Strategy to Conquer the Vicious Female Supporting Character [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 22

The superstar helped the supermodel, and the two of them worked with impressive efficiency. Unfortunately, with only five ingredients available, they couldn’t beat the other two teams, who performed normally, and they were regretfully eliminated.

After all, the composer was a Michelin three-star chef. When it came to speed and skill in cooking, he was on a completely different level than Dong Zheng. Qi Lin and Li Kai were about the same in terms of ability, so they didn’t tip the scales either — especially since Li Kai had more ingredients at hand.

In the end, the Composer–Li Kai team won first place again, while AnDong’s¹ team remained in second.

The fourth episode would be the final round, the real decider. Unlike the earlier rounds where advantages could be carried over, this time everything started from scratch.

The show mainly took place outdoors. Each team had to follow the initial clue provided by the producers to find the next clue location, eventually retrieving the recipe and completing the dish.

But there were decoys. If they accidentally picked up the wrong recipe, even if they made it back, the program team would only provide the ingredients for the correct recipe. At that point, the guests had to use those correct ingredients to cook the dish written on the recipe they had mistakenly brought back — making things much more interesting.

When it came to puzzle-solving, both Qi Lin and Dong Zheng excelled. Viewers watched as the two goddesses seemed to channel Sherlock Holmes, never once falling for a decoy, keeping their thoughts clear and their cooperation seamless. They cut the record time for that segment nearly in half.

– “Oh my god… Goddess An and Film Queen Dong are totally cheating, right?!”

– “Please, goddesses, bless me to pass my Level Six exam tomorrow!”

– “This isn’t about luck, bro — look! They’re actually using their brains! These puzzles that stumped so many guests, they solved them effortlessly!”

– “Ouch, my heart…”

– “It’s one thing to be so gorgeous, but to have such high IQs too? Ordinary people don’t stand a chance!”

– “My Xiao Zheng is totally the assertive one! My Zheng is soft and adorable!”

– “I swear I’m not a CP fan, but why do An Xiaoxiao and Dong Zheng give off such strong old-married-couple vibes?!”

– “The goddess and the film queen are so in sync… If not for explaining their reasoning for the audience’s sake, they probably wouldn’t even need to say more than a few words — they could just communicate through eye contact.”

– “Never thought that watching “I Am the God of Cooking” the thing I’d be fed most with isn’t food or eye candy² but dog food…³“

– “An-Dong’s team is already on their way back, while the other team is wandering further and further off into a decoy clue…”

– “Isn’t the composer supposed to be the high-IQ character? Why does he keep asking Li Kai for advice? LOL”

– “Wake up, bro! That’s north, not west! Composer, don’t doubt yourself, your idea was right! Don’t let him lead you astray!”

– “My Kai’s hopeless sense of direction is just too cute.”

– “Good thing the cooking round requires both teams to start at the same time, or else the two goddesses’ dishes would’ve gone cold waiting for the two male gods to come back…”

– “Looks like An Xiaoxiao and Dong Zheng’s recipe involves soup, so it probably won’t get cold that easily.”

– “What kind of focus is that, seriously? LOL”

In the end, the recipe Qi Lin and Dong Zheng retrieved did indeed involve soup.

The moment they saw the words, both of them froze for a second.

“Crystal Purple Sweet Potato Rice Balls.”

It was yet another recipe that held a special meaning for the two of them.

Qi Lin quickly collected herself, put away the recipe, and smiled at Dong Zheng.
“Ah Zheng, we’ve got the recipe! Let’s head back!”

Dong Zheng also came back to her senses, lowering her eyes as she nodded lightly.

Being assigned to the same group was a coincidence.
Stir-fried lettuce with pork was a coincidence.
Crystal purple sweet potato rice balls were also a coincidence.

They say coincidences don’t happen three times. Now that all three had lined up perfectly, Qi Lin was convinced it was fate.

Fate — that their bond was something that could never be untangled.

After filming this episode, she had to sit down and have a proper talk with Dong Zheng.

Meanwhile, Li Kai and the composer had come back with the wrong recipe after all. They had been running around almost nonstop, only to return covered in dust and exhaustion — only to find the other team leisurely eating snacks and sipping tea. The comparison was brutal. The two “male gods”⁴ weren’t just physically tired anymore; their hearts were weary too.

Qi Lin invited them over to have some tea and pastries, to take a short break. The pastries were provided by the program, the tea was brewed by Dong Zheng — each tasted better than the last. Li Kai and the composer finally felt much more at ease.

As for the final results of the contest, there was no suspense. There was no way Qi Lin and Dong Zheng could do poorly with the crystal purple sweet potato rice balls. Meanwhile, no matter how hard Li Kai and the composer tried, there was simply no way to turn mapo tofu ingredients into braised pork belly. In the end, they had no choice but to compromise and make braised tofu instead.

The live comment feed burst into laughter.

Qi Lin held the championship trophy in one hand and Dong Zheng’s arm in the other, smiling brightly at the camera and acting cute,
“See? Didn’t I say we were amazing?”

– “Right, right, right! You two are super amazing, hehe!”
– “Congratulations, champions! Love you both!”
– “Goddess, don’t smile like that! I’m gonna die of bl00d loss here!”
– “Oh my God, did Film Queen Dong just smile too?!”
– “She did! It was faint and fleeting, but she definitely smiled a little!”
– “It’s happening! The legendary ‘Film Queen Dong only smiles at Goddess An’ moment!”
– “Ahhh I thought after this show ended I wouldn’t be able to get any more AnDongsugar⁵ for a while, but you two just went and gave me this! It’s not that I want to ship you — it’s that you’re forcing me to ship you!”

When the recording wrapped, and after learning from 403 that her career storyline had already progressed to 62%, Qi Lin sought out Dong Zheng.
“Ah Zheng, I asked my manager — these next two days you don’t have any schedules. Tonight, I’ll be waiting for you at home.”

This time, she wasn’t going to let her run away again.

Dong Zheng stood at the villa entrance, feeling a little nervous.

Qi Lin had said she’d be waiting tonight, and Dong Zheng had no reason to refuse.

Since they shared the same manager, it was easy to know each other’s schedules. Besides, the manager deliberately wanted them to spend more time together.

For the past six months, Dong Zheng had been avoiding Qi Lin, and Qi Lin had simply gone along with it — never exposing her, never pushing, always accommodating her. Dong Zheng knew this was Qi Lin’s way of showing her special care and gentleness.

This person had always been especially, especially good to her…

But they couldn’t just keep dragging things out like this forever. Sooner or later, there had to be an answer.

Dong Zheng pressed her fingerprint to unlock the door.

Originally, only her fingerprint could open the villa. But after Qi Lin moved in, Dong Zheng had added hers as well.

Sharing a living space with someone, having them fully woven into every corner of her daily life — this was something Dong Zheng once only felt resistant toward. Even with Gu Fei, whom she secretly liked, she had wanted to keep her distance. But after meeting Qi Lin, everything seemed natural, even right. She found that she actually liked it.

But friends and lovers are two different things…

Not to mention, it’s two women being lovers…

In terms of relationships, Dong Zheng’s history was a complete blank, with no experiences to draw from. Faced with this situation, she had no idea what to do.

Walking into the villa, Dong Zheng’s heart was in utter chaos.

The villa’s lights were bright and warm. Turning the corner of the entryway, she saw Qi Lin sitting on the sofa in the living room, watching TV. She wore a loose cotton nightdress, hugging a pillow, her whole demeanor relaxed and lazy.

It was just like she was waiting for her wife to come home.

The moment that thought surfaced, Dong Zheng was so startled she nearly scared herself.

“Ah, you’re back,” Qi Lin turned at the sound, smiling with narrowed eyes. She patted the seat beside her, signaling for her to sit. “Perfect timing — the crystal purple sweet potato rice balls I made in the kitchen are almost ready!”

Only then did Dong Zheng notice the faint glutinous rice fragrance in the air.

Almost without thinking, she sat down where Qi Lin had indicated. She kept her eyes on the TV screen, but none of what was playing registered in her mind.

Qi Lin knew Dong Zheng too well. This girl was truly passive when it came to feelings.

But that was fine. Whatever Dong Zheng couldn’t handle — she would take care of.