After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Side Character, I Became the Group’s Favorite (GL) - Chapter 43.2

“Hey, Old Wen, did you argue with the old man again this time when you went home?”

“Arguing takes two. I was just unilaterally receiving his emotional output.” Wen Mubai’s expression was calm, long accustomed to such things.

Ever since she rebelliously changed her major in college, her father had been losing his temper with her more and more frequently.

Sometimes she wished that the conflict between them would never be resolved, so they could stay in a cold war indefinitely, leaving her in peace.

“Then do we still have money to pay the rent?” Jiang Panpan looked worried. “It’s really expensive here. We’re not getting any big clients right now. We won’t last long at this rate.”

“It’s okay. I have money. I can support Auntie.”

The money Xu Chacha had saved over the years, big and small, was enough to buy a villa in the city center. She was genuinely a little rich woman in every sense of the word.

Wen Mubai pressed Xu Chacha’s head and turned it toward herself. “I’m not that poor yet. I won’t take the child’s money.”

“How many times do I have to say I’m not a child!” Xu Chacha angrily pulled her hand off her head. “Don’t touch my head. It’ll stunt my growth.”

She suspected that she was three centimeters shorter than Wen Mubai because Wen Mubai touched her head too much when she was little.

“Save your money for food,” Wen Mubai chuckled.

Unlike Jiang Panpan, she didn’t seem worried at all about the uncertain future of the studio. She had made all the preparations before returning to China.

Besides, she hadn’t taken a single cent from the Wen family since she went abroad. She didn’t need it then, and she didn’t need it now.

“Speaking of, what were you guys arguing about this time?” Jiang Panpan sat on the desk, leaning down. “Tell me all about it. What’s the new reason? I’m dying of curiosity.”

“He wants me to go on a blind date.”

“Hiss—” Xu Chacha’s straw let out an untimely noise. She looked awkward and shook the cup in her hand. “I finished my drink.”

Jiang Panpan continued, “But you are at the age where you should be getting married. A blind date is a blind date. Maybe you’ll meet someone suitable. I feel like your dad’s taste can’t be worse than yours.”

“How is she at that age? Who sets the age when you must get married? And my Auntie is still young,” Xu Chacha leaned toward Wen Mubai and tugged on her sleeve. “You won’t go, right?”

*Didn’t we agree to focus on making money first?*

“We’ll see.”

“How can we ‘see’ about this?” Xu Chacha was anxious. “It’s better for me to support you than for you to find a cheating husband. I can afford it.”

Wen Mubai pinched her face, coaxing her like a child. “It’s more than just those issues. You’re still young. You’ll understand later.”

It was that same phrase again. Xu Chacha now had a complex about the word “young.” Could it be that in Wen Mubai’s eyes, she was destined to be a well-behaved, sensible child, and that was all?

She didn’t want that.

Xu Chacha was extremely upset, but since there was an outsider present, she didn’t show it. Instead, she rotated her chair to face away slightly, unilaterally pouting at Wen Mubai.

The two of them then started talking about work again.

The gist was the same: although many people were attracted by Wen Mubai’s reputation and were eager to work with them, most were individual clients. These people came and went and wouldn’t last long. However, for higher-priced major clients, they certainly wouldn’t easily take a risk on a newly established, unproven small studio.

No matter how high their quality was, for many people, clothing was not just about quality and aesthetics. More often, it was about face.

If they could buy a well-designed haute couture dress for the same price, why would they choose Wen Mubai’s studio?

“You focus on the projects you have now. This is the startup phase. Building a network and maintaining a good reputation are essential. I’ll be satisfied as long as there are no mishaps.”

“What about after that? We can’t keep taking individual clients forever.”

“I’ll figure out what to do later.” Wen Mubai’s words had a magical quality that made people trust her. “Don’t worry.”

“Alright. Then I’ll just be a screw and focus on what I’m doing. I’ll leave long-term development and client expansion to you, the boss.” Jiang Panpan was an optimist and always saw the bright side of things. “At worst, we’ll close down, and you can come back to the old business with me. We’ll still make a fortune.”

…

This particular Wednesday seemed to have passed uneventfully, but Xu Chacha couldn’t stop thinking about Wen Mubai being asked to go on a blind date.

She occasionally asked questions subtly during conversations, the goal being to hear Wen Mubai say, “I won’t go.”

But Wen Mubai always avoided the topic, changing the subject very naturally. Her maturity and calmness sometimes made Xu Chacha feel like an unreasonably difficult child.

But she couldn’t just adopt Wen Mubai’s indifferent attitude towards the matter.

Since the direct approach with Wen Mubai wasn’t working, she would take a side route.

Xu Chacha: Is she going on a blind date?

Jiang Panpan: She told me not to tell you…

Xu Chacha: So she’s going?

If she wasn’t going, why hide it? It must be because she was afraid Xu Chacha would be angry, so she told Jiang Panpan not to tell her.

Jiang Panpan: Holy cow! Don’t say I told you!

Xu Chacha: OK, then tell me the location.

Jiang Panpan: No way! If I tell you that, Old Wen will surely wring my neck.

Xu Chacha: QAQ

Jiang Panpan: No, no, no, don’t use that!

Xu Chacha: Wuwu

Jiang Panpan: Help! Don’t be like that. You’re making this really difficult for me.

Xu Chacha: Sister Panpan, don’t you love me anymore [whining.jpg]

Jiang Panpan exclaimed, then sent a screenshot, and slowly withdrew it after almost two minutes.

Jiang Panpan: Oops, I sent the wrong thing by accident. You didn’t see it, right?

Xu Chacha: No, thank you, Sister Panpan.

Xu Chacha: *Smooch.jpg*

The screenshot was a chat record between Jiang Panpan and Wen Mubai, which contained the address and time of the blind date. Wen Mubai had even discussed with Jiang Panpan to call her fifteen minutes after the date started, pretending there was an urgent matter at the studio so she could leave.

“If she doesn’t want to go on a blind date that much, why is she going?” Xu Chacha curled her index finger and tapped the screen.

Her phone beeped with a notification. It was a message from Wen Mubai.

*Dear Auntie: Go to sleep early. Don’t overthink things. Be good.*

Xu Chacha didn’t reply. She tossed her phone aside and buried herself under the covers.

*No. I’m tired of being the good child.*

Xu Chacha was beginning to understand that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

So, she was going to make a fuss.

…

Wen Mubai’s blind date with the man was scheduled for Saturday evening. The location was a high-end French restaurant with a four-figure per person cost.

Xu Chacha had secured a spot in advance, sitting diagonally behind them. This way, she could not only clearly see their interactions during the meal but also listen to their conversation if she paid close attention.

At six sharp, Wen Mubai and a man of similar height in a suit walked in side by side.

Xu Chacha picked up the menu to shield her face, covertly observing. Her gaze landed on the man’s leather shoes. She let out a soft *hum*. “I wonder how thick his height-increasing insoles are.”

Wen Mubai looked like she had just come from work at the studio. She hadn’t even changed her clothes and was carrying a commuter bag.

The man pulled out a chair for her. She thanked him politely and sat down.

The waiter handed both of them a menu. Wen Mubai looked genuinely hungry. She ordered foie gras and a salad that could be served quickly without much thought.

“I’ll have the bottle of wine we saved last time,” she told the waiter, handing back the menu. She seemed to be a regular here.

The man took his time ordering. He placed his hands on the table, trying to find a topic to chat about with Wen Mubai.

Before coming, his family had already introduced Wen Mubai to him. She was beautiful, had a good family background, and had an overseas education. A woman like that would be a great asset for dining and socializing.

He wanted to quickly win her over.

“I heard from your father that you love to paint. Would you be interested in going to an art exhibition with me sometime?”

Wen Mubai sipped the wine in her hand and smiled politely. “No, I’m too busy with work.”

“We could go on the weekend, too. I can make time to accompany you.”

“In my line of work, there’s no such thing as a weekend,” Wen Mubai still politely refused.

“Ah, okay.” The man hit a wall there and started talking about other things. “By the way, I heard you also write scripts. You must be very interested in movies. Our company just invested in a few recently. Would you like me to take you to the set visit? If you have a favorite celebrity, I can even help you get an autograph.”

Hearing this, Xu Chacha clicked her tongue in impatience.

This man was either emotionally unintelligent or he was pursuing Wen Mubai as if she were a twenty-year-old girl. What kind of topics was he choosing? It would be more straightforward to just give her money.

Wen Mubai was clearly running out of patience. This time, she didn’t even bother to smile. “No time. Sorry.”

“You really are busy.”

“You as well.”

Xu Chacha peered over. Seeing that their conversation seemed to have reached an impasse, she thought it was time to make her move.

She stood up, smoothed down the two pigtails she had deliberately tied before leaving the house, put on her small pink backpack, and strode forward.

Wen Mubai was using her fork to eat the salad on her plate. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of pink. The familiar scent of gardenia made her look up. After seeing the person’s face, she froze.

Xu Chacha, 1.75 meters tall and sporting pigtails, smiled sweetly at her. Her beautiful lips opened and closed to utter two crisp words.

“Mommy!”

“Cough! Cough, cough, cough—” A piece of meat got stuck in the man’s throat, and his whole face turned red. He opened his eyes wide and looked at Xu Chacha. “Who are you calling Mommy?”

Xu Chacha leaned gently towards Wen Mubai, then squatted down and held her arm, resting her head upwards. “This is her. She is my Mommy.”

“What is going on?” the man asked Wen Mubai.

How could Wen Mubai, so young, have such a grown-up daughter?

Wen Mubai didn’t explain. Instead, she raised her hand and affectionately ruffled Xu Chacha’s head. “Why are you here?”

Xu Chacha, seeing that she wasn’t exposing her, got more into the role. She hugged her and started shaking her. “Mommy~ I don’t like this new Daddy. Can you please not marry him~”

She knew she must look very annoying right now, but that was the effect she wanted.

She could be obedient and well-behaved, but only if Wen Mubai wouldn’t leave her side.

As Xu Chacha spoke, she secretly glanced at the man. Seeing his face turn ashen and looking unable to handle the situation, she knew she was one step closer to her goal.

“Miss Wen, it seems you have family matters to attend to. Let’s end this here for today,” the man began gathering his things, preparing to leave. “Please be sure to give me a proper explanation next time we meet.”

“Apologies.” Wen Mubai nodded at him. “I’ll cover the meal as compensation for wasting your time today.”

The man left without a word, and it was likely there wouldn’t be a next time between them.

Xu Chacha watched him get into his car, and only after confirming he was truly gone did she release Wen Mubai’s arm and sit across from her.

The arrogant expression from before was completely gone. She looked like a kitten worried about its owner being angry. She widened her beautiful almond eyes and tentatively asked, “You’re not mad, are you?”

Before executing this plan, she hadn’t considered the consequences at all. She just wanted to sabotage the situation as badly as possible. But now that her goal was achieved, she worried that she couldn’t handle Wen Mubai’s anger.

Thinking back, she had never done anything rebellious since childhood, so she had never seen Wen Mubai lose her temper.

But she heard that people who usually don’t show much emotion are the most terrifying when they finally do get angry.

Xu Chacha held her breath and waited for a long time. To her surprise, Wen Mubai just pushed her plate of salad toward her.

“Did you have dinner?”

“Huh?” Xu Chacha looked up, her blank expression coupled with the pigtails made her look quite silly.

“Are you hungry?” Wen Mubai asked again.

Xu Chacha shook her head, her braids shaking along with her. “I ate.”

She had eaten spicy hot pot at the cafeteria with Zhu Zhu and the others that evening. She had eaten until her stomach was bursting before coming, because she was afraid that after seeing Wen Mubai on a blind date with someone else, she would be too angry to eat for days.

“Mhm.” Wen Mubai nodded. “Let’s go if you’re not eating.”

Xu Chacha nodded, quietly standing behind her.

Wen Mubai got up, took her coat, and settled the bill at the counter. As they walked toward the door, a cold breeze hit them, and Xu Chacha shivered, hunching her shoulders.

“Why didn’t you wear more clothes when you came out?” Wen Mubai put her coat over her. “I’ll take you home.”

She avoided mentioning the incident entirely, which instead made Xu Chacha flustered.

After getting into the car, Wen Mubai still didn’t speak. Xu Chacha held it in for a while but finally couldn’t help but ask her.

“Why aren’t you scolding me?”

“Why should I scold you?” Wen Mubai turned to look at her.

“Well… I messed up your blind date.”

“Mhm.”

“What do you mean, ‘Mhm’?”

Wen Mubai raised her hand and rubbed her head skillfully. “You already know where you went wrong. Why should I mention it again?”

“But I knew it was wrong, and I still did it.” Xu Chacha inexplicably started to confess.

Wen Mubai’s expression remained unchanged. She just nodded slightly. “I know.”

“You know, and yet…”

“So, what made you do something you knew was wrong?”

Xu Chacha felt guilty under her gaze, which seemed to see right through her intentions. She looked away, trying to softly gloss over it.

“You gave me a token of love, so why are you still going on a blind date with that ugly uncle?”

Her childlike, spoiled tone made Wen Mubai unable to help but laugh. “Then how about I go on a blind date after you get married?”

At this moment, Wen Mubai even envied Xu Chacha. At her age, she could be so bold and straightforward in expressing her true thoughts. In contrast, she herself could only hide behind the mask of a good elder and say things that made even herself frown.

Xu Chacha obviously didn’t like this sentence. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and her dark eyes stared intently at Wen Mubai’s face for a long time.

Then, she said with a reckless tone, “What if I said I want to marry you?”