The night market was bustling and lively, with swarms of people continually flooding in. As foot traffic surged, Yang Le’an found himself swamped with tasks, completely unable to keep up on his own.
Fortunately, as a favored child of fortune, he excelled at staying focused and efficient in everything he did. Yang Le’an’s deep eyes sparkled as if holding a night sky of stars. Beads of sweat streamed down his cheeks, exposing the graceful, toned contours of his forearms.
Qi Ningze handed over a tissue, whispering softly, “Wipe off your sweat; you’ve worked so hard.”
He stepped beside Yang Le’an to help hand him supplies and assist with tasks, easing the burden on Yang Le’an’s shoulders.
Yang Le’an truly has it tough, Qi Ningze thought. As a high school student, he not only faces heavy homework loads every day but also has to work part-time to support his household.
With his help, Yang Le’an would likely have an easier time than buried in work all by himself.
A young girl standing nearby caught sight of this scene, her eyes lighting up. She leaned in closer and asked in a low voice, “What’s your relationship? You two look so compatible together!”
She had observed everything: the moment the fair-skinned guy arrived, his gaze immediately sought out Yang Le’an and remained glued to him the entire time. Seeing Yang Le’an sweating from exhaustion, he handed over a tissue right away.
If this wasn’t true love, what else could it be? She was absolutely swooning!
Two cute boys together was simply the coolest thing ever. If there wasn’t something going on between them, she’d die right on the spot!
Yang Le’an’s hand grilling the skewers hesitated for a beat. He had long known that Qi Ningze had a crush on him, but he was unwilling to publicly acknowledge this relationship in broad daylight.
Qi Ningze hurriedly waved his hands, letting out an embarrassed laugh as he muttered softly, “We aren’t in that kind of relationship; please don’t misunderstand.”
The protagonist shou was meant to end up with the protagonist gong in the future how could he get entangled with a minor cannon fodder like himself?
The girl let out a disappointed sigh, then opened her round eyes to curiously observe Qi Ningze.
Clearing her throat, she asked, “Handsome, I’ve never seen you around before! Are you new here? Your skin is so fair, and I really like you, you give off such a comforting vibe.”
Qi Ningze ducked his head bashfully. Being praised so straightforwardly by a girl for the first time in his life made his mind buzz and his cheeks burn hot.
Stammering, he couldn’t form a complete sentence: “No… it’s probably just… your illusion. Thank you… for liking me.”
Yang Le’an’s hands stiffened. A flash of annoyance surfaced on his handsome face, his chest feeling heavy and suffocused, as if weighed down by a boulder.
He called out in reminder, “Qi Ningze, hand me the pepper powder next to you.”
Jolted back to reality, Qi Ningze flusteredly handed over the pepper shaker. When he looked up at Yang Le’an, Yang Le’an could clearly see the lingering rosy blush resting on Qi Ningze’s fair, jade-like cheeks.
A sensation he had never experienced before welled up inside Yang Le’an. Gritting his teeth, he warned, “Focus on your work; don’t get distracted.”
This interaction was caught clearly by the girl. Rolling her eyes, she vented internally in disgust.
What kind of scum is he? If he doesn’t like the cute guy, why keep him on the hook and even forbid him from talking to others?
Hehehe, so the cute guy’s name is Qi Ningze? What a lovely name.
As several promotional events opened up nearby, the crowd at the night market grew even denser. By the time the rush slowed, Qi Ningze felt as if he could barely lift his arms.
He stole a glance at Yang Le’an, who was still working diligently. As expected of the protagonist shou, his hands haven’t stopped moving at all, just like an indefatigable machine!
So impressive! As expected of the protagonist shou! He needed to learn from Yang Le’an and work hard to support the household too.
“What’s wrong? Why do you keep staring at me? Is there something dirty on my face?” Sensing his gaze, Yang Le’an leaned in close and asked in a low voice.
“No, nothing at all! I was just thinking about a few things… basically spacing out.”
He couldn’t very well tell Yang Le’an that he thought Yang Le’an looked handsome and got caught lost in a daze.
Qi Ningze always kept his seniors’ advice close to heart: if a cannon fodder wanted to survive long, they must never harbor coveted desires toward the main characters.
Yang Le’an’s eyes darkened slightly. “Alright, as long as you’re okay.”
Calculating the time, another troublesome figure was due to arrive shortly. Just thinking about that nuisance gave Yang Le’an a splitting headache.
Glancing at Qi Ningze, Yang Le’an instinctively thought to himself: If I ever look for a partner in the future, I’d definitely choose Qi Ningze.
Qi Ningze had a gentle temperament and spoke in a soft voice living together in the future would surely be peaceful and comforting.
Half an hour later, the nuisance arrived right on schedule, walking straight toward Yang Le’an.
Yang Le’an immediately lowered his head, pretending he hadn’t seen a thing.
How unlucky running into him again.
Ke Lan stepped forward, his eyes fixed squarely on Yang Le’an from start to finish. “Yang Le’an, you saw me just now. Don’t pretend you didn’t.”
The newcomer looked somewhat similar to Ke Feng both possessed a healthy wheat-toned complexion, sturdy builds, and handsome features. Yet differences remained between the two.
Ke Lan’s eyes were more vibrant and full of spirit, resembling a wild horse eager to explore the world.
Qi Ningze asked curiously, “System, who is he? He looks so similar to Ke Feng.”
System: [He’s Ke Feng’s younger brother, an athlete. In the original novel, he’s a pursuer of Yang Le’an and counts as a half-male supporting character.]
Qi Ningze pressed on in confusion, “Why only a ‘half-male’ supporting character?”
The System wished it could pry open Qi Ningze’s little head to see why he had so many questions every day.
Bound by the System Manual, it explained helplessly: [Due to his family environment, his feelings for Yang Le’an are merely a vague fondness, not actual romantic love.]
Qi Ningze nodded, calculating in his mind whether he should step away later to give the two some space for private interaction.
Seeing that Yang Le’an was ignoring him, Ke Lan ran a hand through his hair and said thoughtfully, “Fine, ignore me if you want. I came with my friends today, so put whatever they order on my tab later.”
Before Yang Le’an could say anything, Ke Lan’s loyal follower grew disgruntled.
Squeezing through the crowd, the follower looked Yang Le’an up and down with a disdainful glare, scoffing, “I was wondering who had the nerve to keep Ke Lan on the hook all this time turns out it’s you. I don’t see what’s so great about you anyway.”
How did someone like him dare reject Ke Lan? Ke Lan came from a wealthy and powerful family, was handsome, and looked insanely cool playing basketball.
Hearing him speak like that, Yang Le’an’s fangirl lost her temper. Stepping right up to the follower, she shoved him hard.
She yelled angrily, “Who do you think Ke Lan is? He’s nothing but an unstudious good-for-nothing! How dare you talk about Yang Le’an like that? Do you have any idea how hard he works every day? How dare you dismiss someone who tries so hard!”
Taken off guard, the follower stumbled and fell to the ground. Scrambling up awkwardly, rage flared in his chest.
He shouted back loudly, “What do you mean ‘works hard’? What does he amount to? Does he even deserve Ke Lan-ge? Do you know Ke Lan-ge sometimes trains a whole day just for a match?!”
His words only made the fan girl blow up like a bomb.
Raising her voice even higher, she sneered, “Hilarious! In my eyes, he’s just a dumb athlete! How can he compare to Yang-ge? Yang Le’an is always the last person to leave the classroom, and his grades are consistently ranked number one in our school!”
Yang Le’an: “…”
Qi Ningze: “…”
Ke Lan: “…”
What kind of elementary-school-level argument is this?
The scene devolved into utter chaos. Ke Lan and Yang Le’an tried to step in to break up the fight, but both the fangirl and follower were completely worked up, slinging increasingly nasty insults at each other.
What started as verbal attacks quickly turned physical. Both possessed high combat capability, turning the area into a chaotic mess.
Watching the chaotic scene before him, Qi Ningze being just a novice cannon fodder fresh out in the world found his mind going completely blank.
He tried his best to keep the situation under control, stepping forward to pull them apart: “Calm down, everyone please calm down!”
Yang Le’an, on the other hand, watched the scene with cold detachment, only making half-hearted gestures to pull them apart.
Although the follower tried hard to express his point of view, facing a fangirl with immense aggressiveness, sharp eloquence, and complete disregard for logic, he gradually lost ground.
Seeing his dignity slipping away, the follower’s eyes darted around, searching for a weapon to attack her.
When his eyes landed on the nonchalant Yang Le’an, the rage in his heart erupted completely.
This pretender, Yang Le’an others are fighting tooth and nail over him, yet he stands by acting like a gentleman. Utterly sickening!
At that thought, the follower grabbed a bottle of water lying nearby, uncapped it, and hurled it forcefully toward Yang Le’an.
“Since you love playing with people’s feelings so much, why don’t you just drop dead!”
That said, the follower knew full well he had opened a bottle of ordinary mineral water, or he wouldn’t have dared throw it at Yang Le’an.
[System detects that Yang Le’an is in danger. Cannon fodder Qi Ningze, protect the protagonist shou immediately! Cannon fodder Qi Ningze, protect the protagonist shou immediately!]
Hearing the System’s alert broadcast, Qi Ningze instinctively lunged in front of Yang Le’an, using his body to shield against the unknown danger.
“Watch out!”
Everyone’s faces turned pale with panic. The fangirl who had been passionately arguing just moments ago collapsed onto the ground, her face ash-white, not daring to utter another word.
“Are you alright?” Snapping back to his senses, Yang Le’an hurriedly checked Qi Ningze’s condition.
Only when he recognized that it was just ordinary mineral water did he let out a long sigh of relief, the heavy stone in his heart finally dropping.
Thank goodness it wasn’t acid. We got lucky today, but what about next time.
“It’s a relief you’re okay. Just now…” Recalling what had just transpired, Yang Le’an still felt fear and shock. He had never imagined that Qi Ningze would suddenly throw himself in front of him.
With a trembling voice, Yang Le’an carefully patted Qi Ningze’s back, soothing him repeatedly: “It’s fine, it’s fine. What happened just now has passed.”
Held stiffly in Yang Le’an’s arms, listening to the other’s warm and energetic heartbeat, Qi Ningze hardly dared to breathe out loud.
Yang Le’an is so nice! Actually, he doesn’t need to feel so guilty at all it’s only natural for cannon fodder to serve the protagonist.
After settling everything at the scene, Ke Lan walked up to the two with a gloomy expression.
Rubbing his nose awkwardly, he squatted down and apologized to both of them: “Sorry, I didn’t expect my junior to do something like that out of nowhere. I’ll scold him when I get back.”
Yang Le’an looked up at him, his demeanor turning icy cold. His sharp-featured face bore no expression, his dark eyes resembling a bottomless abyss.
Feeling unsettled by the gaze, Ke Lan had no choice but to apologize to Qi Ningze: “My apologies, my apologies. I really didn’t expect him to do something like that today. How about I drag him over here to apologize to you?”
Qi Ningze: “No need, no need! It’s fine, really. He was probably just overly emotional.”
Why should one cannon fodder make life hard for another? The follower just now was like him, his fate had been arranged by the author long ago.
They were all just minor cannon fodders. Since he hadn’t suffered any actual harm, that was good enough.