The Cannon Fodder Stole the Male Lead’s Script GL - Chapter 56

When Zhan Rao arrived, it happened to be break time between classes. She held the notebooks in her arms and walked through the corridor toward the floor where Class 1 was located. From the far end of the hallway, she could already see a commotion in front of Class 1’s door.

Many students were clapping and cheering.

She asked a girl from Class 1, someone she was somewhat familiar with, “What’s going on with your class? Why is it so cheerful?”

The girl, in a rush to use the restroom, spoke quickly, “Oh, it’s Yan Kuo from Class 2. No idea what got into him, but he’s over there confessing to Jiang Yun. But…”

Zhan Rao’s expression froze, her face darkened, and she rushed toward Class 1.

Seeing how anxious she looked, the girl did not bother finishing her sentence. She had been about to say, “Jiang Yun already taught him a lesson.”

When Zhan Rao arrived at the classroom door, Yan Kuo had just gotten up from the ground. Around him, people were laughing and jeering at his expense. Embarrassed, he picked up the scattered and torn review materials and pointed at Jiang Yun as he shouted, “Jiang, don’t be ungrateful. I was only giving you a chance out of pity because you’ve liked me for so long.”

His words immediately stirred whispers among the crowd.

Was this supposed to be giving someone a chance?

It sounded more like an insult.

Just moments earlier, this shameless young master had said, “Jiang Yun, since you’ve liked me for years, I’ll give you a chance to be my girlfriend. But to be my girlfriend, there’s a condition. You need to score in the top 300 in the midterm exams. Otherwise, it’s too embarrassing to take you out.” He had then thrown some random study materials in front of her as if doing her a favor.

Screw that.

If Jiang Yun had not immediately flipped him over with a shoulder throw that left him unrecognizable, the rest of the class might have beaten him up themselves.

Yet he still dared to make a scene?

Did he really think Class 1 had no one who could stand up to him?

A few boys at the front were ready to roll up their sleeves and teach him a lesson. But Jiang Yun, who had just thrown him, leaned lazily against the desk and casually twisted her wrist. She said with complete disinterest, “Why don’t you give that chance to someone else? I have no interest in being your girlfriend. What I really want is to be your dad.”

The classroom erupted with laughter.

No one could forget the joke about Yan Kuo kneeling and calling someone mom.

His face turned red and purple with rage.

He could not win a fight or charm her.

Jiang Yun had him completely pinned down, and he had no way to retaliate. Frustrated, he kicked the study materials aside and stormed off. After just a few steps, he saw Zhan Rao standing at the classroom door, her face pale and staring at him.

Yan Kuo suddenly raised his eyebrows. Right in front of Zhan Rao, he straightened his clothes and tried to suppress his anger. He resumed his usual arrogant demeanor and smiled at Jiang Yun. “Jiang Yun, I know you’re just doing this to get back at me because I rejected you when you tried to kiss me at the summer resort during the holiday. Isn’t that right?”

Zhan Rao stood behind him with her fingers digging into the covers as she clutched the notebooks tightly.

Jiang Yun’s face darkened instantly. When she saw Zhan Rao behind Yan Kuo, her expression grew even colder.

The students in Class 1 were stunned.

A kiss?

One classmate snorted, “Come on, that can’t be true.”

Yan Kuo raised his eyebrows smugly. “Not true? Then why don’t you ask Jiang Yun yourself? Didn’t she pretend to be drunk, take off her jacket, and try to kiss me? When I rejected her, didn’t she cry and threaten to jump off a cliff? If I remember correctly, she still has a scar on her knee from that fall.”

He had been drunk that day too and could not remember clearly. But his friends told him that Jiang Yun had tried to kiss him, got humiliated, and then ran off crying to jump off a cliff.

Given how obsessed Jiang Yun used to be with him, he found the story completely believable.

That was exactly why he looked down on her. She had no self-respect. He preferred girls like Zhan Rao, who were not interested in him and posed more of a challenge.

But the real reason he brought up the past now was to humiliate Jiang Yun in front of everyone and to see how Zhan Rao would react. He wanted to know if his suspicion was correct that Zhan Rao had feelings for Jiang Yun. At the same time, he wanted to remind Zhan Rao that Jiang Yun was just someone who used to be obsessed with him.

Almost all the students turned to look at Jiang Yun’s knees.

But her school uniform skirt covered them. Realizing this, everyone looked a little awkward, as if they had subconsciously believed Yan Kuo’s story.

After all, Jiang Yun really had seemed infatuated with him in the past.

“Even if there is a scar, that does not mean what you said is true. Spreading rumors is easy. Clarifying them takes forever. Some people will say anything to make themselves look good.”

A girl’s voice rang out.

Yan Kuo’s face instantly turned dark.

He turned to glare at the girl sitting in the second group, fourth row.

“What nonsense are you spouting?!”

Wang Zitong put down her book with a look of disdain. “Anyone with a working brain knows who’s spouting nonsense. Even soap opera writers wouldn’t come up with a plot like that. Drunk and jumping off a cliff? If she really jumped, how could she only have a knee injury? Her head would have been smashed to pieces. What year is this? Who still dreams up stories that dumb?”

Yan Kuo took a deep breath and did not respond directly.

“Say whatever you want. It still doesn’t change the fact that Jiang Yun tried to throw herself at me.”

“Oh, is that so? Then what is this video I have in my hand?” Jiang Yun, who had been silently watching his performance, finally spoke.

Yan Kuo froze and turned to look at her.

She connected her phone to the computer at the front of the classroom. As she prepared to play the video on the projector, she said, “I do have a scar on my leg. Although I do not remember that day clearly, I like to be thorough, so I went to the hotel near your summer resort and pulled the security footage. I planned to show it when the time was right. Since you brought it up today, why not now? Yan Kuo, let’s all watch it together.”

She turned to smile at him, her tone filled with contempt.

Yan Kuo suddenly sensed that something was very wrong.

And sure enough, as soon as the video started, his eyes widened in shock.

The footage showed a private room in the hotel. Five or six teenagers were drinking and fooling around. Some were boys, some were girls. Most of them were unrecognizable to the students from Yinchuan High, and only the two sitting across from each other, Jiang Yun and Yan Kuo, could be identified.

Suddenly, the group seemed to get excited from drinking. The older teens, who looked like they might already be adults, began coaxing Jiang Yun to drink.

Miss Jiang frowned, clearly annoyed, but she held back her temper for the sake of appearances and kept refusing politely.

Then, Yan Kuo, visibly tipsy after several beers, stood up and pointed at her. “Didn’t you come here for me? These are my friends. If they ask you to drink, you better show some respect. If you’re not drinking, get lost!”

In the video, Jiang Yun looked completely stunned as she was suddenly scolded.

People around them began shouting.

“Yeah, didn’t you come for our Young Master Yan? Hurry and drink. Maybe if you drink enough, he’ll like you.”

“Come on, drink!”

Yan Kuo, drunk and full of himself, shouted, “If you drink, I’ll let you be my girlfriend for a day!”

“Wow, what a huge favor! Hurry up, Miss Jiang! Isn’t this your dream come true?”

On screen, the girl’s face had turned pale.

She pressed her lips together tightly as tears welled up in her eyes.

Perhaps she had never imagined that after being cherished like a princess her whole life, she would be humiliated like this one day.

Even if she did like Yan Kuo, she would never let her dignity be trampled.

“I don’t feel well. I’m leaving now.”

She stood up and said something, but no one around her seemed to hear her voice.

One of the bolder boys grabbed her wrist and shoved her back into the chair. Then, without hesitation, he picked up a glass of liquor and forced it toward her mouth.

Seeing this, the others joined in. They laughed as they surrounded her, pouring drink after drink down her throat without concern.

Liquor soaked her lips and drenched her clothes. The girl in the video was clearly unaccustomed to drinking. In just a few gulps, she became inebriated. Her initial resistance faded, replaced by dizzy confusion.

Someone yanked off her jacket. Then, with a rough shove, she was thrown directly into Yan Kuo’s lap.

“Oh? She’s throwing herself at you now? Yan Kuo, come on, catch her already.”

Yan Kuo scoffed and smirked with disdain. “As if I’d ever like her. Once I get into high school, there will be better girls waiting for me. Jiang Yun? She’s not even worth a second look.”

After saying this, he pushed her aside and resumed drinking with the others as if nothing had happened.

The drunken girl was tossed into the corner like garbage and left there. It took quite some time before she was able to stumble upright and slowly stagger her way outside.

The next scene showed her stepping out of the hotel and onto a cliffside terrace to get some fresh air. Unfortunately, she lost her footing, hit her head on a rock near the edge, and nearly fell off the cliff. She had to claw her way back up with her hands and knees scraped raw and bleeding.

Throughout the entire ordeal, not a single person offered her help.

Even the hotel guard ignored her cries for help, choosing not to intervene.

The video paused on the final frame. In it, Jiang Yun appeared bruised and swaying as she dragged herself back from the edge of the cliff.

The classroom descended into complete silence.

However, if one listened closely, the sounds of clenched fists and grinding teeth could still be heard.

Yan Kuo stood frozen in place. He had never imagined things had happened this way.

Jiang Yun had never wanted to drink. It was they who forced her.

She had not flirted with anyone. They had pushed her.

She had not tried to end her life. She had merely slipped.

And most shocking of all, she had recorded everything. She had the video.

Now she stood confidently at the front of the classroom, smirking down at him from the podium. Though she was only sixteen, she looked like someone who had everything under control. No matter what situation she found herself in, she remained composed and always stayed one step ahead.

Every move she made appeared carefully calculated. In every confrontation with him, she had always left herself a backup plan.

“What are you planning to do with that video?” Yan Kuo asked. His voice was low and cold.

Jiang Yun let out a soft snort. “Didn’t I already say? I am petty. I also happen to like facts.” Her lips curved into a sharper smile. “And I especially enjoy defending my rights. For instance, your little party with your sleazy friends where you all forced me to drink, tore my clothes, and put your hands on me. That would be considered assault. If we’re being polite, we might call it s*xual harassment.”

She paused briefly before continuing. “And as for your hotel’s wonderful gatekeeper who watched me nearly fall off a cliff and chose to do nothing, that’s called negligence. It’s a failure to ensure guest safety. That opens up a discussion about liability, doesn’t it?”

She leaned forward ever so slightly, her smile now sharp as a blade. “I believe this one video is more than enough to earn you a stay behind bars. It could also result in your family’s mountain resort being shut down for an extended review. What do you think about that?”

Yan Kuo’s face turned an ugly shade of purple, like spoiled eggplant.

“Jiang Yun, how dare you!”

She raised an eyebrow in response. “You think I won’t?”

He bit his lip so hard it nearly drew blood.

Deep down, he knew she would.

Ever since the summer retreat, she had never backed down. She had opposed him at every opportunity. It was as though she wanted to see him ruined.

She was capable of doing anything.

She truly was a venomous supporting role.

Yan Kuo inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. He forced his face into something resembling a friendly expression, though it looked more like a grimace. “Come on, it was just a joke. There’s no need to take everything so seriously. Our families have known each other for years, haven’t they?”

“Our families?” Jiang Yun interrupted, her tone calm and firm. “Let’s not pretend there’s any closeness. The Yan family has been clinging to the Jiang name for years. That doesn’t mean we are friends.”

With that, any façade of familiarity was shattered completely and without remorse.

Yan Kuo’s fists clenched tightly, the joints cracking. “Jiang Yun, don’t push your luck!”

Whatever threat he had planned to deliver next never left his mouth. Before he could speak, a group of boys from Class 1 surrounded him. The tallest among them grabbed him by the back of the collar, while the others held his limbs. Together, they hauled him out of the classroom.

“Yan Kuo, if you show your face near our class again, be careful not to lose your third leg.”

One by one, the boys spat at him without hesitation.

Behind them, the girls rolled their eyes with such dramatic flair they could have glimpsed past lives.

No matter how good-looking, how rich, or how smart he was, from that day forward, Yan Kuo would be nothing more than a disgrace. In Class 1, he was now a stray mutt deserving of a beating.

Once the mess had been dealt with, the class gradually calmed down. The bell was about to ring, and students returned to their seats and resumed their routines. Still, some could be heard whispering that they would find a chance to teach Yan Kuo another lesson.

He was revolting. Having a disgrace like him around tainted the entire school.

Jiang Yun disconnected her phone from the computer port and tidied the podium. Then she walked to the back door, where Zhan Rao stood waiting.

“You came?” she asked.

Little Zhan Rao kept her head low, her eyes red and puffy.

“What’s wrong?”

Jiang Yun asked again, gently. She reached out and softly patted Zhan Rao’s head.

Zhan Rao quickly shook her head and handed over a neatly wrapped package.

It was beautifully wrapped, with sharp corners and tidy folds. Curious, Jiang Yun opened it and found three thick notebooks inside, each filled with color-coded notes.

“What’s this?”

“I made review summaries,” Zhan Rao replied, her voice muffled from emotion. “If you have time these next few days, maybe go through them. And if anything doesn’t make sense, you can ask me. Anytime.”

Warmth surged in Jiang Yun’s heart.

Zhan Rao always thought of her. Always.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely.

Zhan Rao shook her head quickly. “It’s really nothing. Just something small. The bell’s about to ring, so I’ll go back now. But please promise to read them. If you’re confused about anything, text me. My phone will stay on all night.”

Jiang Yun couldn’t help but smile.

“Okay. I promise I’ll read them. And if I don’t understand something, I’ll ask.”

Only then did Zhan Rao finally look relieved.

However, after taking just a few steps, she turned around suddenly and hugged Jiang Yun tightly.

She whispered softly, “If you don’t want to read them, that’s okay too. If you don’t want to study, that’s also fine. I don’t need you to get perfect scores. I like you just the way you are.”

“Jiang Yun, all the shadows from your past will fade. I want to be your sunshine from now on.”

She hugged her tightly once more, then let go and quickly ran off down the hallway.

Jiang Yun stood in place for a long while, stunned.

Then, as she stared at the door where Zhan Rao had disappeared, she slowly began to smile.

Her little Zhan Rao truly was her sunshine.

In truth, Jiang Yun hadn’t planned on showing the video today. Yan Kuo still held onto the shine of a “main character,” and this wasn’t the most advantageous timing. She also hadn’t wanted to expose her most humiliating moments in front of everyone.

But when she saw the look in Zhan Rao’s eyes darken as the rumors spread, her heart softened.

She couldn’t bear to let Zhan Rao misunderstand. Not even for a single second.

What she didn’t expect, though, was that the person she had been trying so hard to protect had been just as carefully protecting her in return.

In that moment, a single thought echoed in her mind that the world was worth believing in and the future held endless promise.