Who Wants to Be the Affectionate Cannon Fodder?! [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 5

Not even half a test paper could be found.

The backpack Yu Lin brought back contained only a heavy history book, a last-resort measure he had taken just in case he could not find a suitable weapon.

Lin He stared at the empty backpack for a long while before finally sighing and letting the matter go.

Consequently, Yu Lin happily finished off the remaining ingredients, returned to his room satisfied, and even muttered about wanting to eat spicy duck blood again tomorrow before falling asleep.

After the lights were extinguished, the bedroom drifted into the quiet atmosphere of the night. Faint light from outside flowed across the ceiling through the gaps in the curtains, vanishing in an instant. Darkness reclaimed the space, and the entire room felt compressed into a small, cramped, and heavy square.

Yu Lin lay with his eyes open, experiencing this both unfamiliar and familiar sensation. His heart began to pound with trepidation, and invisible hands seemed to throttle his throat, making even breathing difficult. Every cell in his body screamed to flee this prison of darkness, yet his limbs felt pinned to the spot. His thoughts were like a flock of panicked birds with nowhere to land. Every sound was as clear as a whisper, and every draft felt like a piercing mockery.

His stomach burned like fire. A wave of nausea surged up his throat, wreaking havoc inside him.

Prompted by the system’s notification, Yu Lin belatedly remembered that Lin Zhou’s body suffered from claustrophobia. It seemed he could not sleep peacefully in such darkness. However, when he sluggishly rose to turn on the bedside nightlight, a bizarre impulse drove him to bolt toward the bathroom, where he leaned over the toilet and vomited everything up.

Hearing the commotion, Lin He walked quietly to Yu Lin’s side. He gently rubbed the boy’s back to help him catch his breath before pressing the button to flush away the mess.

“Your temperature is high. You must have upset your stomach at dinner,” Lin He said. His cool fingers brushed lightly against Yu Lin’s burning nape, his voice tinged with a faint trace of irritation and anger.

At the same time, 007 made its judgment in his mind. “Host’s temperature is detected to be over 37.2°C. Suspected gastroenteritis following emotional stress.”

At this moment, Yu Lin was experiencing this kind of weakness for the first time. He felt powerless and irritable, unwilling to utter another word.

“Go put some clothes on. I am taking you to the hospital.” Lin He gave his neck a soft squeeze before nudging him toward the door.

Unexpectedly, Yu Lin leaned backward, letting his entire weight fall on Lin He, resting against half of his shoulder.

“I do not want to go,” he said. His voice was soft and supple, his tone childish and pitiful. “I am tired. I want to lie down. Can we please not go to the hospital?”

As if afraid Lin He would refuse, he tentatively called out again, “Brother?”

Lin He’s hand stiffened and pulled away from Yu Lin’s back. His entire body went rigid. From an outside perspective, he looked as tense as a steel plate. Lin He’s lips parted as if he were about to agree, but before a sound could escape, Yu Lin suddenly sprang up and returned to the toilet to vomit once more.

Yu Lin wiped the physiological tears from the corners of his eyes. “What kind of body does Lin Zhou have?”

007 replied coldly, “No matter how strong a body is, it cannot withstand the way you ate tonight. Did you think Lin Zhou was from a region used to heavy spice? I warned you at the time.”

His head spinning, Yu Lin washed his face with cold water and staggered toward the bedroom. Lin He watched his every move with a deep gaze. Finally, this “cold-hearted” older brother ignored his protests and carried him downstairs.

“Brother!” The sudden loss of gravity made Yu Lin cry out. His voice cracked, and his muscles tensed instinctively.

If it had been anyone else, Yu Lin would likely have slammed their head into the wall the moment they touched him. This was the second time he had allowed such a thing to happen. He did not understand why Lin He was the exception. Perhaps it was because he was the original Lin Zhou’s brother and Yu Lin needed his help, or perhaps because he was a good person who provided food and cooked for him.

In any case, Yu Lin allowed himself to be carried downstairs, stuffed into the car, and driven to the hospital. As they left, Lin He remarked, “I do not want to wake up tomorrow morning to clean up your mess all over the floor.”

Yu Lin huddled into his blanket dissatisfied, his favorability toward this world dropping a few more points.

The emergency room was packed, and they waited half an hour for their turn. During that time, Yu Lin vomited again. After drinking a few sips of hot water, he sat holding a paper cup, staring piteously at Lin He with pale, moist lips.

“I want to go home.”

Lin He refused heartlessly. “No.”

Yu Lin bit the rim of his cup reluctantly and curled up in his chair. Later, blood was drawn, medicine was prescribed, and he had to go to the infusion room for two IV bags. Yu Lin was always slow to react to pain, let alone the momentary sting of a needle. He stared directly at the nurse as she pushed the needle into his vein, watching the bright red blood flow back through the thin rubber tube. He even had the leisure to joke with Lin He, causing a college girl nearby, who was hiding her face in her roommate’s arms, to look up in surprise.

As the liquid dripped slowly from the glass bottle, Yu Lin slumped on the bench, his messy hair brushing against Lin He’s arm. His half-closed eyes were fixed on a scrap of paper on the tiled floor as his mind drifted off into space.

In a daze, he asked softly, “Can we have hotpot again tomorrow?”

Lin He remembered the doctor’s earnest warning that Yu Lin’s condition was entirely the result of heavy spice irritating his stomach. The boy had clearly not listened. Lin He gave a short laugh and leaned down toward Yu Lin’s ear. They were extremely close. Yu Lin felt the man’s breath tickle the base of his ear like a feather, but there were no further words. Curious, he forced himself to open his eyes to look at Lin He’s face, only to hear him say:

“In your dreams. Tomorrow, you are having porridge.”

Yu Lin pouted. “Can it be spicy porridge? Spicy duck blood porridge also works.”

Lin He said coldly, “Plain. Porridge.”

The IV drip had lasted until the early morning. Combined with the news that he could only eat bland food for three days, Yu Lin was as wilted as an eggplant hit by frost.

During the lunch break, the classroom was silent. Yu Lin wandered slowly along the corridor toward a secluded spot. An early autumn breeze brushed past, rustling the lush green leaves of the trees outside and scattering mottled light and shadow across the ground. He had stuffed a pack of lollipops into his bag before leaving this morning. He unwrapped one, popped it into his mouth, chewed it into pieces in a few bites, and leaned against the railing with the stick in his mouth.

It was as if he had never tasted sweetness before. Upon first contact, he wanted nothing more than to soak his entire being in this gentle sugar jar. Before the sugar had even dissolved, Yu Lin heard Xu Ze’an’s impatient voice from below. “Why are you only arriving now?”

Yu Lin peered over the edge. Yesterday’s time had been tight, so he had not formed much of an impression of Xu Ze’an’s face. He only remembered his arrogant and foul temper. Now that he looked, though both were Alphas, this face was worlds apart from his “cheap brother.”

“I was detained. There is a test this afternoon,” Xie Zhirang’s voice was as soft and thin as ever.

Xu Ze’an snorted. It was unclear if he was mocking Xie Zhirang’s seriousness or if he was simply dismissive. He carelessly took the lunchbox from Xie Zhirang’s hand and lifted the lid. His sharp brows furrowed instantly as he complained, “Tomato and egg again? We have had this for three days straight!”

Xie Zhirang looked down at the ground. “I get off work late, and time is tight in the morning. I did not have time to prepare fresh meat.”

Xu Ze’an glanced at him. Although he sounded disgusted, he still shoveled a large mouthful into his mouth. “I offered you money but you refused. You insist on going out to work for others. I do not understand what you are thinking. Are you still at that same club?”

Xie Zhirang nodded. “They pay well.” He paused before adding, “I cannot take more of your money. It is not the same.”

Xu Ze’an clearly did not care about what Xie Zhirang valued; he likely attributed it to a misplaced sense of self-esteem. He quickly finished off the two meat dishes and one vegetable dish. Looking up, he saw Xie Zhirang standing before him with a heavy heart, clutching the hem of his shirt. He guessed the boy had something to say.

“Hey, what else do you want to tell me?”

Having his thoughts read, Xie Zhirang looked at him in a fluster. After a few seconds of silence, he finally gathered his courage and spoke. “I did some calculations today. There is 476 yuan left of the money you gave me this month. I will go to the classroom later to get it and pay you back.”

Xu Ze’an’s expression changed as he interrupted, “What do you mean by that?”

Xie Zhirang stammered. Seeing Xu Ze’an put down the lunchbox and stand up to loom over him, the tall Alpha figure felt like an insurmountable mountain. He retracted his gaze, his head buzzing, and turned around in a panic. His wandering eyes suddenly met Yu Lin’s probing gaze from the corridor.

The youth was leaning over the railing with his arms crossed, his head resting lazily on his arm and a lollipop stick in his mouth. The sunlight shone from behind him, making his dark hair seem to glow. He gazed down with interest, his eyes as clean and bright as spilled ink, a faint smile playing on a face that seemed meticulously carved by a creator.

Perhaps Yu Lin’s presence gave Xie Zhirang courage. When he looked back at Xu Ze’an, he was able to suppress the nervousness in his tone. He said word for word, “I do not want to continue like this anymore, Xu Ze’an. Can we… end our relationship here?”

Xu Ze’an took a deep breath, seemingly thinking. Suddenly, he whipped his head around toward Yu Lin. Gritting his teeth, he snarled, “I knew it. I knew it.”

He pointed a finger at Yu Lin in rage and grabbed Xie Zhirang’s arm, his face flushed with shame and anger. “He instigated this, did he not? Because of him, a Beta, you want to…”

“Let me interrupt.” Yu Lin took the stick out of his mouth and tossed it into a nearby blue trash bin. “Yesterday, you were knocked unconscious by a Beta. Namely, myself.”

With that, Yu Lin braced himself against the railing and took a breath. He did a quick estimation of the height. In the next second, amidst the shocked stares of the two people below and the roaring of the system, he silently flipped over the three-meter-high floor.