After Seeing Through the Plot, the Cannon Fodder Supporting Female Lead Overturned Her Fate - Chapter 35

After leaving the exhibition hall, Ye An let out a sigh of relief.

Xia Yihuan, standing beside her, seemed to notice that sigh and looked over. “What’s wrong, President Ye?”

“Nothing.” Ye An shook her head, feeling too restless to explain much. She simply said, “It was just too crowded in there; I felt a bit suffocated for a moment.”

“Mhm, it was indeed.” Xia Yihuan nodded.

Ye An glanced sideways and met her eyes. She felt that Xia Yihuan’s expression seemed a little off. “What about you? What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” Xia Yihuan said, stepping forward to open the car door for her.

Ye An bent down and sat in the car. Just as she finished straightening her skirt, she heard Xia Yihuan continue where she had left off: “I was just wondering who that person was earlier.”

Chi Yan?

Why did she suddenly care about that?

Ye An knew many people across various industries. C City was only so large; bumping into acquaintances was inevitable, and grabbing tea or a meal was common.

Xia Yihuan had witnessed such encounters a few times before but never reacted. She didn’t know why Xia Yihuan was suddenly so fixated this time.

“An old friend from the past,” Ye An said, not wanting to talk much about it.

To her surprise, Xia Yihuan pressed further: “A friend from when? From university?”

Ye An nodded, pulling down the sun visor. “Yes.”

“I’ve never seen her before.” Xia Yihuan turned the steering wheel to make a U-turn. “Was she not in C City previously?”

“Mhm.” Ye An gave her a slightly strange look. “She went abroad.”

Xia Yihuan opened her mouth as if to ask something else, but Ye An cut her off in time. “Why are you asking so many questions?”

“I’m just a bit worried about you, President Ye,” Xia Yihuan replied after a few seconds.

“What is there to worry about?” Ye An blinked, suddenly finding it a bit funny. “I’m a grown woman. It’s not like I’m going to get lost just by meeting someone.”

“Rest assured, I know what I’m doing.” She felt Xia Yihuan was being a bit unusual today, though she couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. “On the contrary, Yihuan, you’re talking much more than usual today.”

“Is this a background check?” she teased.

This time Xia Yihuan didn’t speak further; she simply let it pass with a smile.

There was still time to spare, and since Xia Yihuan hadn’t eaten yet, Ye An didn’t feel like returning to the company cafeteria. She decided to eat somewhere nearby.

Since they started living together, Xia Yihuan had been finding every way possible to cook for her. Ye An was often too busy at work to rest, and Xia Yihuan, fearing she wasn’t getting enough nutrition, made sure her meals were healthy and balanced.

They tasted excellent, too. Every time Ye An ate them, she couldn’t help but reflect that hiring her as an assistant was a brilliant choice.

However, after eating healthy food for so long, she occasionally craved “junk food.”

Like crawfish.

There happened to be a restaurant nearby famous for its crawfish. Ye An did a quick search for reviews online and, seeing they were good, decided to have lunch there.

“Is it okay for you to eat this, President Ye?” Xia Yihuan asked before they entered.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Ye An said, finding a spot that caught her eye and sitting down, flipping through the menu.

She wasn’t particularly good with spicy food, but crawfish were always more exciting with a bit of a kick. Ye An selected a few signature dishes and asked the waiter for a plate of spicy crawfish.

The moment the crawfish were served, Xia Yihuan naturally put on gloves.

“I’ll peel them for you,” she said. “I ate something before coming, so I’m not that hungry yet.”

“No need,” Ye An said. “I can do it myself.”

Xia Yihuan looked up and smiled at her, her stance firm. “It’s fine.”

“Alright then.” Seeing her persistence, Ye An didn’t decline further.

Just as they say online, crawfish always taste best when someone else peels them for you. Xia Yihuan was fast and exceptionally skilled; in no time, a small mountain of shrimp meat was piled in front of Ye An.

Ye An chatted with her while happily eating, and the awkwardness and unpleasantness from earlier with Chi Yan quickly dissipated.

After lunch, Xia Yihuan drove Ye An back to the company.

Since there wasn’t much time left, Ye An didn’t go to the lounge. She took a short nap leaning back in her chair and quickly dove into work. The planning proposal for the new theme had come out; Ye An browsed through it, circling a few areas that needed adjustment, thinking she’d find time for a meeting soon.

However, before she could notify her assistant to send out the meeting notice, a sudden sharp pain radiated from her stomach.

“…”

After a moment of shock, she immediately remembered the crawfish she had just consumed.

For the first time ever, Ye An left work early. Xia Yihuan was likely still busy with paperwork, and Ye An didn’t want to trouble her over such an embarrassing little issue. She drove herself to the hospital to get some medicine.

Her stomach had been finicky for years, but usually, it wouldn’t act up just because of one meal of crawfish. Ye An thought for a moment and decided it was likely because Xia Yihuan had spoiled her stomach lately.

“Eat less cold, raw, or spicy food for a while,” the doctor instructed while writing the prescription.

“Thank you.” Ye An politely thanked the doctor. When she got home, she took the medicine with some warm water. She still had a few emails to check from before she left, so she took off her shoes, got into bed, and took the time to go through them all.

She also sent a message to Xia Yihuan before opening her inbox, telling her she had gone home early for some errands and that she didn’t need to come pick her up tonight.

The message received no reply, but Ye An didn’t mind. She opened the first email and browsed for about half an hour when she heard a noise at the door.

Xia Yihuan was actually back.

Ye An looked up in surprise. A moment later, Xia Yihuan appeared at her bedroom door. “Why are you back so early?”

“I was worried about you, so I came back early,” Xia Yihuan said.

Before Ye An could say anything else, she walked over to the bed, picked up the stomach medicine on the side table, and looked at it. “Is your stomach bothering you?”

“Ah…” Ye An nodded, feeling truly embarrassed and unwilling to admit it was from the crawfish. “An old problem. It flares up occasionally.”

“It’s nothing major.” She smiled, signaling Xia Yihuan not to worry. “I feel much better after taking the medicine. I don’t have much of an appetite tonight, so you should go ahead and eat something yourself.”

“No rush.” Xia Yihuan shook her head and suddenly sat down beside her on the bed.

It was already autumn, and the sky darkened much faster than before. The room was gradually becoming dim. Xia Yihuan casually turned on the small lamp nearby, and a glow instantly filled her vision.

But her eyes seemed even brighter than the lamp. She asked softly, “Does it still hurt a little?”

For some reason, being stared at by that serious gaze made Ye An feel a rare sense of bashfulness. “A little, but I can bear it.”

“Let me rub it for you,” Xia Yihuan said suddenly. “I just warmed my hands.”

“No—” Ye An started to refuse, but before she could say more, Xia Yihuan had already placed her hand on her abdomen.

Just as she said, her palm was very warm. The moment it touched her skin, a gentle heat spread out from her palm.

“I’ll remember this for you next time,” she said, her movements slow and gentle as she began to rub. She spoke softly to Ye An while she worked. “I’ll remind you to try to avoid spicy or greasy food.”

“It’s not that serious,” Ye An said. “Like I said, it’s just… uh, an old problem. It has nothing to do with what I eat.”

“Mhm.” Xia Yihuan nodded. She didn’t argue, letting Ye An have her way.

“It’s still early. You should sleep for a bit, President Ye,” Xia Yihuan continued after a moment. “I’ll come remind you to take your medicine a bit later.”

“Alright.” Ye An nodded; she really was feeling a bit sleepy. “Then remember to eat dinner yourself in a bit.”

“I know,” Xia Yihuan said.

Ye An thought for a moment; there wasn’t anything else to say. Since the emails were all handled, she did as Xia Yihuan suggested and slowly closed her eyes. Before long, a soft humming sound reached her ears.

It must be Xia Yihuan’s voice. It sounded like she was coaxing a child. She hadn’t realized her singing would be so pleasant.

The warmth continuously feeding back from her abdomen was also relaxing and pleasant, greatly alleviating the previous pain. Inexplicably, a memory flashed through Ye An’s mind.

In the memory, there was her and her mother. It seemed a similar situation had happened before—Ye An, bedridden with abdominal discomfort, and in her half-asleep state, someone entered the room and very gently rubbed her stomach.

It was so comfortable that she had even thought it was just a beautiful dream. After all, her relationship with her family had been poor since childhood; she was certain no one would be willing to do such a thing for her.

Yet even if it were a dream, that sensation was exceptionally clear, lingering in her memory.

Until now.

People’s emotions are always unusually rich when they are vulnerable. Ye An took a deep breath, taking half a minute to suppress her feelings.

However, the hand that was resting at her side still rose up, gently covering the back of Xia Yihuan’s hand and giving it two light pats. “Take a rest. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Mhm.” Xia Yihuan nodded, stopping her movements as instructed.

But her hand didn’t leave. Instead, she turned her hand over to catch Ye An’s, holding it firmly.