CH 6

What Shi Yuanbai didn’t know was that, not only did he hit the jackpot guessing Wu Siyuan’s reaction when seeing Jiang Jingtong, but also correctly guess the cause of Jiang Jingtong’s changed behavior.

Even if Jiang Jingtong never regarded the advice Wu Siyuan gave him seriously, however, when he was with Shi Yuanbai he unconsciously recalled the reminder about how he shouldn’t be too attentive. Hence, in a sense, Wu Siyuan’s brainwashing did work.

To his surprise, when he neglected Shi Yuanbai’s wishes and whims, though just a little bit, unexpectedly aside from frowning slightly in the beginning, Shi Yuanbai’s response was paying him more attention than he did before.

The corners of Jiang Jingtong couldn’t help but tilt upward. It seemed like Gu Siyuan was more useful than he thought. In addition to having a face resembling Yuanbai, he did have good suggestions.

Even if in the past Shi Yuanbai had given him the attention that a spare tire should deserve, obviously it was not as caring as he did recently.

Jiang Jingtong concluded that it’s fine to consider what Gu Siyuan had in mind.

On Shi Yuanbai’s side, after sparing a date with Jiang Jingtong, he directly asked someone to investigate the person Jiang Jingtong was close with these days. He wanted to know which shameless person had caught Jiang Jingtong’s attention.

The result of the investigation turned out to be that aside from Gu Siyuan, there was also a sophomore who was currently in a close relationship with Jiang Jingtong. The person even took the opportunity to brush off his presence in front of Jiang Jingtong frequently. 

Looking at this information, Shi Yuanbai’s face turned darker. 

‘How dare this guy touch his, Shi Yuanbai’s property!’

Actually, Gu Siyuan was also a target whom Jiang Jingtong went to find recently, but as he had expected, that Bumpkin truly made Jiang Jingtong leave with a weird expression every time. Thinking about his interaction with Gu Siyuan previously, Shi Yuanbai could guess that Jiang Jingtong must have received the same CP Fan enthusiasm as he did back then.

‘Well, this Gu Siyuan is quite sensible.’

What’s left then…

Staring at the name of a certain sophomore, Shi Yuanbai smiled gently. 

‘So, does Jiang Jingtong really prefer someone with a sticky nature?’

***

Wu Siyuan knew nothing about the turmoil he had caused to the protagonists’ relationship dynamic. He was busy working hard for his studies and his career.

His current status was in fact, an upper-middle-class family. By default, he would have fewer worries in life. Be that as it may, in the future he might have a showdown against people with higher status and power such as Jiang Jingtong. He should work harder in preparation. After all, what if those two protagonists still had to deal with him even when he had brought them to the Marriage Hall? Wouldn’t that be a disaster?

These days, he had been discussing the recent stock market with Chen Xuyao and his other 2 roommates. It all started when Chen Xuyao saw Wu Siyuan was studying and buying stocks. All of them were people with excess pocket money after all, hence they exchanged experiences and information about the investments they made prior.

Chen Xuyao asked about the ones Wu Siyuan felt optimistic about and after looking at the recent trend, he saw it’s indeed profitable.  Therefore, the 4 roommates ended up going together to buy some. 

At this time, Jiang Jingtong, who seemed to stop bothering him, sent another message.

[Your suggestion is acceptable. Go on.]

?? Excuse me? What should he continue over? Wu Siyuan didn’t really understand how Jiang Jingtong’s brain circuits work, so he sent a question mark as a reply.

[?]

Jang Jingtong had to lament how this Junior, as expected, didn’t seem to have high intelligence. He couldn’t even understand what he meant clearly. Forget it. After all, except for Yuanbai, which man could understand his mind perfectly? Jiang Jingtong shook his head and sent another message to Gu Siyuan.

[I said, what you told me before, don’t be too attentive, is a good suggestion. So you can continue to say what new advice you have.]

Now that he had seen some progress in his and Shi Yuanbai’s relationship, there was no need for fakes. Even so,  it’s not good to be wasteful. He had to make good use of Gu Siyuan. In addition, to crush Gu Siyuan’s whimsical wish, he’d better let this guy give him relationship advice and show him the indomitable love between him and Shi Yuanbai.

[A new idea? Well, first, I need to know what’s going on with your relationship right now, and have you implemented my previous suggestion properly?]

‘There really is something wrong with this dude!’

He spoke in a roundabout way, thinking others could guess what was in his mind correctly. Fortunately, this guy had no involvement with him. He didn’t have to deal with such a troublesome person all the time. Otherwise, Wu Siyuan would really love to punch him, and see if he could be sober a little bit.

On another note, there was finally progress in JiangShi’s romance, which meant, that Jiang Jingtong would no longer appear and disgust him as he did before. 

Before this good news came, Jiang Jingtong had tried to find him several times. It was during this period that Wu Siyuan knew the benefits of having Chen Xuyao as a friend. As long as Chen Xuyao stayed near him, Jiang Jingtong was unwilling to approach. Originally, he looked like he was about to bother Wu Siyuan, but as soon as he saw Chen Xuyao, he turned his heels and left without looking back. 

Chen Xuyao, apparently was proven to be more efficient than insect repellant spray!

[Progress? So, Yuanbai seemed to like a new watch that day. According to your advice, I deliberately delayed my reaction, and only said I’d buy it for him 2 minutes later than usual. As a result, Yuanbai kept asking me things that day. Your suggestion really did work fabulously]!

That’s it?

That’s it?!

Squinting his eyes and looking at his phone screen with the pose of a farsighted old man, Wu Siyuan tried to see a deeper meaning of the sentences. Naturally, he never found any. 

Two minutes late…

Just two minutes?

‘Brother, can’t you even pretend to be on an important call to delay for half an hour?’

Could it be that he was such a Two-minute man?

If it weren’t for the fact that Jiang Jingtong’s lover had no complaint about his bed skill in the plot, Wu Siyuan really doubted he was actually a Two-minute man.

[Are you satisfied with this result? Does Shi Xuege usually comfort you when you’re in a bad mood? Has he ever asked how you are doing?]

Satisfied? 

Definitely not!

Jiang Jingtong stared at the series of inquiries with a pensive look. 

[Then, what do you say?]

Of course, Wu Siyuan reenacted his action, sharing the theory on how to mislead other people’s children with Jiang Jingtong. Finally, he didn’t forget to remind the guy that he should strictly follow the indicators. 

[Think about it properly. As long as you follow this plan, you will get the whole cake. Wouldn’t that be more cost-effective than just a little bit of crumbs that you got before?]

That really made sense. 

Jiang Jingtong clenched his phone tightly. This time, he really believed those suggestions might be useful.

After Wu Siyuan successfully convinced Jiang Jingtong, he let out a sigh of relief in the dormitory, and then slammed the book with the title Dealing with The Sea King on his desktop. 

[Alright, proceed carefully. You have to know your worth. If Shi Xuege insists on going abroad for further study, he’ll find more choices. So you have to work hard, and you can’t afford to make any mistakes, understand?]

The most important thing was letting Jiang Jingtong know his worth and status. Shi Yuanbai was currently in the audition period, picking and selecting candidates. So far he hadn’t found anyone who was more worthy than Jiang Jingtong. 

On the other side, Jiang Jingtong who received such a stern reminder;

‘How much worth do I have?’

He went furious looking at this sentence. Did this Gu Siyuan was unaware of his identity, who his father and his family were?

He dared to let him, Jiang Jingtong, examine his own worth? How bold. Did he intend to use such a scheme to attract his attention? If so,

‘Fine. You have successfully attracted my attention.’ Jiang Jingtong expressionlessly declared.

In reality, Wu Siyuan couldn’t care less what Jiang Jingtong would think about him in the future. As long as he was strong enough, all kinds of attacks were meaningless.

***

Senior students would have no classes at all in the next semester. To finish his plan, Wu Siyuan had to accelerate the relationship between Protagonist Gong and Shou this semester.

Giving advice and pushing from behind was just the first step. Wu Siyuan had already been considering the second step. 

There’d be a basketball match next week in their college. As the main force of their college team, Jiang Jingtong would not miss the last game he could have in college. 

Consequently, Wu Siyuan would also not miss this opportunity. In the competition held by their Student Council, he’d have the chance to get close to these two people.

After all, despite studying in the same college and knowing each other personally, it was not so easy to get close to Jiang Jingtong and Shi Yuanbai on weekdays. 

He was sure Shi Yuanbai would come to support Jiang Jingtong in the competition. Then, when the two protagonists were on the same stage, it’d be convenient to enact his plan.

On this occasion, Shi Yuanbai would have to consider Jiang Jingtong’s face and would likely agree to give him some attention. Therefore, Wu Siyuan would be able to use the acts and distort them in the direction he wanted.

The Student Council had already prepared the materials for the competition. After reading the details sent by the group, Wu Siyuan asked Gao Min, the only one in their dormitory who was taken. 

“Brother Min, if you are playing in some match and the person you like is sitting in the audience, will you think that person may have prepared something for you?”

Gao Min pondered for a while, and answered, “I’m satisfied even if she just watches me perform.”

“Apart from it, let’s not mention shouting and cheering, but don’t you want her to give you towels, water, etc?”

Imagining the scene in his mind, Gao Min then shyly agreed, “That’d be the best.”

“Then, what kind of towel do you want from your beloved?”

Gao Min quickly shook his head, “Just the one that can be used to wipe my sweat!”

Wu Siyuan nodded in understanding. That being said, the basketball club had always prepared towel sets for the players. If it were the same towel as others, it would have no romantic effect. 

Therefore, Wu Siyuan browsed a shopping page, randomly packed a towel with the words Be the Winner! on it, and clicked purchase. 

***

On the day of the game, Shi Yuanbai really came to the auditorium, causing Jiang Jingtong to frequently throw his gaze at the audience.  

Their gaze met with each other, filled with; I have you in my eyes, you see me in your eyes.

It’d be better if Shi Yuanbai prepared things for him, but unfortunately, he was just here to watch. However, Jiang Jingtong was already very satisfied with it. This guy was simply hopeless. 

Wu Siyuan didn’t have much work, so he came to Shi Yuanbai with a towel and two bottles of water. Luckily, there happened to be a vacant seat nearby.

“Shi Xuege, are you here to watch Jiang Xuege?” It was loud enough that everyone around was able to hear it.

Seeing that it was Gu Siyuan, Shi Yuanbai nodded. “That’s right. Since this match is the last one he’ll have in College, it is a moment worth commemorating.”

Wu Siyuan, “Oh. Why don’t you take a few cool photos of Jiang Xuege? You can see and reminisce about it in the future.”

Shi Yuanbai took out his mobile phone reflexively when he heard Gu Siyuan’s words, and took random shots at Jiang Jingtong. To maintain the character in front of brainless fan-Siyuan, he had to pretend to care. If this brainless fan was no longer brainless, he might become the strongest opponent otherwise.

Previously, he had asked a lot of people, and they all admitted that Gu Siyuan was indeed his look-alike, though his personality was vastly different. Shi Yuanbai was honestly a little bit afraid that Jiang Jingtong would find a substitute to replace him when he considered their relationship had no possibility. Fortunately, even if Jiang Jingtong might have the heart, as their CP brainless fan, Gu Siyuan did not.

After Shi Yuanbai obediently took out his mobile phone to take a picture, Wu Siyuan took out the things he had prepared for a long time.

“Xuege, this is something our Student Council has prepared. You can give it to Jiang Xuege later.” He added a wink at the end, and said, “Perhaps after seeing the things you have prepared for him, he’ll be moved by your thoughtful care.”

After handing the important responsibility to the Protagonist Shou, Wu Siyuan left without turning back. His today’s task had been accomplished.

***

On the way, when he saw someone taking pictures of the event, he said to the classmate, “Brother, if Jiang Jingtong Xuege runs over to find Shi Yuanbai Xuege later, can you take some pictures for me?”

The cameraman-Brother listened for a while, and asked him afterward, “Why do you want me to take pictures of those two?”

Wu Siyuan, “Of course, it’s to make new content!”

“What kind of content?”

“It’s for their CP posts in Super Topic. Now that they’ll about to give us a new sugar supply, we must taste it properly. I believe, it’ll not be long for them to finally be together officially!”

“Are they really real? No, wait, are they really going to date? How can it be? Didn’t Shi Yuanbai keep saying that he and Jiang Jingtong are merely friends?”

Wu Siyuan looked at this Senior somewhat disbelieved with a little touch of despair expression. He said, “You will find out later. Besides, don’t you see the look in their eyes? If such expressions are fake, then what’s real love look like?”

Unable to hear Wu Siyuan’s words any longer, the cameramen-Brother felt his heart was broken into pieces. 

Actually, just the day before yesterday, Shi Yuanbai vowed to him that he absolutely had nothing to do with Jiang Jingtong.

Today, at the half-time of the game, Jiang Jingtong happily ran to Shi Yuanbai and gave him a sweaty hug. 

Cameramen-Brother pressed the shutter unconsciously. There was a bitter smile on the corner of his mouth. It turned out to be true, Shi Yuanbai lied to him.

Wu Siyuan left, hiding his merit and fame.

One of the potential Fish in Shi Yuanbai’s pond[1] had successfully been decimated in the cradle.

References