Winning the male lead

Le Tian shook his head. “No, no.”

“If there’s no conflict, then why do you want to change dorms?” The homeroom teacher clasped her hands together. She had been teaching at Yangde for nearly twenty years and was a veteran. Unlike the newer teachers who were cautious and hesitant, she believed that students were still students—things that needed to be said should be said. “Ding Le Tian, Jiang Qu is ranked second in the grade. Whether it’s academics or sports, he’s top-notch. Living with him is a great opportunity for you to learn.”

As she spoke, the homeroom teacher clicked open a document on her computer. “Come and take a look.”

Le Tian dragged his feet as he stepped forward.

When the document opened, it was a grade report. He immediately felt terrible.

The homeroom teacher circled his name with her mouse and said sternly, “After living with Jiang Qu for a month, you’ve made progress. Your English score improved from 39 to 49—an increase of ten points.”

Le Tian had mixed feelings: …I didn’t expect such a terrible score to still be considered an improvement.

The homeroom teacher spoke earnestly, “I know that kids like you will eventually be sent abroad by their parents, but even if you go abroad, you still need to know English, right? You can’t just stop at ‘How are you? I am fine.’ You have to learn it eventually.”

As she spoke, she opened another document—the school ranking list.

The top three names were prominently displayed—Jiang Yue, Jiang Qu, and Zhang Qingning.

Le Tian exclaimed, “Wow, all my people.”

The system: “…” He’s spouting nonsense again.

“See?” The homeroom teacher continued, “Jiang Qu’s grades are very stable. His English consistently stays between 115 and 120. You should learn from him and aim for even greater progress.”

Le Tian lowered his head and murmured, “What about Jiang Yue?”

The homeroom teacher was momentarily stunned, then chuckled. “You want to live with Jiang Yue?”

Le Tian frantically nodded in his heart but remained reserved on the surface, keeping silent—an implicit confirmation.

The homeroom teacher laughed. “He is really popular. The girls like him, but even the boys do?”

The system thought: Teacher, you have no idea about the real situation.

After laughing, the homeroom teacher said, “He doesn’t even stay in the dorms. Besides, he sits right behind you in class. If you have any questions, you can ask him. See how privileged you are? In class, you can ask Jiang Yue; at the dorm, you can ask Jiang Qu. Ding Le Tian, if you don’t improve, you’ll really have no excuse.”

Le Tian felt bitter inside: The way she says it, it sounds like I’ve got a harem. In reality, I’m just being tortured by academics.

Feeling dejected, he left the office.

Meanwhile, the system was ecstatic—if it had known that studying could subdue Le Tian, it would have arranged this much earlier.

After taking only a few steps, Le Tian was stopped by someone—a tall girl, slightly taller than him. He immediately recognized her as one of the girls who had been making a fuss at Zhang Qingning’s desk the other day.

He sighed, “Ah, is this finally my school bullying scene?” He was familiar with this situation, having acted it out many times before. Naturally, he shrank back into a corner, putting on a frightened expression. “Y-you… what do you want?”

The tall girl, named Ling Fei, had a pretty face and an air of arrogance. She looked him up and down before speaking proudly, “You live with Jiang Qu?”

Oh, so this was about Jiang Qu. He nodded.

Ling Fei continued, “I saw you talking to Jiang Yue after class today.”

Le Tian nodded again, wondering whether she was here for Jiang Qu or Jiang Yue. That was a bit fickle.

Ling Fei’s expression showed a slight blush as she coughed and asked, “What did you talk to him about?”

Le Tian honestly recounted how he had borrowed a pen.

Ling Fei was clearly dissatisfied with his answer. “I saw Jiang Yue throw something. Was it something Jiang Qu asked you to give him?”

Le Tian: “?”

His utterly baffled expression made her roll her eyes. She pressed on, “I’m asking you—was it or not?”

Le Tian shook his head.

Ling Fei’s face showed an unreadable disappointment as she muttered, “So close to being shippable.”

He was utterly confused.

Ling Fei continued, “Let me ask you—do you want to fit in with the class?”

Le Tian hesitated. “Uh… it’s fine, I guess.”

“If you do, then be obedient,” Ling Fei took a step closer, using her height advantage to corner him against the wall. He ..thought, This is not the romance I signed up for, girl, stop right there!

Ling Fei stared down at him, speaking in a commanding tone, “If Jiang Qu mentions Jiang Yue in the dorm, even just once, you have to tell me. Got it?”

Le Tian was increasingly confused. Why would Jiang Qu randomly bring up Jiang Yue in the dorm? What kind of connection do these two have? Though clueless, he nodded.

Then he said, “But—b-but you guys… stop bullying Zhang Qingning.”

Ling Fei grinned and teasingly said, “Oh, Ding Le Tian, what a good man. Protecting your wife, huh?”

Le Tian: …Why does it feel like I just got flirted with?

After Ling Fei left, Le Tian asked the system, “Why do I feel like I don’t understand what she’s talking about?”

System: “You don’t need to understand.”

Hearing the system’s tone, Le Tian immediately knew it was hiding something. He pressed the system for answers, even threatening to bombard it with explicit images if it refused to talk.

System: …I’ve never seen someone so shameless.

Reluctantly, the system answered, “She’s a CP fan of Jiang Yue and Jiang Qu.”

Le Tian was shocked. “!!!” After the initial shock, he became deeply aggrieved. “Why?! Am I not cute enough?!” What is wrong with everyone’s eyes? Why can’t they focus on him? He’s totally shippable!

The system sneered, “You’re dumb, short, and cry too much. Other than looking somewhat delicate, what makes you think you stand a chance?”

Le Tian instantly deflated. “Mom, I’m your own son…”

System: “Exactly because you’re my son, I have to tell you the truth.”

Le Tian still didn’t get it. “Are Jiang Yue and Jiang Qu even close? Have they done anything that could be considered ambiguous?”

The system concluded that he knew nothing about shipping culture.

Le Tian humbly sought guidance.

“What do fangirls look for in a CP? It’s all about chemistry and aesthetics. As long as two handsome guys have potential, even if they never speak a word to each other, it’s still considered ‘love that words cannot express,’” the system explained patiently. “Meanwhile, trash like you—no matter how loudly you come out of the closet, no one would care.”

Le Tian: …

The system added, “Also, Jiang Yue and Jiang Qu are cousins.”

Le Tian was even more shocked. “C-cousins can be shipped too?” These fangirls are terrifying!

The system remained calm. “That’s another selling point—brotherly love, forbidden romance. Very popular.”

Le Tian felt like he had just stepped into a whole new world, but unfortunately, there was no place for him in it.

“I refuse to accept this!” Fueled by righteous indignation, he declared to the system, “I need to improve myself! I need to work hard! I need to make a name for myself in the CP fandom!”

Even though getting scolded by Jiang Qu never motivated him to study, being ignored in the CP world lit a fire in his heart. He refused to accept that no one was shipping him with Jiang Yue, Jiang Qu… or even all three of them together. One way or another, his name must be known!

He declared seriously, “This is a matter of dignity.”

System: …Such a bizarre sense of dignity.

Returning to class, Le Tian was full of ambition. His grand aspirations, however, were shattered within three minutes of English class. Crying, he told the system, “Mom, I don’t understand anything.”

System: “…That’s normal.”

Ding Le Tian was the worst of the worst when it came to academics. He barely knew any English words, and the English teacher conducted lessons entirely in English. To him, it sounded like a magic spell. The system even suspected that his previous score of 49 was pure luck—just like his father’s dumb luck.

“Hard work pays off. I can’t give up so easily,” Le Tian said to the system, his eyes wide open, trying his best to decipher what the English teacher was saying.

After listening for a long time, he still didn’t get it. Instead, the teacher, noticing that he had been staring at her intently, assumed he wanted to answer a question and called on him.

Le Tian: …Teacher, I’m sorry. I didn’t even understand the question.

Seeing his silence, the teacher kindly waved her hand and let him sit down. As he did, he sneakily glanced behind him at Jiang Yue, only to find that he was still scribbling away, completely focused on his own work.

Le Tian sighed, “We’re both not paying attention, so why is he the top scorer?”

System: “Different species?”

After class, Le Tian was determined to talk to Jiang Yue. “You, you—” Before he could finish his sentence, Jiang Yue had already stood up and walked away, treating him like air.

Le Tian: Puffed up in frustration.

System: Feeling incredibly pleased.

Feeling defeated, Le Tian slumped onto his desk, flipping to the vocabulary list at the back of his English book. He quietly read the words but realized he didn’t recognize more than half of them.

He told the system, “I can’t go on like this.” No matter how hard he tried, he wouldn’t be able to reach Jiang Yue or Jiang Qu’s level, even in three to five years.

System: “Be bold—change ‘three to five years’ to ‘thirty to fifty years.’”

Le Tian: …No rebuttal.

Nearby, Ling Fei was leaning against a window chatting with someone when she was suddenly tapped on the back. Annoyed, she turned around. “Who’s asking for trouble?”

Ding Le Tian looked at her timidly, blinking his eyes.

Ling Fei: “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

Le Tian whispered that he wanted to talk to her.

She immediately caught on to what he wanted to say and, thrilled, said, “Go ahead. You’re among friends here.”

Le Tian glanced at the group of girls gathered around, realizing that Jiang Yue and Jiang Qu had an unexpectedly large CP fandom. This only made him more determined.

“I-I want to join y-you guys too,” he said shyly.

Ling Fei was first stunned, then excited. “Great taste!” This was their CP fandom’s first-ever male member. She eagerly invited him to join their QQ group.

Someone objected, “Just because he’s a guy doesn’t mean we should give him special treatment. He still needs to pass the entry requirements.”

Le Tian hadn’t expected there to be an application process just to join a CP group, and he was momentarily dumbfounded.

Ling Fei then introduced him to another concept—CP Super Topics.

Le Tian was completely lost, but Ling Fei instructed him to take out his phone. When he said it was broken, she told him to get it fixed, log into Weibo, and follow the “Shui Dao Qu Cheng” CP Super Topic. He needed to check in daily until he reached Level 6 before he could join the group.

Ling Fei assured him, “It’s quick. Just check in every day, and you’ll get there soon. Posting more will help you level up faster.”

Le Tian was utterly dumbfounded. What are these girls even talking about? Thankfully, he had his system—his ultimate weapon.

Ling Fei added, “There’s lots of good stuff in there~”

Le Tian asked the system, “What good stuff?”

The system: “…You’ll find out when you see for yourself.”

Le Tian: “Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on. I’m counting on you.”

System: …Why do I feel like I’m becoming less and less like a high-level system?