The Infatuated Cannon Fodder Quits Chapter 88

The crowd at the school gate gradually dispersed, some heading home, others going to eat.

Father Shen stood rooted in place, feeling the stares of the passing students. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head, chilling him so much his teeth began to chatter.

He knew his chances of getting Bo Jin’s help were slim. Why would a foster son, with whom he hadn’t been in contact for twenty years and had once mistreated, go out of his way to help him?

But he had no choice. At this point, all other paths for the Shen family were blocked. This was his last desperate grasp at any remaining lifeline.

The sun hung high overhead, and a spring breeze, damp with moisture, brushed his cheeks, but it couldn’t dispel the chill within him. He thought he had taken precautions; there was no evidence from back then, and Bo Jin had been so young. With careful planning, he believed his scheme could still work.

But…

Father Shen wiped his face, Bo Jin’s words echoing over and over in his ears.

“I have hyperthymesia.”

Hyperthymesia. No wonder he was able to balance academics and building his career. Father Shen forced a smile, trying to maintain some last shred of dignity, but his face was pale with despair.

How could this be?

Such a rare condition—there are only a handful of cases in the world—and yet Bo Jin was the one afflicted?

Father Shen’s hands began to tremble uncontrollably, shaking more and more violently.

“Old Shen, what’s wrong with you?” Mother Shen, alarmed, paid no mind to Bo Jin walking further away. She quickly supported her husband, who seemed on the verge of collapse. “Are you feeling unwell? I’ll take you to the hospital.”

She pulled out a handkerchief, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, complaining, “Just look at you… What did that kid say to you? Did he insult you? I told you he’s heartless; it’s a good thing we didn’t continue raising him…”

Mother Shen continued her tirade, but Father Shen no longer had the strength to stop her. He stood motionless, staring blankly ahead, his whole being appearing soulless, like an empty shell.

“Old Shen, what’s gotten into you?” Mother Shen finally sensed that something was truly wrong.

For some reason, a wave of panic seized her. She clutched her husband’s wrist tightly, hoping to draw some strength from him.

“Say something.”

Perhaps it was the sharpness of her voice, or the pain in his wrist that brought him back. Father Shen finally turned his head, looking at his wife up close, his lips trembling as he called her name, “Yalan…”

In over twenty years of marriage, not even during the early days when they were buried in debt had Mother Shen seen her husband like this.

Pain, despair—as if he’d fallen into quicksand, struggling but unable to climb out, helplessly watching himself sink deeper, about to be swallowed by the mire.

Mother Shen’s eyes reddened without her realizing it, and she squeezed his hand. “Old Shen…”

“He said he has hyperthymesia.” Father Shen’s face held an expression caught between laughter and tears. “Yalan, he has hyperthymesia.”

“Hyperthymesia?” Unlike Father Shen, who had encountered many things, Mother Shen didn’t know the term. She glanced at him in confusion, then sharply asked, “So what if he has it? He can’t charge us that much because of a condition. That project is just right for us…”

“He remembers everything.” Father Shen interrupted her.

“What?” Mother Shen didn’t understand.

Father Shen closed his eyes. “We…” He paused, struggling to continue. “He remembers everything about how we mistreated him.”

Mother Shen froze as if she’d been struck over the head, her whole body going rigid. Her vision went dark, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

“Karma,” Father Shen muttered to the empty air, ignoring his wife’s reaction. “This is all karma.”

Bo Jin had dropped a bomb on Father Shen and left, entirely unaware of the couple’s breakdown, and even if he knew, he wouldn’t care. Only a fool would repay cruelty with kindness; reconciliation with the Shens was impossible.

That afternoon, he happily went back to the classroom after finally treating Xie Ruan to pumpkin porridge.

Plenty of people had witnessed the scene at the school gate, and news quickly spread on the forums. Never underestimate the gossip energy of high schoolers—even with just bits and pieces overheard, they managed to piece together most of the story.

One particularly creative student even started a summary thread, providing curious readers with a detailed rundown of the whole saga.

In this student’s narrative, Bo Jin was the pitiable underdog who had endured mistreatment and struggled to escape, while the Shen couple were painted as cruel villains who would stop at nothing.

It was still early in the school year, and students hadn’t fully shifted out of their carefree summer mode. Now, with this juicy gossip, they couldn’t get enough of the forums.

Before long, the tale of Bo Jin’s tangled past with the Shen family had spread like wildfire throughout the school.

What kind of people would be so cruel to a child? The Shen family’s reputation collapsed overnight, and whispers even started circulating online.

Father Shen had some friends who had been running around trying to help the Shen family, but as soon as this matter was exposed, those few friends scattered to the winds.

The final straw fell, and the Shen family, which had stood tall in the City for decades, collapsed in an instant.

At the start of May, before the second monthly exam, the news of the Shen family going bankrupt and selling off assets to cover debts hit all the major media headlines.

Shen Xingyun never returned to school. Some said he was too embarrassed to come back and had simply dropped out, while others said he had gone abroad. No one knew the truth.

“What a shame. I did like Shen Xingyun’s looks.”

“Eh, he’s not that great. His temper is terrible, honestly the kind of guy who would be abusive in marriage.”

“Oh, come on, you’re reaching with that one! Haha.”

“Right, right. Even if you wanted to marry him, who says he’d want to marry you?”

“Oh please, who’d want to marry him? Just his father and mother… It was just about admiring that face.”

After PE class ended, Xie Ruan went to the store to buy a popsicle. The weather was getting hotter, and he had just finished a volleyball game, sweating and in need of something to cool down.

Just as he stepped out of the store, he overheard a few girls gossiping about Shen Xingyun.

He paused, popsicle in hand. He hadn’t thought about that person in a long time. The things he’d suffered because of Shen Xingyun in his last life were already fading away, replaced by new people and a new life.

After gaining some perspective, he hadn’t planned on seeking revenge on Shen Xingyun. The future tragedies hadn’t happened in this lifetime. He just wanted to live his own life, far away from it all. He never expected Shen Xingyun to end up like this.

Xie Ruan took a bite of the sweet, icy popsicle. All he could say was that karma works in mysterious ways; justice prevails in the end.

He sighed, erased Shen Xingyun’s name from his mind, and was about to take out his phone to text Bo Jin, to ask if he had finished volleyball, when someone bumped into his shoulder.

“Oh, sorry, sorry!” A fair-skinned boy with delicate features stopped and kept apologizing, clutching a basketball in his arms. “Didn’t hurt you, did I?”

He scratched his head, looking embarrassed. “I was too busy looking for my friend and didn’t see you.”

Xie Ruan looked at his face, momentarily stunned, then casually waved his hand. “It’s fine.”

The boy smiled at him and ran off, holding the basketball.

Watching him leave, Xie Ruan hadn’t expected to meet the original protagonist in person here. Because he hadn’t followed the set plotline, the entire story had gone off track.

Shen Xingyun hadn’t met his intended love interest, and no sparks flew between them.

Tsk. Xie Ruan squinted slightly. Who wouldn’t praise him for single-handedly derailing an entire story?

“What are you thinking about?” A sudden slap on the back snapped him out of his thoughts. Sun Haoxiang approached, grabbing the plastic bag from him and taking a popsicle. “I saw you spacing out from far away.”

Xie Ruan tossed the wrapper into the trash. “Just marveling at how awesome I am.”

“Ew.” Sun Haoxiang immediately distanced himself by two meters, looking disgusted. “You reek.”

“What smell?” Xie Ruan didn’t understand, sniffing his shirt collar. He didn’t smell anything. Sure, he’d sweat a lot while playing volleyball, but it couldn’t be that bad, right?

Sun Haoxiang grinned. “The scent of ‘Bo-dog.’”

Xie Ruan froze, his ears reddening, and kicked him. “Get lost!”

It wasn’t his fault for kicking his friend; that was just too inappropriate. A comment like that was unsuitable for such an upstanding young socialist.

Sun Haoxiang, oblivious to the small details, didn’t notice his blunder. He kept walking, munching on his popsicle. “Brother Bo and the others are in the grove; they sent me to fetch you.”

“Couldn’t they just text me?” Xie Ruan asked, perplexed.

“Nope.” Sun Haoxiang shook water droplets off his hands and draped an arm around Xie Ruan’s shoulder. “I was already on my way to do laundry, so I thought I’d grab you while I was at it.”

Of course.

Xie Ruan nodded, following Sun Haoxiang into the grove.

On a bench in the grove, Bo Jin and Pan Yu were watching He Mingjie throw a fit with expressionless faces.

“D*mn it! Today I’ll figure out who that pretty boy she was talking to is! Standing so close—he must be up to no good.”

Pan Yu adjusted his glasses. “Calm down, Old He. Relax.”

He Mingjie had recently started talking to a girl, and they were in a bit of a flirting phase. He was so jealous that he watched everyone like a hawk, even more protective than a mother hen.

“Is it me being unreasonable?” He Mingjie glared at him. “Or is it him being untrustworthy? He was this close to putting an arm around her shoulders. How could anyone stand for that?”

He suddenly turned to Bo Jin. “Brother Bo, could you stand for it?”

Bo Jin lifted his eyes and gave him a cool, mature look. “Why not? It’s just normal interaction between classmates. What are you, a vinegar seller? So sour.”

He Mingjie: “???”

He’d expected Bo Jin, as the only one with a partner among them, to understand his feelings. Instead, he got metaphorically stabbed. Not having it, he asked, “Oh really? If someone was putting their arm around Xie Ruan’s shoulders, you wouldn’t care?”

“Me? No,” Bo Jin leaned back, looking relaxed. “Why would I? All this jealousy is so childish. If you like someone, you give them space. Just putting an arm around someone isn’t…”

Bo Jin’s voice trailed off.

He stared intently at Xie Ruan and Sun Haoxiang walking over with their arms around each other, his expression slowly fading.

The worst thing is when the air suddenly turns silent, and a friend’s stare comes out of nowhere.

Sun Haoxiang felt his hair practically stand on end. “Wh-what’s wrong?”

What’s wrong, huh? Bo Jin sneered, stepped forward, and grabbed Sun Haoxiang’s wrist. “What, still haven’t learned to walk independently at your age?”

With that, he unceremoniously shook off that bothersome “paw” and wrapped his own arm around Xie Ruan.

Pan Yu: “???”

He Mingjie: “???”

Wasn’t he supposed to give them space and model a mature, healthy view on relationships?

Hypocrite! To h*ll with it!