Chapter 1

Light rain pattered down.

Under the rain curtain, Le Cheng held a transparent umbrella and peered into the building.

With a clean and delicate face, he wore a goose-yellow hooded sweatshirt and water-washed blue jeans, looking like a refreshing jelly orange in the dreary weather.

“Le Cheng.” The school bell rang, and boys and girls passed by him one after another. Someone smiled at him, “Waiting for your boyfriend?”

Le Cheng smiled and pressed his lips together: “Yeah.”

“Why don’t you go inside and wait?”

“…I’m fine waiting here.” Le Cheng awkwardly fiddled with the metal umbrella handle and looked down at his white canvas shoes.

Rainwater mixed with dust had splashed onto the shoes, and the white sides were dotted with black stains. Le Cheng frowned slightly, feeling a bit distressed, unsure if he could clean them off.

He really went all out for this.

Yes, he was being dramatic.

That way, he could confidently say to Zhou Shiru later: “I waited for you in the rain for so long, and my shoes are all wet. Why didn’t you come out earlier? You don’t care about me at all!!”

No one in the world would deliberately pick at their boyfriend’s faults without reason, except Le Cheng.

Because Le Cheng was a transmigrator.

This was an upgrade-type novel featuring a big male lead, mainly telling the story of how the male lead Zhou Shiru, with his exceptional computer skills and high IQ, gradually climbed to the top, becoming a legend in the gaming world.

According to some established tropes, there must be some cannon fodder obstructing the male lead’s rise to the top.

Unfortunately, Le Cheng was transmigrated into such a cannon fodder role.

The original character fell for the male lead at first sight. However, the male lead was a straight man, and no amount of persistence would change his lack of interest. The original character took advantage of a party to design a game where the male lead lost, forcing him to fulfill a bet and go out with him.

The male lead kept his promise and was with the original character, but being extremely straight, he did not tolerate any intimate contact. The original character then revealed his dramatic side, making all sorts of unreasonable demands and throwing tantrums. The male lead, not accommodating him, eventually couldn’t tolerate the original character’s request to move in together and coldly proposed a breakup, agreeing to compensate him with a breakup fee.

The matter should have ended there, but during their relationship, the original character secretly stole the male lead’s latest game ideas and, after the breakup, sold them to others, causing severe losses to the male lead and his friends.

The original character was subsequently retaliated against by the male lead, ending up disgraced and imprisoned.

Le Cheng transmigrated just as Zhou Shiru agreed to date the original character on the first day.

Checking his phone, Le Cheng discovered that the original character had extravagant spending habits. Despite a monthly allowance of 1,800, he spent 1,000 each month on credit, not to mention several other overdue debts.

The original character’s family was average, and 1,800 was already the maximum amount his parents could save each month.

Question: With a disastrous start, how can one save themselves?

Le Cheng replied: Follow the plot and break up quickly.

The original character had already offended the male lead. Le Cheng decided to follow the storyline, maintaining the drama level high enough to annoy the male lead into initiating the breakup, thus not only perfectly resolving the tragic ending but also securing a breakup fee.

Le Cheng remembered that in the novel, the male lead gave the original character 200,000 as a breakup fee.

Le Cheng took a deep breath. Although in the world of novels, due to general inflation, 200,000’s value had come close to that of ten bucks, and authors rarely mentioned amounts below millions, he really needed that 200,000 right now.

Le Cheng lowered his eyelashes. Although he always boasted while reading the novel that he could handle it, now that he was in this situation, he felt a bit uneasy about taking that 200,000 for nothing…

He decided he would repay the debt and find a chance to return the money to the male lead after settling his own finances.

After clearing his thoughts, Le Cheng grabbed an umbrella and went to meet Zhou Shiru.

Zhou Shiru was in the Computer Science Department, while the original character was in the Art Department. Luckily, Le Cheng had no classes in the morning.

With many people coming and going, Le Cheng stood aside, mentally preparing how to start the conversation when he met the person.

Being dramatic was tough. Before transmigrating, he had never been in a relationship. Now, he was racking his brains to come up with an excuse to be unreasonable.

When he saw Zhou Shiru, he needed to…

“Patter.”

It was the sound of water splashing.

Le Cheng shifted his gaze and saw a tall man standing in front of the gray teaching building.

Zhou Shiru. Le Cheng recognized him instantly.

Zhou Shiru held a navy blue umbrella, dressed entirely in black. He held the umbrella handle with long, well-defined fingers. His tall frame and black casual pants made his legs appear exceptionally long.

Zhou Shiru approached with a few steps. Le Cheng noticed that Zhou Shiru was significantly taller than him, requiring him to look up. Zhou Shiru’s high nose bridge was complemented by half-frame glasses, his lips were light, and his jawline was well-defined.

“…Oh, um, I’m here to invite you to lunch…” Le Cheng stammered. Everything he had rehearsed seemed unfamiliar now, and he blinked awkwardly.

His long eyelashes fluttered like two small brushes.

Zhou Shiru merely lowered his eyes and responded with little expression: “Let’s go.”

Le Cheng was neither socially anxious nor socially dominant; he was somewhere in between. However, he was thin-skinned and felt a bit intimidated in front of the cold, aloof stranger.

After Zhou Shiru spoke, he waited for a few seconds, then ignored him and began walking away. Le Cheng gathered his composure and hurried to catch up.

Zhou Shiru was tall and walked quickly, so Le Cheng had to speed up to keep up with him. He wasn’t paying much attention to the distance and lightly bumped his transparent umbrella against Zhou Shiru’s navy blue one. Only then did Zhou Shiru glance sideways and tersely say, “Watch where you’re going.”

…So cold.

And so few words… Le Cheng sneaked a glance at Zhou Shiru, who didn’t remember if Zhou Shiru was this cold in the novel. After all, he hadn’t read that novel in detail; he just skimmed through it to pass the time. With such a cold, straight male character, it’s no wonder he was allocated to a non-CP role…

“Le Cheng.” Zhou Shiru suddenly turned his head to look at him.

“Ah?” Le Cheng, lost in thought, was caught off guard, and after a two-second pause, he said a bit embarrassedly, “Wh-what’s up?”

Zhou Shiru asked, “Is it okay to go to the cafeteria?”

“The cafeteria?” Le Cheng nodded, “Sure.”

Zhou Shiru gave a curt “mm” and turned his gaze away.

Walking one behind the other with Zhou Shiru, they passed by people who greeted them. The university campus was quite open, and since the original character had publicly acknowledged their relationship, many people recognized them.

Le Cheng nodded in response, while internally he was extremely anxious, even tempted to bite his nails.

They were almost at the cafeteria… What about his plan?

His dramatic plan!

…His grand scheme couldn’t fall apart midway!

No.

He had to be dramatic; he had invested in this. If he didn’t act up, wouldn’t the white sneakers he specially pulled out of the shoe box be sacrificed for nothing?

Le Cheng took a deep breath, mentally prepared himself, and bravely stepped forward, about to speak: “I…”

“Shiru,” a male student approached from the front, his voice loud and clear, “Going to eat?”

Le Cheng was interrupted by the “thud,” his attempt to muster courage getting stuck in his throat.

“Mm.” Zhou Shiru nodded, not paying him much attention, and asked, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to play basketball. Will you come later?”

“Mm.” Zhou Shiru gave a brief reply without much thought, “Sure.”

“Okay.” The male student nodded, “See you later then.”

As the student walked away, Le Cheng’s mouth turned down in frustration. He cleared his throat, preparing to try again.

He took a deep breath and bravely started again: “I…”

“Hey, Shiru.” A loud voice startled Le Cheng, and he instinctively looked up.

“Shiru, you’re going to eat? What a coincidence, I’m going to eat too,” the student said with a friendly smile.

Le Cheng: “…”

His resolve was now hardened, and he felt like his fist was clenched.

Zhou Shiru slightly curled his lips, “Get lost, you’re just wasting time.”

“Not wasting time,” the student replied with a smile, “But I had some trouble with the homework I did last night. I can’t figure it out. Could you help me with it later?”

“Sure.” Zhou Shiru agreed.

“Alright, then I won’t bother you. See you later, Shiru.” The student glanced at Le Cheng with a smile and then turned away.

Finally, the area was clear. Le Cheng rubbed his face with one hand, his lips twitching as he waited for his courage to fully return. Suddenly, a suspicious noise came from behind, making him alert. In a moment of panic, he blurted out, “Wait—!”

The volume was almost as loud as the previous student.

Zhou Shiru turned to look at him. If it weren’t raining, the passersby nearby might have heard. Le Cheng’s courage quickly drained away, and his ears turned a faint red with embarrassment.

“Uh, um, I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while…” He spoke more quietly, lowering his eyelashes, feeling a bit guilty, “My, my shoes… seem to be a bit dirty…”

Le Cheng felt a sense of despair and bewilderment at his own civility.

He realized that his shyness was showing its worst side at this moment.

He simply couldn’t bring himself to say anything over the top to someone he wasn’t familiar with—

“Dirty?” Zhou Shiru looked down with a slightly low voice, “Let me see.”

“Huh?” Le Cheng was a bit stunned.

Zhou Shiru bent down to inspect, “Yes, they are a bit dirty.”

“I have a special cleaner. You can come pick it up after we eat.” Zhou Shiru looked into his eyes, his gaze cold through the glasses.

After a brief pause, he added, “Don’t come looking for me ahead of time in the future.”

Le Cheng replied, “Huh? Oh… okay.”

Feeling a bit dazed, Le Cheng quickly realized what he had agreed to.

He hurriedly tried to fix his mistake, “But I just want to come find you.”

Zhou Shiru glanced at him, paused for a moment, and simply said, “As you wish.”

With that, he turned away.

Le Cheng, gripping the umbrella handle, started to feel anxious.

This wasn’t right—he hadn’t started any trouble at all.

Even though he was embarrassed, he needed to cause some drama to make the breakup happen.

Realizing this, Le Cheng quickly straightened up and continued according to his earlier script: “So, can you come out earlier next time?”

Zhou Shiru coldly replied with a simple, “I’ll try.”

Still too polite. Le Cheng cleared his throat and spoke more firmly, “No, you have to come out earlier.”

Zhou Shiru stopped and looked at him with eyes as dark as ink, “Why?”

Le Cheng’s eyes widened slightly at the sudden eye contact. His eyelashes fluttered, and he turned his head away, speaking softly, “I, I just want to see you earlier. Is that okay?”