Chapter 2

Cheng Yu lowered his eyes and studied the person in his arms for two seconds. The uncertainty flickering in Ke Jian’s eyes made it obvious that he really wasn’t very good at acting, and his stiff body made it even clearer that every fiber of his being was resisting the embrace.

Nevertheless, Cheng Yu tightened his arm around Ke Jian’s waist and said in a low, quiet voice, “And here I thought my baby didn’t want me to hold him.”

Although he was saying something intimate, there wasn’t the slightest trace of affection in Cheng Yu’s voice. Instead, it carried a coldness that seemed to seep from his very bones. He was practically the living embodiment of the scumbag gong.

He might not have been an actor, but as a second-generation rich kid with a rather awkward position in his family, he had been putting on an act since childhood. By now, not only could other people no longer distinguish his performances from his true self, even he sometimes couldn’t tell whether he was acting or being genuine.

So when it came to acting skills, he had plenty to spare.

Ke Jian was forced to press tightly against the scumbag gong’s chest. Heaven knew this was the first time he had ever been so close to another man, let alone in such an intimate position. Worse still, it was with a man he had thoroughly despised even before meeting him.

Of course, although he desperately wanted to use the hands wrapped around the scumbag gong’s neck to slap him several times across the face, he had to maintain a smile.

It was all just acting. Everything was for the sake of staying alive.

“Of course not.” Afraid that the scumbag gong might lean closer and do something disgusting to him, Ke Jian took advantage of the situation and nestled against Cheng Yu’s chest, resting his chin in the hollow of his shoulder. He was convinced that he had perfectly captured the behavior of a third-rate actor who had climbed the ranks by relying on a wealthy patron. At the same time, he smoothly changed the subject. “Did you come here for something today, President Cheng?”

“What? Can’t I come see you unless I have a reason?” Cheng Yu raised an eyebrow, his displeasure plainly visible.

“Of course you can,” Ke Jian hurriedly denied. “It’s just that I heard…” He deliberately paused here, lowering his eyes and letting his lashes droop. His voice carried a hint of disappointment that he seemed unable to conceal. “The new third bailiantales.com male lead in our production came here with you, President Cheng.”

He was clearly disappointed but trying to restrain himself, clearly concerned but too humble to dare show it. This was exactly how the cannon-fodder Ke Jian had behaved at the beginning of the original novel. Ke Jian was working hard to become an actor despite having no experience in the profession.

[How was that, 357? My acting was pretty good, right?]

As a musician, Ke Jian had always been devoted to his own musical world. Besides, his manager had always firmly opposed him pursuing a career in acting. But just now, he had suddenly discovered the appeal of acting. To his surprise, he even felt that performing wasn’t quite as awkward or boring as he’d imagined.

[Well… um…]

System 357 was momentarily at a loss for words when suddenly confronted with this question. Based on its experience, this host’s acting skills weren’t the absolute worst among all the hosts it had encountered, but they were definitely near the bottom. However… Ke Jian was undoubtedly the most confident of them all.

Cheng Yu was equally astonished. He couldn’t help suspecting that something was wrong with this man’s brain. Ke Jian seemed to have some rather peculiar misunderstandings about things that ordinary people generally understood, such as acting.

The deliberately manufactured jealousy was practically suffocating Cheng Yu. He gave a faint “Mm,” then raised his hand and gripped Ke Jian’s chin, forcing him to meet his eyes.

The cold, heartless male lead of a melodramatic scumbag gong and spineless shou novel suddenly appeared before Ke Jian in the flesh. Without a trace of warmth in his eyes, Cheng Yu added, “Don’t ask questions you have no business asking. Remember your place.”

Cheng Yu almost wanted to tell him outright what real acting looked like. This was acting!

Of course, in Ke Jian’s eyes, this was simply the scumbag gong being his usual scumbag self, not putting on an act.

Ke Jian: “…”

Just what I’d expect from you.

Cheng Yu watched with satisfaction as a storm of emotions swept through Ke Jian’s eyes. It seemed as though a ferocious beast might burst out at any moment and tear him to shreds. In the end, however, Ke Jian merely tilted his head to escape his grip before leaning against his chest again.

Cheng Yu narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly. His acting might be terrible, but his self-control was surprisingly good.

To his own surprise, Cheng Yu discovered that he was thoroughly enjoying this little game. It was far more entertaining than any of the pleasures he had indulged in back in his original world.

Disgusted looks, hateful stares, disappointed sighs… Cheng Yu had seen plenty of them. But having someone who clearly despised him to the core yet was forced to pretend to like him and curry favor with him? As always, Cheng Yu found that especially delightful.

Meanwhile, Ke Jian was staring at the scumbag gong’s sexy Adam’s apple, dark thoughts swirling through his mind. His arms were currently wrapped around the man’s neck, his head resting on his shoulder, and his mouth was less than five centimeters from the scumbag gong’s carotid artery. If he simply sank his teeth into it… or tightened his hands around his neck…

He genuinely found someone like Cheng Yu utterly repulsive. Before meeting the male lead shou, Wei Li, Cheng Yu had never lacked companions, regardless of gender. However, he refused to get emotionally involved. The moment anyone developed feelings they shouldn’t have, he would ruthlessly discard them. That could perhaps be dismissed as part of his cold, domineering CEO persona. But after meeting Wei Li, he devoted himself entirely to being a scumbag toward him.

He had approached Wei Li because the young man resembled the unattainable first love in his heart. He then forcibly made Wei Li his kept lover and tormented him, perversely treating him as a substitute for that cherished person while humiliating him again and again. The story was filled with every imaginable melodramatic form of emotional and physical abuse. What Ke Jian found most incomprehensible was that Wei Li ultimately fell hopelessly in love with the very man who had abused him so thoroughly, even willingly accepting his role as a substitute.

Of course, the ending inevitably involved the scumbag gong falling in love with his substitute. But Ke Jian still couldn’t understand what made such a scumbag worth loving. Was it simply because he was handsome?

Perhaps this kind of deeply tormenting romance had been popular ten years ago, but as far as Ke Jian was concerned, both of these men were lunatics, equally beyond saving.

The scumbag gong and spineless shou should just be locked Read on BaiLianTales together forever. They were a match made in heaven. Ke Jian couldn’t understand why 357 insisted on making him interfere with their relationship. More importantly, inserting himself into it was proving ridiculously difficult.

If his life hadn’t been at stake, Ke Jian would never have lowered himself to associate with such scum and lunatics, even if someone beat him to death. And now he was supposed to pursue this man and make him fall in love with him?

Just thinking about the novel’s ending made his skin crawl. The scumbag gong had pinned Wei Li mercilessly against a table and brutally tormented him. With bloodshot eyes and a crazed expression, he declared, “You can only belong to me! No one is allowed to bully you except me. You’re mine. I wish I could break both your legs and chain you to the bed forever. I don’t care if you’re a substitute or anything else. You’ll never escape.”

Whenever Ke Jian pictured that scene, every hair on his body stood on end. He practically suffocated from the thought. Were those even words a normal human being would say? Yet Wei Li had actually accepted them with delight.

And you call that love?

Ke Jian wanted nothing more than to throw that so-called love into the middle of a road and have it run over eight hundred times a day.

In short, he was filled with disgust toward this lunatic, and meeting him in person had only intensified that disgust. Touching his hand? Holding him in his arms?

Fuck… Heaven knew how much Ke Jian hated these things. He seriously wanted to kill someone.

However, while killing the scumbag gong might not actually be that difficult, his death would cause the world to collapse. If the world collapsed, 357 would cease to exist, and so would he. But he didn’t want to die. He wanted to go home.

And so, several seconds later, Cheng Yu heard a warm breath against his ear, followed by a seemingly coquettish murmur. “I understand. I was only asking, that’s all.”

So he could really swallow his pride when necessary. Not bad.

Cheng Yu reached out and stroked his hair, responding with a lukewarm “Mm.”

[357, I want to chop off this filthy paw!]

Cheng Yu’s hand paused, and he silently withdrew it.

357: It was suddenly a little worried. Surely it wasn’t going to meet its end at the hands of this host, was it?

Knowing that he would be meeting the scumbag gong today, Ke Jian hadn’t slept a wink the previous night. He had spent the entire night turning various strategies over in his mind, only to discard them one by one. After all, he had absolutely no experience with this sort of thing. Besides, he had always been the one other people went to great lengths to approach. How was he supposed to know how to throw himself at someone else? Especially someone who was complete scum.

According to the original novel, Cheng Yu was like a man without a heart, cold and merciless. He trampled everyone beneath his feet without the slightest hesitation.

As for the cannon-fodder Ke Jian, despite being nothing more than one of Cheng Yu’s insignificant playthings, he had fallen hopelessly in love with his wealthy patron. After being abandoned, he caused all sorts of trouble, jealously scheming against Wei Li and framing him. As a result, it didn’t take long for him to bring about his own downfall.

Ke Jian had carefully analyzed the situation. Causing trouble was definitely out of the question. Without the protection of a protagonist’s plot armor, he could easily get himself killed in no time.

But throwing himself at Cheng Yu wouldn’t work either. The man’s devoted admirers could probably form a line around the Earth two or three times. Taking that approach would likely fail to earn him so much as a glance from the scumbag gong, so that was out of the question as well.

He had to make himself stand out in the scumbag gong’s eyes, to be different and sufficiently attractive, but without behaving as recklessly as the male lead shou.

On top of that, he had to defeat Wei Li, the protagonist shou, as well as the unattainable first love occupying the scumbag gong’s heart.

Ke Jian suddenly felt that his life was far too difficult.

As he continued thinking, his mind gradually grew hazy. He had forgotten that his bad habit of falling asleep easily had followed him into the novel.

By the time Cheng Yu noticed, he was dumbfounded to discover that the person who had been wholeheartedly plotting to strangle him had actually fallen asleep against his chest.

Just how carefree did someone have to be to pull that off? Would a pot big enough to hold all that carefree attitude even exist?

Only now could Cheng Yu look at Ke Jian’s face as much as he pleased. Compared to Cheng Yu himself, who had become several years older, Ke Jian had barely changed. He still had the same appearance that his fans practically worshipped as divine. The only difference was that his skin was fairer and smoother, almost as though a beauty filter had been applied to his face.

At first, Cheng Yu had assumed that it was merely a coincidence of names. It wasn’t until the transmigrator stood before him that he discovered, to his astonishment, that this really was the Ke Jian he knew.

Debuting at fifteen and remaining at the top for ten years, Ke Jian was a legend in the music industry, a superstar in every sense of the word. Not only did he possess a voice seemingly kissed by God, but he also had a face blessed by the heavens.

Calling Ke Jian a superstar was no exaggeration. However, he was also a rather controversial figure. From what Cheng Yu knew about him, aside from his astonishing musical talent and exceptional voice, Ke Jian was equally famous for his much-criticized personality.

Cheng Yu didn’t follow celebrities, but even he had heard about the incident that had shaken the entire entertainment industry when Ke Jian publicly severed ties with his parents.

“Selfish and cold,” “low emotional intelligence,” “unfilial,” “self-centered”… Ke Jian had accumulated quite a collection of labels, yet his musical talent was unrivaled.

Consequently, there were plenty of people who criticized him, but his fan base was equally enormous. All in all, he was a rather extraordinary individual.

Still, Cheng Yu hadn’t expected the real person to be so unauthorized copy different from the rumors. For instance, his acting skills were atrocious, and his inner thoughts were so lively that it was as though a little cat was living inside his head, constantly baring its claws and hissing.

And he was excessively sleepy, too? He could actually fall asleep in the arms of a man he utterly despised, someone who might devour him at any moment?

As Cheng Yu thought about it, the corners of his lips unconsciously curved upward. He reached out and poked Ke Jian’s cheek. The man sleeping against his chest was as unresponsive as a dead pig, his mouth slightly open to reveal a neat row of white teeth.

“What a weirdo,” Cheng Yu exclaimed in amazement.

He had awakened one morning to find himself in this peculiar world. “The Cannon Fodder’s Counterattack Handbook”… a book within a book? Someone named Ke Jian had transmigrated into a melodramatic danmei novel about a scumbag gong and a spineless shou, becoming cannon fodder. Yet in “The Cannon Fodder’s Counterattack Handbook,” Ke Jian was actually the protagonist.

Cheng Yu had no idea how he had ended up here, much less how he had become the scumbag gong whom the protagonist was supposed to pursue. It seemed like some sort of accident. But everything was only just beginning, and he was incredibly eager to see how the story would unfold. Especially after discovering that this Ke Jian was the very same Ke Jian he knew, his anticipation had only grown stronger.

Just then, the eyelashes of the person in his arms fluttered slightly. It seemed he was about to wake up.

Something stirred in Cheng Yu’s mind, and his mischievous streak promptly surfaced. He wrapped his arms around the man sitting sideways across his lap and stood up with a slight exertion of strength.

Ke Jian had already been hovering between sleep and wakefulness. The sudden sensation of being lifted into the air instantly jolted him awake. To his horror, he discovered that the scumbag gong was carrying him horizontally in his arms and heading toward the bedroom.

A princess carry?!

The bedroom? The bed!

Scumbag!

Every hair on Ke Jian’s body stood on end. Without a second thought, he thrust his palm toward the man’s face, putting practically all the strength he had developed through ten years of dance training into the blow.

Cheng Yu nimbly dodged backward, but having only just stood up, he was still forced back onto the sofa by the force of the strike. At the same time, he released his hold.

And so, with a loud thud, Ke Jian landed squarely on his butt.

“Ugh… Fuck~”

The divine Ke—his poor backside had just been thoroughly wrecked.