The Cannon Fodder Stole the Male Lead’s Script GL - Chapter 8

“Jiang Yun, is your first class Chinese today?” The soft-spoken girl looked at Jiang Yun, who was quietly eating across from her, trying to find a topic to start a conversation.

Jiang Yun nodded silently.

In her household, they were taught not to speak while eating or sleeping.

But hearing Zhan Rao talk during breakfast didn’t feel annoying at all—it actually made the food taste better.

She took a sip of porridge. “What’s up?”

Encouraged by the response, Zhan Rao brightened. “I heard your Chinese teacher is the same as ours. It’s Teacher Wang Yazhi, right?”

“Yeah.” Jiang Yun put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and looked at her, ready to listen.

Zhan Rao grew a little flustered under her gaze and said softly, “It’s not a big deal, really. It’s just… we had her class yesterday. As soon as she walked in, she made us do a dictation of The Song of the Lute. A few classmates hadn’t memorized it properly and got severely punished. So… I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”

Jiang Yun felt her heart melt at the sight of the sweet girl in front of her.

How could someone like Zhan Rao exist? So considerate and kind?

Resting one cheek on her hand, elbow on the table, Jiang Yun looked at her attentively. “I know. But I haven’t memorized it.”

“What?” The little cutie panicked instantly. “What should we do? Teacher Wang is really, really strict. She’ll make you copy the text over and over. And… and you can’t cheat. If you get caught, you’ll be heavily punished. I believe you wouldn’t cheat, but…”

“I was actually planning to cheat,” Jiang Yun replied honestly.

Zhan Rao’s eyes widened in shock. Then she nervously tried to persuade her, “Jiang Yun~ can you maybe not cheat~? Even if you can’t write all of it, just write what you can… okay? Please…”

Her voice softened into a near-whisper.

Jiang Yun was utterly melted.

She let out a soft laugh, eyes fixed on Zhan Rao. “I heard you’re your class’s study monitor?”

Zhan Rao nodded.

“With persuasion like that, if you’d been my monitor all these years, I probably would’ve topped my high school entrance exams.”

Zhan Rao’s ears turned red instantly.

“Th-that’s nonsense…”

She quickly covered her ears and lowered her head to drink her porridge. But no matter how long she paused, the heat in her ears wouldn’t fade. Still, the urge to help Jiang Yun burned in her heart. After a moment’s thought, she put down her chopsticks, pulled out her phone and a pair of earphones.

She handed one earbud to Jiang Yun.

“Jiang Yun, listen to this.”

Jiang Yun raised an eyebrow but didn’t take it. Instead, she stood, leaned across the table, and brought her ear to Zhan Rao’s hand. The girl flinched slightly at the touch of her cold ear, then gently placed the earbud in.

“This is a song adapted from The Song of the Lute. If you don’t feel like memorizing the text, just listen to it a few times. Once you can sing it, you’ll have memorized it.”

Jiang Yun was surprised.

As someone who didn’t study much, she hadn’t known you could memorize texts by singing them.

Without thinking, she held Zhan Rao’s hand and pressed the earbud in more securely.

The lyrics flowed into her ear along with the gentle melody.

Unconsciously, Jiang Yun began to hum along, completely unaware of how odd her posture looked. Zhan Rao, meanwhile, held her arm up, letting Jiang Yun hold her hand while her heart pounded wildly.

—

[Ding~ #Romance Progress Reached 8%# Task Complete. Luck +1.]

[Your total luck value: -0.5.]

Yan Kuo had just finished a bowl of porridge when he heard the romance progress update.

He smirked proudly. His male lead aura was so strong that even sitting still could advance the romance and make the female lead fall for him.

Excellent.

—

When the song ended, Jiang Yun blinked and sat back down.

“Sorry, I got carried away for a moment.”

Zhan Rao blushed and shook her head. “It’s okay. What did you think?”

Jiang Yun frowned slightly, then softly sang the tune she’d just heard:

“On the banks of the Xunyang River, I saw my guest off at night.
Maple leaves and reeds rustled in the autumn breeze.
The host dismounted, the guest stayed on the boat,
Raising wine to drink, but there were no instruments.
Too sorrowful to enjoy the drink, parting was unbearable,
The moon reflected hazily in the vast river as they said goodbye…”

The melody flowed elegantly, her voice gentle and cool.

Zhan Rao stared, stunned.

It wasn’t just that Jiang Yun had a beautiful voice—it was that she remembered most of the lyrics after hearing them only once.

“Your memory is amazing!”

Jiang Yun was surprised too. She hadn’t thought of herself as good at memorizing. Besides drawing, she’d always considered herself pretty useless.

Could this be… the effect of her awakened consciousness?

“Jiang Yun, if you really studied, your grades would definitely improve! You could become a brilliant student with both talent and virtue!” Zhan Rao beamed, as if she herself had unlocked the cheat code for perfect memory. “So, if you can remember this much already, does that mean… you don’t need to cheat?”

Jiang Yun: …

That sweet, innocent expression… Jiang Yun couldn’t help but laugh.

“Alright, I promise you.”

—

Jiang Yun and Zhan Rao’s classrooms were in different buildings, separated by a garden and two corridors. After walking Zhan Rao back to Class 18 of Year One, Jiang Yun turned to head back.

Just as she was about to leave, Zhan Rao came running out in a hurry.

“Jiang Yun, don’t forget our promise! No cheating, and… next week and after, we’ll have breakfast together too~” the little girl nervously reminded her.

Jiang Yun found her both cute and amusing. This cautious, nervous look didn’t seem like something a dazzling female lead should have. She looked more like a timid little bunny in need of constant comfort. “Don’t worry. I remember.”

“And…” Zhan Rao tried to think of more to say, but Jiang Yun smiled and interrupted.

“Alright now~ go back to class. The bell’s about to ring. If I’m late, I really won’t memorize The Song of the Lute in time.”

Hearing that she might delay Jiang Yun’s studying, Zhan Rao quickly shut her mouth. She wanted to talk more, but she couldn’t interfere with Jiang Yun’s learning. She believed Jiang Yun would only get better from here!

—

Jiang Yun returned to class with a faint smile.

Some students had already come back. Those who had memorized the text were calm, while those who hadn’t were still anxiously reviewing.

Jiang Yun glanced at Li Yue, her deskmate. She’d expected the goody-two-shoes to be studying hard, especially after seeming off during morning reading. But to her surprise, Li Yue wasn’t reviewing. She was chatting calmly with another classmate.

When that girl saw Jiang Yun approaching, she gave her a look that was both fearful and contemptuous, then returned to her seat.

Jiang Yun frowned. Something felt off.

If she remembered correctly, that girl was the class Chinese rep—the one who’d assigned the memorization. She didn’t recall her name, but she remembered that.

“Jiang Yun, done eating?!” Li Yue greeted her cheerfully, moving aside to let her sit down.

The smile on her face was bright, nothing like her anxious state earlier that morning.

“Did you memorize the text?”

Li Yue looked uneasy, glanced around, and lowered her voice. “Jiang Yun, I’m sorry. I didn’t memorize it. I was in a terrible state this morning. My parents were fighting last night, and I just couldn’t concentrate.”

Jiang Yun said nothing, simply looking at her.

After venting, Li Yue’s mood shifted. She looked smug. “But don’t worry. I already copied the text. We can both use it. The teacher won’t notice.” She pointed at the desk.

“As long as we finish the dictation and erase it afterward, no one will know.”

Jiang Yun frowned. She hadn’t expected Li Yue to pull a trick like this. She had always been diligent. She’d even lose sleep from stress before exams. And now she was cheating?

Looking in the direction she pointed, Jiang Yun saw the text written in pencil on her side of the desk.

“Why is it on my side?”

Li Yue’s face turned apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t ask first. But it’s for your good. I was worried you wouldn’t have time to copy it. This way, you can see it clearly—no more squinting at my notes like before. Plus, your side’s safer. My desk is on the aisle. The teacher could spot it. She won’t see yours.”

“Then if it’s for me, why is the writing so big?” Big enough for Li Yue to see clearly from her own seat.

Jiang Yun gave her a meaningful look.

Li Yue laughed awkwardly. “Well, I didn’t memorize it either… I might need a peek, too.” Afraid Jiang Yun would get suspicious, she quickly added, “But it’s mainly for you, really. I even skipped breakfast to copy it. My hand’s sore, and I couldn’t let anyone find out.”

Jiang Yun stared into her big, watery eyes. Somehow, the once-innocent gaze now seemed… tainted.

She turned away, popped in her Bluetooth earphones, played the song she’d just downloaded, and laid her head on the desk.

Li Yue, seeing her ignore her, felt uneasy. But since Jiang Yun hadn’t said anything, she figured she hadn’t caught on to her real intentions. After all, Jiang Yun wasn’t the sharpest.

She finally let out a breath of relief.

—

First period.

Sure enough, the teacher who walked in was an elderly lady. They said she was specially rehired and only taught their graduating class. After three years, she’d retire. She wore a green skirt suit and carried herself like someone in her forties. except for her neatly tied white hair, she didn’t look sixty at all.

“I gave you the task last night. Now, put away your books and take out your dictation notebooks. We’ll be writing the third paragraph of The Song of the Lute. You have ten minutes.”

As soon as she finished, students who had only memorized the beginning were stunned.

They stared at their blank notebooks, not even knowing where the third paragraph began.

Li Yue’s palms were sweating. She quietly turned to look at Jiang Yun’s desk.

When she saw the line “Pausing to tune, adjusting her robe with care,” she relaxed and started copying. But after two or three lines, she couldn’t remember the rest and kept glancing over.

She was thankful she’d written the characters large enough to see.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yun was bent over her notebook, writing quickly and steadily. Her eyes never wandered.

Li Yue frowned. Why does it feel like she’s memorized it?

Ten minutes was plenty for those who had studied, but not for those who hadn’t.

By the end, Li Yue gave up pretending. She copied openly, not even caring if the teacher noticed.

Just as she was writing the last two lines, she felt the teacher’s gaze.

She tried to finish, but the teacher was already walking over…

Just as she wrote the final character, a slender but rough-skinned hand pressed down on her notebook.

“You there, what do you think you’re doing?”