I Can’t Be This Protagonist

The previously unoccupied upper bunk was piled up with a dirty suitcase, two or three basins, and plenty of other miscellaneous objects. It was basically a total mess.

“Whose stuff is this?” 

Ji Yao asked with a cold expression.

The person playing video game hurriedly took off his earphones. “That’s my suitcase.”

He hurried over to retrieve it, quietly saying, “Sorry, ah. We thought no one was coming.”

The stagnant air came back to live as everyone went to pick up the things they had piled on the upper bunk. 

In this dormitory that was as lively as a crowded market, Ji Yao silently observed everyone else’s haggard states. Only Yan Shuang, the thinnest, shortest one here, stood in the corner with his head down and did nothing. He looked very pitiful. The night wind blew on his wet hair, causing that inferior orange scent to waft to the nose. Ji Yao frowned before turning and walking out of the dormitory.

The people in the dormitory were relieved to see him go.

“Fuck, did you see that? I thought the dean himself had come.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Where did this young master come from? Putting on acts the moment he set foot inside.” Zhang Shuai drew his towel from the gap between the upper bunk and the basin. He shook his head and continued, “Say goodbye to a peaceful dormitory life from now on…hey. You there. What do you think?”

The ‘you’ that was cued replied in a light and soft voice. “Yeah. It…might not be as peaceful anymore.”

Ji Yao only returned when it was almost time for lights out.

There was a round of muttering in the dormitory. Since it was almost time for bed, everyone was scrambling to wash and tidy up. Yan Shuang’s lower bunk had been neatly laid out, and he was already burrowed under the covers with only his fluffy hair exposed.

Judging by the increase in air pressure he sensed in the dormitory, Yan Shuang knew that Ji Yan must’ve returned. He poked his head out and met the gaze of Ji Yao, who was standing beside his bed. 

Ji Yao was somewhat dazed. He seemed to see Qin Qing for a moment.

Yet unlike his usual cold and aloof self, this Qin Qing had peachy cheeks bursting with vitality and bright, moist eyes.

“Are you going to sleep like that?”

The different voice shattered the dreamscape before him. Ji Yao’s eyes regained their clarity. 

Everything on the upper bunk had been cleared away, leaving only a bare bed board. Ji Yao’s posture seemed to suggest he was going to make do with the bare bed board for the night.

“If you don’t mind, you can squeeze in with me.”

A voice muffled by the blankets made a somewhat shy, but kind invitation. He clearly didn’t mean anything by it, but it still reminded one of Eve’s forbidden fruit.

Ji Yao lowered his head, avoiding those moist eyes. 

“No need.”

Ji Yao took the keys and wallet from the bag on the table. His hands came to rest at his sides. “Thank you.”

He could never be cruel to Qin Qing. Even to a face similar to Qin Qing’s, he would always choose to respond.

Yan Shuang slowly buried his head in the blankets again. 

Sigh. What a shame. It was such a good opportunity to grind the plot. Ji Yao’s just too boring. If Qin Yubai was here, we could’ve grinded out at least two plot points.

The next morning, the atmosphere in the dormitory was still quite suppressed, like everyone was dreading Ji Yao’s sudden return.

Yan Shuang calmly arranged his textbooks. According to the plot, Ji Yao wouldn’t return to school until the afternoon of two days later.

As a studious protagonist shou, Yan Shuang came early to the classroom and chose a seat in aisle C. 

Actually, the original was an excellent student. His grades only bombed because he kept getting dragged out whenever by the scum gongs to bang or torment after being caught up in their love games.

Yan Shuang would never allow that to happen.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

After all, there was a $30,000 end-of-semester scholarship  award at stake!

Lf kbeiv cfnfg rdejcvfg jcs bqqbgaeclas ab ifujiis jmmeweijaf wbcfs. 

Ktja wfjca tf tjv ab raevs tjgv!

Ktf mijrrgbbw ugjvejiis oliifv eq klat qfbqif.

Ktlr kjr j ylu mijrr, klat ja ifjra akb tecvgfv raevfcar lc jaafcvjcmf.

Ktf rfjar cfjg Tjc Vtejcu delmxis oliifv eq. 

Ktlr eclnfgrlas kjr j ujatfglcu qijmf obg atf yglutafra wlcvr, jcv jcsbcf ktb  mbeiv ufa lc kjr  delaf fzmfqalbcji.

Yan Shuang: I feel the malice of the Transmigration Bureau…this scholarship really won’t be easy to get!

When the classroom was almost full, a figure Yan Shuang didn’t expect appeared at the door.

Ji Yao. 

He had changed into another set of clothes of the same style. There was not a logo to be seen on him, but the quality of his clothes were evident by their sophisticated tailoring and fabric.

As soon as Ji Yao appeared in the classroom, the entire room reacted just as the dormitory had last night. The air pressure instantly dropped along with the temperature.

A cold, indifferent gaze swept across the classroom, pausing slightly as it passed Yan Shuang.

Yan Shuang looked unremarkable at the moment thanks to his black-rimmed glasses. When he saw Ji Yao, the eyes hidden behind lenses curved up as he smiled and waved at Ji Yao slightly. 

Ji Yao looked away and sat down in one of the last empty seats in the classroom.

Yan Shuang followed him with his eyes. After Ji Yao sat down, he waved to him again and mouthed: I’ll save a seat for you next time.

With more than ten rows between them, Ji Yao couldn’t make out what Yan Shuang was saying.

All he saw were two cracked lips. 

Ji Yao had been too stunned by Yan Shuang’s shocking similarity to Qin Qing to pay attention to details like that.

But Yan Shuang had already turned his head back to the front.

Ji Yao put a hand on the desk, his mind full of those lips he had just seen.

They were plump, slightly swollen and covered in wounds. 

Ji Yao looked down, his thick eyelashes concealing the momentary wrath that flashed across his eyes.

During the break between classes, Yan Shuang took the initiative to approach Ji Yao who had stayed in his seat. He acted like a shy person who had worked up the courage to make friends. “I’ll save a seat for you next time, ah.”

Ji Yao looked up, his eyes lingering on Yan Shuang’s lips for a moment. It was clear up close that the wounds on his lips were fine and varied in depth. Even an idiot could tell that they were the result of someone viciously biting down.

“No need.” Ji Yao said coldly. Yan Shuang’s cold expression made him turn away and his tone became colder. “Stay away from me.” 

With that, he got up and walked out of the classroom without a second glance at Yan Shuang.

Yan Shuang stroked his lips thoughtfully.

If he wasn’t mistaken, Ji Yao’s gaze lingered on his lips for a moment.

In the plot, Ji Yao’s love for Qin Qing was one of worship. To him, Qin Qing was a wonderful existence he regarded as a god. He couldn’t allow said god to be desecrated. He even held Yan Shuang, who just looked like Qin Qing, to the same standard. 

Therefore, Ji Yao was furious after learning about the contract between Yan Shuang and Qin Yubai. His attitude towards Yan Shuang became even more surly and dismissive afterwards.

However, Ji Yao’s attitude improved slightly after finding out that Yan Shuang was forced. He also extended a helping hand many times to Yan Shuang when he was humiliated by Qin Yubai.

Don’t mistake his help as coming from a place of sympathy and kindness towards Yan Shuang. The only reason he lifted a finger was because of who Yan Shuang reminded him of.

He couldn’t tolerate Qin Qing coming to the slightest of harm, and this protectiveness extended to Qin Qin’s substitute as well. 

Yan Shuang thought that Ji Yao treated him differently enough already, but what he didn’t know was that only Qin Qing was irreplaceable to Ji Yao.

Therefore, everything was a misunderstanding on Yan Shuang’s part. It was Yan Shuang who fell in love with him. It was Yan Shuang who voluntarily offered his body.

From beginning to end, Ji Yao had done nothing more that just accept it all passively.

He never spoke of love. It was all Yan Shuang’s wishful thinking. 

Yan Shuang lowered the hand he used to touch his lips. This kind of straight forward plot was his favourite! Ji Yao just had to lie down and let him do all the moving, so the plot was obscenely easy to grind! It would actually be hard to mess up!

See? Just by exposing his face in advance, Yan Shuang had already almost advanced Ji Yao’s plot into the ‘I hate the impure Yan Shuang’ stage. Good job.

Another reason why Yan Shuang is anxious to keep up with Ji Yao’s plot was that Ji Yao and Qin Yubai’s plot line were intertwined in the future.

While Yan Shuang was engaged in angsty romance with Qin Yubai, Ji Yao would be the vinegar-eating tool person to cause misunderstandings for both of them. 

The roles would switch when it was Yan Shuang and Ji Yao’s turn.

So since he had sped things up with Qin Yubai, he had to do the same for Ji Yao. Otherwise, with no vinegar-eating tool person at key moments, the plot and relationship lines would move at a glacial pace.

There was nothing that could be done since all the people involved were scum. The grass would always be greener on the other side.

Ji Yao didn’t come back to class even at the end of the break. 

Yan Shuang wondered if Little Ji was taking out his anger in some corner of the school after having been overstimulated.

According to the plot, Ji Yao was at the ‘Damn it, I don’t want to inherit hundreds of millions of dollars from my family’ stage, where he quarreled with his family. Already disheartened, the feeling only intensified after meeting Yan Shuang.

Yan Shuang: Sigh. Poor little virgin. Get angry all you want. There’ll be plenty more reasons to be angry about in the future.

Faint smile.jpg 

Before long, the second half of class was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Yan Shuang thought that Egg No. 2 had come back, so he quickly adjusted his facial expression to ‘a little pitiful thing that wanted to touch carefully but didn’t dare to’.

The professor went to open the door.

“Hello, I’m here to pick someone up.” 

It was Wei Yichen.

Yan Shuang: Expression wasted. 

The professor was dumbfounded. “Who are you picking up?”

Wei Yichen’s gaze fell on Yan Shuang, who seemed to be very stunned and at a loss of what to do at the moment. 

Yan Shuang watched Wei Yichen take out his phone and show the professor something that made his expression immediately change. “Who’s Yan Shuang? Come out for a minute.”

Yan Shuang stood up and walked over in a bewildered manner. He timidly said to the professor, “Teacher…”

“You can leave first since something’s come up.” The professor seemed kind and genial.

“But I…” Yan Shuang looked at the professor anxiously before glancing at Wei Yichen. “I have to attend class…” 

His words trailed off in the face of Wei Yichen’s cold gaze.

“Mr. Yan, do you need me to remind you of your identity again?”

His voice was perfectly neutral. It was this neutrality that exposed his innate contempt and desire to ruin the person he was speaking to.

With all the eyes in the classroom on him, Yan Shuang awkwardly packed his bag and slowly left. At the door, he said to the professor, “Teacher, the part of class I’ll miss today…” 

“Don’t worry about it.” The professor said kindly, “I’ll upload the lecture PowerPoint and materials to the group mailbox. Study what you can on your own and email me if you have any questions.”

“Thank you, teacher.”

After the classroom door closed, Wei Yichen looked at Yan Shuang, who still seemed reluctant to leave. He said without a shred of sympathy, “The car’s at the back entrance.”

Yan Shuang turned to him with a weak and pitiful expression on his face. “Mr. Wei, I did a pretty good job acting just now, right? This way the teacher won’t dock my attendance marks, right?” 

Wei Yichen: “…”

“There was no need to act.” Wei Yichen sneered. “He wouldn’t have docked your attendance marks anyway.”

Yeah, right. Although the professor seemed understanding in the original plot, he secretly docked Yan Shuang’s attendance marks quite harshly.

Yan Shuang wiped the pitiful expression off his face and smiled sweetly. “Rather than relying on the help of others, I feel like working hard is the safer option.” 

Wei Yichen scoffed noncommittally.

The two walked towards the stairs, Wei Yichen in front and Yan Shuang behind.

Wei Yichen suddenly stopped when they were about to round the corner.

“Young Master Ji.” 

Behind him, Yan Shuang’s eyes lit up.

Oh ho? Was this the first meeting of Egg No. 2 and Egg No. 5 in the plot line! Truly memorable!

And since Egg No. 1 was hidden behind Egg No. 5, this was actually a meeting of three eggs, ah!

If he grinded with care, he could advance multiple relationship lines at the same time! 

“Why are you here?”

Ji Yao’s voice was as cold as ever.

“To pick someone up.”

Wei Yichen was respectful yet vague. 

As Qin Yubai’s most trusted butler and secretary, he knew what to say and what not to say.

Ji Yao leaned against the stairs, his head tilted slightly. He seemed to pick up that inferior citrus smell.

His gaze swept behind Wei Yichen.

There, curled up into a ball with his head down and his hand tightly gripping the straps of his bag, was Yan Shuang. 

Ji Yao’s pupils violently shrank.

Broken lips, similar appearance and Qin Yubai’s butler.

Ji Yao pieced together all of these clues in an instant, like he had been struck by lightning.

“Excuse us.” 

Wei Yichen bent down slightly before giving Yan Shuang a glance and motioning for him to follow.

Yan Shuang’s head ducked even lower. As he slowly passed by Ji Yao, he gripped his bag straps with so much force that the joints were turning white.

“Wait.”