Trapped in Paradise

Chapter 9: Counselor

“Attention! Relax! Count off!”

“All present, run two laps first! Keep up! Stay in line!”

In the afternoon, the sun was increasingly blinding and scorching, turning the air in the playground into a distorted haze. The moment Ning Chu stepped into the sunlight, his skin quickly began to sweat, making him feel sticky and uncomfortable.

Due to his height, Ning Chu was one of the lead runners in the group, right next to the fierce-looking instructor, which kept him from slacking off, so he ran seriously.

Fortunately, his stomach pain had eased a lot by the afternoon and was no longer a bother.

At lunchtime, he had eaten a good meal—two meat dishes and a vegetable dish, plus a cup of yogurt—and had even taken a nap after feeling nearly stuffed.

As long as he ate and slept well, he was confident he wouldn’t embarrass himself by being the first to faint during the standing-at-attention drill again.

After running two laps, Ning Chu’s breathing became rapid.

When the instructor called for a break, he plopped down on the grass and rubbed his sore calves, grabbing a bottle of mineral water and chugging nearly half of it down with gulp gulp gulp sounds.

“Ow~ I’m dying here~” Wang Jie, a homebody who never exercised, was nearly gasping for his life after those two laps, complaining nonstop from the side, “Why do we have to do this in the morning? Don’t we get to live?”

Ning Chu shot him a glance, which Wang Jie immediately noticed.

Wang Jie scooted closer and asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Much better, it’s not a problem.”

“Oh~” Wang Jie sighed, “If I had a stomachache, I’d definitely ask for a few days off.”

“I heard military training has credits, if you skip it this year, you have to do it with the freshmen next year.”

“Is that true?”

Ning Chu pressed his lips together without confirming. In his previous life, that was indeed how it worked at his university.

Taking advantage of the break, he scanned the playground and eventually stopped his gaze on a vibrant girl from the adjacent class.

Hmm… he thought it might be time to find a girlfriend.

In a world filled with high-quality girls, aside from the goal of disrupting the plot, isn’t it fair to enjoy life by finding a girlfriend?

But that girl was at least a little over one meter sixty, slightly taller than him.

Short girls usually have a youthful loli face, and though he knew all the girls on the playground were over eighteen, this wasn’t the two-dimensional world. Targeting loli-type girls felt strangely wrong.

Also, while showering at noon, why did an extra layer of soft flesh suddenly appear on his chest…?

Suddenly reminded of the sensation from his shower, Ning Chu’s romantic thoughts scattered like leaves in the wind. He slouched back, lying on the grass and staring vacantly at the blue sky.

In the first week after his transmigration, small red beans had appeared on his chest, and now, it seemed like the sudden development had turned his small red beans into soup dumplings.

There had to be some connection, right?

“Why is the counselor here?”

A nearby conversation pulled Ning Chu back to reality. He turned and saw the counselor walking towards them with a cardboard box.

The descriptions of the counselor from books immediately flashed in his mind, causing him to have a poor impression and mutter quietly, “Cultured scum…”

“Come, come, I bought some drinks and bread for you, all in this box.” The counselor had a bright smile, looking gentle and approachable, quickly winning the favor of a wide array of students. “I’ll leave the box here; grab some during your break, and we’ll have a meal together to recharge after military training.”

Ning Chu yawned and casually appraised the counselor, watching as he walked over to the instructor, whispering to him about who-knows-what.

Remembering that the counselor’s plot came later, he shouldn’t worry about them scheming something strange.

Hey! If the counselor was still a normal person and not a creep now, didn’t that mean there was still hope? Just like that goofy Zhang Shaoqing?

If there was no hope, getting the counselor locked up in advance would prevent his plot from happening!

Ning Chu suddenly had this idea.

He didn’t need to wait for the plot to unfold to disrupt it; he could prepare ahead of time to deal with key figures.

To do that, the original novel that had come with him was essential!

Just as he was having this peculiar thought, Ning Chu suddenly jolted and looked up, noticing the instructor and the counselor looking at him and saying something.

Are they talking about me?

I haven’t even turned into a girl yet in this plot! Why are they paying attention to me?!

Could it be that they swing both ways? How twisted is that?!

With his eyes narrowed cautiously at the counselor, his previously casual sitting posture stiffened, and his muscles tightened instinctively like a wary cat.

Fortunately, the gaze on him didn’t linger for long. The counselor and instructor chatted merrily for just a minute before heading straight to the front of the students.

“Tomorrow evening at five, there’s a class meeting in room D203. Students interested in running for class committee positions can prepare in advance.”

Only a fool would want to be on the class committee~

Especially positions like class leader or vice leader, there’s no benefit in doing a ton of legwork while also bearing the brunt of offending people.

Ning Chu briefly glanced at his three roommates, all engrossed in their phones, completely uninterested.

Military training continued.

After warming up with two laps, they had to endure another long and tedious session of standing at attention.

Their spot was at the playground’s edge, with a shade from the trees alongside, but sadly, Ning Chu could only escape into its shadow with his feet while the searing sun continued beating down on his head.

“Ning Chu, are you going to be on the class committee? I heard it can earn credits, and it’s easier to get scholarships,” Wen Yang quietly asked from behind while the instructor wasn’t looking.

Just as he was about to shake his head, an epiphany struck Ning Chu.

Since he wanted to nip the plot in the bud by getting close to the counselor to see if he was indeed a creep…

A class committee position would be the perfect cover.

Plus, he wasn’t yet a female character in the story; there wouldn’t be any danger in approaching the counselor.

Not thinking too much, he nodded slightly.

“You want to run too?”

“Also?”

Curious, Ning Chu turned around to glimpse Wen Yang’s expression just as the instructor lightly tapped the back of his head and sternly scolded, “Why are you moving around?!”

Taking a quick glance at the instructor’s towering height of one meter ninety, he hurriedly straightened up and dared not move an inch.

The novel didn’t provide much background on Wen Yang’s identity… but having spent over a week together, Ning Chu had a vague sense that Wen Yang was living a tight financial situation.

Typically, it was Wen Yang who always teamed up with Zhang Shaoqing to get takeout discounts the most.

The key point was, despite being a solidly built tall guy, Wen Yang only orders one meat and one vegetable dish at every meal, managing to total just nine yuan, and never eats snacks like fruit or milk tea.

Here was Ning Chu, a one meter sixty small fry, who routinely orders at least two meat dishes, worried he wouldn’t get enough nutrients to grow taller.

“Are you eyeing the scholarship?” After a bit of analysis, Ning Chu figured out Wen Yang’s intentions. “Then you run, and I’ll vote for you.”

“Mm.”

At that point, Wen Yang could infiltrate the ranks and gain the counselor’s trust to gather intel.

This way, he could avoid the counselor swinging both ways and ending up in a wolf’s den—gift-wrapped!

“Hey! You over there! Can’t keep your mouth shut, huh?!”

Ning Chu’s face turned pale, quickly shutting his mouth and daring not to make a sound again.

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