Chapter 78: The Pitiful Female Supporting Character from a Patriarchal Family in the 2000s (25)

At first, Su Yue only saw Ye Zhou and felt a wave of excitement.

According to the timeline of the plot, he had indeed arrived in City A. The two of them met when he was just starting his business.

Ye Zhou had established a small company at the time, and Su Yue became his assistant.

She pursued him and then got engaged. She was his fiancée.

The next moment, Su Yue saw Ai Xiaoling — the supporting female character who would stop at nothing, humiliate herself, and even try to break them apart.

The two were standing so intimately together that she was momentarily dumbfounded.

Su Yue recalled how Ai Xiaoling had clung to Ye Zhou later on and then saw this scene. Could it be that the two of them had once been together?

Ye Zhou had never mentioned this to her.

Su Yue felt more and more that something was wrong. Because she wanted to slack off, she would do several of these “capture the male lead with luck” missions each year.

By stealing the supporting female character’s fortune and being blessed with the heroine’s aura, as long as she appeared, the male lead and male supporting characters would all like her.

These missions were extremely easy. Once successfully completed, Su Yue could go back and, with her uncle’s help, become part of the management team and continue to live an easy life.

She could not figure out why she had failed repeatedly.

In Su Qin’s lifetime, she had craved the enjoyment of love and hid the system, which led to mission failure and a forced reassignment.

In the second life, Fang Yuwei was supposed to leave Lin Yan and run off with a small businessman. She only had to wait and take over, but she waited and waited, and the two got back together.

Fang Yuwei was even transferred to the city to become a teacher and eventually worked at the education bureau. The whole family lived happily ever after.

Su Yue herself, however, was notified by the system that her mission had failed. Her “heart disease” flared up and she died early, exiting prematurely.

This life should have been the most straightforward one because Ai Xiaoling would get married and did not appear in her and Ye Zhou’s world in the early years.

By the time Ai Xiaoling appeared, the two were already engaged and nothing could change that. She was merely a clown.

According to the plot, Ai Xiaoling should be married by now.

Su Yue looked at the wedding ring on her hand, sparks flying in her eyes, and clenched her fists tightly.

She had always wondered why Ye Zhou helped Ai Xiaoling again and again. Now she realized it was because after Ai Xiaoling got married, Ye Zhou had an affair with her.

Ye Zhou came to City A not to start a business. She even suspected he came here to continue his affair with Ai Xiaoling.

Su Yue never thought Ye Zhou was this kind of person. She was so angry her chest hurt.

“What’s wrong?”

Ye Zhou noticed that Ai Xiaoling’s mood was off and lowered his head to ask.

Ai Xiaoling forcefully suppressed her panic and tightened her hold on Ye Zhou’s arm. “Just a bit sleepy.”

When they left the province, the plan was to go to City B. Because it was not suitable for sightseeing, they came to City A instead.

Ai Xiaoling did not have a good impression of City A. In this life, the most terrible downturn of her life had started here. But when Ye Zhou suggested coming, she didn’t think much of it.

City A was so big. She never thought she would run into Su Yue.

The fiancée of Ye Zhou’s in his previous life. The heroine of this world.

The thoughts in Ai Xiaoling’s head were like a tangled mess of rope. She had no idea what to do.

She had just promised Ye Zhou that they would get married once they returned, and Su Yue showed up. Did that mean she could not break free from the bounds of the plot?

Was everything already predestined?

“Let’s find a hotel nearby so you can get a good sleep.” Ye Zhou wrapped his arm around Ai Xiaoling. Seeing that she really did not look well, his eyes filled with concern and he lowered his head to kiss her forehead.

This scene drove Su Yue even crazier.

Fine.

She had always thought Ye Zhou was dull and not good with words. Even when they were on the street, he would be reserved and never display any intimacy in public.

But now, he was acting like this toward Ai Xiaoling.

What kind of garbage plot was this?

Wasn’t she the female lead with the luck aura? Why was the male lead treating her worse than the supporting female character?

Su Yue was so angry she clenched her teeth hard. After taking down Ye Zhou, she was definitely going to ask the system to immediately end this mission. This male lead made her sick.

In Su Yue’s eyes, Ye Zhou taking Ai Xiaoling to a hotel confirmed even more that the two of them were having an affair.

Inside the hotel room.

Ai Xiaoling lay on the bed, her thoughts drifting.

She did not even know how she and Ye Zhou would end up.

Because he treated her too well.

So well there was nothing to criticize.

Ai Xiaoling raised her hand and looked at the diamond ring on her finger. She gently rubbed it with her fingertips.

“Weren’t you sleepy? Why aren’t you sleeping?” Ye Zhou saw she was daydreaming and walked over to ask softly.

Ai Xiaoling looked at Ye Zhou, her gaze soft and gentle. She smiled slightly. “I can’t fall asleep.”

“Why do you look so down?” Ye Zhou cared deeply about her emotions and pulled her into his arms on the bed. “Maybe you’re tired. I won’t bother you. Just sleep.”

Ai Xiaoling raised her hand, her fingers tracing Ye Zhou’s handsome face, slowly outlining from his sharp eyebrows to his tall nose bridge, and finally landing on his sexy lips…

There was a hint of obsession in her eyes. She removed her hand, leaned forward, and kissed him — gentle pecks one after another — and even licked his earlobe.

Ye Zhou immediately tensed up, his grip on her hand paused, and a wave of heat surged within him.

Ai Xiaoling hugged him, her warm breath brushing past his ear, her voice soft and seductive. “Ah Zhou, do you want me right now?”

His breathing quickened slightly. He looked down at her. “Weren’t you sleepy?”

“Do you want me?” Ai Xiaoling asked again and then buried her head against his neck to lightly lick his collarbone. When she looked up, her eyes were filled with passion.

Ye Zhou finally could not hold back.

He was much gentler this time, but Ai Xiaoling was bolder and more proactive.

Ai Xiaoling was so tired she could not even lift her eyelids. In the end, she dozed off in Ye Zhou’s arms.

That sleep lasted until evening.

It was hard to finally wait for her to wake up. Ye Zhou wanted to take her out for a walk.

“I don’t want to go.” Ai Xiaoling curled up in bed, showing some resistance to going out.

Ye Zhou sat on the edge of the bed coaxing her, “We’ve been here for so many days. Except for the tourist spots, I haven’t taken you shopping. This is a big city. Let’s go see if there’s any clothing you like and take a look at the jewelry you like.”

“I don’t want to buy anything.” She refused.

“Are you still sleepy?” Ye Zhou reached out and gently rubbed her soft hair.

Ai Xiaoling said, “I’m not sleepy but I still don’t want to go.”

“You can’t stay in the hotel forever, right?” he said.

Hearing this, Ai Xiaoling lifted her head and looked at him, saying, “If you’re free, I invite you to sleep with me.”

Ye Zhou: “……”

“Hmph!” Ai Xiaoling hugged the pillow, “We’ve only been here for a few days and you’re already tired of me.”

“I’m not.” Ye Zhou felt wronged, then looked at her carefully and asked, “What’s wrong with you? You seem a bit strange.”

“What’s strange about wanting to sleep with you? It’s not the first time I’ve made such a request.” She spoke bluntly.

She hadn’t had enough sleep.

It was partly because it felt harmonious and comfortable.

More importantly, she loved this man.

Ai Xiaoling seemed to have understood why in her previous life she went to such lengths without regard for her dignity, just to try out the possibility.

But in this life, her pride didn’t allow her to be like that.

She didn’t want to leave behind any regrets or possibilities for remorse.

“I wasn’t talking about that.” Ye Zhou leaned closer to her and asked softly, “Do you have something on your mind? Why do I feel like you’re not very happy?”

“Sleeping with you makes me happy.”

“You’re changing the subject.” Ye Zhou hit the nail on the head.

“I’m not.” Ai Xiaoling stubbornly denied it.

Ye Zhou didn’t press further. He coaxed her for a long time and tried to take her out for some fresh air and shopping at the big mall. She refused, shrinking her body and curling up under the blanket.

At night, Ai Xiaoling took a shower. As soon as she got into bed, she snuggled into Ye Zhou’s arms and began tugging at his clothes.

Ye Zhou didn’t stop her and kept looking at her worriedly.

“You don’t want to?” She stopped and looked at him with a pitiful expression.

Fine.

Ye Zhou swallowed the words he wanted to say and gently laid her down.

He was especially afraid of hurting her. Looking at her beneath him, he showed clear concern on his face.

Ai Xiaoling kept her eyes closed. When she reached the peak of comfort, her mind went blank. Then a single tear slid down the corner of her eye and soaked into the pillow.

Ye Zhou leaned over to kiss her brow and eyes. His forehead touched hers as he gently called out, “Baby?”

His voice was filled with infinite tenderness. Ai Xiaoling couldn’t hold back her emotions any longer. More tears fell from the corners of her eyes, dripping onto the pillow as her shoulders trembled slightly.

Ye Zhou was frightened. He hugged her tightly, thinking she regretted it and kept apologizing, “I couldn’t control myself. Don’t cry. It’s my fault.”

Her crying became even more uncontrollable.

His heart ached terribly and he felt a bit at a loss, “Can we get married as soon as we go back? Or just tell me what to do. Please don’t cry.”

In front of him, Ai Xiaoling had always been strong and handled everything with ease. Later when they started dating, she acted spoiled and relied on him but always kept her composure. He rarely saw her express her emotions.

This was the first time she cried.

Ye Zhou’s own mind went blank and he could only keep holding her and comforting her.

“I don’t want to stay here.” Ai Xiaoling said in a choked voice. She took a breath, “I’ve had enough fun. I kind of miss home. I have an exam coming up and many things haven’t been done yet.”

“When we wake up tomorrow morning, we’ll go home,” Ye Zhou said immediately.

They had bought tickets for two days later and they couldn’t be refunded.

But he knew Ai Xiaoling was just making an excuse.

He couldn’t bear to see her suffer, so he agreed to everything.

The better Ye Zhou treated her, the more Ai Xiaoling felt that she couldn’t let go easily. She buried her head in his neck, rubbed against him, and said, “You can treat me a bit worse. You don’t have to be so good to me.”

If only he treated her a little worse, she definitely wouldn’t have cried.

“Mm——” Ye Zhou dragged out his tone, pretended to think for a moment, gently patted her back, and then said, “I want you to be a little happier and more content when you’re with me. I really want to marry you.”

As soon as Ai Xiaoling heard this, her eyes welled up with tears again.

Ye Zhou held her delicate little face and gently wiped her tears with his fingertip, “You don’t need to worry about me not being responsible. I love you more than you think.”

“You don’t need to worry about anything. As long as you’re willing, I will definitely marry you. No one can stop us and no one will look down on you.”

“I’ve imagined countless times marrying you. This thought has always been firm.”

……

When Ye Zhou confessed to her, he didn’t say such emotional words. He must have really feared she was uneasy. He kept revealing his feelings and wished he could cut open his heart to show her.

Ai Xiaoling cried and laughed.

Who said she was just a pitiful and tragic supporting character?

This man clearly loved her so much.

Ye Zhou picked up Ai Xiaoling, “Don’t cry. I’ll carry you to take a bath. Once we sleep and wake up, we’ll go home.”

He filled the bathtub with water. Originally, he just wanted her to soak and help her wash.

In the end, she clung to him again.

Ye Zhou was worried she couldn’t handle it. She reached out and pressed against his lips, “Stop saying how much you love me.”

“?”

“Show me.”

……

The next day at noon.

“Check out room 2006.”

Ye Zhou handed the room card to the front desk and held Ai Xiaoling’s hand again.

“Here’s your deposit. Have a nice day. Welcome again next time.” The front desk smiled as they returned the deposit.

Su Yue watched the two of them walk out and quickly moved to a corner.

Ever since she saw them enter the hotel, she decided to wait outside to see when they would come out.

She ended up waiting five or six hours and neither of them came out.

Su Yue, unwilling to give up, had come several times in the past two days and waited outside for a long time but still did not see the two of them come out.

How shameless must those two be to stay in the hotel for two full days and nights?

Su Yue was so angry that her chest hurt. She had been carrying out missions for so long and had always been the favored female lead with fortune, unconditionally receiving the male lead’s undying love.

Yet now, she had personally witnessed her man staying in a hotel with Ai Xiaoling, that pitiful female supporting character, for two days and nights.

Ye Zhou and Ai Xiaoling got into a taxi.

Su Yue also quickly stopped a car and hurriedly said to the driver, “Follow that car in front.”

She wanted to see where the two were going.

Ye Zhou would later conceal the affair with Ai Xiaoling and date and get engaged with her. She had to get evidence and humiliate him thoroughly.

The driver understood and steadily followed the car.

The car drove all the way to the outskirts, and Su Yue became more and more confused.

In the end, the taxi stopped at the airport.

Su Yue watched as Ye Zhou and Ai Xiaoling pushed their luggage into the airport, and was so angry her face turned green.

Were they having an affair and going on a trip together?

Su Yue awakened the system and requested to change the task. She said, “I refuse to pursue Ye Zhou.”

The system’s cold and mechanical voice sounded, “Random tasks cannot be terminated early. The current task progress is at zero. The host’s failure in the strategy will affect the fortune of the next task.”

Su Yue angrily said, “Do I still even have fortune? I’ve failed three tasks in a row.”

System: “Fortune is decreasing. Task difficulty is increasing. If the strategy ends early, the host will permanently lose the opportunity for examinations and will never be promoted for life.”

This struck Su Yue’s vital point.

She still wanted to take shortcuts and use her fortune to get promoted to management and become a lazy person living off a sinecure for life.

System: “Please complete the task seriously and improve the average value of fortune strategy tasks. Current male lead favorability: 0”

Su Yue took a deep breath but was still very unwilling. She had always looked down on comparing herself to Ai Xiaoling because she believed the other party could never win against her. In the end, Ai Xiaoling actually went to a hotel with Ye Zhou.

She felt her status was threatened. Ye Zhou was now “dirty.”

Su Yue had originally foolishly waited for Ye Zhou to come to A City to start a business and then planned to apply for a job. Now the situation had changed.

She returned from the airport and immediately, according to the plot, found the “husband” Ai Xiaoling was supposed to marry — a native of an urban village who was lazy and liked eating and doing nothing. It was said that Ai Xiaoling had been forcibly married off to him by the Ai family.

Su Yue looked at the old two-story building and the thin, dark-skinned man who looked aged, feeling disdainful. No wonder Ai Xiaoling wanted to be with Ye Zhou.

Strangely, even though Ai Xiaoling had married into such a household, she did not have the aged and exhausted look from Su Yue’s memory. After thinking about it, her expression darkened again.

It must be because of Ye Zhou.

“Big brother, I’m looking for Ai Xiaoling. Is she home?” Su Yue deliberately asked the tall and thin man.

“Who’s Ai Xiaoling?” the man opened his mouth, and the smell of alcohol came out.

Su Yue took a step back, “Isn’t Ai Xiaoling your wife?”

Just as she finished speaking, a passerby laughed, “He’s a lifelong bachelor. Where would he get a wife?”

Su Yue carefully confirmed — this was definitely the useless husband of Ai Xiaoling, the one who had even looked for Ye Zhou to cause trouble.

She asked around the neighborhood, but no one knew who Ai Xiaoling was. No one recognized the name.

Su Yue was completely dumbfounded.

After thinking it over again and again, she could no longer sit still and went to find Ye Zhou’s residence.

No such person.

She then went to the place Ye Zhou had previously rented to start a business. No one was there.

Su Yue frantically searched every place Ye Zhou had ever told her about and every person he had ever mentioned knowing.

The result was the same. No one knew Ye Zhou.

Not to mention Ye Zhou, even Ai Xiaoling — no one knew them.

In the end, Su Yue had no choice but to book a ticket to Shan’an County. She had to go see for herself what was going on.

*

After returning from A City, Ye Zhou and Ai Xiaoling’s relationship naturally progressed rapidly.

The first thing he did was immediately speed up the renovation of the wedding house and then tell Mother Ye that he was going to marry Ai Xiaoling.

Mother Ye was overjoyed and didn’t say a single unnecessary word, only asking whether it was time to go propose marriage.

Considering the complicated nature of the Ai family, Ye Zhou still wanted to ask Ai Xiaoling for her opinion.

Ai Xiaoling said, “We still need to wait a bit before getting married.”

Ye Zhou didn’t understand.

She explained, “My sister and Lu Hui are getting married. I need to help her sneak out the household registration book.”

Without the household registration book, they couldn’t get the marriage certificate.

Ai Xiaofen had a timid nature and didn’t dare go back.

If she brought Lu Hui back, she might get skinned alive by Mother Ai.

Sneaking the household registration book had to be done by Ai Xiaoling.

Ye Zhou was unwilling to let her take such a risk and was thinking of negotiating terms directly. She smiled and said, “This isn’t anything troublesome. You just wait outside for me then.”

It was just sneaking out a household registration book, after all.

Ai Xiaoling bought some things and returned to the Ai family openly and confidently.

The villagers saw her from afar and went back to tell Mother Ai, “Your Xiaoling is back.”

Mother Ai paused her work, thinking she had misheard, “Xiaoling really came back?”

“That’s right.” The auntie spoke while waiting to watch the drama.

The matter of the Ai family’s two daughters had caused quite a stir in the village. Who told Mother Ai to always boast in the village about how well she educated her children and how she raised two daughters who made a lot of money?

In the end, both daughters didn’t return during the New Year and had cut ties with the family.

Mother Ai wasn’t afraid of Ai Xiaofen cutting ties. A divorced daughter was just a disgrace if she returned.

Ai Xiaoling’s return surely meant the money was paid off and she came home to bring money.

When Mother Ai saw Ai Xiaoling, her eyes immediately turned red, and she said with genuine emotion, “You little brat, you finally know to come home. Do you know how much Mom missed you?”

“Mom, I couldn’t even afford food for a while out there. How would I dare to come back?” Ai Xiaoling also complained to her, “Recently, I finally found a job. Only then did I manage to get a foothold.”

Mother Ai took the things she bought, just some biscuits. She took a few and handed them to the villagers who came to watch the commotion, saying, “I only bought this few biscuits. There’s barely enough to go around.”

If it were before, she would have preferred Ai Xiaoling not to buy anything and just give her money.

But she also cared about saving face. Seeing villagers around, she felt it was embarrassing that Ai Xiaoling only brought this little and didn’t bring her honor.

Ai Xiaoling quickly said, “Next time I’ll buy more so everyone can have a share.”

Only then did Mother Ai feel proud, and a smile returned to her face.

A village auntie asked, “Didn’t Xiaofen open a supermarket?”

“That’s right.” Mother Ai also asked, “Is it true? Your brother doesn’t have a job. He should go work there.”

“My sister used the money to open the supermarket? She had to pay for part of the money in Xu Zhi’s incident. She’s still working to pay off the debt,” Ai Xiaoling replied helplessly.

“I knew it. How could she have the ability to open a supermarket?” Mother Ai originally wanted Xiaofen to hand over her salary. However, upon hearing she still owed debt, she stopped caring about when Xiaofen would return.

It would be better if she returned after paying off the debt.

“Probably still a long time to go.”

As Ai Xiaoling was speaking, Mother Ai feared losing face, so she walked over to tell the neighbors to go back and cook, and closed the door behind them.

After the neighbors left, Mother Ai put on a stern face and scolded Xiaofen, “I told her to go back and remarry Xu Zhi. Wouldn’t that have resolved everything? So stubborn. Serves her right.”

Ai Xiaoling listened, her eyes darkening, but her expression remained unchanged.

Mother Ai didn’t care about Xiaofen. Her coming back would just be shameful. But she was thinking about Ai Xiaoling’s upcoming salary, so she smiled as usual and said, “You’ve worked hard lately. Mom will go kill a chicken to nourish you.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Ai Xiaoling said as she walked into the room, “I’m tired. I’ll go take a nap first.”

“Go ahead.”

Mother Ai went to the chicken coop and grabbed the smallest chicken.

During this period, life at home hadn’t been easy without Ai Xiaoling’s support. Luckily, she had now paid off the debt and remembered to give money to the family again.

It was indeed time to kill a chicken for her.

After being away for so long, she should at least give one or two thousand yuan.

Mother Ai calculated in her mind while busy in the kitchen. Father Ai came home and saw her killing a chicken. His face darkened and he cursed several times.

“Xiaoling came back. How could I not kill a chicken for her?” Mother Ai spoke confidently.

Upon hearing that Ai Xiaoling was back, Father Ai’s expression eased. He naturally thought of money too.

After Mother Ai finished preparing the chicken and went into the room to find Ai Xiaoling, she found no one.

She was confused and searched the whole village but could not find Ai Xiaoling. Only then did she realize the girl had slipped away.

They did not even know why she had to sneak away.

On the same day Ai Xiaoling got the household registration book, she had Ai Xiaofen and Lu Hui go register for marriage.

The two planned to hold their wedding later in Lu Hui’s hometown.

As for Ai Xiaoling and Ye Zhou’s marriage, it was now on the agenda. Regarding marrying Ye Zhou, she felt nervous and uneasy, as if in a dream. Ye Zhou kept telling her to leave everything to him.

Ai Xiaoling did not register the marriage with Ye Zhou immediately either. She wanted to see how far things would naturally go.

If they got the certificate, things would become more complicated.

According to Ai Xiaoling’s request, the Ai family would not be involved. That saved many steps in the process. Of course, the required betrothal gifts and three golds were all given to her by Ye’s mother.

Because she valued Ai Xiaoling, the gift money was double the local standard. Others gave three golds, but she received six, eight, or even ten golds. She might not even be able to wear them all on the wedding day.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Ai Xiaoling also went to the Ye family more often. Mother Ye often asked Ye Zhou to bring her over for meals. Sometimes, she even took naps in Ye Zhou’s room during lunch breaks.

She was the type who couldn’t sit still. Whenever she had free time, she would help Mother Ye sort out the accounting records.

The store clerk had something urgent at home today, so the store was originally going to close. Ai Xiaoling volunteered to keep the store open and tidy up the previous disorganized accounts.

Not long after she opened the store, someone walked in.

“Hello, what would you like to buy?” Ai Xiaoling was writing out the invoice at the counter and smiled politely as she asked.

She looked up after speaking and saw Su Yue’s face.