Cannon Fodder And The Protagonist Are A Perfect Match [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 6

At the entrance of Starry Night Bar, the afterglow of the setting sun bathed the boy in golden light. Standing under the eaves, Jin Fei saw the boy on the bicycle stop. He followed the boy’s gaze and asked in confusion, “Do you want to apply for a job?”

Yu Yan did not hesitate and admitted it directly. “Yes. I just do not know if they hire short-term temporary workers.”

Jin Fei was about to reply when a phone ringtone interrupted him. Yu Yan gave an apologetic smile and pulled his vibrating phone from his pocket. When he saw the number deeply etched in Xie Jin’s memory, his smile deepened. He answered and said softly, “Hello?”

A voice processed through phone waves often sounds deeper. On the other end of the line, Xu Yansheng felt his heart race. He stammered, “Hello. This is Xu Yansheng.”

Yu Yan gave a light hum. “I know.”

Xu Yansheng had called on an impulse after learning that Yu Yan was suspended for sticking up for him. He touched his burning cheek and looked around frantically for an excuse. When his eyes landed on a newly distributed test paper on his desk, he had a sudden inspiration. He said hesitantly, “Well, I just found a few more test papers in my desk from while you were away. I did not give them to you.” After a pause, as if making a decision, he continued, “Do you want to come get them?”

At that moment, Yu Yan’s voice rang out. “Keep them for now. Give them to me after my suspension ends.”

Interrupted, Xu Yansheng felt like a deflated balloon. He said dejectedly, “All right.”

Yu Yan heard the disappointment in his voice, and the smile in his eyes grew even more prominent. He murmured almost flirtatiously, “Are you free tonight? There are a few places in the notes you took for me that I do not quite understand.”

Xu Yansheng’s voice instantly brightened. “I am.”

Yu Yan made a playful sound. “Then I will wait for your call tonight.”

Xu Yansheng nodded instinctively and then realized the other person could not see him. He said bashfully, “Okay.”

After hanging up, Yu Yan’s smile remained. He looked as relaxed as melting snow in spring. He turned to the boy standing in the shadows and asked, “What did you want to say just now?”

Jin Fei tightened his hands at his sides and acted casual. “Nothing. Just, do you still want to apply for the security job?”

Yu Yan shook his head. “No. I cannot talk on the phone if I am a security guard.”

Jin Fei was speechless. He watched as the “spring snow” rode away on his bicycle. A click sounded behind him. He looked toward the source and saw a weathered bronze iron door open from the inside. A refined-looking man peeked through the gap and whispered, “Brother.”

The man hummed in response and continued opening the door without looking at him. “Did you get into trouble, or did you go through another breakup?”

Jin Fei smiled bitterly. “Can I not just come to see you without a reason?”

The man replied, “So it was a breakup.”

Jin Fei denied it. “No.”

The man continued, “Was it the person you were just talking to?”

Jin Fei grew agitated. “No! He has someone he likes!”

The man finally looked at him and said reproachfully, “Homewrecking is immoral.”

Jin Fei clenched his fists. “It is Song Ze! I saw him today laughing and sharing an ice cream with a girl.”

The man looked as though he had swallowed a fly. “You do not still like him, do you?”

Jin Fei snapped, “Of course not! Do you know how he reacted when he saw me? He actually dared to provoke me. Who does he think he is? Does he really think I would not hit him?”

The door finally opened fully. The man brushed the dust off his hands and said sincerely, “Based on how crazy you used to be for him, he actually has a reason to be that confident.”

Jin Fei was at a loss for words. The reason he had transferred schools was that he had done too many ridiculous things for Song Ze at his old school, only to be rejected in front of the entire student body. He had fled his place of heartbreak in shame. It had left him with a bit of trauma. Seeing Yu Yan was like seeing his past self, and he could not help wanting to get close.

Thinking of the warmth in Yu Yan’s expression during the phone call, Jin Fei felt a mix of emotions. He painfully dragged the man inside the door and shouted, “Tonight, we drink until we drop!”

Whether Jin Fei got drunk or not is unknown, but Yu Yan was certainly intoxicated, intoxicated by Xu Yansheng’s gentle kindness.

Listening to Xu Yansheng’s steady voice over the phone, Yu Yan began to consider the possibility of intentionally failing the mock exam so the other boy would tutor him. Ultimately, he decided against it. They were in the final sprint for the college entrance exams, and it would be a loss to hinder Xu Yansheng’s progress.

Xu Yansheng spoke until his throat was dry. When he did not hear a response, he asked in confusion, “Are you still listening? Am I being too boring?”

Yu Yan’s voice was low. “No, you explained it very well. I am just processing the information.”

The week of suspension did not feel difficult because of their nightly calls. The day Yu Yan returned to campus was sunny. The dawn light pierced through thin clouds, blooming like a flower of the morning.

Xu Yansheng, whose leg injury had healed, arrived at the classroom early to wait for the owner of the empty seat next to him. Yu Yan, who usually arrived just as class started, arrived ten minutes early as if they shared a psychic connection.

Seeing Xu Yansheng waiting like a puppy for its owner to come home, Yu Yan quickened his pace. He sat down beside the “puppy” and sighed softly, “Good morning.”

The corners of Xu Yansheng’s mouth turned up. “Good morning.”

Yu Yan’s good mood did not last long. During the long break after the second period, he looked troubled as he held his rejected self-reflection essay. Seeing the boy beside him frowning as if facing a massive problem, Xu Yansheng could not help but ask, “Is there anything I can help with?”

“Yes.” Yu Yan turned his head and met Xu Yansheng’s bright eyes. “My self-reflection essay was rejected. Can you look at it for me?”

The boy, who never showed any worries, was looking to him for help with a dazed expression. Xu Yansheng felt as though an arrow had pierced his heart. He tried his best to control his emotions and said, “Sure.”

He took the essay, which was over ten pages long, and scanned the neat handwriting line by line. He read, “Regarding the incident on the night of March 4, 2014, around 11:00 PM, where student Gao Da was assaulted in an alley, I express my deepest sympathies.”

Xu Yansheng stared blankly. If the header had not said “Self-Reflection” in large letters, he would have thought he was reading a letter of condolence. He handed the letter back with a complicated expression and said tactfully, “Maybe you should try a different tone. For example, start with ‘I was wrong’?”

Yu Yan seemed to understand but did not quite get it. He wrote another draft on the spot, but it was rejected again, and his required word count was doubled as a penalty.

Looking at the dry apology letter, Xu Yansheng whispered, “If you used even half the skill you put into your love letters, this would not have been rejected.”

Yu Yan, who had sharp ears, heard him. His deep voice sounded full of grievance. “One is a genuine feeling of love, and the other is a fake apology. Of course the quality is different.”

Xu Yansheng’s heart skipped a beat. “I get it. I will help you write the reflection.”

The next day, Yu Yan looked at the reflection in his hand and then at the dark circles under Xu Yansheng’s eyes. He felt both touched and pained.

When school ended at noon, Xu Yansheng, who usually went home, stayed in his seat. He pulled on the hem of Yu Yan’s shirt and asked, “My nanny is on holiday today. Can I go to the cafeteria with you?”

Yu Yan, who had been bringing breakfast every day he was at school, asked amusingly, “Has your nanny not been on holiday this entire time?”

Xu Yansheng realized his mistake and quickly tried to fix it. “It is the nanny in charge of lunch. She is different from the one in charge of breakfast!”

Seeing that Xu Yansheng wanted to disappear into the floor, Yu Yan stopped teasing him and said softly, “Okay. But the food in the cafeteria is quite bad.”

Xu Yansheng replied, “It does not matter.”

In the cafeteria, the peak lunch hour had passed. The decent dishes had already been sold out, leaving only those that looked and tasted poor. Xu Yansheng’s presence drew many stares, including from Wang Shan. When she saw him follow Yu Yan to the fast-food window, she angrily snapped the disposable chopsticks in her hand.

The girl with a freckled face sitting across from her immediately asked with concern, “Shan Shan, what is wrong?”

Wang Shan shook her head. “Nothing.”

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. “That is good. I thought you were angry at Xu Yansheng.”

Wang Shan looked at the girl with a complicated gaze, though her tone remained sweet. “I have never even spoken to him. What right do I have to be angry at him?”

The girl focused on the food on her tray and comforted her without looking up. “The two of you are a perfect match. You will definitely end up together.”

Wang Shan’s voice softened. “For this mock exam, Xu Yansheng and I should be in the same testing room again. I wonder if there will be many changes in the first testing room.”

The girl flattered her in response. “Regardless of how it changes, the two of you are the most well-matched pair in there.”

On the other side of the cafeteria, Yu Yan looked at Wang Shan’s strange expression several times. Xu Yansheng noticed and followed his gaze. He was surprised to see it was Wang Shan. “Are you looking at Wang Shan?”

Yu Yan asked back, “Do you know Wang Shan?”

Xu Yansheng suddenly felt a sense of crisis, as if a girlfriend were questioning him about a mistress. He said awkwardly, “We are often in the same testing room, so I recognized her.”

Yu Yan made a sound of understanding and said bitingly, “I thought you knew her from when you were eavesdropping on our conversation.”

Xu Yansheng’s heart skipped a beat. He played dumb. “What? Did you talk to her?”

“We chatted briefly.” Yu Yan did not press further and changed the subject. “I am looking at the girl opposite her.”

Xu Yansheng acted mysteriously. “Do you want to know her name?”

His voice sounded excited. Yu Yan, who originally did not care, changed his mind and said, “Yes.”

Xu Yansheng pointed at the strawberry yogurt in the hand of the girl two tables away. “Then buy me one of those later.”

The cafeteria food was too unpalatable, and he wanted something to wash down the taste. He did not have a meal card, so even his lunch was paid for by Yu Yan. Of course, he also wanted to show off a little by demonstrating how well-informed he was.

Yu Yan easily identified the brand of the yogurt. He said, “Wait a moment,” and stood up. He headed to the department store at the corner of the cafeteria and found the yogurt within two minutes. When his eyes caught the strawberry milk candies nearby, he paused and grabbed a bag of those as well.

Because most people were still eating, the line at the shop was short. Yu Yan returned to Xu Yansheng in less than four minutes. Xu Yansheng took the yogurt and was stunned to see the candies. His fair face turned slightly red. “Why did you buy candy too?”

Yu Yan picked up his chopsticks again. “I thought you would like them, so I bought them.”

Xu Yansheng felt his face heating up. After cooling his cheeks with the cold yogurt bottle, he spoke slowly. “The girl opposite Wang Shan is named Wang Ning. She is a student sponsored by the Wang family, Wang Shan’s parents. She grew up with Wang Shan, and they are very close. However, they had a conflict for a while in middle school before reconciling quickly. The reason seemed to be a boy who transferred away. I could not find out where that boy went.”

Hearing the word “find,” Yu Yan’s eyebrows twitched. He praised him generously. “You know so much. You are truly impressive.”

Xu Yansheng moved the yogurt to his other cheek and said modestly, “It is nothing special.”

With a hidden smile in his eyes, Yu Yan praised him again. “You really are impressive.”

To hide his embarrassment, Xu Yansheng took a sip of the strawberry yogurt, leaving a white milk mustache on his lip. Yu Yan’s smile grew wider. He pulled a pack of tissues from his pocket, took one for himself, and handed the rest to Xu Yansheng.

Xu Yansheng realized what happened and wiped his mouth, his ears turning bright red.