IHAOP Chapter 1

Tips: to access footnote, press the number. To go back to the paragraph, press the number on the footnote.

In a film and television company, Chu Chu was having an intense argument with her colleague from copyright department for the novel ‘The Hot[1] Beloved Wife of the Superstar’, both sides are in a deadlock.

The colleague collapsed and said, “If there is no vicious female supporting character, how can the relationship between the male and female leads progress? Don’t be too insistent!”

    “A woman’s malice towards another woman is the most deplorable. I will not accept this kind of view even if I die –”

With a powerful and resonating voice, Chu Chu crudely refused to purchase the novel IP[2] and set a flag[3] for herself madly.

After getting off from work, Chu Chu went home under the heavy rain with an umbrella. A flash of lighting fell from the sky.

Boom –

Before Chu Chu fainted, she inwardly thought that God is too serious. There was no need to kill her for a novel, right?!

– –

By the outdoor swimming pool of a luxury hotel, the filming crew was interrupted due to an accident. A lifeguard was contacting medical personnel after rescuing a drowning woman from the swimming pool. The situation was chaotic, and everyone began to whisper to one another.

    “How can someone suddenly fell into the water? Didn’t the staff member take protective measures?”

    “But this is the deep-water zone, she should be okay right….”

After being resuscitated by the medical personnel and lifeguard for a long time, the woman lying on the ground finally spat out a puddle of water, regaining her consciousness and coughed violently. The surrounding people breathed a sigh of relief and began to shout around to report to the film crew leader.

    “Hey! She woke up! She woke up! Go and inform President Chu!”

    “What about Li Taihe?” The director of the film crew heaved a sigh of relief and looked around the celebrities only to discover that the VIP had suddenly disappeared.

Li Taihe’s PD[4] approached the director carefully and whispered, “Li Taihe earlier pulled President Chu away angrily…”

The director was stunned upon hearing this. He recalled the rumors between the two and for a moment didn’t know what to say.

President Chu was the chairman of Yinda Investment and the founder of Chenxing Film and Television. Her father Chu Yanyin was an even more powerful business tycoon listed on the rich list. Li Taihe was a currently popular actor from Chenxing Film and Television. It could be said that he was promoted by President Chu. Because of their subtle relationship, there were numerous baseless rumors in the company and Internet about them.

The director was silent for a moment then reminded, “You watch yourself—some things are better kept to yourself.”

Chenxing Film and Television was the main sponsor of the program. At the end of the day, they were merely employees and they should, in any case, not talk about the boss’s matters so casually.

    “I understand….” The man nodded sincerely.

In a secluded corner of the luxurious hotel, a man and a woman stood facing each other in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. It was a completely inconspicuous area that was covered by decorative plants. The identities of the conversing people were not simple; one was a currently popular hot male star, while the other was a very wealthy young female CEO.

Li Taihe’s handsome face was distorted with anger, he indignantly rebuked, “You are truly a lunatic! To go so far as to kill someone to silence them!?”

He glared at the woman in front of him. Her graceful figure was clothed in a custom-made suit and her appearance was outstanding. However, her fine features couldn’t cover her filthy heart. He couldn’t believe what kind of malicious thoughts she harbored in her mind—to be able to put her hand on an innocent and pure girl just now.

She was expressionless, like a cold-blooded devil, seemed to completely have no remorse.

Li Taihe shaking his head muttered, “I can’t stand you anymore….”

Chu Chu looked at the gloomy handsome man. Above his head was a bright halo; the character name ‘Li Taihe’ and the halo name ‘Male Lead Aura’ hovered beside him. Li Taihe was the male lead in ‘The Hot Beloved Wife of the Superstar’ and in the writing he was set as a big celebrity that ultimately became the film emperor.

Chu Chu tilted her head slightly and saw her figure in the floor-to-ceiling windows. Above her head was also a halo. Next to her were character name ‘Chu Chu’ and halo name ‘Vicious Female Supporting Character Aura’. Chu Chu was the novel’s female supporting character, the one who advanced bravely to obstruct the male and female leads—basically, an unyielding brainless character.

God didn’t kill her with lightning but made her the kind of person she hated the most instead, the one with ruthless heart.

   [Please strengthen the aura of ‘Vicious Female Supporting Character’ through the task. Disappearance of the aura will cause obliteration by the main world.]

   [Task: Say the classic script line to Li Taihe, “If it wasn’t for her, you would never leave me.”]

Chu Chu had not fully adjusted to the odd encounter when she heard a strange prompt sound echoing in her ear along with the bizarre words appearing on the floor-to-ceiling windows. Li Taihe seemed to be completely unaware of the peculiarity beside him and only Chu Chu could see the task words.

In ‘The Hot Beloved Wife of the Superstar’, the female supporting character pushed the female lead from a high altitude due to jealousy. Fortunately, the female lead fell into the swimming pool and was able to be saved. But because of this incident, the male lead recognized the supporting female character’s true color and broke their relations off heartlessly. This caused the female supporting character to become even more sinister.

After recalling the plot, Chu Chu quickly calmed down and asked, “Did you see me pushing her with your own eyes?”

Li Taihe sneered and said, “You still want to argue in this critical situation?”

    “Then what are you waiting for? This is an attempted homicide.” Chu Chu was perfectly calm and collected. “Hurry up and call the police. This is a fixed sentence for a minimum of three years and a maximum of ten years. I will be standing here and wait for the police to arrest me.”

Li Taihe: “……”

   [Please strengthen the aura of ‘Vicious Female Supporting Character’ through the task. Disappearance of the aura will cause obliteration by the main world.]

   [Task: Say the classic script line to Li Taihe, “If it wasn’t for her, you would never leave me.”]

Chu Chu: If you tell me to say this and I really say it, where will I put my face?

The strange voice appeared again, obviously feeling dissatisfied with Chu Chu who behaved inappropriately and warned her. The ‘Vicious Female Supporting Character Aura’ above Chu Chu’s head weakened slightly, but she was still immersed in the police arrest story line and didn’t notice.

Chu Chu was precisely amenable to coaxing but not coercion. Whoever forced her to do something, she would be pigheaded and completely disobey. If it had the ability to erase her at once, maybe by chance she could return to the real world?

When she read the novel, she felt that the female supporting character was full of problems. Transmigrating to the book now was precisely the most opportune moment.

As an upright and law-abiding good citizen, she planned to righteously exterminate herself, absolutely not letting any bad person break the law and commit crimes.

Seeing Li Taihe’s expression as if he had swallowed a housefly, Chu Chu frowned and said, “Why are you not moving yet? Quick, lend me your phone and I will surrender myself to get reduced sentence.”

Li Taihe gnashing his teeth said, “…. Are you deliberately provoking me?”

Chu Chu’s whole face was at a loss. “I am sincerely surrendering myself! I really did do wrong!”

Upon seeing this, Li Taihe flew into a rage. “Who doesn’t know your background? You knew that the police won’t dare to arrest you, so you feel assured knowing that you have backing!”

   [Task: Say the classic script line to Li Taihe, “If it wasn’t for her, you would never leave me.”]

The strange voice reminded for the third time, as if it was on the brink of patience just like Li Taihe.

Hearing this, Chu Chu sternly and righteously refuted, “Even if it was an emperor who violated the law, the guilt is the same as common people! Li Taihe, I never expected you to be this kind of fainthearted man—to be afraid of the bigwigs’ children? I guarantee that if I don’t sit in jail for ten years, I absolutely will not come out!”

Li Taihe was so angry with these words he vomited blood, he felt Chu Chu was arrogant and out of control. He said in a trembling voice, “Good, very good… Don’t you be too complacent—Chu Yanyin can protect you for now, but he can’t protect you forever![5]”

Ding – –

The phone suddenly rang, interrupting the intense dispute between the two. Li Taihe answered the call. After listening to the news, he slightly relaxed and responded, “…. Alright, I will come back soon.”

He hung up the phone and shot a baleful glance at her, said in an ice-cold tone, “You should be thankful that Xiaoxiao is fine, otherwise I will not let you off!”

Chu Chu immediately ridiculed, “I let you report me to the police yet you didn’t, who will you not let off?”

Li Taihe: “……”

Li Taihe was too angry to speak and walked off in a huff, abandoning Chu Chu alone.

Now that the novel male lead had exited the scene, Chu Chu had time to organize her train of thoughts. She assessed herself using the floor-to-ceiling window. She found that no matter how she turned her head, she couldn’t shake the ‘Vicious Female Supporting Character Aura’ off. The halo’s brightness seemed to have dimmed a little. In case it really was according to the prompt sound, when the halo was completely gone, Chu Chu would drop dead.

Chu Chu looked at herself in the mirror and couldn’t help but stroke her chin. New doubts emerged again, which fits very well with a song.

Chu Chu: Why am I so good looking? So good looking, what to do[6]?

Chu Chu looked back and forth in front of the mirror, unable to repress the narcissism feeling that was bubbling up in her heart. Her facial features were clearly not much different, but it looked like it had been retouched with Meitu[7]; her face came with a built-in filter effect, exquisite to the point of non-human. Could this be the natural superiority of being a person on paper, that all vicious female supporting character had a beautiful physique?

Chu Chu silently rubbed her face, thinking that even plastic surgery couldn’t be this perfect. She couldn’t control the self-admiration of her flourishing beautiful face.

Next to her, President Assistant Zhang Jianian was somewhat hesitant, unsure if now was an appropriate time to talk. He could only stand still silently while watching his boss frantically looking at the mirror, waiting for a good time to get her attention.

Chu Chu was pretty much drunk in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows for a few minutes before straightening up. Zhang Jianian immediately seized the opportunity and spoke, “President Chu, the film crew has finished shooting for today. Would you like to return to the company?”

Chu Chu was startled as she didn’t expect that someone was next to her. She turned her head and saw an elegant and steady looking man—his name was ‘Zhang Jianian’ and his halo was ‘Passerby A Aura’.

Zhang Jianian was the company’s Assistant to the President, completely a background character that exist for the sake of formality. His purpose was to show the female supporting character’s family power and he could be classified as minor roles that didn’t even qualify to get their character profiles written.

Chu Chu gradually figured out the laws of this world; the male and female lead halos were the most powerful; characters that had names, such as Chu Chu and Zhang Jianian, had halos with different attributes; people who didn’t even deserve to have a name in the novel didn’t have halos, and the passerby who came and went in the hotel were basically this.

Chu Chu said, “Do you know where the police station is?”

Zhang Jianian mildly replied, “The nearest police station from here is in Longtan District. If you need anything you can relay it to me, and I will help you by being a representative.”

Chu Chu shook her head. “I want to surrender myself—you can’t represent me.”

    “……” Zhang Jianian’s smiling face stiffened, he politely asked to verify, “What do you mean by that?”

Chu Chu explained, “I have committed an attempted murder and want to go to the police station to surrender myself so I can get a reduced sentence.”

President Assistant Zhang Jianian was at loss for a moment, but he immediately regained his strong professional workplace attitude and mildly said, “Perhaps you have been exhausted recently. I will arrange the driver to take you back to Yanhan Residence to rest in advance. Afterwards, I will contact Doctor Hu to visit.”

Chu Chu said, “…. You think I’m sick? Or think I’m insane?”

Zhang Jianian showed a flawless smile and impeccably reasoned, “Of course not, today is originally your appointed check-up date.”

Zhang Jianian led Chu Chu to the outside. The driver had long arrived and was on the entrance of the hotel waiting. Just as Chu Chu was about to get in the car, she suddenly turned her head around. “By the way, there is one more thing.”

Zhang Jianian’s nerve instantly strained, fearing that this ancestor would say nonsense about police station and surrendering herself again. He politely said, “Please speak.”

Chu Chu asked, “Is Xia Xiaoxiao okay?”

Zhang Jianian blanked; he didn’t recognize this person at all. He doubtfully said, “By that you mean….”

Chu Chu reminded, “The young lady who fell into the water today.”

Zhang Jianian suddenly saw the light and reported, “She is safe and sound. Apart from being frightened, she did not get injured.”

Chu Chu nodded. “You go to the cake shop downstairs in the company and buy a cranberry cookie, then give it to her to calm her down. She likes that thing.”

Chu Chu still remembered some small details from the book, one of them was how the female lead liked to eat cranberry cookies when her mood was down.

Zhang Jianian: “???”

Zhang Jianian said, “Alright, I will handle this immediately. You can go back and rest at ease.”

Only then Chu Chu got into the car feeling relieved. After Zhang Jianian sent the big boss away, he finally heaved a sigh of relief. He felt that President Chu today was incomparably strange. Although she was usually eccentric and irascible, she would never say something so absurd, let alone cared about who liked to eat what.

Zhang Jianian didn’t dare to delay and immediately called the president’s secretary. “You go to the cake shop downstairs to buy a cranberry cookie and send it to Xia Xiaoxiao. This is President Chu’s command.”

The secretary hesitated and said, “President assistant, may I ask which Xia Xiaoxiao?”

The secretary was also completely dumbfounded. She knew the Xia Xiaoxiao from Chenxing Film and Television, but also knew she was completely unrelated[8] to President Chu.

    “The one who fell into the water.” Zhang Jianian recalling President Chu’s attention towards this person, couldn’t help but be curious. “What kind of person is she?”

The secretary hemmed and hawed, “Xia Xiaoxiao is an intern in Chenxing Film and Television……”

Zhang Jianian was even more confused. How could the busy President Chu remember an intern’s name?

On the other side, Chu Chu originally wanted to shake this tail Zhang Jianian off so she could get off the car and look for a police station to surrender herself. But she didn’t expect that the driver was responsible and did his duty diligently, driving directly to the Yanhan Residence neighborhood. Yanhan Residence was a first-rate complete set neighborhood inside the city. The main concept was ‘hidden in the city, quiet in the noisy’, obtaining comfort in the bustling city.

Chu Chu gazed at the uniquely designed, bright, and clean high-end neighborhood outside the car window. She had the illusion of mistakenly entering an aristocratic drama.

---

[1] Hot (惹火 – lit. attracting fire/popularity) here can also mean to provoke and offend people or simply hot (according to some dictionary?). Not exactly sure which one is the intended meaning, but here I am using the ‘hot’ (popular) one.

[2] IP – Intellectual Property; rights to reproduce/use creative work for commercial purpose.

[3] Set a flag (立flag) – set a goal to be achieved, or say some words to encourage yourself.

[4] PD – Program Director (raw: followpd)

[5] (护得了你一时，护不了你一世) This phrase sounds cooler in Chinese because 时 and 世 pronounced with the same word (shi) but different tone. Just thought it was quite clever haha.

[6] This song (warning: a bit loud) minute 1:00 is the part that Chu Chu was thinking (我怎么这么好看？这么好看怎么办？)

[7] Meitu (美图) – beauty filter phone application, like FaceApp or B612.

[8] Cannot be reached by the length of eight bamboo poles (八竿子打不着) – very distant, completely unrelated.

---

ToC | Next

---

Translator Note:

Hello all! In case you haven’t read the announcement, I will be translating this novel starting from Chapter 1 as Novel Updates didn’t list the chapters in Novellike properly, and I cannot directly jump to chapter 27. I will most probably wait to reach chapter 26 before continuing with the untranslated chapters as I really want the releases to be listed in Novel Updates.
If you any of you know the workaround for this, let me know!