Who's going to be the female lead's simp? Aren't the supporting female characters mor

Inside the private room, the lingering aroma of tea had not yet dissipated, but a thick, viscous feeling called ambition had filled the air.

Ye Lingqing's calm, deep eyes were fixed on the USB drive on the table.

She was used to being lured and coerced, but she had never seen Bai Jingyou start with a bombshell and then shrug and say he was just a messenger.

"You want absolute control of Haicheng?" Ye Lingqing rubbed her fingers on the Buddhist beads, a half-smile on her face. "Bai family brat, you have quite the appetite. Your father, Bai Zhenhua, has begged for this for so many years without daring to spit it out, and you're already trying to devour it? Aren't you afraid of overeating?"

Bai Jingyou slowly sipped his tea, his movements as elegant as a textbook-perfect young nobleman, while inwardly he was furiously complaining: [Of course! If I don't want it, once the plot pushes the Bai family into bankruptcy, I won't even have a place to drink tea.]

"Aunt Ye, although the Bai family's pot isn't big, the heat is strong enough." Bai Jingyou put down his teacup with a soft sound. "As for whether it's too big or not, that depends on who's in charge of cooking."

He stood up and snapped his fingers toward the door.

The door opened with a click, and Bai Qing's sharp high heels instantly invaded the quiet private room.

She had changed into a dark green silk shirt, with the cuffs slightly rolled up to reveal a section of her fair yet strong forearm.

She exudes the sharp and capable aura of a female business warrior.

"President Ye." Bai Qing nodded slightly, her aura subtly rivaling that of Ye Lingqing.

"Sis, the main character has arrived." Bai Jingyou smiled and gave up his seat, like a child who had just finished his homework and was waiting for praise. "Aunt Ye is very interested in our dock and the dilapidated old Lin family mansion. You two can discuss the specifics of the cooperation. A playboy like me who only knows how to spend money won't be in the way here."

Ye Lingqing was stunned for a moment.

Bai Qing was also taken aback.

At that moment, the two top socialites from Haicheng and Beijing had the same thought flash through their minds: [This kid really knows how to shift the blame.]

"You're leaving already?" Ye Lingqing raised an eyebrow.

"Jiang's younger sister is still waiting for me downstairs. She'll throw a tantrum if I'm late." Bai Jingyou waved his hand and walked out without looking back, taking a peeled grape from the fruit plate on the table. "Leave professional matters to professionals. I trust my sister to maximize the Bai family's interests, and I also trust Aunt Ye's character."

Stepping out of the private room, Bai Jingyou let out a long sigh of relief.

[Talking to a cunning old fox like Ye Lingqing is too mentally taxing; it's better to go back and farm Mengyao's favorability.]

Downstairs, the noise in the banquet hall had subsided considerably.

Jiang Mengyao was standing on the terrace, the moonlight shining on her champagne-colored dress, looking as beautiful as a still oil painting.

"Finished talking?" Jiang Mengyao's eyes lit up with undisguised surprise as she saw Bai Jingyou approach. "President Ye didn't give you a hard time, did he?"

"She wouldn't dare?" Bai Jingyou casually put his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear, "She's being humiliated by my sister right now. Let's go, the smells here are too mixed, I'll take you to get some late-night snacks."

Jiang Mengyao blushed slightly and obediently leaned into his arms.

……

Meanwhile, in the western district of Haicheng, in a rented room in a slum where three of the streetlights were broken.

Chen Hao curled up on the moldy sofa, the dim light from his phone screen reflecting his hideous, demonic face.

A photograph sat before him. It showed Bai Zhenhua in his youth, and the blurry silhouette of a woman from behind.

"I've given you what you wanted." The voice on the other end of the phone, altered by a voice changer, was utterly cold. "Someone will pick you up at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Chen Hao, this is your last chance. If you can't kill Bai Jingyou, you're dead."

Chen Hao gripped the recording pen tightly, his fingernails digging into his flesh, drawing blood.

"I want the Bai family... to be wiped out, not even a chicken or a dog." He said each word slowly and deliberately, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper scraping the ground.

The phone hangs up.

Chen Hao suddenly let out a low laugh, which sounded particularly sinister in the small space. He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the magnificent Peninsula Hotel in the distance. It had once been the destination of his dreams, but now it was the source of his hatred.

"Bai Jingyou, you think you've won?"

He pulled a neatly folded newspaper from his pocket; it contained news of Lin Ruyu being evicted from her mansion.

Although he prided himself on being cold-blooded, Lin Ruyu was his only obsession. Seeing the woman he loved wandering the streets, the last vestige of his human conscience was completely burned to ashes.

……

The next morning, the Bai Group.

Bai Qing pushed open the door to Bai Jingyou's office with a radiant smile, holding a newly signed letter of intent in her hand.

"Xiao You, you've really given me a wonderful gift!" Bai Qing plopped down on a large chair, crossing her long legs. "Ye Lingqing has conceded. She's investing in Bai's energy development project."

Bai Jingyou was sprawled on the sofa watching TV, and upon hearing this, he didn't even lift his eyelids: "Sis, you've been won over like this?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Bai Qing sneered. "That's an investment. Moreover, I made her promise that for the next three years, the Ye family will protect Bai's access to the Beijing market. With this prestigious reputation, Chen Hao's attempts to sabotage us with small sums of money are a joke."

Bai Jingyou sat up, his eyes becoming deep: "As long as Chen Hao isn't dead, he won't stop."

"What else can he do?" Bai Qing curled his lip in disdain. "Now all the banks in Haicheng have received the Bai family's favor, his financial chain has been completely cut off, and he doesn't even have the money to hire a lawyer to fight a lawsuit."

"Sis, never underestimate a madman driven to the brink." Bai Jingyou put down his comic book, walked to the window, and looked down at the entire city. "Especially when this madman knows some secrets he shouldn't know."

Just then, Chen Mo hurriedly pushed the door open and came in, his face extremely pale.

"Young Master, Miss, something has happened."

Chen Mo placed a file folder on the table, his voice trembling slightly: "This morning, several mainstream media outlets in Haicheng received an anonymous email. The content is about... about the truth behind the car accident involving the Bai family twenty years ago, and also a forged... paternity test report for the young master."

Bai Qing's face instantly turned ashen, and she abruptly stood up: "What did you say? A paternity test?"

Bai Jingyou raised an eyebrow.

[Here it comes: the most clichéd yet most fatal plot device from the original work—the mystery of one's origins.]

In the original novel, Chen Hao used the lie that Bai Jingyou was not a biological son of the Bai family.

He successfully sowed discord between Bai Qing and Bai Jingyou, leading to a power struggle within the Bai family, which ultimately benefited Chen Hao.

"The email said that the young master is the son of the driver who killed Old Master Bai back then, and was adopted by the Bai family to be a substitute." Chen Mo lowered his head, not daring to look Bai Qing in the eye.

"Bullshit!" Bai Qing slammed his hand on the table, making the coffee cup rattle. "Xiao You's eyes look exactly like mine. Are those reporters blind?"

"Sis, calm down." Bai Jingyou laughed instead. "Chen Hao even resorts to such a low-level divisive tactic. It seems he's really at his wit's end."

He turned to look at Chen Mo, his eyes suddenly turning cold: "Have you managed to suppress the media coverage?"

"It can't be suppressed." Chen Mo wiped his sweat. "There's a force behind it all, and the hype is rising extremely fast. Moreover, they've even announced a location, saying they'll publicly execute the Bai family's 'hypocritical masks' there."

"where?"

"The Lin Family Old House"

Bai Jingyou's pupils contracted slightly.

The Lin family's old house is where Ye Lingqing's most desired possession is located, and it's also the place that Bai Qing just took over yesterday.

Chen Hao chose this location, likely intending to use those frenzied reporters and media as cover for his final, deadly move.

"Interesting." Bai Jingyou put on his coat and slowly buttoned it up. "Since he's set up the stage, wouldn't it be disrespectful if we didn't go and support him?"

"Xiao You!" Bai Qing grabbed him, her eyes filled with worry. "This is clearly a trap."

"Sis, traps aren't scary." Bai Jingyou patted the back of her hand, revealing an extremely cunning smile. "What's scary is when the hunter thinks he has caught his prey, but doesn't realize that he is walking into the tiger's mouth."

He turned to Chen Mo and instructed, "Notify Jiang Mengyao to bring the Jiang family's security team. Also, send a text message to Ye Lingqing; after all, she's a shareholder, so it's not unreasonable for her to be involved in this kind of thing."

……

Half an hour later.

Outside the Lin family's old house.

A large group of reporters with their cameras and microphones were stationed there, and several self-media bloggers had even started live streaming.

Lin Ruyu was standing at the gate, dressed in tattered clothes, with tear stains still on her face, crying to the camera about how the Bai family bullied a weak woman and seized their family property.

"Everyone, Bai Jingyou isn't the young master of the Bai family at all!" Lin Ruyu shrieked, her voice filled with a kind of crazed glee. "He's the son of a murderer! He's taken everything that rightfully belonged to Sister Bai Qing!"

Chen Hao, wearing a baseball cap, was hidden in the shadows in the crowd.

His eyes were fixed on the street corner.

There, a familiar Maybach was slowly driving by.

"Bai Jingyou, the moment you get out of this car, all the glory you've accumulated in your life will vanish in an instant," Chen Hao murmured.

The Maybach came to a stop.

The car door opened.

A pair of gleaming leather shoes landed on the ground.

However, it was not Bai Jingyou who got off the bus.

Instead, it was a person Chen Hao never expected.

Ye Lingqing.

Wearing a black coat and surrounded by bodyguards, she coldly surveyed the surrounding reporters before finally fixing her gaze on the dumbfounded Lin Ruyu.

"Who gave you the audacity to spout such nonsense here?"

Ye Lingqing's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the noisy scene.

Just then, the other car door opened, and Bai Jingyou climbed out of the car, revealing a bright, creepy smile towards Chen Hao in the shadows.

He didn't speak, but slowly raised his phone and turned on the speakerphone.

What came through was Chen Hao's conversation with the mysterious person half an hour earlier.

"I want the Bai family... to be wiped out, not even a chicken or a dog."

Chen Hao's face turned deathly pale in that instant.

[When did this guy... install the listening device?]

Bai Jingyou spat out the lollipop and whispered into the microphone:

"Young Master Chen, are you surprised? Unexpected?"