The Cannon Fodder Stole the Male Lead’s Script GL - Chapter 55

Tong Xue did not say a word. She just stared out the window with empty eyes, as if her mind was either completely blank or weighed down by heavy thoughts.

After a long while, she suddenly turned to Wayne and asked, “What did your family say when you found out about your orientation?”

Wayne was startled and paused for a few seconds before answering, “What else could they say? Of course they disagreed.” He turned to smile at her. “My mom was so angry she couldn’t eat for two days, and my dad locked me in the study and beat me for two days straight. Look, I still have scars on my arm.”

He rolled up his sleeve to show her. Sure enough, his arm was covered in scarred lines.

Tong Xue’s pupils contracted, and she quickly looked away. “Then how did you find the courage to stand up to your parents?”

“Because they are still my parents,” he said. “No matter how angry they were, I am still their biological and only son. So I knew they would forgive me eventually. I was counting on the fact that they would eventually back down for me, since I am their only child and the idea of them having another is clearly unrealistic.”

Hearing this, Tong Xue turned her gaze away from the window and lowered her head to look at her fingers.

“So, Xiao Xue,” Wayne said gently, “we have known each other for so many years. Even though I tricked you with that childhood engagement and I owe you an apology, I still want to tell you this. If you like someone, go after them. Otherwise, if you miss the chance, it might be a regret for a lifetime. No matter what the problem is, do not be afraid.”

Tong Xue smiled and shook her head but did not reply.

In her heart, she thought, Not be afraid? How could I not be afraid?

Wayne had the confidence that came from being loved by his parents.

But she was not her father’s only child, and her mother was not his only wife. She and her mother had always lived in uncertainty within the Tong family, where their status was fragile and constantly at risk. Outwardly, their lives looked glamorous, but inside, a single gust of wind or storm could leave them homeless.

To protect her position in the Tong family and maintain the illusion of luxury, her mother would never take any risks.

Her biggest value as a daughter was to marry into a respectable family and bring her mother along to live a good life.

Like a girl? That was unthinkable.

She still remembered that when she was a child, she and Xin Keke were very close. Once, while playing a game of bride and groom, she kissed Xin Keke. Her mother saw it, and that night, she burned her lips with a cigarette and called her filthy, accusing her of thinking about dirty things at such a young age.

But if she came home from school with a boy from a powerful family, her mother would be overjoyed.

Leaning her hand against the car window, Tong Xue looked outside and wondered what her mother would do if she really got together with Xin Keke now.

Back then, it was a cigarette burn. Would it be death now?

Could she really handle it?

And was Xin Keke truly the person she could give everything up for?

The future was long, and she was still young. She did not understand everything and did not dare to take the risk.

So she thought, Let it be.

After the party ended, the students gradually left. Jiang Yun and Zhan Rao also returned home after thanking Xin Keke’s parents.

Jiang Yun’s car was parked outside the residential complex, so they had to walk out together. Along the way, Zhan Rao was still upset about everything that had happened between Xin Keke and Tong Xue. She kept complaining about Tong Xue and feeling indignant for Xin Keke.

Jiang Yun smiled helplessly and suddenly reached out her hand toward Zhan Rao.

Zhan Rao was momentarily stunned, then quickly glanced around. Seeing that most of the students had already gone, she happily grabbed Jiang Yun’s hand. The two of them walked side by side down the road leading out of the villa neighborhood.

A moment ago, Zhan Rao had been preoccupied with defending Xin Keke. Now, all she could think about was the person beside her and their hands joined together.

Under the moonlight, their shadows leaned close together, and Zhan Rao could not stop the smile that curled on her lips.

Jiang Yun saw the little girl’s expression and couldn’t help but smile too.

“Jiang Yun…”

Zhan Rao suddenly leaned closer and whispered by her ear with her shoulder touching hers, “I want to kiss your hand.”

Her face turned red as she moved away.

Jiang Yun raised an eyebrow. “What did you say?”

Zhan Rao was already embarrassed, and now Jiang Yun was deliberately pretending not to understand. It was infuriating.

“I said I want to…”

“Is that so?”

Jiang Yun took her hand and lifted it to her lips, gently kissing it.

The soft press of her lips against the back of her hand made Zhan Rao’s heart race. Her face flushed even redder than before.

“You… you… you…”

Jiang Yun did not care what she wanted to say. She just liked the feeling and lowered her head again to kiss her once more. She could not help but nibble slightly, leaving one red mark after another on the smooth, pale skin. Finally, she gave her a tiny bite, and it was only when Zhan Rao gasped that she stopped.

Licking her lips with satisfaction, Jiang Yun smiled shyly. “Your skin feels amazing. I couldn’t resist.”

She said it so casually, as if there was nothing inappropriate about doing this in public.

Zhan Rao was both shy and annoyed. “You are not allowed to do that again!”

“Why not?”

“That was my idea first. You copied me! That was my idea!”

Every time she wanted to do something romantic, Jiang Yun beat her to it. It was infuriating. She had wanted to do the same thing.

Jiang Yun shrugged. “Then next time, be faster.”

Zhan Rao was furious. “I don’t care. You can’t copy my ideas next time!”

Her little face scrunched up in a pout, but it only made her look more tempting.

Jiang Yun had to use all her willpower not to kiss that adorable little face.

“Alright, alright. Next time, I won’t copy.”

“That’s better,” Zhan Rao said, pleased, but then her expression shifted mischievously. “Then can I kiss your hand now?”

Jiang Yun shook her head. “No.”

“Why not!” Zhan Rao fumed, her face wrinkling again.

Jiang Yun smiled. “Because I just want to see you angry.”

“Jiang Yun!”

Zhan Rao lunged to pinch her, but Jiang Yun quickly ran ahead.

The two of them chased each other playfully down the road.

Their laughter drew curious glances from other students.

“Those two are really close, huh.”

Another voice joined in with a hint of amusement and insight. “Yes, they are so close it is already beyond normal friendship.”

The girl who had just spoken turned to see who made the comment and was shocked to find that it was Yan Kuo. But what did he mean by that?

“Are you jealous that your mom and your former admirer are getting along too well?”

Yan Kuo snapped, “Shut up!”

He put away his phone in frustration and stormed off.

The girl shrugged. Even though she had been scolded, she felt satisfied just for annoying Yan Kuo.

Wait, why did she dislike Yan Kuo so much now? She had once been one of his many admirers.

And come to think of it, did Yan Kuo really attend Xin Keke’s birthday party today?

She had not even noticed him there.

Scratching her head, she was puzzled.

After returning from the party, Yan Kuo went into his study and printed out a photo from his phone.

He leaned his elbow on the desk, holding the color print directly in front of his face. In the photo were two stunning girls. One was charming and cute, the other cool and elegant. They were wearing matching qipao, one in black and the other in white, looking like a perfect pair.

The girl in black lifted the other girl’s hand to her lips and kissed it.

Bathed in moonlight, their emotions were sincere and beautiful.

Yan Kuo toyed with the photo and sighed. “Such a beautiful bond… now everything makes sense.”

He finally understood why Jiang Yun had been getting in his way every time he tried to get closer to Zhan Rao.

He had thought she still had feelings for him and was delusional enough to hope for a promotion in status. But now, it seemed she had her eyes on the heroine.

Trying to steal his girl? Jiang Yun was completely out of line.

And he needed to find out if Zhan Rao had fallen for Jiang Yun too.

One photo was not enough. He needed more evidence of what was going on between those two.

Then, he would let the whole world know about their dirty relationship.

Yan Kuo placed the photo on the desk and tapped on Zhan Rao’s image with a smirk. “As the heroine, you better know who you belong to.”

When the weekend ended, the whole school entered intense review mode. The provincial high school entrance exam was coming up on Wednesday, and everyone was cramming while they still had time.

Li Hongjuan had just started teaching at Yinchuan High School. Naturally, she did not want the students’ first performance under her watch to be a failure.

So starting Monday morning, all students were in high-pressure mode preparing for the big test.

Compared to others, Zhan Rao was quite relaxed. The only thing she cared about was how Jiang Yun’s revision was going.

Last time, Jiang Yun ranked in the top 1,000. This time, who knew how much she could improve?

When their homeroom teacher left them to study on their own, Zhan Rao thought for a bit and then pulled out three new pink notebooks. She began organizing the key concepts and advanced topics from the past two months in math, Chinese, and English.

She wrote everything carefully, creating tree diagrams and problem-solving strategies.

She also collected similar questions from their practice books and developed ways to turn a single method into a tool for solving many different problems.

“Genius Zhan, what are you doing?”

Her classmate from behind was shocked to see her drawing diagrams instead of solving practice questions.

But once they leaned in and saw what she was writing, they were amazed.

“Wow! You can summarize problems like this?”

Zhan Rao raised her eyebrow. “I have always done it this way.” Usually, she just did it in her head. This time, she was writing it out for Jiang Yun.

Her pen kept moving as she explained, “Math questions always follow patterns. Once you master the formulas and summarize them well, new questions can become familiar. The key is to understand the formulas deeply and combine them strategically. Like this question, it uses three formulas, and this other one is just a variation with one formula switched. They may look different, but the methods are nearly the same.”

Her classmate was stunned. “No wonder you always score so high in math. Can I borrow your notes?”

They reached for the notebook, but Zhan Rao pulled it back. “No. These are for someone else.”

She went back to her summaries.

Her classmates were disappointed but had no time to argue. They just muttered “stingy” and went back to studying.

After four class periods of self-study, Zhan Rao finally finished summarizing two months’ worth of material.

The three notebooks were packed. To save time, she had cut and pasted questions instead of writing them out by hand.

She even used colored pens to mark different problem types.

When she finished the last problem, she wrote on the front page of each notebook, For Jiang Yun.

Then she pulled out a gift bag and carefully packed them.

“I am going to Grade 10, Class 1.”

Tong Xue looked up from her workbook and grabbed her hand, worried. “Now? Don’t you think you are being too obvious?”

She was referring to how close she and Jiang Yun had been acting.

Tong Xue was afraid people would start gossiping.

But Zhan Rao looked unfazed and pulled her hand away. “What are you afraid of? I am not you.”

Tong Xue’s face instantly turned sour.

Zhan Rao ignored her. She was still mad about what happened at Xin Keke’s birthday. She had no interest in talking to Tong Xue.

She grabbed the notebooks and headed to Class 1.