Transmigrating as the Supporting Male Lead’s Sweetheart

Tang Xin was baffled and turned to look confusedly at Tang Tang, asking, “What 40%?”

When her adoptive mother heard those words, for a split second, it seemed as if someone stepped on her tail and made her hair stand on end. She subconsciously raised her voice, “What did you say?!”

How did Tang Tang know about the will?!

Besides herself, this matter was only known by the lawyer who helped prepared the will back then. No third party knew about this matter. Even Tang Xin, her own biological daughter, had no idea.  

Her adoptive mother was so scared by Tang Tang’s words that she almost lost her soul, especially when she heard the precisely iterated 40%. Where did this b*tch hear it from? Not only did she know about the will, she even knew it so clearly?

Mother Tang started to feel anxious.

It has been nearly 10 years since the will was established. But when she thinks about it, Mother Tang is still so angry her teeth itched. As if it was a fishbone that was stuck in her throat and could not be pulled out regardless of how she tried, she would not be able to forget or let go of this matter for a lifetime. The word “will” was brought up again, and Mother Tang once again remembered Tang Yunde’s appearance when he was lying on the hospital bed. He couldn’t even speak clearly, but he was still worried about Tang Tang and that woman.

She has been married to him for 7 years and accompanied him for 7 years, but even at death’s door, Tang Yunde’s mind was still filled with that mother-daughter pair. He said he could finally go find that woman. He said that he was worried that no one would dote on Tang Tang after he died. He exhorted over and over again that she must take good care of Tang Tang from now on, saying that she was a pitiful child who never got a chance to meet her biological mother.

Mother Tang was so angry that her hands trembled. For so many years, Tang Yunde always gave the good things to Tang Tang first. Her own daughter always got what Tang Tang’s leftovers. Tang Tang was wronged? Could it be that she and Tang Xin were not wronged?

Tang Yunde has gone crazy. He has gone crazy ever since he met that woman. That woman already gave birth to an illegitimate child with another man. This sort of used goods, Tang Yunde still treasured her. As for the daughter of that woman and another man, he held her in the palm of his hands and doted on her more than his own biological daughter.

[TN: I sorta agree with her assessment of Tang Yunde, but… I have to say, lady, you knew he was like this before you married him!]

Lastly, before he died, he gave Tang Tang a 40% inheritance!

Say, isn’t that hateful. Isn’t that hateful?!

Back then, Mother Tang held Tang Yunde’s will, saw the 40% displayed above, and her gaze nearly punctured a hole through the paper. Yet, no matter how unbearable she felt inside, she still had to smilingly nod and answer Tang Yunde. She said she would take proper care after Tang Tang in the future and promised Tang Yunde that she would give the 40% to Tang Tang when she is 18 years old.

Bah. Who would give it to her.

A lowly riffraff who was abandoned, bothered them for so many years, and still wants their family’s money. Dream on!

[TN: 有人生没人养 literally means someone gave birth but no one raised, so I shorted it to abandoned]

In Mother Tang’s heart, the matter of the will completely disintegrated after Tang Yunde’s death. As long as she did not mention the matter, no one will ever know. Regarding that lawyer, he made a lot of money by keeping that a secret, so he naturally had no need to divulge the matter to Tang Tang.

Years passed and it has been so long that Mother Tang practically forgot about the matter. The result was that she was completely unguarded when Tang Tang personally brought up the matter.

Mother Tang did not even think about it and suddenly stomped her foot.

“You left home without a word for three months. You ran off from school without saying anything.  Quite a few thousand for a semester of school tuition was squandered by you. When you were doing well, you did not think about coming back. Now you muddled your way back, dejected and all. Since you are so awesome, don’t come back, ah. Having returned, then you should be a bit more sensible. You came back and did not even give an explanation. Take a look at what you’ve become now!”

Although it was true that Tang Tang did not do things very appropriately in the past, this was not the time to settle the score with Tang Tang. Therefore, Tang Tang earnestly pulled Mother Tang back to the topic she digressed from, “We are talking about the matter of the inheritance, no need to get too sidetracked.”

“What sidetracked? Furthermore, why did you mention the inheritance? What does it have to do with you, ah?!”

Tang Mother’s voice was very high pitched and when she stretched her throat to yell, her voice was even more outrageously ear-piercing. Since she was shouting right at the entrance, the neighbor’s door across from them opened and a person scuttled out with an expression of waiting to watch a good show. “Isn’t this Tang Tang. Ai yao, you spent some time on television and became even more beautiful than before, ah.”

Tang Xin, who was standing behind Mother Tang, heard these words and her face instantly pulled a long face. 

The neighbor, who is the matriarch of her household, dried her hands on her apron. “Why are you quarreling without rhyme or reason? It’s not easy for the child to make a trip back…”

This building has four families per floor. Mother Tang’s voice was originally already loud. After Aunt Li came out, it became noisier. Not even a few sentences were spoken when another door was opened. “Ai yao, isn’t this Tang Tang? The program you were on, we watched all of it. You say, everything was perfectly fine, how did you go from first place to dropping out? If you made it in, you may have become a superstar. I just heard you mother-daughter quarreling. Tsk tsk. What’s there to quarrel about? I hear you said something about inheritance. What inheritance?”

Mother Tang was afraid Tang Tan would say something she should not say, so she rushed to speak first. 

“This is perfect, we can let everyone be the judge. Since my family’s master brought her home, we husband and wife raised her like a biological child. She did not lack food or drink. When did we treat her unfairly? As an orphan without parents, her days were not worse than Xinxin’s. Now, she is turning around and accusing me of coveting the inheritance that my family’s master left for her. I can’t bear this, ah!”

“I raised you until you are this big and this is how you repay me,” Mother Tang beat her chest. “I know your days were not easy when you were away from home. If it’s not easy, then isn’t if fine to just come back? You cannot be a celebrity but isn’t if fine if you continue to study. I raised you like a biological daughter, so how could I be unconcerned about you? I take you in consideration in all respects, but you ask for money the moment you return. Are you worthy of us husband and wife? If he really left you money, would I still not give it to you? Still, you ask everyone, who would establish a will and not leave the inheritance to their wife and biological daughter but leave it to their adoptive daughter and even leave 40%? Tang Tang, can you still be considered a person, ah?!”

[TN: I tl’d 你还是个人吗 more literally into can you still be considered a person, but it could also be tl’d as “do you still have a conscience?”]

In the past, it Tang Yunde clearly had Tang Tang first, and Mother Tang came afterwards. But, at the time, Tang Tang was not very old and basically did not know what happened in those days. Even though Tang Yunde is partial to Tang Tang, he still would not discuss these matters with Tang Tang.  

Tang Tang did not know. No one knew the truth about what happened back then. No one knew the circumstances behind her marriage with Tang Yunde and how Tang Xin came about. Therefore, Mother Tang was felt reassured and freely said whatever she wanted.

 

She was wiping her tears as she spoke, as if she really painstakingly raised Tang Tang and now Tang Tang came to unscrupulously extort money from her.

The neighbors have lived together for many years and still had some awareness. Where would they not know about Mother Tang’s attitude towards Tang Tang? Normally, if she is not beating her then she is scolding her. Tang Xin got to wear pretty things while Tang Tang always wore old stuff.

But when Mother Tang cried, everyone would inevitably recall that Tang Tang was originally adopted. They way Mother Tang treated her definitely cannot compare to how she treated Tang Xin. Furthermore, as Mother Tang said, who would leave their inheritance to an adoptive daughter instead of a biological daughter, much less even giving as much as 40%?

As such, multiple gazes fell on Tang Tang. “Tang Tang, ah, you are not right. Your Auntie raised you until are you this old…”

Once Mother Tang heard someone speak on her behalf, she cried even harder. “How could we husband and wife keep such an immoral think like you, ah?”

Mother Tang cried more tragically than Dou E. If she hadn’t read the novel before, even Tang Tang would believe that she was adopted by both Tang Yunde and Mother Tang.

[TN: Dou E is a character from a tragic Chinese drama]

All along, Tang Tang has not said a word, waiting for Mother Tang finished crying and selling misery and then speaking.

[Please read this on ClearSprings(.)com]

“Whether Daddy ultimately left me a will, Auntie is very clear. It doesn’t matter whether you admit it. I still have ways to prove I am speaking the truth and I am not extorting money from you. As for whether my days were the same as Tang Xin’s, the aunts and uncles in our neighborhood all have eyes and can tell apart good from bad. Just now, Auntie always said that you and Daddy both adopted me. However, I remember that in the past, when Daddy brought me to the company, he said he did not know Auntie at the time.”

Mother Tang’s face suddenly stiffened. The aunts that were gathered to watch a scene looked at each other, instantly smelling the scent of gossip.

The neighbors in the neighborhood actually did not have any close interactions. They only knew that Tang Tang was not Tang Yunde and his wife’s child, so they naturally assumed that Tang Tang was adopted by them.

Privately, they had also been curious why Tang Tang called Tang Yunde Dad, but had always called Mother Tang Auntie. Furthermore, Tang Yunde and his wife were young so why, for no apparent reason, did they adopt a child? It’s not like they couldn’t have their own. Additionally, even if they adopted, they should not adopt a girl, ah.

In the end, according to what Tang Tang said now, it turns out that Tang Yunde was already raising Tang Tang and then met Mother Tang later?

It was a little strange for a young married couple to adopt a child out of the blue. It was even more strange for Tang Yunde, a single young man, to adopt a child. Once they thought of the oddity, they began to recall some things from the past. The aunt wearing the apron finally remembered, back when Tang Yunde was alive, it seemed as if Tang Tang was dressed better than Tang Xin. That pampered appearance on was simply no different from that of a biological daughter.

Unfortunately, Tang Yunde died prematurely and roughly 10 years has passed so those prior memories were nearly forgotten. She only remembered Mother Tang constantly yelling at Tang Tang.

Tang Yunde held her in the palm of his hands and treasured her. Tang Yunde died and Mother Tang scolded her daily. No matter how you think of it, something seemed fishy.

Could it be? Could it be…Tang Tang, like Tang Xin, was also Tang Yunde’s biological child?!

Therefore, after Tang Yunde died, Mother Tang was either beating or scolding her?

The more Aunt Li thought about it, the more she felt it could be true. If that was actually the case, then it was highly possible for Tang Yunde to leave a big sum of money to Tang Tang.

The aunts seemed as if they suddenly discovered some big secret.

Back when Tang Yunde died, he left behind a fairly prosperous company. Therefore, Mother Tang has been living in comfort and, under normal circumstances, would always looked down her nose at them. Now that they discovered the big secret, the aunts naturally wanted to watch a big show and spoke again. “Feelings, ah, are not only based on blood relations. Sometimes, ah, the biological child is not as good as the adopted child. It was not clear… ke ke. Tang Tang, what did your Dad say to you…”

[TN: ke ke = coughing sounds]

Mother Tang rushed forward, grabbed Tang Tang and pulled her towards the house. “Haven’t seen you for three months and your wings have hardened, right? Where did you hear this nonsense? You sure know a lot of insignificant people, don’t you??”

[TN: 翅膀硬了means wings have hardened. When a baby bird’s soft wings/feathers harden, it can fly and become independent. In other words, Mrs. Tang is asking whether Tang Tang thinks she grew up and doesn’t need to listen to her anymore.]

After speaking, she faced Aunt Li and bellowed, “Aunt Li, has your family’s eldest passed the civil service exam? Hasn’t he been taking the exam for almost two years, right? If he continues to procrastinate, it’s uncertain when he will reach the cut off age and not be allowed to test anymore. Instead of snooping into other family’s business, it’s better to buy some walnuts for your son…”

Aunt Li’s face instantly turned black, “Bah. I advise you to take out the money you took from other people’s child earlier. Watch out for retribution!”

Mother Tang was so angered that she wanted to scold again but Aunt Li already returned to her own house and closed the door with a bang. Tang Tang seized the opportunity to twist her wrist and free her hand from Mother Tang’s hold.

In the past, no matter what, Tang Tang did not dare to oppose her. When Tang Tang took the initiative to pull her hand out, Mother Tang blanked out for a moment.

Mother Tang was not too bothered. She turned her head and cursed old thing that has not die then turned her head back, gaze falling on Tang Tang. In an instant, she directed all her anger at Tang Tang.

In the past, Tang Tang would always cower whenever she saw her. In the three months they haven’t seen each other, her ability and courage has really grown. Not only did she dare to talk back, she also dared to fight back. Presently, it wasn’t clear where she heard the news, but she even dared to extort her?

“You, get in for me!” Mother Tang reached out again to grab Tang Tang.

Tang Xin stood at the side and gloated. Each time Tang Tang got beaten, her mood was quite good.

Tang Xin also did not expect that, after leaving home for a while, Tang Tang actually dared to have an attitude at home. She took two steps back, preparing to give Mother Tang room to sort out Tang Tang only to see Tang Tang turn her hand to grab Mother Tang’s wrist and push Mother Tang back.

Mother Tang has yet to react and bumped into the doorframe with an “ai yao.”  She angrily scolded, “Are you itching for a spanking…”

“Why did Dad originally agree to marry you, you know the reason.” Tang Tang interrupted Mother Tang. What did Mother Tang want to say? Once she heard Tang Tang’s words, she was scared into having goosebumps all over.

“Whether Dad left money for me, you should be clear in your heart. I am not asking for you and Tang Xin’s shares and merely taking back what belongs to me. I am not being excessive at all. Inheritances are protected by the law. This money, it’s not like you can swallow it just because you want to swallow it. Don’t hold the law lightly.”

Mother Tang was scared by Tang Tang’s words, but after thinking about it, she remembered the lawyer’s words from before. The lawyer guaranteed that there would absolutely be no problem. Therefore, she felt that Tang Tang was just trying to scare her. “I said there isn’t so there isn’t. If you say another word, then don’t ever step into this house again…”

“I also did not plan to go in again.” Tang Tang said. She put her phone in her pocket and was walking towards the stairs when she suddenly remembered that she will be in the same school as Tang Xin for the remaining half of the year. Therefore, she turned back to look at Tang Xin, “See you again.”

Then, she calmly went down the stairs.

Who wants to see you again?!

Tang Xin turned away in disgust. She debated for a while before pulling Mother Tang over. “Mom, in the end, what is going on…”

Mother Tang closed the door in a hurry and held Tang Tang’s hand. “Who knows what she is pulling.”

“Then, did Dad really leave an inheritance for…”

“No.” Mother Tang directly interrupted Tang Xin’s words and pinched her cheek. “You are your Dad’s daughter. Who can he leave his money for if not you? How could Mom possibly deceive you?”

However, when she recalled how dearly her dad loved Tang Tang when they were younger, Tang Xin did not know how to feel inside. Furthermore, Tang Xin recalled that Tang Tang just said that, before he met her mom, he brought her to the company. She didn’t really understand what she meant by those words, but she also did not dare to ask her mom so she might as well not think about it. “If Tang Tang does not live back at home, then where will she go? Didn’t she fail to debut? This morning, Qing Yang said that Tang Tang’s company wanted to terminate her contract. After the termination, does she have a place to go?” [Please read directly on ClearSpringsTL(.) com]

“Who cares whether she has somewhere to go?” Mother Tang currently wished that Tang Tang would directly starve to death on the streets. “It has nothing to do with us whether she has a place to go to. Didn’t she say she is already 18? Still dared to ask me for money.”

The more she thought about it, the angrier Mother Tang felt. She was swearing to herself as she went into her own room. Tang Xin dazed out for quite a while before she went to her own bedroom to make a phone call. “Qing Yang, let me tell you, Tang Tang came back just now…looking at her, it seems as if everything was very good, but it definitely isn’t… because she came asking my mom for money… I will tell you a joke, she actually said my dad left her 40% of the inheritance…hehehe funny, right…”

On the other end, Tang Tang came out of the building and pulled out a mask from her bag and put it on.

Although everyone was scolding Tang Tang, there were quite a few people who recognized her because of her previous popularity.

Despite wearing a mask, with a figure that clearly outshined others, she still attracted attention along the way. Tang Tang quickly left the community and saw the familiar Maybach. She opened the door to get in and then called out Master in greeting. 

[TN: The way master is used here is just a respectful way to address older men]

Uncle Li did not have a good impression of Tang Tang, but one did not reach out a hand to hit a smiling person. Since Tang Tang, such a beautiful young lady, greeted him so cleverly, Uncle Li did not have the heart to disregard her. Therefore, he showed a smile while saying, “Miss, calling me Uncle Li will do.” 

Thus, Tang Tang cooperatively called out Uncle Li.

[TN: 乖乖 is often tl’ed as obedient or well-behaved, but I opted to use cooperative here.]

All in all, Uncle Li is someone under Ming Shaoyan. Perhaps Uncle Li will subsequently report her every word and action to Ming Shaoyan.            

The vehicle traveled along smoothly. Tang Tang sat for a while before asking Uncle Li, “Uncle Li, where are we currently headed?” [Please read directly on ClearSpringsTL(.) com]

Tang Tang is ultimately a supporting role, so the novel only accounted for the portion where Tang Tang met Ming Shaoyan. Therefore, how Tang Tang traveled and where she went was completely unknown.

Uncle Li chuckled, “We are currently going back to Sir’s residence. Sir is worried that since Miss has just arrived, you would be afraid by yourself. So, you will stay with Sir first.”

Tang Tang said to herself, in actuality, he was afraid that the people from the second and third branches would take advantage of the situation to approach Tang Tang, so it was safer to have her right under his nose, right? 

The vehicle traveled for roughly half an hour before it finally arrived at Ming Shaoyan’s residence. One could tell at a glance that three-story building in front cost an exorbitant amount of money. 

[Please read directly on ClearSpringsTL(.) com]

The somewhat excessively huge villa was occupied by Ming Shaoyan alone. Even though Uncle Li was there, as well as a housekeeper, a chef, etc., it was still overly spacious and empty.

That’s why the one surnamed Cheng got so excited after seeing her coming, right?  Tang Tang thought about the room that Ming Shaoyan had others prepare for her.

Ming Shaoyan truly did not treat her poorly at all, at least materially.

Tang Tang has been busy since early morning and was finally able to take a breather now. She reclined on the bed to rest for a while. Suddenly, she remembered that ever since she transmigrated into the book, it seems that she has seen her current appearance? 

The book repeatedly described how beautiful Tang Tang looked and how perfect her figure was. Tang Tang immediately felt curious and got off the bed to go into the bathroom.

She couldn’t help but sigh that Ming Shaoyan’s aesthetics was really too good because in just a split second all her senses have been occupied by the face in the mirror.

[TN: Text said “来不及感叹,” which means it’s too late to sigh or not enough time to sigh, but it flowed more smoothly to tl it as she couldn’t help but sigh]

Facing this appearance, only one thought came to Tang Tang’s mind at this moment.

Was there was really someone this beautiful in the world?

Each of the five facial features are perfect. Even if you look at it separately, one could entirely not pick out any flaws. And, the effect is even more perfect with the combination of all five facial features together.

Beautiful. So beautiful that it could hook one’s soul away.

At this moment, she could finally understand why Tang Tang could become that popular relying entirely on her face.

However, even with such a beautiful appearance, she was still blackened by the entire network. This sufficiently illustrates that a clever mind is even more important than a beautiful face.

Tang Tang took a bath and noticed that it was already 6:30 p.m.

It’s already 6:30. She doesn’t know whether Ming Shaoyan has returned.

Tang Tang went downstairs. The highly enthusiastic aunt from earlier was even more enthusiastic when she asked her to come to the kitchen for dinner. 

Tang Tang looked around then asked, “Xiao Shu still hasn’t returned? How about I wait for Xiao Shu to get back to eat together?”

Aunt Cheng looked at her even more kindly. In an unusually gentle voice, “Sir said that he is busy this evening and would be back late. He asked Miss to eat by yourself.”

“Oh,” Tang Tang nodded. She finished dinner under Aunt Cheng’s extremely doting gaze. After resting for half an hour, she went out for a run.

When she came back in from running outside, Ming Shaoyan still wasn’t back.

Tang Tang originally planned to look for an opportunity to get closer to Ming Shaoyan tonight, but Ming Shaoyan was socializing. Therefore, her hopes for their second friendly interactions was dashed. 

Tang Tang lied down on the bed to think, then got up and went downstairs to look for Aunt Cheng, who was cleaning at that moment.

“Aunt Cheng, what time does Xiao Shu usually get up? Also, what does he like?”