Chapter 42

Seeing that the author didn’t press further, Wen Jiu finally let out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, she hadn’t asked about the third book. The first two only involved the male lead ending up with the female supporting character; the character settings hadn’t changed much, relying on natural development in reality.
But the third one, Su Yaoyao had already shifted from a clingy, ornamental sweetheart into an independent female lead. If the author found out, she’d probably stand up and fight her.
Unaware of all this, the author poured Wen Jiu a full cup of warm water and slid it over gently. “My name is Song Qin.”
“Nice to meet you, Song Qin. I’m Wen Jiu.” They were, in a sense, getting to know each other anew.
After calming down, Song Qin seemed emotionally stable, but whether her heart was truly at peace, only she knew.
Wen Jiu had merely stabilized her for now, there was no guarantee it would last.
“I’ll call President Chu in. From now on, we’re the guardians of his and the young lady’s love. As long as their relationship is stable, the world won’t collapse.”
“Are we only locking onto this book?” Song Qin caught the key point. “The other two, did you also split up my son and daughter’s CPs?!”
Wen Jiu: “……”
Honestly, Song Qin being a little crazy wasn’t so bad. When she was calm, her brain worked too fast.
“Yue Ling, you know, went off to film. Ji Yanting followed her, and I can’t control that. I’m not close to Ji Yanting.”
“And Wen Ling is fully focused on her career now. She probably doesn’t have feelings for Ji Yanting anymore.”
“The female lead told you that herself?”
Wen Jiu opened Wen Ling’s chat history and showed it to Song Qin. “She really did say it herself.
But Yue Ling is also focused on her career. Even if she and Ji Yanting end up together, it won’t be anytime soon. I suggest we focus our energy on the young lady and Chu Yan.”
“And you don’t mention Su Yaoyao? She’s my favorite daughter.”
Wen Jiu strategically took a sip of water. “Your daughter should arrive in Beicheng tonight. Why don’t you see her yourself tomorrow?”
At the same time, she muttered internally.
Her biological daughter actually had it worse than the other two. Those two were constrained, sure, but they still had personal freedom. In the book, Su Yaoyao didn’t even have that.
Having experienced five world collapses, Song Qin didn’t feel as deeply attached to the three books she’d written in her early years as she appeared. She didn’t hold it against Wen Jiu for dismantling the CPs.
Chu Yan didn’t know what Wen Jiu and Song Qin had discussed. He only knew that Song Qin had dropped the idea of making him divorce.
The three of them sat together. Even with Wen Jiu trying to liven things up, there was barely any conversation.
She shot Song Qin a glare.
Wasn’t she the one who created such an uncommunicative male lead in the first place?
In the end, the three reached a silent agreement. Wen Jiu was finally able to leave, though Chu Yan was the one who drove her back.
She wasn’t polite about it at all, climbing straight into the back seat and treating the male lead like a chauffeur.
Resting her chin in her hand, Wen Jiu couldn’t understand what exactly, aside from his face, made Chu Yan attractive to the young lady. If it were her, she wouldn’t last a single day.
Thinking this, she spoke,
“President Chu, Song Qin’s appearance may have made things feel unreal to you, causing you to distance yourself from the young lady. But the young lady doesn’t know about this. She’ll worry, she’ll grow anxious, and if this continues, she might do something she’ll regret.
Song Qin’s words may not necessarily be trustworthy. President Chu doesn’t need to distance himself from the young lady because of this. Everything is still unknown. All the more reason to cherish the people around you.”
Wen Jiu was sitting in the back and couldn’t see Chu Yan’s expression. She only heard a brief response from the front.
After returning to the hotel, she waited half an hour, timing it carefully, before finally sending a message to the Young Miss.
Wen Jiu: Miss, was President Chu normal tonight?
At this hour, the young lady would usually already be asleep. But recently Chu Yan had been acting strangely, and today was the first day she had sent Wen Jiu to investigate. She ended up staying awake, waiting for a reply.
Qin Yao: He just got back. He looks normal.
Qin Yao: So what exactly happened?
Wen Jiu: Someone got close to President Chu. President Chu kept his distance, I saw it with my own eyes. Maybe President Chu thinks he attracts too much attention and feels “unclean” these past few days, so he’s been keeping his distance from you.
Wen Jiu: But that’s just President Chu being narcissistic. I found that person today. She doesn’t like President Chu. She knows me, admires you, and really envies my job. She wanted to be the guardian of your love with President Chu, but instead caused a lot of unnecessary trouble.
She was different from Song Qin. Song Qin had family and friends, but after experiencing five world collapses, in this one she didn’t like getting close to people at all. She even held herself above everyone else, seeing everyone but herself as paper characters. She exposed her identity as a transmigrator and treated others as if they were a different species.
Wen Jiu didn’t want the Young Lady to know she herself was a transmigrator.
From the beginning, she only wanted to live well in the original body. The original owner had agreed, even entrusting Wen Jiu with fulfilling her unfinished wishes.
To keep the secret, and to allow Song Qin to stand openly under the sun, beside the Young Lady and Chu Yan, the only option was to sacrifice Chu Yan’s reputation.
Automatically skipping over Chu Yan’s narcissism, the Young Miss’s eyes fixated on just six words: guardian of their love.
Sticky-sweet and embarrassingly cheesy, but it was praising her love with Chu Yan!
Qin Yao: Have her come to work with you tomorrow. I’ll put her on payroll, half of what you make. Even if she has good taste, I won’t let her surpass you.
Qin Yao: But people outside aren’t necessarily all good. I’ll have the butler keep an eye on her. If there’s a problem, I’ll make her pay until she’s ruined.
Wen Jiu had just been about to tell the Young Lady not to trust strangers so easily when she saw the next message.
She puckered her lips, both surprised and delighted.
Surprised that the Young Lady wasn’t as naive and easygoing as she appeared. Delighted that the Young Miss treated her differently from others.
Maybe the Lady Miss had once been wary of her, but not anymore. Now, she and the Young Lady were running toward each other from both sides.
Wen Jiu: Miss, you’re the best!
Qin Yao: Alright, I’m going to sleep. Good night, Wen Jiu.
Qin Yao: If you like working, keep going to Chu Group. If you don’t, tell Li Xuan, you don’t have to go anymore.
The Young Lady was special only to Wen Jiu. As for this later “guardian of love,” she had no intention of having Assistant Li arrange for her to work at Chu Group.
Wen Jiu: Good night, Young Miss.
But Wen Jiu still couldn’t go wash up. She had to wait for Su Yaoyao to arrive at the hotel so she could open the door for her.
Shen Xingzhou hadn’t gone to pick someone up with the same fanfare as the Young Miss, ripping up a plane ticket and flying straight to Haicheng. Instead, he quietly flew there, then brought Su Yaoyao back on a commercial flight.
He was too low-key, too down-to-earth. Wen Jiu didn’t really understand the gap between wealthy families, so she always thought the Young Lady calling him “Young Master Shen” was just politeness. Even now, she hadn’t truly associated Shen Xingzhou with being a top-tier heir, at most, it was just something people said out loud.
When he arrived, he was even carrying late-night food he’d specifically bought for Wen Jiu.
“Spicy crab? Crayfish?!”
Wen Jiu flung the door open and let Shen Xingzhou in.
Su Yaoyao went to her room to put away her luggage. Shen Xingzhou stood tall by the dining table, taking out the food one by one and plating it neatly.
Once he finished, Wen Jiu finally jumped onto his back. Her cheers rang in his ears as she praised him without restraint. “Shen Xingzhou, you’re simply the best boyfriend in the world.”
The tips of the man’s ears turned red. His strong arms supported Wen Jiu, carrying her steadily on his back.
“Jiujiu is great too. The best in the world. One of a kind.”
Wen Jiu’s compliments followed a fixed template, like asking “Have you eaten?”, sincere but casual.
Shen Xingzhou’s response, though, was full of genuine feeling. Like a feather, it drifted lightly and landed right on her heart.
If she hadn’t still been clinging to him, Wen Jiu would’ve had to clutch her chest.
“Did you get a little taller again?” They’d been together for three months through autumn, and she hadn’t noticed. But after being apart for over a week, the difference stood out immediately.
She jumped down from his back and raised her hand to measure him.
“Yeah. Two centimeters taller.”
“Wow, so that’s 187 now. Maybe you’ll hit 188 by New Year’s.”
Wen Jiu was full of envy. “You’re only two years younger than me. How are you still growing? I haven’t grown in ages.”
Shen Xingzhou lifted her up. “If I carry Jiujiu, then Jiujiu is two meters tall.”
Every time Shen Xingzhou said sweet words, his round eyes were filled with deep, lingering affection. Not the watery charm of peach-blossom eyes, but something clear and sincere. In that reflected pool of light, there was only Wen Jiu.
It was hard not to be moved.
She grabbed his deep chestnut hair and leaned down along the angle of his arms around her waist, just before her lips touched,
“Jiujiu, I’m ready!” Su Yaoyao straightened up, wanting Wen Jiu to see her bravery in facing netizens. She held her head high and walked out of the room.
She jogged into the dining area, and froze.
One act of bravery, followed by an entire meal of introversion.
Su Yaoyao nearly buried her head in the crayfish.
Spicy winter night snacks hit hard, and Shen Xingzhou knew exactly what Wen Jiu liked.
“Um… you two…” Su Yaoyao hesitated again and again before mustering the courage to look up. “Is Shen Xingzhou staying the night?”
“He’s not. He’s going home,” Wen Jiu answered before Shen Xingzhou could.
She wasn’t clueless. Leaving both Su Yaoyao and Shen Xingzhou, Shen Xingzhou might be fine, but Su Yaoyao would probably be unable to sleep all night.
By the time Shen Xingzhou left, it was already 1:30 a.m.
After washing up, Wen Jiu found Su Yaoyao still typing away at her novel and hurried to urge her to sleep.
“But readers really want extra updates. I type fast, if I stay up late, they can read tens of thousands more words and they’ll be really happy.”
Su Yaoyao opened the comment section for Wen Jiu to see. Under the warm light, her beautiful face looked like a glowing star. Her eyes sparkled. “Jiujiu, look, today I gained so many new readers.”
“Not just new readers, there are old ones too. I remember all their IDs. They’re good to me, so I want to be good to them too.”
Su Yaoyao didn’t lack love, even if the Su family’s love for her had gone a bit off course. What she lacked was open encouragement, recognition of her as a person.
Wen Jiu suddenly couldn’t bear to make her stop writing.
This was a mutual sprint toward each other, between her and her readers.
She rubbed the top of Su Yaoyao’s head. Her hair was soft, fine, and smooth, black and glossy without tangling. Wen Jiu bent down and said gently to Su Yaoyao, who was sitting in the office chair, “But staying up late is bad for your health. Readers who truly love you wouldn’t want updates at the cost of your body.
Besides, think about it, if you update thirty thousand words at once, readers also need more time to read. They were supposed to rest, but they’ll end up staying on the page longer and sleeping later. That’s bad for their health too.
As long as you set a fixed update schedule and extra-update rules, everyone will be happy. After all, instead of six thousand words a day, now they can read fifteen thousand.”
In the world she created, Su Yaoyao thrived. She typed fast and thought fast, fifteen thousand words took her about three hours, including revisions.
She seriously considered Wen Jiu’s words, then suddenly broke into a smile. “Jiujiu, you’re so right. You’re amazing.”
Embarrassed by the praise, Wen Jiu hurried out the door. “Go to sleep already. We’ll have breakfast together tomorrow. I have to go to Chu Group for work. If you’re free, you can come find me tomorrow afternoon.”
Su Yaoyao hugged her tablet and nodded obediently. “Mm.”
The result of staying up late was that Wen Jiu nearly couldn’t get up the next morning.
This job really was unbearable.
Sure enough, people are only happy on their first day of work. By the second day, the boredom sets in.
Su Yaoyao had stayed up too, yet she woke up earlier than Wen Jiu.
She made breakfast and set it on the table, still warm.
“Jiujiu, come eat.”
“It’s super good.” Wen Jiu gave her a big thumbs-up after the first bite.
“Thank you, Jiujiu. I’ll be happy all day today.” Su Yaoyao’s happiness really was that simple.
She watched Wen Jiu leave for work with longing eyes. If she didn’t still need to write, she would’ve followed her out the door.
Wen Jiu drove the little glutinous corn-colored car she’d bought before leaving Beicheng, a toy-like vehicle, as she merged onto the road.
The only difference between raising a universally adored Young Lady and raising a child was that the Young Lady was richer, and quieter.
At ten o’clock, the Young Lady arrived at Chu Group.
That part was normal. What no one expected was that Song Qin came too.
Wen Jiu helped Lan Mingyan, who was rushing to the restroom, by making a cup of coffee in the pantry and delivering it to Chu Yan.
The moment the CEO’s office door opened and she saw three people inside, she was even more confused than the person involved.
She looked at Song Qin first, communicating with her through her eyes.
Author, you’re on my side, right?
Then she looked at the Young Lady, continuing the silent reassurance and inquiry.
Young Lady, nothing happened, right? I made sure President Chu behaved himself all morning.
She didn’t have time to throw the last look at Chu Yan, because Song Qin spoke first.
The first time Song Qin saw Chu Yan was during an online interview. Back then, she had simply thought that the male lead she wrote had all the right temperament, strong presence, handsome looks.
Before the world collapsed, she had even entertained the idea of dating her own male lead.
But after the second world collapse, she personally strangled that thought to death.
Compared to dating him herself, she would much rather press the heads of the male and female leads together and force them to date.
This was the first time she’d seen Chu Yan in person. In the previous five cycles, she’d never interacted with him face-to-face.
As for Qin Yao, the female supporting character from her book, this was truly their first meeting. In the first five worlds, she hadn’t even been able to find a single photo of her online.
Before Wen Jiu entered the room, Song Qin had already been completely captured by the young lady.
“Who are you?” The young lady paused slightly. “Are you the one who met Wen Jiu last night?”
“Hello, Miss Qin. My name is Song Qin.” For once, Song Qin and Wen Jiu were perfectly in sync, neither of them mentioned transmigrating.
She still hadn’t learned to casually call her “Young lady” the way Wen Jiu did, so she politely addressed her as Qin Yao instead.
“I’m the one who met Wen Jiu last night,” she said.
Qin Yao smiled, her eyes curving like crescent moons, clearly pleased with Song Qin. “You have good taste. I was just about to have the butler contact you.”
“From now on, you’ll work for me. Your monthly salary will be seventeen thousand.”
Song Qin’s eyes lit up. It felt like a winning lottery ticket had flown straight into her face.
The Young lady’s figure instantly grew tall and imposing in her eyes.
She immediately grabbed Qin Yao’s hand and said sincerely, “Young lady, don’t worry. I’ll work hard and make sure not even a fly can get anywhere near your love.”
The author who had felt awkward, and even faintly disdainful, about the words Young lady just a second ago was now completely conquered.
She didn’t think these people were paper characters at all! They were clearly living, breathing human beings, her dream employer, one she’d have to kneel and kowtow three times to even meet!
“By the way,” Qin Yao said, “you came to Chu Yan’s office to look for Wen Jiu, right?”
Whether that was true or not, Song Qin’s brain was already full of The Young lady is right. She nodded like a pecking chick. “Yes, yes! Wen Jiu told me to come find her today, but I didn’t see her, so I thought I’d ask Presi, President Chu.”
That was exactly when Wen Jiu pushed the door open.
She’d been expecting a full-blown showdown. Her heart was hanging in her throat, and she nearly flung the coffee out of her hand from sheer nerves.
“It’s fine.” The Young lady waved her hand.
Then she waved at Chu Yan. “Hubby, let’s have lunch together later.”
With one hand on each of them, she led the two out.
The executive floor had a conference room, quiet and private, and she brought them inside.
Wen Jiu didn’t get the chance to give the coffee to Chu Yan and had to ask Lan Mingyan to make another cup and deliver it.
Out of habit, she passed the coffee to the Young lady instead.
The Young lady lifted her chin slightly. “Good job, Wen Jiu. I’ll treat you to coffee later too.”
When the Young lady said treat, it usually meant sending a red packet and letting Wen Jiu buy whatever she liked, priced at the level of a 1688 cup of coffee.
Since this was her first meeting with her new follower, the Young lady didn’t play favorites. After adding Song Qin on WeChat, she sent her the same amount.
Song Qin had never experienced anything like this before. Faced with the Young lady’s generosity, her legs nearly went weak. She turned and grabbed Wen Jiu’s sleeve. “Sis, have you been living like this these past few months?”
Wen Jiu nodded hard. “The Young lady is super good.”
Song Qin finally understood why Wen Jiu insisted on standing on Qin Yao’s side. If it were her, she’d be waving the Young lady’s flag too.
Turning back, she said solemnly to Qin Yao, “Young lady, I will defend your marriage and make sure you live beautifully and happily for the rest of your life.”
At that moment, the author became even more determined not to let the world collapse.
As long as the world didn’t collapse, she was willing to work for this female supporting character for a lifetime.
After leaving the conference room, Wen Jiu asked Song Qin, “Even if there might be a raise here, and if luck strikes, maybe even a Beicheng property deed, did you really surrender this fast? Are you not writing anymore?”
Song Qin only heard the first part. “A raise? A property deed?!”
“Wen Jiu, why is your transmigration completely different from mine? Did you save the Milky Way in your past life?”
She wasn’t actually waiting for an answer, just joking.
“With a job this good, why would I keep writing? Don’t worry, from now on I firmly support the female supporting character. If the male lead ever has a change of heart, I’ll tie him up and drag him to the female lead’s, no, the female supporting character’s bed.”
Wen Jiu: “……”
“That really won’t be necessary.”
While the Young lady and Chu Yan had lunch together, Song Qin pulled Wen Jiu aside to review the plot.
“I designed a non-blood-related cousin in this book, there’s a female rivalry arc. Now that the person with the male lead is the Young lady, this cousin is definitely going to stir trouble in their marriage.”
Wen Jiu held her head. “Why female rivalry? Wouldn’t sweet romance be better? I remember your novels being sweet and satisfying. I didn’t even notice this kind of plot.”
Song Qin answered matter-of-factly, “Because only then do you get face-slapping scenes that make readers feel good. My writing isn’t amazing, so I had to add more melodramatic, soap-opera-style dog-blood plots people like.”
“When I was writing back then, it was really popular, several women fighting over one man. Later the trend changed, and people preferred several men fighting over one woman. That’s why I wrote Su Yaoyao’s book. She’s a true female lead, everyone loves her.”
Wen Jiu really couldn’t argue with that. After all, she had been part of the target audience in college, otherwise she wouldn’t have read all three books.
“Anyway, back to work. You need to take this seriously. Listen to the cousin’s plot, we need to intercept her before it happens.” Song Qin had completely abandoned her identity as an author and fully committed to her role as the Young lady’s follower and guardian of love.
“I remember writing a scene where they go back to the old residence for dinner. The adopted cousin is brought along by the aunt. In the book, Lan Mingyan and Chu Yan develop feelings after marriage and decide to have a child when emotions peak.
Coincidentally, the elders at the old residence are urging them to conceive and make Chu Yan a nourishing tonic soup. The aunt snatches it and has the cousin deliver it.
Lan Mingyan walks into the study and sees the desk, Chu Yan, and the cousin all soaked. She immediately feels betrayed, especially since earlier that afternoon, when she was alone at the old residence, she overheard the aunt talking about the cousin and the male lead being childhood sweethearts.
The aunt even says that if the cousin had been in Beicheng back when they were pressuring for marriage, someone like Lan Mingyan, with no background, wouldn’t have had a chance.
Anyway, the aunt stirs things up and says a lot of things that make Lan Mingyan furious.”
After finishing, Song Qin looked at Wen Jiu.
Wen Jiu silently picked up a slice of lotus root for her. The two exchanged a look, then lowered their heads and ate.
“Let’s eat first,” Wen Jiu said. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to swallow later.”
Only after lunch did they resume the discussion.
“So when is this dinner?”
“I don’t know the exact time.”
The male and female leads were no longer following Song Qin’s planned plot, let alone the timing of a single dinner.
Ding ding,
A message popped up. Wen Jiu opened it. It was from the Young lady.
Qin Yao: You don’t need to work this afternoon. Come with me to get my hair done. Tonight I’m going back to the old residence for dinner with Chu Yan.
Wen Jiu looked up. “See? You really are the author. Your mouth must be blessed in this world, maybe the cousin will show up tonight.”
Song Qin: ?