Chapter 1: I Also Want Cake (1)
“As a newly promoted vicious female supporting character about to embark on your first mission! Host, are you ready?” The system’s voice was brimming with excitement.
“No.”
“Okay! You’re ready to embrace this new challenge! Host, let’s show the female lead what we’re made of!”
“Charge! Charge! Charge! Let the male lead experience the wickedness of the world.” Jiang Zhiyan extended her fist, weakly echoing the system’s enthusiasm.
“Host, you got the slogan wrong.”
“No.”
Jiang Zhiyan was originally in the Female Lead Department, but because her appearance alone could generate more hatred than the original villain in the plot, she was officially transferred yesterday to the “Vicious Female Supporting Character and Villain” Department.
“Host, shall we go now?”
“You sound very excited.” Jiang Zhiyan said thoughtfully.
The system immediately responded, letting out a forced laugh: “Hahaha, I’m just happy to have found the right track for you, Host. Definitely not because I want to see a good show.”
“You better shut up.” Jiang Zhiyan retorted, lying on the bed, staring at the white ceiling, then slowly closing her eyes. “Let’s go.”
…
“Ah, I’m… I’m sorry!”
As soon as Jiang Zhiyan opened her eyes, she saw a girl bumping into her. Unable to dodge, she grabbed the girl’s shoulders, but the impact still made her stagger.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to, I…” The girl looked at Jiang Zhiyan with red eyes, seemingly realizing her gaffe, she wiped the corners of her eyes.
“It’s okay.” Jiang Zhiyan released her grip. The girl bit her lip, as if wanting to say something, but her emotions were clearly out of control. In the end, she didn’t utter a word and turned to run away.
Jiang Zhiyan turned her head, watching the girl’s retreating figure, casually smoothing the long hair scattered across her chest: “Is she the female lead?”
“Yes.” The system replied. “The female lead, Liang Xi.”
Jiang Zhiyan looked away and only then noticed the people on both sides looking at her with strange expressions.
She paid them no mind, focusing on absorbing the plot.
This was a high school campus secret love story. The female lead had a crush on the male lead, a very clichéd plot. The male lead saves the damsel in distress, and the female lead falls in love at first sight. Ever since her crush began, the female lead delivered desserts to the male lead every day. While the male lead was internally affected, he remained cold and indifferent towards her. After entering university, the female lead gave up, and the male lead, finally witnessing the interaction between the female lead and the second male lead, suddenly realized his feelings for the female lead, thus starting the “she runs, he chases, she can’t fly away” chasing-wife-crematorium arc.
As for Jiang Zhiyan…
She was an extremely low-level vicious female supporting character, seemingly born to highlight the female lead’s good qualities. She was fickle, changing boyfriends ten times a month; she was materialistic, using her beautiful appearance to mingle among wealthy young men; she was ruthless, finding trouble with the female lead every day, indulging in driving a wedge between the male and female leads. However, she was also very stupid, her schemes always exposed.
Later, when the female lead no longer needed her as a foil, she simply and violently died in a car accident.
Her tool-person attributes were extremely obvious.
Jiang Zhiyan: …
She now understood why everyone in the hallway looked at her so strangely. It was because she was dating her ex-boyfriend’s stepmother’s son with her ex-husband.
The author had written the vicious female supporting character to be quite skilled in this aspect. She could manipulate several men with just sweet words. However, when framing the female lead, her brain seemed to be kicked by a donkey, self-destructing even in broad daylight. Jiang Zhiyan reasonably suspected that her high-skill setting was meant to highlight the male lead’s unwavering moral character.
But now the problem arose.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at the rows of messages on her phone, her eyes darkening.
The “Jiang Zhiyan” in the plot was skilled, but she was not. In her previous roles as the female lead, she could literally infuriate the official male lead to death, even managing to sever the red thread of fate (destined relationship) that was thicker than eight hundred steel bars tied together. Now…
Honestly, she scrolled through the female supporting character’s friends list. This network was too powerful.
All contacts had a fixed format in their notes:
[Name | Identity | Class | Number]
Based on the number, she could find detailed information about each person in a spreadsheet created by the original Jiang Zhiyan. She even made a detailed relationship chart, clear at a glance and easy to search.
Jiang Zhiyan could only express her amazement.
Her current family background wasn’t bad either, considered mid-tier in this high school with annual tuition fees of hundreds of thousands. She didn’t understand… With this network and original background, what couldn’t she accomplish?
However, some things logically couldn’t be delved into too deeply, and now wasn’t the time to think about these things.
The important thing now was how to reply to these messages.
“Host, you can improvise. Just don’t piss them off.”
“I definitely can’t piss them off.” Jiang Zhiyan looked at the list of rich and influential individuals. Although she would eventually die, for the sake of a comfortable life before that, she definitely couldn’t offend these people.
She pondered, replying to the messages one by one.
[Su Huo | Youngest of Star Entertainment | 26 | 7: My new pony [picture]]
[Zhi Zhi Knows: Very cute. Horseback riding is indeed a good sport.]
[An Mingsu | An’s Long-awaited Son | 23 | 9: Yesterday’s selfie was good, why aren’t there any today?]
[Zhi Zhi Knows: You have good taste. I’m tired today, so there aren’t any.]
[Wei Ting | Ex-boyfriend | 21 | 8: Aren’t you disgusted being with him? Should I start calling you sister-in-law?]
[Zhi Zhi Knows: You seem agitated. You should drink some chrysanthemum tea. What you want to call me is your freedom, I have no right to interfere.]
[Wei Ting | Ex-boyfriend | 21 | 8: Wow, you’ve learned to be sarcastic, haven’t you?]
[Zhi Zhi Knows: How could you say that? Please don’t misunderstand my good intentions.]
…
After replying to the messages, Jiang Zhiyan rubbed her temples. She had never done anything so tiring.
The female supporting character in the book was also impressive, dealing with so many people every day yet still maintaining good grades. What a time management master.
“Host, aren’t your replies too stiff? Like some kind of AI response.” The system was so shocked it was speechless. With Jiang Zhiyan like this, the fish in the pond would probably all be gone in less than three days.
“How polite.” Jiang Zhiyan said nonchalantly.
She returned to the classroom and sat down.
She and the male lead, Yan Yanzhuo, were in the same class. Yan Yanzhuo was considered the richest of the rich young men at school and also the person she had always wanted to get close to but couldn’t.
Jiang Zhiyan turned her head slightly towards his direction, twirling her pen: “Liang Xi smells quite nice.”
“Really?” The system asked warily, “Why are you paying attention to this?”
There had been cases of hosts turning the female lead gay and then running off. This absolutely could not happen to its current host.
“Because she smells nice, like a small cake.” Jiang Zhiyan rested her chin on her hand. “The male lead seems to smell bad.”
“The male lead has OCD, he definitely wouldn’t smell bad.”
“You can’t smell him.” Jiang Zhiyan’s voice was calm and unhurried, her expression suggesting she wasn’t lying.
“I’ll have someone check it out.”
Jiang Zhiyan doodled casually on the flyleaf of her textbook. Despite being just a few lines, they somehow resembled a human figure.
“Host, don’t forget, you’re supposed to cause trouble for Liang Xi this afternoon.”
“I remember, I’m going to steal the cake.”
*****************
Chapter 2: I Also Want Cake (2)
In order to snatch the female lead’s cake, Jiang Zhiyan waited early in the hallway. She leaned against the railing, watching the passersby. Her phone had accumulated quite a few messages, but she wasn’t too keen on replying.
“Host, I’m very satisfied with your work ethic. Remember when you were the female lead, you weren’t proactive at all, only thinking about slacking off.” The system complained.
“Really? I remember being very proactive.”
“Yes, and you had the same expression you have now, no matter the plot.”
“Oh.”
“And your attitude was just as perfunctory as it is now.”
Liang Xi appeared at the end of the hallway. Jiang Zhiyan straightened up from the railing, adjusting her posture.
“She didn’t deliver desserts this morning, but she’s in a bad mood.” Jiang Zhiyan observed Liang Xi, whose expression still seemed rather down.
“Host, something’s really off about you.”
Jiang Zhiyan ignored it and raised her hand to stop Liang Xi.
Liang Xi looked at Jiang Zhiyan in surprise, nervously clutching the item in her hand, her eyes widening slightly.
“Is that for me?”
“Huh?” Liang Xi froze for two seconds.
“Because you apologized this morning.” Jiang Zhiyan blinked, then smiled sheepishly, lowering her head, her voice tinged with melancholy. “I was being presumptuous. I thought it was for me… because I’ve always been envious of the cakes you make.”
System: Not right, very not right.
“Do you want it?” Liang Xi immediately placed the cake in Jiang Zhiyan’s hand, seemingly without a second thought, a smile appearing on her face. “Yes, it is for you.”
It was the first time someone had so clearly expressed their desire for her desserts.
System: The female lead is also not right! What kind of shocking bug is this?
Jiang Zhiyan looked at the small box tied with a bow in her hand, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly: “Thank you… You like Yan Yanzhuo, right?”
Liang Xi opened her mouth.
It was strange.
Looking into Jiang Zhiyan’s eyes, she was completely unable to voice the answer she was so sure of.
“I’m quite knowledgeable about desserts. I’ll take this back to try, and then I can give you some suggestions to help you… win his heart in one fell swoop.” Jiang Zhiyan didn’t give Liang Xi a chance to answer, continuing, “Should we exchange contact information?”
System: ???
“Ah, wouldn’t that be too much trouble?” Liang Xi was a bit flustered.
“Not at all. I happen to like desserts, so it’s… mutually beneficial?” Jiang Zhiyan said with a smile, blinking. “Think about it quickly, class is about to start.”
“Then I’ll trouble you. I really don’t know what to do anymore. I feel like I’ve hit a bottleneck.” Liang Xi took out her phone. “Tell me what you like to eat, and I’ll make it for you.”
After adding each other as friends, Jiang Zhiyan bid farewell to Liang Xi and returned to her class. Everyone’s gaze fell on Jiang Zhiyan’s hand.
“She’s so shameless. I bet she’s planning to help Liang Xi deliver the things and then take the opportunity to get in touch with Young Master Yan.” Someone whispered.
“No, she gave this to me.” Jiang Zhiyan turned to look at the speaker, who didn’t expect her to answer directly, her expression turning ugly. “Don’t misunderstand next time.”
Yan Yanzhuo, sitting in the last row, looked up, frowning at Jiang Zhiyan. Jiang Zhiyan met his gaze calmly, then sat down, pulling out the makeup bag from her drawer and tossing it on the floor, making room for the dessert box.
The system, having exploded, had been muttering complaints for two minutes. Jiang Zhiyan didn’t understand why it was so talkative.
“Host! What are you doing?”
“Stealing the cake.”
“Is this stealing? You should snatch the cake, take a bite, declare it disgusting, and then throw it on the floor.” The system spoke rapidly. “Are you planning to go the green tea, white lotus route? That’s not a bad idea…”
“I’m stealing the male lead’s cake. Look, he’s angry.”
System: ???
“Alright, just kidding. I do want to go the green tea, white lotus route, build a good relationship, and then tamper with the cakes later. Are you satisfied?”
“I feel like you’re just brushing me off.” The system had a strong feeling. It tried to discern something from Jiang Zhiyan’s face, but couldn’t see anything.
Every time it said something, Jiang Zhiyan would agree, but it knew clearly how difficult this host was. She could explain all her unusual actions in a way that made the system accept them, but these actions would ultimately lead to a result that had nothing to do with the original plot. When the result came out, Jiang Zhiyan would act even more upset than the system, making it feel like she had actually tried.
It always suspected that Jiang Zhiyan was playing it, but it had no proof.
With things like this, it had no choice but to believe Jiang Zhiyan’s explanations.
Seeing that there was only one minute left before class started, Jiang Zhiyan changed Liang Xi’s contact information to the unified format.
[Liang Xi | X | 29 | 0]
“What does ‘X’ mean?”
Jiang Zhiyan caught sight of the teacher at the door and stuffed her phone into the drawer: “Class is starting, don’t talk.”
System: !!!
After school, Jiang Zhiyan was stopped at the door. It took her a moment to remember that this person was her current boyfriend, who seemed to be called Lin… Lin Shenyu.
“Why didn’t you reply to my messages?” He leaned against the doorframe, looking at Jiang Zhiyan.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at him: “System, can I break up with him right now?”
“No, you’re the key to their reconciliation.”
Jiang Zhiyan was speechless. Her role as a tool person was quite versatile. Reconciling brothers, then being sacrificed. What a touching brotherhood.
“Why aren’t you talking?” He asked again.
Jiang Zhiyan couldn’t see much affection in his eyes, only faint impatience.
“Studying.” Jiang Zhiyan yawned. “Do you have something to say? Let’s talk somewhere else. Don’t block the doorway, the students behind can’t get through.”
Lin Shenyu looked at her with slight surprise: “Since when did you have such civic-mindedness?”
“I’ve always had it, I just think it’s embarrassing to stand here.” Jiang Zhiyan said calmly.
The faint smile on Lin Shenyu’s lips stiffened slightly: “Let’s go then.”
He glanced at the small box in Jiang Zhiyan’s hand, frowning, his tone becoming a little more serious: “Where did you get this?”
“This?” Jiang Zhiyan raised the dessert box, the smile in her eyes deepening. “Liang Xi gave it to me.”
“Why would she give this to you? Doesn’t she give it to…”
“Carefully made desserts should, of course, be given to those who can appreciate them.” Jiang Zhiyan lowered her hand, her smile fading slightly, staring into Lin Shenyu’s eyes, her tone gentle and warm. “So, do you have any objections?”
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