Begging the Female Lead to Let Me, a Salted Fish, Go (GL) - Chapter 20

Gong Zhi held her throbbing head. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

[Good news! Host! The darkness meter has gone down!]

“What does that have to do with me?” Gong Zhi fell back onto the bed and groaned in pain. “It going down doesn’t mean I won’t die.”

The system felt a little wronged. [Didn’t the host say to play “Horse Racing on the Prairie” whenever the darkness meter changed?]

As a system from a higher plane, it had searched for a long time to find that song in its database.

Gong Zhi covered her head. “Alright, alright, my mistake. Next time the darkness meter goes up, you can call me.”

[Okay.] The system replied sadly.

Gong Zhi closed her eyes, but just before she fell asleep, a thought popped into her head. Why did the darkness meter go down so quickly this time? Did something good happen to the female lead? Or did she suddenly feel that life was full of sunshine and become more positive and healthy?

Gong Zhi couldn’t help but laugh at her own thoughts. She closed her eyes and fell back into sleep under the influence of the alcohol.

Over the next period of time, Gong Zhi became busy.

After realizing that she couldn’t fully rely on her father and brother, Gong Zhi juggled her studies and went to the company to take care of business.

Several times, she even took over Zhang Shan’s duties and drove Shen Ying herself. This made Shen Ying feel a little awkward. After all, Gong Zhi was her boss.

“It’s fine, as long as you work hard to make money,” Gong Zhi replied, taking a sip from her thermos.

Shen Ying heard her murmur, “I’ve been going to bed a little late lately. I need to switch from goji berries and chrysanthemum to astragalus tea. I also need to keep up with my exercise…”

She’s a little cute.

Shen Ying pursed her lips, trying to control her upward-curving smile, and lowered her head to write and draw on her tablet. After Gong Zhi confirmed her wellness plan, she turned to look at Shen Ying. “Oh, by the way, that best friend of yours…”

[Darkness meter…]

Gong Zhi was startled. She looked at Shen Ying in horror. Was she that emotional? It was starting to rise just by hearing the words “best friend.” She had just managed to get the darkness meter down to 85.

Thinking about this, Gong Zhi couldn’t help but want to hug herself. It was painful.

[Darkness meter: 85]

Gong Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it didn’t go down. It was just a fluctuation.

“She’s not my best friend. She’s just a roommate,” Shen Ying corrected calmly.

Under the threat of the darkness meter, Gong Zhi could only nod. “Yes, your roommate.”

“What about her?”

Shen Ying’s gaze swept over Gong Zhi. She had seen Gong Zhi let out a big sigh of relief, which made her feel a little strange. But Shen Ying didn’t say anything. She just silently took note of Gong Zhi’s reactions. Maybe one day she could find out Gong Zhi’s secret.

Gong Zhi: “Has she contacted you?”

Shen Ying thought for a moment. Although she felt that Gong Zhi was no longer the foolish girl from her past life who could be easily manipulated, just in case, Shen Ying still warned her, “You should stay away from that person.”

Chen Chen had indeed recently contacted Gong Zhi, perhaps because of Gong Yi, or because she thought Gong Zhi was easier to fool.

Gong Zhi had her own ideas. This person was the one who ruined the female lead’s reputation at the company, forcing her to quit and become a “canary” with no way to build her own capital. She was the most important force behind all the tragic things that happened to her in her life.

In every way, Gong Zhi would deal with this “best friend.”

“Yes, okay,” Gong Zhi said.

Shen Ying noticed that Gong Zhi hadn’t answered her question. A sense of unease that she couldn’t grasp rose in her heart. What did the person in front of her want to do? Was she going to be like the people in her past life and be in cahoots with them, or was there a bigger conspiracy, wanting her to fall for it?

[Da~rk~ness~ me~ter~…]

Gong Zhi was silent. The trembling electronic sound of the darkness meter echoed in her mind. She looked at the expressionless Shen Ying. Her gaze was dark and fixed on Gong Zhi. It was impossible to tell that there were stormy emotions raging inside her.

But the darkness meter alarm was already sounding.

Gong Zhi didn’t care about anything else. She grabbed Shen Ying’s hand and looked at her sincerely. “What’s wrong? Did she say something to you? She’s been harassing me a lot lately.”

Seeing that Shen Ying didn’t say anything, Gong Zhi brought out all her acting skills, hoping that the female lead wouldn’t turn to the dark side. Didn’t they say she was kind and a saint? She could also get the female lead’s sympathy!

Gong Zhi lowered her eyes, showing a hint of unease. “Sister, will you be unhappy if I talk about your roommate like this? But I just feel bad for you. She’s going around you to be so enthusiastic with me… I don’t think she’s a good person.”

When she said the word “sister” in such a soft and delicate way, Shen Ying was startled. Her jaw instantly tightened.

It’s clearly… a little affected, but to Shen Ying, it felt like someone was gently blowing in her ear, or like a kitten extending its claws and scratching her heart.

Was she… trying to seduce me?

Shen Ying couldn’t help but wonder. If she were her old self, she might not have understood this behavior. But in her past life, she had seen many women do this around Gong Yi.

Back then, she couldn’t understand how a man could believe such transparent lies and be so easily fooled by a few sweet words. But now that the roles were reversed, Shen Ying felt that she couldn’t handle it either.

Shen Ying pursed her lips. “Don’t worry about her. I know she’s not a good person. You shouldn’t get close to her either.”

The darkness meter stopped fluctuating.

Gong Zhi smiled. When she smiled, she had two shallow dimples that only appeared when she laughed hard. At this moment, she was clearly happy. Her lips stretched wide, and the two dimples faintly appeared.

Shen Ying looked at Gong Zhi and saw her feet uncontrollably twitching. Her mood also calmed down for no reason, and the corners of her lips, which had been pursed, curved into a small arc.

But since Chen Chen had gotten in touch with Gong Zhi, Shen Ying’s eyes suddenly darkened. She couldn’t let Chen Chen corrupt the Gong Zhi she had finally grown to like.

It seems that some plans need to be moved up.

[D…]

Gong Zhi perked up her ears, but the static in her mind buzzed a few times and then went silent. Gong Zhi couldn’t help but poke the system, which was playing dead in her mind. [What’s going on? Is the system broken?]

[Our system is a high-tech product from a high-level plane. We have a certain degree of autonomy and don’t make mistakes,] the system replied with a righteous tone.

[Heh.]

The only reply it got was two words. The system was helpless and had to reply, [Although the numbers are fluctuating, it doesn’t seem to be classified as darkness. You humans have such strange and wonderful minds. Some thoughts are similar, but there are subtle differences.]

Gong Zhi leaned back in her seat, relaxed, and replied in her mind, [How can you just use a number to define a person?]

The system was silent for a moment. [Host, I don’t understand.]

Gong Zhi yawned. She had been slowly taking over the company, and her health-conscious sleep schedule had to be pushed back. So she always felt a little sleep-deprived. [Maybe you’ll understand when you become a human.]

[That day will probably never come,] the system’s reply was full of melancholy. [Host, how do you plan to deal with the villain?]

[The villain?] Gong Zhi chuckled. [Aren’t I the biggest villain? Of course I have to get her off the stage early.]

Chen Chen, who was on her way to work, squeezed onto the subway and suddenly sneezed. She felt a double chill on her back.

She looked left and right, but didn’t see anyone. In the end, she took out her phone and started typing on the anonymous forum for Shen Ying’s company. “Did you know that someone in the company has been a sugar baby and has had sponsors since she was a child…”

This anonymous forum was not an official company forum. Many former and current employees were on it, and because they were all anonymous, they were generally more open. You also needed to be a verified employee to enter, but since the company didn’t review it, they weren’t afraid of the company finding out.

Chen Chen had spent a lot of time finding a friend who had worked at Zhaosheng to get an account.

Zhaosheng had always done a good job with employee benefits, so it had a good reputation. The management would occasionally go on the forum to see employee complaints and make improvements. The atmosphere was very friendly compared to other companies.

Chen Chen stared at the forum for a while and saw that someone had replied.

She let out a sneer and wrote some ambiguous things before switching to WeChat. In her conversation with Gong Zhi, all she saw were her good mornings and good nights and some small talk, but Gong Zhi hadn’t replied to a single one.

Chen Chen’s face was sullen. She didn’t like how rich people like Gong Zhi could just ignore people. But she remembered how a poor person like Shen Ying could get into a luxury car and meet someone like Gong Yi. And here she was, on a crowded subway with a bunch of people. Why was that fair?

Gong Yi, he’s the heir to a big corporation. If I can get in with him, what else could I not get?

Chen Chen gritted her teeth. Didn’t Shen Ying just rely on her pitiful, innocent act? If a young lady like Gong Zhi, who was raised in a sheltered environment, found out that this innocent person was actually a scheming one, would she still be friends with Shen Ying?

Chen Chen slowly tightened her grip on her phone.