Cannon Fodder – Chapter 39 – The Yandere You Raised – Don’t You Know?

After being thoroughly beaten, Liu Guijia stopped being stubborn. Sitting on a chair and wiping her face with tissue, she reluctantly recounted what happened in Chi Xiaocheng’s room, carefully omitting the part where she bullied Chi Xiaocheng.

She went straight to the key points: “I wasn’t really going to do anything to her, just scared her a bit. Then I said neither Chi Xiaocheng nor you were any good.

“After that, Chi Xiaocheng went crazy.”

“She kept saying things like ‘you can insult me but not Tao-Tao,’ then threw herself at my knife. When I said I’d eventually… eventually turn you into my dog, she retorted that even if you were a dog, you could only be her dog and had nothing to do with me.

“Then she snatched my knife.

“After stabbing my thigh, she slashed her own forehead, saying something about how I should hurry up and attack since she was the victim.

“Finally, she muttered to herself that she wasn’t actually a yandere.”

Just recalling it made Liu Guijia shrink back in fear. “Then you showed up and started beating me without asking questions. In all this, I was the actual victim!”

Su Tao frowned. “You’re not lying to me?”

Liu Guijia’s blood pressure spiked. Ignoring the pain on her face, she straightened up and snapped, “If I don’t talk, you think I’m being stubborn. If I do talk, you don’t believe me. If I’m lying, may my whole family die!”

Su Tao rubbed her chin. “What was Chi Xiaocheng’s condition at that time? Her expression and such?”

“This…” Liu Guijia calmed down to recall. “It was like she became a different person! Crazy tone, flushed face, eyes like a cat’s. It was… terrifying!”

She wasn’t lying about this.

In Su Tao’s memory, whether in the basement or on the rooftop, Chi Xiaocheng had been in similar states.

She tentatively called it “yandere mode.” Normally quite stable, but once her bottom line was crossed, she’d become morbidly deranged.

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But here was the problem.

She’d studied up on yanderes.

Without a doubt, Chi Xiaocheng’s previous behavior fit the “morbid” aspects of a yandere: self-harm, death-seeking tendencies, etc.

Yet another key trait of yanderes was their skill in deception!

Moreover, Dr. Cheng had mentioned that yanderes typically don’t realize they are yanderes.

Xiaocheng knew she was a yandere.

Claimed she wasn’t one.

Yet exhibited all sorts of pathological behaviors.

So the question was: Was she actually a yandere or not?

Su Tao had never known Chi Xiaocheng to possess such acting skills.

“Such a headache.”

Rubbing her temples, Su Tao realized she couldn’t figure this out alone. Noticing the darkening sky outside, she took out her phone and looked at Liu Guijia. “Transfer the 7,000 yuan you owe Xiaocheng.”

Liu Guijia stiffened. “I… I don’t have money. Only 300 yuan on me.”

Su Tao cracked her knuckles with a series of pops. “No money? Then how do you plan to settle this?”

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“I… I…” Panicked and fearing another beating, Liu Guijia blurted without thinking, “Can I pay with my body instead?”

She shrank back. “You and Chi Xiaocheng must have an unusual relationship, given how you’ve trained her into that state. If you don’t mind, I could….”

“Stop right there!”

Su Tao recoiled in disgust. “Look at yourself. Don’t gross me out.”

Liu Guijia was like a toad.

In cuteness, nothing beats Xiaocheng.

Chi Xiaocheng’s adorable face and sweet, obedient smile surfaced in Su Tao’s mind, lightening her mood slightly.

She exhaled. “One month. If you can’t produce the money by then, I’ll be back. If I find out you’re still bullying the weak, prepare to rot in jail!”

With that, Su Tao turned to leave. But her sharp eyes caught a small figure still huddled in the corner.

About Chi Xiaocheng’s size, with clothes in tatters; hair and exposed skin filthy.

She glared fiercely at Liu Guijia before approaching the follower, extending a hand. Her smile was like moonlight. “Don’t worry, she won’t dare bully you anymore. I’m Su Tao. What’s your name?”

To Su Tao’s surprise, the girl shrank back further. She shook her head rapidly, refusing to take the offered hand.

Su Tao assumed she was just scared until a soft voice whispered, “Thank you.”

Followed by another shake of the head.

A clear rejection this time.

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Strange.

A fellow victim refusing help like this….

But Su Tao respected individual choices.

As she left, a thought struck her. Glancing back at Liu Guijia, she asked, “By the way, why do you think Xiaocheng became like that?”

“Hah?” Liu Guijia clutched her face, looking at Su Tao like she was an idiot. “Isn’t that your doing? The dog you raised, don’t you know why she turned out this way?”

Getting her answer, Su Tao sighed and stepped outside. The sunset had faded, moonlight dancing with stars through the clouds.

Since winter was approaching, nights fell faster and grew colder.

Su Tao exhaled a warm breath as she walked into the deepening alley.

—

The next morning, Chi Xiaocheng woke up clutching her head after a night’s rest. “System, how many emotion points?”

This was her daily routine, tracking when and how many points the main characters provided to gauge significant events.

[754 points]

[Yesterday evening, female lead Su Tao and male lead Ye Liang each contributed a substantial amount]

Without instigating major events, earning points wasn’t easy. She usually just gets three to five at a time.

But hundreds at once?

“What happened yesterday evening?”

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Su Tao’s reaction was understandable. Concern over her condition generating points.

But Ye Liang? She’d been hospitalized, then stayed home. Avoiding him indefinitely wasn’t feasible.

Ding-dong~

Her phone chimed.

A WeChat message from Chen Qian: “Chi Xiaocheng, it’s been seven days! Where’s the antidote you promised? I’m breaking out in rashes! Give me the antidote now!”

Only then did Chi Xiaocheng remember that she’d promised weekly “antidotes” to Chen Qian.

In reality, the “enhanced” mineral water was just water.

Rashes? Hormonal imbalance or allergies?

Chi Xiaocheng typed back: “Don’t panic. How’s your progress getting close to Su Tao?”

Chen Qian: “She’s so gullible. She believes whatever I say. Plus after that psychologist referral, she trusts me completely now.”

Chi Xiaocheng: “Good. Keep developing that. Ideally become her confidante. Also, she returned to the dorm last night, right? Any idea what she did in the evening?”

Chen Qian: “Not sure. She seemed exhausted when she came back. But before bed, she had a ten-minute call with Si Chen. No idea what they discussed.”

“Si Chen?”

Chi Xiaocheng’s eyebrow arched as the image of a bespectacled, sinister man came to mind. This warranted investigation.

She messaged Chen Qian: “Meet me at Moonlight Café. I’ll bring your antidote.”