AYLS – Chapter 10 Refusing to Be the Malicious Supporting Role

Because everyone had learned that Lin Qiao, even while living in a capitalist’s household, had actually been able to study, that afternoon while they were working, many people came over to ask about what life was like in that capitalist family.

After all, when you’re working, you need some small talk. If you just worked without speaking, no one could stand the dullness. Talking at least helped ease the fatigue.

Lin Qiao: “……”

Lin Qiao didn’t know how the Song family lived, so she just picked out parts of her own life to talk about.

For example, she mentioned that she had a personal makeup artist, a dresser, a life assistant, a private tutor…

Hearing all this, the military wives wore exaggerated expressions, clearly unable to imagine that a young lady in a capitalist household would have so many people waiting on her.

They then asked Lin Qiao what her own job had been.

Lin Qiao: “… Accompanying the young miss to eat, study, and play.”

The women’s eyes widened even further. They couldn’t believe that such a job even existed in this world.

“No wonder Comrade Lin Qiao carries herself so differently from others. She doesn’t look like a servant.”

“Exactly, she looks so delicate. What kind of servant could be raised this delicately?”

Lin Qiao felt this must be the charming aura that naturally radiated from within her.

When Sister-in-law Wang finished roll call and came over to help with the work, she overheard the others’ envious tones about Lin Qiao’s former life. She spoke up, “You think working in a capitalist household was easy? They had no freedom. Comrade Lin Qiao is only mentioning the good parts. Do you think she’d tell you the hard parts?”

The others thought about it and agreed. No matter how good the treatment, it was still under the oppression of capitalists.

Just like in the operas, young masters and young ladies could hit and scold whenever they pleased.

Sister-in-law Wang leaned close to Lin Qiao. “Don’t just talk about the good parts. You need to also mention the bad.”

Lin Qiao looked at her, confused. But… she was telling the truth.

Thinking she didn’t understand, Sister-in-law Wang lowered her voice, “If you only talk about the good, people will start saying life under capitalists was better. If word spreads that you said that, won’t they say you have ideological problems? You might even get punished.”

This counted as an ideological problem? Punishable, too?

Lin Qiao immediately felt the deep malice this world held for her. No food, no drink, exhausting labor—and now even speaking required careful caution.

She hurriedly nodded obediently.

Seeing she was receptive, Sister-in-law Wang smiled in satisfaction. “After work, walk back with me. Tonight, you’ll come eat at my house.”

“Ah, isn’t that inappropriate?” Lin Qiao twisted her fingers, though deep down she was quite eager. If they cooked for themselves, surely their food would taste better.

Sister-in-law Wang laughed. “It was arranged by Xiao Gu. He has to go to the county tomorrow, so he’s pushing himself harder today to free up time.”

Lin Qiao immediately smiled and nodded. “Alright.”

Sure enough, that afternoon, Gu Huayuan didn’t come by.

Although she still felt a little unaccustomed, Lin Qiao was very much looking forward to eating at someone else’s home. She even thought of bringing a gift. But when she checked, she had nothing—completely empty-handed.

Feeling embarrassed, Lin Qiao resolved that once Gu Huayuan came back from the county with things, she would make up for it.

When she arrived, Sister-in-law Wang’s child was hopping around the house with a little wooden toy gun, making shooting noises.

Seeing Lin Qiao, he even shouted “bang!”

Sister-in-law Wang smacked him right away. “Get out of the way!”

The four- or five-year-old little rascal immediately slunk off.

Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh. “He’s so cute.”

“Cute? Hah, he’s a mischievous little monkey. I’ve got two older ones back home. If he weren’t the youngest, I wouldn’t bother keeping him around.”

As she spoke, Sister-in-law Wang wiped her hands and went into the kitchen to serve food.

Lin Qiao blinked in surprise. “Sister-in-law, you have two more children?”

“Of course. Both boys. The oldest is fifteen, the younger thirteen. They’re back home. Food’s too scarce here, but in our hometown it’s a little better. So they earn work points there to feed themselves.”

So young and already earning work points to survive?! Lin Qiao’s face showed utter shock. Was child labor even allowed?

Sister-in-law Wang carried out a big bowl of food and told her son Xiaohu to fetch bowls and chopsticks.

Xiaohu reluctantly put down his wooden gun and got to work.

“Let me do it,” Lin Qiao said, feeling embarrassed to have such a little child wait on her.

“It’s fine. Boys need to do work.”

And Xiaohu really was capable—his little hands moved quickly and efficiently.

Once the table was set, Sister-in-law Wang invited Lin Qiao to eat. “The men will be working late, so we won’t wait for Old Wang.”

She served Lin Qiao a bowl of coarse flour dumplings. Normally, they rarely had this since flour was precious.

But today was Lin Qiao’s first visit, so she decided to make something nicer.

When Lin Qiao looked at the table, though, all she saw was that one bowl of dumplings and two plates of dark pickled vegetables. All her earlier excitement instantly vanished.

She should have known—life here was equally bitter!

But since she came empty-handed to eat, she couldn’t complain. With Gu Huayuan, she could throw tantrums, but outside, she knew better. She hadn’t paid, yet she was eating for free. She couldn’t be picky.

She took small bites. And to her surprise, although the dumplings didn’t look appealing, they actually tasted… pretty good.

Ah, how far she had fallen. To think she could now feel satisfaction eating coarse dumplings.

Even so, they weren’t exactly appetite-stirring. Lin Qiao didn’t eat much—her portion didn’t even match Xiaohu’s appetite.

Sister-in-law Wang laughed. “You’re easy to feed. Don’t be saving food for Xiao Gu.”

Lin Qiao thought, Hah, if only I could waste some! But I never get the chance. The man won’t even take me to the county. Otherwise, I’d shop him into bankruptcy.

Just as she thought this, Captain Wang came back.

He looked worn and dusty from heavy work.

Lin Qiao, knowing he was Gu Huayuan’s superior—likely of higher rank—had assumed leaders didn’t need to work. But seeing him return covered in dirt, she realized that wasn’t the case.

Captain Wang saw her and greeted warmly, “Xiao Lin, you’re here.”

Lin Qiao quickly nodded back.

Sister-in-law Wang bustled around—handing him a towel, pouring tea, busying herself nonstop.

Lin Qiao: “…”

Sister-in-law Wang served Captain Wang a bowl of flour dumplings and asked, “I heard today’s workload was heavy.”

“Not just today. For many days to come, the workload will be heavy. Since June, it hasn’t rained much around here. The task of opening up new farmland is already difficult. Now headquarters has ordered us to join forces with nearby regiments to start building a dam and divert water. Chances are, even you women will have to go up on the dam.”

Sister-in-law Wang dismissed it lightly, “What’s the big deal? We’ve long been prepared for this. Us women here can absolutely handle it.” The wives who followed the army here hadn’t come to enjoy a life of comfort—life back home was far easier.

Listening to this, Lin Qiao’s heart skipped a beat. She didn’t understand what “going up on the dam” meant, but judging from their tone, it sounded like something formidable.

Not wanting to linger, she excused herself to rest before they even finished eating.

Sister-in-law Wang smiled as she walked her to the door. “I’ll come call you tomorrow morning.”

Lin Qiao: “…” Actually, there’s really no need to call her. Just forget she exists.

Back in her room, Lin Qiao kept wondering what exactly “going up on the dam” was.

It had to be something extremely exhausting.

Thinking back on today’s work already left her feeling worn out. It was worse than being hungry.

Was she really going to live like this from now on? Lin Qiao sighed and looked at her hardworking hands. “Is it just the light, or do my hands look darker?”

She leaned closer to the lamp. Compared with her arms, her hands really were noticeably darker.

“I got a tan!”

The Fat Cat said, “What’s the fuss? Sun exposure obviously makes you darker. Haven’t you noticed everyone around you looks the same?”

Of course she had noticed, but she never thought she herself would turn out like that. “You mean one day I’ll become like that too?”

“Mhm.” The Fat Cat gave a schadenfreude-filled hum.

Lin Qiao nearly went crazy. Hardship she might barely endure, but—but ugliness was unbearable!

The thought that one day her skin might become as rough and dark as everyone else’s made her feel like she didn’t even want to live.

“No, I need to wash up first.” Wiping away her tears, Lin Qiao hurried to wash. There was still some hot water in the kettle—Gu Huayuan had boiled it for her at noon. In the wooden bucket sat a full load of cold water—she didn’t even know when he’d hauled that in for her.

“At least he’s considerate.” Lin Qiao gave a satisfied little compliment.

But once hot water was taken care of, she realized she lacked many other things.

“Shampoo, body wash, not even soap,” she counted on her fingers, pouting as she did so. “And no skincare products either…”

Finally, she glanced at the clothes she had worn this morning and just changed out of. “No washing machine either!”

So how exactly was she supposed to wash clothes?

…

At the water-drawing area in the dependents’ quarters, Lin Qiao was scrubbing her clothes with little grunts, her palms already heating up. From time to time she had to swat away the mosquitoes buzzing around her.

At this hour, hardly anyone else was washing clothes. The other army wives got up at three or four in the morning to do laundry. In the evenings, to save electricity, they went to bed early and stayed inside.

Truth be told, in this pitch-dark place, Lin Qiao felt a little scared.

Thankfully, the Fat Cat said this game world didn’t have any ghost settings, or she’d be trembling already.

Just as she was thinking that, the sound of a bicycle approached.

At first, Lin Qiao didn’t notice, but as it grew nearer, a breeze wafted past, carrying a faint fragrance.

She looked up and saw a woman in a light-colored blouse riding toward her.

The closer she came, the clearer Lin Qiao could see: black slacks, a checkered shirt, polished leather shoes.

Her hairstyle wasn’t the usual braids common here, but loose, shoulder-length black hair with a hair clip.

Before, Lin Qiao would’ve called it old-fashioned.

But now, she wanted to praise her for looking stylish. In contrast to all the pigtails, coarse homespun clothes, and sun-darkened faces around here, this woman looked downright fashionable.

Compared to her, Lin Qiao’s patched floral jacket looked like a beggar’s outfit.

“So there are people here who live good lives,” Lin Qiao thought, her hopes for the future rekindled. She wasn’t asking for much—just to live at that woman’s level would be enough.

That was a low enough baseline, wasn’t it? It couldn’t go any lower!

The bicycle had already gone off into the distance, but Lin Qiao still stared after her. For the first time in her life, she felt something akin to envy.

It was such a strange emotion—for in the past, she had only ever been the one others envied.

“Ding! Main character Su Weizhen has appeared. Long-term side quest triggered: Become enemies with Su Weizhen and make her life miserable. Quest reward: one female-lead golden cheat.”

Lin Qiao: “…Are you kidding me? Yesterday you wanted me to make friends with someone, today you want me to make enemies? I’m not that idle.”

The Lin family… well, except for Lin Dajin, they had always been honest folk. They never bullied others.

Unless someone provoked them first.

The Fat Cat said, “Don’t you want the golden cheat? It could let you live much better here.”

“I don’t. I just want to hurry back home.”

Lin Qiao wasn’t swayed.

She already knew the best way to clear this game—why waste energy on other things?

She couldn’t be bothered.

Seeing Lin Qiao completely unmoved, the Fat Cat pressed on, “Do you know who Su Weizhen really is?”

“A rich person,” Lin Qiao answered.

“…Do you know why she’s so rich?”

“Nope. If I did, I’d be rich too.” Lin Qiao sighed as she kept scrubbing.

“Because she’s the female lead of this world.”

Lin Qiao blinked in confusion. “Wait—aren’t I the protagonist of this game world? There are other players here too?” The thought made her a little excited. If she really had a fellow player, they could totally help each other out! Eat well, drink well, and once they got back to the real world—she’d give that fellow player a hundred million!

Fat Cat: “…The heroine in a novel with a game background.”

“…So that’s what it was.” All that excitement for nothing. Lin Qiao sighed, then regretted, “Aiya, you should’ve said so earlier. I should’ve taken a closer look just now.”

It was the first time she had the chance to see a materialized heroine—she really wanted to know how she compared to ordinary NPCs. “Wait, hold on,” Lin Qiao suddenly became dissatisfied, “She’s the heroine, and you still want me to go against her? Isn’t that the role of a vicious supporting female character? In novels, the vicious supporting females never have a good ending.”

Fat Cat spread his paws. “That’s how the stupid dev set up the game’s tasks. You second-generation types are basically the standard villains in novels. The vicious male supporting role is always a rich young master, and the vicious female supporting role is always a rich young lady.”

Lin Qiao: “…Well, I’m not doing it!” She absolutely refused to be some vicious female supporting character.

Fat Cat said, “She’s a transmigrator, and she also has a spatial cheat.”

Lin Qiao’s eyes widened instantly. “Knew it, she really is the heroine. That’s textbook.” In her whole life, this was the first time she had seen someone with a golden cheat. She was so sour. Same transmigrators, yet that girl was living the good life—eating well, drinking well, and enjoying herself. Meanwhile, she had to eat coarse grain, drink thin porridge, and work herself to the bone. Washing clothes in the middle of the night after feeding bugs.

Sensing her emotional shift, Fat Cat immediately chimed in, “Think about it. You both transmigrated. She has a golden cheat and easily lives a good life. You, on the other hand, are suffering like this. Don’t you feel unbalanced? If you make things difficult for her now, you’ll have a chance to obtain a spatial space too, and then you can live comfortably here.”

“What kind of space?” Lin Qiao’s face lit up with curiosity, so much so that she stopped washing the clothes. This was the real cheat of this world! Too tempting to ignore.

“A space where you can grow food and raise chickens and ducks. With it, you could eat well and drink well.”

“Tsk tsk tsk…” Lin Qiao shook her head disdainfully and went back to scrubbing her laundry.

“Farming chores already can’t be finished as is, and now you want me to get another space to farm and raise poultry? I’d work myself to death. I’m not that stupid!”

Mostly, she just didn’t want to pick a fight with someone for no reason. What belonged to others should stay theirs. Trying to snatch it away would just be low-class.

She, Lin Qiao, never took things by force. She always bought what she wanted! It’s not like she was short on money.

Wait—that heroine had food and poultry… Couldn’t she just buy it from her?

That would be way more convenient than farming it herself.

Lin Qiao thought about it and couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile.

She wondered if the heroine would even accept ration tickets. But since they all lived in the same compound, maybe not… Even if she did, it was fine—Gu Huayuan had tickets anyway.

“Kitty, tell me—how can I naturally approach her to buy things? I can’t reveal your existence. Should I just… befriend her?” Lin Qiao looked eager to try.

Fat Cat spun around speechlessly. This player refused to even accept the quest—how was the game supposed to continue?