The Cannon Fodder NPC Went Too Far [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Shen Zheng leaned against the door of the Xia family’s private car, looking down at Xia Yu, and softly instructed: “I will be very busy these next few months. I might not be home even once a week. I’ll just live at the company and won’t be coming back.”

“Oh, got it.” Xia Yu lowered her head and responded glumly. For some reason, she felt a little reluctant.

Thinking back, she had spent more than half her time since transmigrating to this world with Shen Zheng.

Going to work together, eating together, handling business together… Perhaps due to the long time spent together, she had developed an indescribable, subtle affection for her.

It was like the dependence she once had on her Imperial Mother, combined with the adoration she once felt for her Imperial Father, a mixture of sweet and sour emotions. She thought hard for a long time but couldn’t fathom or distinguish exactly which emotion it was.

A period of separation might be good. Using the distance, she could take the opportunity to figure it out.

“In the next few months, remember to bring more people with you when you go out. I’m afraid they might resort to desperate measures and target you.”

“If anything happens, call me directly. If you can’t reach me, find Qin Ying. Her public phone is online 24 hours a day.”

Shen Zheng’s face showed no particular emotion, but she was rambling with constant instructions.

“I know, I know. I’m not a child,” Xia Yu waved her hand at Shen Zheng, then closed the car door and drove away.

Shen Zheng watched the tail smoke of the luxury car, shaking her head helplessly.

In her eyes, wasn’t she just a child?

Eight years younger than her, vibrant and boisterous, full of energy and pride. A thriving, upward-striving life that deserved protection at all times.

Shen Zheng didn’t notice the massive shift in her own attitude: from the huge trouble forcibly thrust upon her by Xia Qiyuan to the little cub she now willingly cared for and protected.

Shen Zheng only felt that her life outside of work was now almost completely filled by Xia Yu. Xia Yu would boast proudly about her accomplishments at the company during Shen Zheng’s breaks; she would talk incessantly, angrily cursing those old men who practiced duplicity. Occasionally, she would childishly hide in various corners, jumping out to startle Shen Zheng and pounce into her arms.

Although, Shen Zheng’s unchanging, half-smiling expression always frustrated her.

Her initially cold and detached life, which was indistinguishable from her work hours, gradually gained a living soul. It became lively, and her joys and sorrows were more distinct. It was like a tightly wound puppet for years, now stained with the scent of human life, becoming more like a person.

Perhaps, just as the internet suggested, she had started treating Xia Yu like family.

“CEO Shen, Shen Yao has been taken away by the police. The Head of the Shen Family was so enraged he passed out, and the Shen family manor is in complete chaos.” Qin Ying stood by the side, reporting with barely concealed glee.

Shen Zheng nodded without surprise at the news. She had orchestrated it herself; didn’t she know the outcome?

With all the shady dealings the Shen family had been involved in over the years, a simple investigation could send several people to prison. Shen Yao, as the current heir of the Shen family, had secretly indulged his subordinates, suppressed dissent, plotted against his siblings, and together with other factions, turned the family’s businesses into a polluted mess. Honestly…

Shen Zheng didn’t know what to say when she received the intel. It was only because those people were birds of a feather, all doing the same things, that Shen Yao’s underhanded tactics worked so well and weren’t exposed.

Now that the leaders of those factions were incarcerated, the groups were leaderless. She was also continuously applying pressure, making it difficult for them to be released.

The few critical Shen family stocks not yet in her control continued to plummet. She wondered how long they could hold on.

Did the Shen family look down on women, believing they were unqualified to inherit? Then she would make them beg her to take over the Shen family. Shen Zheng’s lips curved coldly, her smile exceptionally defiant.

Xia Yu sat upright at her desk, diligently reviewing a stack of financial reports.

The system suddenly leaped up in her mind, announcing like a loudspeaker: “Host, Host, a new mission has arrived! This time it only concerns a key plot point involving the protagonist. The Host can finally show off her skills!”

“Host, you must perform well this time! The last mission, the system patched it up and squeezed points from here and there to finally reach 50 points. That cost the system a lot of electric cells.”

“I’m clearly just a system that just came of age. I just finished my system training course, although I deferred for a few years, I learned everything I needed to. My very first mission is already on the verge of failure. Wuwuwu X﹏X”

The little blue light ball shrank pitifully into a corner, softly listing Xia Yu’s various faults.

Little Xia Yu laboriously hugged it, petting the little blue ball like a cat. She raised her head and promised clearly:

“Thank you for your loyalty, System. Don’t worry. I will definitely give you a satisfactory score this time. Dealing with Shen Zheng is not my forte, but dealing with Shen Tingyu? That’s child’s play.”

With that, she seriously flipped through the corresponding plot in the novel, attempting to reassure the system with concrete action.

After quickly skimming the section, she closed the book angrily.

Shen Zheng had drastically eliminated the Shen family’s corruption over the years, incidentally sending the Young Master, Shen Yao, to jail. This move was tantamount to stomping hard on the faces of the Shen family’s old fogeys.

Therefore, even if they risked the entire Shen family in a potential mutually destructive fight with Shen Zheng, they were unwilling to hand the Shen family over to her. The Head of the Shen Family was elderly and lacked the energy. All the second-generation members were preoccupied with infighting and rendered useless.

After much deliberation, they placed all their hopes on the protagonist, Shen Tingyu. As the eldest legitimate grandson of the Shen family’s current generation, raised under the knee of the Head of the Family, his status was suitable, and his capability was decent. They consolidated the remaining forces and handed them over to him, attempting to groom him to compete with Shen Zheng and, incidentally, gain favor for themselves by backing the rightful heir.

This was also the beginning of the male lead’s career ascent.

During these days, the ambitious male lead, newly empowered, couldn’t wait to seize authority from Shen Zheng. In his youthful vigor, he sought a showdown with Shen Zheng, fantasizing about crushing her underfoot to secure his position as the Head of the Shen Family.

Predictably, Shen Zheng soundly defeated him, beating him into the ground. His fragile ego was utterly shattered.

Having failed before even starting, he invited a few close friends to throw a party at a hotel, drinking himself into oblivion to console his wounded soul.

However, he got so drunk that he staggered into the wrong room. In his muddled state, he slept with the female lead. When he woke up, the female lead was gone. He became obsessed with this woman who left without a word, until the female lead returned from abroad with their children, and the male and female leads’ romance officially began.

Jingjiang (the fictional name of the book’s publisher) getting drunk and still managing to stand upright is quite terrifying.

This novel was primarily written from the male lead’s perspective. In the early stages, it sets up the villainous Aunt who tore the Shen family apart to highlight his destiny-driven call to action and his decisive, ruthless quest for power. In the middle to later stages, it presents him with a few genius sons and a pushover female lead.

The female lead’s feelings in the book were completely irrelevant. It wouldn’t describe the female lead’s agonizing struggles that night, nor would it describe how she had already become numb under the male lead’s years of abuse and conditioning. It would only compel her to keep the children in her belly, using them as a catalyst for the male and female leads to reunite.

In the end, the female lead only exhibited the submission and compliance achieved through conditioning and persuasion, leading to the perfect grand finale. Pregnant, wearing a wedding dress, she was led down the aisle by the male lead, while her genius sons in small suits followed behind, smiling brightly and dragging her train.

If Xia Yu were to say it, giving birth to those children was worse than having a piece of barbecue pork; at least she could eat the latter when hungry.

The three genius sons, single-handedly raised by their mother with great hardship until the age of six or seven, somehow had a psychic connection with their dominant CEO father upon their first meeting and immediately kissed him.

They disclosed their mother’s phone number, address, company, and all other information to the male lead. They covertly and overtly played matchmakers, completely ignoring their mother’s pain and resistance. Or perhaps they saw it but didn’t care. After all, many people coveted the position of Head of the Shen Family’s wife.

As far as she was concerned, how could they have developed feelings after just a few meetings? They clearly spotted Shen Tingyu’s status as the Head of a wealthy family and saw that he currently lacked heirs, desperately wanting to become the Shen family’s heir and achieve a status reversal by sacrificing their mother.

Xia Yu complained to the system for a long time before finally struggling to choose an outfit from her closet.

As for Xia Yu, the cannon fodder, due to the recent changes in her household, she runs off to a bar late at night to drown her sorrows and coincidentally bumps into the protagonist.

The two meet face-to-face, like enemies, their eyes ablaze. After a war of words, the outnumbered Xia Yu has two ribs broken by Shen Tingyu’s subordinates. It was only thanks to the protagonist’s friend intervening that she wasn’t killed.

This mission is quite dangerous. Xia Yu cursed Shen Tingyu a few times, then looked at the system with sparkling eyes:

“How about I bring some bodyguards too? Then it’s anyone’s guess who will be the one getting beaten.” She’d surely beat Shen Tingyu until he was looking for his teeth on the ground.

“No, no! That wouldn’t fit the underlying logic of the plot. The Host must go to the hotel alone, and sneak out. No one around her must know,” the system sternly refused Xia Yu’s dangerous suggestion.

“Fine.” Xia Yu blinked, not pressing the issue. Her mission score was consistently low due to the Shen Zheng incident, so she felt a little guilty toward the system.

I’ll play it by ear.

The system, seeing Xia Yu being so obedient for once, paused for a moment, suddenly feeling bad. It started giving unsolicited plot advice:

“Drowning sorrows in a bar late at night, getting two ribs broken by the protagonist. That’s indeed a bit cruel. Host, Host, if the situation turns bad, let’s just run. Anyway, anyway, we just need 50 points.”

Having been stuck with a host who suspiciously seemed to be falling for the villain, System 10086 had begun to subtly slack off.

Xia Yu nodded as if it were obvious, changed into a short dress, and stealthily sneaked out of the Xia house.

She glanced back at the Xia house, which looked no different from usual, and tilted her head. Shen Zheng probably won’t be mad if she finds out… right?

Probably not… right? I’ll just be out for a little while, and I’ll be right back.

Xia Yu was, unfortunately, right about the danger.