After Transmigrating into a Book, I Saved the Cheap Shou - Chapter 6

The next morning at 5 a.m., the sky was only faintly bright.

Gu Jingning turned off his alarm. His roommates were still sound asleep. He quietly grabbed his toiletries and went to the bathroom to wash up.

He hadn’t woken up this early in a long time. He had spent the entire night reviewing the original book’s plot, so his mind was still groggy.

This morning, Pei Yuanqing was supposed to stage a heroic rescue scene at the usual time Su Chen went to school. It was a very cliché plot. Xu Tao would wait on the road for Su Chen, who was passing by on his bicycle. Since Su Chen had to help with his family’s snack stall, he didn’t live in the dorms. Xu Tao would calculate the distance and swing a baseball bat at the bike. Su Chen wouldn’t be able to react in time, fall to the ground, get scrapes on his arms and legs, and sprain his ankle. Then Pei Yuanqing would appear, punch the attackers, and carry Su Chen to the infirmary.

By playing the role of benefactor, he would gain Su Chen’s goodwill and trust. On top of that, Su Chen’s already old and broken bicycle would be completely destroyed in the incident. Pei Yuanqing would then offer to give Su Chen rides to and from school while he recovered.

Yesterday, Gu Jingning had left a key for Su Chen. If Su Chen arrived at the classroom early, he could ruin the scumbag’s plan. Still, he wanted to observe from afar to make sure Su Chen got to school early and didn’t run into Pei Yuanqing. This was the scumbag gong and protagonist shou’s first official encounter, so he had to be careful.

Qingyang had strict rules for boarding students and didn’t allow them to go out casually. Gu Jingning put on a cap and mask, walked to a blind spot under the surveillance cameras by the school wall, climbed up with both hands, nimbly flipped over, and landed stylishly.

*Hmph, landing posture: 100 points.*

He went to a breakfast shop three streets away from school and sat down. After waiting for a long time, he finally saw the protagonist shou riding his bicycle.

The boy wearing a black hoodie pulled his cap lower, stood up, picked up the breakfast he had bought for Jiang Yunhe and Lin Mo, and walked out of the shop. He looked left and right. *Good, no sign of that scumbag Pei Yuanqing.*

A wonderful day begins by staying away from the scumbag. Gu Jingning put on his earphones, walked back to school with light, happy steps, and hummed a song.

What Gu Jingning didn’t know was that as Su Chen rode past him, he secretly took a deep breath of the faint but familiar scent in the air — the scent belonging to a certain person.

—

Pei Yuanqing was in a very bad mood today. His carefully planned first “hero saves beauty” scene had fallen through. He had waited on the street for a whole hour in the early morning heat. He took his anger out on Xu Tao and the others for not even confirming the time properly. He wore a sour face the entire day and nearly got marked tardy. His perfect image outside was always spotless — being late was a stain that should never appear on him.

Speaking of Pei Yuanqing, he had caused a huge stir the moment he entered the school. It wasn’t just because of his superior bone structure, handsome face, and tall, straight figure. It was also because of his background. The Pei family had accumulated countless riches over generations. They had deep, tangled business ties with many local prestigious families in A City. Ordinary people simply couldn’t afford to offend him.

To outsiders, Pei Yuanqing was gentle and polite. Last year he had dominated the first-year rankings as number one. Although Qingyang had many rich young masters, most students were still ordinary. It wasn’t like those exaggerated dramas where everyone was rich or noble. So many people admired and supported Pei Yuanqing. Under their flattery, he became the current student council president.

But in Gu Jingning’s eyes, Pei Yuanqing was nothing but a refined scum wearing a sheep’s skin. He had known this even before he realized this world was a book. They had known each other for quite a while. Pei Yuanqing used to visit the Gu family often to see Gu Jingyu, so they knew exactly what kind of people each other were.

These past few days, Gu Jingning kept going to the first-year building and dealt with people who wanted to harass Su Chen in ways that wouldn’t let Su Chen notice him. People were strange creatures who followed the wind. Because the school bully was leading the charge, even though many of them didn’t actually have any deep grudge against Su Chen, they still treated him as a punching bag everyone could step on.

In a remote, unnoticed corner of the campus.

After once again beating up people who wanted to embarrass Su Chen, Gu Jingning panted and asked in confusion, “Why are you all so persistent? You can’t beat me in a fight, so why are you so obsessed?”

“I should be asking who the hell you are! What does our bullying of Su Chen have to do with you?!”

“Yeah, and wearing a mask? Can’t show your face?”

“Don’t tell me you’ve taken a fancy to that Omega Su Chen. If you want him, once we’re done, we brothers can let you—”

His mouth was stuffed full of dirt before he could finish.

“Shut up. No one would think you’re mute even if you stayed quiet.” Gu Jingning took out his handkerchief to wipe his hands. He had beaten up quite a few people these past few days. Some got scared and stopped bothering Su Chen, but others, like the group on the ground, just wouldn’t go away no matter how many times he chased them off. Gu Jingning couldn’t help but think, *Is this what a novel world is like? In my previous life, high school was just endless exams and mountains of homework. Who had time to go around harassing people?*

In the bathroom, Gu Jingning took off his mask and splashed water on his sweat-dampened face. His originally fair hands were now red and scraped. It was impossible to fight every day without getting hurt. He didn’t like fighting and wasn’t particularly good at it — he had only received some systematic training — but he was still better than these students who only relied on brute force. Still, this couldn’t continue. More people would just keep showing up. He couldn’t follow Su Chen 24 hours a day. He needed a better plan.

On the way back to class, he was deep in thought and didn’t notice the person in front of him whose view was blocked by a stack of books. They collided, and the other person lost their balance. Books scattered all over the ground with a clatter.

“Ah!” The boy cried out as he fell.

“Sorry! Sorry! Are you okay, classmate?” Gu Jingning, distracted by his thoughts, quickly reached out to help the boy up. The moment he saw the face clearly, he was stunned.

After a few days, the bruises on the boy’s face had faded a lot. Even though this was only the second time he had seen Su Chen’s face up close, Gu Jingning still froze for three seconds, dazzled by how beautiful he was. The warm hand touching the slightly cool one brought Gu Jingning back to his senses, and he pulled the boy up. For a moment, he thought he felt the other person rub against his hand.

“Thank you…” Su Chen habitually lowered his head quickly and picked up the homework on the ground.

Although Gu Jingning was already very familiar with Su Chen, Su Chen didn’t know him yet, so he pretended not to know him and said, “Classmate, you’re carrying so many things. Where are you taking them? I’ll help you.”

“No need, it’s fine. I can manage.”

“No need to be polite with your senior. Here, I’ll take these, and you take those, Su classmate.”

Looking at the five books now in his hands, then at the half-head height difference after the other boy stood up, Su Chen wanted to say he wasn’t that fragile. But after thinking for a moment, his words took a different turn: “Senior? You… know me?”

Gu Jingning’s smiling lips suddenly stiffened. He stammered, “No, I-I don’t know you. I just happened to see the class name on your homework. Oh right, where did you say you were delivering these? Let’s hurry, I need to get to class too.”

Su Chen’s heart tightened. *Why is he pretending not to know me? Does he also not want to be around me?* But the wounds on the other person’s hands told a different story. Although Gu Jingning had been very secretive, Su Chen wasn’t stupid. Many people who used to enjoy bullying him had suddenly stopped. After paying a little attention, he realized it was all thanks to the person in front of him.

The feeling of their skin touching earlier still lingered on his fingertips. The other person’s delicate, soft palm contrasted sharply with his own calloused hand. The scars on the back of that hand revealed exactly what he had been doing.

Su Chen rubbed his fingers together, watching the person’s retreating back and pondering.

In the past, there had also been people who tried to get close to him, but they were nothing more than hypocrites.

Is this person the same?