The Cold and Ruthless Supporting Male Lead

After experiencing raising a son in another world, Hai Ku’s mood was somewhat complicated when he returned to the system space, but overall, he felt quite at ease.

When he read that book in the past, he had no intention of letting the child be raised by the female lead. Now that his wish had been truly fulfilled, he felt thoroughly refreshed.

After receiving his own experience points, Hai Ku checked his backpack.

There were still a few bottles of the Green Hat Potion left, which he could continue to use in the next world. There was nothing else of note remaining.

After a few satisfying worlds, Hai Ku began to think about where he should go next.

His sister no longer needed his care, and he didn’t want to raise the child anymore. Perhaps…

Thinking about the books he had read, Hai Ku suddenly made a decision.

[Host, would you like to continue with the mission or stay here to chat with the system?]

“System, shut up. Help me find a world,” Hai Ku said, not wanting to hear the system chattering, as he flipped through the floating worlds.

Having played the role of a domineering CEO in several consecutive worlds, Hai Ku felt like he was about to be assimilated if he continued. He needed to spend some time in a world with a different style.

[Wuwuwu, the system is so sad. What kind of world does the host want to go to?]

“I don’t remember the name of that world, but the male supporting character is a farmer, and the female supporting character is a reincarnated person. It’s also a modern setting, and the male lead’s family has a ranch.” Reflecting on the book he had read, Hai Ku only remembered it was the first farming novel he had ever read.

Moreover, it was a modern farming novel, and the male supporting character was a ranch owner; very wealthy but looked like an old farmer.

[Searching… Is it this book, Rebirth of the Ranch Queen?]

A white square box popped up in front of Hai Ku. After a quick glance, he confirmed that this was the book he had read back then.

“Yes! I want to go to this world.” He clicked directly into it, feeling a surge of excitement in his heart.

‘Rebirth of the Ranch Queen’ was a modern farming novel from the female lead’s perspective, and it was the first farming novel Hai Ku had encountered.

The story was about the female lead, Lin Xiaomu, who was reborn from the ancient world into the modern one, and she brought along a golden finger. In her previous life, Lin Xiaomu was a servant who took care of flowers and plants. She was quite familiar with these things, but after offending her master, she lost her life.

This was just a simple backstory that created the condition for her rebirth. After being reborn into the modern world, the general direction of the story was female empowerment and male weakness.

How weak was the male lead in this book? He was essentially the epitome of a “shoujo hearted” man.

(T/N: shoujo hearted = gentle and emotionally soft-hearted, the typical soft-boy troupe.)

Whenever something happened, he would cry like a girl, with no opinions of his own. He felt more like a bystander than a male lead. His presence throughout the entire book was so weak that Hai Ku often felt like this was a no-CP story.

Because of the male lead’s lack of presence, Hai Ku couldn’t really figure out his character. All he knew was that the man cried a lot.

However, this was still a book, and in such stories, any type of character or situation could exist. Hai Ku respected the author’s setting.

Hai Ku didn’t have much of an issue with this setting. After all, the author wrote whatever they felt like, and the “shoujo heart” was a cute trait set for the male lead.

What made Hai Ku angry was that the male supporting character in this world, Wang Haiku, had been killed off.

The reason he was killed off was that he became too popular, with about 70-80% of the comments wanting him to be made the male lead. The author, feeling frustrated, decided to kill him off.

In the beautiful 21st century, during an era that adhered to socialist core values, Hai Ku was absolutely furious when he saw that the ranch owner had died!

The female lead, Lin Xiaomu, and the male lead, Zhang Daniu, were both employees of this ranch owner. Both had been picked up by Wang Haiku, but there was a difference; Lin Xiaomu was reborn with a golden finger, and Zhang Daniu’s origins were unknown.

A large ranch couldn’t possibly be managed by Wang Haiku alone. After so many years, there was already a well-established management system. Wang Haiku only needed to do a round of inspections each day.

Lin Xiaomu was an employee at the ranch. Originally, Wang Haiku wouldn’t have paid attention to such a woman, but Lin Xiaomu’s golden finger was her affinity with animals and plants.

Any animals or plants she took care of grew particularly well. Over time, Wang Haiku noticed it.

As a businessman, his instinct was to observe Lin Xiaomu and try to discover any secrets she might have.

However, the female lead’s aura wasn’t to be underestimated. As he observed her, he ended up falling in love with her, which was simply hard to criticize.

Later, Wang Haiku confessed his feelings to Lin Xiaomu.

Lin Xiaomu was very moved but rejected Wang Haiku, choosing the pure-souled, shoujo-hearted male lead, Zhang Daniu.

How could this be? A handsome ranch owner like me, and you don’t even like me?

At that point, Wang Haiku, the male supporting character, began to show his true nature. After a round of difficulty, the comments below started to criticize Zhang Daniu for being useless, demanding that Wang Haiku be made the male lead instead.

So, the author, in a fit of frustration, made the ranch catch fire, killing Wang Haiku.

Then, the female lead mysteriously inherited the ranch and lived the life of a ‘woman farming, man weaving,’ truly all about farming.

(T/N: woman farming, man weaving = a phrase that means the ideal farming couple’s life.)

While the later parts of the story were still quite satisfying, Hai Ku still felt that the male lead’s death was unjust.

Moreover, it was strange that the female lead had mysteriously inherited the ranch. Even though the male supporting character had died, Lin Xiaomu wasn’t his wife, so why was she qualified to inherit his ranch?

***

In the blink of an eye, Hai Ku had already arrived in the book world, dressed in old farmer clothes and holding a hoe.

He paused for a moment before realizing, as he read the data of this world.

At this point, he had already picked up both the male and female leads. In fact, just yesterday, he had already confessed to the female lead.

However, the female lead had said she would give him an answer today.

In fact, after Hai Ku confessed last night, Lin Xiaomu ran to tell the shoujo-hearted Zhang Daniu. Zhang Daniu had always liked Lin Xiaomu, but he had kept it to himself. Now, seeing that the ranch owner confessed first, Zhang Daniu couldn’t hold back, and he cried as he confessed to Lin Xiaomu.

Lin Xiaomu had already been somewhat infatuated with Zhang Daniu, so by that evening, the two had confirmed their relationship, and the next day, she planned to reject Wang Haiku.

Hai Ku’s mission in this world was to protect his ranch and make sure he didn’t die.

The fire on the ranch would occur in 6 months. As long as he managed to survive these 6 months and didn’t provoke the female lead, it would be easy.

Hai Ku was quite confident in himself. After all, he didn’t like the female lead, and he wouldn’t foolishly rush in to give her experience points.

“Boss…” A soft voice came from behind.

Hai Ku immediately realized and quickly adjusted himself, turning around with an expectant look in his eyes, asking cautiously, “Xiaomu, about what I said to you yesterday, your answer is…”

“I’m sorry…” Lin Xiaomu, also cautious, bowed to Hai Ku, “Boss, I already have someone I like, so thank you.”

“Ah…” Hai Ku pretended to look disappointed, “Since that’s the case, I can only wish you well.”

Feeling somewhat empty inside, Lin Xiaomu wasn’t sure what she was feeling but bowed to Hai Ku again, “Thank you, Boss…”

“It’s fine, go back to work,” Hai Ku turned away smoothly.

In the original plot, after being rejected, Wang Haiku had persistently pursued, using all those domineering CEO tactics, even pressing Lin Xiaomu to the ground and giving her a forceful kiss, acting as domineering as possible.

However, after just one kiss, Zhang Daniu rushed out from a corner and pulled them apart, crying uncontrollably.

At that time, Hai Ku had thought this shoujo-heart thing was taken a bit too far. But everyone had their preferences, so he didn’t say anything.

Lin Xiaomu was still a bit surprised at how easily she was let go, but she couldn’t see any sign that the boss was reluctant.

Having spent so much time in the palace, constantly thinking about schemes and conspiracies, Lin Xiaomu couldn’t bring herself to believe it for a moment.

But after walking a short distance and not seeing anyone follow, Lin Xiaomu finally sighed in relief.

“Xiaomu~ The boss didn’t make things difficult for you, did he?” Zhang Daniu ran out from the side greenhouse and grabbed Lin Xiaomu, inspecting her carefully from top to bottom.

Although he had sneaked over to watch earlier, he was a bit far away and couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Lin Xiaomu shook her head and held Zhang Daniu’s hand, “No, I’ve made it clear to the boss. He just told me to do my work. Let’s go.”

Before her rebirth, Lin Xiaomu had been a palace maid in the back garden, sometimes seeing the princes who came to visit. The reason she was punished with the rod was partly because she had secretly admired the Crown Prince, and the Crown Princess had discovered it.

She had thought her life would end there, but unexpectedly, someone gave her a chance to be reborn. Lin Xiaomu was thrilled that people in this world followed a monogamous system.

Moreover, there was the stage of dating, where if things didn’t work out, they could break up.

Zhang Daniu looked exactly like the Crown Prince. Although their personalities were worlds apart, when she was with him, Lin Xiaomu felt like she had captured a dream from her past life.

Wang Haiku was good, but Lin Xiaomu had grown afraid of powerful people, even though this world practiced monogamy.

However, Lin Xiaomu knew that many wealthy people still had “three wives and four concubines.” Given that, it was better to rely on herself.

(T/N: three wives and four concubines = a quote from history that is usually use to justify having a harem among nobility in ancient times.)

“Xiaomu, the boss is so rich, when do you think we can be as wealthy as him? This whole ranch must be worth so much,” Zhang Daniu said, his face turning slightly red. He looked at the ranch with admiration, “If I had this much money, I could proudly marry you and bring you into my family.”

“What nonsense are you saying? We still have our hands; we’ll gradually get better. Besides, if you don’t have money, I’ll marry you~” Lin Xiaomu winked playfully, her confidence in herself absolute.