The Green Tea Supporting Girl Is Still Playing Her Role Today (GL) - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Wen Pinghan hadn’t had a chance to reply when Xie Hongxu, sitting in the host’s seat, suddenly coughed. Everyone turned to look at him.

Xie Hongxu knew full well that this blind date was impossible to continue, so he simply let them have their fun. “You young people rarely gather like this. I, an old man, won’t disturb you. Xiaofei, make sure to entertain them well.”

“Got it. You go rest first, and don’t sneak any smokes,” Xie Zhifei reminded him.

“I know!” Xie Hongxu snorted and went upstairs with some airs.

Once the elder left, everyone relaxed, especially Li Feng, who was the least familiar with the Xie family and had shown up uninvited. He immediately turned to Zhao Xiaojing and asked about the reason for their breakup, and soon the two were arguing.

Seeing this, the others wisely got up and left the trouble spot.

Li Hongyan wanted to chat with Gu Zhizhang, but he saw him sticking close to Wen Pinghan. After observing for a while, he finally noticed what was going on. Just as Xie Zhifei brought them drinks, he asked quietly, “Gu Zhizhang seems interested in your friend?”

“Yeah.” Xie Zhifei turned back and saw Gu Zhizhang following Wen Pinghan like a lapdog, while Fang Ningshu naturally trailed behind Gu Zhizhang, forming a little chaotic scene.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xiaojing and Li Feng, arguing at the table, pulled out a cigarette. Li Feng lit it for her, and they continued to bicker while smoking.

“…” Xie Zhifei poured him a glass of wine and gave a helpless smile. “I didn’t expect you’d see so many funny things today.”

Li Hongyan looked at Gu Zhizhang’s mess and said, “It seems I unwittingly invited a funny thing myself.”

Xie Zhifei laughed.

“Don’t you like him? Isn’t it okay to watch this?” Li Hongyan suddenly lowered his voice.

“How did you know?” Xie Zhifei was a bit curious. In the original story, her liking for Gu Zhizhang was known only to a few close friends; even Xie Hongxu didn’t know.

“Qian Leyan is my cousin,” Li Hongyan said.

Xie Zhifei paused, then took a moment to remember. Qian Leyan had been one of her high school friend group members, but they had cut ties for some reason and never contacted each other again.

“I see… So you still came to meet me today?” Xie Zhifei asked.

“Due to circumstances, plus some curiosity about your relationship with Gu Zhizhang.”

“So that’s why you specially invited him over?”

Li Hongyan smiled. “My intention was to match you two, but it backfired.”

“No need to match us. I don’t like him anymore,” Xie Zhifei said with a laugh.

Li Hongyan raised an eyebrow and looked at her anew. “No wonder you’re indifferent to him chatting up another woman now…”

Before he finished, Xie Zhifei suddenly turned and walked toward Gu Zhizhang and Wen Pinghan. Gu Zhizhang was silently cornering Wen Pinghan, being quite domineering yet gazing at her affectionately as he chatted.

Xie Zhifei approached from behind and splashed the wine from her glass directly onto him.

“Ouch.” When Gu Zhizhang turned around, she twisted her ankle. “Sorry, Brother Gu, I accidentally twisted my foot.”

Li Hongyan and Fang Ningshu, who had watched the whole thing clearly: “…”

“It’s fine…” Gu Zhizhang touched his back. Half of his shirt was wet and sticking uncomfortably to his skin.

“Mr. Gu, you should go back and change clothes first,” Wen Pinghan said immediately.

“No need. Ningshu, go get my clothes,” Gu Zhizhang said.

“Yes.” Fang Ningshu turned and went outside to fetch spare clothes from the car.

“Borrow the bathroom.” Gu Zhizhang then headed familiarly to the bathroom to change.

“…” Wen Pinghan quietly moved to Xie Zhifei’s side and whispered, “Looks like you didn’t splash enough just now. He probably didn’t bring extra underwear?”

Xie Zhifei looked at her in surprise, then laughed mischievously. “Shall we try?”

Wen Pinghan bit her lip to stifle a laugh, feeling an inexplicable thrill like plotting a prank with a friend.

Xie Zhifei then took her to watch Zhao Xiaojing and Li Feng argue. The two were quarreling fiercely, faces red and necks stiff.

“Be honest, do you have someone else in your heart?” Li Feng demanded.

Zhao Xiaojing: “No, we’re just not compatible. Really not compatible. I tolerated the zodiac mismatch, but the leg stepping difference—I really can’t tolerate that.”

Li Feng: “Why? Why can’t you tolerate such a small thing?”

“It shows our paces don’t match, which will affect our relationship.”

“Don’t use these excuses to brush me off!”

“Fine, you grind your teeth, snore, and fart in your sleep. I can’t take it anymore, okay?”

Li Feng’s anger deflated instantly. He looked at Xie Zhifei and Wen Pinghan, who had come to watch, and at Li Hongyan, who had somehow appeared behind them.

The three silently turned away, pretending not to hear, raised their glasses together, each took a sip of wine, and suddenly started discussing national affairs.

Li Feng: “”

Covering it up only made it worse!

“What are you talking about?” Gu Zhizhang came out after changing and wanted to join, but his question made the living room atmosphere even more strangely awkward. He looked puzzled at his secretary.

Fang Ningshu shook her head at him, signaling it wasn’t a good question, so he naturally changed the topic. “Afei, how’s the company lately?”

Xie Zhifei: “Pretty good.”

Gu Zhizhang: “Mm, Hongyan, how’s business lately?”

Li Hongyan: “Pretty good.”

Gu Zhizhang: “Ms. Wen—”

Wen Pinghan: “Pretty good.”

“…” Gu Zhizhang sensed their perfunctory responses, suppressed the subtle displeasure in his heart, and turned to his good brother. “Li Feng, how’s it going with Ms. Zhao?”

Fang Ningshu covered her face.

“Mind your own business!” Li Feng could no longer hold back his anger and took it out on him. He slapped the table, stood up, and stormed out.

Gu Zhizhang looked baffled and got a bit fired up too. He asked Fang Ningshu, “What’s his deal?”

Fang Ningshu quietly reminded him: “Frustrated in love.”

Gu Zhizhang glanced at the leisurely smoking Zhao Xiaojing and guessed they had argued, so his anger subsided. He turned and walked toward Wen Pinghan.

“Brother Gu, dinner’s almost ready,” Xie Zhifei said, arranging everyone to sit.

Zhao Xiaojing and Wen Pinghan each sat on one side of her. Gu Zhizhang, naturally thick-skinned, sat next to Wen Pinghan, while Fang Ningshu quietly sat on his other side.

When Xie Hongxu came downstairs, he saw this odd seating: one side packed, the other with only Li Hongyan alone, as if deliberately snubbing him.

“Afei, why are you sitting there? With so many people watching, Hongyan might feel too awkward to eat later,” Xie Hongxu said.

Xie Zhifei reluctantly prepared to get up, but someone beat her to it.

“Uncle, I’ll sit over there.” Zhao Xiaojing smiled and went to sit next to Li Hongyan. She received Xie Zhifei’s grateful look, smugly raised an eyebrow, then stared fixedly at Li Hongyan.

Xie Hongxu saw this and knew things were going south. Zhao Xiaojing was famously love-obsessed; if she took a liking to Li Hongyan, his daughter stood no chance.

But even worse, his daughter seemed not to care at all and was even exchanging excited glances with Zhao Xiaojing, as if they had planned it.

Li Hongyan ignored Zhao Xiaojing’s occasional flirtations and chatted business with the Xie father and daughter. Gu Zhizhang joined in automatically.

When the topic turned to the sinking market, the usually quiet Wen Pinghan suddenly offered her insights and suggestions, impressing everyone—except Xie Zhifei.

She said proudly, “Sister is a major talent in my company. Her future is limitless.”

“Oh, no,” Wen Pinghan said, blushing at the praise from so many bosses and presidents. “This isn’t anything special.”

“Sister, you’re just missing the right background compared to us. If you had been born with what we have, your achievements would far surpass ours,” Xie Zhifei said.

Wen Pinghan felt a warmth in her heart, and a brilliant smile gradually bloomed on her face.

The admiration in Gu Zhizhang’s eyes grew even stronger.

Seeing this, Xie Zhifei diverted his attention. “Brother Gu, try this wine. Is it the one you mentioned last time?”

At her words, Gu Zhizhang indeed picked up his glass and took a sip, shaking his head. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

Of course not; it was just a random bottle.

“Oh, then I must have remembered wrong,” Xie Zhifei said.

“No problem. Come to my place next time to try.”

“Sure.” The two families had been friends since childhood and lived close, so visits were commonplace. But Xie Zhifei noticed the flash of jealousy in Fang Ningshu’s eyes and couldn’t help sighing inwardly.

What a pity.

She recalled Fang Ningshu’s ending in the book. In the later stages, after using the original host to harm Wen Pinghan and getting exposed, she went all out and confessed to Gu Zhizhang.

Though Gu Zhizhang’s character didn’t explain misunderstandings, he had the typical domineering CEO flaw: deep devotion. He remained unmoved by various suitors, loving only Wen Pinghan. So when he learned his most trusted assistant had harmed Wen Pinghan out of love for him, he severely punished Fang Ningshu, expelled her from the Gu Corporation, and in the end, she fell into despair, crashed through a guardrail while drunk driving, and plunged into the lake with her car.

[Is it just for liking someone that she gets humiliated like this and ends up so miserably?] Xie Zhifei asked the system.

System: [It’s the bad guys get bad endings trope, so readers find it satisfying.]

Xie Zhifei: [She did wrong, but it doesn’t warrant death, right? Look at those bad reviews now. Do readers still find it satisfying? If they did, why would I need to fix the plot?]

System: [ … That makes some sense.]

Xie Zhifei thought for a moment. Since none of the evil acts had happened yet, she resolved to deal with this lovesick fool.

She stopped blocking Gu Zhizhang’s advances toward Wen Pinghan and indeed noticed Fang Ningshu’s jealousy shifting to Wen Pinghan.

After dinner, Li Hongyan excused himself, saying he had business to attend to. Xie Hongxu couldn’t keep him, but unexpectedly, before leaving, he took the initiative to ask for Xie Zhifei’s WeChat.

“Sure. If there’s business in the future, you have to take care of your little sister,” Xie Zhifei said with a laugh.

“I think you’re the one who’s no simpleton. I might need your help in the future,” Li Hongyan said with a smile.

Xie Hongxu watched their cheerful exchange and couldn’t help laughing, a big weight lifting from his heart.

With the blind date gone, Wen Pinghan’s overtime task was complete, so she also took her leave.

Xie Zhifei didn’t try to keep her; as long as Wen Pinghan stayed, Gu Zhizhang would inevitably stick around her house.

“Then Sister, be safe. I’ll have the driver take you back.”

“Okay.” Wen Pinghan didn’t refuse this time, fearing Gu Zhizhang might seize the chance to offer to drive her home.

After she left, Gu Zhizhang didn’t linger much longer. Soon, Zhao Xiaojing left too.

The Xie residence quickly emptied, leaving just father and daughter. Xie Zhifei chatted with her father for a while but had to go home. The villa was closer to the company, making it convenient for work.

Back home, she made a phone call. As she prepared to shower, she suddenly heard the doorbell.

She went to the door and saw Fang Ningshu standing outside.

“So late—why come suddenly? Is something wrong?” She opened the door and asked.

“Ms. Xie, may I come in to talk?” Fang Ningshu asked.

“Of course, come in.” Xie Zhifei asked the auntie to bring two drinks.

Fang Ningshu took the fancy milk, her expression twitching slightly, before saying, “President Gu asked me to come discuss a cooperation with you.”

“Oh? Tell me about it.” Xie Zhifei grew interested.

“After the new mall is built, we can let your stores enter for free. But for this project, he wants to hand it to your marketing manager, Wen Pinghan, to handle.”

“Hiss.”

Gu Zhizhang, failing to poach her, switched to cooperation?

Seeing her hesitate, Fang Ningshu added some fuel. “President Gu seems to take extra care of this Ms. Wen. I’ve never seen him so attentive to any woman.”

Xie Zhifei fell silent.

Fang Ningshu continued probing jokingly. “Looks like President Gu will soon win the beauty.”

“Why?” Xie Zhifei asked. “Why would she fall for him?”

But Fang Ningshu misunderstood, thinking she meant “Why would he fall for her,” so she boldly stated her intention. “I don’t understand either. That woman is clearly not half as good as you, Ms. Xie. I’ve known you for a while and can see you fancy our President Gu. I hope you two can be together.”

Xie Zhifei looked at her. “So?”

“I’m willing to help Ms. Xie, as long as you let me be the project lead for Qisheng and Gu Corporation’s cooperation. If there are business matters in the future, you can do me a favor.” Fang Ningshu revealed her purpose and proposed a seemingly beneficial condition, making their cooperation look like a pure business deal—while also allowing her to profit. Once she handled this surefire project, she could claim a hefty bonus.

Xie Zhifei smiled. “Good. I think highly of you. Don’t disappoint me.”

“Pleasure working with you, Ms. Xie.” Fang Ningshu smiled slightly.

Xie Zhifei smilingly saw her out and watched her drive away before returning to the living room. She took out her phone from her pocket and asked, “Sister, did you hear all that?”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“Sorry to put you through this.”

“…Yeah.”

“You sound unenthusiastic. Are you upset?”

“Why did she say Gu Zhizhang would soon win the beauty? How is she so sure I’d like Gu Zhizhang?!” Wen Pinghan grew angrier the more she thought about it.

Xie Zhifei laughed and said, “Maybe because they don’t know how great you are, unlike me. I have discerning eyes that spot treasures—better than ten years of study. I just want to be Sister’s little piggy for life.”

Beep beep beep—

“Hello? Sister? Sister, my dear sister—!”

Wen Pinghan: If you have anything to say, tell it to my lawyer.

Xie Zhifei: _(:з」∠)_