The Cannon Fodder Roles I Play All Become White Moonlights [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 7

Fang Mo silently withdrew his gaze and went to push his bicycle. When Su Qingmeng voluntarily sat on the back seat, he didn’t shoo her away.

Su Qingmeng asked him again from behind, but Fang Mo didn’t answer, and she didn’t press further.

For several days in a row, Su Qingmeng waited for Fang Mo at the usual spot after he finished work, and Fang Mo grew accustomed to having someone waiting for him there. Even though that person made her calculations obvious, compared to those who had deceived him in the past, Su Qingmeng was the most straightforward, he didn’t dislike her.

“Xiao Mo, you’ve been sleeping at home a lot lately. Is there something wrong with your work at the restaurant?” Fang Tinglan grew suspicious after encountering Fang Mo too many times in the morning. After all, Fang Mo used to often sleep at the restaurant and not come home, only returning in the evening to prepare dinner and the next day’s breakfast and lunch for her.

Fang Mo casually grunted in response and left. It was Saturday, so he wouldn’t run into Su Qingmeng at the bus stop. But when he heard someone call out “senior,” he instinctively turned his head. It was a high school boy and girl who had arranged to meet over the weekend, not Su Qingmeng. Fang Mo glanced at the budding romance between the two teenagers and turned away expressionlessly.

The Western restaurant didn’t open that early. On weekends, Fang Mo usually went to check the accounts, then locked himself in a small room to write programs or take on high-paying freelance work.

“I knew you’d be hiding here again.”

Fang Mo didn’t need to look up to recognize the voice, it was his business partner, Shen Yue, who was also the nominal owner of the restaurant.

“You’re one of the bosses, yet you’re so stingy that you work as a waiter yourself, and you don’t even get yourself a decent office,” Shen Yue complained, as he always did whenever he visited. Shen Yue was the son of Fang Mo’s mentor, making him Fang Mo’s half-senior, half because he hadn’t followed in his father’s footsteps but had instead studied advertising.

Fang Mo remained silent, focused intently on the computer screen. Shen Yue, accustomed to his reticence, handed him the USB drive he had requested. Fang Mo plugged it in and saw a photo of a middle-aged couple. His gaze lingered for a moment.

“Don’t you think Madame Ling looks somewhat familiar?” Shen Yue asked.

“You’ve probably seen too much of her,” Fang Mo replied coldly, immediately opening other documents about the Ling family. As a wealthy family, the Lings’ assets were undeniably substantial. To compete with them, he still needed to accumulate a lot. “The preparations for the studio are almost done. I plan to launch it during my senior year of college.”

Shen Yue had no objections. He was always in charge of the external packaging, while the internal matters were Fang Mo’s domain.

Fang Mo worked until 1 a.m. as usual, but today, Su Qingmeng wasn’t waiting under the streetlight. He stared at the pavement under the light for a long time before turning back to the restaurant.

When Su Qingmeng answered the phone, her voice was thick with sleep, clearly having been asleep for some time. She said “hello” a few times, but the other end hung up without a word. Su Qingmeng didn’t think much of it until she woke up the next day and called back. The other party answered almost instantly.

“Is that you, senior?” Fang Mo couldn’t see Su Qingmeng’s face, but he could picture the sly glint in her eyes from the cheerfulness in her voice. He felt like hanging up, but he wasn’t that childish. He responded coldly, “Yes.”

“I’m sorry, since you never gave me your phone number before, I couldn’t inform you that I wouldn’t be coming to see you last night…” She paused briefly, then asked with a hint of amusement, “Were you worried about me all night, Senior?”

Fang Mo thought to himself that it was because she had never asked, but outwardly he coldly denied it: “No.”

“Then how did you get my phone number, Senior?” Su Qingmeng pressed.

Naturally, Fang Mo wouldn’t admit that he had hacked into the school’s system to find it. Instead of answering, he was about to hang up when he heard the sound of a child crying on Su Qingmeng’s end. The playful tone she had been using with him suddenly softened. It seemed she had set down the phone, picked up the child, and was gently soothing them.

Her voice was actually well-suited for being a kindergarten teacher, naturally gentle and calming.

Fang Mo then heard Su Qingmeng call out “Mom” twice.

An older, somewhat weary voice came from the other side: “You don’t need to come back just to visit. Where would a college student get so much money? Take this money back and use it for yourself.”

“I’m a finance major. I can easily find ways to earn money, I’m not short on cash. Please keep it; the younger kids need it.”

…

There were many other scattered noises in the background, Su Qingmeng’s voice, others speaking, and the innocent chatter of children.

Despite the clamor, Fang Mo didn’t hang up. He simply continued listening while going about his tasks.

A long while later, Su Qingmeng finally realized the call was still connected. Picking up the phone, she said “Hello?” twice. Fang Mo responded with a quiet acknowledgment, and she immediately apologized, “Sorry, Senior, I forgot to hang up earlier.”

“I forgot too,” Fang Mo replied stiffly.

She asked, “Senior, is your WeChat linked to this number? Can I add you?”

Fang Mo immediately grunted in agreement. Soon after, Su Qingmeng added him on WeChat and sent a message:       [Meet at the usual spot tonight.]

He lingered on the message for a moment, then locked his phone screen without closing the app.

Sure enough, at 1 a.m. under the streetlights, as soon as Fang Mo stepped out of the restaurant, he saw the familiar figure of the girl. His heart skipped a beat, an indescribable feeling, tinged with a long-lost, faint sense of joy.

When they reached the tenement building, Fang Mo suddenly asked, “Are you short on money?”

The place she had been during the day was likely an orphanage. Fang Mo hadn’t intended to pry into her privacy, but in the early hours of the morning, he couldn’t help worrying about her safety as a young woman alone. When he had hacked the school’s system to find her phone number, he had inadvertently seen her ID card address listed as an orphanage, with the guardian’s occupation listed as the orphanage director.

“Yeah, otherwise I wouldn’t have sought you out for collaboration, Senior,” Su Qingmeng replied casually, yawning mid-sentence.

“Alright.”

Su Qingmeng’s yawn cut short as she abruptly turned to look at Fang Mo. The sleepiness in her eyes vanished instantly, and under the dim light, her peach-blossom eyes shone brilliantly. “You’re agreeing, Senior?”

“Fifty-fifty split,” Fang Mo countered, catching her off guard. Su Qingmeng visibly faltered, staring at him in slight bewilderment, and for the first time, she detected a trace of a smile on his perpetually stoic face.

Surprised, she asked, “Senior, were you just smiling?”

Fang Mo froze for a moment, the faint smile fading as he replied coolly, “You must be seeing things.”

Since Fang Mo agreed, Su Qingmeng became even bolder. At first, she only stood close to him on the bus, walked beside him when getting off, and had lunch with him. Gradually, their interactions began to include more physical contact, like an accidental hand-hold. When Fang Mo turned to look at Su Qingmeng, he saw the girl, triumphant in her little scheme, smiling sweetly as she said, “Couples in a relationship always hold hands. We’re splitting the profits fifty-fifty, after all, money isn’t that easy to earn. You need to take this seriously, Senior.”

The girl with the sweet voice always managed to make the word “Senior” sound particularly intimate, as if he were her one and only “Senior.” Fang Mo wasn’t used to being so close to someone. He had been alone for so long that he had long forgotten the warmth of another person. Su Qingmeng’s hand was small and soft, far less warm than his palm, but when she held his hand, his heartbeat quickened involuntarily.

And in the end, he didn’t push her away.

On one side was the aloof campus heartthrob in the eyes of the girls, and on the other was the gentle underclassman admired by the boys. News of them holding hands on campus spread quickly, and the school’s online forums were soon flooded with anonymous posts lamenting lost loves.

Because of this, Lu Yaoqing sought out Su Qingmeng specifically, swearing up and down that she wasn’t the one who had spread the rumor.

“I believe you, Yaoqing,” Su Qingmeng said, patting Lu Yaoqing’s soft hair as if comforting a child. “Someone just saw me holding Senior’s hand.”

Lu Yaoqing breathed a sigh of relief and then teased, “Well, since everyone knows now, hurry up and have Senior Fang Mo treat me, the ‘bride’s family,’ to a meal!”

“Okay,” Su Qingmeng replied with a smile. “I’ll have him treat you.”

At noon, Su Qingmeng specifically arranged for Fang Mo and Lu Yaoqing to have a meal together at a small restaurant near the school gate. Worried that Fang Mo might not show up, she quietly sent him a message explaining that Lu Yaoqing was her good friend and that it was customary for girls to treat their close friends after getting a boyfriend. She asked him to play the part convincingly, assuring him that she would cover the cost, he just needed to show up.

When Fang Mo arrived, Su Qingmeng was waiting at the entrance, visibly relieved to see him. She pulled him into a corner, stood on her tiptoes, and whispered in his ear, “Just focus on eating. Once you’re full, say you have something to do and leave.”

Her breath carried the same faint fragrance as her body, and as she spoke into his ear, it tickled the edge of his earlobe. He gazed at her with deep, intense eyes.

Fang Mo’s eyes were exceptionally dark. As Fang Tinglan once said, when he fixed those eyes on someone, it felt as if he could see right through them, it was unnerving.

Su Qingmeng felt a bit self-conscious under his gaze and lowered her head, murmuring softly, “Even though it’s just an act, Yaoqing is one of the few good friends I’ve made. I don’t want to lose face in front of her. Please bear with it this time, Senior. Thank you so much.”

Her tone was cautious, tinged with a hint of humble pleading. Fang Mo stared at the top of her dark head and reached out his hand, but withdrew it the moment he was about to touch her. He simply replied, “Got it.”

When Fang Mo and Su Qingmeng walked in together from outside, Lu Yaoqing couldn’t help but marvel inwardly, the two of them standing side by side were truly a visual feast for anyone who appreciated good looks.

Su Qingmeng was the one who ordered the dishes. She had always been adept at reading people, and after sharing several meals with Lu Yaoqing and Fang Mo, she already knew their likes and dislikes. Moreover, with the added advantage of knowing the plot, she made sure to order their favorite dishes. As the original novel’s male and female leads, despite their vastly different personalities, they shared certain preferences, for instance, both loved fish.

Su Qingmeng pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth, puffing her cheeks slightly, and deliberately skipped the dishes they both liked. Neither of them seemed to notice.

It was Lu Yaoqing’s first time sitting face-to-face with Fang Mo. Perhaps because she had let go of that unspoken crush that never had the chance to blossom, she wasn’t nervous. Instead, she observed Fang Mo with a critical, almost protective gaze, as if she were family. She couldn’t help but feel indignant on Su Qingmeng’s behalf: Su Qingmeng was busy attending to everyone, serving food to both Lu Yaoqing and Fang Mo, while Fang Mo remained silent throughout the meal, eating without a word. Even when Su Qingmeng tried to catch his eye, he deliberately avoided her gaze.

Fang Mo ate quickly. By the time he set down his chopsticks, the two women had barely made a dent in their meals. He stood up silently, stepped out briefly, and returned just as quietly to his seat. Su Qingmeng kept glancing at him, seemingly hinting that they could leave, but he stayed until the very end.

He sat there like a statue, expressionless the entire time, not even pulling out his phone to pass the time. With his presence, the two women found it hard to keep the conversation flowing and eventually ended the meal hastily.

As they were leaving, Su Qingmeng moved to pay the bill, but Fang Mo said flatly, “It’s taken care of.” His earlier departure had been to settle the bill.

Walking behind them, Lu Yaoqing saw everything clearly. Though they walked side by side, it was Su Qingmeng who reached out to hold Fang Mo’s hand. His hand merely curved slightly in response, without returning the gesture. She suddenly recalled how Su Qingmeng had previously said, “I held Senior’s hand,” and how Su Qingmeng had waited for Fang Mo at the entrance before he arrived. The more she noticed, the more she felt Su Qingmeng deserved better, Fang Mo was so cold and didn’t seem to know how to treat people well.

Lu Yaoqing was straightforward and spoke her mind. After they returned, she said to Su Qingmeng, “A grown man like him, and you have to take the initiative in everything? Qingmeng, you can’t spoil him like that.”

Su Qingmeng smiled blissfully, like any woman deeply in love, and said, “It’s fine. That’s just how he is. I don’t mind taking the lead.”

Lu Yaoqing shook her head, feeling a mix of frustration and helplessness. When she ran into Ling Yuanbai later, she even asked him to keep an eye out for promising young men around him, hoping to introduce them to Su Qingmeng and broaden her horizons. After all, a man shouldn’t be judged solely by his looks. Besides, if Su Qingmeng had more outstanding people around her, perhaps Fang Mo would feel a sense of urgency and start treating her better.

Ling Yuanbai adjusted his glasses and smiled. “Doesn’t she already have a boyfriend? Or is it that you, Yaoqing…”

He left the rest unsaid, but Lu Yaoqing’s expression hardened. Rarely angered, she retorted, “How can any man compare to my Qingmeng! Even if she and Fang Mo break up, I would never go after my best friend’s ex! I just want her to meet more people.”

Ling Yuanbai chuckled silently and lowered his head to see a message from Su Qingmeng: [Senior Ling, when are you free? Let’s meet up so I can settle the bill with you in person.]