliché framing trope play out before her eyes, Ye Yixi didn’t know what to say. It felt like a direct assault on her intelligence. But it was finally time for her cue.

“Based solely on this person’s one-sided statement, isn’t it a bit too hasty to pass final judgment?”

“Oh? Then does Miss Ye have a better suggestion?”

Shen Qingran crossed her arms, looking at Ye Yixi with a deeply unreadable gaze. That look made Ye Yixi feel inexplicably… guilty? Clearing her throat, she stood up as well, her tone completely casual. “In a facility like this, cameras are everywhere. Why don’t we just pull up the surveillance footage to see exactly who is lying?”

The moment those words left her mouth, a look of sudden realization washed over everyone’s faces, as if the solution were both completely unexpected yet entirely logical.

Heh. Just as Ye Yixi had predicted, in a highly brain-dead Mary Sue novel, dropping a realistic, logical, and simple solution was bound to shock these characters. After all, according to standard tropes, the female lead was supposed to get successfully framed by this low-IQ scheme, triggering a long chain of subsequent conflicts with the female rival.

The crowd froze for a few seconds, including Shen Qingran. Right after, the building’s security personnel went to pull the tapes. Within ten minutes, footage of the accuser stealthily slipping Shen Qingran’s wallet into Zhen Xiaobai’s bag was displayed clearly for everyone to see. With that, the truth was out, and Zhen Xiaobai successfully secured her role as the female lead.

“Kind person, I remember you! You’ve helped me out big time again. I don’t even know how to thank you!”

“It’s nothing, just a minor lift.”

As the system notification confirmed that 2 points had been acquired, Ye Yixi felt her relationship with the female lead had progressed another step. Should I start executing some romance strategies next…

She smiled as she watched Zhen Xiaobai head off to thank the other judges, only for a quiet whisper to drift into her ear from behind:

“Miss Ye’s level of concern for this person truly exceeds my expectations…”

Watching Shen Qingran’s retreating figure as she walked away in her high heels, Ye Yixi turned that sentence over in her mind. Why did it feel like there was a hint of… jealousy in it?