Villain – Peeking at the Diary, the Female Leads’ Personas Collapse

“Are you sure?”
“It’s not that. Someone told me his body’s been having issues. It seems … that aspect’s been getting worse. It was fine at first, but later it just declined. I don’t know why.”
Cao Zijin and Lin Qingyue instantly sensed something was off.
Cao Zijin said, “So you … Of course, don’t be nervous. We’ll keep it a secret. We know some things—you don’t need to hide them. Only Ye Aotian doesn’t know.”
Xiao Lan grew anxious and said, “You all know … what?”
Cao Zijin said, “We know what we should know. Like Zheng Shaoyang, for instance. Don’t worry, this is a secret between us women. My husband and Ye Aotian are sworn enemies, sure, and they’ll compete, but he wouldn’t stoop to using this kind of thing as a joke.”
“Uh … It’s fine, I guess. I couldn’t hold back. It’s my own problem.”
Lin Qingyue rubbed her temples. How had her best friend turned out like this? But it was her own business, her own body, her own choices. Outsiders couldn’t really interfere.
Cao Zijin said, “So what kind of person do you hope to become in the future?”
Xiao Lan said, “I don’t know. Why are you asking me this?”
“What’s your weapon? Know yourself.”
Xiao Lan took a deep breath and said, “It’s me.”
Cao Zijin smiled and said, “Looks like you understand your situation. So, do you think you could become Ye Aotian, or just the woman by his side?”
“I can only wait for him to get rich, and then I’ll get more benefits.”
Cao Zijin nodded, handed her a bottle of wine, and said, “This movie will be a hit, but if the director doesn’t agree, it’s hard to promote someone. Who do you think the director will like?”
Xiao Lan glanced into the distance, thought for a long time, and said, “I get what you mean. Actually, Ye Aotian doesn’t have much interest in me anymore, but … I think I really love him.”
Lin Qingyue suddenly understood Cao Zijin’s approach. This woman was guiding Xiao Lan deeper into ruin.
At the very least, Lin Qingyue couldn’t bring herself to do something like that. In fact, Lin Qingyue couldn’t even fathom being as ruthless as Cao Zijin, completely without a bottom line.
At that moment, Lin Qingyue realized something: This was what a villain was like. Compared to Cao Zijin, Chen Fan, as a villain, seemed downright normal.
“Whether you love him or not, it’s your choice. Whether you’re helping him or need to tell him isn’t important. You know that if he does well, you’ll gain more wealth. Just let it happen naturally.”
Xiao Lan stood up, said a word of thanks, and left. She went to toast the director.
Lin Qingyue said, “You … That was harsh. If Ye Aotian found out, it’d really disgust him.”
“So what? I’m Chen Fan’s woman. As long as it makes Ye Aotian miserable, I’m happy.”
One common thread in flipping through the diary was that no one wanted to accept that they, as living people, were just characters written by someone else. So, every woman who read the diary shared one thing: they hated the author. But they didn’t know who the author was. The only one they could hate was the author’s proxy—the protagonist.
Lin Qingyue said, “I admire you. You can just not think about anything and wholeheartedly devote yourself to someone.”
“You’re the same, aren’t you? Isn’t your mind full of my husband too?”
“I … No way! You’re talking nonsense.”
“There’s a favor I need your help with.”
With that, she took something out of her pocket and handed it to Lin Qingyue.
Lin Qingyue looked at it and said, “What’s this?”
“Medicine. Effective medicine. Specially prepared by someone. Even ancient martial artists wouldn’t notice it.”
“Who … prepared it?”
“Tao Xiaoyao. Got it through a contact.”
Ruthless.
“Which glass do I put it in?”
Cao Zijin whispered something in Lin Qingyue’s ear, and Lin Qingyue nodded.
It seemed like this was something only she could do. If Cao Zijin did it, it’d be too suspicious. But if she did it, no one would suspect a thing.
After setting it up, Cao Zijin returned to Chen Fan’s side.
“Honey, still on your phone?”
“Mind your own business. What were you just saying to Xiao Lan?”
“Nothing much. Just told her that if Ye Aotian wants to make it big, he’ll definitely need to grease the director’s wheels, right?”
But looking at Cao Zijin, Chen Fan understood. This was just who she was. A soft-hearted person might feel sorry for Xiao Lan, but in Cao Zijin’s eyes, pitiful or not, what did it have to do with her?
‘I am me, others are others. I’m just a villain, just a bad person, just an antagonist. If I were kind, what kind of villain would I be?’
“Forget it. It’s got nothing to do with me. Only you would be this bored.”
“It’s not too bad.”
Chen Fan’s eyes were sharp. Naturally, he noticed Lin Qingyue actively taking a glass of wine to chat with Ye Aotian’s group. But he keenly spotted that the woman seemed to slip something into a glass.
That something didn’t seem like anything good.
But … it was only put into Zheng Shaoyang’s glass, not anyone else’s—just Zheng Shaoyang’s alone.
Chen Fan couldn’t figure it out.
What was Cao Zijin up to? If the plot didn’t line up, he’d lose it—everyone would go down together, and they’d start a new cycle.
After finishing everything, Lin Qingyue returned to her seat.
Chen Fan looked at her, and Lin Qingyue gave him a little smile.
When did this woman learn to be bad too?
…
Chen Fan had everyone pull back their legs and didn’t step forward—after all, this was Ye Aotian’s own mess. The most confused person was Ye Zifeng.
In fact, Ye Zifeng already felt his undercover plan had failed, but who could’ve imagined that the situation in front of him would somehow still count as a success?
The only thing Ye Aotian could take pride in was the existence of the Ling family, and it was precisely because of the Ling family that Ye Zifeng needed to carefully assess the situation. But with the current scene, it seemed like the Ling family’s true heir might actually be Ling Xiaoyun.
Honestly, after Ye Aotian brought up the matter of the family head, the conflict had fully erupted.
But Chen Fan didn’t get it. What Chen Fan couldn’t understand most was—damn it—Zheng Shaoyang better not die.
Looking at Zheng Shaoyang lying on the ground, Chen Fan was genuinely worried. This guy better not stop breathing. He knew Ye Zimei’s methods all too well.
That woman was absolutely a cold-blooded killer who wouldn’t bat an eye.
“Young Master, are you …?”
Zhu Yeqing asked, and Chen Fan replied, “It’s fine. Watch the show. Don’t talk during the show—it’s a rare spectacle.”
Ye Aotian and Ling Xiaoyun were both fighting to the death, and Xiao Li, standing to the side, was more worried about Ling Xiaoyun.
Before coming tonight, Xiao Li had received a phone call from Ye Zimei.