A Short-Lived Cannon Fodder Alpha Just Wants to Be a Salted Fish - Chapter 15

When Wen Yuan returned to the Ruyi Hall on the fifth floor, Fang Jingbai was chatting with an elegant woman of notable temperament. Wen Yuan recognized her as the CEO of Fang Jingbai’s company.

As she approached, she overheard the CEO saying to Fang Jingbai: “You are currently the Acting Director, and I intend to give this project to you. The company places a lot of importance on it. If you do it well, that word ‘Acting’ will certainly be removed from your title. However, it will definitely require more time and energy, and you have a family to look after. So, I want to know your own attitude—do you want to take on this project?”

Fang Jingbai rubbed the glass in her hand, a look of hesitation on her face. The second year of high school was crucial; she was a bit worried about Wen Yuan. But this was a rare opportunity; if she missed it, she didn’t know when she’d get another chance to drop the “Acting” prefix.

If someone else were to come from behind and overtake her, she might not even be able to hold onto the Acting Director position.

Wen Yuan stared at Fang Jingbai’s conflicted face for a while, pursing her lips as a mixture of emotions welled up in her heart.

There had been a similar opportunity for promotion before, but at that time Wen Yuan was facing the transition from middle to high school and wasn’t exactly the most “worry-free” child. Fang Jingbai couldn’t manage both, and the project was snatched by someone else.

Seeing Wen Yuan approach, the CEO patted Fang Jingbai’s shoulder and said, “You don’t need to give me an answer right now. Discuss it with your family and let me know your decision on Monday. Naturally, I hope you take it.”

Fang Jingbai nodded and bowed to her. “Thank you, President Zhang.”

After the CEO left, Wen Yuan sat down next to her mother. Fang Jingbai watched as she downed three glasses of juice in a row.

“Where did you go? You’re so thirsty, drink slower.”

Wen Yuan dodged the main point. “I sat on the top floor for a bit. You can see the night sky; it’s quite pretty.”

Fang Jingbai affectionately lifted Wen Yuan’s ponytail to help her cool down, but her peripheral vision caught the faded color of the scent-blocking patch on her gland. She frowned slightly. “This patch is about to expire. Where is your spare?”

Wen Yuan patted her pockets symbolically and said casually, “I think I lost it.”

“You child.” Fang Jingbai pulled a spare patch from her bag, peeled off the old one, and slapped the new one onto Wen Yuan’s gland. “I really don’t know what to say to you. Can’t you let me have one day of peace?”

Wen Yuan gave a low hiss of pain. “Mom, I want to live in the dorms next semester.”

Fang Jingbai froze for a moment, quickly realizing that Wen Yuan must have overheard her conversation with President Zhang. She felt relieved that Wen Yuan was being sensible, yet she felt a pang of reluctance.

“If you live at school, you’ll have to do everything yourself. Can you adjust? For example, you definitely won’t get the late-night snacks your dad makes with love, you’ll have to wash your own clothes, and change your own sheets.” Fang Jingbai paused. “You’re so clumsy, I’m a bit worried about you.”

Listening to her mother’s soft voice, Wen Yuan’s heart softened into a puddle. She thought back to before she transmigrated; when her mother was seriously ill, she had given similar instructions about things Wen Yuan would need to handle independently. Her mother’s final words were the same: I’m worried about you.

Shaking off the lump in her throat, Wen Yuan forced a relaxed smile. “Don’t worry, people have to learn to grow up. This is a good chance for me to train myself.”

Seeing Wen Yuan’s high level of self-awareness and her firm attitude, Fang Jingbai compromised. “Fine. I’ll apply for the dorms for you next semester.”

Wen Yuan’s eyes lit up. She rubbed her thumb and forefinger together, gesturing gleefully. “Since I’m living at school, shouldn’t my allowance get a little bump next semester…?”

“Sure.” Fang Jingbai shot her an amused look and agreed readily, but added a condition: “I don’t ask for much. As long as you can rank in the top 250 in the grade by finals, I’ll give you a raise.”

It sounded like a joke (since “250” is slang for an idiot in Chinese), so Wen Yuan said, “I don’t want to be a 250. I’ll be number 249.”

“How ambitious.”

Monday morning, flag-raising ceremony.

In the classes that arrived early on the playground, many students were holding pocketbooks, silently memorizing knowledge points. Wen Yuan was one of them.

Behind her, Shi Ran couldn’t focus on her vocabulary and poked her. “If you memorize any more, you’ll turn into a statue. Let’s chat and rest for a bit.”

“Chat about what?”

“Anything.”

Wen Yuan was also tired of memorizing. She tucked her book away and turned to tell Shi Ran about her plan to live in the dorms next semester.

Shi Ran’s eyes sparkled. “I want to live in the dorms too!”

Wen Yuan frowned. “Can you handle it? And will your mom even agree?”

“I’ll just copy the reason you gave your mom,” Shi Ran said with certainty. “If your mom agreed, mine definitely will.”

Wen Yuan scoffed. “I’ve seen people copy homework, but I’ve never seen someone copy a reason for moving into dorms.”

Shi Ran ignored the teasing, feeling energized. “The life of freedom is beckoning! No one will ever nag me again about how late I play games.”

“The lights in the dorms go out at 10:00 PM,” Wen Yuan poured a bucket of cold water on her.

“Not on weekends. And I heard Zhang Lili say that on weekends, you can quietly stay out all night,” Shi Ran’s voice turned mischievous. “Let’s try it once we live there.”

Wen Yuan laughed. “I am definitely not trying that.”

As they were chatting, the Class 1 queue arrived late, passing right in front of them.

Shi Ran changed the subject. “Zhang Lili told me this morning that the dark-skinned girl from Class 1 transferred schools. I really don’t see her.”

Given the dirty tactics she used on the court, transferring overnight wasn’t surprising at all. Wen Yuan didn’t care about her; she instinctively began searching for Chu Yihan.

Soon, the Class 1 students stood in their positions. Wen Yuan saw Chu Yihan standing at the very end of the line, head down as if lost in thought. She wasn’t the tallest girl in Class 1, yet she stood at the back. While other girls were whispering and laughing, she seemed out of place.

Wen Yuan noticed that every time she saw Chu Yihan, she was like this—separate from the excitement, always alone. Remembering what the dark-skinned girl had done, Wen Yuan suspected Chu Yihan was being marginalized in her class, and her mood immediately soured.

Not long after, another incident made Wen Yuan even more annoyed.

Lately, the classes were preparing their blackboard posters at the back of the rooms. The Class 1 monitor had pestered Chu Yihan into using paints to draw on the blackboard. During the long break after the ceremony, Chu Yihan carried a brush-washing bucket to the restroom.

A group of girls were laughing and playing on the walkway. One of them was an Alpha. Chu Yihan moved to the right to avoid her, just as a Beta on the right made a move to kick that Alpha. Chu Yihan was tripped by the sudden foot, falling to the ground. The bucket tipped over, and the paint soaked through her shirt.

The Beta girl immediately went on the offensive to save face: “I was trying to kick Da Chen! I didn’t mean to trip you. You’re the one who suddenly moved from the middle toward me. It has nothing to do with me!”

Chu Yihan had fallen quite hard and couldn’t stand up for a moment. She didn’t want a group of girls staring at her in her embarrassment. She gave a faint “Mm” and said, “I know. It’s okay.”

The girl acted as if she hadn’t heard, continuing to explain to the others and then starting to cry. “I said it wasn’t on purpose! I don’t know what she was trying to do by moving like that.”

Listening to the girl’s tearful complaints as if she were the victim, Chu Yihan only felt the pain from her fall intensify.

Wen Yuan and Shi Ran, coming out of the restroom, happened to see this. Wen Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing the rising anger about to erupt, and walked over.

Talking was useless. Chu Yihan couldn’t be bothered with these people. As she gritted her teeth to stand up, a fair, slender hand was extended to her. She looked up and saw Wen Yuan’s frost-cold face.

“Can you get up?” Wen Yuan asked softly, suppressing her emotions.

Chu Yihan bit her lip, took the warm, soft hand, and stood up with Wen Yuan’s help.

Wen Yuan noticed Chu Yihan was keeping her other arm wrapped across her chest. It was an awkward posture. Wen Yuan glanced at Chu Yihan’s white T-shirt, soaked with paint-water, and understood immediately. She took the school uniform jacket draped over her own shoulders and placed it over Chu Yihan.

Chu Yihan’s eyelashes fluttered as she pulled the jacket tight around her.

Wen Yuan turned to stare at the Beta who tripped her, saying icily, “Whether it was intentional or not, the least you could do is help her up. Do you have no basic manners?!”

Shi Ran threw the retrieved pens and palette back into the bucket and handed it to Chu Yihan. “Did you learn something, Academic God? Next time, don’t try to be so strong. You should learn how to cry on command and shift the blame to get sympathy.”

The girl’s face turned bright red. Unable to speak, she stomped her foot and ran back to the classroom in tears. Her friends chased after her. The remaining onlookers felt the awkwardness and dispersed.

Recalling how Chu Yihan couldn’t stand up earlier, Wen Yuan asked worriedly, “Do you need to go to the infirmary?”

“No.” Chu Yihan shook her head. Compared to her knee, her wet and stained shirt was more of a headache. “Can I return your jacket once my clothes are dry?”

Wen Yuan: “No rush.”

Shi Ran poked Wen Yuan. “Auntie He just went into the classroom.”

Chu Yihan took the hint. “Hurry back.”

Wen Yuan glanced at her, gave an “Mm,” and walked toward Class 2 with Shi Ran, looking back every three steps. Before entering, she saw Chu Yihan taking a mop to the sink.

He Xun had gone in early to have the class reps hand out graded assignments. Wen Yuan took her paper and stuffed it into her desk, accidentally touching a bag. She pulled it out. Because she used to sweat a lot during practice, she kept a fresh shirt in her desk to change into. On Friday, she hadn’t used it and hadn’t taken the spare T-shirt home.

After He Xun left, Wen Yuan took the shirt out. She saw Chu Yihan at the sink outside the Omega restroom, washing the stains on her shirt.

Sensing someone beside her, Chu Yihan looked over and froze. Wen Yuan handed her the shirt. “It’s clean. Change into this.”

The shirt carried a pleasant scent and Wen Yuan’s aura. Chu Yihan hesitated for two seconds, took the shirt, and went into a stall. A moment later, she came out. “I’ll wash the jacket and this shirt before returning them to you.”

The T-shirt was a bit large, hanging loosely on her slender frame.

Perhaps influenced by the temporary mark, seeing Chu Yihan wearing her clothes gave Wen Yuan an inexplicable sense of satisfaction. Bah, perv!

Wen Yuan looked away with an “Mm” and asked, “Are you planning to choose Science for the track division?” In the original novel, Chu Yihan seemed to have chosen Science. If she did, her grades would keep her in Class 1, but if she chose Liberal Arts, she’d be moved to Class 2.

Though she didn’t know if she could change the plot, Wen Yuan decided to try. She suggested before Chu Yihan could answer, “Why don’t you consider Liberal Arts? We could be in the same class next year.”

If she’s under my nose, she’ll be easier to protect.

Chu Yihan was startled. She stared at Wen Yuan, her gaze gradually softening. “Okay.”

“You don’t have to answer me so quickly,” Wen Yuan said seriously. “Choosing a track is a very important decision.”

“I know,” Chu Yihan smiled at her. “I already wanted to choose Liberal Arts. Now, I’m just certain.”

Wen Yuan felt relieved. Looking at Chu Yihan’s smile, she found it truly infectious and couldn’t help but grin widely herself.