“Youyi, Young Master Chen is here! Go over and host them!”
Si Yao was cleaning the shelves when she was suddenly called. Turning around, she saw the manager’s face, which was thick with rolls of fat.
“Young Master Chen brought quite a few friends this time. Host them well. If you open a few more bottles of wine, your bonus for this month won’t be small!”
“Alright, Manager.”
Si Yao sighed inwardly. She had planned to slack off a bit while waiting for Ding Hongyuan to show up, but now she was stuck dealing with the annoying Young Master Chen again. Despite her reluctance, she could only force a smile and walk over.
Young Master Chen was the same as ever, but Si Yao’s focus was no longer on him. In the booth, she spotted Ding Hongyuan.
He was clearly surprised to see her, his eyes wandering restlessly like any other man’s. On the surface, however, he maintained the air of a refined gentleman, feigning a casual adjustment of his tie.
By unspoken agreement, they both pretended not to know each other.
As Si Yao opened and poured the wine, she intentionally “fumbled,” letting the bottle cap drop right at Ding Hongyuan’s feet. He leaned down to pick it up, and their eyes met.
“Thank you,” Si Yao smiled at him. As she took the cap back, her pinky finger intentionally brushed against the back of his hand. It was a faint, fleeting touch—the kind that makes one’s heart itch.
[Ding Hongyuan’s Affection Level +5]
Heh, Si Yao sneered inwardly. Men really are men; a little bit of flirting and he’s hooked.
After finishing the service, Si Yao pointedly walked toward the restroom. That long corridor was quiet and sparsely populated—the perfect spot for a conversation.
“Miss Xiao!”
As expected, Ding Hongyuan followed her.
The moment she turned around, Si Yao put on a smile. “General Manager… Ding.”
“So you did recognize me,” Ding Hongyuan laughed. “I thought I hadn’t even caught Miss Xiao’s eye.”
“How could that be? A man as talented and handsome as General Manager Ding is hard to forget.”
“Haha! So, why are you working here?”
Ding Hongyuan’s question was exactly what Si Yao had anticipated. She put on an act of forced resilience, offering a bittersweet smile: “A family member is sick, and the medical bills are very expensive… I haven’t found a proper job yet, so I had to take this part-time gig for now.”
A well-timed show of vulnerability is a powerful weapon against men.
Ding Hongyuan immediately put on a look of heartache. “But it’s not good for a girl like you to work in a place like this. Don’t worry about the job situation.”
Si Yao looked at him pitifully. “Really?”
“Of course!” Ding Hongyuan raised his head and straightened his collar. “The other interviewers were very satisfied with you today.” He paused, looking at her with hidden meaning. “Including myself.”
The atmosphere fell silent as an ambiguous tension lingered. Si Yao could see the desire for intimacy in Ding Hongyuan’s eyes.
“Then I really must thank you, General Manager Ding!” Si Yao abruptly broke the mood. “I truly hope I can see you every day.”
These words work on almost any man, and Ding Hongyuan was no exception. His elation was written all over his face as he reached into his pocket for a business card.
[Ding Hongyuan’s Affection Level +5]
Si Yao couldn’t help but feel jubilant. Ding Hongyuan’s affection was too easy to farm; at this rate, she’d be able to go back in no time. The job was basically secured; once they exchanged contact info, the mission would be more than half finished.
Si Yao impatiently snatched the card from his hand. When she didn’t hear him say anything more, she looked up and saw him staring wide-eyed, as if he’d seen a ghost. His face was filled with pure terror.
Si Yao: “???”
“General Manager Ding?”
Just as she spoke, she sensed someone behind her. In the next second, the card was snatched from her fingers.
“Ding Hongyuan—HR Manager of the Ding Group.” The person read the information on the card aloud with blatant mockery. “Whoa—impressive.”
“You… you you you!!!” Realizing who it was, Ding Hongyuan scrambled back several steps. The composure he had minutes ago vanished; his face was deathly pale, and one hand instinctively covered his crotch.
He looked nothing like a “noble young master” now.
Ding Hongyuan now felt a physiological terror whenever he saw Cang Xuehe, fearing she’d find a new way to torture him. Just thinking about that period of torment made him feel like his “eggs” were shattering.
Cang Xuehe was about to dig into him for his declining taste when she suddenly saw Xiao Youyi’s face. In an instant, she was fuming, her eyebrows shooting up in rage.
“Ding Hongyuan, are you tired of living? You even dare to hit on her? Do you need to become a eunuch before you learn not to go into heat in public?”
To anyone else, Cang Xuehe looked like a beautiful girl throwing a tantrum, but to Ding Hongyuan, she was the Grim Reaper claiming a soul. Remembering his father’s harsh warnings, he trembled and stammered, “No no no, it’s not what you think! I don’t know her, really! Please let me go!!”
[Ding Hongyuan’s Affection Level -20, Current: 0]
Si Yao: “????”
“Wait!” Si Yao tried to chase after him, but Cang Xuehe grabbed her arm. She could only watch helplessly as Ding Hongyuan’s fleeing figure disappeared into the distance.
“How do you know him?” Cang Xuehe asked with a frown. “He’s not a good person. Stay away from him.”
Si Yao looked at Cang Xuehe, her own brow furrowed in immense frustration. She had finally managed to get the affection level up to 20 and was on the verge of completing the task, only for this “Chen Yaojin” (intruder) to ruin everything.
She pulled her hand back. “That’s none of your business.”
The way she looked now—frowning and snapping back—was exactly like a girl going through a rebellious phase.
“Heh.” Cang Xuehe seemed speechless, laughing in sheer exasperation. “I’m helping you, okay? You don’t actually want to get involved with someone like him, do you?”
Si Yao was genuinely bewildered. Since Cang Xuehe had caught her with the male lead and seemed so angry, why was her “Dislike Meter” still a grey bar, while her “Affection Level” had activated but remained stuck at 3?
After a brief thought, she decided to do the opposite of what was expected—she would cement her image as a gold-digger in Cang Xuehe’s mind so that the girl would stop ruining her plans.
“Miss Cang, even if I want to be with General Manager Ding, it’s none of your business.” She took a step back, her eyes filled with disdain. “Everyone has the right to pursue love. Since love has arrived, of course I’m going to grab it. Unless… you’re going to support me?”
Cang Xuehe went silent. Si Yao sneered inwardly, swept a glance over her, and turned to leave.
Suddenly, her hand was grabbed. Dragged by the force, Si Yao stumbled a couple of steps and turned her head in shock.
“Fine, I’ll support you!” Cang Xuehe tilted her head up defiantly. “You think I can’t afford to keep you?”
Si Yao: “…”
Zhao Yi was chatting with the bartender when Cang Xuehe returned. She turned to speak but saw an extra person by her side—someone wearing a bar girl’s uniform—and Cang Xuehe was still holding the girl’s hand.
“What’s the situation here?” Zhao Yi asked, puzzled. “Are you helping someone meet their sales quota?”
“No.” Cang Xuehe glanced at Xiao Youyi. “I’ll tell you next time. I have to go.”
“Hey? I—” Before Zhao Yi could finish, Cang Xuehe had already pulled the girl away. The tables had turned; the scene looked exactly like their previous encounter, just in reverse.
“Miss Cang, have you had enough of this nonsense?”
Once they were outside the bar, Xiao Youyi broke free from her grip. She frowned, her face indifferent, but her brow betrayed her displeasure.
“I’m serious.” Cang Xuehe looked earnest. At the entrance, curious bartenders were watching them with inquisitive gazes, and couples were kissing passionately, heedless of their surroundings.
She pulled the girl further down the street before stopping, right at the spot where they had met on that rainy night.
“Why are you working here anyway?” Cang Xuehe’s gaze swept downward. To satisfy the customers’ eyes, the bar uniform’s skirt was as short as could be, and the fabric at the chest was excessively sparse.
Cang Xuehe said irritably, “Do you have any idea what kind of people hang out in bars? You’re dressed like this—are you just waiting for someone to grope you?”
Instead of getting angry, Xiao Youyi laughed. She crossed her arms and jabbed back: “To earn money, obviously. I’m not like Miss Cang, born with a silver spoon and no worries about food or clothes.”
“You!” Cang Xuehe opened her mouth to snap that she wasn’t actually a “real” heiress, but she caught herself just in time. “How much do you make a month at the bar?”
Xiao Youyi remained silent.
“Forget it.” Cang Xuehe watched a car drive past them. “Can you drive?”
She immediately felt the question was pointless. Xiao Youyi was younger than her and “unemployed”; how would she have the time or energy to get a license?
To her surprise, Xiao Youyi said, “I can.”
Cang Xuehe was stunned. She didn’t know how Xiao Youyi had the money for a license either, but while sorting through the girl’s things earlier, she had indeed found a driver’s license obtained shortly after she turned eighteen.
“Fine then,” Cang Xuehe decided quickly. “I need a driver. Monthly salary is 20,000, with room and board included.”
She looked toward the bar. “Isn’t that better than your current job?”
A 20,000 monthly salary was tempting enough to make even Cang Xuehe herself interested—too bad she was now “Miss Cang” and no longer a struggling worker.
Xiao Youyi didn’t agree immediately; she seemed to be weighing her options. After a moment of stalemate, Cang Xuehe couldn’t stand the wait.
“What is there to consider for such a great job? If it were me, I’d have taken it already.”
Xiao Youyi looked at her with clear suspicion. “What’s your motive? Do you like Ding Hongyuan?”
Cang Xuehe couldn’t help but roll her eyes and blurted out without thinking: “I’d rather like you than like him!”
Wait, is that ‘half-step back’ you just took for real?!
“I was just making an analogy,” Cang Xuehe coughed dryly, changing the subject. “Are you doing it or not? If you don’t, there are plenty of people waiting for the spot.”
She spoke a bit too loudly in the quiet street. A passerby happened to hear her and turned back with a look that suggested they had stumbled upon a scene of someone negotiating a “service price,” then hurried away in fright.
“…Can you not be so loud?” Si Yao felt incredibly awkward under the passerby’s gaze. She looked away toward the other side of the road. “I need to think about it.”
After a brief thought, Cang Xuehe replied, “Fine, call me when you’ve decided.”
She wanted to take out her phone to exchange numbers, but after feeling through her pockets, she only found a lipstick. She looked at Xiao Youyi. “Did you bring your phone?”
“No.”
Cang Xuehe looked at the lipstick in her palm. “Stretch out your hand.”
Skeptically, Xiao Youyi reached out. Cang Xuehe grabbed her hand and wrote her phone number on the inside of the girl’s forearm.
Once finished, Cang Xuehe brushed back her hair and delivered a line she thought sounded cool: “Sister will be waiting for you~”
However, as Si Yao watched her walk away, her mind was on something else entirely.
This female lead NPC… is she broken? She isn’t following the script at all.