Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

However, novels and mangas welcomed these characters very much. Male-oriented works without such characters were most definitely flawed. It was just like how female-oriented works really needed “Princes.”

After hearing that Su Li’s father would personally drive to the bus station to her pick up, the drama queen Lady Zhao swapped out her personas. From a stuck-up, ethereal lady, she became a down-to-earth, approachable girl from next door. The type who would be the teacher’s pet in schools. She allowed Su Li to introduce her. Of course, there was no need to mention anything about her family background. Su Li could simply introduce her as an elite scholar.

This was one of the benefits of being a scholar. Any parent would approve of a student. They were the ideal friend material!

Once again, Su Li was touched by Lady Zhao’s actions. Lady Zhao seemed so much more like her pleasantly self on this day. She had even suffered quite a bit, lowering herself to the point of taking a public bus. Moreover, she went an extra mile to hide her identity. Lady Zhao was really taking special care to keep her comfortable!

Lady Zhao was really the bestest friend she could ever have...

On the way, Su Li brought up “Tale of Wuxia 3: Swords of the Future’s” latest DLC. It had been extremely popular. Surprisingly, she was a little disappointed. Nobody was actually condemning her this time round. Instead, the “culprit” Old Sly Zha Feng was being so heavily slammed that he could have been smothered to death.

“Actually, it was my paintbrush and its mysterious power that gave the game such a dark, depressing tone, but nobody came to mess with me this time around. I feel kinda left out. What sins could the game producer Zha Feng have committed? How is he getting all the attention and hate...” Su Li was a little unhappy.

Su Li had been moving like a whirlwind through the different stages of disbelief. It had started from her feeble attempts of defending herself, to resignedly carrying the pan, and finally believing in her own mysterious powers.

This left Zhao Youyue speechless. She had put in a lot of effort to keep Su Li free of all the blame and drama. She totally did not see Su Li embracing this role!

“The game producer Zha Feng is truly talented. I remember watching his initial interview. Those black-rimmed glasses just complement his cunning eyes. Even so, his fans clearly appreciated that, in a way. Anyone who gets called “Old Sly” these days have to be capable... At least, as one of the top artists, you still get some attention. Nobody cares about a voice actress like me at all. Maybe, once everything dies down a little, someone might notice me,” Zhao Youyue lamented.

This time, she had managed to create the iconic character “Jane Doe Su.” Admittedly, she had to hand over the credit to Old Sly Zha Feng. She had only rolled the ball, and he had kept it going, unlike the usual case. Of course, let’s not forget his massive game production team and Su Li, an illustrator who was improving by the day.

It was a “half sleeping victory” for Zhao Youyue this time. This proved that she was, by no means, an African. Of course, she could not be considered a European Emperor as well, so she was a pure Asian![1]

Soon after arriving at the bus station, Zhao Youyue met Su Li’s father, who had come to pick Su Li up personally. His name was Su Weiguo.

Su Weiguo worked in an enterprise in town. He had never stopped working, even though Su Li’s earnings were already enough to support him until the day of his death.

However, all parents were like this. No matter how successful their children were, they would not be so thick-skinned as to rely on their children, unless they were really getting old, or retired.

Clearly, Su Weiguo has not reached the age of retirement yet. Well, Su Li did pay for his car. His eldest daughter’s blinding success had been a source of pride and joy. The only problem was her having graduated more than two years ago, but she was not yet even looking for a boyfriend. That bit was worrisome!

Su Weiguo was a typical Chinese parent. As their children studied, they would try to prevent young love in all sorts of ways. However, right after their children graduated from university, they impatiently wanted them to find a good partner, marry, and have children...

As she studied, Su Li never fell in love. Of course, she had the more than the looks to garner suitors, but she had an inferiority complex, and was somewhat a little arrogant. These types were destined to remain single. When someone does manage to pique her interest, the same would not apply to the other party, and vice versa.

It was not long after that before Su Li indulged herself in her illustrations. Since her works greatly pleased her, she became disinterested in love, relationships, and whatsoever.

Even “dog food”[2] did not affect her. This was truly worrisome. If “dog food” tortured people, it meant that they were eager for some “dog food,” for someone to love them... but Su Li had no such desire at all.

Too many things in the world could replace men and please her. For example, drawing, money, Lady Zhao, wait... one of it was not like the others.

In fact, as a creator, her spiritual world was abnormally well-fed. She was also pleased regarding material wealth and did not lack love. Why would she still need men?

To reproduce?

That was the least of her worries. It was not like humans would be extinct if she did not reproduce, right?

Therefore, nothing could bring more happiness than being single. Su Li firmly believed this.

Fortunately, now that she was a successful person, she was the real pillar of the family. Thus, she had the right to refuse any sort of boring, blind date shenanigans.

Of course, Su Weiguo met Zhao Youyue with much enthusiasm, as Su Li had often spoken about Zhao Youyue, prior to this. First of all, Zhao Youyue was a loyal fan. But Su Weiguo could not care less about fans, not unless he learned of how much money Lady Zhao had actually spent rewarding Su Li as a fan. More importantly, she had given Su Li access to priceless connections and resources. Her selection of works for SU Li had also been indispensable. There was no way Su Li could ever return the favor.

Su Weiguo had zoned in on Zhao Youyue’s identity as an elite scholar. She was the top scorer for liberal arts in Jiangnan Province’s college entrance examinations this year – that was quite an achievement!

The top scorer in the college entrance examinations was actually a fan of his eldest daughter. It was truly an honor!

His second daughter, Su Jue, was just about to enter her second year of high school. It would be great if an elite scholar like Zhao Youyue could share her college entrance examination experience with his second daughter. A top scorer like her would definitely be very focused and serious about her studies. Also, she most certainly had her own set of “secret books.”

If he found out that most of the people who “learned” from Zhao Youyue ended up flunking their college entrance examinations, he would definitely change his mind. She was a walking bad omen!

It could not be helped. Zhao Youyue only had one secret to learning, and that was to activate her cheat mode. What’s more, it was not old-fashioned cheating like you and me with our little notes hidden beneath our armpits and undergarments, those were cheats on the level of reality...

Translation note :

[1] “African,”European Emperor” and “Asian” are Chinese internet slangs, usually used when referring to card collection type of games. “European Emperor” is used to describe someone who is very lucky in these games. They have ‘white skin’ (the best luck) and get the best cards. When the people in China use these terms, they are probably assuming that Europeans have ‘white skin,’ although clearly, that does not apply to all Europeans. Hence, they probably also assume that “Africans” have ‘black skin’ (bad luck/the worst luck) (black is the total opposite of white, so if ‘white skin’ means the best luck, ‘black skin’ means bad luck). “Asians” usually have ‘yellow skin’ (average luck), as ‘yellow skin’ is in between ‘white’ and ‘black’, the two extremities. So, the author here inserts these internet slangs into the story to fit Zhao Youyue’s situation. Zhao Youyue got a “half sleeping victory” this time, meaning she was not super lucky (thus she cannot be considered a “European Emperor”), but she was also not super unlucky (thus not “African” as well). She falls in between the both; thus she is a pure Asian (average luck).

[2] “Dog food” is an internet slang which refers to lovers that openly show off their affection towards each other in public.