The Comeback of the Cannon-Fodder Supporting Actress

”It’s just some home-cooked dishes I learned from a book. I really don’t know if they’re good or not, so don’t be too harsh.”

Xiao Yuan chuckled and invited the girls to take their seats.

Sun Keke and a few others waited for Xiao Yuan to sit before taking their seats.

Anning, sitting next to Xiao Yuan, poured drinks for everyone: ”Aren’t you all hungry? Hurry and eat while it’s hot.”

Tong Yue eyed a dish of chicken stewed with mushrooms, along with blood sausage and candied yam not far from her, and couldn’t resist picking up her chopsticks to try each one: ”Delicious, the flavor is incredible, truly authentic.”

With her moving first, the other girls also started trying their hometown dishes.

The result was unanimous acclaim for the tableful of dishes Xiao Yuan made.

Milan, sitting next to Anning, hugged her and praised continuously: ”Ningning, where did you find such an immortal of a boyfriend? It’s one thing for him to be handsome, but he can cook so well too. I can’t, from now on, any boyfriend I find must meet this standard, he must be a great cook.”

”If it’s delicious, hurry and eat more.”

Anning placed some food on Milan’s plate: ”Hurry up, who knows when we’ll get to have another meal like this.”

Milan immediately perked up: ”No way, I need to eat more, or I’ll regret it.”

This meal took quite a bit of time, and everyone ate until they were too full to move.

After the meal, the girls huddled on the sofa, unwilling to move.

Xiao Yuan went to the kitchen and brewed some digestive tea, bringing it out for everyone to drink to prevent indigestion causing stomach aches at night.

Everyone drank the tea and played around with Anning for a while before taking their leave.

Anning and Xiao Yuan accompanied them to the school gate before heading back.

By this time, light snow began to fall again, and Xiao Yuan and Anning put on the hoods of their down jackets, holding hands as they walked back slowly.

When they returned, Xiao Qin had already tidied up the house, including washing the dishes.

Seeing the two return, Xiao Qin didn’t linger long, exchanging a few words before heading back home.

Xiao Yuan pulled Anning to sit down, recounting the day’s events of Yi Qihang coming to the company.

When Anning heard that Yi Qihang had given Xiao Yuan a check just to get him to leave her, she laughed angrily: ”What an idiot, what was he thinking? Does he really think he’s some sort of overbearing CEO?”

Xiao Yuan also laughed: ”Step one of being an overbearing CEO is throwing money around. If that doesn’t work, the second step is resorting to drastic measures.”

With that, Anning fell into his arms laughing: ”Yes, yes, your analysis is spot on. I reckon next, he’ll try to compete with you. But you only have a small renovation company. How could he possibly affect you? If you were in the food industry, he might try to sabotage you through health and safety inspections, but how could he target a renovation business? Spread rumors about materials? That’s not possible either. Most of the projects you take on involve homeowners buying their own materials. You’re responsible for labor, not materials, and your work is impeccable, even reasonably priced compared to others. What more could he do?”

Isn’t that the truth?

If Xiao Yuan ran a factory, Yi Qihang might try to choke his supply of raw materials.

But with a renovation business, how could he choke the supply? Homeowners buy the materials themselves. It’s impossible to prevent all suppliers from selling.

Xiao Yuan had already thought it through: ”I suspect he might open a store nearby or across the street, using low prices to steal my clients away.”

Anning pondered for a moment; it seemed that was the only way Yi Qihang could deal with Xiao Yuan.

”What do you plan to do?”

Anning asked Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan found a comfortable position, leaning back on the sofa with Anning resting on his shoulder: ”Cut the ground from under his feet.”

Anning understood.

She felt a bit sorry for Yi Qihang.

Why did he have to mess with Xiao Yuan of all people?

Did he really think being reborn made him invincible, the best in the world? Wishful thinking. Rebirth might have given him some opportunities, and if used well, he could achieve something, but he needs to be working in the right direction.

And what is Yi Qihang doing?

Instead of working hard, he’s relying on his head start, only knowing how to exploit opportunities. Even if no one messes with him, he’d self-destruct sooner or later.

Especially since he dared to provoke Xiao Yuan; if Xiao Yuan wanted to mess with him, it would be too easy.

”Being reborn doesn’t necessarily make you smarter.”

Anning murmured softly.

In Yang Anning’s memory, Yi Qihang was never someone formidable; otherwise, Yang Anning couldn’t have so easily taken over his assets and sent him to prison after turning against him.

Yi Qihang couldn’t even handle Yang Anning, so where does he get the confidence and courage to challenge Xiao Yuan?

”He’s just a fool. Just ignore him from now on.”

Xiao Yuan stroked Anning’s hair: ”Let’s go, time for bed.”

Sun Keke and the others returned to their dorm, where the five of them lay down and began chatting about Anning and Xiao Yuan.

Liu Feifei lay on her bed, talking to Chu Xue, who was rummaging around: ”I think Anning and her boyfriend are a good match. Her boyfriend doesn’t come off as uneducated; even during dinner, he contributed to the conversation intelligently, clearly well-read.”

Milan chuckled: ”Not having a degree doesn’t mean he lacks knowledge. Maybe he self-taught at home. Besides, growing up with Anning, with her being such a good student, how could she not bring him along?”

Sun Keke nodded: ”That’s true.”

She cupped her face: ”I’m so envious of Anning, having such a childhood friend boyfriend. Her boyfriend is so handsome, even better looking than movie stars. If I had a boyfriend like that, I’d be ecstatic.”

Tong Yue, however, was reminiscing about the food Xiao Yuan made: ”Anning is so lucky, regularly getting to eat such delicious food.”

The more the girls thought about Xiao Yuan’s cooking, the more they realized, if their boyfriends could cook well and were so good to them, regardless of looks or education, they would feel extremely lucky.

Meanwhile, Yi Qihang had just crawled out of a warm embrace.

Wearing pajamas, he sat on the sofa making a phone call.

A woman with curled waves, draped in a red nightgown, wrapped around him like a vine.

”Darling, who are you calling?”

Yi Qihang pushed the woman aside, but she didn’t budge.

Yi Qihang’s face turned stern: ”Serious business, don’t mess around.”

The woman immediately sat up straight.

Yi Qihang caressed her face: ”Alright, be good. I’ll take you to the movies tomorrow.”

The woman beamed with a smile: ”Promise me, we’ll go to the movies tomorrow, just the two of us, no one else.”

Yi Qihang nodded.

Once the call connected, Yi Qihang spoke up: ”Lin Zi, I need you to handle something, make sure it’s done well.”

”Brother, rest assured, I’ll take care of it.”

The other side assured him.

Yi Qihang continued in a low voice: ”Go buy a few storefronts next to XX renovation company. If they’re already bought, pay double to acquire them, then hire people and open a renovation company with lower prices to draw all their customers away. I want that company to have no clients, let it go bust.”