After Transmigrating into a Book, I Saved the Cheap Shou - Chapter 21

The day before the closing ceremony, Gu Jingning was called by Lin Mo — a student council officer — to help set up the venue.

As one of the top high schools in the country, Qingyang had countless wealthy tycoons sending their children here. No matter what kind of ceremony it was, many doting parents would push aside meetings just to attend. Over time, Qingyang also opened a portion of seats for parents who wanted to come.

It wasn’t only rich CEOs — parents from ordinary families would also attend. Some came with the goal of networking with bosses to secure good jobs, or to introduce their own children to them in hopes of a bright future.

That was why the student council was responsible for setting up the venue every semester.

After finishing the work, Lin Mo found Gu Jingning, who had just finished moving heavy objects and was secretly slacking off in a corner. “Thanks for the hard work! In the past, whenever I asked you to help, you always made excuses not to come.”

Gu Jingning hugged a hand warmer someone had given him. “It’s so cold — why don’t they turn on the heating? I’m freezing to death!”

“It’s always like this every year. It’s even hotter in summer. Thanks anyway! After it’s over, the president is treating everyone to drinks. You should order the most expensive ones and rip him off.”

Pei Yuanqing had a widely recognized good image in front of outsiders. His grades and athletic ability were excellent, and his handsome appearance earned him a large number of supporters. He had defeated the second-year seniors back in his first year and had held the position of student council president for two consecutive terms.

After that day, Gu Jingning no longer received Pei Yuanqing’s occasional inexplicable attempts at conversation. Even though they were in the same class and saw each other every day, Pei Yuanqing would ignore him whenever they crossed paths.

These days were very comfortable. He didn’t have to deal with someone’s strange concern, nor did anyone urge him to reply to Gu Jingyu.

Therefore, Gu Jingning refused the free drinks. He didn’t even want to owe Pei Yuanqing a thirty-yuan beverage.

“You really don’t want any? Then I’m leaving?” the classmate collecting drink orders asked.

Gu Jingning nodded. After all, coming here today wasn’t for the drinks.

After the venue was set up, Gu Jingning followed the crowd for a short distance, then used the excuse that he had forgotten his phone at the venue and went back the way he came.

He went up to the second floor, sat down in the parent seating area, and waited for the person who was about to arrive.

While waiting, he took out his phone, opened the messaging app, and entered An Yuan’s chat.

[Gu]: Brother, hello. Can I trouble you with something?

On the other side, An Yuan was completely naked and sound asleep in bed. The moment he heard the special ringtone, he instantly woke up.

It was already dark outside. He had slept for over ten hours. He pushed away the arm on his body, got up, picked up his phone, and opened the message. Then he grabbed the clothes on the floor and walked out of the room.

He glanced briefly at Gu Jingning’s request, then sat at the dining table, propping up his head. Someone immediately brought over his warmed dinner. The Alpha wearing an apron picked up a spoon, scooped up a mouthful of rice and vegetables, and quietly began feeding the Omega.

Since both hands were busy typing, An Yuan accepted the service without any guilt.

[Autumn]: Sure, send the money.

[Gu]: Can you make it a little cheaper? QAQ

[Autumn]: Call me “Gege” and I’ll give you a discount.

[Gu]: Gege~

An Yuan let out a light laugh. The Alpha holding the spoon paused for a moment.

[Gu]: Ge, why did you change your name? I almost couldn’t find you just now.

[Autumn]: Weren’t you the one who found it weird?

[Gu]: …How did you know?

[Autumn]: It was written all over your face.

At that moment, another Alpha wearing ear studs walked out of An Yuan’s room completely naked. He squeezed the person who had been feeding An Yuan aside, gave him a smug, provocative look, then tilted An Yuan’s chin and kissed him deeply.

The apron-wearing Alpha gripped the spoon tightly, then left without a word, unwilling to watch their intimate interaction any longer.

Seeing that the Alpha on him still wasn’t satisfied and was even reaching under his clothes, An Yuan slapped his hand away.

Impatiently, he said, “Enough. Didn’t you get enough yesterday?”

The Alpha looked wronged. “Darling didn’t even wake me up. This week is my time. Every second is precious. How can I let anyone else spend time with you?”

“Oh really? Too bad. I have work this week, so I can’t spend time with you. Same for the others.”

“What?!”

An Alpha in a suit walked in through the front door. “Why are you shouting so loud? It’s late at night — people outside can hear you.”

The ear-stud Alpha was so agitated he nearly flipped the dining table. “Darling, do you have someone else again?”

An Yuan rolled his eyes. “No, it’s about my younger brother and sister.”

“I know about the sister, but when did you get a younger brother?”

“You forgot? You guys even pretended to be gangsters to scare him last time.”

The suited Alpha walked over, pulled away the Alpha clinging to An Yuan, kissed An Yuan’s cheek, and asked, “Is it that high schooler from last time? Baby, since when did you start liking younger guys?”

An Yuan stood up, not wanting to explain anymore. So troublesome!

Before going into his room, he warned, “No one is allowed in this week!” Then he slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

—

On the other side, Gu Jingning finally saw the person he had been waiting for.

A sneaky figure walked toward the first-year seating area.

Gu Jingning saw clearly — it was one of Xu Tao’s lackeys.

A few months ago, after they had failed to frame Su Chen for cheating through Teacher Zheng, things had quieted down for a while. Gu Jingning had even thought that maybe deviating from the plot wasn’t so bad — at least it gave Su Chen some breathing room. But it seemed the major plot points still wouldn’t change.

After the person left, Gu Jingning walked over to the seat the lackey had been standing at.

On the black plastic chair, a transparent, sticky substance was barely visible to the naked eye without light reflection. Gu Jingning took out the wet wipes he had prepared in advance and thoroughly cleaned the seat.

That day, when he had fallen out with Pei Yuanqing, he had thought that the young Pei Yuanqing still retained some conscience. He had said those things hoping Pei Yuanqing would hurry up and go find Gu Jingyu instead of tormenting innocent people. But instead, Pei Yuanqing had still instructed Xu Tao to humiliate Su Chen.

Since Xu Tao wanted to humiliate Su Chen in front of the entire school, then don’t blame him for not being polite!

—

The next day, in the auditorium, Su Chen received the certificate for first place in the grade. He looked high-spirited and confident, just like when he had stood on stage as the freshman representative to give his speech.

In the original plot, at this point Su Chen was already suffocated by life and Pei Yuanqing’s pursuit. He wasn’t even in the top fifty of the grade, let alone first place. With Teacher Zheng’s belittling and his classmates’ mockery, school had become hell for him.

But all these changes had happened in less than half a year.

In order to completely isolate Su Chen from everyone, Xu Tao had come up with a vicious method. He wanted to humiliate Su Chen in front of the entire school and teachers. The best way to destroy a person was to make sure he could never raise his head in front of others again.

The day before, Xu Tao’s lackey had smeared a special adhesive on Su Chen’s seat. During the closing ceremony, as long as it stuck to Su Chen’s clothes, when he stood up, either his butt would be glued to the chair and he’d have to walk with it attached, or if he pulled too hard, his pants would tear, exposing his butt in front of everyone.

When he had read that scene, he had only been able to finish it by pairing it with the readers’ curses in the comment section.

There were also readers who gave Pei Yuanqing the title “Dark Crazy Gong” and loved this kind of story.

Readers had their own preferences, so he wouldn’t say much. But now this was reality for him. It was best for Su Chen to stay far away from a man like that!

“What are you thinking about? You’re staring so intently. Do you like him that much?”

“Mhm…” Still immersed in the plot, Gu Jingning didn’t react in time.

“So you admit it~” Jiang Yunhe laughed.

Young Master Gu was speechless and punched him.

Jiang Yunhe leaned close to his ear and grinned cheekily. “My little uncle is here too. Want to meet him together later?”

“No, I have plans with someone. Help me say hi to Uncle Jiang.”

—

A few hours later, the ceremony ended successfully. Teachers, students, and parents were about to leave. Gu Jingning remained in his seat, silently counting in his heart.

3—2—

Suddenly, commotion erupted from the back. A burst of noise exploded among the crowd, mixed with the continuous sound of camera shutters.

The projection screen lowered, and an image of Xu Tao with his clothes torn appeared. One hand covered his front, the other shielded his lower body. His wretched figure was completely exposed.

A “pfft” sound came from somewhere, like a stone thrown into a lake. Laughter gradually spread, growing louder and louder, completely unrestrained. The naked mockery hit Xu Tao like a slap to the face.

Gu Jingning watched coldly as Xu Tao’s face turned beet red. He tried to rush out of the auditorium, but because of the crowd, he only ended up pushing himself farther from the exit. Gu Jingning suspected that it might also be because Xu Tao usually bullied students as if it were normal, and the number of people he had bullied exceeded an entire class. The students might have been deliberately blocking him as revenge.

When Xu Tao’s lackeys came forward to drape clothes over him, Gu Jingning laughed.

Because Xu Tao was crying.

How does it feel to have your own vicious trick used against you?

Gu Jingning sat in his seat, swinging his leg, enjoying his own masterpiece for a while.

“It’s a shame it’s winter break next. I really wanted to see how Xu Tao would survive at school after this.”

—

After school, Gu Jingning and Su Chen went to eat lunch first.

Gu Jingning insisted on paying, but Su Chen stubbornly wanted to go Dutch. He ate his meal with a pout. He should have chosen a cheaper restaurant.

The two sat side by side on the bus. Seeing Gu Jingning still looking downcast with his head drooping like a little puppy, Su Chen secretly smiled in his heart. He really wanted to rub his head, but he didn’t show it on his face. Instead, he comforted him, “It’s okay, Senior. I have a part-time job, and I also received a scholarship this semester. I can still afford this meal.”

“But you work so hard. I want to give you everything I can.”

He had seen Su Chen’s entire life and was now participating in it. For a character he liked, he wished he could shield him from all misfortune.

Gu Jingning didn’t realize that the words he unconsciously blurted out had stirred up huge waves in Su Chen’s heart.

Su Chen’s face turned bright red. He brushed his hair aside, trying to hide his reddening ears, and felt relieved that Gu Jingning hadn’t noticed.

“It’s fine, Senior… As long as Senior cares about me, that’s enough. That’s what I want the most.”

Gu Jingning said pitifully, “Really?”

“Mhm, really!”

After comforting the Beta, Su Chen carefully rested his head on Gu Jingning’s shoulder.

“Sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

Su Chen wasn’t actually tired. Every moment with Gu Jingning gave him endless energy. He just wanted to get closer — ideally to touch the person he liked the most.

When they were about to reach their stop, Gu Jingning woke Su Chen. The two got off the bus and walked to the entrance of a boxing gym.

“Senior… this is…?” Su Chen looked confused. Wasn’t this… supposed to be a date?

“Let’s go in first!” In contrast, Gu Jingning sounded excited.

As they walked into the gym, a middle-aged man with a full beard was already waiting for them.

“Uncle! This is my friend. We came to try it out together today.”

“Senior?”

Su Chen was bewildered as Gu Jingning pushed him toward the middle-aged man.

Lin Zhenchuan looked at the two of them sternly, his eyes scanning and assessing how many rounds the person Gu Jingning had brought could last.

“He looks very weak, Jingning. This isn’t something to play around with. One careless move and any person here could send him to the hospital.”

“Dad, don’t scare him.” A gentle voice came from the corridor. Lin Mo, wearing sportswear and putting on boxing gloves, walked over.

He stood in front of Su Chen and extended his hand with a warm greeting. “Hello, I’m Lin Mo, Jingning’s friend. You must be Su Chen! I’ve heard Yunhe and Ning mention you often.”

Su Chen shook his hand. “Hello, Senior.”

“I’m an Omega too, so don’t be nervous. You can train with me today!”

“But… I didn’t bring any sportswear.” He looked troubled at his school uniform.

“Hehe, I prepared some.” Gu Jingning took out a brand-new set of clothes and held it up against Su Chen. “It should fit.”

Gu Jingning led Su Chen to the changing room. Su Chen quickly grabbed Gu Jingning’s hand and asked nervously, “Senior, why didn’t you tell me we were coming to a place like this?”

“Didn’t I? Maybe I forgot.” Actually, he had been afraid Su Chen would get scared and run away.

“It’s fine, just treat it as coming to exercise with me. You haven’t forgotten about fulfilling the contract, right? You can’t refuse the employer’s request.”

“…Even without the contract, I would still come with you.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Gu Jingning smiled. “Let’s go!”

Su Chen put on the helmet. Lin Mo led him onto the soft mat and began teaching him.

Meanwhile, Gu Jingning confidently left Su Chen with his friend and went to use the other training equipment.

After exercising for a while, he sat on a chair drinking water. Lin Zhenchuan also sat down beside him. In the distance, Su Chen was clumsily throwing punches at the focus mitts while Lin Mo patiently corrected his form from time to time.

“So that’s the kid — the part-time worker candidate.”

“Yeah. What do you think, Uncle?”

“I think he won’t last a week. Look at those thin arms and legs — one wrong move and he could get a fracture.”

Gu Jingning glanced at Lin Mo’s pale, slender hands and legs, which were more than twice as thin as the adult Alphas around them. “Uncle, did you teach Lin Mo boxing because you thought his arms and legs were thick?”

“You—!” Lin Zhenchuan clicked his tongue.

“Mo Mo is my son. I’m a national champion. My son definitely has talent. Look at all those trophies and medals — they were all won by our Mo Mo!”

Gu Jingning secretly rolled his eyes. “You’re not trying to train another Lin Mo. Just let him do odd jobs and teach him some self-defense. That’s enough. He’s very smart and learns quickly. Maybe one day you’ll be the one who doesn’t want to let him go.”

Gu Jingning kept promoting him. “He gets first place every time. He’s super good at math and has lots of work experience — restaurants, convenience stores, no problem. Calculating bills, contacting people, cleaning — he’s definitely good at all of it.”

Seeing that Lin Zhenchuan seemed a little tempted, he pressed his advantage. “Plus, you’re always asking us how to operate your phone. We’re all tired of it. But he has a great temper — even if you ask him a hundred times, he definitely won’t get annoyed.”

Lin Zhenchuan pretended to hesitate for a moment, then reluctantly agreed. “Fine, then it’s him! I trust whoever you pick.”

Hehe! This trick really worked. Gu Jingning could clearly see the corners of Lin Zhenchuan’s mouth struggling to stay down!

“Uncle, about the salary…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t treat your friend badly. But this is the first time I’ve seen you care so much about an Omega other than Lin Mo. What’s going on? Is there something between you two?”

“No!” One after another — first Jiang Yunhe, now Lin Zhenchuan. Couldn’t he and Su Chen have a pure friendship?!

“What are you shy about? When I was your age, I had so many partners they could line up to the next city.”

“Really?” A woman’s voice rang out.

“Yeah!”

“……”

Lin Zhenchuan’s eyes widened.

Gu Jingning looked innocent and pointed behind him.

“Looks like you’re not having lunch today.” The woman handed the lunchbox in her hand to another trainee, who happily ran off with it.

Everyone here knew that the mistress’s cooking was comparable to a five-star chef’s.

“Wait! Honey! I was wrong!” Lin Zhenchuan quickly got up and chased after her.