After Seeing Through the Plot, the Cannon Fodder Supporting Female Lead Overturned Her Fate - Chapter 8

At six o’clock, Ye An stepped out of the building on time.

The hour was still early; the sun had not yet fully dipped below the horizon. The afterglow of the sunset spilled across the sky, painting every cloud a brilliant gold.

It was beautiful, enough for Ye An to naturally tilt her head and admire it for a moment.

Then Xia Yihuan appeared.

“Yihuan, you’re late today.” Ye An crossed her arms and looked at her. “What were you doing?”

Her tone was steady, lacking any sense of interrogation. There was even a faint, soft smile playing on her lips. Xia Yihuan looked up and saw her standing entirely in the light, every strand of her hair shimmering with golden rays.

“Buying daily necessities took a bit of time,” Xia Yihuan said. She stepped forward to take Ye An’s bag and then supported her hand. “I’m sorry to have kept President Ye waiting.”

“It’s nothing,” Ye An replied with a shake of her head. “Just be mindful next time.”

“Is the dormitory settled?” she asked.

“Mostly,” Xia Yihuan responded. “I didn’t have much to pack—just clothes and essentials. I’ll add whatever is missing later.”

“Mhm.” Ye An nodded.

While they spoke, Xia Yihuan had already guided Ye An to the car. Ye An was wearing a classic red dress from Lvyus today; the fabric was comfortable and the style vibrant. Paired with the champagne-colored high heels on her feet, she looked stunning.

The only drawback was that the dress was difficult to maintain. Because the fabric was so soft, it would wrinkle easily if one wasn’t careful.

Before getting into the car, Ye An glanced at Xia Yihuan.

Xia Yihuan understood her meaning. She remained silent for a few seconds, then bent down to smooth out the hem of the dress for her.

“Oh my,” Ye An let out a low, feigned cry of surprise. “To have Yihuan do such a thing for me—how could I be so bold?”

Her words said she was embarrassed, but her eyes were full of mirth.

“…”

“It’s only right to do the job I’m paid for.” After a moment, Xia Yihuan sighed softly. She looked up again to meet Ye An’s gaze, the corners of her lips slowly curving upward. “It’s no trouble.”

“Does President Ye have other plans?”

Ye An smiled brightly: “None.”

Just as the words left her mouth, her phone rang.

“Hello?” Ye An answered. It was a call from Liu Yue. Lately, Liu Yue had nothing to do and was bored out of her mind at home. Coincidentally, her parents had returned to their hometown last night, so Liu Yue seized the opportunity to contact her close friends.

“An’an, are you off work?” Liu Yue asked cheerfully. “Come to my place for a barbecue tonight. Xiao Wen and the others are coming too.”

“What brought on the barbecue?” Ye An asked.

“Nothing special,” Liu Yue said. “I’m just bored.”

“I specifically had someone prepare your favorite ingredients,” she added. “They were flown in this morning—very fresh. You’ll definitely love them.”

At this, Ye An couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you trying to tempt me with food?”

“No way,” Liu Yue countered. “The food is secondary; I just want to see you.”

“Are there many people coming?” Ye An asked. After a full day of work, she was actually quite tired.

“Not many, not many,” Liu Yue said quickly. “I only invited a dozen or so.”

“Just come! I bet you haven’t had dinner yet. A meal is a meal regardless of where you eat it, right?~”

Her tone was full of coaxing.

Defeated, Ye An finally agreed: “You’re right. Fine then.”

She curled her lips into a smile. “I’ll be over in a bit.”

“Yay!~” Liu Yue laughed on the other end. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

With that, the call ended.

Xia Yihuan, standing to the side, glanced at her. Ye An hadn’t tried to hide the conversation, so she had heard about eighty percent of it. “A gathering of friends?”

“Mhm,” Ye An nodded. “Aside from your birthday, we haven’t gathered in a while. It’ll be nice to relax.”

“Does Yihuan have other plans?” She paused for a moment, then turned to meet Xia Yihuan’s eyes with a light smile. “Come with me.”

“Yueyue knows many people from all sorts of circles,” she said. “It’s always good to see more people. Who knows, you might run into an opportunity.”

Ye An was saying this for Xia Yihuan’s sake.

Xia Yihuan understood her intent, but was still somewhat surprised that Ye An would worry about her future. “Thank you for thinking of me, President Ye.”

“Well, I am your boss,” Ye An waved her hand. “It’s only right to worry a bit about my assistant.”

As she spoke, she casually took out her lipstick to touch up. Her exquisite face was fair and clean, her lips rosy and beautiful. She parted them, her voice very soft; the afterglow of the sunset reflected in her eyes, where a shallow smile flowed.

“Don’t you agree?”

Before heading to Liu Yue’s house, Ye An first had Xia Yihuan drive to the largest shopping mall in the city center.

She had long been unable to stand Xia Yihuan’s casual wear. While Xia Yihuan was certainly beautiful and there was nothing inherently wrong with the clothes, the combination of the two made Ye An instinctively frown.

In truth, given Xia Yihuan’s looks and figure, she would look good even in a sack. But perhaps because Ye An had seen Xia Yihuan at her best, seeing her like this simply didn’t sit right.

She had disliked it before, too, but the two types of “dislike” were not the same.

“Do you see any styles you like?” Ye An walked into a shop and scanned the interior.

Shopping was one of life’s great pleasures. When Ye An was free, she liked to wander around with Sheng Shiwen and the others; she knew exactly which shop had new arrivals and what style each brand specialized in.

It just so happened that this shop had recently released new items. Since they were already here, Ye An was definitely going to take a look.

“I don’t have any particular style I like,” Xia Yihuan said. “As long as it’s comfortable and fits well.”

“It’s fine,” Ye An shook her head. “We’re not in a rush. We’ll take our time picking.”

“President Ye.” A sales associate recognized her and quickly approached with enthusiasm. “Would you like me to introduce our new arrivals?”

Ye An didn’t refuse. “Sure.”

The associate began her introduction. This year’s batch of new items was of high quality, and a few pieces indeed caught Ye An’s eye. However, she was primarily there to choose clothes for Xia Yihuan and didn’t waste much time on those.

After looking for a while, a pure white, off-the-shoulder, cinched-waist long dress suddenly came into view.

White is the most difficult color to pull off, and this specific style required an impeccable figure—even a hint of extra weight at the waist would ruin it. Ye An reached out to touch the fabric, and in her mind, she could already picture Xia Yihuan wearing it.

“Try this one,” she said with a smile, looking back at Xia Yihuan.

Xia Yihuan had no objection. She took the dress and walked into the fitting room.

The dress featured a lace-up design in the back, making it difficult to handle alone. The sales associate waited outside the fitting room for a moment before asking, “Miss Xia, are you dressed?”

“I am.”

“Then let me help you tie the ribbons in the back,” the associate said, slowly pushing the fitting room door open just a crack.

The crack wasn’t large, but from where Ye An was standing, she could still see everything inside clearly.

Xia Yihuan looked much as she had imagined—perhaps even more beautiful and sexy.

Ye An’s gaze swept over her smooth shoulders and beautiful back, finally landing on her waist. For some reason, the corners of her lips curved up instinctively.

“I’ll do it.” Before Xia Yihuan could speak, Ye An interrupted the associate, gently pushing the door open and stepping inside.

The small fitting room felt somewhat crowded with two people in it.

Ye An caught the scent on Xia Yihuan.

“I could actually handle a small thing like this myself.” There was a full-length mirror in the fitting room. Xia Yihuan stood before it, her eyes meeting Ye An’s in the reflection. “There’s no need to trouble President Ye.”

“It’s just tying some ribbons; it’s no trouble,” Ye An smiled. The irritation she had felt for many days was finally beginning to lift.

Xia Yihuan truly suited white.

“Throw away all those casual clothes when you get back,” Ye An said. Because she was so close, her warm breath was both intimate and obvious. Her voice was pitched low, as if she were whispering secrets. “They don’t look good.”

“Mhm.” Xia Yihuan nodded in response. The skin where the warmth touched her felt strangely itchy.

Ye An was quite satisfied with her attitude. “Dresses are much prettier.”

“Do you like this one, Yihuan?” she asked.

At this, Xia Yihuan gave a slight smile. “What President Ye chooses is naturally the best.”

“I agree with that statement.” Ye An tied the last ribbon and looked up at the Xia Yihuan in the mirror. “Let me see the front.”

Xia Yihuan turned around.

Ye An carefully inspected her with her gaze. “Indeed, not bad at all.”

“Wear this tonight,” she smiled. Recalling the other dresses she had just seen, she intended to pick out a few more for Xia Yihuan to take home. “Let’s go—”

She stopped mid-sentence for a few seconds. Then, she turned back, took a lipstick from her handbag, opened it with her slender fingers, and walked toward the person behind her with a smile.

Lowering her gaze, she seriously applied the perfect color to Xia Yihuan’s lips.

“There. Now it’s perfect~”