Who Wants to Be the Affectionate Cannon Fodder?! [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 37

The setting sun melted like gold, and the evening clouds merged into a seamless jade. Orange waves leaped and surged across the sea, as if the water and sky were dissolving into a single hue.

The helicopter’s rotor blades emitted a rhythmic hum. Yu Lin’s torso was held firmly in place by a safety belt. The salty tang of seawater brushed past his nose as his eyes darted around, curiously watching a white dolphin suddenly leap from the waves.

Its pinkish skin, bathed in the golden afterglow, looked as beautiful as a sea spirit.

【I can’t believe we’re seeing a white dolphin,】 007 couldn’t help but sigh. 【White dolphins are an endangered species. There are probably only a few thousand left in this world. This is truly great luck.】

Yu Lin asked: 【Since when did you start moonlightling as a science educator?】

Normally, 007 would either remain silent or snap back, but today it replied with rare composure: 【The Alliance Bio-Museum contains books and video records of every creature that has ever existed from ancient times to the present. Most children born in the First Galaxy spend their first preschool lesson there. No one forgets the holographic projection of the white dolphin at the entrance. They even gave that light screen a new name—The Land of the Gods.】

This was the first time Yu Lin had heard 007 speak of that world. Perhaps because he wasn’t born in the First Galaxy, he had no memory of the things 007 described.

【In our world, white dolphins went extinct long ago. My boss’s aunt was a biologist researching genetics. I heard their institute once had a project to resurrect the white dolphin, but…】 halfway through, 007 realized it was talking too much and cut the topic short, its tone carrying a trace of loneliness, 【She passed away a long time ago. It must have failed.】

Yu Lin blinked, not particularly bothered by these things. Five white dolphins leaped amidst the waves. As if they had discovered them, they let out ethereal, clear cries.

Jiang Shiyan had originally been worried that Shen Xingzhuo might say something unnecessary. Even though they had agreed to keep their relationship a secret before they started dating, he still had lingering concerns, especially in front of Ning Jinghe.

Seeing that Shen Xingzhuo’s attention was entirely captured by the creatures in the sea, Jiang Shiyan breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to strike up a conversation with Ning Jinghe in a casual tone: “What are your plans after this? Continuing with acting?”

Ning Jinghe unobtrusively shifted his gaze away from Yu Lin’s face and replied: “Yes. That’s all I do.”

“I’ve met quite a few producers over the last few years. If you need, I can introduce you,” Jiang Shiyan said easily, as if merely chatting with an old friend. “Qi Xun seems to be preparing to build the Suspense Theater. If you’re interested, I can help you get in touch? It should suit you well. I remember your first movie was a mystery too.”

Ning Jinghe replied indifferently: “I’ve looked at their scripts. Most are just trying too hard to be mysterious. They’re average.”

Jiang Shiyan’s face stiffened. He gave a forced laugh: “I suppose any script that catches your eye must be aimed at winning awards.”

Ning Jinghe pursed his lips: “Not necessarily. It depends on the vibe.”

【Is this what they call ‘when words aren’t shared, even half a sentence is too much’?】 Although Yu Lin’s eyes were looking elsewhere, his ears were wide open. Hearing Jiang Shiyan’s warm face hit Ning Jinghe’s cold attitude, his tone became slightly cheerful, 【It seems Ning Jinghe doesn’t have feelings for him after all.】

007: 【The protagonist’s feelings develop slowly. It’s impossible for them to be madly in love right from the start.】

【I don’t think so.】

The sea breeze hitting his face was exceptionally cool, blowing his hair into a mess. Yu Lin lowered his head, gazing at Ning Jinghe’s handsome face. Those phoenix eyes added a bold stroke to his refined features. No matter how you looked at him, he was someone who inspired good feelings.

Jiang Shiyan was still trying to talk: “Let’s hang out after we get back to Lu City. You’ve been abroad for so long, the places we used to go have changed quite a bit. I’ll show you around?”

【What a pity it would be if a person like him fell for a bastard like Jiang Shiyan.】

007’s pupils shook: 【What are you planning to do?】

Ning Jinghe suddenly looked up, crashing into Yu Lin’s mischievous eyes.

Yu Lin tilted his head and gave him a smile: 【Take a guess?】

Ning Jinghe moistened his dry lips and said faintly: “We’ll see.”

The helicopter dropped them off at the nearest coastal town, an area that had been developed into a tourist resort long ago.

The program crew had booked the largest guesthouse in the resort for them to rest. After being assigned their rooms, the group couldn’t wait to disperse. Although the show only filmed for three days, most were exhausted—especially Li Yao, who had made a huge fool of himself that afternoon. No one knew how many stares he had attracted with his mud-caked trousers.

Yu Lin was assigned the top floor, and it was the only room on that level. Upon receiving the key card, he rubbed the rough surface and raised an eyebrow. He glanced at Jiang Shiyan, who stood nearby looking thoughtful, and then at Ning Jinghe, who appeared to be hesitating to speak.

【A whole floor to myself is good. Any noise during a breakup won’t be heard by anyone.】

007: 【…】 From that tone, it suspected Yu Lin wanted to take care of Jiang Shiyan on the spot and then bury the body in the wilderness under the cover of night.

Shen Xingzhuo’s phone and suitcase had been placed in the room beforehand by the crew. Yu Lin picked through his things and finally chose one of his flashy outfits before entering the bathroom.

Thinking there was still some time before deep night, he took a leisurely warm bath. He casually unlocked Jiang Shiyan’s phone and began browsing through his Weibo alt account.

The top trending topic on Weibo was actually #Shen Xingzhuo catches a Green Bamboo Pit Viper#.

The video of him leaping down from a height, catching Tang Mo with one hand and pinning the snake with the other, had been clipped and was circulating wildly on Weibo. Under the topic, people were also posting his archery clips from the first day and the fishing video from the second.

While Shen Xingzhuo had a bad temper, his face was high-tier, which attracted a large crowd of visual-focused fans. Previously, he had been suppressed by rivals and anti-fans who labeled him “useless,” and he truly never had a chance to counter them. Now that they could finally hold their heads high, they were eager to repost Yu Lin’s highlights from the show a hundred times over, showering him with rainbow farts and excessive praise.

However, in the original plot, Shen Xingzhuo should have been cursed into the ground at this point.

After all, his boating accident on the first day dragged down Ning Jinghe. His zero points in archery caused the team to pick the worst route and depart at 4:00 AM. On top of that, he threw a tantrum, smashed things, and refused to get out of bed. On the second day, he intentionally went easy on Jiang Shiyan, leaving Ning Jinghe to starve with him for nearly a day until they found a few compressed biscuits for dinner.

By the third day’s evacuation, he acted out again by refusing to sit with Li Yao on the helicopter, insisting on hanging outside with Jiang Shiyan instead, wasting everyone’s time.

Insulting and vicious attacks should have flooded in, making Shen Xingzhuo’s already poor reputation even worse. Shen Xingzhuo usually did as he pleased, knowing he could just go home and live off his parents if he failed in the entertainment industry. While he got angry at the online comments, he merely saw them as the barking of “keyboard warriors.”

But what he hadn’t expected was that Jiang Shiyan would actually propose a breakup that very night.

Yu Lin switched to the homepage of Shen Xingzhuo’s alt account and browsed through it.

The account only followed Jiang Shiyan and his fan-topic. Nine out of ten posts were related to him. The most recent one was “Leaving now, I want to give him a surprise.”

Reading further, there were blunt, crude confessions, and melancholic, self-pitying reflections. He reposted every time Jiang Shiyan released a new song, and he bought hundreds of copies of every digital album.

The most explicit post was: Today is his birthday. We’ve been together for so long, I really want to try it with him. I searched for a lot of guides online and spent a long time practicing expansion in the bathroom, but he suddenly said he’s spending the day outside with a friend. Who is that person? I really want to kill someone. But when he came back, he held my face for a long time and said he’d definitely spend time with me next time. I love the way he looks at me so much, I’m not angry anymore.

Yu Lin thought for a moment and then hid that post.

By the time he finished speed-reading all of Shen Xingzhuo’s posts and set the more explicit or inappropriate content to “private,” he received a message from Jiang Shiyan as expected—

[In your room? I have something to tell you.]

Yu Lin replied with a simple, blunt: [.]

Five minutes later, a knock came at the door. Yu Lin moved slowly to the entrance, opened it, and looked coldly at Jiang Shiyan. “What is it?”

Jiang Shiyan frowned. He hadn’t expected this attitude now that the filming was over. He thought that upon receiving his message, Shen Xingzhuo would rush out in a panic. He planned to keep a cold face so Shen Xingzhuo would understand he needed to reflect, allowing Jiang Shiyan to transition into what he wanted to say.

Why was it like this?

He felt that something was different about Shen Xingzhuo. In the past, when Shen Xingzhuo looked at him, his eyes were bright and overly affectionate, as if Jiang Shiyan were his entire world. He was as clingy as a dog that couldn’t be driven away.

But now, his eyelids were half-drooped, lazy and indifferent, as if he didn’t care about anything.

“If there’s nothing else, I’m closing the door,” Yu Lin reminded him.

Jiang Shiyan finally snapped out of it and forced his way through the narrow gap into the room, assuming a domineering posture of a superior: “Have you not thought about why I’m here?”

Yu Lin took a step back to put distance between them, crossing his arms and looking at him blankly.

Jiang Shiyan’s face darkened, staring at him the way he did countless times when he was angry: “Shen Xingzhuo, were you not too reckless and willful this time?”

Yu Lin asked back: “Regarding what?”

Jiang Shiyan didn’t expect him not to take the bait, and the fire in his heart burned even brighter: “Why did you join the show without discussing it with me?”

Yu Lin said casually: “…Forgot?”

“There wasn’t a single whisper of it beforehand. Don’t tell me you didn’t hide it on purpose.”

“Yeah, I admit it.”

Jiang Shiyan gritted his teeth: “So you intentionally went against me on the show on purpose, right?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Shiyan took a breath and finally said the words he had been brewing for a long time: “Did I not say that our relationship must be kept secret? I am currently in a rising stage of my career. Any negative news will damage my business. Do you want to ruin me?”

The corner of Yu Lin’s mouth quirked as he gave a smile: “What, did Shen Xingzhuo use a knife to force you to be with him?”