The Infatuated Cannon Fodder Quits Chapter 8

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Sun Haoxiang and his friends were close with Bo Jin and even had a group chat just for them. However, they had another private group chat without Bo Jin, dubbed “Math, Physics, and Chemistry Desperation Club.”

Sun Haoxiang had bought his way into the advanced science class, He Mingjie’s grades were below average, and Vice Class Monitor Pan Yu, though better, was always second to Bo Jin, no matter how hard he studied.

This group was usually dead quiet, only coming alive before or after exams.

Today was different. After Bo Jin stopped Xie Ruan and told him to sit by his side, the group chat blew up.

[He Mingjie]: D*mn, what’s going on?

[After repeatedly turning down the school beauty, Sun Haoxiang]: I just told Xie Ruan that Brother Bo doesn’t sit with anyone, and then Brother Bo goes and pulls him over! [Confused Black Guy meme.jpg]

[After repeatedly turning down the school beauty, Sun Haoxiang]: Doesn’t this ruin my image in Little Xie’s eyes?

[He Mingjie]: I don’t get it—why did he suddenly change?

[He Mingjie]: @Pan Yu Old Pan, wasn’t it you who tried to sit with Brother Bo before and got rejected?

[Vice Monitor – Pan Yu]: ???

[Vice Monitor – Pan Yu]: That wasn’t rejection; it was “maintaining a beauty distance.”

[After repeatedly turning down the school beauty, Sun Haoxiang]: …You’re really good at sugar-coating things. It’s heartbreaking.

[Vice Monitor – Pan Yu]: Shut it, Ah Xun!

[After repeatedly turning down the school beauty, Sun Haoxiang]: …Four-eyes, you’re dead.

[He Mingjie]: Can you two stay on topic? PM each other if you want to argue. Is that the point right now?

[Vice Monitor – Pan Yu]: Maybe they knew each other before.

[After repeatedly turning down the school beauty, Sun Haoxiang]: Bullsh*t. If they knew each other, why wouldn’t we know? Did Brother Bo tell you?

[Vice Monitor – Pan Yu]: No, look at this post. Brother Bo went to Class 11 yesterday afternoon to find Xie Ruan .

[He Mingjie]: Not bad, Vice Monitor! You know all the gossip.

[After repeatedly turning down the school beauty, Sun Haoxiang]: Doesn’t mean they knew each other. Vice Monitor, you know Brother Bo too.

[Vice Monitor – Pan Yu]: ??? Do you have to drag me into this?

[He Mingjie]: Hahaha, I didn’t say it this time!

[After repeatedly turning down the school beauty, Sun Haoxiang]: Maybe he likes his face.

[Vice Monitor – Pan Yu]: You think Brother Bo’s like you?

[After repeatedly turning down the school beauty, Sun Haoxiang]: Then why else?

The group fell silent. Despite all the speculation, they couldn’t figure out what was so special about Xie Ruan that Bo Jin made an exception for him.

Could it really be about his face?

Meanwhile, Xie Ruan was unaware that he’d become the center of the group’s gossip despite his recent transfer.

He was busy arranging his things at his new seat.

“Why does your class keep the trash can at the back?” Xie Ruan asked Bo Jin as he set up a shelf. “My old class kept it near the front door.”

He had bought the shelf from a supermarket the night before and had to assemble it himself. Lacking patience, he quickly grew frustrated. The shelf seemed to resist every effort to stabilize it, wobbling like a defective item.

Even with his ego, he couldn’t bring himself to say the shelf looked good. Finally, he suppressed his frustration and tried again.

Bo Jin, who had been interrupted repeatedly and couldn’t sleep, leaned back, rubbing his temples and chuckling, “We used to keep it up front.”

Needing a distraction, Xie Ruan turned to him. “And then?”

“Ah Xun kept flinging the door open so hard that the trash can would fly out,” Bo Jin said with a grin, twisting open a bottle of water. “Almost hit Old Sun in the head, so they moved it to the back.”

He clicked his tongue, “Born of the same root, why torment each other so?”

Xie Ruan was quick on the uptake, remembering Sun Haoxiang’s introduction and immediately understanding who “Ah Xun” was. Laughing, he asked, “And what happened next?”

Bo Jin chuckled. “What do you mean, ‘next’?”

“Like, what did Teacher Sun do?”

Usually nonchalant, Xie Ruan now had a sparkle in his eyes as he listened, clearly entertained. Seeing this, Bo Jin looked at him for a moment, then smirked. “Come closer, and I’ll tell you.”

Of course, gossip about the teacher had to be whispered. Xie Ruan understood and leaned in without a second thought.

“A little closer.”

Xie Ruan was almost leaning under Bo Jin’s chin.

Bo Jin lightly flicked his forehead. “What reaction were you hoping for? You’re so young, yet already such a gossip. Now hurry up and organize your things.”

“You!” Xie Ruan covered his forehead, just about to teach him the consequences of randomly touching another guy’s head when he noticed Bo Jin pointing at his shelf, saying, “You put this part on backward.”

“Where?” Xie Ruan’s attention immediately shifted.

Bo Jin took apart two boards, and with just a few swift adjustments, the previously wobbly bottom suddenly stood stable, like a well-behaved donkey.

Xie Ruan had to admit—Bo Jin really did have some skills.

Once the shelf was assembled, Xie Ruan picked up his pace in tidying up. Glancing at Bo Jin, who was sitting nearby, propping his chin and watching him, he suddenly thought of something and hesitantly asked, “Um, is it okay if I sit here?”

Yesterday, he had looked up some information on depression and learned that some people with depression prefer to be alone.

Bo Jin didn’t quite catch his meaning. “Hm?”

Xie Ruan wasn’t good at saying soft words, especially not to someone like Bo Jin. What was supposed to be a simple question somehow felt hard to spit out. Seeing that Bo Jin was waiting for him to continue, Xie Ruan took a deep breath and said, “I mean, will it bother you if I sit next to you?”

“What kind of bother?” Bo Jin’s mood lightened a bit, amused by Xie Ruan’s awkward concern, and he teased, “Afraid I’ll be too distracted by you?”

Xie Ruan rolled his eyes. “You’re overthinking it; I’m not that vain.”

He knew his place; it was unlikely that someone like Bo Jin would be bothered by him.

Bo Jin raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Xie Ruan thought he’d finally given up and was feeling a little smug for having won this round when Bo Jin suddenly turned and said leisurely, “You never know.”

Xie Ruan: “…”

So much for his concern!

The bell for morning study rang, and Xie Ruan took out a first-year Chinese textbook, planning to start with the simplest material—memorizing passages. He had memorized two classical texts yesterday and felt pretty good about it.

Bo Jin glanced over at him and asked in surprise, “Why are you looking at a first-year book?”

Xie Ruan started from the first page, flipping through it as he searched for the required passages. “I didn’t study much in the first year, so I plan to catch up now.”

Bo Jin watched him for a while, noticing that he was struggling to find what he needed. With a rare sense of goodwill, he reached over to press down on Xie Ruan’s book and said calmly, “Stop flipping; I’ll tell you what to memorize.”

“Huh?” Xie Ruan didn’t quite understand, but out of respect for his academic superiority, he instinctively picked up his pen.

“‘Prelude to Water Melody – Changsha’ is on page three, ‘Two Poems’ on page six, ‘Duke Zhu of Zhi Retreats Qin’ on page sixteen…”

As Bo Jin listed off the pages without hesitation, Xie Ruan went from shock to awe, and finally, he was numb to it all. His hand wrote automatically, while his mind seemed to drift off.

Was this what it was like to be a academic god?

Not only did he have every memorization assignment down, but he even remembered the page numbers. Was he just born to make everyone else feel inferior?

“What’s with the blank look?” Bo Jin noticed his dazed expression and knocked on his desk. “Did you get it all down?”

Xie Ruan glanced at his notebook, noting the densely packed lines of text, and gradually snapped out of it. “Yeah.”

He exhaled softly, closed the notebook, and looked at Bo Jin with a complicated expression. “Do you remember the page numbers to make it easier for you to review?”

Bo Jin paused, muttering a vague “Mm-hmm.”

Xie Ruan was deeply impressed. With that level of dedication, no wonder he always came out on top in exams.

Seeing how hard a genius like him worked, how could someone like him, a mediocre student, have any reason not to work harder? A sense of urgency rose in Xie Ruan. Without another word to Bo Jin, he opened “Prelude to Snow” and focused on memorizing it.

Bo Jin looked away from him and glanced down at the Chinese textbook on his desk. After a long moment, he smirked. Who in their right mind would bother to memorize page numbers just for review?

Since awakening his self-awareness and breaking free from his original character, Xie Ruan felt as if his mind had cleared.

For example, he’d never studied these classical texts before, yet after seriously reading them a few times, he found he could remember most of the lines.

This discovery boosted Xie Ruan’s confidence, and he focused even more, managing to memorize two poems during the morning study period. By the time class ended, he was filled with a sense of accomplishment, walking to the restroom with a proud stride.

As soon as he left, Sun Haoxiang immediately rushed over. “Spill it—what’s going on with you two?”

“What’s going on with what?” Bo Jin opened his bottle of water, his face calm and unbothered.

For once, Sun Haoxiang didn’t fall for it. “Don’t act clueless! Would you just let anyone sit next to you? We’ll find out sooner or later, so you might as well come clean.”

Bo Jin took a sip and chuckled. “Your advice doesn’t matter. Step aside.”

Sun Haoxiang: “You!”

Sun Haoxiang, at a loss for words, turned to enlist help. “Old He!”

He Mingjie was a bit sharper, going straight to the point. “So why did you let Xie Ruan sit next to you?”

Bo Jin glanced at him. “It’s my duty as class leader to look after new students.”

He Mingjie: “???”

If he dared, he’d have grabbed Bo Jin by the collar and demanded he look him in the eye. Since when did Bo Jin have anything to do with the class president’s responsibilities? It was always Pan Yu who managed everything in class—what did Bo Jin, in name only, even do?

The others were desperate to know the truth, but it was useless; when Bo Jin didn’t want to talk, nothing they said would make a difference.

In a flash of inspiration, Sun Haoxiang raised his voice and asked Pan Yu, “Hey Old Pan, didn’t Xie Ruan chase after Shen Xingyun for a while?” As he spoke, he subtly glanced at Bo Jin out of the corner of his eye.

However, Bo Jin remained unfazed, not even changing his expression, which made Sun Haoxiang grit his teeth in frustration.

Pan Yu continued writing without even looking up, his voice coming from behind his book, “One year. He started pursuing him on the second day of the first year.”

Sun Haoxiang: “…”

No need to be so specific! This “encyclopedia” reputation of Pan Yu’s was well-deserved!

He Mingjie had only known the basics about the situation between Xie Ruan and Shen Xingyun. Hearing this, his focus shifted immediately. “Wait, is Shen Xingyun blind? Someone like Xie Ruan and he’s not interested?”

Sun Haoxiang speculated, “Maybe he just doesn’t like guys.”

“What’s wrong with guys?” He Mingjie propped his chin on one hand, chuckling, “Look at Xie Ruan’s face, his legs, his waist… he’s a catch no matter the gender.”

Bo Jin frowned, casting a sideways glance at him.

Xie Ruan was attractive, but imagining him like that was going a bit far.

But He Mingjie, caught up in his thoughts, didn’t notice and kept talking, “I mean, I don’t like guys either, but if it were Xie Ruan…”

Before he could finish, his arm was suddenly yanked, slamming his forehead onto the desk with a sharp thud. Pain made him yelp, almost jumping up. “Brother Bo, what the heck are you doing?!”

Bo Jin nonchalantly withdrew his hand. “Does it hurt?”

“No kidding!” He Mingjie looked at Bo Jin with teary eyes, clutching his forehead and whining, “It hurts like h*ll!”

“Good,” Bo Jin replied.

He Mingjie: “???”

Bo Jin smiled. “Pain helps you remember.”