After Seeing Through the Plot, the Cannon Fodder Supporting Female Lead Overturned Her Fate - Chapter 25

Xiao Li walked quickly into the elevator and happened to stand right beside Ye An.

“President Ye.” She smiled, her face showing no extra emotion, her tone and manner very warm. “I’m Xiao Li, the one who messaged you last night. Li Rou. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Pleasure to meet me?

Ye An arched an eyebrow slightly, wondering what kind of game Li Rou was playing.

Li Rou was five years younger than her and had been deeply pampered by their mother since childhood. Although many things were in the past now, the events of back then were still etched into Ye An’s mind.

Even now, Ye An remembered how carefully and cautiously she had lived as a child. She was afraid of being discarded or causing resentment, so she never made a fuss, trying her best to be sensible and well-behaved.

In contrast, as the daughter of the same mother, Li Rou had lived like a princess, having almost anything she wanted. If she opened her mouth, her mother probably would have plucked the stars from the sky for her.

Back then Ye An was small and didn’t understand why, but as she grew up, she finally understood.

—Some people are destined to be cherished from the moment they are born.

It was just that such a person would never be her.

Later, when Ye An started her business in college, her mother had already changed her number and moved. They lost contact and hadn’t met since.

That was the last time Ye An saw Li Rou.

Meeting suddenly today, although many years had passed, Ye An recognized her about seventy or eighty percent at a glance. Hearing her introduce herself only confirmed her identity.

Ye An gave a professional, thin smile, deciding to stay quiet for now: “Hello.”

At that moment, the elevator doors opened.

“After you, President Ye,” Zhao Yongchuan said with a chuckle, making way for her.

“After you, President Zhao,” Ye An replied, and they walked out of the elevator side-by-side.

Ye An had arranged the restaurant. Zhao Yongchuan focused on health and had researched medicinal diets, so Ye An catered to his tastes by booking the best-reviewed spot nearby.

As they sat in the private room, Zhao Yongchuan signaled Li Rou with a look. Li Rou understood immediately, took the corkscrew from the waiter, opened the red wine they had brought, and poured glasses for the two of them.

“President Ye, our President Zhao usually treasures this wine; he’s rarely willing to drink it,” she said with a polite, sweet smile. “You must have a good taste today.”

“Xiao Li is right,” Zhao Yongchuan agreed, raising his glass with a laugh to clink with Ye An’s. “President Ye, let’s have a few more glasses later!”

Ye An curled her lips: “That’s a certainty.”

Once the two bosses clinked glasses, the other managers followed suit with toasts. Zhao Yongchuan loved to drink, so Ye An specifically chose several managers with high alcohol tolerance to accompany them. With good food and drink, the meal was enjoyable and the business talk went smoothly.

At the appropriate time, Ye An proposed lowering the price. Zhao Yongchuan went back and forth with her for a few rounds, but was eventually suppressed by her. Zhao Yongchuan didn’t value money that much and sincerely wanted to do business with Shi Qian, so he finally nodded in agreement.

“President Zhao is straightforward,” Ye An smiled, raising her glass to clink with him again.

After several rounds of drinks, Ye An got up to go to the restroom.

While washing her hands, her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a message from Xia Yihuan, telling her that someone had just come to the door to deliver a few pots of very beautiful flowers.

“I had someone send them to you,” Ye An sent a voice message directly, as typing was inconvenient. “Keep them for now. Your room is too desolate; it looks better with some color.”

Xia Yihuan replied quickly: “Then, thank you, President Ye.”

“You’re welcome,” Ye An accepted the thanks graciously and tucked her phone away.

As she looked up, she suddenly bumped into a familiar figure.

Ye An paused for half a second, then quickly smiled: “Is Miss Li out for some fresh air?”

“Yes,” Li Rou nodded, meeting her gaze. “I did drink a bit much just now. The managers you brought have incredible tolerance; it’s really hard to keep up.”

“Is that so?” Ye An pulled out a paper towel to dry her hands, not wanting to chat further. “Then Miss Li should get some rest. I’ll be heading back.”

With that, she prepared to leave, but was called back by the person behind her: “Sister, we haven’t met in so long. Do you not recognize me?”

“…”

Ye An instinctively stopped in her tracks.

“I didn’t expect to meet my sister here,” Li Rou said, staring at her back with a somewhat smug smile. “Actually, I only recently joined Shengshi. Luckily, I was appreciated by President Zhao, which gave me the chance to come out and talk business with him—and with Shi Qian, no less.”

“I was happy for a long time last night when I found out my sister was coming,” she said, stepping closer to Ye An. “Weren’t we very close in the past? What has happened to you all these years? Why haven’t you come back to see us?”

She smiled, her voice very light: “Mother said she missed you just the other day.”

Hearing the word “missed,” Ye An’s brow furrowed immediately.

How could that be possible?

“Is that so?” Ye An’s face remained expressionless, but her tone was cold. “Then send my regards to Mother on my behalf.”

“Just a ‘regards’?” Li Rou blinked, looking as if she couldn’t understand. “Sister, your heart is so cruel. After all the care Mother gave you in the past.”

“Care?” Ye An found it hard to endure. “Never asking, never caring no matter what happened—living under the same roof yet acting like enemies. If that is called ‘care,’ why don’t I give it all to you?”

“Sister, don’t be angry,” Li Rou said, stepping forward to grab her hand and shake it.

She had been this way since she was a child.

Li Rou was born cute and well-behaved, like a pure, flawless angel. Only Ye An knew how ugly she was inside.

Her favorite thing to do was to pretend to be innocent while pressing on your wounds, treading on your self-esteem with a smile. When you truly got angry, she would play the victim, claiming her words were unintentional.

Ye An looked at her coldly. If she continued to lose her composure, she would be falling right into Li Rou’s trap: “I’m not.”

“It’s all in the past,” she quickly shook off Li Rou’s hand. “Nothing worth getting angry about.”

“Really?” Li Rou asked with a nervous look. “I just had a slip of the tongue. It won’t affect the partnership between our two companies, will it?”

“Of course not,” Ye An said, casually tidying the hair at her temples. “I’ve always been one to distinguish things clearly; I never let personal emotions affect work.”

“It’s going to rain, the wind is picking up,” she said, turning away quickly as if she didn’t want to look at Li Rou for another second. “Miss Li should go back soon. Be careful not to catch a cold.”

“We have many things to process later. I don’t want the work efficiency of the entire team to be dragged down because of one person.”

“I…” Li Rou paused, seemingly having more to say.

Ye An didn’t give her another look and walked away.

“Hmph!” After a moment, Li Rou stomped her foot hard.

After returning to the private room, Li Rou was visibly out of sorts.

Ye An didn’t pay her any more mind. Li Rou was both malicious and stupid. That stunt just now was nothing more than showing off how happy she was now. Ye An was too lazy to deal with her and didn’t want to waste more effort.

But she still felt a bit troubled—not by Li Rou, but by herself.

She hadn’t expected that after so many years, she would still care this much when her mother was mentioned.

From beginning to end, family had always been her Achilles’ heel. People are always exceptionally obsessed with what they can’t have, but reality often contradicts expectation. Some things are just like that: the more she wanted them, the less she would have them.

Ye An pursed her lips and drained her glass.

Once the dinner ended, Ye An saw off Zhao Yongchuan. The group packed up, preparing to return to the company.

Ye An was in a bad mood. She had always maintained a confident and proud image in front of outsiders; she didn’t want anyone to see her looking dejected.

“President Ye,” a subordinate came over to call her. “Are we going back now?”

“You guys head back first,” Ye An said. “I have some things to take care of.”

“Okay,” the subordinate nodded. “Should we leave a few people with you?”

“No need,” Ye An said. “It’s personal business. I’ll go by myself.”

“Alright then.” Seeing her insistence, the subordinate didn’t press further. “Call us if you need anything, President Ye.”

With that, they soon vanished from sight.

Ye An let out a soft sigh.

There was a small park not far away. Having nothing to do, Ye An walked slowly to a pavilion in the park to sit down and relax.

She hadn’t felt this sense of defeat in a long time, which made her feel helpless and stifled. She stared at the blooming flowers in front of her for a long while, but still couldn’t find a way to dispel her unpleasant mood.

After an unknown amount of time, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a clap of thunder. Soon, rain began to fall.

Only then did Ye An realize she hadn’t brought an umbrella.

It seemed she could only wait for the rain to stop before heading back.

Ye An closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the stone pillar beside her. The rain pattered loudly in her ears, and the wind rustled the distant branches. Midsummer had passed, and the temperature was starting to drop. Ye An instinctively huddled her body; she was actually a bit cold.

But soon, someone draped a coat over her shoulders.

Ye An froze and instinctively looked back: “Yihuan?”

“President Ye,” Xia Yihuan smiled in response. She seemed to have come through the rain; she was holding a soaking wet umbrella.

“Why are you here?” Ye An asked. “Running around while you’re injured?”

“I came to find you,” Xia Yihuan said, sitting down beside her. “The flowers you sent me are very beautiful, so I wanted to do something for you too. But when I got to the office, I found you hadn’t returned yet.”

“So you came looking for me?”

Xia Yihuan nodded: “That’s right.”

For some reason, hearing her affirmative answer made Ye An’s low mood feel much better.

The sound of rain continued around them. Neither of them spoke again, silently watching the rain outside the pavilion. Time passed slowly.

“Do you have any plans for later, Yihuan?” Ye An asked suddenly.

“None,” Xia Yihuan said, looking at her face.

Their eyes met at this moment. After a long pause, Ye An curled her lips into a light smile: “Good. I suddenly don’t feel like going back to the office anymore.”

“Does what you said just now still count?”

“What?”

“You said you wanted to do something for me.”

Xia Yihuan nodded: “Of course it counts. President Ye can ask for whatever she needs.”

“Then I’ll reluctantly take up some of your time,” Ye An said, giving a light stretch. “Let’s go.”

“Take me for a drink.”