After Transmigrating into a Book, I Saved the Cheap Shou - Chapter 3

A few more weeks passed. During this period, Gu Jingning had no interaction whatsoever with Su Chen. After all, they were in different grades — he was a second-year student, while Su Chen was a freshman.

Qingyang High School had a strange rule: two weeks after the start of first year, they would hold a placement exam and reassign classes according to the results. Only later did he realize this was purely for the sake of the plot.

One day, while Gu Jingning was passing by the first-year building with his friends, he noticed that Su Chen’s classroom was in complete chaos. A large crowd had gathered outside. People were whispering and pointing at Su Chen, their faces full of open mockery. Scattered across the floor were exam papers covered in footprints and torn textbooks. Su Chen stood alone at his seat, his messy bangs covering his expression.

Gu Jingning hesitated for a moment. The urge to help pushed at his feet, but reason struggled in his mind. His steps involuntarily moved toward Su Chen, but his arm was grabbed by Jiang Yunhe.

“What are you doing?” Jiang Yunhe seemed to see through his intention and pulled him back. “Mind your own business.”

“That’s bullying,” Gu Jingning said angrily.

“Leave it alone, Young Master Gu. Everyone knows this is authorized by Pei Yuanqing. Even the teachers won’t get involved. What can you do? Don’t bring trouble on yourself.”

The name Pei Yuanqing snapped Gu Jingning back to his senses. He wasn’t afraid of Pei Yuanqing, but he was afraid of the invisible “plot controller” of this world. Having read countless novels, Gu Jingning knew that people who opposed the protagonists usually didn’t end well.

“What are you all standing around for like idiots?! The bell rang — why aren’t you back in your seats?!” The homeroom teacher of Class 5 stood at the doorway, roaring in irritation. When she walked in and saw the state of the classroom, her voice faltered. She completely ignored the look Su Chen was giving her.

“Teacher, I’m being bullied. Can’t you see that?”

“It’s just friends fooling around. What’s the big deal about getting hit a few times?” Teacher Zheng simply stepped onto the podium and waved her hand impatiently. “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. Hurry up and clean up all that trash on the floor. Don’t delay other people’s class time.”

Hearing the teacher’s words, Su Chen’s fingers trembled slightly.

Trash? Every single piece of paper called “trash” was covered with dense handwriting — written stroke by stroke by him late at night under dim lights, all so he could change his damn fate.

He lowered his head and calmly picked up the torn papers from the floor. However, beneath his hair, his eyes were bloodshot and filled with unwillingness.

In the end, the matter was brushed aside with the teacher playing dumb.

Pushed away by Jiang Yunhe, Gu Jingning turned back one last time before leaving. He saw Su Chen silently picking up the exam papers one by one, carefully wiping the textbooks clean, then sitting quietly on his filthy desk. Gu Jingning clenched his fists tightly in anger.

—

During break time.

In the bathroom, several pheromones clashed in the air. The strong smell rushed into Su Chen’s nose, making him extremely uncomfortable. His sensitive glands were stimulated by the Alpha pheromones, and the pain was growing worse.

Thud!

Su Chen was shoved hard onto the floor. His back slammed against it violently, the pain making it impossible for him to get up quickly. His nose was filled with the filthy stench of urine and feces from the toilet. Countless fists and kicks rained down on his body.

Xu Tao squatted down and looked straight at the disheveled Su Chen leaning against the wall. His attitude was extremely nasty: “Tell me, Su Chen, what makes you think you’re worthy of Young Master Pei’s attention? You’re just a filthy bug living off subsidies, destined to stay in the gutter your whole life. Yet you still want to climb into high society? Look at you, daring to hang onto Young Master Pei, huh?”

He grabbed Su Chen’s hair and shoved his twisted, furious face close.

Although Xu Tao was an Alpha, he was only a low-grade D-level. His cheap gasoline-like pheromones posed no real threat, but the foul smell still made Su Chen frown.

Su Chen gave a sarcastic smile. He looked very good when he smiled — the teardrop mole at the corner of his eye was seductive, as if tempting everyone who looked at him. His smile made Xu Tao dazed for a second.

“You’re only daring to do this because your father is the mayor… cough… cough… Without the Pei family as your backing, your Xu family… is nothing. Do you really think no one will ever find out what you’re doing?”

Xu Tao kicked Su Chen hard in the stomach, his eyes vicious. “That’s right! My dad is the mayor. I can easily crush poor trash like you. So what if someone finds out? My dad will clean up everything for me. Do you think this is our first time doing something like this?”

He stood up, straightened his school uniform, brushed off nonexistent dust, then grabbed Su Chen’s hair and yanked him up. Patting Su Chen’s bruised and swollen face, he said, “This is just a small lesson for you.”

Su Chen struggled, glaring at the group with eyes full of rage.

One of Xu Tao’s lackeys slapped Su Chen hard across the face. “What are you looking at?! Be careful or I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

Su Chen was slapped into the wall. Blood immediately flowed from his forehead. Dizzy and unable to get up, he simply let himself pass out. Otherwise, these people wouldn’t let him go today.

“Alright, that’s enough for today.” Xu Tao stood up, washed his hands at the sink, checked himself in the mirror, and fixed his collar, perfectly transforming back into a well-dressed young master.

“Young Master Pei will be here soon. We can’t let Su Chen realize we’re working together.” He waved for his lackeys to leave.

“But Brother Xu, Su Chen’s eyes are really seductive. Isn’t he an Omega? After Pei Shao is done playing with him, can you let us brothers have a taste?” Another lackey looked at the collapsed Su Chen with naked lust, as if he wanted to strip him right there.

Xu Tao smacked the back of his head hard. “You even dare to want someone Young Master Pei has taken a liking to? Wait until he’s tired of him first!”

The bathroom door was locked. The sound of the group’s loud laughter faded as they left.

Drip… drip… Only the sound of the dripping faucet remained.

Su Chen struggled to get up, but the intense pain made him fall back onto the floor. After being doused with a bucket of cold water earlier, his clothes were completely soaked. The icy fabric stuck to his body, rubbing against his wounds with every movement. The pain kept him conscious, preventing him from fainting.

He forced himself to sit up and lean against the wall. A tear slid from the corner of his eye. He laughed lowly: “Hehe… heh… hahaha…” What exactly had he done to deserve this kind of treatment?

With trembling hands, he took out the recorder from his pocket. Xu Tao’s disgusting, arrogant voice played from the phone.

Su Chen’s eyes darkened with malice. Pei Yuanqing… and Xu Tao’s group of dogs — he wouldn’t let a single one of them go. His power was still too weak right now. He still needed to endure.

The bathroom door was locked. He had to find a way out.

Click.

The door was opened again!

Fearing that those people might come back, Su Chen hurriedly collapsed onto the floor again, closed his eyes, and pretended to be unconscious. He squinted slightly and saw a sneaky, furtive figure appear at the doorway.