[Quick Transmigration] The Pretty Little Cannon Fodder Who Doesn’t Speak - Chapter 16

Xia Zhixu stared at his phone with deep resentment. He opened Shen Lan’s chat window, then quickly closed it. A minute later, he mustered his courage and opened it again, only to close it once more.

Yuan Bao grew so impatient that it started pacing in circles, “Host, don’t be scared to confront her! She’s not even in front of you, and this was her fault to begin with. Just bring out the courage you had when you stood up to your roommate before!”

Xia Zhixu, “Yuan Bao, you remembered wrong… I never stood up to my roommate.”

Yuan Bao, “…”

‘Right, it had forgotten—its host was an honest fool.’

Yuan Bao, “That’s not important! Host, go!! Even if you don’t win the bun, win your dignity!”

Xia Zhixu clenched his fists and nodded firmly. 

“Mm.”

Then Yuan Bao watched as Xia Zhixu opened Shen Lan’s chat window, his fingertips hovering over the keyboard. Suddenly, the phone screen went dark as Xia Zhixu turned and walked into the nearby supermarket.

Yuan Bao, “…”

‘Nice!!’

Xia Zhixu suppressed that tiny flicker of fear, excitedly ran to buy a bottle of ice-cold water, and after leaving the supermarket, downed it in one gulp—with the boldness of someone who’d just chugged two ounces of white liquor.

After tossing the empty bottle into the trash, Xia Zhixu pressed the voice call button.

Watching this, Yuan Bao felt its own spirits soaring.

‘Its precious host had finally grown up.’

Shen Lan saw the voice call notification displaying Xia Zhixu’s name. Hesitating briefly, she answered. 

Before Xia Zhixu could speak, she blurted out anxiously, “Xia Zhixu! Where did you go yesterday? We spent the whole night looking for you… The social gathering was supposed to be a chance to relax and unwind, but you vanished. We spent the entire night searching for you. You should apologise to everyone when you have time. I’ll put in a good word for you, and they won’t hold it against you.”

This line of reasoning would undoubtedly silence some of them, turning the blame onto the victim.

Yuan Bao looked at Xia Zhixu with concern, “Host, don’t listen to them. They’re the ones who are truly at fault. It’s not your fault.”

Xia Zhixu, “Did you fail your nine years of compulsory education? How could you say something like that? You were the one who insisted I come, saying it was just a quick hello before leaving. But once I got there, you wouldn’t let me go and kept forcing me to drink. If I hadn’t managed to slip away, who knows what you would’ve done to me? As class monitor, shouldn’t you at least act like one? Helping others scheme against your own classmates—does the counsellor know about this? Does your family know how morally corrupt you are? You should be grateful I escaped yesterday. If something had happened to me, you wouldn’t have gotten away with it! Don’t you feel a shred of guilt after all the trust I placed in you? After all those years of schooling, try to be a decent person for once!”

At this point, Xia Zhixu paused and offered sincere advice, “If all else fails, read more books on moral education! Learn what virtue truly means. If you can’t afford books, just study the Student Conduct Guidelines! They’re free. Treat those guidelines as your code of conduct, and you’ll know how to behave.”

Yuan Bao couldn’t help but marvel at Xia Zhixu’s upbringing—he didn’t even use a single curse word.

‘This combat power… It’s all about sincerity. Should it sign the host up for some kind of Host Growth Training Class?’

Shen Lan clenched her phone. Having been seen as an exemplary student by others since childhood, she’d never been spoken to like this before. 

She’d thought Xia Zhixu was the dumbest fool around, but now this whole—treating the elementary and middle school student code as a code of conduct. Who exactly was he mocking?

Shen Lan trembled with rage, gritting her teeth. 

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. We were just trying to have fun. No one expected you to get drunk after two drinks. We said from the start you could leave after two drinks. Don’t be paranoid. As class monitor, I invited you because you seemed out of place. Don’t make baseless accusations.”

Xia Zhixu grew even angrier. 

‘This Shen Lan was truly shameless—still refusing to admit it!’

And after he’d been so sincere, too.

“You know best whether I’m paranoid! How can you justify this moral decay to your parents? I was wrong—the Student Code of Conduct is too advanced for you! I refuse to associate with someone as morally bankrupt as you anymore. Please stay away from me from now on. I despise you.”

With that, Xia Zhixu hung up the phone, his cheeks flushed with anger.

Yuan Bao, who had been about to declare Xia Zhixu had finally seen the light, suddenly felt like he was witnessing a kindergarten squabble.

‘I’m not playing with you anymore!’—that kind of feeling.

But as its host, he still needed pampering. Yuan Bao pondered how to comfort Xia Zhixu.

Xia Zhixu’s eyes sparkled brightly. “Yuan Bao, it feels so good to curse someone!”

Yuan Bao, “…”

‘So Xia Zhixu really thought… that counted as cursing someone?’

To be fair, his combat prowess was impressive—his sarcasm was off the charts.

‘But, dear host, you’re such a polite person…are you sure you won’t suffer for it?’

Then Yuan Bao recalled something from a parenting book: when a child seeks praise, parents must never withhold it—always give instant positive reinforcement.

Don’t ask which books—just know it was a parenting manual.

Yuan Bao, “Right, right! Host, you were amazing just now! Keep it upsoon no one will dare to bully us again!”

Xia Zhixu clenched his fists. 

“Alright, I’ll keep working hard!”

Yuan Bao happily pulled out his cursing manual, ready to teach Xia Zhixu a few new tricks. But when it looked up, Xia Zhixu was gone! 

Frantic, Yuan Bao nearly dove into the trash bins searching for him before spotting him standing under a bulletin board nearby.

Yuan Bao rushed over, “Host, what are you doing?”

Xia Zhixu, “Yuan Bao, look—they’re recruiting volunteers.”

Yuan Bao glanced at the red-and-white poster announcing volunteer sign-ups.

It was mentioned that the event was scheduled for next Friday at a nursing home, and each participant would earn two academic credits.

Xia Zhixu, “Didn’t you say we should do good deeds? This is a perfect opportunity.”

Yuan Bao was so touched that it nearly burst into tears. 

‘What an angelic host! Wuwuwu… its host had grown up—now he understood about completing tasks! How delightful! All those points spent buying Xia Zhixu snacks hadn’t been wasted after all!’

‘But still…’

Yuan Bao, “Host, these will all be strangers… aren’t you scared?

Xia Zhixu, “As long as they don’t talk to me, I’m not scared.”

Yuan Bao, “But going to the nursing home means you’ll have to talk to the elderly, doesn’t it?”

Xia Zhixu, “I’m not scared of old people.”

Yuan Bao, “…”

‘So you’re only scared of young ones? Selective social anxiety—really?’

***

Xia Zhixu pulled out his phone, opened the school app, found the volunteer activity, and signed up immediately.

Back in the dorm, Xia Zhixu had learned his lesson. Even though he heard voices inside, he didn’t knock. He simply pulled out his key and unlocked the door.

But the looks Zhao Zihe and the others gave him made Xia Zhixu extremely uncomfortable.

They stared at him like he was a clown, their eyes flickering with a hint of amusement.

Xia Zhixu looked to Chen Mingyu for an explanation, but Chen Mingyu avoided his gaze.

Having endured constant targeting from the younger generation of the Xia family, Xia Zhixu was all too familiar with these looks.

They’d play cruel pranks on him, then wait expectantly for him to discover them.