The Beautiful Cannon Fodder Coveted by the Protagonist - Chapter 4

The early autumn morning brought a slight chill, but the warmth of the blankets was hard to leave.

Still half-asleep, Zhou Zhou hit “Snooze” on his phone before the alarm could truly start blaring. He curled deeper into his quilt, brow furrowed in a silent psychological battle.

So sleepy…

Why did the counselor wait until the middle of the night to message the group saying we had to gather at 9:00 AM? I’m exhausted.

Anticipating his 8:30 AM alarm, the bed near the bathroom let out a soft creak. The blue curtains were pulled back, allowing a flood of piercing sunlight to pour in. Zhou Zhou’s eyelids fluttered shut again, but his stomach chose that exact moment to let out an untimely growl.

Aside from him, everyone else seemed to be up.

Zhou Zhou, the male lead has already left. Why are you just getting out of bed now? 031’s tone was thick with grievance, but to Zhou Zhou, this news sounded like heavenly music.

“He’s gone?” He forgot to lower his voice, and the big guy in the bed opposite him shifted and rolled over.

Yes. Only you and Zuo Zhu are left in the dorm. Chen Yuqi left quite early as well.

Zhou Zhou pulled back the curtain facing Shanda’s bed. Sure enough, the bleached-white sheets were topped with a quilt folded as neatly as a block of tofu.

Blue and white stripes… that had to be the bedding he brought from boarding school, right?

Zhou Zhou had once considered living on campus for a day, only to move out that very same afternoon. The bedding the school provided or rather, the bedding they gave everyone featured those exact blue and white stripes. They were hideously ugly and didn’t even keep you warm.

If it weren’t for the system’s sudden intrusion, he’d definitely be settled in a small villa near the campus by now, instead of suffering through these dormitory hardships. The beds were small and hard; even with several mattress toppers, Zhou Zhou had stayed up playing mini-games until 2:00 AM before finally drifting off.

Keeping in mind that Zuo Zhu was still sleeping, Zhou Zhou tried to be extra careful with the faucet, but the humming of the pipes was still loud. He eventually gave up on being quiet, twisted the handle to the max with a “whoosh,” and filled his water cup.

The sharp taste of peppermint toothpaste woke him up instantly, and his eyes finally regained their spark.

With damp strands of hair clinging to his forehead, Zhou Zhou walked back to his desk to change clothes. From a distance, he spotted something sitting on his desk that definitely shouldn’t have been there.

“What’s this?” He approached and poked at the package. “Breakfast?” A cup of lukewarm soy milk suggested the meal had long since lost its peak freshness. It had clearly been sitting there for a while.

“Who put this here?” He had a hunch, but he was still incredibly confused. He glanced at the desk across from his.

Empty.

“System, why would Chen Yuqi bring me breakfast? He didn’t even get any for his own buddy.”

031 replied: Is it possible the male lead bought it for you?

Zhou Zhou stumbled, his body tilting to the side. He gave a stiff, fake smile. “Sha—Shanda gave me this?”

The unexpected answer made him pull his hand back. “Why?”

I don’t know. I’m curious too; this is a bit different from how it went in the novel.

Zhou Zhou’s silence was deafening. However, his stomach’s complaining eventually won out, and he began to eat the now-cold steamed buns.

Zhou Zhou! I figured it out! Why are you already eating? What if the male lead drugged it!

Zhou Zhou’s tongue practically propelled the bite of breakfast back out of his mouth. He began to cough violently. “You couldn’t have told me that sooner?”

In the end, that breakfast found its way into the trash can.

The Music Academy was located in a remote corner of the campus, but its appearance was undeniably grand. One could see the Baroque-style architecture from a mile away. Sculpted angels danced across the roof, and the building was supported by towering columns modeled after ancient Greek structures. The hall was so high it made one feel tiny.

Students from two classes were gathered inside. Many of the boys in the hall had slightly messy hair, making Zhou Zhou look like the most polished person there.

Quite a few girls were stealing glances at him, and the bolder ones had already come over to strike up a conversation.

“Excuse me? Are you in the Music Academy too?” The disbelief in the girl’s voice made it sound like she had discovered an oasis in the middle of a desert.

Zhou Zhou nodded. “Yeah. I’m Zhou Zhouo, Class 1.”

Soon, he was surrounded by girls. The faint, fresh scents around him made his mood lift significantly.

Girls really do smell nice.

Zhou Zhou was more than happy to chat with them, and within a few minutes, he had learned quite a bit about the class dynamics.

Just as he finished adding the last girl’s contact info, a spiteful voice drifted over from the side. “Looks totally effeminate, and those arms are thin as twigs. I thought he was from the Dance Academy.”

The speaker was a boy wearing a flashy purple t-shirt and black shorts.

“Hey, what’s your problem?” A girl with a short fuse stepped forward to argue, but Zhou Zhou held her back.

Among the boys present, Zhou Zhou was actually on the taller side at least taller than this bitter “lemon.”

He walked over calmly, lowering his eyelashes. Even if he was a “fake” young master, the elegance cultivated by a wealthy upbringing couldn’t be faked. When he spoke, the temperature in the room seemed to drop. “Oh. I just don’t like rude piano accompanists. I wouldn’t even take your services for free.”

The boy’s face turned the color of a pig’s liver. His lips moved for several seconds, but he couldn’t squeeze out a single word in retort.

Anyone with half a brain knew he was mocking the guy implying that no matter how well he played, he’d end up as nothing more than a background accompanist after graduation. In today’s job market, finding a job that actually matched your major was hard enough. This insult cut deep.

One male student couldn’t hold back a laugh. He stepped up beside Zhou Zhou. “Hey man, I’ve been watching you for a bit. When you said your name was Zhou Zhouo, I remembered—you took first place in the Golden String Cup, right? What a coincidence! I was in that competition too. Do you think I could be your partner? I won the Best Accompanist award last time.”

The Golden String Cup was the most prestigious violin competition in the country. Several girls suddenly seemed to wake up.

“Now that you mention it, I still have the official poster saved on my phone. Let me find it for you guys.”

“Our Class Monitor is that good? I heard accompanists for the Golden String Cup start at 3,000 yuan, right?”

The boy called the Class Monitor smiled faintly. “Not that high. For students, it’s 3,000 for three pieces.”

“Zhou Zhouo, I was a Best Accompanist too! I don’t need 3,000. For 1,000, I’ll be your accompanist for all four years!” A girl behind them raised her hand to volunteer.

The Monitor raised an eyebrow and looked over. “That won’t do. I saw this hottie first. 500!”

“300!”

“200!”

“100!”

Seeing that she wasn’t backing down, the boy yelled, “Free! I’ll do it for free, okay!”

The tense atmosphere was broken by this comedy act, and the troublemaker slunk away into a corner.

Amidst the laughter, Zhou Zhou learned that the boy’s name was Pei Jue, and he was their Class Monitor. When the counselor organized everyone to head to the broadcasting hall, Zhou Zhou whispered a quick “thank you” to him.

“Don’t mention it. I just hate seeing people get bullied, plus I’ve been annoyed by that guy for ages,” Pei Jue said. He curled his fingers, using his thumb to point toward the “pig-liver-faced” guy who was still glancing back at them. Then, as if to hide his gesture, he used his thumb to push up his glasses. “He’s all pose and no taste. That ‘gay purple’ shirt is hideously ugly. He has no eye for fashion, just like my childhood friend.”

Zhou Zhou smiled. University life was turning out to be quite interesting.

But he stopped smiling very quickly. Why was that “gay purple” the color of the Academy uniform?!

Pei Jue, standing beside him, looked equally miserable. He held up the uniform, flipping it back and forth with an expression of pure disgust. “Nobody told me the academy uniform was this ugly.”

“Everyone has their uniform, right? We’re gathering at 6:00 AM tomorrow at Gate 2 of the East Sports Field. Everyone must wear the academy uniform. Wear black pants—long or short is fine. Girls can wear black skirts. No specific shoes required, but white is best. No one is allowed to be late for the opening ceremony! Even though the Music Academy has fewer people, the school takes us very seriously and put us right in the center of the field. Understood?” the counselor shouted from the front.

Pei Jue zoomed in on the map on his phone. “Ouch. The East Field is two kilometers from here. We’ll have to grab bikes tomorrow… Hey Zhou Zhouo, there’s a cafeteria by that field. Want to grab breakfast there tomorrow morning?”

He held his phone out to Zhou Zhou. Zhou Zhou looked it over and nodded. “If I get there before you, I’ll buy yours.”

The counselor finished the speech with a flourish and a bang on the table. “Alright! Those running for class committee positions stay behind. Everyone else is free to go.”

Zhou Zhou looked at Pei Jue in shock. “I thought you said you were the Class Monitor?”

Pei Jue yawned and stood up. His chair folded back automatically with a loud thud.

“Close enough. I did so much work for the counselor and head teacher over the summer that the position is basically mine. I’m heading out first, Zhou Zhou.” With that, Pei Jue strode down the steps toward the group of ten or so people gathered at the podium.

Host, aren’t you going?

“Nope. I heard student cadre positions are only useful for comprehensive assessment scholarships. I’m going to have a hundred million eventually; I don’t need a tiny scholarship.”

031 was momentarily stunned by his logic. Then where are you going now? Back to the dorm?

“To the practice rooms. My mom said my violin was left there,” Zhou Zhou said, walking out of the hall and glancing at the posters. “There’s an entrance exam tomorrow afternoon. I need to get some practice in.”

He rubbed some rosin onto the bow hair.

031, having never seen much of the world, asked: Zhou Zhou, what’s that?

“Rosin. It increases friction.” Just as he finished answering, he tucked the violin under his jaw. The spot where the violin rested happened to overlap perfectly with a small mark on his skin.

Whoa. So that red mark is actually from practicing the violin? When I first met you, I thought it was a hickey.

Zhou Zhou turned on his metronome. “I don’t even have a partner. Now move aside, I’m practicing.”

Open strings, scales, double stops, pizzicato…

With every note, the system offered praise.

This is honestly the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.

Zhou Zhou: “…”

The constant chattering made him sigh. He lowered the violin and said, “I liked you better when you were cold and silent.”

It was a polite way of telling the system to shut up.

Zhou Zhou, there’s.

“Shh. Don’t talk,” Zhou Zhou said, flipping through his sheet music. He raised the index finger of his bow hand. “Just quiet down and enjoy the music.”

His fingertips danced across the strings with power and agility. Zhou Zhou’s body swayed with the melody. The notes fell like rounded, lustrous pearls. Suddenly, the pitch soared and the tempo quickened, revealing the mysterious nature of the piece. The following double stops had a few flaws, but the execution was nearly perfect. His fingers moved so fast during the descending scales that they left a blur.

The stray hairs on his forehead swayed with the music. His bright eyes occasionally darted to the score, but most of his focus was on his fingers and the strings. A breeze stirred the curtains, and just as he plucked a string, a beam of sunlight hit him. Tiny dust motes floated in the light around his glowing hair, making Zhou Zhou look like a radiant prince on stage.

As the piece ended, he let out a long breath. For some reason, he turned his head and locked eyes with a pair of deep blue ones.

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