The Supporting Female Character Wakes Up and Gets a Happy Ending with the Female Lead (GL) - Chapter 12

Lin Ji stood with her arms crossed at the entrance of her walk-in closet, occasionally looking down at her phone and then up at Ji Baixing, who was choosing clothes.

Xu Jing: Your father and I have arrived. Please bring Xingxing with you later. The road is a bit long, so don’t rush when you come. Be careful.

Lin Ji: Okay, got it.

Lin Ji glanced at the location her mother had sent, checked roughly how long it would take to get there, then put her phone aside. She walked to the other side of the closet and took down a modest, smoky cyan long dress.

She turned her head to look at Ji Baixing. Ji Baixing was still standing in one spot, head bowed, lost in thought.

The location for the evening gathering was a little far from Ji Baixing’s home. After running that distance in the morning and sweating, it seemed necessary to change clothes before heading out.

Ji Baixing was on the phone with her father about the matter at the time, and before Lin Ji could even speak, her mother enthusiastically took charge.

They were about the same age and had similar figures, so Ji Baixing wearing her clothes wouldn’t be unsuitable.

“Don’t you like any of them?” Lin Ji walked toward Ji Baixing with the long dress draped over her arm.

“Huh?” Ji Baixing turned back, her eyes blank. “No, I was just thinking that I haven’t returned the school uniform I borrowed from you, and now I’m borrowing your clothes again.”

Lin Ji nodded slightly. She took down a medium-length dress with a round neck and daisy pattern on the collar from in front of Ji Baixing and handed it to her.

“This one should suit you well,” Lin Ji took it down and compared it against Ji Baixing. “It gives off a very ‘girl-next-door’ vibe.”

Ji Baixing held the dress and compared it against herself in the mirror, a bright smile on her face. She asked Lin Ji, “What kind of feeling is ‘girl-next-door’?”

“…Attainable cuteness.”

[Her little mouth is very smooth.]

“The tags are still on. You haven’t worn this?” Ji Baixing hadn’t expected Lin Ji’s answer. She coughed lightly, lowered her head to flip the dress over, and subconsciously changed the subject.

Lin Ji also seemed to realize that her words were a bit strange. She removed the tag and said, “I’m going to the room to change. Come out when you’re done changing.”

“Okay.” Ji Baixing nodded. She held the dress and waited until Lin Ji returned to the room and the closet door closed before slowly turning around to change.

A few minutes later, Ji Baixing appeared at the stairwell on the second floor.

She had divided her hair into two sections and tied a low ponytail on each side. The cream-colored, knee-length dress with the small daisy pattern on the neckline made Ji Baixing look youthful and adorable, the kind of cuteness that makes people want to approach her.

Lin Ji was waiting in the living room. Her hair was half-tied into a ponytail, twisted into a half-circle with a simple hairpin, which matched the smoky cyan long dress she was wearing, making her look cool and clean.

The two walked out together. The slanted sunlight at that time projected a pair of tightly pressed shadows on the bluestone ground.

Lin Ji looked at Ji Baixing thoughtfully, but saw that Ji Baixing met her gaze openly. Lin Ji glanced at the closely joined shadows from the corner of her eye and vaguely felt that there had been too many things happening lately, causing her to get confused for a moment.

As Lin Ji watched her driver gradually drive the car up the mountain, she suddenly realized something was wrong.

And when her driver stopped in front of a patch of grass and announced their arrival, Lin Ji finally knew what was wrong.

In front of them was clearly a camping hotel. White, tent-like small rooms were scattered yet orderly arranged around the grassy area. As soon as Lin Ji got out of the car, she saw her mother wildly waving and greeting her from a makeshift barbecue stall.

“I thought it was just a regular restaurant for dinner, and then we could go home…” Ji Baixing also looked at the scene in disbelief. “It looks like we won’t be able to go back until tomorrow.”

Lin Ji nodded silently and walked with Ji Baixing toward the nearest tent.

“Also, the most unexpected thing is that the girl my dad said was my age is actually you,” Ji Baixing walked behind Lin Ji, looking up at the sky full of stars and relaxing. “It’s a good thing it’s you. Earlier today, I was thinking that if my dad called me later to say we were going out for dinner, I’d just say I was at a classmate’s house studying and couldn’t leave.”

“…” Lin Ji didn’t respond, but as she walked, she turned slightly and gently tugged Ji Baixing’s wrist: “Watch your step.”

“Oh, okay.” Ji Baixing smiled at her.

“I didn’t expect it to be you either. My dad said it was an Uncle Zhao. I thought through every single girl named Zhao that I might know who was my age, but I didn’t think of you,” Lin Ji whispered as they approached the tent.

She saw her father, Lin Que, and Uncle Zhao busy at the barbecue grill, and suddenly remembered something.

Because of her father’s work, she seemed to have met Ji Baixing when they were children.

She was building a snowman in the small courtyard outside a hotel, and Ji Baixing had sneaked out of the hotel lobby.

Ji Baixing initially stood quietly watching her play, then slowly moved closer, squatting down behind the snowman at some point, holding a few snowballs, and secretly poking Lin Ji’s snowman.

Lin Ji wasn’t very strong back then. The snowman she built was already misshapen and wobbly. When Ji Baixing poked the bottom, and Lin Ji placed some snow on the snowman’s head, the snowman immediately toppled onto Ji Baixing.

Crash!

Snow flew everywhere. Lin Ji, holding a snowball she was about to put on the snowman’s head, stared blankly at Ji Baixing, who emerged from the pile of snow.

Their eyes met. In less than two seconds, Ji Baixing’s eyes welled up, and she looked about to cry.

Lin Ji tossed the snow in her hand without thinking and immediately covered Ji Baixing’s mouth.

“I’ll give you candy if you don’t cry.”

Ji Baixing nodded. After Lin Ji let go and fed her candy, she pouted, about to cry again.

Lin Ji, terrified of a child crying, quickly reached out and covered Ji Baixing’s mouth again. This time, before Lin Ji could ask, Ji Baixing pointed to the snow herself and said, “I want another snowman.”

“…” Lin Ji, who couldn’t handle a crying child, had no choice but to pick up the snow and start building a snowman again.

During their first meeting, Ji Baixing had tricked her out of her candy and a weird-looking snowman.

…

“My mother’s surname is Ji. I took my mother’s surname,” Ji Baixing smiled.

The two reached the tent, took drinks, and sat down, listening quietly to their parents exchanging pleasantries. They only spoke when asked a question, then lowered their heads to eat.

“See? We were so busy with work that we didn’t even know our kids were in the same class,” Ji Baixing’s father, Uncle Zhao, said to Lin Ji’s father, Lin Que, while they drank wine. “Well, it’s a good thing we took the time before the college entrance exam to bring the kids out for some fresh air.”

“Dad, aren’t you worried that bringing me out to play now means I’ll get fresh air but lose my drive?” Ji Baixing found a small fan somewhere and fanned herself enthusiastically.

Uncle Zhao laughed: “How can that be? Even if I’m busy, I still know about your studies, don’t I?”

While they were chatting and laughing, Lin Ji’s father frowned. He put down his wine glass and called Lin Ji: “Mumu, come help me grill the skewers.”

Lin Ji put down her cup, stood up, and followed her father.

Lin Que methodically took a few skewers of pork loin, put them on the grill, and started cooking.

“You know why I asked you to come over, don’t you?” Lin Que took the seasoning from Lin Ji’s hand, brushed it on the skewers, and talked to Lin Ji.

Lin Ji picked up an ear of corn and stood next to him, starting to grill it.

“I know,” Lin Ji paused. She looked around, wanting to say something, but held back. “I think I caused quite a lot of trouble over the past two years.”

“M-hm,” Lin Uncle Lin flipped the skewers and continued grilling. “When your grades first dropped in the second year of high school, we didn’t ask you why. In your mother’s and my eyes, you’ve always had your own ideas and opinions on everything. We rarely interfered with your studies, only offering suggestions occasionally.”

“At seventeen or eighteen, it’s normal to be confused or rebellious, and to do things that seem ridiculous now.”

“After all, you are still children. We shouldn’t demand adult rationality from you or suppress your soaring imagination, or the passionate courage of a teenager.”

“Later, when your grades kept getting worse, I thought you might have encountered some problems in your studies that made you feel aversion. But whenever I tried to talk to you or have a heart-to-heart, your temper flared up, and I could never find the right time,” Uncle Lin sighed. “Your mother and I were too busy with work and didn’t give you enough attention. That’s our fault too.”

“After that, Aunt Wang told me you were reciting readings, writing problems, and doing test papers every night. I figured you always had your own mind and ideas, so I didn’t worry about your grades for a while.” Uncle Lin suddenly smiled here. “Your homeroom teacher called me the other day and said you’ve started taking exams seriously and achieved excellent results. I knew my judgment was correct.”

“…M-hm.” Lin Ji was slightly distracted. Before she interacted with her parents, she had been plagued by the feeling that she was in a delusion.

She was afraid that she had developed hallucinations from the stress of the college entrance exam, or that she wasn’t Lin Ji at all, and her world was merely a fabricated existence.

But after truly interacting with her parents, her mind finally settled.

Her experience might be too strange, but the fact that she was Lin Ji and that the people around her were living, breathing humans was real.

“I don’t know why I acted that way at the time. Maybe it was a rebellious phase. I had a stubborn streak. The more I was told to do something, the more I did the opposite,” Lin Ji couldn’t find any other explanation. After much thought, she could only use the rebellious phase as an excuse.

“I won’t ask about your studies. Your teachers and Aunt Wang have already told me about it,” Uncle Lin put the grilled skewers onto a plate, his tone suddenly becoming serious. “I only have one question. What’s the deal with that boy named Li?”

Lin Ji froze in place, catching a glimpse of Ji Baixing slowly moving closer out of the corner of her eye.

Ji Baixing gestured to her not to speak, then hopped over to the barbecue grill like a cheerful deer, grabbed a skewer, and took a bite.

“Uncle, ask me! I know the most about this!”