After Being Transformed Into Cannon Fodder For Death, The Heartthrob Chapter 4
byYe Qingyun flipped through a few more pages in surprise, finding that the key points in the subsequent content were also highlighted.
No way, did Gu Shenyuan actually read it seriously?
Read this obscure, difficult-to-understand book that almost no one reads except for him?
A surge of delight welled up from the bottom of his heart, and Ye Qingyun almost couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
He turned his back to Gu Shenyuan, rustling the pages, pretending to be very angry, and trying hard to adjust his expression which was quickly getting out of control.
After flipping through the entire book, Ye Qingyun turned back and said fiercely, “You think drawing a few lines means you understand it?”
Gu Shenyuan remained silent, his pair of dark eyes watching Ye Qingyun without fluctuation.
Ye Qingyun opened the book to a marked section, placed it right under Gu Shenyuan’s nose, and demanded aggressively, “Do you know what this means, huh?”
Gu Shenyuan lowered his gaze to the text, his long lashes half-covering his eyes, and said faintly, “I know a little.”
Know a little? This book was not some interesting introductory reading; understanding even a little meant he hadn’t just read it, but had taken the effort to study it!
Ye Qingyun was extremely happy. He had been a lonely researcher for years, with no one to discuss his work with. Now that such a person had suddenly appeared, Ye Qingyun practically wanted to pull Gu Shenyuan into a three-day, three-night conversation.
However, due to the constraints of his character setting, this idea could only be pursued indirectly.
“You think I’ll believe that?” Ye Qingyun casually tossed the book onto the desk, his face showing the annoyance of being offended. “My book is something someone like you could understand?”
Gu Shenyuan looked at the somewhat messy pages of the book that had been thrown, and his brow finally furrowed slightly.
Ye Qingyun put his hands in his pockets and turned away disdainfully: “I will give you an exam. If you pass, I will admit that you understood it. But… I think you’re just the type to score zero.”
After his taunt, Ye Qingyun didn’t look back at Gu Shenyuan’s expression, but strode directly out, fully demonstrating his unwillingness to stay in the same room as Gu Shenyuan.
The door was slammed shut. Gu Shenyuan slowly withdrew his gaze from the doorway, silently picked up the book Ye Qingyun had thrown onto the desk, smoothed out the wrinkled pages, and placed it back on top of the stack of books.
Ye Qingyun hadn’t walked far when he saw Pu Tian leaning against the wall nearby, smoking.
Ye Qingyun wasn’t too surprised. This scene was in the original novel: the Scum Gong was worried that the Cannon Fodder Shou would fall for the handsome Protagonist, so he deliberately hid outside to eavesdrop.
Hearing the Cannon Fodder Shou’s hostile attitude towards the Protagonist, the Scum Gong was actually satisfied. The Protagonist wouldn’t possibly fancy the Cannon Fodder Shou, and the Cannon Fodder Shou disliked the Protagonist, only coming to explain things because of his orders. This allowed him to completely relax.
Ye Qingyun recalled the few sentences he had just exchanged with Gu Shenyuan. Although the lines were different from the original script, they still conveyed his jealousy towards Gu Shenyuan, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
Ye Qingyun pretended to be startled and said nervously, “Pu, Pu Tian? Why are you here?”
Pu Tian scrutinized Ye Qingyun, his expression subtle: “Didn’t I tell you to put in a good word for me? What exactly did you say?”
Ye Qingyun froze, remembering that he had been too excited just now and indeed hadn’t put in a good word for Pu Tian. But in the original novel, during the Cannon Fodder Shou’s first meeting with the Protagonist, the Cannon Fodder Shou, blinded by jealousy, also forgot to speak well of him. Why didn’t the original Pu Tian blame the Cannon Fodder Shou, yet the real-life Pu Tian reacted to this?
Puzzled, Ye Qingyun lowered his head and said in a wronged tone, “I’m sorry… I forgot this time. I’ll definitely do it next time.”
As soon as Ye Qingyun finished speaking, he heard Pu Tian take a frustrated drag on his cigarette and walk over.
Ye Qingyun quickly frowned, wondering what Pu Tian was planning.
Did the Pu Tian of this world particularly like Gu Shenyuan, making him unable to tolerate this mistake?
A weight settled on his shoulder as a hand rested there.
“Don’t make any expressions. Lift your head,” Pu Tian instructed.
Ye Qingyun was confused, but lifted his head to look at Pu Tian with a blank expression.
Pu Tian still wore the standard Scum Gong face, looking dashing and frivolous. He looked at Ye Qingyun and said in a seductive voice, “Keep this expression, and use the same tone you used when talking to Gu Shenyuan just now, and say one sentence to me. Just say…” Pu Tian thought for a moment, his eyes lighting up with excitement, “Just tell me—’Just based on you?'”
Ye Qingyun: “…”
Thinking of Pu Tian’s strange fetish for being rejected, Ye Qingyun immediately adopted a tearful expression, his voice trembling: “Of course I’m not worthy of you. I, I will also work hard to make myself better, so can you please give me a chance and be with me?”
Goosebumps visibly rose on Pu Tian’s arm. He threatened, “If you want to be with me, do as I say.”
Ye Qingyun: “?”
Big Brother, why aren’t you following the script either?
Was his script the only one that was still online in this story?
Ye Qingyun felt like spitting blood. He struggled to salvage the plot, saying tearfully, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you tormenting me like this? I can’t do it, I can’t say such rude things to you!”
Disgusted by this display, Pu Tian immediately let go of him, looking at Ye Qingyun as if he were a piece of fine jade ruined by a mediocre craftsman—the more he looked, the angrier he got.
Pu Tian stubbed out his cigarette, unwilling to speak further with the useless Ye Qingyun, and stormed off angrily. Ye Qingyun stood in place, pretending to be a sorrowful little white flower for a moment, then followed him out.
Ye Qingyun hadn’t walked far before he ran into the burly man who had brought him over. The strong man carried Ye Qingyun’s luggage and led him to a room.
This room was noticeably smaller and the environment more ordinary than Gu Shenyuan’s.
“This is where you will rest,” the big man said, pulling out a ship guide and a nutrient solution for Ye Qingyun. “Dinner time has passed, so you can only have this for now.”
Ye Qingyun thanked him, casually opened the guide, and looked at the map inside, which marked the places he was allowed to go.
Ye Qingyun memorized the map, then noticed that the area where Gu Shenyuan lived was marked with a red [No Unauthorized Entry], while his own area was marked with [Free Entry].
Ye Qingyun: “…”
“Originally, you were supposed to stay in that area too,” the big man looked at Ye Qingyun, then nervously at the floor. “But when I went up to drop off the luggage, I ran into the Boss. He seemed unhappy, so he told me to bring you here.”
Ye Qingyun: “…”
Ye Qingyun said with a gentle expression, “It’s alright. I’m already satisfied that he agreed to let me board the ship. It doesn’t matter where I sleep.”
The big man looked shocked and left, turning back to look at Ye Qingyun three times.
The lovesick Ye Qingyun closed the door, and the expression of admiration and tenderness instantly vanished from his face.
The System sighed: [If Pu Tian saw your expression right now, Host, he would absolutely love it.]
Ye Qingyun didn’t care for Pu Tian’s affection. He quickly drank the nutrient solution, opened his suitcase, and took out paper, a pen, and a few books.
Although Ye Qingyun had been verbally difficult with the Protagonist Gu Shenyuan, he actually wanted to explain things properly, so he needed to gauge Gu Shenyuan’s current level of understanding of the book.
The scratching sound of writing filled the air. Time passed quickly, and soon it was late at night.
Ye Qingyun had replaced the Cannon Fodder Shou, and the things the Cannon Fodder Shou was supposed to do were now done by him personally. This included the published books, which he had researched and written himself. Therefore, he was completely familiar with the content and could accurately set questions of various difficulty levels.
After finishing the exam paper, Ye Qingyun washed up and lay down on the bed.
Only then did Ye Qingyun recall the plot deviation that had occurred for some unknown reason.
Gu Shenyuan was far too polite to him. Although he was generally cold, Ye Qingyun, who had read the entire original novel, knew that Gu Shenyuan being willing to look back at him was already considered quite high treatment.
[System, does it matter if the plot is skewed?] Ye Qingyun asked.
[Huh? What?] The System reacted. [Oh, it doesn’t matter. Who needs plot in a melodramatic romance novel.]
Ye Qingyun: […] That’s too casual!
[Character relationships are the core of melodramatic romance novels,] the System said. [In other words, you just need to maintain your relationship as the Scum Gong’s pursuer and your hostile relationship with the Protagonist until you die. That’s all you need to do.]
The System paused, then, perhaps having thought of something, spoke again: [Although the Protagonist is very good-looking and makes you happy, you can’t be friends with him, okay.]
[Don’t worry, given my attitude when we met,] Ye Qingyun was self-aware, [he’d have to be crazy to become friends with me.]
System: […That makes sense.]
Ye Qingyun yawned. It was too late now, and he quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, Ye Qingyun took the exam paper and left the room.
Although he was severely sleep-deprived, he was so excited about the upcoming meeting that his drowsiness was cancelled out.
The content of his book was purely theoretical and differed from current scientific theories. Most people couldn’t understand what he was writing at all, and the few who could understand some parts scoffed at his theories, calling them nonsense.
Therefore, having someone who could understand some of it and seemed quite appreciative of his theory made Ye Qingyun practically want to immediately treat the person like a brother.
Unfortunately, limited by the restrictions of his trashy character setting, Ye Qingyun could only hide this goodwill and express it in another way.
For example, by giving Gu Shenyuan exams every day.
[You’re calling him a little slut with your mouth, but calling him a little darling in your heart,] the System said faintly.
Ye Qingyun: […Watch your language, little System.]
As they spoke, Ye Qingyun had already arrived at Gu Shenyuan’s room door based on his memory.
Ye Qingyun put on a face of impatience and disgust, raised his hand, and knocked on the door.
It was quite early, and Ye Qingyun was mentally prepared to wait for a long time at the door if Gu Shenyuan hadn’t woken up. However, after only two knocks, the door in front of him opened.
The speed was so fast it was as if the person inside had been waiting for him all along.
Ye Qingyun looked at the door-opening Gu Shenyuan in surprise. Gu Shenyuan was still expressionless, his clothes neatly worn, and his hair not a strand out of place. He didn’t look like someone who had just woken up. The bed behind him was also perfectly made, making it impossible to tell that anyone had slept on it.
Gu Shenyuan stepped aside to let Ye Qingyun enter. Ye Qingyun adjusted his expression, swaggered in, and slammed the exam paper onto the desk.
“I brought the exam paper. Hmph, I’d like to see what score you can get!” Ye Qingyun said sarcastically.
Gu Shenyuan didn’t speak. He closed the door and sat down at the table.
“Heh, no way, are you thinking of flipping through the book?” Ye Qingyun further intensified his sarcasm.
Gu Shenyuan silently picked up the exam paper.
Ye Qingyun leaned against the table, applying pressure like a supervising teacher: “I’ll stand right here and watch you write. I won’t leave until you finish. Don’t think about trying any little tricks to cheat!”
Hearing this, Gu Shenyuan looked up at him.
Ye Qingyun was startled, pretending to calmly meet Gu Shenyuan’s gaze.
Is he… angry?
Gu Shenyuan was always very cold, rarely speaking or moving, but this didn’t mean he was weak.
On the contrary, Gu Shenyuan’s strength was immense, which was why Pu Tian hadn’t dared to use force and hadn’t been able to touch a single hair on Gu Shenyuan’s head until now.
Ye Qingyun had no doubt that Gu Shenyuan was capable of forcibly blasting him out and perhaps throwing in a broken bone package for good measure.
However, Gu Shenyuan looked at the standing Ye Qingyun, showed no anger, but instead lowered his head, dragged another chair out from under the table, and pushed it towards him.