Chapter 22: The Substitute Heroine (3)

"Not yet, I'm not in a hurry," Zhou Rongrong replied, shaking her head. Her family came from a small county town, with a daughter and a son. They were not particularly biased toward sons, though inevitably, the son was given a bit more importance. As their daughter grew up, they never expected her to support her brother, but they also told her to forge her own path; the family couldn't offer much help, not even with dowry or the like—she had to handle it herself.

Zhou Rongrong had been out of university for two years, struggling in this city. It had been a long time since she last felt maternal warmth from someone, which she unexpectedly sensed in Mu Yin (Mu Yin: ...), so she was very patient with her.

"A girl should try to find a good man early," Mu Yin said, pushing herself to match the heroine with the supporting male lead, even saying things she didn't quite believe. "If you wait too long, all the good men will be taken, and you'll be left with what others didn't want."

"Auntie, I'm still young, not in a rush. Besides, I'm changing jobs right now and don't have the time. Even if I do get married, I need to be financially independent first, otherwise, it won't be stable." Zhou Rongrong politely declined Mu Yin's well-meaning advice.

"That's true. But why the sudden job change? Weren't you doing well at your previous position?" Of course, Mu Yin knew about her job change—without it, how could she meet the male lead? This time, however, with the interference of the reborn female character, Zhou Rongrong failed to secure a position at the male lead's company.

Since that was the case, why not direct her to the supporting male lead's company? Mu Yin only realized this at that particular moment, which was why she had invited the heroine over.

"I just couldn't continue there," Zhou Rongrong said. In truth, she had been investigated for tax evasion at her previous company and almost took the fall. Fortunately, she had the heroine's luck and was cleared of suspicion, but she still needed to find a new job.

"What do you do, Rongrong?" Mu Yin asked, feigning casualness.

"I'm an accountant," Zhou Rongrong answered. It wasn't a secret.

"An accountant, that's good. Women are well-suited for that. But I always thought you were an artist—you have such a refined aura," Mu Yin praised her profession, then shifted the topic.

"I do love painting, but my parents said there's no money in it, so I chose accounting," Zhou Rongrong's smile faltered slightly at those words.

"Oh, but that's not necessarily true. I have a nephew whose family runs a clothing company. I heard their fashion designers earn quite a bit," Mu Yin remarked, pretending not to know much.

"Auntie, there are levels among fashion designers, just as there are among accountants. It's all about seniority and experience," Zhou Rongrong replied, knowledgeable on the subject. In fact, she had secretly studied fashion design herself, which was why she could enter the field quickly and achieve results.

"Oh, but my nephew's company holds a fashion design competition every three years to recruit new designers. I believe this year is the year of the competition," Mu Yin said, as if recalling with difficulty.

"Really? Where is your nephew's company?" Zhou Rongrong's interest was piqued, her eyes bright as she looked at Mu Yin.

"In the neighboring W Province, at the Joyful Apparel Company," Mu Yin began promoting the supporting male lead's company. In the original storyline, the heroine only left after six years, participated in the competition, and made her debut. Now, who could say what would happen, but the heroine always had the luck bestowed by fate, so things shouldn't go poorly.

Zhou Rongrong was indeed tempted. She loved fashion design, had spent years self-studying, but was unsure of her own abilities.

"I heard the top three winners not only receive a runway show but also guidance from a renowned master. It's someone named Liu Yueying, I think," Mu Yin added.

She had researched thoroughly when making her plans. Liu Yueying was a top designer in this world, with her own studio, but as the sister of the Joyful Apparel Company's CEO, she often collaborated with them.

Yes, Liu Yueying was the supporting male lead's aunt, and later, the heroine became her last disciple. Mu Yin believed that, even with the timeline moved forward, the heroine would still catch her eye.

Seeing Zhou Rongrong's thoughtful expression, Mu Yin relaxed. After all, her role was simply to protect them, not to make decisions for them—she could only nudge them gently.

After sending Zhou Rongrong off, Mu Yin took out a slip of paper inscribed with a pristine idiom, channeled energy into it, and in an instant, all the dust and trash in the room vanished.

She had become increasingly invested in these characters, finding them much more useful than so-called cultivation talismans. Without lifting a finger, she could handle household chores effortlessly. Well, except for food—she still had to prepare meals herself, as she couldn't yet paint dishes that were delicious in color, aroma, and taste.

It was odd, really—these should be inanimate objects, but painting them was harder than painting fruit. Mu Yin ate fruit she painted herself, trusting its quality and benefits for her body.

Strictly speaking, the fruit was created by converting her supernatural energy, so it was even better than what grew naturally on a tree, imbued with nutrition and energy, beneficial to the body.

Thus, Mu Yin had no reservations about her own creations. After a few months of eating them, her body's health indicators had vastly improved; even her original husband's seeing her medical report allowed her to continue living here.

Mu Yin then focused her attention on the Joyful Apparel Company's design competition. The event had already been held three or four times. Due to its fairness, openness, and transparency, it was now renowned nationwide. Every competition drew attention from the fashion world, and could be watched online.

Having confirmed that the heroine had indeed entered the competition, Mu Yin could now sit back and watch as the drama unfolded. She also kept tabs on the reborn woman and the male lead.

The reborn woman had not yet targeted the heroine, as she hadn't managed to win back the male lead. She had been the one to abandon him initially, and now returning to pursue him wasn't so easy.

She wasn't truly the heroine of a counterattack romance; she was merely an ordinary person who had chanced upon opportunity, without any protagonist's aura. Her pursuit of the male lead relied solely on her own cunning.

So, although Mu Yin heard some gossip, there wasn't much—neither of the main characters was involved in the entertainment industry. Only finance reporters or gossip columnists would cover such matters.

Mu Yin didn't use her powers to create surveillance cameras to monitor them. Instead, she painted live-streaming bees and scattered them across the city, keeping an eye out for suspicious people and also studying the terrain, seeking suitable entrances to the heart of the earth.

Generally, such places were where the national fortune dragon veins lay; only by breaking the dragon veins could one enter the heavily guarded earth's core, seize the source power, and sabotage the core origin.