Ye Qingyang watched the people bustling back and forth in front of him—strange uniforms, a strange cafeteria. Where on earth was he?
How did he even end up here?
As he was pondering this, suddenly a flood of information surged into his mind. The images flashed past like electric shocks, then neatly organized themselves into clusters of memories.
Ye Qingyang absorbed the information, gradually realizing his current situation: he had transmigrated into a school novel.
Not only that, but the original body he had entered… well, it was a bit of a mess.
The original person also went by Ye Qingyang—same name, same surname.
Ye Qingyang guessed that this must be the reason he had been chosen; otherwise, in the sea of people, there was no way it would randomly pick him.
But the original Ye Qingyang… wow, he was truly miserable.
Miserable enough to deserve a beating.
In the book, Ye Qingyang’s parents had died in an accident.
He was still young, and his aunt took him in as his guardian.
On the surface, she acted all proper and respectable, but behind the scenes, she was ruthless. She had adopted Ye Qingyang solely for his parents’ inheritance. Once the inheritance was in her hands, she found this little burden annoying but didn’t dare to get rid of him openly. So, she gave him only a steel bed on the balcony, letting him live the life of a gray prince.
But this “gray prince” had none of Cinderella’s confidence.
As the saying goes: if you do not perish in silence, you become twisted in silence.
Ye Qingyang endured his aunt’s harsh treatment—not by succumbing, but by becoming twisted.
He wore shabby clothes, sat in the most hidden corners, head down, silent, all the while secretly envying and resenting the most popular student in class: the male lead, Lu Jingcheng.
Lu Jingcheng was a standard school novel protagonist—born into a wealthy family, handsome, charismatic, with exceptional intelligence… yet strangely uninterested in studying.
Such a male lead was destined to shine in the future, becoming a peerless prodigy without needing to bend a bow.
And yet, the psychologically twisted side character, Ye Qingyang, had no idea.
He hid in the shadows like a little mouse, constantly throwing covert attacks at Lu Jingcheng, trying to build his own happiness by causing the male lead trouble.
Naturally, a character like this was doomed to fail spectacularly.
Ye Qingyang sighed. Fortunately, he had transmigrated early.
Otherwise, if the original Ye Qingyang had already died, this wouldn’t be a school novel anymore—it’d be a horror story.
He stood up, intending to get himself some food—people need to eat first, after all.
Just as he rose, the cafeteria door swung open, and a group of students entered.
The one in the middle was tall, handsome, with sharp, deep-set features that gave him a hint of a mixed-race look. The whispers from the onlookers made him seem like a celebrity walking in.
Holy crap. Speak of the devil—wasn’t that Lu Jingcheng and his crew?
Ye Qingyang immediately sank back into his seat, lowering his head and pretending to be invisible.
But his movement was too fast for him. Chen Wei, walking behind Lu Jingcheng, noticed immediately. “Jingcheng, isn’t that Ye Qingyang? I was wondering why I didn’t see him all day—turns out he’s hiding here.”
Lu Jingcheng glanced toward Ye Qingyang, smirked coldly, and strode over.
By now, Ye Qingyang’s memories had returned to yesterday. He realized that the original body, this reckless little fool, had once again pushed itself closer to a disastrous fate.
Yesterday, after school, the original Ye Qingyang had encountered some delinquent students.
Seeing him cowering like a punching bag, they stopped him. “Little brother, lend us some money.”
Ye Qingyang had none. Nervously, he explained he had no money.
The delinquents didn’t believe him and tried to search his body and backpack.
At the critical moment, Lu Jingcheng happened to pass by. Seeing injustice, he jumped in to fight them.
Unfortunately, the homeroom teacher saw everything.
The delinquents were from other schools nearby. The teacher assumed it was a post-school fight and scolded Lu Jingcheng furiously.
Seeing that they couldn’t beat Lu Jingcheng and that a teacher had intervened, the delinquents ran off.
Only the homeroom teacher remained to scold Lu Jingcheng.
Lu Jingcheng protested, “I wasn’t looking for a fight—they tried to rob Ye Qingyang. I was just defending him.”
The homeroom teacher then asked the one student who hadn’t fought: Ye Qingyang.
And what did the reckless original body do? He immediately lied and twisted the story. “No, they planned the fight here. I just happened to pass by. They were afraid I’d tell the teacher, so they wouldn’t let me leave. I had no choice but to stand here.”
Ye Qingyang thought back on the scene and felt utterly furious.
The original body—didn’t just make Lu Jingcheng angry, he deserved a beating himself!
Soon, Lu Jingcheng arrived at Ye Qingyang’s table, grabbed him by the collar, and lifted him from his seat. “Waiting for me here?”
Ye Qingyang looked at the ridiculously handsome boy in front of him. This was the male lead—the symbol of justice and brightness—someone who’d crush anyone opposing him.
So he couldn’t confront him head-on. He had to be clever.
“I was wrong,” Ye Qingyang said hastily. “I was too cowardly yesterday. It’s my fault, Lu-ge, I’m sorry.”
Lu Jingcheng wasn’t buying it. He already saw that this little scoundrel wasn’t normal.
After being helped yesterday, the original body hadn’t just been ungrateful—it even turned the tables, making Lu Jingcheng get scolded by the teacher!
“Now you suddenly want to admit your fault? Too late! Today, we’ll settle all the scores from this past year!”
He lunged at Ye Qingyang to hit him.
Ye Qingyang quickly grabbed Lu Jingcheng’s hand, blinking rapidly, eyes filling with tears in an instant.
He stared at Lu Jingcheng, sobbing, each word carefully crafted: “Lu-ge, I won’t hide it anymore. The reason I always targeted you—you haven’t noticed? It was just to get your attention! You can hit me, but if you do, we’ll be friends, okay?”
Lu Jingcheng: …
Ye Qingyang’s watery eyes, his mixture of grievance and sadness, his desperate performance—it completely stunned the second-year male lead.
What the heck was going on?
Why was he crying?
Lu Jingcheng reached for his hand, but Ye Qingyang wouldn’t let go.
Not only did he refuse, he looked at him with genuine sincerity.
Sincerity? Lu Jingcheng thought he must be blind—this guy had never been sincere in his life.
“Let go!”
“I won’t!”
Ye Qingyang gripped tightly, his acting rooted in strategy. He was determined to seize this opportunity, turning despair into fortune, and latching onto Lu Jingcheng’s strong arm.
“This is my chance to finally get you to notice me. I won’t let go.”
Pitiful, wronged, and cunningly emotional, Ye Qingyang’s performance was seven parts truth, three parts act.
“Lu-ge, can’t we really be friends? I admire you so much. Seeing how hard I worked—even using underhanded methods to get your attention—please let me be your friend!”
Lu Jingcheng: “…Who the hell needs a friend like you?”
Tears flowed faster.
Lu Jingcheng had never seen a boy cry like this. Were his eyes faucets? Tears poured nonstop.
The other students watching thought, “This isn’t how I imagined this story would go.”
“Wow, Lu Shao is really charming—not just the girls want to be his friend, the guys do too.”
“But Ye Qingyang is bold, saying all this in public.”
“He must really want to be friends with Lu Shao. This is the first time I’ve seen someone use such tactics.”
“Whoa! Too gay, I ship it!”
“Lu Shao probably won’t agree. He doesn’t seem to like him.”
“Better switch targets. Lu Shao seems too straight to tease.”
“Ugh, so tragic.”
“Let go,” Lu Jingcheng said, half awkward, half annoyed.
“Let go, so we can be friends?” Ye Qingyang whimpered.
Lu Jingcheng, frustrated at the crying, said, “I don’t make friends with people like you. Enough. Stop crying. I’m letting go already.”
Ye Qingyang immediately released him, stopping the tears, eyes sparkling.
“Lu-ge, you’re so kind. I really like you.”
Lu Jingcheng: …
Awkwardly, he turned and walked toward the food stall.
Ye Qingyang, seeing the danger pass, wiped his tears calmly and took a seat.
He noticed Lu Jingcheng was in line for stir-fry. Squinting slightly, Ye Qingyang picked up his tray and headed in that direction.
Lu Jingcheng glanced back, saw him approaching, and turned his head away, wishing he hadn’t noticed.
Chen Wei teased, “Looks like you really want to be friends. Coming over again, huh?”
“Shut up, you talk too much,” Lu Jingcheng snapped.
Ye Qingyang caught up and greeted him, “Lu-ge, you’re getting stir-fry too?”
Lu Jingcheng sighed, saying nothing.
Ye Qingyang continued, “If you like it, I’ll try it too.”
Lu Jingcheng: …
Watching his awkwardness, Ye Qingyang concluded this male lead was simple—much easier to handle than he imagined.
Having just cried (even if partly acted), his eyes were still tired. He yawned, planning to nap after eating.
The lunch rush had ended, so the line was short. Soon, it was Lu Jingcheng’s turn.
After getting the dishes he liked, Lu Jingcheng waited for Chen Wei, then headed to the table.
Ye Qingyang followed, got his own food, and went to the same table.
School cafeteria food wasn’t expensive—two meat dishes, two vegetables, about ten yuan.
Ye Qingyang swiped his meal card, but the machine displayed four large characters: Insufficient Balance.
Awkward.
The server said, “Top up your card, or have a friend swipe for you.”
Top-up wasn’t possible—he didn’t have a penny. So, his only choice…
He turned to the still-nearby Lu Jingcheng. Though embarrassed…
“Lu-ge!” Ye Qingyang called out, sounding pitiful, distressed, and desperate.
In the next moment, he dashed toward Lu Jingcheng.