The Infatuated Cannon Fodder Quits Chapter 34

He stared at the banner, and the banner, hovering above, looked calmly back. After a long standoff, Xie Ruan ground out two words through gritted teeth, “Bo. Jin!”

He took a deep breath, stood up, and moved to rip down the banner from the end of the bed. His hand was already reaching out when he caught sight of the small words in the lower right corner, making him pause.

The banner was so eye-catching that he hadn’t noticed these smaller words at first.

“The one on the rooftop,” he stared at the small line with a blank face, his raised right hand trembling slightly.

“Yo, you’re awake?” Suddenly, Song Xinghe’s voice came from below.

Xie Ruan turned his head slowly, rigidly, pointing at the banner and trying to remain calm as he asked, “How did that thing get up there?”

Song Xinghe rolled over and got up, his eyes wide with excitement and curiosity, with no sign of sleepiness.

Without even changing, he scrambled down the ladder and looked up at Xie Ruan, not answering but asking instead, “Come on, stop hiding it, Little Xie. Tell me—what’s going on between you and God Bo?”

Last night, when Bo Jin came to knock on the door, it had startled him. He thought Bo Jin had urgent business with Xie Ruan, so he was about to wake him up. But to his surprise, Bo Jin had stopped him.

“No need to wake him up. I just came by to hang something,” Bo Jin said.

Hang something? Song Xinghe’s mind immediately went to the multiplication table chart his five-year-old nephew had on his wall.

Could it be that the top student wanted to motivate Xie Ruan by printing out key knowledge points and hanging them in their dorm?

Not bad, not bad. This way, as his roommate, he could benefit from it too—glancing over it now and then might even earn him a few extra points on his finals.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Song Xinghe saw Bo Jin pull out… a banner.

Song Xinghe: “???”

Bo Jin acted as if he had done nothing shocking, glancing around the room calmly before pointing to a chair by the window, “Can I use that?”

“Oh… uh, sure.” Still dazed, Song Xinghe nodded, his mind lagging behind as his hands eagerly brought over the chair. “God Bo, please go ahead.”

Bo Jin raised an eyebrow, finding Xie Ruan’s friend quite amusing. “Thanks.”

He expressed his gratitude, then mentally estimated where to hang the banner before stepping up on the chair.

If anyone else had tried something like this—sneaking into their dorm while Xie Ruan was asleep to hang a banner—Song Xinghe would have exploded. Was he supposed to just ignore it?

But Bo Jin was different.

Was the top student wrong? Of course not! A good horse doesn’t return to old pasture; after finally getting free of a scumbag, one shouldn’t go soft because of a few sweet words or some pleading.

And with Bo Jin’s talent, looks, and respectability, who wouldn’t want someone like that as a partner?

For Xie Ruan’s future, God Bo was even willing to make himself a contrast to Shen Xingyun, so as Xie Ruan’s friend, Song Xinghe had to play his part too.

Without a second thought, he grabbed the scissors from the desk. “God Bo, I’ll cut the tape for you.”

Thus, with the teamwork of the two, the banner that almost made Xie Ruan think it was a paranormal phenomenon was hung up.

Unaware of his buddy’s role in the whole setup, Xie Ruan ignored Song Xinghe’s gossip and asked again, more patiently, “What’s with this thing?”

Unfortunately, people tend to have friends who are like themselves, so naturally, Song Xinghe was just as prone to ignoring serious questions.

Excited, he asked, “Hey, Little Xie, God Bo treats you so well—do you think he’s into you?”

Xie Ruan: “Stop talking nonsense. Just answer my question… Did he come to our dorm last night?”

Song Xinghe: “Last time, you didn’t sleep in the dorm either because you went looking for him, right? You two were pretty intense that day, huh?”

Xie Ruan: “…”

Clearly, this conversation was going nowhere. Frustrated, Xie Ruan threw a pillow at Song Xinghe’s head, pulled out his phone, and called Bo Jin. “Bo Jin, are you out of your mind?”

He looked up and accidentally caught a glimpse of the bright red banner, immediately shutting his eyes in disdain.

“Hmm?” Bo Jin’s lazy, slightly husky voice came through, clearly just woken up. “Is insomnia a sickness?”

After a pause, he chuckled. “What’s the occasion today? Checking on me so early.”

“I’m not here for chit-chat,” Xie Ruan glanced at the time on his screen with a frosty tone, “You’ve got ten minutes to come here and get your stuff down, or don’t blame me if I show no mercy.”

After a second thought, he decided calling him “human” was giving Bo Jin too much credit, so he added, “No mercy on the dog.”

There was a faint shuffling on the other end, probably Bo Jin getting dressed. Then he said, “My stuff? You?”

Xie Ruan exploded, “Did you just call me that?!”

Bo Jin’s hand froze mid-button; he hadn’t expected such a response. Staring at the phone screen in disbelief, he eventually couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Too adorable. Who could resist that?

“Leave it up,” Bo Jin got out of bed, his smile fading a bit at the thought of the wristbands, “Some people seem too attached to their ex.”

“What? What do you mean?” Xie Ruan straightened up, suddenly tense. “Say it clearly.”

He couldn’t understand what was going through Bo Jin’s mind. Wasn’t his attitude toward Shen Xingyun obvious enough? Where had Bo Jin gotten this idea?

“I avoid even walking past the third floor.”

“Oh really?” Bo Jin opened the bathroom door, putting the phone on speaker. “Then why are you still wearing the matching wristbands with him?”

Matching wristbands? Xie Ruan froze, suddenly recalling the origin of the wristbands.

“I…” He rubbed his forehead, feeling a little less confident. “Look, I honestly forgot.”

His monthly allowance was modest, just enough to get by. Back when he was pursuing Shen Xingyun, he had spent sparingly to save up. Most of what he used came from his small stash that he had accumulated over the years.

Now, with his little stash gone and his spending money limited, he had to be frugal. Reusing old things was a habit, so he hadn’t thought much about the wristbands.

Who could’ve known it would turn out to be such a landmine?

“You wore them all day yesterday; it wasn’t just me who saw it…”

Bo Jin didn’t finish, but Xie Ruan got the point. Just thinking of all the gossipers at school made him cringe.

He scrambled out of bed and threw the wristbands straight into the trash.

“I threw them away,” Xie Ruan muttered, wishing he could go back to yesterday and accept Bo Jin’s offer to change them. Frustrated, he ruffled his hair and muttered, “I didn’t even wear them that long; maybe… not that many people noticed.”

His decisive disposal of the wristbands made Bo Jin’s heart, which had felt sour since the previous night, feel much better.

But then again, an old b*stard being an old b*stard, expecting him to have a shred of conscience was futile.

“Who knows,” Bo Jin teased, determined to teach Xie Ruan a lesson so he’d stop using things associated with Shen Xingyun. “Maybe besides the wristbands, there are other couple items on you.”

Xie Ruan froze, completely forgetting about the banner. “I’ll check right now and throw them all out if I find any.”

Hearing this, Bo Jin finally felt satisfied. With a smirk, he grabbed his toothbrush from the cup. “Good boy. I’ll bring you some taro shumai later.”

After spending the entire morning in the dorm throwing out a small pile of things, Xie Ruan rushed to class.

He thought it would be a fresh new day, but to his surprise, he was greeted by yet another banner.

Unlike the one in the dorm, this banner was only palm-sized. The words “A good horse doesn’t return to its old pasture” were printed small, while “It’s best to date your deskmate” was blown up and plastered brightly on his bookshelf—impossible to miss.

Xie Ruan truly had no idea where Bo Jin came up with these outrageous ideas. At this point, he was too exhausted to even be angry. With a stiff expression, he looked at Bo Jin. “Care to explain?”

Bo Jin handed him a warm bag of taro shumai, leaning lazily against the chair. “Just a reminder—sometimes the best choice is right beside you.”

Did he really need to squeeze in a dose of self-praise?

Xie Ruan inwardly rolled his eyes and replied perfunctorily, “Fine, you’re the best. No one could be better.” He reached up, intending to tear down the small banner.

But before he could, Bo Jin held his hand in place.

Bo Jin smiled, with a look that clearly spelled out “skip class” in his left eye and “rooftop” in his right.

Xie Ruan: “…”

Fine! He could leave it up. If the top student in his grade wasn’t afraid of rumors, why should he be?

With a blank expression, he took a bite of the taro shumai as if he were biting Bo Jin himself.

Though he allowed the small banner to stay, every time he accidentally glimpsed it, he felt a pang of annoyance. Reminded of the culprit behind it all, he became even more determined to keep his distance from Shen Xingyun.

If he overheard anyone talking about him, he’d walk away instantly. He avoided opening any forum posts related to him and even sped up his pace whenever he passed the third floor.

It was as if Shen Xingyun were some kind of plague, and touching him would bring bad luck.

Seeing this, Bo Jin couldn’t help but feel pleased.

One afternoon, during a long break, Xie Ruan went to the store with Bo Jin and a few others to buy snacks.

At their age, their appetites were big, and with the heavy academic load, they were practically always hungry.

Finding the store too crowded and uncomfortable, Xie Ruan bought two bags of instant noodles and waited outside for the others.

He had just torn open a pack and taken a few bites when he spotted Shen Xingyun and his friends walking toward him.

Suddenly, the noodles didn’t taste as good. Xie Ruan pulled out his phone and quickly texted Bo Jin:

[Your Brother Xie]: I’m heading back first.

With that, he turned and headed directly toward the classroom building.

Shen Xingyun, who was just about to greet him, was left baffled: “???”

Bo Jin and his friends, who had just finished shopping, happened to catch the whole scene.

Bo Jin couldn’t help but smile.

Swallowing three pieces of dried sweet potato, Sun Haoxiang gave Bo Jin a look of disdain. “Laugh? You actually have the nerve to laugh. Just look at how much you’ve tormented our poor Little Xie!”

Bo Jin kept his smile and replied, “Our?”

Sun Haoxiang paused, then rolled his eyes. “Your Little Xie, your Little Xie—there, happy now?”

He muttered under his breath, “You torment the ones who are yours.”

Hanging up banners—who does that?

“How am I tormenting him?” Bo Jin opened his chat with Xie Ruan, typed a quick “okay,” and put his phone away, then glanced at Sun Haoxiang and replied calmly, “I’m just reminding him that the best choice is nearby, so he doesn’t make a desperate move.”

Sun Haoxiang: “…”

Sun Haoxiang choked on his sweet potato and coughed violently.