I, A Loyal Dog, Awaken to My Fate as Cannon Fodder - Chapter 10

Before anyone realized it, the day of the final exams had arrived. The A University campus was exceptionally quiet, with exams stretching from morning until late afternoon.

On that day, a heavy snow fell. The rustling snowflakes looked like goose down scattered from the heavens—as if someone’s down jacket had torn, or perhaps like the aftermath of a massive pillow fight.

The exam bell rang; the testing period was over.

A crowd of people poured out of the examination halls. Shen Yinan and Cheng Wanqiu walked side by side with their backpacks, leaving the school grounds.

Many things happened that day.

Cheng Wanqiu’s private driver did not show up to pick up her and Shen Yinan. Outside the gates of A University, an extraordinary number of cars were parked.

At the school entrance, Hu Ying had lit ninety-nine red roses on the ground, arranged in the shape of a heart. In the center was Cheng Wanqiu’s name. From a great distance, his loud shouting could be heard at the gates: “Junior Cheng, I love you!!!”

“Cheng Wanqiu, I like you!!!”

“Cheng Wanqiu, be my girlfriend!!!”

The school gates were packed and crowded after dismissal. Shen Yinan and Cheng Wanqiu stopped in their tracks. The crowd parted, forming an opening. At the end of that path, the two of them stood amidst the swirling snow.

Shen Yinan wore a black wool coat; Cheng Wanqiu wore the same. From the perspective of a stranger, they looked like a perfect match—dressed in matching outfits. Moreover, Shen Yinan’s style made her look exactly like the type who liked women.

There was no light in her eyes; they were as dark as ink, and her sharp, well-defined jawline was captivating. She looked at Hu Ying on the other side of the path with a gaze reserved for the dead, remaining silent.

This day had finally come. The male lead was willing to spend money and effort to please a girl. There would be no more opportunities for Shen Yinan to find fault; not a single piece of leverage remained in her hands.

Or so it seemed.

Opposite them, Hu Ying dropped to both knees. The heavy snow drifted onto his clothes as he wailed toward the sky.

“In this life, I only love Cheng Wanqiu alone!!!”

“I love Cheng Wanqiu!!!”

“Cheng Wanqiu, stay with me!!!”

Shen Yinan’s eyes grew several degrees colder.

Such a display of “sincerity” moved all the onlookers. Even the school security guards didn’t stop Hu Ying’s passionate confession. It was like a flicker of flame in the freezing winter snow—a spark that could start a prairie fire, burning through the dead wood of winter.

“Together…”

“Together! Together!! Together!!!”

The sense of “CP” (couple) between Shen Yinan and Cheng Wanqiu suddenly vanished. Looking at them again, their matching clothes simply made them look like a pair of close best friends.

The momentum was on Hu Ying’s side. He flashed a smile of certain victory toward Shen Yinan. His eyes were full of light, twinkling like stars.

In contrast, Shen Yinan’s eyes grew even darker. Yet her expression remained devoid of joy or sorrow, perfectly still. She closed her eyes, listening to the jeering crowd, her teeth grinding together with a creak.

She… she was almost unable to stop herself from laughing out loud.

Cheng Wanqiu was being held hostage by the crowd. What a girl feared most was a man using this kind of underhanded tactic. If she didn’t agree, she would be seen as ungrateful, disappointing everyone’s expectations. What awaited her were insulting labels—like “Green Tea Bitch” or “Arrogant Socialite.”

It was easy to destroy a girl, and Hu Ying was determined to win this time.

A certain someone’s lips were almost unable to suppress an upward curve.

Hu Ying pressed down the smile at the corners of his mouth, stood up from the snow, and walked toward Cheng Wanqiu with an air of deep affection. His black cotton jacket made his figure look bloated; he was actually a very thin boy, and his tight jeans made his calves look as thin as arms, looking as though they might snap with a light bend.

“Junior Cheng, please accept my confession, I…”

Cheng Wanqiu refused immediately.

“I’m sorry. I already have someone I like, and it isn’t you, Senior Hu Ying.”

Hu Ying froze. He turned his eyes toward Shen Yinan.

At some point, Shen Yinan and Cheng Wanqiu’s hands had joined together. Shen Yinan was simply being held firmly by Cheng Wanqiu’s interlocking fingers.

They were the pair. Cheng Wanqiu had unilaterally declared her sovereignty and belonging. She belonged to Shen Yinan.

Shen Yinan kept her eyes closed, as quiet as a background prop, easily disappearing from between the two protagonists.

Hu Ying soon understood: he had lost to a woman.

How could a woman be with another woman? This was against the natural order!!!

“Stop joking, Cheng Wanqiu.”

“I am not joking, Senior Hu Ying,” Cheng Wanqiu said calmly, as if discussing a mundane household matter.

“You… you and…”

Hu Ying ultimately couldn’t bring himself to say Shen Yinan’s name. He could never accept the fact that he had lost to a woman.

Hu Ying took a step back. He still had a backup plan; nothing was more intimidating than the power of public opinion. He pointed at Cheng Wanqiu, acting as if he were going mad with grief. “Junior Cheng, my love for you is sincere!!!”

He wailed to the sky, “I only love Cheng Wanqiu alone!!!”

The onlookers didn’t know what had happened; they only saw a perfectly fine man suddenly “lose his mind.” Their sense of “righteous indignation” flared up, and their spearheads pointed at Cheng Wanqiu.

“How can she be like this? Someone confesses to you in a blizzard, and even if you don’t accept, you make up an excuse that clearly isn’t real!!!”

“Exactly. Why is she leading the guy on?”

“What a Green Tea.”

Everything was within Hu Ying’s control. He wanted to force Cheng Wanqiu to be with him. He purposefully showed a smirk to Cheng Wanqiu, as if saying, “Junior, just agree, or else these people will drown you in spit.”

However, Cheng Wanqiu remained unmoved, completely indifferent to the comments. She squeezed Shen Yinan’s hand tighter, drawing strength from the other’s warmth to keep from falling.

As Shen Yinan’s right hand was squeezed, a tingling numbness traveled to her heart. She took a sharp breath.

Why is Miss squeezing my hand so hard? My fingers are numb.

Miss’s hand was ice-cold. By holding it, her own hand became cold as well—chilly. She didn’t dare move, like a dog that had its lifeblood seized.

Fine. Shen Yinan had been annoyed by Hu Ying for a long time. She would use this opportunity to deal with him. She didn’t care about “The Male Lead” under the laws of the world; as long as he threatened the Cheng family or Miss Cheng, she—this “good dog”—would guard the house.

Shen Yinan bit the tip of her tongue, trying to calm her emotions.

“Hu Ying… how… how could you betray me?”

Amidst the burning roses in the snow, with petals drifting in the air, a girl wearing only a thin, old, and unattractive autumn jacket stood before the flowers. She lowered her head, tears falling one by one from the corners of her eyes. The scalding tears hit the thick snow on the ground, creating small pits.

That was Hu Ying’s childhood friend who had never left his side. She was also Hu Ying’s secret girlfriend.

Shen Yinan hadn’t done much; she had simply had someone give this foolish girl a bit of information. A girl like her, who had put all her savings into Hu Ying, could not easily accept her boyfriend’s betrayal or his disdain for her—the “ATM” who had sacrificed everything for him. Only after seeing it with her own eyes did she realize what kind of creature this man was, whom she had worked day and night to support.

“Hu Ying, you scumbag!!! Phoenix Man!!! I worked day and night to put you through university, and all you wanted was to cling to a rich junior or senior!!!”

“???”

The crowd was stunned. They turned their gazes between the “mad” Hu Ying in the snow and the new girl.

“Huh? There’s a hidden story?”

“Damn, was I used as a pawn?”

“That girl might be Senior Hu Ying’s real girlfriend. If he has a girlfriend, why is he doing this?”

Shen Yinan quietly watched Hu Ying’s face stiffen. The face that had just been smirking at the Young Mistress now looked as though he had just swallowed something foul.

“Who… who are you… I don’t know you…” Hu Ying said guiltily, not daring to turn his head.

“Senior Hu Ying, you surely haven’t forgotten, have you? That sister was the one who brought you food in the infirmary last time,” Shen Yinan said innocently. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was just enough for everyone to hear.

She looked so harmless. As a student representative everyone knew, several classmates who had done group projects with her stood up and expressed their belief in what she said.

“Phoenix Man!!! You wanted to force Cheng Wanqiu to be with you! What a malicious heart!!!”

“He just wants her family wealth. How disgusting!!!”

The tide had turned toward Shen Yinan. As arrogant as Hu Ying had been moments ago, he was now receiving an equal amount of public fury. Giving him a taste of his own medicine.

The crowd began to apologize to Cheng Wanqiu. “Sorry, we misunderstood you just now.”

“Sorry, it’s all that scumbag’s fault.”

“We were all deceived by that Phoenix Man. Student Cheng, we are sorry.”

Cheng Wanqiu accepted the crowd’s apologies but did not forgive them. A hurt is a hurt; what use is an apology? The sheer amount of verbal abuse was enough to drown Hu Ying.

Since Hu Ying liked pretending to have a mental breakdown, Shen Yinan would give him that chance.

How did it end?

Hu Ying was chased and beaten by the girl. Unable to take the stimulation, he ran toward the road and was hit by a luxury car. The driver was a wealthy young master—someone with plenty of money, but someone who would rather spend it on a dog than on a stranger.

Hu Ying was taken to the hospital. The young master’s side hired lawyers; the ruling was no-fault, and Hu Ying had to pay his own medical bills. Subsequently, he was diagnosed with a mental illness and forcibly sent to a psychiatric hospital, locked in a room where all four walls were white.

Even a person without a mental illness would develop one after being in such a place. Shen Yinan wasn’t that malicious; blame the male lead for being too dramatic. Staying in the psychiatric hospital was for his own good.

Shen Yinan’s cheek was poked by a pen. Startled, she looked at Cheng Wanqiu with wide eyes.

They were sitting in the study. At Cheng Wanqiu’s insistence, Shen Yinan was sharing a chair with her—or rather, squeezed together on a large, soft executive chair.

“Little Dog Shen, what are you thinking about? Instead of helping me plan the hot spring trip, what’s going on in that head of yours?”

Those clear, bright eyes stared at Shen Yinan, and Cheng Wanqiu’s warm breath brushed against her face.

In an instant, her heart skipped a beat, her breathing hitched, and the hair on her arms stood up. It wasn’t because she was captivated by Miss’s beauty, but because she was startled by the suddenness of the proximity.

“I… I…”

When Shen Yinan got nervous, she couldn’t speak properly and always stammered. She was too introverted and not good with words. Her fingers gripped the leather of the executive chair as she lowered her head before Cheng Wanqiu.

“It seems you really were spacing out. Fine, Little Dog, you dare to space out while sitting next to me? Your punishment is to follow me for the entire duration of the trip the day after tomorrow—including the hot springs.”

Shen Yinan’s face remained expressionless, but she weakly uttered one word: “Okay.”

Inside, however, a tidal wave was surging.

I… I have to bathe with Miss!!!