After Seeing Through the Plot, the Cannon Fodder Supporting Female Lead Overturned Her Fate - Chapter 7

Ye An’s words were merciless. Chen He stood frozen in place, his face flushing a messy mix of blue and purple.

“President Ye, your receipt.” The cashier had been watching the drama unfold for a moment before remembering she still had something for Ye An, and hurriedly handed it over.

“Thank you.” Ye An smiled and took it.

“Let’s go.” She glanced sideways at Xia Yihuan and let out a soft yawn. “I’m a bit sleepy. Drive me back so I can sleep.”

She was always one to maintain her appearance; she had meticulously touched up her makeup right after the meal. Under the overhead lights, her fair skin looked even more supple, and her beautiful hair held a charming luster. She reached out, her fingertips hooking into Xia Yihuan’s palm, resting there gently just as before.

From start to finish, she didn’t give Chen He another look.

Cool.

This thought surfaced inexplicably in Xia Yihuan’s mind, causing her to pause for a few seconds as her eyebrows arched instinctively.

After a moment, she reached out to push open the door for Ye An.

“Understood, President Ye.”

The car sped through the late night and soon arrived downstairs at the residential complex.

“I forgot to ask.” Before getting out, Ye An slowly opened her eyes. “Where have you been staying lately?”

“A guesthouse run by a friend,” Xia Yihuan said.

“Oh.” Ye An nodded. She pulled down the vanity mirror to tidy herself before continuing, “Shi Qian has dormitories specifically for employees. If you don’t mind, you can stay there for a while.”

“The conditions and facilities definitely won’t compare to your previous residence,” Ye An said. “But it’s better than troubling your friend indefinitely.”

She was certainly thorough in her considerations.

Xia Yihuan looked at her, thought for a few seconds, and didn’t stand on ceremony: “Then, thank you, President Ye.”

“You don’t need to keep thanking me.” Ye An smiled dismissively. “As I said, you are my assistant. It’s only right that I give you whatever resources or benefits I have on hand. If you need anything, just ask.”

“Consider it…” she paused, finding the right words as her smile widened, “an employee benefit.”

“I see.” Xia Yihuan nodded. The night wind was a bit strong, so she glanced out the window, leaned over, and slowly buttoned Ye An’s coat for her. “So, was what happened earlier one of those, too?”

“What happened?” Ye An asked.

“The matter with Chen He,” Xia Yihuan said.

Ye An only then remembered that the man’s name was Chen He.

“Him?” Ye An looked down at Xia Yihuan’s beautiful hands, watching her fasten the buttons one by one. The metal buttons sparkled under the warm yellow streetlights, contrasting with her pale fingertips. “Like I said, he was an eyesore to me.”

“Besides, a loose-tongued person like that deserves a lesson. Even if it hadn’t been you standing there, I think I would have stepped in,” she said. “So you don’t need to take it to heart.”

As she finished, Xia Yihuan seemed to let out a very slight smile.

Ye An caught it and asked with a hint of confusion, “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing.” Xia Yihuan shook her head, carefully fastening the last button before straightening up. “Regardless, I owe President Ye one.”

Her voice was cool and clear, but perhaps because of that lingering smile, there was a touch of warmth in her tone.

“Fine.” Ye An locked eyes with her for a few seconds. Seeing her insistence, she didn’t refuse further. “I’ll remember that.”

She smiled and stepped out of the car, but didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she looked back once more with a beautiful curve to her lips. “If there’s ever a time I need Yihuan to step up, I certainly won’t be polite about asking.”

“I’ll be counting on you.”

After seeing Ye An off, Xia Yihuan didn’t head back immediately. Instead, she drove somewhere else.

The car moved through the dark night, fast yet steady, crossing the noisy city center until it reached an old residential building.

023 glanced at the name of the complex and quickly realized: “Visiting Teacher Yang again?”

“Mhm,” Xia Yihuan replied.

“It’s good that you’re so thoughtful,” 023 said. “You’ve been graduated for so long, and you’re the only one who still checks on her.”

“Teacher Yang is a pitiful soul.” 023 sighed softly. “To have such a good daughter and lose her so young.”

The daughter the System mentioned was Han Ning. She and Xia Yihuan had grown up together, and she was the daughter of Xia Yihuan’s middle school homeroom teacher, Teacher Yang. She had died in a car accident ten years ago.

The System had bonded with Xia Yihuan three months after the accident, so it had only heard of Han Ning but never met her. However, judging by the way Xia Yihuan had visited Teacher Yang without fail for ten years, her relationship with Han Ning must have been very close.

The lights upstairs were still on; Teacher Yang likely hadn’t slept yet. Xia Yihuan opened the trunk, took out the gifts she had bought, and headed up the stairs with practiced ease.

“Xiao Xia is here!” Just as she stepped off the elevator, Teacher Yang met her.

“Are you going out, Teacher?” Xia Yihuan was slightly surprised.

“No, no.” Teacher Yang shook her head and hurriedly invited her inside. “I happened to be standing by the window and saw you the moment you got out of the car.”

“Why did you buy so many things again?” Teacher Yang said firmly. “Child, I don’t lack anything. Just come to see me; don’t bring gifts next time.”

“It’s only right,” Xia Yihuan smiled, neither agreeing nor arguing.

“You never listen.” Teacher Yang sighed and gave her a gentle pat. After a moment of silence, she asked, “How have you been these past few days?”

She had been retired for a long time and was getting older. Information on the internet moved too fast for her to understand sometimes, but she worked hard to learn so she could follow Xia Yihuan’s news. “Why did I see people online saying you’ve run into some trouble with your business?”

“Is it serious?” she asked, her voice full of worry. “I did a search, and the internet said…”

“It’s not serious.” Xia Yihuan interrupted her before she could finish. “I can handle it, don’t worry.”

“Really?” Teacher Yang asked, still a bit afraid. “I have some savings here. It’s not much, but it could help. If you need it…”

“It’s really fine,” Xia Yihuan said, taking Teacher Yang’s hand reassuringly. “It’s all been settled.”

Her tone was pleasant and gentle, possessing a magical power to calm people down. Teacher Yang stared into her eyes for a long while before finally nodding slowly. “That’s good, that’s good.”

“So, Xiao Xia, do you have a job now?” Teacher Yang asked. “If things are bad, I can talk to the school and have them arrange a position for you. Even though I’ve been retired a long time, my words still carry some weight.”

At this, Xia Yihuan smiled. “What would you want me to do? Be a teacher or work in logistics?”

“Our Xiao Xia is so capable; you’d be the best at whatever you do.”

“Teacher, you’re too good at praising me.” Xia Yihuan laughed, picking up an orange and peeling it for her. “Don’t worry, I’ve already found a job.”

Teacher Yang took the orange. “Doing what?”

“Being an assistant,” Xia Yihuan said softly. “The pay is good, the work is light, and the boss is a very nice person who looks out for me.”

“Is that so? Then you must cherish this opportunity. Meeting such a good person is a blessing.” Teacher Yang nodded, finally relieved. Since Han Ning passed away, Xia Yihuan had taken such good care of her that Teacher Yang saw her as her own daughter. She instinctively added, “You must work hard and repay them well.”

Hearing the word “repay,” Xia Yihuan paused slightly.

Rumors of her discord with Ye An were all over the internet, making Teacher Yang quite familiar with the name. If she knew that Xia Yihuan was currently working as Ye An’s assistant, one wondered if she would still have said those words.

However, Xia Yihuan didn’t clarify; she simply nodded.

She smiled: “Mhm, I will.”

The next day.

Lu Man’s manager replied quickly and confirmed a trial shoot with the marketing department for tomorrow at 3:00 PM.

“Miss Lu said she is very much looking forward to this collaboration,” the Marketing Director relayed. “She also asked me to send her regards.”

“Mhm, I see.” Ye An nodded. Just then, her assistant knocked and entered, informing her that the paperwork for Miss Xia’s dormitory arrangement was ready. However, since it differed from the standard internal employee allocation, the HR department was hesitant to stamp it.

“Leave it here for now.” Ye An took the file and scanned it. “Come pick it up in a bit.”

“Alright.” The assistant nodded and left.

Ye An picked up her phone and sent a message to Xia Yihuan: [The dormitory matter is settled. You need to come by at noon with your ID to register with HR and record your biometrics with the dorm manager.]

A reply came quickly: [Understood.]

[Mhm.] Ye An said nothing else and went back to work.

Before she knew it, it was noon.

There was a lot to do today, so Ye An didn’t go to the lounge for her nap. She just propped herself up on her desk and dozed lightly. In her daze, someone seemed to push the door open and place something on her desk.

Ye An startled awake. Looking up, she saw it was actually Xia Yihuan.

“Why are you here?” Ye An blinked, her vision still slightly blurry from sleep.

“Since I was already here, I thought I’d drop by to see President Ye,” Xia Yihuan said. “I bought you some fruit.”

Ye An looked down and indeed saw several containers of prepared fruit. Apples were sliced into bite-sized pieces, cherries were de-stemmed and washed, and even a pomegranate had been deseeded, its translucent gems sparkling in the sunlight.

“You did this?” Ye An looked up at her.

Xia Yihuan didn’t say anything, just gave a slow nod.

The pampered Xia Yihuan actually doing things like this.

Ye An was silent for a few seconds before a faint smile touched her lips. She felt more and more that this was money well spent.

She spoke up: “Yihuan, I didn’t know you were so good at taking care of people.”

“I wouldn’t say that.” Xia Yihuan shook her head. “I was idle anyway, so I thought I’d do it for you to save you the trouble.”

“In that case, even picking them up to eat myself takes quite a bit of time,” Ye An joked. “Why don’t you feed me yourself?”

Her words sounded both ambiguous and serious, but Xia Yihuan could see she didn’t mean it; she was just teasing.

After a moment, Xia Yihuan replied in the same joking manner: “If President Ye is willing, I suppose I could do that for you.”

“Forget it.” Ye An waved her hand. After joking with Xia Yihuan, the fatigue from the morning inexplicably vanished. She picked up a small prepared fork, took a piece of apple, and tasted it. It was sweet and tart—quite good. “I’m not disabled. We’ll talk about that when I truly can’t move.”

“Just teasing you.”