The Cold and Ruthless Supporting Male Lead

The redness in her eyes, the pearl-like tears streaming down her cheeks, made Yan Yufeng’s heart skip a beat.

“If you didn’t finish your work, I can lend you mine to copy,” he said, his face cold as he clenched his fists tightly, though his heart was already pounding.

“Really?” A glimmer of hope shone in Lan Weicai’s eyes. After opening that box of Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulations yesterday, her parents had been overjoyed and insisted she complete some of it every day.

“Yeah.” Just the offer to copy homework made her so happy; she truly was a simple girl.

A slight smile tugged at Yan Yufeng’s lips. He felt a rare touch of warmth in his heart, thinking this girl was entirely different from those shallow, flirtatious types.

However, when Lan Weicai pulled out a Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulations math workbook from her drawer, Yan Yufeng’s expression faltered slightly.

“I don’t think our school uses this kind of workbook, right? Did you buy it yourself?” His voice shifted, and his composure started to crack.

Lan Weicai nodded, oblivious to the change in his expression. “Yeah, I have an entire box of these at home.”

Her face showed a trace of bashfulness as she imagined the romantic scenes in dramas where the male and female leads studied together. She had always found it puzzling; After all, homework was something students hated the most. But now that it was happening to her, Lan Weicai felt it was unexpectedly romantic.

Staring at the thick math workbook, Yan Yufeng desperately wanted to take back his earlier offer. However, it hadn’t even been 2 minutes since he’d made the promise, and taking it back now would make him seem insincere. For the sake of his pride, he reluctantly accepted the math workbook.

“I think if I do your work for you, you won’t absorb the knowledge. You should do it yourself first, and then ask me if you don’t understand anything.” Feeling the weight of the workbook in his hands, Yan Yufeng hesitated for just a moment before quickly returning it to her.

Lan Weicai: “…”

Left holding the workbook once again, Lan Weicai felt a bit disappointed. Still, what he said made some sense, so she resigned herself to opening the workbook and starting.

Seated back at his desk, Yan Yufeng watched Lan Weicai frowning as she worked on her homework. He felt a twinge of pity for her; until he noticed the colorful stack of additional workbooks in her drawer. His sympathy vanished instantly.

***

As soon as evening self-study ended, Yan Yufeng strode briskly back to the dormitory.

Pressing his lips together, Yan Yufeng looked at Hai Ku, who was brushing his teeth. “If I like a girl, how should I win her over?”

Feeling as though this was entirely within his expectations, Hai Ku swished water in his mouth and spat it out before turning to Yan Yufeng with a serious expression. “If you like a girl, buy a few more math workbooks, finish every single one of them, and give them to her. Tell her you completed them while thinking of her. The more, the better!”

“Why?”

“Think about how hard math is! A lot of girls aren’t good at or don’t like math. If you do so many math workbooks for her, it’ll be like conquering a tough challenge. She’ll definitely be deeply moved. There have been plenty of cases like this. Once, there was a top science student who only cared about studying, but he fell in love with a girl,” Hai Ku said, weaving his tale with a straight face. “He used this exact method, and he successfully won her over. Also, if your love for her surpasses the difficulty of math problems, it proves your feelings are real.”

Yan Yufeng found this hard to believe, especially since math problems gave him a headache just thinking about them.

But when he pictured the girl’s face, he hesitated.

Fine. Math was indeed hard, but even if it wasn’t to prove his feelings, conquering it could still help him grow.

“Tomorrow, I’ll buy all kinds of math workbooks,” Yan Yufeng declared, clapping his hands decisively.

His bold and determined demeanor left Hai Ku in awe. Forget doing math problems; just copying answers already felt exhausting to him.

But seeing Yan Yufeng’s serious and earnest attitude, Hai Ku couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratification. After all, high school students should focus on practice workbooks, not dating. That’s how it ought to be.

Silently giving him a thumbs-up in his heart, Hai Ku quietly took out his phone.

Even though the school had strict rules against bringing phones, many students still sneaked them in, usually keeping them locked up in their dorm rooms.

When Hai Ku logged into QQ, he was immediately bombarded with messages from Lan Weicai.

Lan Weicai: [!!!!!]

Lan Weicai: [Why? Why? Why? Why did you buy me so many practice problems?]

Lan Weicai: [My parents even tore out all the answer sheets!]

Lan Weicai: [Brother Haiku, you’ve changed! You used to give me things I liked!]

Hai Ku wore an affectionate, fatherly smile as he read her messages.

With a few taps of his fingers, he replied.

Li Hai Ku: [Weicai, you’re already in your first year of high school, and now it’s the second semester. In the second year, you’ll have to choose between arts and sciences. Doing more practice problems now will only benefit you.]

Lan Weicai: [But the school already gives us workbooks…]

Li Hai Ku: [Don’t you want to improve your grades? Right now, studying is the most important thing. You’ve already fallen behind in your foundational knowledge, so you can only rely on tackling a sea of problems.]

Lan Weicai: [Wuwu…]

Feeling a bit wronged, Lan Weicai pouted. Hai Ku had always pampered her before, even helping her with her homework. Now, he was parroting her parents’ words.

Annoyed, she put away her phone and shoved her Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Simulations workbook under the desk. “Humph! If you won’t help me, someone else will!”

Teenage girls often had a streak of rebellion. Thinking of the gentle Yan Yufeng made her feel a bit better. That night, she even dreamed of him, her charming prince on a white horse.

***

The workbooks arrived astonishingly quickly. By the next afternoon, Hai Ku already saw Yan Yufeng working on them.

“Well, well, why the sudden dedication to studying?” Long Ritian, who didn’t feel like going home, walked into the dorm and was surprised to find Yan Yufeng bent over a Huanggang Intensive Volume.

“This is a form of self-discipline,” Yan Yufeng replied, though internally he was utterly repulsed. Seeing the heir of the Long family, he forced himself to swallow the nausea.

“Tsk, you’re just a first-year and already so diligent. I can’t fall behind,” Long Ritian said with a look of disdain, picking up one of the Huanggang Intensive Volumes stacked on Yan Yufeng’s desk.

Hai Ku watched their expressions with great amusement, feeling that this competitive spirit over practice problems was exactly what high school students should have.

Back in his own school days, Hai Ku had always enjoyed competing with others over who could memorize passages faster.

In just a few minutes, Hai Ku had successfully witnessed the transformation of Long Ritian’s face from disdain to exasperation.

Silently setting the Huanggang Intensive Volume down, Long Ritian was overwhelmed by the dread of endless assignments. “Forget it. I’m an art student anyway. As long as my grades are decent, it’s fine.”

Yan Yufeng’s hand trembled slightly as he worked through the exercises, but he ultimately persevered, imagining Lan Weicai’s face to keep himself motivated.

Hai Ku, meanwhile, leisurely admired the character profiles he had purchased from the system, certain that Yan Yufeng wouldn’t hold out much longer.

Love kept him going for 2 days. By Friday, however, Hai Ku no longer saw Yan Yufeng working on the math workbooks.

The stack of Huanggang Intensive Volumes he had bought was now sitting neglected in the corner, with a small pile at the bottom still sealed.

“I don’t think I like her that much,” Yan Yufeng muttered. Whenever he saw Lan Weicai now, the image of that mountain of math workbooks floated before his eyes, triggering an instinctive aversion.

Hai Ku nodded, quietly crossing the original male lead’s name off his list.

The character profiles he had purchased from the system had proven very useful.

In the original plot, Yan Yufeng was a poor student. Since the story mainly revolved around romance, it wasn’t until university entrance exams loomed that Li Haiku ended up tutoring both him and Lan Weicai.

Now, even before the romance had begun, it was already crushed under the weight of academic pressure; a result that left Hai Ku quite satisfied.

But he didn’t dare celebrate too early. After all, there were still four other exceptional heirs waiting for him to deal with.

Even if these four didn’t take their studies seriously, their privileged backgrounds ensured they would still lead comfortable lives. Typically, they studied abroad in their third year of high school, which was also the case in the original story.

In the original plot, Yan Yufeng had been set to study abroad in his third year, but he stayed because of love. By then, his relationship with Lan Weicai had solidified. Moreover, the calmer atmosphere of the third year, compared to the restlessness of the first year, coupled with the male lead’s plot armor, allowed him to grow rapidly under Li Haiku’s tutoring.

Hai Ku considered himself lucky to intervene before the sapling had fully matured.

Sometimes, adhering to the principle of matching in status wasn’t wrong. Many Mary Sue school romance novels focused solely on the high school romance. What happened in university or after marriage was often left unanswered.

If Lan Weicai were to fall in love after developing a mature personality, Hai Ku wouldn’t have minded. But right now, she was just a first-year high school student. When forced to choose between academics and love, academics were undoubtedly the safer bet.

***

The first week of school had yet to include supplementary lessons. After classes ended on Friday, Hai Ku rushed home. It had been a week since he last saw the female lead, and he needed to check on her current situation.

However, as soon as he reached the ground floor, he heard Lan Weicai’s crisp laughter accompanied by Duanmu Xi’s refined and gentle voice.

When Duanmu Xi noticed Hai Ku, he smiled politely. “Do you live here too?”

“He lives next door to me. Senior, do you know him?” Lan Weicai was surprised. She hadn’t expected Brother Haiku to know such an outstanding senior.

“Yeah, he’s my roommate.” Seeing Lan Weicai’s shy expression, Hai Ku felt his head ache.

Was it because the workload was still too light?

How could she encounter high-quality male leads wherever she went?

“What a coincidence,” Duanmu Xi said with an even gentler smile. “I bought a place in the neighborhood across the street, but I have a terrible sense of direction. Last time, I really had to thank the junior for helping me out.”

“Oh, it was nothing…” In the presence of someone handsome, Lan Weicai’s voice became soft and delicate.