Note: This chapter is Redone on 7 / 27 / 2025
Link for character illustration:
https://ko-fi.com/hannibal52661/gallery
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Volume 1 Chapter 25: Isn't This Making Things Difficult for Me!?
"Ning Chu, are you applying for the school's subsidy? The poverty subsidy one."
Later that evening, Wen Yang came up behind Ning Chu, resting both hands on the back of his chair, leaning forward to look at his computer screen while asking, "If you need it, you'll have to fill out an application form. It's due this weekend."
Wen Yang had already become class president, so occasionally he had to carry out tasks assigned from above.
Ning Chu froze for a moment, paused the video, and turned his head toward him. "What about you?"
"My family's not that poor, so forget it." Wen Yang shook his head. "Besides, the school already reduced my tuition. Taking more subsidies wouldn't feel right."
'You might as well take it,' Ning Chu thought silently, 'I'm just afraid you'll run out of money, go get a part-time job, and start fooling around outside.'
He shook his head too, signaling his refusal.
"Alright."
"Hey, you haven't asked me yet." Zhang Shaoqing came over with a cheeky grin. "Think I could get the subsidy?"
Both of them turned their heads, narrowed their eyes, and simultaneously gave him the look one would reserve for scum of the earth. In unison, they said, "No!"
Ning Chu pursed his lips in disdain. "You're a rich second-generation kid, can you have a little shame? This subsidy is for students who can barely afford to eat. You? Every meal you have is thirty or forty yuan, and sometimes over a hundred."
Wen Yang nodded in agreement. "Your pair of shoes alone could pay for a whole year's subsidy."
"I was just joking." Though he said so, Zhang Shaoqing kept grinning.
Who knew if he really was joking.
Although they had gradually become more familiar, Ning Chu still held onto the villainous image of Zhang Shaoqing from the novel.
He hadn't even "turned evil" yet, and already he was displaying traits that made people and dogs alike dislike him.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Seeing Wen Yang heading toward the door, Ning Chu immediately stood up and scampered after him. "I just so happen to need to go out too!"
"I'm going to ask around at other dorms, then grab some food at the cafeteria."
"Perfect, I'm hungry too!"
Wen Yang paused, glanced back at Ning Chu following him like a shadow, and said nothing, continuing out the door.
After visiting a few neighboring dorms, the two left the dormitory area, passed through the large plaza, and arrived at the nearest cafeteria.
The cafeteria was a three-story building—first floor filled with fast food stalls and a small convenience store, the second and third floors housing various restaurants within the campus. The food was decent, and compared to delivery, it was quite economical.
"Someone posted on the forum yesterday that they found a worm in their food here," Wen Yang said casually as he picked up a tray. "Half a worm."
"Could you not talk about that while we're eating..."
Ning Chu's face darkened, and the appetite stirred up by the smell of food diminished considerably.
"You said earlier you had something to do?"
"Yeah, I saw a kitten before. After we eat, I'm planning to buy some food and take it over to feed it." Mentioning this made his mood perk up instantly. He eagerly described the little black cat. "It was so cute! I almost brought it back to the dorm, but I was afraid you guys wouldn't like cats."
"I wouldn't mind."
"Did you know? That cat even pretended to be hurt! I just petted it twice, and it lay right down on my shoe, refusing to get up. In the end, I had to give it a sausage before it let me go."
Ning Chu grabbed his dinner tray and quickened his steps to keep up with Wen Yang. Wen Yang's long legs meant one of his strides equaled two of his, so if he wanted to keep up, he had to hurry.
After sitting down across from Wen Yang, Ning Chu had just unwrapped his disposable chopsticks when Wen Yang suddenly asked, "Why do I get the feeling that, just like Shaoqing said... wherever I go, you just have to follow?"
Ning Chu's hand paused mid-movement, his heart skipping a beat, but he pretended nothing was wrong and lowered his head to eat. "Huh? No, I don't."
"It's like... you don't feel comfortable letting me go out alone."
"It's just your imagination."
Wen Yang didn't touch his food, instead scrutinizing Ning Chu with a thoughtful look.
This past week, he had clearly noticed Ning Chu paying him unusual attention. The feeling was almost like... the possessiveness of a clingy girlfriend—or a mother who can't stop worrying about her child.
Just like Zhang Shaoqing had said, it was almost as if Ning Chu had a crush on him.
Girlfriend...
Although Ning Chu's face was admittedly quite cute, he didn't have the womanly figure, and his looks weren't even on par with the girls chasing him. Most importantly—he was a man!
"I don't like men." Wen Yang suddenly said very seriously.
Ning Chu nearly sprayed out a mouthful of food.
He stared wide-eyed at Wen Yang in shock. "Neither did I!"
Even though he had long expected to be misunderstood, being mistaken for that still made him break character.
Trying hard to clear himself of the suspicion of being into men, he flushed red with agitation and blurted out his preferences: "I like girls! Best if they've got big chests, long legs, and are pretty—"
"If they were a cat girl, that'd be even better!"
At this rate, before the plot could even turn him into a woman and throw him into a man's arms, he'd probably end up in the proctology department first!
Like hell he liked men!
But Wen Yang still looked unconvinced. "Then why is it that every time I go on a date, you always stop me from going?"
"Stop you? I was looking out for you—giving you advice!"
"Look, the first time you had to choose between a game and a date, you picked the game. The second time, you actually went to the bar, but then chickened out and came back on your own! How's that my fault?"
Hmm… what Ning Chu said actually made sense.
Wen Yang started to wonder if maybe too many girls chasing him had made him overconfident.
After that heated rebuttal, he awkwardly scratched his head. "Guess I was overthinking it."
Even so, he still eyed Ning Chu's flushed, rosy face with suspicion, feeling like the explanation wasn't entirely convincing.
"Exactly~ you were just overthinking it."
Sure enough, after repeatedly suggesting Wen Yang shouldn't go on dates, the guy had started overanalyzing.
The root of the problem was still those shameless girls!
When he got back later, he'd make a list of every girl in the novel who had any close relationship with Wen Yang, so he could be on guard when they popped up.
The atmosphere got a little awkward. Wen Yang took a few bites of food, then decided to keep the conversation going with a bit of gossip. "I heard there's been ghost sightings in the teaching building. The school's going to hire someone to perform an exorcism."
"Ghosts?"
The thought instantly pushed everything else out of Ning Chu's mind.
"Do– do you know how exorcisms are done?"
"Huh? Isn't it just superstitious stuff? Like shaman dances or something?"
Well, normally it would be superstition… but in this world, exorcism usually meant screwing the ghost until it surrendered…
He'd even written a chapter like that, where the protagonist was Wen Yang.
"The school leaders heard my uncle used to be an exorcist, so they asked me to check it out… The problem is, I don't know a thing about it." Wen Yang rubbed his temples in frustration.
"Better not go, then?"
"It's hard to refuse something the school leaders asked me personally." Wen Yang smiled helplessly. "Anyway, it's just superstition. If there really is a ghost, I'll ask my uncle for advice—and maybe make some money off it."
Ning Chu's face darkened.
Having a virgin use 'essence blood' to exorcise a ghost—wasn't that just making things difficult for people?!