A Short-Lived Cannon Fodder Alpha Just Wants to Be a Salted Fish - Chapter 20

After the start of the beautiful summer break, Wen Ming and Fang Jingbai were so busy with work that they had no time to manage Wen Yuan. She lived a carefree, unconstrained life—mostly watching TV, sleeping, or playing video games.

Amidst the chaotic sounds of footsteps, grenade pins pulling, and the crackle of gunfire in her headset, Wen Yuan carefully identified a sound, tossed a predictive grenade toward the stairs, vaulted out of a fake garage, flanked around the back, and pre-fired.

One downed. She rushed upstairs, threw another grenade, healed up, reloaded, and hit them with another wave of pre-firing.

By the time she wiped the full squad, she had only a sliver of health left. She didn’t heal herself immediately; instead, she revived her teammates who hadn’t been finished off yet and opened the team voice chat.

Instead of the praise she expected for her play, the three grown men sounded quite unconvinced by her skill.

“Probably a guy playing a female character. Definitely a male Alpha.”

Ridiculous. If someone plays well, they have to be a male Alpha? Wen Yuan typed: “Female.”

“Oh, a girl? Playing this well, she must be hacking.”

If a girl plays well, she must be using cheats? Wen Yuan rolled her eyes hard.

The two teammates she rescued took the car and sped off without her, even telling her to stay away because they “didn’t want to get banned” by being associated with her. With no vehicles in sight, Wen Yuan suppressed her anger and ran over seven hundred meters on foot.

Those two teammates ran into another full squad. Possessing a mysterious confidence in their own skills, they fired provocatively only to be chased down and slaughtered. Once they were eliminated, they began cursing a string of foul words and said, “Number Three just got here, so slow. Don’t you have a teleport hack to save us?”

The passive-aggressive tone lit Wen Yuan’s fuse. She couldn’t take it anymore, turned on her mic, and scoffed, “What ‘hack’? Just because you’re trash doesn’t mean others are hacking. You’re like a toad trying to act like a frog—ugly and playing way too much. You rushed in to deliver your heads and now you expect a rescue? I’m not your mother.”

Though venting felt good, a ball of anger remained stuck in her chest. Even after eventually winning the match, Wen Yuan wasn’t particularly happy.

Nothing a cup of milk tea couldn’t solve. She opened a delivery app and ordered two cups.

Returning to the game interface, a team invitation popped up. Wen Yuan clicked “Accept” without looking closely. Once in the lobby, she realized it was Jiang Huaiyu, Qi Hui, and a boy she didn’t recognize. As soon as she joined, Jiang Huaiyu started the match.

The original novel plot hadn’t happened yet, so there was no reason to be completely hostile. Wen Yuan perfunctorily played a round with them. When she was killed by an enemy, her milk tea was just about to arrive. She didn’t stay to spectate and exited the game immediately.

Jiang Huaiyu sent a WeChat message: “Why did you charge so far ahead? I couldn’t save you in time. Done for the day?”

Wen Yuan was in a rush to grab her tea; she replied “using her mind” and promptly forgot about Jiang Huaiyu.

The milk tea shop was a new one nearby. The taste was decent, but it was still a step below that shop by the school’s west gate. Wen Yuan suddenly recalled the day at the west gate shop when Chu Yihan had sat on her lap—her slender waist, and the pheromones from her gland clawing their way out of the gap in the curled blocking patch. Like flowers blooming around her, emitting a dizzying fragrance.

Wen Yuan gnawed on her straw. Back then, she had actually wanted to take a bite of Chu Yihan. She must have been going crazy.

Later, perhaps due to a mix of embarrassment, guilt, and other complex factors, she and Chu Yihan had lost contact after the holiday started.

What is the little lamb up to lately?

Just as Wen Yuan was debating whether to poke Chu Yihan on WeChat, Wen Ming sent a voice message saying the LEGO set he bought as a reward for her grades had arrived. He told her to use the pick-up code at the delivery station downstairs.

Shortly after the voice message, Wen Yuan received two pick-up texts. Putting the thought of contacting Chu Yihan aside, she happily went downstairs.

One long box and one stout box. Wen Yuan carried them both home, kicked the door shut, and eagerly grabbed a knife to unbox them. In the long box was the LEGO Technic Bugatti supercar she had always wanted, and it unexpectedly came with a small toy sheep.

Wen Yuan’s gaze lingered on the sheep box for a moment before she opened the second box.

It wasn’t LEGO.

Wen Yuan blinked, stunned for two seconds. She opened the box fully to see the contents. On top were various flavors of potato chips, dried fruits, and cheese wafers; Kopi Luwak coffee beans were particularly prominent among the snacks. The middle layer contained essential oils and rainbow-colored handmade soaps. Further down were round wicker bags and oddly shaped scent-blocking patches.

At the very bottom was a beautifully packaged velvet gift box.

Opening it, a wooden carving of a little hawk the size of a fist met her eyes. Every feather, even the down on its chest, was carved with exquisite detail—it looked lifelike. The wood was Red Sandalwood, and it felt wonderful to the touch. Wen Yuan held it, unable to put it down.

A surge of joy filled her heart, even more intense than when she saw the LEGO. These were all Balinese specialties. She didn’t even need to look at the shipping label to know who sent it.

No wonder she didn’t contact me; she was away on a trip.

Wen Yuan took a photo of everything and sent it to Chu Yihan: “Thanks for the souvenirs.”

Chu Yihan was likely busy and didn’t reply immediately. Wen Yuan moved everything to her room, arranging them one by one on the bay window. Suddenly, her phone rang. The name “Chu Yihan” flashed on the screen.

Wen Yuan’s eyes lit up. She didn’t hesitate for a second before hitting “Accept”: “Hello?”

“Hello, Little Bird,” Chu Yihan said softly. “You received the stuff! I was worried I filled out the address wrong.”

This reminded Wen Yuan that she had never given Chu Yihan her address. “How did you know my home address?”

Chu Yihan explained, “I remembered it from when I sent you home last time.”

Wen Yuan was shocked. “You remembered after just one time?”

“Mm,” Chu Yihan’s soft, shy voice came through the receiver. “If you have the heart for it, you’ll remember.”

Wen Yuan’s heart skipped a beat. She unconsciously scratched the bridge of her nose, suddenly unsure of how to respond. She changed the subject: “Wait a second, let me get my headphones.”

“Mm,” Chu Yihan replied, her tone unreadable.

Wen Yuan put on her headphones. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Do you like the things?” Chu Yihan asked.

“I do,” Wen Yuan glanced at the items filling her window. “But with this much, it must have been expensive.”

“Not really.” Likely not wanting Wen Yuan to overthink it, Chu Yihan added, “I sent a package to Shi Ran, too.”

“Oh.” Wen Yuan poked the head of the wooden hawk. “Did Shi Ran get a carving too? A little hawk?”

“No,” Chu Yihan said. “I picked out silver jewelry for Shi Ran, not a wood carving.”

For some reason, Wen Yuan felt quite happy. Her lips curled up involuntarily. “Did you pick out everything yourself?”

“Mm.”

“Even the blocking patches?” The patches with Balinese landscapes looked more suitable for middle-aged people.

“Those…” Chu Yihan paused. “My mother picked those.”

That made sense.

“The patterns are a bit… mature,” Chu Yihan suggested. “You can give them to your parents.”

“I could also wait until I’m ‘mature’ to use them.” She didn’t really want to share them with her parents just yet.

A soft chuckle came through the headphones. Wen Yuan picked out two that looked less “middle-aged” and put the rest, along with the essential oils and soaps, into a pretty cookie tin she had saved. She asked casually:

“Are you back now?”

“Not yet, still in Bali.”

“Then I won’t disturb your vacation.”

“Wait,” Chu Yihan said, seemingly stopping Wen Yuan from hanging up. “I’m not out sightseeing today. I’m resting at the hotel.”

Wen Yuan teased her on purpose: “Then I won’t disturb your rest.”

Chu Yihan said quickly, “I’ve been resting all day.” She paused, her voice taking on a slightly coquettish tone. “It’s a bit boring.”

Wen Yuan suppressed a laugh. “What a coincidence, I’m a bit bored too. I played a couple of games, but my teammates were no good.”

“PUBG or Honor of Kings?”

“PUBG. Do you play?”

“I can,” Chu Yihan traced circles on her bedsheets. “But… I’m not very good.”

Wen Yuan didn’t care at all. “It’s fine, I’ll protect you. Get online.”

After hanging up, Wen Yuan logged in. A few seconds later, Chu Yihan came online and requested to join the team. Coincidentally, Jiang Huaiyu also requested to join. Wen Yuan’s hand was fast, and she accepted both.

Jiang Huaiyu pulled in Qi Hui and said over team voice, “Let’s start.”

Thinking it would be easier to coordinate with acquaintances, Wen Yuan started the match.

Jiang Huaiyu asked over the mic, “Why didn’t you reply to my message earlier?”

Qi Hui replied, “When did you message me?”

Jiang Huaiyu sighed. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

Only then did Wen Yuan realize Jiang Huaiyu was talking to her. She typed a reply: “I thought I had replied.”

“Hahaha.”

Amidst Qi Hui’s loud laughter, Wen Yuan caught a very, very faint breathy chuckle. She checked the team mic and realized a certain little lamb hadn’t spoken, but she hadn’t muted her mic either.

Tch…

Qi Hui gossiped, asking Jiang Huaiyu what he had messaged Wen Yuan about. Jiang Huaiyu replied, “I just asked why she charged so fast earlier. Also, if she has any plans for the Qixi Festival—”

“I have someone here!” Chu Yihan’s voice broke in, interrupting Jiang Huaiyu.

“Don’t move, wait for me to get there.” Wen Yuan glanced at the map and rushed to Chu Yihan’s side without stopping.

The topic was diverted and never brought back.

After they won, Chu Yihan went offline, and Wen Yuan exited the game too. She asked Chu Yihan on WeChat: “Done playing?”

Chu Yihan’s answer dodged the question: “I thought of a request to ask of you.”

CenturyEggPorridge: “[Question Mark]”

Chu Yihan: “A movie I’ve really wanted to see comes out on August 2nd. Can you go see it with me?”

Before Wen Yuan could reply, Jiang Huaiyu sent a window shake and asked again if she had plans for Qixi.

Wen Yuan glanced at the calendar. What a coincidence—Qixi (Chinese Valentine’s Day) was exactly August 2nd.

“I have an appointment.” After replying to Jiang Huaiyu, Wen Yuan switched back to Chu Yihan’s chat:

[I can.]

[Expectant gaze.jpg]

Chu Yihan curled her lips into a victor’s smile and replied: [Excitedly rubbing hands together.jpg]