The Infatuated Cannon Fodder Quits Chapter 11

The next day, the whole school buzzed with a new rumor. It happened to be a morning without early classes, and everyone had gathered on the field for the weekly assembly, making gossip easy to spread.

“Did you hear? Last night, two guys were caught in the woods doing… something they shouldn’t!”

“No way! For real?!”

“Totally! Director Zhao saw it firsthand!”

“Oh, juicy, juicy!”

“Tell me more! What were they doing?”

“Let’s just say it was a bit… tree-shaking.”

“Tsk, you city folk are wild.”

At first, the rumor was somewhat tame. But as it spread, it morphed into something far from the original story. In particular, anything tinged with scandal tends to get embellished along the way.

By the time Shen Xingyun heard it, the story had turned from “two boys were caught dating in the woods” to “two boys were passionately making out when Director Zhao stumbled upon them,” and finally, to “on a dark night, two boys, overcome by desire, couldn’t help themselves in the woods.”

Last night, Shen Xingyun had been dragged to the office by Director Zhao and had spent ages explaining. It had taken nearly all his energy to convince Zhao that he and Chen Xu had been fighting, not dating.

Finally released, Shen Xingyun had spent the rest of the night dreaming of being chased by dogs.

By morning, still groggy from his nightmare, he didn’t recognize the story he was hearing as his own.

Grinding his teeth in anger at Xie Ruan while still half-awake, he asked, “Who was it?”

Wang Zhao kept typing on his phone in the group chat, “Not sure yet.”

“What idiots,” Shen Xingyun said, yawning, chuckling to himself. “Would it kill them to pay for a room?”

“You don’t get it,” Zhao Hongfu chimed in, putting down his phone. “It’s all about the thrill.”

“Any updates?” Wang Zhao turned to him.

“Nope,” Zhao Hongfu replied, rubbing his face in frustration. “Seems like it involved someone from Chen Xu’s group, but I couldn’t get specifics.” He looked to Shen Xingyun. “Hey, Brother Yun, you know a lot of people—mind asking around?”

At this point, Shen Xingyun still hadn’t realized the gravity of the situation.

His mind had been preoccupied with thoughts of Xie Ruan lately, and he was eager for a distraction. So he pulled out his phone and said, “Alright, the woods, right? About what time last night?”

Zhao Hongfu thought for a moment. “Not long after evening self-study; apparently, a vigilant bystander reported it.”

Shen Xingyun: “?”

He suddenly felt an ominous chill. “Reported?”

“Yep.” Zhao Hongfu nodded. “I heard two people witnessed it and then called Zhao Caiming over.”

Last night, the woods, just after evening study, Chen Xu, reported…

Like a blow to the head, the realization hit Shen Xingyun all at once.

D*mn it! He was the gossip!

Noticing Shen Xingyun frozen in place, Zhao Hongfu urged him, “Come on, Brother Yun, hurry up!”

Shen Xingyun’s face turned green, then black, then red in a spectacular display of emotions. Gripping his phone tightly, he took a deep breath and spat out, “Hurry your d*mn self! Get lost!”

The rumor was already spreading like wildfire around the school, and as Xie Ruan walked from the dorm to the assembly area, he heard people discussing it everywhere.

Initially, he’d just wanted to mess with Shen Xingyun a bit. Who would have thought it would escalate like this? Knowing Shen Xingyun’s personality, he’d probably be livid when he found out.

Xie Ruan was thoroughly amused; as long as Shen Xingyun was unhappy, he was delighted.

“What’s got you laughing so much?” Sun Haoxiang came over and teased him. “Something good? Share with us.”

“Oh, just heard a joke.” Xie Ruan brushed it off, not wanting to discuss Shen Xingyun. “Where’s Bo Jin?”

They usually moved together, so why were they split up this morning?

Before Sun Haoxiang could answer, Pan Yu cut in, his gaze intense. “You looking for him?”

“No…” Xie Ruan felt uncomfortable under his stare, suspecting Pan Yu was overthinking something, “Just asking.”

“Oh,” Pan Yu replied, adjusting his glasses, though it was unclear if he believed him. “He woke up late, so he didn’t come with us.”

Glancing at the time, he added, “He’ll probably arrive just before the bell.”

Thinking about it, Xie Ruan recalled seeing Bo Jin alone in the cafeteria earlier.

“He has insomnia often and wakes up grumpy,” Sun Haoxiang explained, eager to chat with someone good-looking. “That’s why we don’t bother him in the mornings.”

He was moving so energetically that he accidentally bumped into He Mingjie’s phone.

“Are you crazy?” He Mingjie quickly checked his messages, relieved he hadn’t accidentally sent something inappropriate. “If you’d made me send a cringey emoji to my girlfriend by mistake, you’d be dead meat.”

Sun Haoxiang looked stunned, and Pan Yu had the expression of someone hearing juicy gossip. “Wait, you have a girlfriend?”

He Mingjie said smugly, “Yeah, Lin Lu.”

Lin Lu was the school beauty in sophomore year, known for her looks and sweet personality, with admirers lining up from here to the train station.

“What?!” Sun Haoxiang’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “Lin Lu is your girlfriend? When did that happen? How come we didn’t know?” He was incredulous. “How did you get her to date you?”

He Mingjie, blushing slightly, muttered, “Well… I haven’t won her over yet.”

Sun Haoxiang and Pan Yu: “???”

Sun Haoxiang: “How is she your girlfriend if you haven’t dated her yet?”

He Mingjie shot back, “Why can’t she be? A one-sided girlfriend is still a girlfriend!”

Sun Haoxiang: “…”

I don’t get it, but I’m definitely shocked.

Xie Ruan didn’t join in on their conversation. In fact, from the moment Sun Haoxiang mentioned Bo Jin’s insomnia, he had been too distracted to think about anything else.

Before, he had his suspicions about Bo Jin possibly having depression. But now, he was almost certain Bo Jin had a mental health issue.

Long-term insomnia and suicidal tendencies—what else could it be if not depression?

Xie Ruan opened a web page and started searching for ways to help with insomnia caused by depression.

He couldn’t provide professional help, but any small assistance he could give was worth a try, just in case it worked.

The internet was full of advice: some suggested white noise, others eating nuts, and some even suggested seeing a guru. Ignoring the obviously unreliable suggestions, Xie Ruan compared the options carefully until he found one with good reviews: drinking black wolfberry water.

Wolfberries are good for health, so even if it didn’t work, it couldn’t hurt.

Since he had never bought wolfberries before, he chose the most expensive organic black wolfberries, figuring that a higher price meant higher quality.

After paying, his wallet was nearly empty, which meant he’d have to skip a meat dish at lunch. But remembering how Bo Jin had sat with him and helped him with his studies, the minor pain in his heart quickly disappeared.

More and more students gathered around as the assembly was about to start. Just as Xie Ruan was about to put his phone away, he felt a weight on his shoulder. An arm draped over him.

“What’re you looking at?” Bo Jin, half-hugging him from behind, rested his chin lazily on Xie Ruan’s shoulder.

Xie Ruan turned off the screen without looking up. “Move.”

“That’s how you treat your tutor?” Bo Jin, instead of letting go, leaned in closer, practically draping himself over Xie Ruan. “I’ll give you another chance. Say something nice.”

Xie Ruan didn’t respond, merely reaching up to pry his hand away.

“Someone’s cranky this morning.” Bo Jin, unfazed by Xie Ruan’s efforts, let him tug all he wanted. From a distance, they looked entwined, fingers intertwined as if they were a couple in love. “What, were you chatting with some girl?”

Xie Ruan shot him a disdainful look. “Do I look like you?”

“I’m not chatting with any girls,” Bo Jin smirked, glancing sidelong at him. “The first contact in my messages is still you. Want to double-check?”

His voice was low, and as he leaned closer, there was an unexpected hint of something tender and ambiguous. Xie Ruan immediately felt uneasy all over and snapped, “None of my business.”

With that, he shrugged his shoulder to try to shake Bo Jin off.

“Don’t move.” Bo Jin pressed down on his shoulder, half-closing his eyes with a trace of exhaustion in his voice. “Let me lean on you for a bit. I didn’t get much sleep last night, d*mn insomnia.”

The weekly assembly had already started. Zhao Caiming was testing his loudspeaker under the national flag, and the various class formations went from disorderly to aligned. Xie Ruan looked expressionlessly at the person leaning against him with his eyes closed, pretending to nap. After a long moment, he finally lowered his raised shoulder bit by bit.

Fine, consider it as taking care of a patient. Anyway, they were standing at the back of the group, unlikely to be seen.

Xie Ruan was 1.78 meters tall, and Bo Jin was half a head taller. Bo Jin leaning on him in that cramped position looked uncomfortable, so Xie Ruan pursed his lips and quietly adjusted his posture, trying not to make it obvious.

The 20-minute assembly ended quickly. Xie Ruan massaged his somewhat stiff shoulder, skipping the walk back to the classroom with Bo Jin and the others, heading to the convenience store instead. He’d noticed last night that his red marker had run out while he was studying and needed a new one.

After breakfast, the store was pretty empty. He quickly paid and, on his way out, stopped by the bathroom.

Though he’d always teased Bo Jin for being particular, he was no better. He found the student bathrooms dirty and smelly, preferring the teacher’s restroom on that floor.

But his luck wasn’t great today; as he approached, he overheard someone inside bad-mouthing him.

He instantly recognized it as Li Mingliang’s voice.

“Why did he break up with Brother Yun? Everyone in our class knows he’s been cozying up to Bo Jin.”

“Bo Jin?” The other person sounded incredulous. “Are you talking about Bo Jin from Class One? The guy who won the math olympiad?”

“Yeah, him.”

“No way,” the other person said in disbelief. “How could God Bo and him…”

“Why not?” Li Mingliang sneered. “What’s Bo Jin supposed to be, not a man? With a face like Xie Ruan’s, what guy wouldn’t be tempted?”

“True,” the other seemed convinced, pausing before adding mockingly, “Guess even a study god doesn’t have the best taste.”

Li Mingliang laughed coldly, “Anyone involved with Xie Ruan couldn’t be that decent, could they? Genius? Just a bookworm with no real-life skills. You all keep hyping him up…”

Before he could finish, the bathroom door burst open with a bang. Li Mingliang barely registered who it was before his neck was seized and he was shoved against the sink.

Water poured down from above, drenching him so much he could hardly keep his eyes open. After choking on a few mouthfuls of water, he managed to sputter, “Xie Ruan, are you crazy?”

Li Mingliang’s companion was paralyzed with shock. He had never seen anyone as unhesitatingly violent as Xie Ruan. He stood rooted to the spot, like a rabbit in the headlights.

Xie Ruan ignored him, gripping Li Mingliang’s hair and lifting his head, his force nearly ripping at his scalp. “Can’t think straight? Better wash it up.”

Li Mingliang struggled desperately, but he was pinned against the sink, unable to move. His face was flushed, from either anger or choking, and he swore, “Xie Ruan, let go of me!”

Xie Ruan chuckled coldly and shoved him back down, filling the bathroom with Li Mingliang’s choked gasps.

“Listen carefully,” Xie Ruan said over the rushing water, his voice cold and sharp with unmistakable menace. “Say whatever you want about me; I don’t care. But if I hear you bad-mouthing Bo Jin again, I’ll beat you every time I see you.”

The things he protected and feared damaging, all to keep Bo Jin from following the story’s original path—this idiot was here, dragging things down from behind.

Sometimes, the sharpest weapon wasn’t a blade; it could be just a careless word.

“Understand?”

“Cough… yeah,” Li Mingliang gasped, still defiant. “So what if… you’re so protective…”

“Ah!” He screamed in pain as Xie Ruan gripped his hair and slammed it onto the marble counter repeatedly, slowly but firmly. “What did you say?”

Maniac—this guy was a maniac.

Li Mingliang was on the verge of fainting from the pain, his face streaked with tears from the impact. His lips quivered as he forced out, “I… I get it.”

Xie Ruan asked, “What do you get?”

“In the future,” Li Mingliang panted, “I won’t say anything bad about Bo Jin.”

“Could’ve said that from the start.” Xie Ruan let go and patted his face. “Now get lost.”

Li Mingliang finally got his freedom back, scrambling out as quickly as he could, not bothering to wipe his tear-streaked face.

Xie Ruan snorted, washed his hands, and left.

Footsteps faded into the distance, and the bathroom fell silent again.

From the furthest stall, Bo Jin held a half-smoked cigarette between his fingers, watching with an amused smirk that grew with each passing second.