After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Side Character, I Became the Group’s Favorite (GL) - Chapter 49

In that moment, she shed her harmless guise, revealing sharp fangs and desperately showcasing her own assertiveness to Wen Mubai.

She had to make this bad woman, who didn’t take her words seriously, sober up.

“An answer?”

The emotion in Wen Mubai’s eyes was undeniable. No one could refuse such a sincere and fervent heart. Others couldn’t, and she, who was already moved, certainly couldn’t.

“If you wake up tomorrow and don’t regret it.” Then yes.

The next morning.

Xu Chacha, whose head was exploding with pain, crawled out of bed, her long hair messy over her face, looking like a female ghost who had just climbed out of a TV screen.

She rotated her stiff neck, hearing a “crack.” This sound seemed to connect the memory nerve in her brain, and all the bold things and words she had said and done last night floated into her view.

“Oh, no—” She slammed her head into the pillow, trying to suffocate herself.

It was over, completely over. Her image as a soft, innocent little white rabbit had vanished.

“Come down and eat if you’re awake.”

Wen Mubai’s clear voice came from downstairs, her tone so normal it was as if nothing had happened last night.

Xu Chacha cautiously poked her head out and saw that Wen Mubai was already sitting at the dining table, neatly dressed, reading the newspaper. The same unchanging egg sandwich and milk were set on the table.

She shuffled downstairs, her rounded toes nervously gripping her slippers as she stood before the table.

“Eat. Remember to eat breakfast on weekends from now on too,” Wen Mubai looked up at her.

“Oh, okay.”

The atmosphere of eating in silence was a bit awkward. Xu Chacha secretly grabbed the remote control, turned on the TV, and started watching the unfinished drama from last time.

Wen Mubai heard the sound and glanced over, seeing a familiar face on the screen. “You like her?”

“She” referred to the drama’s lead actress, Zhao Lin. Xu Chacha rarely followed dramas, only watching occasionally, but the ones she watched usually starred Zhao Lin.

Wen Mubai had originally thought Xu Chacha would prefer Lai Qian, especially since they got along well on the set last time, and Lai Qian and the actress on the screen were rivals for resources year after year.

“She’s alright. Just watching casually.”

Xu Chacha couldn’t say it directly, but Zhao Lin looked too much like her former idol, especially when acting in historical dramas. The resemblance went from six out of ten to eight out of ten. So, when she ran out of shows, she would occasionally pull up Zhao Lin’s dramas to watch.

But as for liking her, she didn’t like her that much. Zhao Lin’s acting couldn’t compare to her idol’s at all.

“Watching casually,” Wen Mubai nodded, but her tone was meaningful. “I can help you get an autograph.”

The script for Zhao Lin’s new drama was also written by Wen Mubai.

“No need,” Xu Chacha shook her head. “I have plenty of her autographs. Sister Lai Qian got them for me.”

“…”

“Why did you stop eating?” Xu Chacha turned her head and saw Wen Mubai putting down her sandwich.

“Work,” Wen Mubai flipped the newspaper, folded it, put it back in its place, then pushed back her chair and stood up.

“Huh?” Xu Chacha’s head tracked her movement. She quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, wanting to ask the question before she left.

But Wen Mubai proactively walked up to her, extended her hand, palm up, her fair fingers long and elegant.

Xu Chacha stared blankly at her palm, not knowing what this meant.

“Give it to me,” Wen Mubai curled her fingers back.

“Wha… what?”

“The bank card.”

“Oh, oh, oh, okay.” Xu Chacha didn’t understand why, but her head subconsciously followed Wen Mubai’s command.

She rummaged through her old jacket for the bank card and handed it over with both hands.

“All my life savings are in here.”

Wen Mubai’s lips curved into a smile, her eyes warm and gentle. “Alright, I’ll keep it.”

“You’re keeping it…” Slowly, Xu Chacha finally reacted as Wen Mubai opened the door to leave, chasing after her. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

Wen Mubai raised her hand and rubbed her head. “Eat well. I’ll pick you up this afternoon.”

“Pick me up?” It was her weekend off.

“Check your phone. You passed the interview.”

Xu Chacha’s eyes lit up. She excitedly ran to find her phone.

It had run out of battery last night due to her antics, but thankfully Wen Mubai had plugged it into the charger beforehand. She opened her phone, and there was clearly an official email from AS, telling her she passed the interview.

AS was a top-tier dairy group in the country. They were hiring spokespersons for one of their ice cream product lines called “Lele Bing.”

The job description said they needed two girls. AS invited her to come over this afternoon for a three-way meeting.

Xu Chacha scrolled down further and found replies from the other two companies. They essentially said that while her qualifications were good, she lacked experience, and politely rejected her with a few canned phrases about future opportunities.

However, this result was within Xu Chacha’s expectations. After all, the three companies she interviewed for were all first-tier brands, both domestic and international, with candidates selected from thousands. Her thin resume was indeed not very competitive.

Moreover, she hadn’t told anyone about this. During the interview, she also concealed her family background and her collaboration with Hua Jing and Lao Shu. She was a freelance model whose major didn’t match and who only produced one professional photo shoot every two or three years. It was already quite a feat that she passed the preliminary selection and got an interview opportunity.

Xu Chacha ate breakfast, got ready, and changed into comfortable clothes before heading out. Before going to AS, she had to have a meal with Xu Yanshu first.

Xu Yanshu had been participating in a dating reality show that provided room and board, so she hadn’t been home in a while. Combined with Xu Chacha’s curiosity about her future sister-in-law, she managed to persuade Xu Yanshu to let her have a meal with her girlfriend.

The sister-in-law was a trainee at MK Entertainment, so Xu Chacha had to rush there. When she arrived, only Xu Yanshu was there. She ran over and sat down, still slightly breathless.

“Where’s sis-in-law?”

“Don’t call her that in front of her.” Xu Yanshu, holding the menu, looked up at her and handed her a glass of water. “Jian Xi is still upstairs. Didn’t I tell you to take your time? Why are you running?”

Xu Chacha gulped down the water. “You know why!”

If Zhao Lin only bore a six-out-of-ten resemblance to her former idol, then Jian Xi was a perfect replica, and their names were even identical.

So, when Xu Chacha heard that Jian Xi was working as a martial arts double for Zhao Lin, she felt especially upset for her. She had already projected her idol onto Jian Xi. Her idol was an acclaimed actress with countless awards; how could she stoop to being a body double for an idol drama lead?

She would be willing to contribute to the viewership just for her face to be a pretty vase. Yet, she was a double who never appeared on screen. Xu Chacha couldn’t even find any footage to watch.

Xu Yanshu received a message. She looked down to reply, then told Xu Chacha, “She’s coming down. Behave yourself later.”

Xu Chacha’s face crumpled. “Sis, you don’t love me anymore.”

“How can I not love you, you ungrateful little thing?” Xu Yanshu reached out to pinch her cheek and pushed the menu toward her. “Order whatever you want first.”

Xu Chacha shook her head. “I need to manage my figure lately. Just order a salad for me.”

“Are you sure you won’t eat anything else?”

“I won’t. I said I won’t, so I won’t.” Xu Chacha was adamant.

“Fine,” Xu Yanshu smiled and circled a salad for her.

Not long after, the fashionably late Jian Xi finally took her seat. “Sorry, I was called for a discussion, so I was late.”

When she appeared, Xu Chacha’s eyes almost went straight. The real person looked even more like her idol than the photos! The key was that her way of speaking and her subtle air of elegant confidence were exactly the same. Xu Chacha would believe it if someone said she was the idol herself!

“Your name is Chacha, right?” Jian Xi smiled and looked over. “Why didn’t you order anything to eat? Aren’t you hungry?”

Xu Chacha sipped her mint water and shook her head. “Not hungry. I’m full just looking at a beauty.”

Xu Yanshu nudged her foot under the table, giving her a warning look. “Sorry, my sister talks like this. Don’t mind her.”

“Not at all. Your sister is very cute.”

Hearing this, Xu Chacha proudly raised an eyebrow at Xu Yanshu, who felt a pang of jealousy but couldn’t do anything about it.

Although the meal consisted of a tasteless salad, Xu Chacha was happier than if she had eaten a Manchu Han Imperial Feast. After the meal, despite Xu Yanshu’s warning gaze, she still asked Jian Xi for her contact information, giving her the satisfaction of a successful fan.

“See you next time, little cutie.”

When Jian Xi said this, Xu Chacha almost got starry-eyed and blurted out her old fan slogan, but she managed to hold back.

On the way back, she couldn’t help but message Wen Mubai.

Xu Chacha: Aaaah! I met sis-in-law today! She’s super beautiful in real life!

Xu Chacha: I’ll introduce you to her next time. Seriously, sis-in-law is so gorgeous that I’d be willing to stay single for ten years if it meant my sister successfully brought her home!

Xu Chacha: Beautiful sis-in-law is the GOAT!

While she was excitedly typing away, Wen Mubai on the other end only noticed one key phrase. A deep-voiced voice message quickly came through.

“Single for ten years? You try it.”

Wen Mubai put down her phone, losing her appetite. She opened her browser and typed in Jian Xi’s name to search.

She had expected her to be some impressive figure, but she turned out to be an un-debuted trainee whose Baidu Baike only contained a photo resembling an ID picture.

She opened her car mirror and examined herself. The former campus belle of A University, who received countless confessions every year, experienced the term “appearance anxiety” for the first time.

She forced a kiss while drunk the night before, and the next day she was drooling over another woman.

Fine, Xu Chacha. You’re really something.

…

Xu Chacha finished her meal and took a car to the AS headquarters. After showing the receptionist her text message at the entrance, someone soon came to lead her upstairs.

The large conference room was empty. She was the first to arrive.

The young woman who greeted her asked her to wait a moment, saying someone would be there soon.

Xu Chacha nodded her thanks, found a seat, and started scrolling through Weibo.

She had only viewed a few trending topics when footsteps sounded outside again. Xu Chacha put down her phone and stood up to greet them, but when the door opened, she saw a familiar face.

“You are…”

Before she could speak, the person on the opposite side rushed at her. “Aaaah! Chacha! I finally see you! I missed you so much, I missed you so much!”

Xu Chacha was hit so hard that she stumbled back three steps before stabilizing herself. Then, she patted her with a slightly pained expression. “Doudou, I can’t breathe. Loosen up.”

Tang Doudou realized she might have been too excited and stepped back a little, chuckling apologetically.

“I missed you too much,” she stuck out her tongue.

“Me too.”

“Nonsense! You never contact me first. You don’t ask me to hang out unless I text you!” Tang Doudou got upset talking about this, putting her hands on her hips. “I see you hanging out with your friends on Moments every day, and I’m so jealous, but every time I ask you to dinner, you say you don’t have time.”

Xu Chacha scratched her head. She didn’t intentionally refuse. She genuinely didn’t have time. Besides, Tang Doudou was now a famous young star in the industry, and Xu Chacha felt awkward contacting her without a good reason.

“Aren’t you usually busy too?” Xu Chacha asked.

“If it’s you, I can cancel my schedule immediately,” Tang Doudou said earnestly.

The young woman standing nearby, who appeared to be her manager in her early twenties, immediately walked over. “Sorry, sorry. Don’t take what she says seriously.”

Xu Chacha shook her head. “Haha, I know.”

The manager turned and lectured, “You’re in your rising period. Can you stop causing trouble? If you keep saying you’ll cancel your schedule, don’t be surprised if people immediately buy a trending topic about you acting like a diva.”

Tang Doudou reluctantly uttered an “Oh,” indicating she understood.

She moved and sat down next to Xu Chacha. “Chacha, you didn’t even say you missed me. Are we getting distant because we haven’t seen each other for so long?”

“I miss you too,” Xu Chacha could only add, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Tang Doudou had grown up but still had the same overly enthusiastic personality from when she was little, making Xu Chacha feel helpless.

“Hmph. Well, I don’t care. I caught you, so you owe me a meal. Next time I call you out, you have to come.”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Xu Chacha conceded.

When the AS staff came in, they discussed the collaboration details, confirmed the filming time, and the day’s work was mostly done after signing the contract.

Near the end, Wen Mubai texted Xu Chacha that she was waiting downstairs. When leaving, Xu Chacha and Tang Doudou took the elevator together.

“I don’t have another engagement until 7 o’clock. Why don’t we go for a meal together now?” Tang Doudou affectionately held her arm. “Oh, right, why did you stop doing runway shows after that? I can’t find any news about you.”

“It’s alright. School is important.”

The two walked out of the elevator. Wen Mubai was indeed waiting by the entrance, standing in her usual pose, leaning casually against the wall.

She was momentarily stunned when she saw Xu Chacha and Tang Doudou walk out arm-in-arm, before she strode over.

“Give me your bag.” While taking the bag, she subtly detached the two intertwined arms and pulled Xu Chacha to her side.

“This is…” Tang Doudou seemed to find Wen Mubai familiar but couldn’t recall her name for a moment.

In the past, Xu Chacha would definitely have said, “This is my auntie,” but now, she intentionally tried to remove that label from Wen Mubai.

“This is my—”

“Auntie, right!” Tang Doudou suddenly remembered. “I saw her when we were doing the runway show together.”

“…”

Ten minutes later, in Wen Mubai’s car.

Xu Chacha, sitting in the passenger seat, didn’t dare to breathe loudly. For no other reason than she felt Wen Mubai’s atmosphere was lower than usual today.

“Who was that just now?”

“Doudou. The little girl who walked the show with me the first time you worked with Grandpa Lao Shu.”

“Mhm, Doudou?” Noticing that Xu Chacha used a reduplication, Wen Mubai glanced at her, her expression faint and unreadable. “You’re very close?”

“We’re alright. We haven’t really been in touch for a long time. She’s just very enthusiastic.”

Wen Mubai nodded and responded softly, then fell silent again.

Xu Chacha’s eyes darted around a few times, and she obediently kept quiet. She really wanted to ask Wen Mubai what she meant this morning.

It seemed to be what she thought it was, but Wen Mubai’s refusal to confirm it directly left her feeling restless, like a persistent itch.

Xu Chacha: “Are we going to Man Kee?”

Wen Mubai: “Didn’t you say you were quitting sugar?”

“My sister. She needs to buy a cake for sis-in-law and asked me to be the consultant,” after all, Xu Chacha was a regular customer there.

Despite being sisters, Xu Yanshu was a savory-food lover who would feel nauseous from morning until afternoon after eating a piece of cake. But coincidentally, her girlfriend loved sweets.

“If you don’t want to go, you can just drop me off, and I’ll go in myself.”

There was always a subtle sense of antagonism between Wen Mubai and Xu Yanshu. They had never fought, but the undercurrent of passive-aggressive banter and sarcasm always made Xu Chacha feel awkward caught in the middle.

“We’re going. Why wouldn’t we?” Wen Mubai turned the steering wheel. “I haven’t seen Yanshu in a while. I miss her.”

“Really?” Xu Chacha thought that sounded highly unbelievable.

Man Kee

Xu Chacha initially thought only Xu Yanshu would be there, but when she got out of the car, she saw Jian Xi was also beside her.

She immediately rushed over like an unbridled horse, calling out sweetly, “Sister Jian Xi!”

Jian Xi was only wearing a plain, long down jacket. Standing quietly, she was beautiful enough. Hearing her voice, she turned her head, a smile appearing on her face. “Hello, Chacha.”

“Do you like cake too, Sister Jian Xi? I love it too! I’ll take you to choose. It’s based on experience. I guarantee it’s delicious!”

“Okay.” Jian Xi let her hold her hand and walked towards the display case.

“This cake body is so moist. It’s so soft you can melt it with your tongue without even chewing. You have to get one.” Xu Chacha took a plate and kept piling things onto it. “And this, this… and this!”

Although she couldn’t eat it, she was very enthusiastic about buying it.

If buying a book was the equivalent of reading it, then the same logic could apply to cakes, right?

Xu Yanshu and Wen Mubai, in a synchronized move, stood behind them with their arms crossed, their faces looking increasingly displeased.

“Go pull my sister back.”

“You said she’s your sister. You handle her.”

“What about you?” Xu Yanshu turned her head.

Wen Mubai met her gaze and calmly uttered a few words. “I’m responsible for looking after her.”

“That’s enough, Chacha. That’s too much. We won’t be able to finish it,” Jian Xi stopped Xu Chacha before she could pick up a second plate.

“Ah, this is just a little bit. Won’t we finish it quickly?”

However, Xu Chacha reconsidered. Jian Xi was a semi-actress, after all, and she definitely had to manage her figure. Xu Chacha couldn’t just enthusiastically feed her and end up harming her.

“Alright then.” Xu Chacha carried the cakes to the counter. “I have a membership here, so I get a discount. I’ll treat you, Sister.”

Seeing that it was time to pay, the two “parents” finally condescended to step forward.

“I’ll pay.”

“Chacha said she would,” Wen Mubai took out the bank card that Xu Yanshu recognized so well, held it between two fingers, slowly waved it past Xu Yanshu’s eyes, and then handed it to the cashier. “It’s the little girl’s good intention. Please accept it.”

“Why does my sister’s card have your name on it?”

Wen Mubai turned around and smiled, though without much sincerity. “Because I belong to her now.”

Xu Yanshu: ?