Strategy to Conquer the Vicious Female Supporting Character [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 12

Qi Lin was the type of person who didn’t care much for food. She wasn’t picky and didn’t have any particular cravings.

But Ji Huaixu was different. She was extremely particular about everything she ate, picky to the point of refinement. Not only was she critical of food made by others, but she also had extremely high standards for her own cooking.

The first time Qi Lin tasted a meal personally cooked by Ji Huaixu, she was absolutely stunned. For the first time, she truly understood the meaning of the word “delicious.”

Ji Huaixu’s top-tier cooking skills were passed down well to Dong Zheng. Although the film queen looked like someone who’d never so much as dipped her fingers in dishwater, under the careful guidance of the very familiar Qi Lin, she quickly caught on.

By the end of the meal prep, it was Qi Lin — the supposed teacher — who ended up being more of a bystander. The crystal purple sweet potato rice balls, along with several cold dishes and stir-fries, were almost all made by Dong Zheng.

“You’ve worked hard!” Qi Lin used a tissue to gently wipe away the thin layer of sweat from Dong Zheng’s forehead. “Our film queen is amazing!”

The kitchen was a bit small, and with the two of them cooking — steaming, boiling, and frying — the temperature rose quickly. Dong Zheng’s face had already turned red. Now, with Qi Lin so close, gently and attentively wiping her sweat, the faint scent unique to girls drifting from Qi Lin filled Dong Zheng’s senses, making her blush even more.

Qi Lin loved seeing her like this.

The food was set on the table, the dishes covering every inch. Dong Zheng looked at the steam rising from the stir-fried dishes, and in the midst of the hazy warmth, she felt a little dazed.

Since becoming an adult, she had always lived alone. Her meals were usually prepared by a hired nutritionist — low fat, low calorie, refined and distant. This kind of steaming, home-cooked meal full of warmth and the essence of everyday life — she was seeing it in her villa for the first time.

Especially when Qi Lin came out of the kitchen carrying two bowls of rice balls and placed them on the table, calling her over to eat with a cheerful smile — Dong Zheng looked at the busy figure in front of her and suddenly, a single word surfaced in her mind.

Home.

This villa, which had never held any emotional meaning for her, now seemed to be more than just a place to live. It had started to feel like a place that could be called home.

Dong Zheng pressed her lips together slightly, her eyes stinging just a bit.

“Film Queen?” Qi Lin waved her hand in front of Dong Zheng’s face. “Earth to Dong Zheng, what are you thinking about?”

Pulled from the wave of emotions, Dong Zheng looked like she had simply spaced out for a moment. She took the chopsticks Qi Lin handed her. “Thank you.”

Thank you — for giving me my first holiday as an adult that wasn’t spent alone, aside from work.

Qi Lin sat down beside her, picking up a bite of the shredded lettuce and stir-fried meat closest to her. The moment the food entered her mouth, it took everything she had not to lose control.

It was exactly the taste she remembered.

After nearly two years, she was finally tasting it again…

No matter how much Qi Lin praised her, Dong Zheng still had little confidence in her first attempt at cooking. Ever since Qi Lin picked up her chopsticks, Dong Zheng had been watching nervously. The moment she saw Qi Lin’s expression change, her own chopsticks nearly hit the edge of her bowl.

“It’s so good!” Qi Lin exaggerated dramatically, “Film Queen, hurry and try it yourself — your cooking is seriously amazing!”

Dong Zheng: “…”

She let out a quiet sigh of relief.

She reached out and picked up a piece of lettuce with her chopsticks. Dong Zheng chewed slowly and gracefully, her manners refined.

…It wasn’t bad.

But this was clearly a dish with no sugar added — so why did it still taste faintly sweet?

The atmosphere was simply too pleasant. Dong Zheng had completely tossed aside her usual habit of not speaking during meals and occasionally responded to Qi Lin’s casual chatter, feeling so at ease that she didn’t want to think about anything else at all.

Until Qi Lin brought up something funny that happened while filming a variety show not long ago.

Dong Zheng looked up. “That variety show of yours — when did you shoot it?”

Qi Lin paused for a moment but still answered honestly: “Just after I wrapped up filming “The Bl00d-Stained Hairpin“…”

That show didn’t really carry much weight. At the time, Qi Lin was still under heavy fire for her involvement in “The Bl00d-Stained Hairpin“. Negative buzz is still buzz, and she was trending, so she got picked for the role.

But Dong Zheng wasn’t just concerned about that. “Aside from that show, what else have you taken on?”

Qi Lin still wore an obedient look. “There was also a livestream…”

Dong Zheng immediately put down her chopsticks.

She knew about that livestream too — Qi Lin had mentioned it to her. After the teaser and trailer for “The Bl00d-Stained Hairpin“ were released, Qi Lin slowly began to attract some fans and was invited by a small platform to do a livestream.

Dong Zheng was usually too busy with work and rarely had time to pay attention to anything else. Qi Lin only ever told her the interesting parts of what she encountered, so even though they video called almost every day, Dong Zheng hadn’t realized just how bad Qi Lin’s career situation had become.

A rising actress with popularity on par with hers — yet in the past six months, she had only taken on one variety show and a single livestream, both low-profile and unremarkable.

That was just not normal.

What kind of company was Yingda? A top-tier entertainment giant, famous for its sharp judgment and vast resources. For a newcomer like An Xiaoxiao, who had popularity, talent, and potential all in one, how could they possibly be letting her languish like this?

The answer was obvious.

An Xiaoxiao didn’t have the power to offend the entire company. This could only be under Gu Fei’s orders.

Dong Zheng and Gu Fei had grown up together due to their families’ close ties. She was familiar with all of Gu Fei’s past girlfriends and lovers. From the moment she first saw An Xiaoxiao, Dong Zhen had known — this was exactly Gu Fei’s type.

Later, Gu Fei’s behavior confirmed it. He was clearly very interested in An Xiaoxiao, but various circumstances had kept him from making a move.

“The Bl00d-Stained Hairpin“ had pushed An Xiaoxiao, a newcomer, to too high a position — so high that she was slipping out of Gu Fei’s control.

Dong Zheng could already picture it: Gu Fei’s growing fascination with An Xiaoxiao, his increasing impatience to make her his.

But An Xiaoxiao clearly had no interest in Gu Fei at all. Naturally, Gu Fei wasn’t willing to give up on the woman he had his eyes on, so he started withholding resources from An Xiaoxiao. An Xiaoxiao was such a smart girl — it didn’t take her long to figure out what was going on.

Gu Fei was just waiting for An Xiaoxiao to come begging him.

Dong Zheng’s expression was quite ugly.

What she found herself caring more about wasn’t that Gu Fei liked An Xiaoxiao, but that An Xiaoxiao was being unfairly treated because of Gu Fei’s selfish desires.

Qi Lin had been watching Dong Zheng’s reaction the whole time.

No one knew better than her what Gu Fei had been up to lately — she was directly involved, after all. Not only was Gu Fei playing dirty, but her manager, Sister Wang, was also heavily involved behind the scenes.

The reason Qi Lin hadn’t made any moves yet wasn’t just because she was infatuated with her beautiful wife — she wasn’t the kind of person to lose sight of her purpose just because of a momentary thrill.

During this semi-shelved period of hers, Qi Lin was actually enjoying the free time. Not only did she have plenty of energy to prepare in advance for some excellent scripts that would appear later in the original plot, but she also had more chances to study the world of this novel she was now living in and gather useful information not detailed in the original story.

She didn’t take the tricks of the male lead and the other female supporting characters seriously at all.

But Dong Zheng didn’t know that. From her perspective, it just looked like Gu Fei was exploiting her — and as a rookie with no background, she had no choice but to swallow her grievances and endure.

From Dong Zheng’s expression, Qi Lin could already tell, the film queen definitely had a problem with the male lead now.

Oh dear.

Qi Lin popped a crystal purple sweet potato rice balls into her mouth, the sweetness melting across her tongue — delightful.

Though she hadn’t meant to let something so petty upset her wife, being able to conveniently smear the male lead — her half-rival in love — was honestly kind of great too.