Chapter 5: The Unfortunate Cannon Fodder

Chapter 5: The Unfortunate Cannon Fodder

When the system returned the next day, Ye Man had already neatly folded the bedding and pillows and moved them back to the bed.

An audiobook was playing in the room.

"The domineering boss said sternly, 'Has my wife admitted her mistake?'"

"The assistant replied, 'Sir, your wife has won a 50 million lottery, bought a ticket to the Maldives overnight, and is now surfing on the island accompanied by eighteen male models!'"

Ye Man: "Wow! 50 million, so envious!"

The system: "..."

What is it like to have a cannon fodder whose skills are entirely derived from audiobooks and short dramas?

The system lamented, "He’s the worst cannon fodder I’ve ever had!"

"Tong, you're back!" Ye Man's face, as small as a palm, lit up with a bright smile, making the system’s heart soften despite being informed that the deducted performance points were unrecoverable.

After softening, the system gave itself a hard slap.

Ye Man is a seemingly harmless but poisonous carnivorous plant; nine out of ten things he says are lies and cannot be trusted. If you truly soften towards him, you fall into his trap.

The system snorted, "Get ready; there’s a plot you need to handle the day after tomorrow."

The main characters, Meng Yao and Chi Jue, have been in a cold war recently. Chi Jue unilaterally stopped contacting Meng Yao for unknown reasons.

Meng Yao made the first move by inviting Ye Man out, using it as an opportunity to meet Chi Jue and talk.

If he had directly asked for Chi Jue, Chi Jue might have found various excuses to decline, but inviting Ye Man was different.

Ye Man, the clueless cannon fodder, was overjoyed and eagerly agreed when he heard that the heir of the Meng Family had invited him out, especially to a place like the horse ranch on the outskirts of Beijing, which he could only dream of before.

With Ye Man so eager, Chi Jue, the awkwardly positioned fake young master, couldn't reveal that Meng Yao wanted to see him, nor could he let Ye Man go alone to such an occasion, so he had no choice but to follow.

"You had already heard about Meng Yao’s status in the Beijing circle. This time, he invited you to a gathering in their circle, and you mistakenly believed he was interested in you. You wanted to seize this chance to get closer to Meng Yao, after all, you are the true young master of the Chi Family, and you believed Meng Yao should have been yours."

"You pretended to accidentally sit on Meng Yao’s lap and deliberately let Chi Jue see it, successfully stirring up conflict between the main characters."

Ye Man: "But didn’t you say our ultimate goal was to help the main characters get together? So why should I create conflicts between them?"

"Ha, what do you know? You’re just a part of their couple’s play. You’re responsible for making the recipient feel jealous, seemingly stirring up conflict, but actually advancing their relationship. Who told you to actually get the main character?"

"Besides, even if you wanted to, the main character wouldn’t. The main characters’ love is stronger than gold. You're just a malicious cannon fodder; most of the bad things you do will backfire, and you won’t succeed."

Ye Man breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright then."

The system noticed his reluctant expression and belatedly realized something.

"You're not willing?" The system flipped through the script, puzzled, "Didn’t you feel that Chi Jue took over your life, made you suffer for the first half of your life, and felt extremely unbalanced, wanting to take everything from Chi Jue?"

"Yes, I do feel that way," he answered matter-of-factly, then hesitated, "But the main character... forget it."

The system was confused, "Why?"

Ye Man lowered his head, looking guilty and afraid of being scolded, and whispered, "Meng Yao... isn’t he a man?"

He didn’t want to sit on a man’s lap.

The system was shocked, the script pages rustled as it flipped through them.

"Ye Man, you... you're straight?"

Ye Man found it strange.

Isn't being straight normal? Why is the system so shocked?

But he said softly, "I don't like people."

"...Huh?"

But Ye Man spoke very seriously, "I just... don't like people, that's it."

Ye Man curved his eyes, "Brother Tong isn't human, I like him."

The system paused for a couple of seconds, its host overheating and triggering an alarm.

Ye Man, feeling unusually shy, played with the hem of his clothes, waiting for a while, until he heard the familiar click, followed by the system's cold "Oh."

"Even if you fool me, the task still needs to be done. Not breaking your legs, keeping you alive, and paying you is my bottom line."

Ye Man paused, his smile fading slightly.

But his voice remained light and cheerful, "You saw through it, Brother Tong is getting harder to trick, wuwu～"

He made a 'wuwu' sound, not really crying, lightly raising the pitch, the sound trailing off into the air. It didn't sound like fake crying, more like a happy little train.

"...I knew you were lying to me." The system huffed again, somehow, seeing Ye Man's smile, it softened its voice.

Just as the system had said, Meng Yao's invitation soon arrived at the Chi household. No mention of Chi Jue, but two brand new riding outfits were sent, one naturally perfectly fitting Chi Jue's body measurements.

Ye Man's outfit wasn't as precise, slightly bigger, showing clear favoritism.

Chi Jue stood there with mixed emotions, while Ye Man didn't feel much, he didn't notice the subtle differences, he was just excited about riding a horse.

Standing by the car, leaning down to buckle Ye Man's seatbelt, then taking the new white cane from the butler, Uncle Feng, and handing it to Ye Man, Chi Yan looked at Ye Man's excited face and said bluntly, "Xiao Man, you can't ride a horse, you can't see, you'll fall off."

He then looked at Chi Jue, "Watch him, don't let him out of your sight."

Ye Man wanted to argue, but Chi Yan's authority as the eldest brother was no joke. Chi Jue covered Ye Man's mouth with a smile, "I'll keep an eye on Xiao Man, big brother."

As the car started, Ye Man still looked gloomy.

Before getting out of the car, Chi Jue asked him to extend his hand.

A wrist was clasped by something.

Ye Man, with his weak vision, vaguely saw that it was a watch.

Not a mechanical watch, but a smartwatch.

Chi Jue's voice was gentle beside him, "Press here, and there will be a voice telling the time, press here to call big brother and me, and here, it's an alarm, press this if you encounter a bad guy, got it?"

"The watch dad gave you before, I put it in a box, Auntie Zhou placed it on your desk, you can wear this one now."

Ye Man, as he was being taught, scuffed his toes on the ground, head down.

He subconsciously grabbed the origami rabbit in his pocket, then quickly let go.

He whispered, just loud enough for the two of them to hear, "Even if you give me something, I won’t like you."

"Yeah."

"It’s mine to begin with."

"Yeah."

Who’d be grateful for getting back something that was already theirs?

Ye Man wasn’t the kind of fool who’d fall for that.

Chi Jue glanced at Ye Man, who’d turned his head away, his expression calm, unfazed by Ye Man’s hostility.

Everyone outside was waiting to see the Chi Family’s drama and laugh at their expense, but Chi Jue, raised with elite education and an older brother stricter than his own father, wouldn’t let things get that messy.

He’d studied Ye Man’s background and was ready for Ye Man to come back resentful and confrontational.

Ye Man clearly had no love for him.

Ye Man hadn’t even finished school; if it came to a fight, he’d be no match for Chi Jue.

But Ye Man’s approach wasn’t quite what Chi Jue had anticipated.

Chi Jue gave a quiet smile.

After handing over the gift, he motioned to lead Ye Man inside.

He’d barely taken two steps when he felt a tug on his sleeve.

He spun around, surprised.

Ye Man held out a hand, a pale pink origami rabbit resting in his palm.

"Here’s a little something in return," Ye Man said with a fake smile, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "You wouldn’t turn it down, would you, Brother?"

He actually felt a pang of regret.

A spoiled rich kid like Chi Jue wouldn’t care for something so cheap, and even if he forced a smile and took it to keep up appearances, he’d probably toss it later.

But Ye Man had put his heart into folding that rabbit.

Still, to get under Chi Jue’s skin, he handed it over anyway.

He’d traded a paper rabbit for two watches!

Ha! Chi Jue must be seething!

The system watched as Ye Man eagerly offered the rabbit to Chi Jue, who, after a moment of surprise, cracked a faint smile. It wasn’t clear if Ye Man had actually gotten to him, because Chi Jue gently took the rabbit, leaned down with a grin, and pinched Ye Man’s cheek.

"Thanks, Xiao Man. I love it."

Ye Man covered his face, muttering, "Brother Tong, he pinched my cheek—he’s gotta be mad!"

The system replied, "I also want to pinch… I mean, yes, Chi Jue is definitely furious."

It lied with a straight face.

Ye Man immediately felt a sense of validation and happiness. He couldn’t see it, but Chi Jue’s gaze softened even more as he glanced at Ye Man’s barely suppressed smile.

From a nearby window, someone observed the interaction between the two brothers.

Xu Huaiting’s gaze shifted from the blind boy’s pale pink lips to the man beside him.

The man sitting by the window was handsome and striking, with a high nose bridge and deep, cold gray eyes, a sign of his mixed heritage—unreadable and mysterious.

"So it's for him that you had Old Man Meng come to me?"

Meng Yao never bowed to anyone, but in front of Xu Huaiting, he had no choice but to lower his head and called out "Uncle."

Xu Huaiting glanced down indifferently: "I'll give you one day to sort out your mess."

"Meng Yao, the Meng Family has no room for a fool. Old Man Meng retired the year before last, and among the younger generation of the Meng Family, he has the highest hopes for you. Don't disappoint him," Xu Huaiting lifted his eyelids, "Indulging your antics for two years is one thing, but don't mess up when it counts. You know very well that Chi Jue is not a biological child of the Chi Family, just a pretext."

"The Chi Family is good, and Chi Jue is also good, but not good enough for you."

"And a man at that, making such a scene over a man, Meng Yao, if you want to die, just say so, no need for such elaborate schemes. Do you know how many people are watching you? Handing your vulnerabilities to others?"

Xu Huaiting was almost amused by his lovesick nephew.

Meng Yao’s body stiffened even more, stubbornly refusing to back down, a hint of defiance on his face: "Unless you kill me, I will never give up on Chi Jue!"

Xu Huaiting sneered, "Alright, if you can hold out till the end, I'll give you credit for bravery."

He moved his fingers, and several imposing, silent figures surrounded Meng Yao.

Secretary Chen hesitated on the side: "Sir, Mr. Meng..."

Meng Yao’s expression turned even more fierce, stubbornly refusing to lower his head: "Secretary Chen, stay out of this!"

Xu Huaiting had already lost interest and withdrew his gaze: "Gag him; he's too loud."

Meng Yao was taken away, and Secretary Chen leaned in to whisper: "Sir, the people who've been tailing you for a week have indeed arrived. Our security is waiting outside."

Meng Yao’s love life drama, even with Old Man Meng’s intervention, was not enough to warrant Xu Huaiting’s personal attention.

He had other matters to attend to here.

If Xu Huaiting were to handle Meng Yao’s affairs, it would be much simpler. Just make someone disappear, and the Chi Family wouldn’t dare to say anything.

But Meng Yao is a little wolf cub, and if the person he cherishes is harmed, he might do something.

Thinking of the possible commotion later, Secretary Chen asked: "Sir, should we send more people to the first floor?"

A group of young masters and ladies, all precious, invited by Meng Yao, would be a headache if something went wrong.

Xu Huaiting’s mind flashed with the image of the blind boy.

He tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the table.

"Send them."

...

Ye Man had just slipped away while Chi Jue was distracted.

Chi Jue kept a close eye on him, and the system told him that Meng Yao was upstairs. Ye Man had been racking his brains for a chance to escape Chi Jue’s watch and go upstairs to find Meng Yao to complete the task.

Just as he managed to break free from Chi Jue, he was stopped again at the staircase.

"Sorry, sir, the second floor is only open to VIP clients," the attendant politely turned him away.

Ye Man was at a loss for what to do when someone suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into a corner.

The person looked him up and down, and even though he strained his eyes, he could only make out the shapes of a few exceptionally tall men surrounding him.

"Boss, he looks blind, and he's a guy."

"We were supposed to grab a woman, weren’t we?"

"Eh, close enough—look at him..."

Something hard pressed against Ye Man's lower back.

"Play along, don’t scream, and do as I say. Change into these clothes."

A piece of clothing was thrown into Ye Man's hands. Ye Man felt it with trembling hands and realized it was a cheongsam.

"B-big brother..." Now Ye Man didn’t have to act—tears streamed down his face.

Sincerely.

In his heart, he sobbed: "Brother Tong, I knew my plan would fall apart, but... did you really have to go this far to stop me?"