The meal was quite tiring for Ting Wan. It was a performance of “you serve me, I serve you.”
When living under someone else’s roof, one has to bow their head. The original owner, Su Youning, was truly poor. Her biological mother’s dowry was not in her possession, and she had very little money on hand. If Ting Wan wanted to run away, she first had to plan how to scrape some money into her pocket.
“Sister, I’m done eating. Take your time, there’s no rush. Father took a rickshaw when he went out today, so we can take the car! Sister, haven’t you wanted to ride in it for a long time? We happen to be able to take it today, and it’s faster too.” Su Xiaomo put down her bowl, wiped her mouth with a small handkerchief, and sat there as if to say, “I’ll wait for you.”
Not wanting to be the focus of the laser-like stares, Ting Wan felt she had eaten enough. She quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and said, “I’m done too. Let’s hurry to school! The driver might need to go pick up Father after dropping us off.”
The car was indeed waiting outside. It was clear that Mr. Su treasured this vehicle; it was so shiny that you couldn’t tell it was a used car at all.
However, riding in a car from this era was not comfortable.
Never mind the bumps from the uneven roads, just the smell inside the car and the hardness of the seats were enough to make one feel ill at ease.
By the time they had swayed all the way to Liu City Girls’ Middle School, Ting Wan felt like she was about to get carsick.
“Sister, the drama club has rehearsal today. You have to come. The club president has arranged a very important role for you!”
Su Xiaomo was half a year younger than her, so they were not in the same class. After getting out of the car, Su Xiaomo mentioned this to Ting Wan as if she had just remembered.
Ting Wan knew about this. That “very important role” was the simple-minded older sister—a character who needed to be made ugly—meant to highlight the female lead’s beauty and intelligence in the drama club’s original, self-produced play.
And the female lead, a paragon of beauty and intelligence, was played by Su Xiaomo.
This scene was in the original plot. The original owner wasn’t suited for the drama club to begin with; she only joined after Su Xiaomo’s enthusiastic invitation. After joining, almost everyone in the club revolved around the kind and gentle female lead. Since she didn’t understand drama, she had always been part of the background. This was her first time playing a role, so she was quite excited and tried very hard to play it well.
In the end, she did perform, but she was also harshly criticized and even earned the nickname “idiot.”
“Okay, little sister, I’ll definitely be there,” Ting Wan agreed.
Go? Of course she would go. But she had no intention of playing the role.
She remembered that almost everyone in the club revolved around the female lead, but there was one person who stood apart from the rest. This person was a crucial part of her initial plan—the drama club’s vice president, Sang Yuan.
Sang Yuan was an outstanding liaison for the Red Faction. Despite being only seventeen, she had already been a member of the Red Faction for four years!
She was also one of the few people in the novel who was not affected by the female lead’s halo.
After some research, Ting Wan discovered that all the characters in the book who were not affected by the male and female leads’ halos were members of the Red Faction.
From this, it was clear: the Red Faction’s brilliance shines in my heart!
After her analysis, Ting Wan made a decision. She had to dedicate her red heart to the motherland. Even if she ended up as cannon fodder on the path to serving her country, it was better than being cannon fodder for the sake of the male and female leads’ romance.
Therefore, she absolutely had to go to the drama club rehearsal. How else was she going to get close to the Red Faction liaison, Miss Sang Yuan!
After promising Su Xiaomo she would go to the drama club, the two parted ways. Since they weren’t in the same class or even on the same floor, there was no need to walk together.
Ting Wan was quite happy to walk alone.
Because she didn’t know if walking with Su Xiaomo at school would attract those laser-like gazes at the slightest disturbance.
All she could say was that in this world, under the influence of the female lead’s “everyone loves me” halo, there were truly not many normal people left.
She hadn’t been to class in years. After a full day of lessons, the knowledge was right in front of her, but it just wouldn’t enter her brain!
Ting Wan dazedly finished her school day and followed the route from her memory toward the auditorium where the drama club rehearsed.
When she arrived, Su Xiaomo was already there.
No, it would be more accurate to say that almost everyone except Ting Wan was already there.
Why “almost”? Because the Red Faction liaison she wanted to get close to, Sang Yuan, wasn’t there either.
“Sister, you’re finally here. I was worried you weren’t coming.”
Upon seeing Ting Wan, Su Xiaomo trotted over, her face filled with a delighted smile.
And along with her delighted little face came that damned familiar feeling.
However, this damned familiar feeling was ultimately different from the one at home that morning.
The laser-like gazes at home would only illuminate your awkwardness; they wouldn’t attack you with words.
“Xiaomo, why are you even talking to her? You treat her like a real sister, but she doesn’t treat you like a real little sister. Otherwise, why would she make you wait here for so long?”
The speaker was Su Xiaomo’s “best friend” from the early stages, Shen Zhenzhen. Why “early stages,” and why emphasize “best friend”?
The reason was simple: this Shen Zhenzhen was also a female supporting character.
However, she was a step up from Su Youning. She wasn’t a cannon fodder supporting character, but a villainous one.
The Shen and Su families moved to Hong City together. After they moved, Su Youning ran away from her engagement, and Su Xiaomo married into the Shaoshuai Residence. As Su Xiaomo’s good friend, Shen Zhenzhen naturally went to the Shaoshuai Residence to visit her.
As a result, Shen Zhenzhen fell for Xiao Tang and then planned to backstab Su Xiaomo.
However, the outcome was very obvious: she did not succeed.
Perhaps because villainous supporting characters had more clout, Shen Zhenzhen didn’t get sent to her grave. Instead, she married Xiao Tang’s arch-nemesis and became a very competent villainous supporting character, dedicated to causing trouble for the male and female leads.
She also lived long enough to be taken offline only at the very end.
But for now, Shen Zhenzhen was still Su Xiaomo’s good friend, primarily focused on standing up for her friend and mocking her friend’s insensible older sister.
The cannon fodder supporting character had no desire to argue with the villainous one. Ting Wan gave Shen Zhenzhen a smile that showed all eight of her teeth, then found a place to sit down on her own.
Feeling provoked, Shen Zhenzhen’s face flushed with anger. She took two steps forward, wanting to have it out with Ting Wan.
But just then, Su Xiaomo stopped her. “Zhenzhen, my sister isn’t that late.”
The way she said it made it sound as if Ting Wan really was late.
Ting Wan glanced at the clock in the auditorium. The drama club’s activities had always started at 4:30, right? It was only 4:20.
“She is late! Xiaomo, you’re just too kind. Stop making excuses for her!” Shen Zhenzhen raised her voice.
Just then, a person walked in from outside the auditorium:
“Am I late? When did our club’s rehearsal time change?”
A blouse, riding breeches, and a high ponytail.
The newcomer was none other than the Red Faction liaison Ting Wan had been eagerly anticipating, Sang Yuan.