The Female Lead's Second Fall

For the first time, Jiang Zhaolie felt as though she'd been toyed with, and the sensation left her both humiliated and strangely unsettled. She couldn't put words to it. All she knew was that Xu Chun had become utterly unreasonable, and that she herself was increasingly helpless against her.

In the end, Jiang Zhaolie went quiet as a mouse, and Xu Chun was thoroughly satisfied. "Wouldn't it have been better if you'd just been obedient from the start?"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Jiang Zhaolie shot her a glare. Unusually, she didn't argue back; she just walked over silently, picked up the car keys and the envelope of grocery money, and looked thoroughly cowed.

When Yu Sui'an came over to join them, she noticed the strange atmosphere between the two, or more accurately, Jiang Zhaolie's one-sided awkwardness. Without a word, Yu Sui'an fixed her eyes on Xu Chun for a long moment, then unobtrusively edged closer to Jiang Zhaolie. "Zhaolie-jie, let's go."

Xu Chun nodded perfunctorily and walked on ahead to the parking lot. She pulled open the car door and got into the back seat first. After Jiang Zhaolie took the driver's seat with the keys, Yu Sui'an seemed to hesitate, unsure whether she should sit beside Jiang Zhaolie or beside Xu Chun.

Jiang Zhaolie noticed Yu Sui'an's indecision after turning the key, and her movements stilled. Her lashes fluttered, and she slowly looked up. "Suisui, why aren't you getting in?"

Xu Chun's little ears perked up, and she was shaken to the core. Was this really something an outsider like her was allowed to hear? She stared at Jiang Zhaolie with a strange expression.

Her gaze was so scorching that Jiang Zhaolie couldn't possibly ignore it. Reflexively she glanced at Xu Chun through the rearview mirror, and when she caught the other woman's hesitant, peculiar expression, she blinked. Then it hit her, and half her face went red with anger. "Xu Chun, what on earth goes through your head every day?!"

Is there nothing in that palm-sized brain of yours but filth and dregs?

Xu Chun felt rather embarrassed at being yelled at. She blinked innocently and opened her mouth to spout nonsense. "Why, thinking about you and Suisui, of course." She raised a hand to cover her mouth and gave an affected little laugh. "Who else would I think about but you two? You're the only two women I've ever truly liked in my life."

She solemnly raised her other hand. "I swear, I'm absolutely not lying."

Jiang Zhaolie was left speechless. Could you please stop being so damn flirtatious?

Yu Sui'an turned her head slightly, her gaze landing on Xu Chun. The other woman sat with her legs crossed, leaning back against the seat in lazy contentment. Her eyes were very dark and very bright, and with her exquisite makeup she no longer looked as noble and aloof as she had when they first met. Instead, she gave off a sultry, alluring air, as though one more glance would draw you into the flowing light of her seductive eyes.

She had changed so much that it was almost as if a different person had been reborn in her skin, Yu Sui'an thought quietly.

As Yu Sui'an sat down, Jiang Zhaolie instinctively reached out to fasten her seatbelt for her, but under Xu Chun's burning stare she restrained herself. Xu Chun, however, was displeased. Never one to let a spectacle go to waste, she egged Jiang Zhaolie on. "Don't be a coward. If you love someone, pursue them bravely. I clearly saw you reach your hand out—why did you pull it back? Tell me, what are you afraid of?"

"Ah... don't tell me you suddenly remembered in that split second that you ought to care about my feelings for once?" Xu Chun said, her expression clearing as if she'd had a sudden revelation. "But actually I don't mind at all. I'm not even a little sad, not even a little hurt, because my heart has long since gone cold and numb, stiff as a stone..."

She chattered on and on, noisy as could be. Jiang Zhaolie's patience finally broke, and she lowered her voice to hiss back, "Xu Chun, shut up!"

The back seat went quiet for a moment, then a voice trembling on the verge of tears piped up. "You yelled at me. You actually yelled at me? I knew it—spend enough time together and you get sick of me and stop cherishing me." Xu Chun dabbed at the corner of her eye, though there were no tears. "Jiang Zhaolie, today I've finally seen you for what you are!"

Jiang Zhaolie: "..."

I swear I'll run you over.jpg

With a heart scarred beyond repair, Jiang Zhaolie started the car. The supermarket wasn't far, but the drive would still take the better part of an hour. Having finished her dramatic performance, Xu Chun pulled out her phone to check her messages. From the moment she'd woken up, she'd been hounded—first by Jiang Zhaolie, then by Yu Sui'an—so she hadn't had a chance to properly surf the internet until now.

Once she quieted down in the back seat, Jiang Zhaolie focused on driving, while Yu Sui'an glanced at the rearview mirror. A faint, almost imperceptible smile curved her pale lips, gone in an instant.

Xu Chun checked her manager's messages first. There were a lot of them—some about work, some more personal—but the manager made one point abundantly clear: stay away from Yu Sui'an.

In the manager's view, Yu Sui'an had a deceptive little-white-flower constitution, and there was something strange about it: everyone close to her eventually had their luck drained away, plagued by misfortune and endless bad luck, while she herself seemed to thrive, growing stronger by the day until she had sucked everyone around her dry.

There were other signs, too. The manager couldn't explain them without knowing the truth, but Xu Chun understood perfectly: Yu Sui'an had the female lead's halo.

The female lead's halo wasn't exactly powerful, but it wasn't weak either. Maybe the female lead came from a poor, destitute family, but she made up for it with a stubborn, unyielding heart; add in Heaven's favor and her own personal charm, and her career and love life advanced as if the gods themselves were helping her, making others green with envy. Yu Sui'an was exactly such a person, her female lead's halo amplified to the extreme.

In the future, Yu Sui'an would be wildly famous, her career at its zenith. She would also marry a young, promising rich second-generation heiress like Jiang Zhaolie, have children, and grow old together happily, a true winner in life.

Once she'd made the comparison, Xu Chun wanted to curse aloud. Next to lucky Yu Sui'an, she was practically a pitiful little thing whom nobody loved or doted on, and whom anyone could kick twice at will.

At the thought that the very person who'd ruined her in this life was sitting right in front of her, Xu Chun couldn't resist glaring fiercely at the other woman. Jiang Zhaolie had been listening to music as she drove, her mood much improved, when she suddenly felt Xu Chun's gaze on her as though she wanted to devour her alive. She was genuinely bewildered. "?"

She hadn't provoked her just now, had she?

No, wait—could Suisui sitting beside her have made Xu Chun unhappy and jealous? Jiang Zhaolie sneered inwardly. What right did the person who'd shattered Suisui's heart into pieces have to be unhappy now?

Having glared her fill at Jiang Zhaolie, Xu Chun withdrew her gaze. The manager's words had reminded her: since Yu Sui'an and Jiang Zhaolie were the unchangeable leads, and their falling in love, marrying, and having children was set in stone, then all she had to do was keep out of their way during their flirtation, romance, and even their marriage and childbearing. Wouldn't that be enough to ensure their union?

She couldn't just avoid getting in their way. She had to actively matchmake, working hard to play Cupid for their romance.

As long as she didn't stir up trouble, couldn't she avoid her miserable ending in the book? Xu Chun propped her cheek on her hand and sat in silence for a long while. Yu Sui'an happened to glance over and caught sight of the woman in the back seat, her clear eyes shining with a captivating light, her whole face radiant.

Yu Sui'an couldn't help but freeze, her gaze drawn to Xu Chun as if bewitched, unable to look away.

She seemed... even more beautiful than before.

The more Xu Chun thought about it, the more pleased she became. She really was a clever little thing. She cleared her throat and lifted her eyes, intending to continue her Cupid duties, when she unexpectedly met Yu Sui'an's gaze in the rearview mirror. She froze, then unconsciously licked her slightly dry lips, every nerve snapping to alert. What did this female lead want?

Don't tell me she's still secretly plotting to ruin me and make everyone despise me?

Xu Chun couldn't help but shudder. Please, no! I think we can still talk this out! Her eyes darted away, then back. In that case, she'd start with Suisui. "Suisui, actually, Zhaolie is a really wonderful person."

Jiang Zhaolie, whose name had suddenly been mentioned: "?"

"She and I grew up together, childhood sweethearts. Apart from her parents, I'm the person in this world who understands her best. Normally, she only has to wiggle her butt and I can tell exactly what kind of fart she's about to let."

Jiang Zhaolie: "..." Do you have any manners at all?

She whipped her head around, her pretty brows furrowed. "Xu Chun, what are you up to now?" She was truly fed up with Xu Chun's periodic fits of madness. If not for the basic human decency that forbade it, she would have grabbed Xu Chun by the scruff of the neck and hurled her out of the car.

Xu Chun couldn't be bothered with Jiang Zhaolie. In the book, Jiang Zhaolie was nothing but a henpecked wife. She had to obey Yu Sui'an in everything, big or small. Xu Chun remembered clearly: after marriage, Jiang Zhaolie had to hand over her monthly salary to Yu Sui'an, who would then dole out a pitiful allowance, leaving her to live in considerable frugality.

Since Jiang Zhaolie answered entirely to Yu Sui'an, Xu Chun only needed to win over Yu Sui'an.

She cleared her throat and continued. "Suisui, don't be fooled by how rude she seems on the surface, how utterly incapable of being considerate, and how terribly macho—based on years of knowing her, I can confidently pound my chest and tell you: she's really just a paper tiger. You just have to be fiercer with her and a little stricter in disciplining her; after a few days of training, she'll do whatever you say."

Jiang Zhaolie could tell Xu Chun was trying hard to help her make a good impression on Suisui, but the words left her unable to tell whether Xu Chun was praising her or quietly slandering her.

Nor did she believe Xu Chun would suddenly, out of the goodness of her heart, be this eager to help her. Xu Chun clearly wished for nothing more than for Jiang Zhaolie and Suisui to drift apart and become strangers, so she could seize the opportunity, worm her way in, and win Suisui back.

Yu Sui'an didn't react. Xu Chun assumed her praise hadn't been strong enough, so she racked her brains and laid on another round of praise for Jiang Zhaolie. This time, Yu Sui'an finally responded. She slowly raised her face, her gaze fixed steadily on Xu Chun.

The other woman leaned against the car door with the window half open. Golden sunlight streamed in from outside and fell over her, as if she'd been coated in a layer of lustrous radiance. Yu Sui'an was momentarily dazzled by the rosy glow rising from within the other woman's fair skin, and even the reply she had long since prepared in her head, at the moment she opened her mouth, involuntarily became—

"Oh? So Zhaolie is that wonderful in your eyes."

She heard a trace of jealousy slip into her own voice, beyond her control. "Then shouldn't you like her even more?"

Her tone was utterly flat, but Xu Chun's eyes flew wide in panic. Aiyo, no! That's not how this works! I wasn't trying to show off my childhood bond with Jiang Zhaolie to you!

Believe me!