Shoutout to Kari for the commission!
A light drizzle fell. Under the curtain of rain, Le Cheng held a transparent umbrella, peeking into the building.
He had a clean, delicate face, dressed in a pale yellow hoodie and washed-blue jeans, like a refreshing orange jelly in the dreary weather.
“Le Cheng.” The class bell rang, students passed by, some smiling at him: “Waiting for your boyfriend?”
Le Cheng pressed his lips into a smile: “Mm.”
“Why not wait inside?”
“…I’ll just wait here.” He nervously fiddled with the metal umbrella handle, lowering his head to check his white canvas shoes.
Rain mixed with dust stained the sides with black spots. Le Cheng frowned in distress, wondering if they could still be scrubbed clean.
He had really gone all out just to “act dramatic”…
Yes, dramatic.
That way, later he could righteously complain to Zhou Shirui: “I waited for you so long in the rain, my shoes are soaked, why didn’t you come out earlier? You don’t care about me at all!!”
No one in the world nitpicks their boyfriend for no reason, except Le Cheng.
Because Le Cheng is a transmigrator.
This was originally a “level-up” male-lead novel, telling the story of Zhou Shirui, who relied on his extraordinary computer talent and high IQ to climb step by step to the peak, becoming a legend in the gaming world.
And by trope logic, the male lead’s rise must be hindered by cannon fodder.
Unfortunately, Le Cheng had become that cannon fodder.
The original character fell in love at first sight with Zhou Shirui, but since main character Zhou was a die-hard straight man, persistence was useless. At a party, the original schemed to make the main male character lose a game, forcing him to honor a bet and “try dating.”
The male protagonist kept his promise and got together with the original owner, but unfortunately, he was extremely straight and refused any intimate contact. The original owner then revealed his difficult and spoiled side, bringing up all kinds of unreasonable demands, throwing tantrums and giving him attitude on a daily basis. The male protagonist also refused to indulge him. Finally, when the original owner suggested that they move in together, the straight male protagonist could no longer tolerate it, coldly proposed breaking up, and agreed to compensate the original owner with a breakup fee.
Things should have ended there, but during their relationship, the original owner had secretly stolen the male protagonist’s latest game concept. After the breakup, he secretly sold it to someone else, causing enormous losses to the male protagonist and the friends behind him.
The original owner was subsequently retaliated against by the male protagonist, and in the end, he was disgraced and sent to prison.
When Le Cheng transmigrated over, it was precisely the first day that Zhou Shirui had agreed to date the original owner.
After checking the phone, he discovered that the original owner spent money extravagantly. Although his monthly living expenses were 1,800 yuan, more than 1,000 yuan had to be paid toward his Huabei bill every month, not to mention several other debts that were about to become overdue.
And the original owner’s family was only average. Giving him 1,800 yuan a month was already the maximum amount his parents could save up.
Question: With such a disastrous start, how can one save oneself?
Le Cheng’s answer: Follow the plot and break up quickly.
The original owner had already offended the male protagonist. Le Cheng decided to follow the plot, maintain a high level of being difficult and spoiled, and annoy the male protagonist until, according to the plot, he took the initiative to break up with him. This would not only perfectly resolve the tragic ending, but also allow him to receive a breakup fee.
Le Cheng remembered that in the novel, the male protagonist gave the original owner 200,000 yuan when they broke up.
Le Cheng took a deep breath. Although in the world of novels, where inflation was widespread, the value of 200,000 yuan had already infinitely approached ten yuan, and authors would never mention numbers below ten million, for him right now, he really needed that 200,000 yuan.
Le Cheng lowered his eyelashes. Although he always liked to talk big while reading novels, saying things like “I’d do it myself if I were there,” now that he had actually fallen into this situation, taking the 200,000 yuan for no reason really made him feel a little guilty…
Once he had paid off his debts, he would make money and find an opportunity to return it to the male protagonist.
After Le Cheng had figured everything out, he took an umbrella and went to meet Zhou Shirui.
Zhou Shirui was in the Computer Science department, while the original owner was in the Arts department, and coincidentally, Le Cheng had no classes that morning.
With many people coming and going, Le Cheng moved to the side and calculated in his mind how he should start once he saw him.
Being difficult and spoiled was hard. Before transmigrating into the book, he had never been in a relationship either, and now he was racking his brains just to come up with such an unreasonable excuse.
Once he saw Zhou Shirui, he would immediately…
“Pada.”
It was the sound of water splashing.
Le Cheng shifted his gaze and saw a strikingly handsome man standing in front of the gray teaching building.
Zhou Shirui. Le Cheng immediately realized.
Zhou Shirui held a dark navy-blue umbrella and was dressed entirely in black. He held the umbrella handle in his hand, his fingers long and clearly defined. He was very tall, and his black casual trousers accentuated his exceptionally long legs.
Zhou Shirui took a few steps and arrived in front of him. Le Cheng realized that he was considerably taller than himself, so he had to look up. A pair of half-rimmed glasses rested on his tall, straight nose. His lips were a light color, and the lines of his jaw were handsome and clearly defined.
“…Oh, um, that, I came to find you to go eat…” Le Cheng stammered a little. Everything he had rehearsed earlier suddenly felt unfamiliar, and he blinked somewhat unnaturally.
His eyelashes were long, and when he blinked, they looked like two little brushes.
Zhou Shirui merely lowered his eyes when he heard this, his expression unchanged. “Let’s go.”
Le Cheng was neither socially anxious nor overly outgoing, but somewhere in between. However, he was thin-skinned, and he felt somewhat intimidated when facing unfamiliar people with a cold aura.
After Zhou Shirui finished speaking, he waited for a few seconds, then walked ahead without bothering with him. Le Cheng steadied himself and hurried after him.
Zhou Shirui was tall with long legs, and he walked quickly as well. When Le Cheng caught up, he did not pay attention to the distance, and his transparent umbrella lightly bumped against Zhou Shirui’s dark navy umbrella. Only then did Zhou Shirui turn his face and succinctly say, “Watch where you’re going.”
…So cold.
And he barely spoke either… Le Cheng secretly glanced at Zhou Shirui while holding his umbrella. He could not remember whether Zhou Shirui had been this cold in the novel. After all, he had not read this novel carefully, merely using it to pass the time. Still, with such a cold straight-man character setting, no wonder he had been assigned to a no-CP story…
“Le Cheng.” Zhou Shirui suddenly turned his head to look at him.
“Huh?” Le Cheng had been lost in thought or more accurately, secretly badmouthing him. Hearing this, he froze for two seconds before saying somewhat awkwardly, “W-what’s wrong?”
Zhou Shirui asked, “Is the cafeteria okay?”
“The cafeteria?” Le Cheng nodded. “Sure.”
Zhou Shirui hummed and withdrew his gaze.
Walking one in front of the other with Zhou Shirui, they passed pedestrians who greeted them. University campuses were relatively open, and the original owner had deliberately made their relationship public, so naturally quite a few people knew them.
Le Cheng nodded as he walked, while feeling extremely anxious inside, even somewhat wanting to bite his nails.
They were about to reach the cafeteria… What about his plan!
What about his drama queen plan!
…How could his grand plan be abandoned halfway!
No.
He absolutely had to act difficult. He had invested in this, after all. If he did not act difficult, then would the little white shoes he had deliberately dug out from his shoebox have sacrificed themselves for nothing?
Le Cheng took a deep breath and spent a moment mentally preparing himself. He bravely stepped forward and was just about to speak: “I…”
“Brother Rui.” A male student walked toward them, his voice loud and clear. “Going to eat?”
Le Cheng was interrupted with a “smack,” and the breath he had just gathered got stuck halfway in his throat.
“Mm.” Zhou Shirui nodded, not paying attention to him. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to play basketball. Are you coming later?”
“Mm.” Zhou Shirui did not think much about it. “I’ll go.”
“Okay.” The male student nodded. “See you later, then.”
The male student gradually walked away. Le Cheng’s lips drooped, and he cleared his throat, preparing to rally himself once again.
He took a deep breath and bravely opened his mouth again: “Actu…!”
“Ah, Brother Rui.” The equally loud voice made Le Cheng shudder. He instinctively looked up.
“Brother Rui, going to eat? What a coincidence, I’m going to eat too.” The male student looked friendly.
Le Cheng: “…”
His fists were clenched.
Zhou Shirui tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Get lost. All you do is say pointless things.”
“How are they pointless?” The male student smiled. “But the homework I did last night had another problem, and I can’t figure out where it went wrong. Can you take a look at it for me later?”
“Sure.” Zhou Shirui agreed.
“Okay, then I won’t bother you, Brother Rui.” The male student smiled at Le Cheng, turned around, and left.
Finally, it was quiet. Le Cheng rubbed his cheek with one hand, his lips moving slightly as he waited for his courage to fully recharge. Suddenly, a suspicious sound came from behind him, making him instantly alert. In his haste, his eyes widened like a rabbit, and he shouted loudly, “Wait a minute—!”
The sound was just as loud as that of the male student earlier.
Even Zhou Shirui turned his face toward him. If it weren’t raining, the passersby nearby probably would have been able to hear him too. Le Cheng’s courage quickly drained away, and the roots of his ears turned faintly red from embarrassment.
“It’s, it’s just that… I waited for you for quite a while just now…” The more he spoke, the quieter his voice became. His eyelashes drooped, and he even began to feel somewhat guilty. “My, my shoes… seem, seem to have gotten a little dirty…”
…I’m done… Why did I become so civilized…
Le Cheng closed his eyes in despair. The downside of being thin-skinned was revealed completely at this moment.
He simply couldn’t say anything excessive to someone he wasn’t familiar with—
“Dirty?” Zhou Shirui lowered his eyes, his voice somewhat low. “Let me see.”
“Huh?” Le Cheng was a little dazed.
Zhou Shirui lowered his head on his own. “They are a little dirty.”
“I have a special cleaning agent. Come get it after we eat.” Zhou Shirui looked into his eyes. Through the lenses of his glasses, his gaze seemed somewhat cold.
After pausing for two seconds, he spoke again. “You don’t need to come find me early in the future.”
Le Cheng: “Huh? Oh… okay.”
After agreeing in a daze, Le Cheng finally realized what he had said.
He hurriedly tried to make up for it. “But I just want to come find you.”
Zhou Shirui lowered his eyes and glanced at him. After a brief pause, he simply said, “Up to you.”
With that, he turned his head away.
Le Cheng gripped the umbrella handle and suddenly became anxious.
No, how could this be? He hadn’t acted difficult at all.
Although he was embarrassed, if he didn’t act difficult, there was no way to break up.
Thinking of this, Le Cheng instantly perked up and continued according to the script from earlier. “So, can you come out earlier next time?”
Zhou Shirui responded very indifferently with an “Mm.” “I’ll try my best.”
He was still being too polite. Le Cheng gave a light cough, his tone becoming even more forceful. “No, you have to come out earlier.”
Zhou Shirui stopped and lowered his eyes to look at him, his eyes as black as ink. “Why?”
“It’s just…” The sudden eye contact made Le Cheng’s eyes widen slightly. His eyelashes trembled, and he turned his head away, saying softly, “I, I want to see you earlier. Is that not okay?”
