Secretly Seducing the Third Female Lead Behind the System’s Back - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Weasel Wishing a Chicken Happy New Year

“President Bai?” Zhang Tao pondered for a moment. “Do you need me to look into her?”

Jiang Yisheng waved her hand. “No, no need.”

Yeah. In the novel, Bai Chu was only the female lead’s best friend. Her role was always to push the plot forward. Most people wouldn’t really get to know her deeply.

After dinner, Zhang Tao took Jiang Yisheng home.

During the day, she’d been focused solely on escaping and hadn’t had the mind to observe the house. Now, as soon as she stepped out of the car and looked up, she wondered where the driver had taken her.

Jiang Yisheng stood at the entrance, hesitating to go in.

“What’s wrong, President Jiang?” Zhang Tao stepped forward, thinking there was something Jiang Yisheng wanted to tell her.

“This is my house?” Jiang Yisheng asked.

“This is your private villa. Were you planning to return to Director Yu and Director Jiang’s place instead?”

“You mean… my parents’ house?” Jiang Yisheng was still adjusting to the fact that she suddenly had “parents.”

“Yes.”

“No, no. You go rest. I’m heading to bed too.” Jiang Yisheng waved her off and signaled Zhang Tao to clock out.

“Okay.” Zhang Tao double-checked the schedule. “There’s a friendship summit at the company tomorrow morning. I’ll pick you up at eight?”

“Alright, alright, just go now.” Jiang Yisheng urged her.

Once Zhang Tao left, Jiang Yisheng stood in the courtyard, scanning the villa.

She couldn’t even tell how many floors it had. She’d never seen such a massive house with floor-to-ceiling windows. Lights glowed along the surrounding walls. The whole place sat under the night sky like a glossy, black diamond.

As she approached the entrance, the smart lock scanned her face and clicked open.

“Welcome home, Miss,” the housekeeper greeted respectfully.

“It’s already ten? You haven’t gotten off work yet?” Jiang Yisheng frowned. She hated overtime. Glancing at the time, she added, “It’s ten already. Go rest, Auntie.”

Seeing the shock flash across the housekeeper’s face, Jiang Yisheng chuckled helplessly. Even just a simple sentence showed such a huge difference from the original her.

“Thank you, Miss.”

Jiang Yisheng only knew about the living room and the bedroom she came out of that morning. Though curious about the rest of the house, she was afraid some rooms might be the staff’s quarters, so she went back to her bedroom.

After a long, luxurious shower, she randomly picked some pajamas from the closet and collapsed onto the bed.

So soft.

She squinted and wriggled happily. So this was how big the gap between beds could be.

She glanced around and spotted a mini fridge beside the sofa. Opening it, she found it stocked with freshly washed fruit.

Jiang Yisheng took out a plate of cherries. They still had droplets of water clinging to them and were only slightly smaller than ping-pong balls.

Her eyes sparkled. She sat cross-legged on the bed and popped one in her mouth. The moment she bit into it, sweet and tangy juice burst out, filling her entire mouth with flavor. After a hot bath, she was thirsty and warm—this one cherry gave her immense satisfaction.

As she snacked, her gaze wandered outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

The shimmering pool looked like starlight rippling under the night sky. The ambient lights around it glowed softly and warmly, enveloping the entire house in a golden hue. The lighting seemed meticulously designed—radiant but not harsh.

Her gaze drifted past the pool and over the river, where a prominent landmark caught her eye: the Jiang City Lighthouse—though she didn’t yet know what it was called.

The lighthouse pierced the night sky like a spear, towering over the city in grandeur. Beside it stood the Yujiang Building—her family’s company HQ. Its base was solid and grand, while the top was rounded, its curves complementing the sharp edges of the lighthouse. Together, they were known as Jiang City’s “boat and oar.”

The Yujiang Building was the boat, symbolizing the city’s economy. The lighthouse was the oar, guiding the people forward with courage and strength.

And all of this unfolded within the view from Jiang Yisheng’s window. She was seated precisely at the center of this “boat and oar.”

Damn. This was too damn luxurious.

Jiang Yisheng muttered, then sheepishly chuckled.

But seriously, it felt great.

She returned the half-eaten cherries to the fridge and dove under the covers, stretching in satisfaction.

She found her phone from earlier. The lock screen was an old photo of a boy and girl—probably the novel’s original Jiang Yisheng and An Hao as children.

Face ID unlocked the phone. Jiang Yisheng opened WeChat and was immediately bombarded with a flood of unread messages.

She wasn’t really the type to snoop, not even with fictional characters.

Wait. She was in a fictional world now. Were these people still “fictional”?

Well, that made it even less appropriate to peek.

Jiang Yisheng held onto her righteous streak—girl’s photos and chat logs were top-secret. Also, she was kind of scared of finding something that might wreck her view of the original Jiang Yisheng. Better not to get curious.

Just as she was about to close WeChat, a thought struck her. She sneaked into the contacts and searched for Bai Chu.

Nothing came up.

She pouted and decided to factory reset the phone.

The process required a passcode. Jiang Yisheng tried a few random combinations, all wrong.

Then she gave up and typed in her own birthday.

Same name, right? Let’s see if we share a birthday too.

She jabbed the phone screen heavily with her finger.

Formatting…

Whoa. Girl, you really went for it.

Jiang Yisheng was briefly shocked, then shrugged, tossed the phone aside, and lay back on her pillow, zoning out at the night view.

She wondered what time it was in the real world. How long was a day here in reality? Was she asleep back there? Or had she just disappeared? Was time frozen?

If she had disappeared, would anyone even notice? Would her boss fire her for ghosting?

And if she somehow went back, would she have no job waiting for her?

Ugh, those novels never mentioned this kind of detail.

She shook her head. Whatever. Enjoying the moment was more important.

Smiling, she rubbed her cheek against the soft pillow and fell asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, Jiang Yisheng sat in the business car and asked Zhang Tao to help her get a new SIM card.

“Sure,” Zhang Tao noted it down.

“Who’ll be at today’s meeting?”

“Director Yu, Director Jiang, all the board members, and senior executives from partner companies.”

Jiang Yisheng knew that Director Yu and Director Jiang were her “parents” in the novel—Yu Mushan and Jiang Hang.

Sigh.

She sighed. So the dreaded meet-the-parents part couldn’t be avoided.

She’d met the “mother” yesterday, but not the “father.” She couldn’t just ask Zhang Tao who her own dad was—that’d be way too suspicious.

And the novel described her parents as doting to the extreme. Surely they’d notice if their daughter had been replaced.

The more she thought about it, the more nervous she became. Maybe she should just bail.

“Taozi,” she said, “Can I… not go?”

“Of course,” Zhang Tao nodded.

“Then… could you let my… mom… know?” She still felt awkward calling her that. “Tell her my phone’s broken.”

“Okay.” Zhang Tao typed on her phone and asked, “Where to now, President Jiang?”

“Let’s go to…” Jiang Yisheng was about to make something up when she looked out the window and her eyes lit up. “It’s Bai Chu!”

“Stop the car!”

…

Bai Chu stared at the flat tire, glanced at the time, then tucked the file under her arm and called roadside assistance while trying to hail a cab.

“Where you headed, Bai Chu-jie?” a familiar voice called out.

She looked up and saw Jiang Yisheng sticking her head out of the window, waving and yelling at her.

Bai Chu turned slightly, wanting to pretend she hadn’t seen her.

But moments later, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Bai Chu-jie, why didn’t you respond when I called you?” Jiang Yisheng stood beside her, tilting her head and smiling.

“Oh, it’s President Jiang. I was on a call—didn’t hear you,” Bai Chu replied flatly.

“I saw your car broke down, and I just happen to be free. Let me give you a ride,” Jiang Yisheng grinned. What a surprise to run into Bai Chu!

Bai Chu hesitated and glanced around, still trying to flag down a cab.

“Oh come on, don’t be shy!” Jiang Yisheng said, pulling her into the car.

“Where are you going?” she asked again.

“Yujiang Building,” Bai Chu replied stiffly.

Jiang Yisheng repeated the destination to the driver, then did a double take. “Wait… Yujiang Building?”

“You’re going to the meeting too?” she asked.

“Yes. If it’s not on your way, don’t trouble yourself,” Bai Chu said, already reaching for the door handle. She’d only gotten in because she was in a hurry—this meeting was far too important to be late for.

“It’s totally on the way!” Jiang Yisheng quickly reassured her. “We’re going to the same meeting!”

“Hehe… drive,” she said awkwardly to the driver.

No matter how hard she tried to dodge it, fate wouldn’t let her.

In the car, Bai Chu reviewed the meeting materials.

“Are you cold, Bai Chu-jie? I have a blanket.” Jiang Yisheng offered it with a smile.

“I’m fine. Please just call me President Bai like before,” Bai Chu declined.

“Want some water?” Jiang Yisheng opened a bottle and handed it over.

“No thanks. And please change how you address me,” she said again.

“Oh.” Jiang Yisheng was about to screw the cap back on when the car suddenly braked. She lost her balance and spilled water all over Bai Chu’s documents.

“Ah!” she gasped. “I’m so sorry, Bai Chu-jie, I didn’t mean to!”

Panicking, she grabbed tissues and tried to dry the documents, but there was just too much water. Everything was soaked.

She kept patting them dry, even checking if Bai Chu’s clothes had been splashed.

“At least your clothes are dry—it’s not too bad, right?” she tried to comfort herself.

Bai Chu crossed her arms and gave her a sidelong glance. “Looks like President Jiang didn’t execute properly. You were trying to soak my clothes too, weren’t you?”

“No, I swear, I wasn’t trying to do anything like that!” Jiang Yisheng cried. “Why would I even do that?”

Before she could defend herself further, the driver’s voice came from the front: “President Jiang, we’ve arrived.”

“Thanks for the ride,” Bai Chu said as she got out of the car.

“Wait, Bai Chu-jie! You forgot your documents!” Jiang Yisheng called after her, rushing out of the car.