The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Alpha Decides to Go On Strike (GL) - Chapter 23.1

“Don’t panic.” Su Li quickly pressed down on her shoulders. “The ring is lost? Do you remember the last time you had it?”

Shen Mo nodded.

It was precisely because she remembered that she was even more flustered: “It must have fallen in the cave…”

Halfway through the journey, she was afraid the ring would get dirty, so she took it off and put it in the small pouch at her waist. But now the zipper on the small pouch had a gap, and the ring that was supposed to be inside had vanished.

Su Li pursed her lips: “It’s okay.”

She took Shen Mo back to the guide: “I need to borrow a flashlight to go back and search. There’s only one path in the cave. If it really fell there, we’re sure to find it!”

Shen Mo held onto her and shook her head: “No, don’t go.”

The cave path was rugged. The first trip was manageable because of the novelty, but going in again would be pure suffering.

Su Li patted the back of her hand comfortingly: “It’s fine. I’ll go ask first.”

She quickly found the guide and explained the loss of the ring. The guide was also very concerned. He first gathered all the tourists who participated in the exploration and used a mix of gestures and words to ask everyone if they had seen the ring.

As expected, all the tourists shook their heads in denial.

Su Li thought for a moment and addressed the crowd in both Chinese and English: “The ring is not particularly valuable, but it holds a unique significance for us. If anyone has found it, I am willing to offer 2,000 USD as a reward, or even more.”

Of course, the ring was worth much more than that, but she would certainly not disclose the actual value.

But even with the promise of a high reward, the crowd remained silent.

Su Li no longer held out hope that the ring had been accidentally picked up.

“I need to go back and search,” she said to the guide. “Is there anyone around here who accepts employment? I need to hire some help.”

The guide told her in English that it would soon be dark, and the cave was very dangerous at night, so no one was allowed to enter. If necessary, they could come back tomorrow.

Hearing this, Shen Mo unconsciously bit her lower lip, the mark barely showing any color.

Su Li grasped her cold hand and said without hesitation: “Give me a flashlight. I’ll follow the path back and search first.” Before Shen Mo could refuse, she added: “Don’t worry, I won’t go deep. I promise to be out before dark.

“If the ring fell in the latter half of the path, I might find it as soon as I enter.”

Shen Mo looked at her determined eyes and nodded: “I’ll go with you…”

Su Li placed her finger on Shen Mo’s lips: “You stay outside and help me keep track of time. Call me immediately when half the time is up.

“I don’t trust anyone else. I only trust you. So, this most important task must be given to you.”

Shen Mo was stunned for two seconds, then lowered her head and quietly said, “Mhm.”

“How much longer do we have to wait?” Behind them, the man yelled at the guide, “Didn’t you say we were going to watch the sunset? What time is it now?”

He attempted to rally others to protest: “Isn’t our time valuable, too?”

No one echoed his sentiment. Su Li shot him a sharp look. The man immediately lost his arrogant swagger, twisted his mouth, and retreated to his injured girlfriend, playing the role of a meek quail.

“Everything is ready.” Su Li picked up the necessary tools. “Alright, no time to lose, I’m going in now.”

With that, she turned to re-enter the cave.

“Su Li.” Shen Mo looked at her back, unable to stop herself from calling her name.

Su Li turned back, smiled at her, gave an “OK” gesture, and then walked into the cave without looking back.

The search was more difficult than Su Li had anticipated.

The ring was small and silver-white, almost blending in with the light-colored stalactites around it. Su Li could only hope that its material would reflect light, possibly revealing a clue under the flashlight’s beam.

She walked and searched, her eyes starting to blur, but until Shen Mo’s phone call came through, she had found nothing.

Listening to Shen Mo’s urging on the other end, Su Li had no choice but to give up.

But she didn’t stop on the way back, meticulously searching one more time, confirming that the ring had not fallen in the latter half of the path.

By the time she exited the cave again, the sky, which had been bright, had completely darkened.

Everyone else was long gone. Outside the exit, only Shen Mo and the illuminated lighthouse were waiting for her appearance.

Seeing her silhouette, Shen Mo immediately ran to meet her.

She grabbed Su Li’s arm and asked in a muffled voice: “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry,” Su Li said with some guilt. “The ring is not there…”

Shen Mo shook her head vigorously, cutting her off: “Don’t look anymore…”

“Huh?” Su Li was a little surprised. “Don’t look anymore?”

“Mhm, don’t look anymore.” Shen Mo was against the light, so Su Li couldn’t see her expression clearly.

She heard Shen Mo say: “It’s just a ring. It’s not worth you going through all this.”

Su Li could feel her low spirits.

She thought for a moment: “Let’s wait until tomorrow. When it’s bright tomorrow, we’ll hire some local people who are familiar with the area to go in and search. We won’t go ourselves, okay?”

Shen Mo looked up when she heard this.

She looked at Su Li and gently nodded.

It was only then that Su Li suddenly noticed shiny wet trails near her eyes.

She reached out to touch them, her heart aching beyond measure: “You said it yourself, it’s just a ring. Why are you crying?” She tried hard to appear relaxed: “Maybe we’ll find it tomorrow right away. Then your tears will have been wasted.”

Shen Mo lowered her head, embarrassed: “I’m not…”

She wiped her eyes: “It’s because my eyes were exposed to the wind for too long…”

Su Li bent down to take her hand, and sure enough, it felt icy cold.

She squeezed it tightly: “Then let’s hurry back. Get something to eat, take a shower, and get some good rest.”

Shen Mo quietly said, “Mhm.”

After walking two steps, Su Li realized she had been holding Shen Mo’s hand all this time without letting go. Under the glow of the lighthouse, their shadows stretched out on the reef, distorted yet intimately close.

Su Li secretly glanced back at Shen Mo. Seeing that she didn’t seem to have noticed, she breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously tightened her grip on the soft hand.

Arriving at the bus stop, the guide happened to be returning with the tourists who had watched the sunset. The group boarded the shuttle bus back to the hotel.

On the bus, Shen Mo leaned her head on Su Li’s shoulder, exhausted.

Her action was so natural, as if the two were meant to be this intimate, which made the flustered Su Li feel a bit awkward and ridiculous.

Su Li took a deep breath to relax her body, then adjusted her posture, hoping to make her more comfortable.

The girl sitting in front of them turned her head and asked: “Did you find your ring?”

Su Li shook her head: “We plan to go back and check when the light is better tomorrow.”

The girl put her hands together in a prayer gesture: “I hope everything goes well. You’ll definitely find your ring.”

“Thank you,” Su Li smiled at her, then looked at her knee. “How about you? How is your injury?”

The girl said lightly: “It’s just a scrape. It’s nothing serious.”

She sighed: “It was very dark in the cave, and I was rushing. It’s all my own fault for not being careful…”

Su Li hadn’t yet figured out how to console her when the man sitting next to the girl pouted: “I told you to be careful, yet you still managed to cause trouble. Of course, it’s your fault. Whose else could it be?”

The girl bit her lip, clearly holding back her anger.

Su Li automatically tuned out the man’s words and comforted the girl: “The biggest luck is that you’re safe and sound. Remember not to get the wound wet these next few days, apply the medicine properly, and it will heal quickly.”

“Thank you,” the girl smiled back, acknowledging her kindness. “In the cave today…”

The man suddenly yanked her sleeve hard: “Are you done talking? Can you be quiet? Look, is anyone else on the bus making a fuss like you? You have no decorum.”

“Zhang Yipeng, have you had enough? Do you really think I don’t have a temper?!” The girl finally burst out emotionally. Her voice was tearful: “Two strangers know to ask about my injured knee, yet you, my boyfriend, have only blamed and belittled me all the way!”

The man stared wide-eyed: “I didn’t make you fall and injure your leg! How can you blame me?!”

The girl gritted her teeth: “We were walking fine in the cave, but you suddenly ran ahead without saying anything. The flashlight was in your hand. I couldn’t see the road and was anxious to catch up with you, so of course I fell after just a few steps!”

The man froze: “I, I didn’t run off. You, you just didn’t keep up.”

“You still won’t admit it?!” The girl gasped for breath in anger. “You suddenly ran ahead. I called out several times, but you acted as if you didn’t hear. Only when I fell did you turn back to find me.

“Do you dare to deny this happened?”

“You, you…” The man’s face flushed. He glanced at Su Li behind him. “I think you’re just bored and looking for an argument. I, I’m speechless!”

Shen Mo, who had been resting with her eyes closed on Su Li’s shoulder, frowned at the commotion.

Su Li didn’t want her to be disturbed further, so she spoke up to the girl: “Don’t be angry. If you have an issue, wait until you get back to the hotel to talk.”

The girl also realized her noisy behavior was inappropriate and nodded sheepishly. She wiped away the tears welling up in her eyes and mumbled an apology to Su Li.

“It’s okay,” Su Li replied casually, then gently patted Shen Mo’s shoulder.

Under her soothing touch, Shen Mo’s brows relaxed, and she fell back asleep.

The next day, with the guide’s help, the two hired three local residents to enter the cave to search for the ring. They were not strangers to helping tourists find lost items in the cave and confidently guaranteed they would retrieve the ring.

But two days passed, and the three dark-skinned middle-aged men found nothing.

During these two days, Su Li and Shen Mo didn’t delay their itinerary, still exploring other nearby places as originally planned. However, Su Li could feel that Shen Mo’s mood and spirits were clearly not as good as on the first day—

She often unconsciously fiddled with her left ring finger when she was spacing out. The place that was supposed to hold the diamond ring was now bare.

Upon hearing the report from the hired searchers, Shen Mo’s expression barely changed.

She calmly asked: “Can the search continue?”

The leader waved his hand and refused, telling them in English that continuing the search was pointless and advising them to give up.

“Why not?” Su Li was very confused. “We’ll be on the island for about two more days. You can keep looking…”

Before she could finish, Shen Mo grabbed her hand.

She shook her head at Su Li, then paid the three men and, after sending them away, explained: “The people here are like that. They don’t have a strong sense of responsibility toward their work. An S.G partner once had a tough time building a factory here.”

Su Li ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

She thought for a moment: “If they won’t do it, we’ll find someone else to try. I’ll go back to the cave tomorrow.”

It was five in the afternoon. The sunlight was soft and not too harsh. The sea breeze, laden with moisture, blew towards them.

Shen Mo’s hair was plated with a soft, pale gold. She looked up at Su Li, the ripples in her eyes gently swaying: “No need. Let’s just leave it, okay?”

“Huh?” Su Li confirmed with her. “We’re not looking anymore?”

Shen Mo lowered her head, looking at the piles of sand at her feet.

“We won’t find it,” the waves lapped at her feet, and she said softly, “The cave is too big, and the ring is too small. I knew there was a high chance we wouldn’t find it from the moment I realized it was lost.”

They were about half a meter apart, but Su Li felt she could almost touch her palpable sadness.

She opened her mouth, and after a moment, barely managed to squeeze out a broken piece of comfort from her throat: “…Don’t be sad.”

Shen Mo stood in the sea breeze and looked up at her upon hearing this.

“I’m sorry, Su Li,” she said. “I lost, I lost our wedding ring.”

Su Li couldn’t help herself. She bent down and took her hands.

“It’s not your fault.

“If we have to be specific, you had already put the ring away that day. It was my idea to have you put it back on, which triggered a series of subsequent reactions.”

Shen Mo silently shook her head.

Her hands were still icy cold. Su Li cupped them in front of her chest to warm them.

Not wanting her to blame herself, she pretended to be relaxed: “Besides, it’s just a ring, isn’t it? If it’s lost, it’s lost. It’s no big deal.”

Shen Mo was startled.

She frowned, looking up at Su Li: “It’s no big deal?”

“Yeah,” Su Li hadn’t realized the shift in her mood. She smiled and stroked the top of Shen Mo’s head. “It really is no big deal. If you like, I’ll order a custom-made one for you when we get back home.”

Shen Mo forcefully pulled her hands away.

The next moment, she coldly refused: “No need.”

Su Li was somewhat taken aback: “Huh? What’s wrong?”

“It’s just a ring. If it’s lost, it’s lost.” Shen Mo turned to walk away, not looking at her again. “It’s no big deal.”

Su Li snapped out of it and quickly chased after her: “Why are you being difficult?”

One second ago, they were communicating calmly, and the next, Shen Mo suddenly turned cold and started speaking sarcastically. Su Li genuinely didn’t know what she had done wrong.

“Did I say something wrong? A million-dollar diamond ring really isn’t much to us.”

She felt she had done her best to comfort Shen Mo, yet she was inexplicably rebuffed, so she was naturally displeased.

“Heh,” Shen Mo glanced at her, her eyes full of mockery. “To you, it really is only worth a million.”

With that, she walked toward the hotel without looking back.

“I…” Su Li was speechless for a moment, standing dumbfounded as she watched her retreat.

Just as Shen Mo was about to enter the door, she called out loudly: “Shen Mo!”

Shen Mo stopped, leaning against the door frame to look at her.

Su Li felt anxious, yet she didn’t know what to say to ease the tension.

She took a deep breath to suppress her inner agitation, trying to use a gentle tone to ask: “What, what do you want for dinner? I’ll buy it and bring it up for you?”

From a distance, she saw Shen Mo seem to sigh, then she continued walking and quickly disappeared behind the hotel entrance.

“Seriously, why is she angry?” Su Li was exasperated, pulling at her hair in frustration. “President Shen, don’t you have as many million-dollar diamond rings as you want? Did I make a mistake by comforting her?!”

After a brief outburst, she calmed down and turned to walk towards a nearby restaurant.