The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Alpha Decides to Go On Strike (GL) - Chapter 23.2

This local restaurant was more to Shen Mo’s taste. Su Li meticulously selected dishes according to her preferences. It wasn’t until she was paying the bill that she realized she had been so focused on Shen Mo that she had forgotten about her own dinner.

With no other choice, she returned to the food area, planning to just grab something random for herself.

It was there that she bumped into Shu Han, the girl who had been injured in the cave earlier, who was also buying dinner.

Shu Han greeted her proactively: “What a coincidence, are you buying food too?”

“Mhm,” Su Li was subdued, forcing a smile at her.

“By the way, did you find your ring?”

“No,” Su Li gave a wry smile.

She put down her spoon, unable to resist complaining: “I honestly think it’s no big deal, it’s just a ring. But my… ahem…” She coughed twice, her cheeks starting to flush. “My wife is very upset. I comforted her that this loss was nothing, but she ended up getting angry at me.”

“Ah?” Shu Han was surprised after hearing this.

“You think it’s very strange too, right?” Su Li wrinkled her nose. “No one is blaming her. Why is she mad at me?”

Shu Han said directly: “I think you are very strange.”

“I’m strange?” Su Li’s eyes widened. She asked defensively: “Why?”

“How can you define that lost ring by its monetary loss?” Shu Han shook her head in disapproval. “You didn’t also say something like ‘we can just buy another one,’ did you?

“That’s your wedding diamond ring! Its meaning is completely different!”

“But, but…” Su Li’s mind struggled to catch up. “Shen Mo wouldn’t care if it’s a wedding diamond ring.”

“How could she not care?!” Shu Han frowned in dissatisfaction. “The wedding ring is the witness to you two being together, isn’t it? It’s the promise you personally placed on her finger!

“This ring must be your lover’s most precious treasure. If it’s lost, no other wealth or jewelry can replace it!”

“…”

Su Li raised her left hand, looking at the identical wedding ring on her ring finger.

“It’s so beautiful,” Shu Han looked at it with envy.

“She must be heartbroken that the ring is lost,” she quickly sighed again. “So, you shouldn’t associate it with money. Your wife probably thinks you don’t value your wedding vows.”

Su Li: “…Is that what it is?”

Initially, she subconsciously wanted to refute Shu Han—she and Shen Mo were in a business marriage, and Shen Mo couldn’t possibly value the meaning behind the wedding ring.

But when she put the pieces together, combining them with Shen Mo’s previous reaction, she vaguely sensed that what Shu Han said was correct.

Shen Mo had suddenly gotten angry because she had casually equated the ring with a million dollars.

But why would Shen Mo care so much about the ring…

Did she really value their business marriage so much?

How could that be?

“Alright, stop standing around silly,” Shu Han waved her hand, urging her. “Listen to me. She’s angry, so hurry back and coax her.

“She’s sad and upset because she cares about you. As long as you show her a little bit of concern, she’ll definitely forgive you.”

With no time to think it through, Su Li nodded half-believingly.

She stopped chatting, quickly packaged the food, paid, and left.

Shu Han watched her figure walk out of the restaurant, a comforting smile unconsciously appearing on her lips.

But soon, she remembered something, lowered her head, and let out a quiet sigh.

On the way back to the hotel, Su Li passed a souvenir shop.

A flash of inspiration struck her. She entered the shop, found what she was looking for, swiftly paid by card, made a quick arrangement, and returned to her and Shen Mo’s room.

Shen Mo was sitting on the edge of the bed, still gazing out the window. She didn’t turn around, even upon hearing Su Li’s return.

The sky wasn’t dark yet. The distant lighthouse hadn’t lit up. Only a monotonous wooden structure could be seen in the hazy expanse of sea and sky.

Su Li placed the two food containers on the table and called out: “Time to eat.”

Shen Mo said faintly: “You eat.”

Su Li walked to her side.

She tentatively placed a hand on Shen Mo’s shoulder. Seeing no resistance or avoidance from the other party, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“I don’t have an appetite.” Shen Mo hugged her knees, resting her chin on them.

From Su Li’s perspective, her shoulders and back looked a bit thin, eliciting a strong urge to protect her.

She was startled to feel this way. She looked closely at Shen Mo again, trying to find the shadow of the decisive President Shen from the past.

Perhaps sensing Su Li’s prolonged gaze, Shen Mo looked up at her.

In her clear, water-like eyes, Su Li saw her own reflection. She suddenly blushed, looked away, and didn’t dare to meet Shen Mo’s eyes.

“I brought you something…”

Shen Mo tilted her head: “Hmm?”

Su Li raised her tightly clenched right hand in front of her.

When Shen Mo’s attention was fully on her, she opened her fingers, and a ring dangling from a slender silver chain dropped down.

Seeing what it was, Shen Mo excitedly grabbed the diamond ring: “You found it?!”

The gloom on her instantly vanished. Her lifted lips spoke of her joyful mood: “How did you find it?”

Su Li just smiled lightly and said nothing.

Soon, Shen Mo noticed something was wrong: the ring’s size was incorrect. It was loose on her ring finger.

She realized something and lowered her head to inspect Su Li’s left hand: “You… this is your ring.”

“Mhm,” Su Li nodded in acknowledgment.

Shen Mo’s shoulders slumped again.

She fiddled with the small diamond ring in her palm: “…What do you mean?” she said, then looked up at Su Li: “You want to give it to me? To replace the lost ring?”

“That ring is irreplaceable,” Su Li said quickly.

She felt a little nervous, as she wasn’t entirely sure if Shu Han’s guess was what Shen Mo was thinking. Seeing no sign of Shen Mo getting angry, she cautiously continued: “I am very sorry for what I said to you outside the hotel.”

With that, she took a deep breath: “But I want to explain.” She took Shen Mo’s hand: “Shen Mo, I wasn’t really treating our wedding ring as unimportant. I just didn’t want you to be sad over a small ring, which is why I said those things at the time.”

Hearing this, the brilliance in Shen Mo’s eyes slightly wavered.

“Can you forgive me?” Su Li asked, looking into her eyes.

“Mhm.” Without any pause or hesitation, Shen Mo nodded slightly.

The heavy stone in Su Li’s heart finally dropped.

She thought for a moment and pressed her advantage: “The ring is lost, and it’s highly likely we won’t find it. But it doesn’t matter, Shen Mo. Our relationship, our marriage, won’t be affected by that lost ring in any way!”

Shen Mo held up the diamond ring in her hand: “Then this…”

“This is my ring,” Su Li smiled gently at her. “I thought about it. The lost ring is irreplaceable, and the only thing that can make up for it is this one.

“It’s yours to keep now. I hope you can be a little happier.”

“But…” Shen Mo slightly frowned, looking at Su Li’s left ring finger. “What about you?”

Su Li originally wanted to say that it didn’t matter if she had a ring or not, but a sudden thought jolted her.

She thought carefully, then swallowed her blush and corrected herself: “I, I’m fine as long as I’m by your side. This way I have a ring, and I, I also have…”

Before she could finish, Shen Mo suddenly embraced her.

She wrapped both arms tightly around Su Li’s shoulders and back, burying her face in Su Li’s neck.

Su Li hadn’t reacted yet: “…Shen Mo?”

“Thank you,” Shen Mo said, touched.

Cradling the soft warmth in her arms, Su Li’s body stiffened, not daring to move. She smelled that elegant white musk scent unique to Shen Mo again, and couldn’t resist lowering her head and taking a light sniff near Shen Mo’s back of the neck.

“I’m very happy,” Shen Mo said, rubbing her cheek affectionately against Su Li’s.

Su Li finally snapped back to reality and stretched out her arms to hug her tightly.

In that moment, she had a powerful illusion, as if she and Shen Mo were a pair of mutually loving partners. There was no S.G or Su Group, and no business cooperation. Their intimate embrace contained no element of benefit.

Then, Su Li greedily wished this illusion would last as long as possible.

“Ugh,” she was holding her too tightly. Shen Mo, struggling to breathe, subconsciously let out a soft moan.

Su Li quickly released her.

Shen Mo was pushed out of her embrace, one hand clutching Su Li’s shirt corner with ambiguous meaning.

Su Li didn’t overthink it, clearing her throat and saying: “I’ll help you put the ring on.”

Knowing the ring size was wrong, the silver chain she had specially bought from the souvenir shop came into play. Su Li took the diamond ring back from Shen Mo, and carefully placed the necklace around Shen Mo’s neck.

With this, the matching wedding diamond ring fell onto Shen Mo’s chest as a pendant.

Shen Mo held the diamond ring, unable to put it down.

But soon, she tucked the diamond ring into her clothes: “This time, I will definitely take good care of it!”

“Good,” Su Li smiled and nodded.

She met Shen Mo’s gaze, the dazzling brilliance within making her momentarily unable to look directly at it.

Su Li didn’t know why she was flustered. She awkwardly looked away and said: “Let’s eat first. The food will get cold soon.”

With that, she stood up.

Shen Mo reached out and grabbed her wrist.

Su Li turned around and asked: “What is it?”

“…Nothing,” Shen Mo replied softly, but didn’t release the hand holding her.

Su Li couldn’t resist and touched the top of her head with her other hand.

She remembered what Shen Mo had said earlier, and gently persuaded: “Even if you don’t have an appetite, can you eat a little? We had a lot of activity today, and there’s a bonfire party later. If you don’t eat anything, I’m afraid your body won’t be able to handle it.”

Shen Mo’s expression softened, and she curved her lips in response: “Okay.”

The two left the bed and sat at the coffee table to eat. As soon as Shen Mo opened the takeout box, she looked at Su Li with surprise: “How did you know I like these?”

The two had never discussed their food preferences in detail. She was very surprised that Su Li could precisely choose these foods.

A light blush appeared on Su Li’s face. She said intentionally: “Are they all your favorites? Maybe I just got lucky.”

Shen Mo sat down on the chair and looked at Su Li’s portion.

She asked again: “Don’t you dislike the curry spices on the island? You said it had a strange taste last time.”

“Ah?” Su Li lowered her head, only then realizing that her hurriedly bought dinner included curry chicken, which she disliked.

She moved her food container closer: “It’s okay… I’ll just make do with it.”

Shen Mo: “Do you want to switch?”

“No need,” Su Li protected her food container, blurting out instinctively, “I bought it specially for you. You hurry up and eat.”

“So it wasn’t luck,” Shen Mo’s eyes curved in a smile. She forked a piece of roasted steak into her mouth. “It was carefully selected.”

“…” Su Li poked the food in her container, blushing without responding.

Not wanting to waste food, she bit into a piece of curry chicken, then decided that the slight strange taste was not entirely unacceptable.

The dinner was very satisfying. Shen Mo ate all the food in her container, and finally leaned back lazily in her chair, letting out a satisfied burp.

“Burp—” After the sound came out, she realized her behavior was a bit undignified and quickly covered her mouth and sat up straight.

“Pfft,” Su Li, who had witnessed everything, couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

Shen Mo pursed her lips, her face completely flushed with embarrassment: “Stop laughing.”

“Hahaha, I’m, I’m sorry,” Su Li tried to compose herself.

But she couldn’t suppress the curve of her lips and continued to explain: “I, I’m not making fun of you. I just think you’re, very cute.”

“Cute?” Shen Mo narrowed her eyes, clearly not believing her words.

“Yes! Very cute!” Since the words were out, Su Li went all in.

“I didn’t expect President Shen, who is always so elegant and poised, to eat, drink, and relieve herself just like us ordinary people. Isn’t that cute?”

Shen Mo looked at her: “…I am an ordinary person to begin with.” She countered: “So what kind of image do you have of me in your mind? A statue that doesn’t eat human food?”

“Mhm,” Su Li genuinely thought for a moment, then said, “Of course, an angel with wings that brings good luck and wealth.”

Shen Mo blinked twice: “…Is that a compliment?”

“Of course!” Su Li nodded heavily, lightly pinching the soft flesh of Shen Mo’s cheek, whose expression was still a little dazed.

Shen Mo covered the side of her face that had been touched, blushed, and retreated to the window.

Su Li’s heart was filled with warmth. After letting out a long sigh, she lowered her head to clean up the leftovers and trash on the table.

It was close to eight o’clock when everything was cleaned up. Night had fallen, and lights were shining.

Unlike the usual silence after dark, the island was hosting a bonfire party tonight. Many tourists had gathered on the beach in front of the hotel.

Su Li and Shen Mo were naturally among them.

They didn’t join the crowds by the bonfire, choosing instead to stroll leisurely along the coastline to digest their food.

The evening breeze passed between them, making their clothing flutter and rustle in the air.

The sand was soft. At one point, Su Li swayed, and the back of her hand accidentally touched Shen Mo’s.

She quietly said “Sorry,” quickly made her hand into a fist, and stood up straight again.

Shen Mo glanced up at her but said nothing.

Unconsciously, the two drew closer. In the soft, ambiguous starlight, their two shadows moved side-by-side, yet maintained a certain restrained distance.

A foreign couple happened to walk past them. The girl was practically hanging off her lover’s arm, her laughter sweet and clear.

Su Li pressed her lips together, a thought slipping out without thinking: “…This atmosphere is quite suitable for a couple’s date.”

Shen Mo, holding the diamond ring through her thin clothes on her chest, looked at her upon hearing this.

Su Li realized what she had said and hastily tried to explain, her face turning red: “No, no, I wasn’t talking about us. No, wait, I mean, the lighting is a bit dim here…”

The more she tried to clarify, the worse it sounded. She covered her face, giving up on the pointless struggle.

Shen Mo stopped walking.

“What’s wrong?” Su Li saw she hadn’t kept up and stopped to look at her.

Shen Mo asked: “What do couples usually do… on dates?”

“Uh…” Su Li scratched her face. “I don’t know either.”

She didn’t know why Shen Mo would ask such a question, but she instinctively thought about it: “Holding hands, strolling, hugging… uh, kissing… it’s probably these things, more or less…”

After listening, Shen Mo held out her hand to her.

Su Li was a little confused: “Huh?”

“Aren’t you going to hold my hand?” Shen Mo stared at her, her eyes sparkling like stars.

The night wind carried the sound of waves lapping the sand. Cheers came from the crowd in the distance. The noise was so loud that Su Li almost thought she was hallucinating.

She stared at Shen Mo’s extended hand, and grasped it in disbelief.

It was warm and soft, the real texture of skin.

Before she could take any further action, Shen Mo actively opened her fingers and interlaced them with hers.

Her heart rate began to accelerate. Su Li felt she finally understood what she had been missing since earlier.

She wiggled her fingers, eagerly grasping Shen Mo’s hand tightly.

“You…” Su Li had just opened her mouth when a figure in the distance ran towards them, shouting her name.

Her unfinished sentence was interrupted. Su Li frowned and looked over.

“Su Li—Su Li—” Shu Han frantically waved at the two of them.

But before she could get close, her boyfriend suddenly appeared and swiftly cut her off: “Haven’t you f**king made enough trouble?!”

“Get away from me!” Shu Han was forced to stop and tried to push the man away.

“Come back with me!” Zhang Yipeng gripped her arm tightly. “Shu Han, can’t we talk about this when we get back? Don’t make a scene here for people to laugh at!”

“Let go of me!” Shu Han shook her head hard: “I have nothing more to say to you!”

The man pretended not to hear. Like an ox, he dragged her back the way they came.

When someone nearby noticed their commotion, he glared fiercely, yelling: “What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen a couple argue?”

Seeing his hostile attitude, the crowd quickly made way, not daring to provoke him.

Su Li, however, felt something was wrong.

She let go of Shen Mo’s hand and quickly ran towards the two of them. As she got closer, she looked at Shu Han and asked: “Do you need help?”

“Su Li, I want to tell you um—umph!” Before she could finish, Zhang Yipeng suddenly lunged and covered her mouth.

Shu Han struggled fiercely, but there was a significant disparity in strength between men and women. She was completely unable to budge him.

Su Li frowned and shouted at Zhang Yipeng: “Let her go!”

“What the fk does it have to do with you!” Zhang Yipeng yelled back, his face red. “Why the fk are you so nosy? Do I have to report to you when I argue with my girlfriend?”

Shen Mo had caught up and said coldly: “Your actions constitute an infringement on personal liberty. Release her immediately!”

Although she was just an Omega, her presence was intimidating. The man was momentarily stunned, nearly allowing Shu Han to break free.

Snapping out of it, Zhang Yipeng continued to argue: “I, she, she’s my girlfriend, not some ‘other person’!”

“Ha, don’t even say you’re just boyfriend and girlfriend. Even if you were legally recognized partners, your current actions are already illegal!” Shen Mo pulled out her phone. “If you don’t heed my warning, I’ll call the police.”

“Sc-scaring whom?” The man started to stutter. “This isn’t our country. Calling the police won’t do you any damn good.”

Shen Mo didn’t bother arguing with him further and started dialing the phone, explaining the situation in English.

Seeing this, Zhang Yipeng gritted his teeth and tried to forcefully drag Shu Han away first.

At this point, Su Li stepped forward and blocked his path: “Can’t you understand plain talk? If you want to leave today, you must let her go!”

“You f**king bitch!” The man was completely enraged. He angrily swung his arm to attack Su Li but was easily dodged.

Meanwhile, Shu Han took the opportunity to break free from his grip.

She ran to Shen Mo’s side and was about to say something when she suddenly bent down, coughing violently in pain.

Su Li had already seen that Zhang Yipeng was all bluster. After dodging his attacks a couple of times, she stopped being defensive and, with one move, twisted his arm and pinned it behind his back.

Zhang Yipeng cried out in pain. He tried to kick her, but a kick to his knee cap finally made him behave.

“Stay still!” Su Li escorted the man towards Shu Han and Shen Mo.

Shu Han had slowly calmed down, glaring at Zhang Yipeng with a flushed face.

Shen Mo patted her back: “What happened? What did he try to do?”

Shu Han bit her lower lip. Tears started falling when she heard the question: “He, he…”

Seeing this, Su Li kicked the man again, still angry: “Did he hit you? Or what?”

“Haa—” The girl gasped for air. Finally, she looked at Su Li and said clearly, word by word: “Su Li, the ring you two lost is in his hands!”

“What?” Su Li froze for a second, then quickly reacted.

She let go, shoving the man onto the sand, and frowned as she asked: “You stole our diamond ring?”

“I did not!” Zhang Yipeng was humiliated and furious. “I don’t know anything about a diamond ring! Stop making baseless accusations!”

Shu Han stepped forward: “You still won’t admit it.”

She covered her face, unable to believe her boyfriend of several years was acting like this: “I saw it! In the room, you were secretly holding a ring exactly like the one on Su Li’s hand!

“Zhang Yipeng, why, why have you become like this?”

Zhang Yipeng turned his face away: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t take their ring!”

Hearing this, the girl lost her strength and slumped onto the sand in distress.

“You see,” Zhang Yipeng had no intention of letting the matter go.

In front of the security guards, he pointed at Su Li: “Making false accusations without evidence! I demand that you apologize to me right now and compensate me for all my losses!”

Su Li frowned.

She clenched her fists tightly, wishing she could slap that sickening face.