The Cannon Fodder Male Supporting Character Is the Zombie King - Chapter 7

Ye Wei’an was a man of action. He immediately sent a message to Zhou Huaichen: 【The Ye family has a project in Africa. Are you interested?】
Zhou Huaichen had already returned home. When he saw Ye Wei’an’s name, a faint smile curved his lips.
But then, remembering how Ye Wei’an was so determined to be with Yan Qing, that smile gradually faded.
After thinking for a moment, he replied with a voice message: 【Thank you. I’ll consider it.】
After listening to Zhou Huaichen’s reply, Ye Wei’an muttered, “He sounds so cold.”
The voice still carried that grape scent, but it wasn’t particularly sweet.
System: 【……】
The host still has no idea why poor Mr. Zhou has turned cold…
Poor man indeed.
Ye Wei’an truly didn’t understand what was on Zhou Huaichen’s mind.
All he knew was that the grape-flavored voice wasn’t sweet anymore. That made him a little unhappy.
So much so that the next day, when he went to Lemon Entertainment, his mood still wasn’t great.
Lemon Entertainment was a subsidiary of the Ye Group. It was a company Ye Wei’an had founded specifically to promote Yan Qing.
Later, as the company grew, they signed a few B-list celebrities and recruited a batch of trainees.
Assistant Long handed a stack of documents to Ye Wei’an and said, “These are a few male celebrities that Assistant Zhang and I selected. They are all suitable for creating a scandal with Yan Qing.”
Ye Wei’an gave her a strange look. “All male celebrities?”
Long nodded. “The female ones don’t want to be involved with him. And you did say we shouldn’t force our artists.”
Ye Wei’an made a small sound of acknowledgment and didn’t ask further.
To him, whether they were male or female didn’t matter.
Yan Qing was popular. Any publicity involving him would be beneficial. He had thought Long deliberately avoided picking female stars.
So it turned out they were simply unwilling… probably because they knew Yan Qing liked men and didn’t want to get involved.
Long then singled out one particular file and handed it to him. “This male star’s name is Lin Chang. I suggest starting the hype with him.”
As Yan Qing’s first scandal partner, Lin Chang would get the biggest boost.
Ye Wei’an recalled the plot. Lin Chang was a minor cannon fodder character who hated Yan Qing and went against him at every turn, only to end up being cruelly crushed by several of Yan Qing’s lovers.
Not long ago, Lin Chang had offended Yan Qing, and his reputation online had plummeted. Yan Qing’s fans had scolded him so harshly that it was a miracle he was still around.
Ye Weian asked casually, “Why choose Lin Chang?”
Long replied seriously, “Because Lin Chang offended Yan Qing. Assistant Zhang and I both believe that pairing them up for a scandal would disgust Yan Qing even more.”
Ye Wei’an: “……”
You two really have a bright future ahead of you!
After thinking for a moment, he said, “Later, go to HR with Assistant Zhang and let them know that starting this month, your salaries will be raised by ten percent.”
Long: “?”
There’s… such a good thing?
System: 【……】
As expected of a Zombie King who spent ten years in the apocalypse. He acts entirely on whim.
Ye Wei’an truly feared nothing.
This was a paper world, after all. In this world, he was an extremely wealthy man who could throw money around without a care.
System: 【……】
Feeling sour.
Though it had no idea why a system would even feel jealous of a rich man.
With Long and President Wang of Lemon Entertainment accompanying him, Ye Wei’an headed to the seventh floor.
The seventh floor was where the artists worked and rested. The trainees were diligently practicing under their instructor’s guidance. All of them seemed like promising talents.
Ye Wei’an didn’t really understand artist management, but he did know that these artists could bring profit to the company, so he instructed President Wang to treat them well.
President Wang responded promptly, “Yes, sir.”
Assistant Long then asked, “Lin Chang is here, too. Should I call him over?”
Ye Wei’an nodded.
President Wang looked at him with some surprise.
He had a decent impression of Lin Chang. He is good at singing and dancing, has played a supporting male role before, and his acting was quite solid.
Unfortunately, Lin Chang had previously offended Yan Qing. Since President Ye firmly sided with Yan Qing, Lin Chang had been shelved ever since.
He couldn’t help but wonder what business President Ye had with Lin Chang this time.
Could it be… to help Yan Qing vent his anger?
Seeing that President Wang kept sneaking glances at him, Ye Wei’an maintained an inscrutable expression and did not explain.
Before long, Lin Chang was brought in.
Worried that Lin might accidentally offend Ye Wei’an and earn himself another black mark, President Wang quickly spoke up before Assistant Long could, saying, “This is President Ye. You should know that Lemon Entertainment is a subsidiary of the Ye Group. You’d better behave well.”
Of course, Lin Chang knew who Ye Wei’an was. He also knew that Ye Wei’an was Yan Qing’s backer.
Without much spirit, he greeted him, “Hello, President Ye.”
Ye Wei’an gave a light hum and said, “I’ve fallen out with Yan Qing.”
Lin Chang: “…”
President Wang: “…”
Ye Wei’an explained, “So I won’t be taking Yan Qing’s side anymore.”
He had Assistant Long hand the publicity plan to Lin Chang and said, “Take a look first.”
Lin Chang accepted the document and discovered that it was actually a plan to hype up a CP between him and Yan Qing. His brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
Yan Qing had slandered him for being arrogant, spread rumors that his private life was messy, and even directed his fans to insult him on a massive scale online. His popularity had originally been pretty good, but because of those baseless accusations, it had plummeted overnight.
“I don’t want to be involved with him,” he said bluntly, returning the file to Assistant Long.
To have him create a fake romance scandal with Yan Qing, just the thought disgusted him.
Assistant Long pushed her glasses up and said, “I’d say Yan Qing would be even more disgusted than you.”
Lin Chang: “…”
That actually made perfect sense!
If Yan Qing found out he’d been arranged to pair up with him for publicity, he’d probably feel like he’d swallowed a fly…
The more Lin Chang thought about it, the more satisfying it felt. He nodded and said, “You’re right, I agree!”
Assistant Long smiled faintly, concealing her achievements and fame.
Ye Wei’an glanced at Assistant Long and thought he really ought to give her a raise.
Then he turned to Lin Chang and said, “You’ll be the male lead in 《The Year the Wind Rose》.”
《The Year the Wind Rose》 was an art film he’d specifically commissioned for Yan Qing, meant to help him compete for awards.
The director was Bai Yuan, who also happened to be an admirer of Yan Qing.
Ye Wei’an thought that if Bai Yuan refused to work, he would just hire another well-known director.
Lin Chang stared at Ye Wei’an in horror.
If it were anyone else, hearing they’d landed the lead role in such a heavily invested film, they’d probably jump for joy.
But Lin Chang was different. He stared at Ye Wei’an for a long moment before blurting out, “President Ye, I don’t accept casting couch deals!”
Ye Wei’an: “…”
Lin Chang crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “You previously went all out to promote Yan Qing, even had a film tailor-made for him. Now you’re using his resources to promote me. That must mean you’ve taken a fancy to me, right?”
He touched his own face and said, “I might not be as pure as Yan Qing, but I am pretty handsome.”
Ye Wei’an: “……”
This Lin Chang was quite an interesting person.
He suspected that the reason Lin Chang had offended Yan Qing before was simply because he had too sharp a tongue.
Ye Wei’an, however, didn’t think there was anything wrong with Lin Chang being this way.
He even found himself somewhat liking Lin Chang’s straightforward temper.
Besides, there was a kind of scent on Lin Chang, a bit like watermelon. It is one of the fragrances he liked.
But his favorite scent of all was the purple fragrance of grapes, which was why he especially liked Zhou Huaichen.
Yan Qing, on the other hand, smelled like lemons. And he hated anything sour, especially the sharp sourness of lemons.
—This Lemon Entertainment, which the original owner had founded for Yan Qing, really did suit him perfectly.
Ye Wei’an said mildly, “Don’t worry. I don’t play those kinds of unspoken rules.”
Lin Chang let out a breath of relief.
He might be fine with faking a CP, but he definitely didn’t like men!
President Wang was overjoyed to see that not only had Lin Chang avoided offending President Ye, he’d even earned his appreciation. He kept telling Lin Chang to remember President Ye’s kindness.
Once everything was settled, Ye Wei’an left the company with Assistant Long.
Lin Chang chased after him to the underground parking lot, made a heart shape with his hands, and said, “Thank you, President Ye! I’ll work hard and repay you and the company for your support!”
Ye Wei’an stared at Lin Chang’s hands.
A finger heart.
He vaguely remembered that making a finger heart was a gesture of affection.
Could it be that Lin Chang had changed his mind and was now willing to let himself be “cast” through the unspoken rules?
His expressionless face turned even more serious as he said coldly, “No. I don’t like you.”
Lin Chang: “…”
System: 【……】
Host, you’re such a hopeless straight man!
When Lin Chang finally understood what President Ye meant, he was both amused and exasperated. For some reason, President Ye gave off the vibe of an old-fashioned cadre.
He quickly explained, “The finger heart has lots of meanings. It can also mean thanks or comfort.”
Comfort, huh?
Ye Wei’an pondered thoughtfully.
Once in the car, he asked Assistant Long, “Is the Zombie King illustration done?”
Assistant Long was reliable as always and immediately replied, “It’ll be ready tonight.”
Money made everything easier. She had personally reached out to more than a dozen well-known artists and paid high prices to rush the work.
Ye Wei’an nodded. “Have them draw another one. A Zombie King making a finger heart.”
He wanted to send it to Zhou Huaichen.
Yesterday, Zhou Huaichen’s grape-scented voice had sounded a little bitter. Ye Wei’an wanted to comfort him.
As the group’s chief assistant and one of the original owner’s most capable subordinates, Assistant Long’s professionalism was beyond question.
She didn’t even ask why. She simply replied, “Alright.”
But in her mind, she was frantically firing off a barrage of inner commentary:
—President Ye wants to send a finger heart to President Zhou? Is he trying to court him?
—When he was pursuing Yan Qing before, President Ye used money to pave the way. But now that he’s pursuing President Zhou, who’s just as rich, he’s going for the pure-hearted route, sending cute stickers instead?
—Wait, didn’t President Zhou seem really happy yesterday when he heard President Ye was going to send him an emoji pack?
—You city folks really know how to play.
*
Unaware of Assistant Long’s thoughts, Ye Wei’an received the completed sticker pack that evening and immediately forwarded it to Zhou Huaichen.
Ye: 【Calm, handsome Zombie King. Does it look good?】
When Zhou Huaichen received the message on WeChat, it felt as if something had gently scratched at his heart.
He never would have thought that Ye Wei’an had actually gone out of his way to have a whole sticker pack drawn just to cheer him up.
The Zombie King was a cartoon figure. It was chubby, with big, round eyes, a little like a small animal, irresistibly cute and adorable.
Among the stickers, the one where the Zombie King made a finger heart completely captured Zhou Huaichen’s attention. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.
Ye Wei’an also especially liked that one.
He poked the little Zombie King on the screen with his finger, then tapped on the red heart, and sent another message to Zhou Huaichen, his tone full of pride:
Ye: 【These are all me!】
Pretty cute, aren’t they?
Zhou Huaichen’s gaze stayed fixed on the screen. Looking at the little Zombie King, sometimes shy, sometimes mischievous, the corners of his lips couldn’t help curving upward.
Ye Wei’an had been waiting for a reply. When he saw that there was no response, he grew a little anxious:
Ye: 【President Zhou】
Why haven’t you praised me yet?
Zhou Huaichen came back to his senses and typed:
Zhou: 【You can call me A-Chen. I’ll call you Wei’an, alright?】
Ye Wei’an didn’t think anything of it. It was just a form of address.
Ye: 【Sure.】
Then he asked:
Ye: 【Why aren’t you using voice?】
He wanted to hear that grape-scented voice.
System: 【……】
Host agreed to the name change that easily?!
When Zhou Huaichen saw that Ye Wei’an had agreed, his eyes darkened slightly.
A-Chen.
Wei’an.
Such intimate forms of address.
His mood lifted a little, but when his thoughts drifted to Yan Qing, a faint melancholy crept in again. He pressed down the voice message button and spoke in a low voice:【What do you want to hear me say?】
Ye Wei’an frowned.
Why did Zhou Huaichen’s voice still have that faint trace of bitterness?
Though it sounded a bit better than yesterday, it still wasn’t as sweet as it had been two days ago.
After thinking for a moment, he typed:【A-Chen, I think before you send me a voice message, maybe you should bathe and change clothes first.】
Since the grape-scented voice wasn’t sweet, he thought perhaps it just hadn’t been cleaned properly.

Author’s Note:
No offense meant toward lemons! The author actually really likes lemons. It’s just part of the setting, so please don’t take it seriously~ (The shou really does hate sourness and lemon scents. He honestly finds them awful, spreads hands~)