Reborn to Stew Soup (GL) 23

Chapter 23: Godfather

Mi Hongdou ultimately didn’t go over for a closer look. After all, even if she confirmed it was that person, there was nothing she could do, only add to her frustration. On this good day, when she had just been praised by her idol, Mi Hongdou decided to maintain her good mood for a little longer.

However, just because Mi Hongdou didn’t go looking for someone didn’t mean no one would come looking for her.

“Make me another bowl of that egg fried rice, I’ll pay you.” The persistent Jiang Lingling, clutching money, came to find Mi Hongdou again.

The originally harmonious atmosphere instantly froze.

Although Jiang Lingling was looking for Mi Hongdou, for some reason, both Director Pan and Mi Hongdou’s first reaction was to look at Ji Junxin. Only Pan Xiang, oblivious to the situation, looked at this arrogant girl with interest. She was asking for a favor, yet spoke with such arrogance. Only a fool would sell it to her.

Mi Hongdou quickly realized that this no longer had anything to do with Ji Junxin and retracted her gaze, looking directly at the young and hot-headed Jiang Lingling. After seeing Jiang Lingling earlier, Mi Hongdou had consciously looked towards the group of investors. As expected, Jiang Lingling had been brought in by someone. Actually, in the later years of her previous life, Mi Hongdou had interacted with Jiang Lingling and considered her somewhat of an acquaintance. Now, it was just a matter of a bowl of fried rice. Making it for her wasn’t a big deal. However, this girl, besides being capricious and arrogant, was also a bit stubborn. She was afraid that this wouldn’t end with just one bowl of rice.

While Mi Hongdou was hesitating, Pan Xiang spoke with a smile: “Miss, if you’re hungry, just drive to the nearby village. There are plenty of farm restaurants there. As long as you pay, they can make you anything, not just egg fried rice, even a whole chicken feast. This is a film set, not a cafeteria, no one sells food here.” Pan Xiang saw Mi Hongdou’s hesitation, but she didn’t understand what there was to hesitate about. Just because she had some connection to the investors? Pan Xiang, backed by Director Pan and Qiao Rubai, wasn’t afraid of her. If she were a true food lover, like herself, wanting to get a free meal would be understandable. But looking at her attitude, it was as if everyone owed her a feast. She wasn’t likable at all. Forget about not having food, even if there was, it wouldn’t be her turn. After speaking, Pan Xiang winked at Ji Junxin.

Ji Junxin was also dissatisfied with Jiang Lingling’s arrogant attitude. Moreover, Mi Hongdou was an actress in the crew, not a cook who could be ordered around. She herself had to wait for the reshoot to eat another bowl of egg fried rice. What was this person who barged in trying to do? “Cough… yes, not for sale.” Arguing wasn’t Ji Junxin’s forte. She wanted to say, “Who cares about your money? If Mi Hongdou was willing to sell the rice, I would buy it all, it wouldn’t be your turn, you random stranger.” However, using money to measure the food Mi Hongdou made was too vulgar. Ji Junxin thought that she had also been influenced by this vulgarity and became even angrier.

Since both Pan Xiang and Ji Junxin had spoken, Mi Hongdou wouldn’t offend them for Jiang Lingling’s sake. However, knowing a bit about Jiang Lingling’s future, she didn’t want to be too harsh and just shook her head, making her stance clear.

Jiang Lingling didn’t listen to Pan Xiang and Ji Junxin’s words at all. After Mi Hongdou shook her head, she angrily rummaged through her pockets, pulled out a wad of red bills, didn’t even count them, and without saying a word, held the money out to Mi Hongdou.

This… this kind of… rude, nouveau riche behavior was shocking. Fortunately, she held it out, not threw it. Pan Xiang looked at the wad of cash in Jiang Lingling’s hand and roughly estimated that it was about two thousand yuan. Buying a bowl of egg fried rice for two thousand yuan? This girl wasn’t just rich, she was probably also a crazy rich person. Besides, who would carry so much cash in their pockets without a wallet? In Pan Xiang’s eyes, Jiang Lingling had been classified as someone crazy to be avoided.

Pan Xiang was too stunned to speak. Director Pan awkwardly looked away, not knowing how to get involved in this strange girl’s bizarre behavior. Ji Junxin, however, was truly angered: “Do you think you can buy anything with money? Do you think… do you think…” This behavior of throwing money at people, coupled with Jiang Lingling’s arrogant expression, angered Ji Junxin. Her tone became harsh, but unfortunately, lacking experience in insulting people, she didn’t know how to express her anger, her face flushing red.

“Do you think everyone is your mother and has to spoil you…” Pan Xiang, unable to stand it any longer, completed Ji Junxin’s sentence.

Ji Junxin’s anger subsided. She pulled Mi Hongdou behind her, “She’s trying to set you up. If you take her money and cook for her today, the media will twist the story.”

Being… pulled by her idol’s… sleeve! Jiang Lingling wasn’t the type to set people up. She was usually the one being set up. But Mi Hongdou wouldn’t be so foolish as to say that out loud. Being pulled by her idol’s sleeve felt surreal. Was this strange feeling really okay? In her previous life, when she interacted with Ji Junxin, Ji Junxin was already very good at keeping a distance from the world. Mi Hongdou had never experienced this kind of treatment. Suddenly, she truly felt the benefits of rebirth. The Jiang Lingling in front of her was becoming more and more… not annoying.

“Newcomer Sells ‘Herself’ for Money,” “The Secret ‘Sugar Daddy’ Behind the Egg Fried Rice,” “2000 Yuan for a Bowl of Rice, Newcomer’s New Price”… Just imagining it, Ji Junxin could come up with several news headlines. She glanced at the foolish-looking Mi Hongdou. Newcomers were so naive. Ji Junxin began to wonder if this girl who wanted to buy the rice was really brought by the investors, or if someone had sent her to frame Mi Hongdou. In her eyes, Jiang Lingling had transformed from a slightly unpleasant stranger to a hidden class enemy.

Ji Junxin, holding Mi Hongdou with one hand, habitually reached for her phone in her pocket to call Qiao Rubai. Then she realized that she had rushed over to see how the egg fried rice was made and hadn’t even changed her clothes. She was still wearing her costume, where would she have her phone? Ji Junxin, unable to find her phone, ignored Jiang Lingling, whose expression was getting worse and worse, and stood on tiptoe, looking around for Lu Gaoshi, who was holding her belongings.

She didn’t see Lu Gaoshi, but her searching gaze caught the eye of Qiao Rubai, who was holding her waist and still dealing with the investors. At the same time, she also saw Jiang Lingling with them.

So, Qiao Rubai, like a tour guide, led the group of investors over.

Compared to the relieved Ji Junxin, Jiang Lingling clearly felt the power of having backing.

“Godfather…” Jiang Lingling, repeatedly rejected, acted like a little girl who had been wronged outside and pulled on the sleeve of a chubby man among the investors, a man with a bald head and a protruding belly. The chubby man chuckled and patted her head.

The word “godfather” made everyone’s eyes gleam with intrigue. Except, of course, Qiao Rubai and Mi Hongdou.

“Godfather, I can’t get that fried rice.” Jiang Lingling, still clutching a wad of cash, complained angrily.

The chubby man’s smile didn’t fade. His gaze swept over Mi Hongdou, Ji Junxin, and Qiao Rubai. He took the money from Jiang Lingling’s hand. “Alright, it’s okay, let’s go eat something else.” He skillfully straightened the slightly crumpled bills and put them back in Jiang Lingling’s hand.

“But, Godfather, you clearly wanted to eat the egg fried rice she made.” Jiang Lingling looked at Mi Hongdou unwillingly.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. The egg fried rice Lingling makes is even more delicious. Let’s go back, and Lingling can make it for Godfather.” The chubby man patiently coaxed her.

“Really?” Jiang Lingling didn’t think her own cooking could compare to the fragrant bowl Mi Hongdou had just made.

“Really, really, our Lingling’s cooking is the best.” The chubby man said, pulling Jiang Lingling’s sleeve, greeting Qiao Rubai, and leading her away. After taking two steps, he seemed to remember something, turned around, and smiled kindly at Mi Hongdou, abruptly saying, “Little Empress, good performance, keep up the good work.” Then, he really left.

The loving father and daughter left, leaving behind a group of people with different expressions. Mi Hongdou secretly glanced around. Except for Qiao Rubai and Ji Junxin, everyone else was more or less embarrassed. Of course, a capricious young goddaughter and a wealthy, middle-aged godfather, in this situation, most people would imagine an impure relationship between them.

However, in a few years, they would know that these two were truly just a pure godfather and goddaughter.

Dong Yuannan, when he was young, was dirt poor. Later, he made a fortune in the stock market and entered the real estate industry, becoming a nouveau riche developer. When he was poor, he couldn’t afford to marry. It wasn’t until he made his fortune in the stock market that he married a woman more than ten years younger than him, and he never remarried. Their relationship had always been good, but five or six years ago, Dong Yuannan returned to his hometown. When he came back, he brought a fifteen-year-old girl with him, saying that she was the daughter of a fellow villager. Her family had all passed away, and she was alone, so he took her in as his goddaughter. That girl was Jiang Lingling. Suddenly bringing a goddaughter back really shocked his wife.

Dong Yuannan’s hometown was a very poor place. No one knew what Jiang Lingling was like before. Dong Yuannan himself was an uneducated nouveau riche. His wife only cared about raising their son and didn’t care about the goddaughter, so Dong Yuannan transformed Jiang Lingling in his own way. As for the specific method, it was probably something like, “Godfather has money, don’t be afraid to spend it,” or something like that… Anyway, when Jiang Lingling appeared in public two years ago, she wasn’t unfashionable, just rich…

In her previous life, many people misunderstood the relationship between Dong Yuannan and Jiang Lingling. There was no helping it. These two always acted like they lacked common sense, calling each other “godfather” and “goddaughter” in public, even closer than a real father and daughter. In her previous life, Jiang Lingling also seemed to have entered the entertainment industry around this time. She had a role as a concubine in “Imperial Secrets.” Mi Hongdou didn’t have any impression of her other works, mainly because her attention was focused on Ji Junxin at that time. She only knew that there was such a person in the industry, and that this person had such a godfather. Right, Mi Hongdou was also one of the people who misunderstood them.

But at that time, no one inside or outside the industry expected that life would always be more dramatic than fiction!