After the Cannon Fodder A Accidentally Marked the Paranoid Female Lead - Chapter 23

Ming Sian resigned. Having collected her wages for the past few days, she returned to school. Since she couldn’t find a good part-time job, she decided to write her novel at home first and try submitting it to internal journals.

The review process for internal journals is quite strict; it can only be serialized after passing the review, but there are many benefits—the copyright remains entirely with the author.

Ming Sian wrote the outline and the beginning of the story but didn’t submit it immediately. After some thought, she rewrote a short legal professional article instead, found the email address, and clicked submit. Since internal reviews take one to four weeks, she wasn’t in a rush to keep writing. Currently, she was still He Yining’s assistant, working together on the Liang family property division case.

Of course, she wasn’t a lawyer yet, so what she could do was limited; most of the heavy lifting was still done by He Yining.

When she had time, she could also write for literary magazines. As for highly academic papers—she was just a student; journals might not accept them and might even reject the manuscript as soon as they saw her name.

Perhaps she could also try being a self-media creator—marriage, labor, criminal, contract, tort… she had handled them all. She could be a lawyer-blogger who goes viral for her looks. Doing this wasn’t for the money, but to help more people.

If it were for money, she wouldn’t have spent her previous life as a lawyer protecting women’s and labor rights; those don’t make much money. Conversely, a portion of her income had come from writing books, and since there weren’t many high-level lawyers in small towns, she also earned from paid consultations and case commissions for non-vulnerable groups.

After all, she had to eat. She occasionally took on cases that could pay the bills, such as divorces for wealthy women or lawsuits; she didn’t earn as much as same-level lawyers in big cities, but it wasn’t a small amount either.

Back then, she had indeed started an account, but she was too busy. In fact, people had approached her wanting to be her manager, offering to manage her account and turn her into a celebrity in the legal world, publish books, and hold book club events.

It’s not just stars who have managers; “manager” is just a general term. Most famous people will at least hire an assistant to handle things on their behalf.

However, she was simply too busy and declined the offer. Thus, her legal science popularization account only had 100,000 followers. When she posted a video, there would only be about a hundred comments and a few thousand likes—most of which were because of her looks.

The comment section spent every day guessing her sexual orientation. The most frequent comment was: “Teacher, if you don’t like women, I’ll truly be heartbroken.”

Thinking about it, even if she couldn’t find a suitable part-time job, she was actually quite busy.

The first step to being a lawyer-blogger is finding a case that is attracting attention and then publishing professional opinions. She never planned to abandon the advantage of her looks either; in the internet age, as long as you can grow the account, it’s fine—even if only 20,000 out of 100,000 follow for the video content, it’s good as long as there is attention.

In fact, for those who get famous online, while looks are an advantage, content is the key. Most of those who go mega-viral are comedy bloggers, but unfortunately, she wasn’t naturally funny.

Taking action as soon as the thought occurred, Ming Sian found a high-profile case online and began taking notes, eventually organizing her speaking points to record a video.

She had only written half when there was a knock on the room door.

“Xiao Ming, I bought some dessert. Come out and have some.”

Her train of thought interrupted, Ming Sian pushed open the door and walked out.

Cheng Cheng sized her up. “Why don’t you ever go out for a walk on the weekends?”

“Dorm life saves money.” Going out costs a lot of money. Hong Kong has its own price levels; one trip to the supermarket costs a thousand yuan. Where could she go?

Cheng Cheng cut the small cake into four pieces. “Save two for afternoon tea.”

She placed one piece in front of Ming Sian. “Gu Xing went to The Royal. She asked for your information; she’ll likely come looking for you again.”

One wave after another.

Ming Sian took a bite of the dessert, her brow smoothing out. “Thanks, I’ll keep an eye out.”

Gu Xing, Gu Real Estate. There was a plot point in the novel that was mentioned in passing: the real estate industry shrank across the board, the Gu family neared bankruptcy, and He Yining used a lawsuit to bankrupt Gu Real Estate completely, while He Chenzhang chose to divorce her.

As of this year, the real estate industry was still in its prime, and the Gu family still held a place in Hong Kong.

But the Gu family was the Gu family, and Gu Xing was Gu Xing. First off, the head of the Gu family had multiple wives; Gu Xing’s father was just from one branch and wasn’t the only son. There were even more grandchildren in the Gu family; Ming Sian doubted Gu Xing even recognized all her own cousins.

While Gu Xing’s father received attention from the family, he had quite a few siblings, so what she might have to face was likely just Gu Xing herself.

There were only two reasons Gu Xing would look for her. It certainly wasn’t because she took a liking to her; currently on a blind date with He Chenzhang, she likely wouldn’t dare let any scandals spread—so it must be He Yining.

If anyone who opposes the female lead is a villain, Ming Sian remembered all the villains in the novel. And in the book, Gu Xing did indeed look for the original host; it was just that the original host hadn’t revealed her true colors yet and had temporarily refused her.

As expected, by getting close to He Yining, troubles arrived one by one.

Seeing her lack of interest, Cheng Cheng joked: “Actually, there’s no need to be afraid. Didn’t Senior He Yining say you were her person? You should just give in to her; she’ll definitely protect you.”

Ming Sian: “…”

However, after Gu Xing’s reminder, she truly couldn’t just sit and wait anymore. At the very least, she had to let the outside world think she had no intention of being entangled with He Yining.

“Cheng Cheng, what do you think about me going to a mixer (social gathering)?”

“Huh?”

Initially, she wanted to be a “bad woman” to make He Yining distance herself; now she also had to make the outside world believe that she and He Yining would absolutely never be together.

Ming Sian felt a bit of a sour taste in her heart. In Hong Kong, if a circle isn’t yours, don’t try to squeeze in—the original host’s end was the proof. Now, she wanted to stay away, but someone was pulling her in forcefully. The only method she, an ordinary person, could think of was to “self-smear.” Who told her she still had a year before she could leave Hong Kong?

Every weekend at Hong Kong University, there are mixers of all sizes. That evening, Ming Sian and Cheng Cheng arrived at the social event.

“Senior, can I add your Jianxin?”

“Sure.”

“Junior, want to scan?”

“Sure.”

“Senior Ming Sian, please add a contact method.”

“Oh… hmm? I don’t add guys.”

Sitting there for just a little while, Ming Sian added the contacts of over a dozen people.

Cheng Cheng was beside her. “Wait, usually many people add me.”

Sitting with Ming Sian today, no one was adding her.

“Junior Cheng Cheng, let’s add a contact.”

Cheng Cheng only looked up once before following the person away.

Ming Sian gave her a thumbs up. Didn’t you say you were just here to keep me company?

At that moment, a junior with a pure and sweet look sat in the spot Cheng Cheng had just vacated. “Senior, my name is Lan Heqing.”

Ming Sian raised an eyebrow, dazzled by the sweet smile of the girl before her. “Ming Sian.”

“I know. You’re very famous in the Law School, Senior.”

“Is that so?”

Ming Sian gave a polite smile. From a distance, she looked bright and sunny, like a girl on a bicycle in a TV drama, laughing and talking with classmates in the wind. A pair of eyes as clear as a newborn’s fixed on the other person—no one could help but have their heart moved by such a look.

However, He Yining, seeing this scene, only found it an eyesore. Truly a natural little white flower; she looks so good when she smiles, it really makes one want to destroy her.

Whether she came for work or specifically for the university, He Yining had to admit that at this moment, she wanted Ming Sian’s eyes to only see her, and her smiles to only be for her.

The desire to imprison her grew ever stronger.

[Author’s Note]

Ming Sian: Life is short, who is still a “peony” (virgin)? What’s wrong with dating, what’s wrong with mixers!

He Yining: …

Author: I can testify, Xiao Ming is a “peony.”