A Vicious Supporting Female is the Female Lead's Darling (GL) - Chapter 4

The sky was growing darker.

Streetlights flickered on all around, their bright beams spilling down from above to illuminate the lonely, desolate night and add a few strokes of soft warmth.

But as the saying goes, where there is light, there is shadow. In a city this vast, there are always places the light cannot reach.

For example—

The small alley where Du Qingqing was currently standing.

It was pitch black, cramped, and narrow. If she moved too much, she would accidentally bump into the walls. Around her, several yellow stray dogs with glowing eyes darted through the shadows like the wind.

Du Qingqing had been bitten on the rear by a dog when she was a child. Even now, many years later, she turned into a total coward whenever she saw one.

The fear was a conditioned reflex, but because of Su Jimian, who was standing right in front of her, she temporarily forgot to be afraid of the dogs.

After all, the person in front of her seemed a bit more terrifying.

Du Qingqing began to shake like a sieve.

She sighed. Because it was too dark to see Su Jimian’s face clearly, she had to ask the System in her mind, wanting to know what kind of expression Su Jimian was wearing.

“Isn’t it more intuitive to see for yourself?” The System cleared its throat. “I’ll turn on Night Vision for you.”

As soon as it finished speaking, it granted her the “cheat code” without waiting for a reply. This was the first time the System had been so straightforward; previously, it had refused to provide her with any perks no matter how much she died.

Du Qingqing: “…”

You wouldn’t happen to be scared too, would you?!

She pursed her lips. Without the System acting as her solid backbone, her internal fear skyrocketed.

But she didn’t back down. After all, Su Jimian was only holding a box of candy. Unless she had the unique idea of choking Du Qingqing to death with it, she probably wouldn’t die that easily… right?

She had to focus on the mission. She needed to find out what Su Jimian was planning.

Thinking this, Du Qingqing finally forced herself to look up at Su Jimian’s beautiful, frost-covered face. As expected, her voice cracked.

She asked tremulously: “Wh-what iz the meaning of thiz?”

Su Jimian: “…” What kind of accent is that?

“I should be asking you that, shouldn’t I?” Realizing she had almost been led astray by the other’s accent, Su Jimian paused. After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again. “Perhaps you know that group of men from yesterday?”

The last sentence was phrased as a question, but because of Su Jimian’s cold, serious tone, it landed like a statement of fact.

It didn’t matter, though. The expression on the girl’s face made it clear she already knew the truth.

Du Qingqing was stunned, her mind buzzing. To save her life, she gritted her teeth and tried to play dumb. “Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t try to play stupid.” Su Jimian snapped at her. She pulled out her phone, swiped the screen, and held it up. Her voice was low. “It’s not like the store doesn’t have surveillance.”

Du Qingqing was nearly blinded by the glare of the phone screen.

What kind of earthly suffering is this!

Terrified and helpless, she had to squint at the screen. She discovered that the image was a photo—likely a screenshot from the surveillance footage. The quality was quite clear; it captured her frantically making faces at the thugs. At first glance, it looked like her face was contorted with a stroke.

“It seems that expression makes anyone look ugly,” the System critiqued in her head. “Even a face this beautiful can’t pull it off.”

Du Qingqing: “…” Don’t you have anything better to do!

The photo made her ears turn red. After a few seconds of silence, she tried to find a reason to argue, telling Su Jimian: “This is a misunderstanding.”

“I had a disease when I was a child. Even though it was cured, it left me with a lingering condition,” she said, her voice full of emotion and her eyes welling with tears. “Whenever I’m nervous, my facial expressions twitch uncontrollably. But that doesn’t prove anything. I…”

I didn’t, I wasn’t, I’m being framed.

Before Du Qingqing could roll out her full defense, Su Jimian let out a soft laugh. Then, she saw Su Jimian slide her finger across the screen.

“There are also cameras outside the store.”

In an instant, another photo appeared.

A woman sitting in a car window, the thugs walking on the street—their eyes met, smiles on their lips. Especially the woman, who was giving a very meaningful “OK” sign to the thugs. Looking at this picture, even Du Qingqing wouldn’t believe they weren’t connected.

This was such a trap! This was clearly the original owner’s doing, not hers!

Du Qingqing was ready to cry.

The original Jin Ruge in the script was a lunatic. She had intended to confront Su Jimian directly and hadn’t planned on hiding anything. She had even sat in the car, boldly recording video so she could show her friends the footage of Su Jimian getting beaten for a laugh.

She had truly sped down the road of self-destruction, screwing over herself and Du Qingqing in the process.

With the evidence undeniable, Du Qingqing became as quiet as a chicken, unable to weave another lie.

The scene was incredibly awkward; the atmosphere dropped to freezing.

After a long while, Su Jimian spoke first. “What exactly is your motive? Why do you keep harassing me over and over again?”

“It’s nothing,” Du Qingqing whispered, forced to apologize for the original owner’s actions. “Everything before was a misunderstanding. It was my fault. I apologize to you.”

“I really don’t have any malicious intent,” she said. “The current me sincerely wants to be your friend…”

She emphasized the word “current” very heavily.

Su Jimian, however, didn’t notice the nuance. She frowned at her for a moment and then actually laughed from pure anger. “Friend? Are you joking?”

“I don’t need a friend like you,” she said, having clearly run out of patience. “Take your candy back. Don’t bother me again.”

She shoved the box of candy into Du Qingqing’s hand, turned around, and walked away without looking back.

The heavy pressure surrounding her gradually lifted as Su Jimian left. Du Qingqing stood there staring in the direction she had gone. Only when she could no longer see anything did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She instinctively leaned against the wall, trembling as she slowly shuffled forward.

The System couldn’t help but chime in: “Damn, your legs are shaking like noodles!”

“Shut up!” Du Qingqing barked back with zero confidence. “You’re the noodle!”

“Take a deep breath and relax,” the System suggested. “If you’re really that stressed, eat a piece of candy. It should help relieve the tension.”

That seemed like a good idea.

Du Qingqing nodded, shakily opened the lid, and popped a candy into her mouth.

Before she could even chew twice, her facial expression froze.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” the System asked.

“This is the most delicious candy I’ve ever tasted,” Du Qingqing murmured softly. “I feel like I have to share it with you.”

The moment she said it, the System snatched one away.

Soon, Du Qingqing heard the System chewing happily twice, followed immediately by the sound of frantic spitting.

Du Qingqing was startled. “Where are you spitting?!”

“Into a tissue!” the System argued, its mouth, lips, and tongue feeling utterly numb. “What kind of candy is this? Why is it so sour?!”

“The outer shell looks like strawberry candy,” Du Qingqing said with a bitter face. “But the inside… based on my reasonable deduction, it’s a ‘Warhead’ sour candy.”

Su Jimian was truly “belly-black”…

Fortunately, she didn’t encounter any biting yellow dogs on the way back.

Du Qingqing caught a taxi as soon as she left the alley. She returned home in a daze, and only after eating a sumptuous dinner did her racing heart finally calm down.

After the meal, Uncle Liu came to report that the newly developed area of the garden had been renovated and asked if she wanted to see it.

“No,” Du Qingqing waved her hand. “I’m not in the mood today. Maybe later.”

She was truly not in the mood. She was worried sick; the plot seemed to be getting more and more confusing.

The respawn point changing was one thing, but now the female lead’s personality seemed to be collapsing. She wasn’t a pure little sweetheart; she was more like a “white-cut-black” (innocent-looking but dark-hearted).

Du Qingqing’s head started to ache.

With no other choice, she went back to her bedroom and sat under the three bright incandescent bulbs, scribbling away to ask the Employee Protection Association more questions.

As expected, there was no result.

“They really don’t treat interns like humans!” Even the System couldn’t stand it anymore. “I bet they’re just bullying you because you’re new. What a bunch of jerks. I’ll go this time. I’ve been working here for over a year; they won’t dare ignore me.”

The System vanished like a gust of wind.

Du Qingqing was quite moved by the gesture. She sat there full of expectation, waiting for a while until the System returned.

The reply from the System Protection Association was:

—This business does not fall under this department’s jurisdiction. Please turn right for the Employee Protection Association.

Du Qingqing: “…” Unbelievable.

Both the human and the System were dazed. They sat under the bright lights staring at the paper for a long time before finally looking away.

She sighed helplessly. Since the company was useless, everything followed would depend on her.

“So, what do you plan to do?” the System asked, its voice full of resignation.

“Take it one step at a time,” Du Qingqing said, every word a struggle. “At worst, I’ll just die a few more times until my salary is docked to zero.”

Life is so bitter.

The System sighed. Seeing her looking so pitiful, it reluctantly took a bag of chips from its little locker to share. The two ate while plotting their next move.

Finally, they settled on a plan: she had to apologize to the female lead sincerely a few more times. Otherwise, Du Qingqing wouldn’t even be able to get near her.

Though, at this stage, she didn’t really want to get near her either…

Du Qingqing let out a long sigh and thought for a moment. She then dialed the number of the thugs. Since Su Jimian didn’t want to see her for now, she would send the other involved parties to apologize first.

They had to have a good attitude, wear proper clothes, not speak too loudly, and act politely.

“Win some face back for me!” she cried into the phone.

“Understood,” the leader replied. “Mission guaranteed!”

He agreed quite readily, and they indeed did exactly what Du Qingqing asked… but the result was incredibly jarring.

Especially for Su Jimian. She never expected that when she went to work the next day, she would see those same thugs at the door again.

It was the peak of summer, yet every single one of them was covered up tightly to hide their tattoos. They stood obediently in place, greeting everyone who passed with a smile.

Their voices were quite low; Su Jimian couldn’t hear what they were saying until she got close.

Su Jimian was speechless. She walked forward slowly, tilted her head slightly, put on a frightened expression, and asked with unease: “What are you doing here again?!”

At her words, the thugs turned around in sequence.

Remembering Miss Jin’s instructions, they first gave Su Jimian a polite bow.

Then, they held up their hands to make “finger hearts” and whispered to her in tiny voices: “Sending warmth!”

Su Jimian: “…”

Are they having some kind of mental breakdown?