When an Honest Guy Plays the Scum Gong [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 5

The remaining boys in the group all exchanged glances of sheer astonishment, clearly not expecting Liu Ziang to voluntarily bring this up.

Jiang Yan had subtly fished for information from Liu Ziang multiple times in the past. His actions had made his desperate desire to attend completely obvious. He had treated them to meals and even completed their group assignments just to stay in their good graces.

But what kind of figure was Young Master Chi?

As the saying goes, don’t force your way into a circle where you don’t belong. Chi Yu was on an entirely different level of wealth and status compared to them. He sat at the absolute peak of the social pyramid, a definitive winner in life whose birthday gala wasn’t a venue that just anyone could stroll into.

The boy speaking, Liu Ziang, possessed the most substantial family background among their immediate peers. His family’s business had even secured minor commercial collaborations with the Chi family over the years, which was how he had managed to obtain an invitation in the first place.

The invitation explicitly stated that he could bring one guest or friend. The body’s original owner had desperately wanted to leverage this opportunity to climb into a higher social stratum, gain access to premium networking resources, and perhaps even manage to put a face to his name in front of Chi Yu himself.

Liu Ziang was naturally well-aware of those petty calculations. He had reaped a considerable amount of leverage and favours from the original owner recently, yet he had deliberately kept him on the hook without ever confirming whether he would actually take him along.

Bringing the matter up now certainly wasn’t because Liu Ziang intended to waste this hard-won, premium slot on Jiang Yan for nothing.

He simply wanted to keep Jiang Yan compliant.

Liu Ziang was entirely confident that Jiang Yan wouldn’t dream of turning him down. He stood there, waiting for the boy to eagerly scramble to flatter him just like he used to.

Yet, after a long silence, Jiang Yan merely regarded him with an exceptionally detached expression.

“Is that all you wanted to say?”

Liu Ziang hadn’t anticipated such a cold response. His brow knit fiercely. “Jiang Yan, did you even hear what I just said? Don’t forget who was practically begging me to take them along before. What’s with the attitude now?”

“Before was before. It’s no longer necessary.”

With that, Jiang Yan picked up his backpack, slung it casually over one shoulder, and kept his eyes downcast. Addressing the boys blocking his path, he said flatly, “Excuse me.”

His voice was quiet, completely devoid of any unnecessary emotion, yet the boys standing in front of him stepped aside almost involuntarily. They stood there, utterly dazed, watching Jiang Yan walk right out of the classroom.

Only after a long moment did the group snap out of it. Realizing they had actually been intimidated by Jiang Yan just now, a sudden wave of humiliation and anger washed over them.

“Holy shit, Jiang Yan must have taken the wrong meds today. How the hell does he dare speak to us like that?”

Liu Ziang’s expression turned incredibly dark.

Poor students who managed to test into prestigious universities from tiny towns always assumed they were some kind of chosen elite, carrying themselves with immense arrogance. The reality was that once they left the campus gates and returned to their actual social standing, they were completely ordinary, possessing neither wealth nor connections. He had only been willing to look out for the guy for the sake of being classmates, but he hadn’t expected him to be so thoroughly ungrateful.

Staring in the direction Jiang Yan had vanished, Liu Ziang let out a cold sneer. “Don’t waste your breath on him. He’s accumulated a massive pile of debt over the last two years. He doesn’t have many good days left.”

“Well, we’ll be waiting to watch the absolute shitshow then.”

The group burst into laughter, their expressions dripping with pure malice, as if they could already see the vivid picture of Jiang Yan being disgraced and kicked out of the university.

The lecture hall today sat on the fourth floor, and a massive line had already formed in front of the descending elevators. Jiang Yan didn’t bother waiting; he turned and took the adjacent stairwell down instead.

Stepping out onto the expansive campus paths, evergreen trees lined both sides of the walkway. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting warm, dappled patterns of light and shadow across the pavement.

A University was divided into several distinct districts, and the nearest cafeteria sat a mere five-minute walk away. Jiang Yan, possessing a tall frame and long strides, moved at a brisk pace.

Holding his meal card, he lined up before the counter on the first floor, tapping his card to purchase a modest meal consisting of one meat dish and two vegetable sides.

Carrying his tray, he picked an isolated corner and sat down in an unhurried manner before finally tapping open his chat window with Chi Yu.

Unlike the sheer ease he felt when solving complex academic problems, Jiang Yan stared at the text input field with a look of genuine difficulty.

He had never been a man of many words, and his past experience with text messaging was minimal. They were mostly limited to discussing exam questions with classmates. Forcing him to actively initiate a conversation was far more grueling than tasking him with completing two full sets of exam papers on the spot.

After a moment of deliberation, he settled on snapping a dry, straightforward photo of the food on his tray to share.

Rather than a casual chat, it felt far more like a formal status report.

Yan: [Photo]

Yan: [Boss, my classes are over. I’m having lunch at the cafeteria right now.]

The phone vibrated almost instantly. Chi Yu had replied.

Chi: [?]

Chi: [This is what you’re eating?]

Chi Yu had never set foot in the A University cafeterias, so he didn’t recognize the setting, but he clearly took issue with the meal Jiang Yan had selected.

Failing to register the underlying tone in Chi Yu’s message, Jiang Yan replied earnestly.

Yan: [The food at the campus cafeteria is very convenient and affordable. The taste is quite decent too.]

Jiang Yan lived a thoroughly spartan lifestyle, and his palate was equally unrefined. He was the type of person who could easily sustain himself on a couple of plain mantou buns, maintaining zero expectations regarding his meals as long as the food wasn’t spoiled or stale.

Chi Yu: “…”

Jiang Yan constantly presented him with a jarring sense of contradiction. The boy possessed a face that looked thoroughly experienced in high society, and his initial approach had been entirely calculated, proactively sending provocative photos with absolute fluidity. Chi Yu would have easily believed it if someone claimed the kid had an extensive dating history.

Yet outside of those interactions, his daily routine and conduct revealed an incredibly upright, honest character. He was a textbook model student who studied diligently every single day, living a simple, wholesome life that felt entirely transparent and free of any hidden corruption.

It prompted Chi Yu to deliver a question straight from his soul: [Do you actually have a father with a severe gambling addiction, a sick mother, or a younger sister to put through school?]

Otherwise, how could a person like this actively throw himself into a situation like this?

Seeing the message, Jiang Yan fell silent for two seconds, casting a glance at the massive, fat black cat perched directly on the dining table.

The surrounding students couldn’t see the physical manifestation of the system, so it was boldly using its pink paw pads to drag a piece of mackerel from Jiang Yan’s tray, stuffing it into its mouth and chewing noisily.

He had no way to explain the concrete circumstances to Chi Yu.

The sheer existence of the system was an unbelievable concept in itself, and the tasks he was required to perform were entirely underhanded.

Consequently, he merely typed back a simple “No,” before abruptly shifting the topic: [Have you eaten lunch yet, Boss?]

Chi: [No.]

Chi: [No appetite.]

Likely due to the freezing cold shower he had endured in the bathroom the night before, compounded by a severe hangover, Chi Yu had been plagued by a dull, throbbing headache since waking up. Aside from that morning cup of black coffee, he hadn’t consumed a single thing all day.

A new message flashed across the screen.

Yan: [An irregular diet is very damaging to the stomach. Your physical health is very important, Boss.]

When Jiang Yan had cared for his own mother, he had spent a significant amount of time in and out of hospitals. He understood deeply that a healthy person could harbor countless dreams, but a sick person possessed only one: to regain their health.

Thus, he typed out: [If you have a poor appetite, you could try having some light congee to line your stomach. It will make you feel a bit better.]

Chi: [Are you worrying about me?]

Yan: [I hope you remain in perfect health.]

Chi: […Understood.]

Chi Yu, who had been replying almost instantly up until now, fell uncharacteristically silent for a long time after that message.

Jiang Yan stared at his phone, realizing a beat too late that he might have been a bit too naggy. Chi Yu possessed a cold, dominant personality and had never cared for others interfering in his personal affairs.

On the table, the black cat finished grooming itself after consuming the entire fish, lazily licking its paw as it complained: [Who taught you to text like that?]

“Is there something wrong with it?”

[How is that any different from telling someone to ‘drink more hot water’?]

“Drinking more hot water is genuinely beneficial for the body.”

[…You truly understand absolutely nothing.]

The system thoroughly suspected that Jiang Yan’s prior success had been a total fluke, born of pure luck. It puffed out its chest quite proudly, stating: [But don’t worry. You’re my host, and with the greatest system in existence guiding you, as long as you obediently follow my methods—]

Before it could finish its sentence, Jiang Yan’s phone vibrated, and a new message popped up in the chat window.

Chi: [Photo]

Chi: [Satisfied?]

Chi Yu had instructed his assistant to deliver his lunch, sourced from a private Cantonese kitchen near the office. The head chef there was a veteran with decades of experience, renowned for creating nourishing, clear stews that were light yet deeply flavorful, presented with absolute perfection.

Emulating Jiang Yan’s earlier action, he had snapped a photo of the spread.

The system’s words cut off mid-sentence. Seeing the message, it instantly spun its narrative, twitching its ears as it declared thoroughly shamelessly: [See? Under my stellar tutelage, you’ve already learned how to take the initiative to complete tasks.]

Jiang Yan: “…”

With no classes scheduled for the afternoon, Jiang Yan finished his meal and navigated his way toward the A University library using the original owner’s memories.

The building wasn’t crowded at this hour. He located a vacant desk and settled in, continuing to study the technical material he hadn’t finished reviewing that morning.

The well-fed black cat rolled over, exposing its white belly directly on the desk surface. [Why are you studying so intently anyway?]

“It’s a habit.”

[Suit yourself. Honestly, you humans just love wasting time on the most tedious things.]

Jiang Yan kept his eyes fixed on the textbook.

The original owner’s declared major was Computer Engineering—an exceptionally popular field that demanded a high level of technical proficiency. Rather than pursuing low-barrier part-time jobs, Jiang Yan was planning for the long term. He intended to utilize his current free time to elevate his professional skill set, using A University as a springboard to secure an early internship at a major firm, thereby clearing all his outstanding debts as quickly as possible.

Outside the window, branches swayed gently in the breeze, casting intricate, shifting patterns of leaves across the glass.

Jiang Yan sat in an inconspicuous spot with his back to the window, his profile rendered exceptionally sharp against the streaming light. His features were entirely serene, his gaze intensely focused on the pages before him, occasionally pausing for a brief moment as if analyzing a complex concept.

A black gel pen was held between his long fingers, the tip occasionally gliding across his notepad to leave behind rows of perfectly neat, orderly handwriting.

Even with the brim of his baseball cap pulled low, the exposed contours of his sharp jawline remained incredibly striking.

Not far away, a female student quietly raised her phone, snapped a photo of him, and immediately uploaded it to the A University campus forum.

OP: [Photo] I desperately want to find out who this guy is! I ran into him in the library, and he is genuinely so handsome. He was studying so intensely that I didn’t dare go up and disturb him, so I just took a stealthy photo. It’s a bit blurry, but does any girl know who he is?

The comment section beneath the post exploded with activity instantly.

Floor 1: Is this guy seriously from our university??

Floor 2: That handsomeness pierces right through the high blur. Even the background library looks high-end now.

Floor 3: I don’t believe it! I’ve never seen a library this handsome in our school before!

Floor 4: Why didn’t anyone tell me the library had guys like this? I am never slacking off again. From now on, I am living in the library.

Floor 5: To the floor above, are you trying to live in the library, or are you trying to hit on him? I see right through you.

…

Floor 28: Damn it, if someone had told me A University guys were this top-tier, I wouldn’t have chosen B University.

Floor 45: Hahaha @AUniversityOfficialAccount, this is a prime marketing opportunity dropped right into your lap. Here’s your promotional material.

Floor 46: Junior, any interest in getting fast-tracked for a Master’s program at B University?

Floor 47: Fighting over him already?

Floor 50: Camping here for his contact info.

Floor 51: Camping.

…

Floor 198: Seriously, I’ve scrolled all the way down and it’s just people hyping it up without providing the actual answers. I’m genuinely anxious here, does anyone have his social media handles? I want to lurk on his profile for the rest of my life…

Floor 219: I saw him at the cafeteria during lunch today too! Took a couple of stealth shots. He looks even better in person!! [Photo] [Photo]

With the influx of new photos, the discussion on the campus forum thread grew exponentially more heated.

Yet Jiang Yan, the unwitting subject of the viral sensation, remained entirely oblivious. It wasn’t until the sky outside began to darken that he finally closed his books and started packing his bag.

Technology evolved at an incredible pace; the theoretical knowledge contained in his current textbooks carried a distinct lag compared to actual industry applications. But Jiang Yan understood that one couldn’t master everything overnight. He needed to start with the foundational principles, moving step by step until he thoroughly understood the mechanics of programming.

Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he stepped out of the library. Dusk had fully settled over the campus, and many students were taking leisurely strolls around the athletic fields adjacent to the path.

Jiang Yan glanced over casually.

Unlike the relentless, high-pressure tempo of his recent high school days leading up to the college entrance exams, the atmosphere on a university campus was profoundly relaxed. A significant portion of the walking students consisted of young couples in the honeymoon phase of their relationships.

These couples no longer needed to hide their affections from teachers; beneath the gentle evening breeze, they walked openly hand-in-hand, and some even sat along the soft grass flanking the field, utilizing the cover of night to kiss with absolute abandon.

Catching sight of the scene, Jiang Yan felt as though his eyes had been scalded by boiling water. His ears flushed a deep crimson as he instantly snapped his gaze straight ahead, his footsteps accelerating significantly.

[Why are you suddenly walking so fast?] the system chimed in.

“It’s getting late.”

System: [Hmph, don’t try to fool me. Are you actually blushing? Hahaha, your face is red all the way down to your neck! What are you so terrified of? Have you never kissed anyone before?]

Jiang Yan gripped the strap of his backpack tightly, keeping his head down as he marched forward, muttering under his breath, “You talk too much.”

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