Can I still be saved? [Transmigration] - Chapter 49.1

Fu Hanzhou had the mindset of a true businessman, he believed in turning the club into a brand. Once its reputation spread, it would naturally attract a large number of followers.

The advantage of this approach was clear; it expanded the club’s influence and packaged it into something impressive and prestigious brand.

But the downside was just as obvious. The people he attracted often had ulterior motives. They didn’t join the club because they genuinely wanted to be friends with Jiang Chuyan and the others, they joined because the club had status on campus and made them look more sophisticated by association.

So when Fu Hanzhou recruited new members, what he valued most was their commercial worth, whether they could help boost the club’s image and attract even more people to join.

Su Yunjing, on the other hand, was simple and straightforward. His only goal was to create a relaxed, comfortable space where people with similar interests could make friends.

His philosophy was completely different from Fu Hanzhou’s. He didn’t care how talented or impressive the applicants were; as long as they had good character and didn’t engage in discrimination or bullying, that was enough.

With Su Yunjing’s way of thinking, what he built could only ever be a niche brand— small in scale and not particularly famous, but rich in loyal members and strong in internal unity.

Of course, the flaw was also evident; there was little room for growth. It could only remain a small, self-contained circle, happy in its own world.

Fu Hanzhou hid his real intentions well. Su Yunjing had handed over full authority to him— whatever Fu decided, he executed.

What had been a niche club successfully broke out under Fu Hanzhou’s management. In just two months it wasn’t only famous on their own campus, it had blown up on other schools’ Tieba ¹forums as well— very eye-catching.

Jiang Chuyan was the first to feel the change up close.

At the beginning everyone got along well; the club atmosphere was harmonious.

Later it slowly split into two camps. Some people thought they should maintain the status quo and strongly opposed bringing in new members.

Others argued that if you could make more friends, why not be open and generous and accept the olive branch people were offering?

Because of the disagreement, conflicts began to arise.

Aside from changes inside the club, the whole school suddenly treated them very nicely overnight. People started offering to help Jiang Chuyan, stopping to chat with him between classes, even asking him about homework.

The girls in his class who had seen him walking home with Fu Hanzhou every day had been friendly for a while, peppering him with questions about Fu Hanzhou.

But since they couldn’t learn anything from him— Jiang Chuyan really wasn’t close with Fu, and was even a little afraid of him despite the daily contact— those girls slowly lost interest and stopped coming around.

This time it wasn’t just the girls; even the boys changed their attitude toward him. They would ask what the club’s theme was that week, whether it was fun, and things like that.

After class waves of people would surround him, and after school some classmates even offered to walk him home.

At first Su Yunjing was still uneasy and would follow the main group to send Jiang Chuyan off.

Seeing two guys from their class take turns carrying him up the stairs, and three girls lifting the wheelchair together, Su Yunjing could hardly believe his eyes.

He didn’t browse the school Tieba much, so he had no idea how big their club had become. He couldn’t quite get used to this sudden campus-wide spirit of mutual help.

Standing under Jiang Chuyan’s building, watching the group take him inside, Su Yunjing rubbed his chin, half amazed, half doubtful.

“Chuan chuan, pinch me — am I dreaming? Has everyone suddenly become this decent?”

Fu Hanzhou stood beside Su Yunjing and, obligingly, reached out to lightly pinch the other Adam’s apple.

Su Yunjing, feeling a little itchy, batted his hand away, laughing as he scolded, “That’s not a pinch,  that’s you flirting with me.”

Fu Hanzhou’s eyes reflected the clear, handsome face before him; his lips curved slightly, and he didn’t bother to deny that ‘flirting’ was exactly what it was.

Su Yunjing glanced at the time. “Come on, let’s go home for dinner.”

“Mm.”

These days, Jiang Chuyan always had someone to walk him home after school.

Su Yunjing had no idea this was actually part of the new membership assessment standards Fu Hanzhou had set up. So every day after class, he would stop by Jiang Chuyan’s room to check in, and seeing that someone was already accompanying him, he and Fu would just head home together.

….

Jiang Chuyan was a sensitive person. He could vaguely feel that he and Su Yunjing were growing distant and the root of that distance was none other than Fu Hanzhou.

Ever since the club had become popular, internal tensions had been running high. Uneasy, Jiang Chuyan couldn’t help but keep observing Fu Hanzhou.

Although it was true that the club had been founded by Fu Hanzhou himself, and its current success was largely thanks to him, he could still pick up on subtle details— small, telling signs that revealed Fu Hanzhou didn’t actually care about the club at all.

When the weather warmed, Fu Hanzhou rented a bus to take everyone on an outing and picnic in the suburbs.

They were in the middle of lunch when Su Yunjing suddenly got a call from Wen Yanlai.

Not wanting anyone to know about his connection with her, Su Yunjing gestured to Fu Hanzhou before getting up and finding a quiet place to take the call.

As soon as Su Yunjing walked away, Jiang Chuyan noticed Fu Hanzhou put down his chopsticks, his eyes idly following the other’s back as he spoke on the phone.

His expression was unreadable— calm to the point of indifference— and it made people too uneasy to approach him casually.

He had long since noticed that whenever Su Yunjing was around, Fu Hanzhou would wear that gentle smile, be very patient and composed.

But the moment Su Yunjing’s gaze shifted away, his thick lashes would lower, and he’d become silent, distant and cold to everyone.

That was why everyone feared Fu Hanzhou for reasons they couldn’t quite name. Even though he never lost his temper, always spoke and acted with impeccable manners, and even paid out of his own pocket to fund their activities and provide benefits— there was still something about him that made people instinctively wary.

No one dared to make any open requests of Fu Hanzhou. They only spoke to him when Su Yunjing was present.

People are creatures that seek benefit and avoid harm, self-preservation is instinct. No one could clearly explain why they felt such inexplicable fear toward Fu Hanzhou.

Only Jiang Chuyan had caught a faint glimpse of the truth.

They feared Fu Hanzhou because he wasn’t real.

He was like a wolf wrapped in a sheep’s hide— no matter how well he disguised himself, instinctively, the flock could still sense the predator beneath the fleece.

And Jiang Chuyan was the most sensitive of the sheep. He could smell the wolfish nature under Fu Hanzhou’s calm surface, and could sense the falseness in his mask.

When Su Yunjing came back after his call, Fu Hanzhou quietly gathered up the cold indifference he’d been wearing. In those dark eyes, a faint gleam flickered — something Jiang Chuyan couldn’t quite name.

It was like a shard of gold hidden in the sand, suddenly catching the light from the water’s surface, dazzling for just a moment.

Su Yunjing was that very light that illuminated him.

The wolf hiding among the sheep carefully tucked away the last trace of its true nature, and when Su Yunjing walked over, he handed him a pair of chopsticks as though nothing had happened.

Su Yunjing sat down beside him with a smile. “You’re full already?”

Fu Hanzhou took a sip from Su Yunjing’s thermos. The bright curve of his lips glistened faintly with moisture, it was a sight so striking that one couldn’t look away.

“I was waiting for you to come back,” Jiang Chunian heard him say.

Su Yunjing chuckled, teasing, “You need someone to keep you company just to eat? How old are you?”

Fu Hanzhou didn’t answer. He simply picked up a piece of food and placed it gently into Su Yunjing’s bowl.

His eyes lowered, the corners curved with a trace of quiet amusement.

At that moment, Jiang Chuyan couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling, only that something seemed off.

Fu Hanzhou’s feelings toward Su Yunjing… didn’t seem right.

After lunch, Fu Hanzhou and Su Yunjing sat by a small creek, chatting quietly.

The stream had only just thawed, and its trickling water was crystal clear. Fu Hanzhou sat covered under a blanket, leaning close to Su Yunjing in quiet intimacy.

The sunlight melted into his dark eyes, tinting them a warm honey-brown. The way he looked at Su Yunjing carried a tenderness so deep it was almost languid — a kind of affection that couldn’t be easily described.

As Jiang Chuyan watched them, two members of the club came over, hoping to persuade him to sign a petition.

They wanted that petition to send a message to Fu Hanzhou, asking him not to add new members to the club.

“Don’t you think the atmosphere in the club’s been getting worse ever since those new people joined?”

“And with so many newcomers flooding in, there’s not enough to go around anymore. The same people who used to look down on us— now that they see how good the club benefits are— they just want a piece of it. Are you really okay with that?”

“I’m not saying we should turn against everyone. Look at Guo Xin and Yang Li— they’ve helped me before, so I’ve got no problem with them joining. But the rest? They’re only here for themselves.”

Guo Xin and Yang Li had been brought into the club by this same member. The three of them were in the same class, usually got along well, and now stuck closely together, each with their own private motives.

Hearing him speak, the other two nodded in agreement and joined in trying to persuade Jiang Chuyan.

But Jiang Chuyan suddenly felt a wave of irritation he couldn’t quite explain. He wanted to tell them flat-out that the club was founded by Fu Hanzhou— he could recruit as many people as he liked, hand out as many perks as he wanted, or stop them entirely if he pleased.

No one had the right to question that.

But that wasn’t his personality. He wasn’t good with words, so he only said quietly that he’d follow whatever Fu Hanzhou decided. He didn’t sign the petition.

The three of them left in disappointment.

By now, Su Yunjing had almost stopped walking to Jiang Chuyan home. Every day after class, he would just stop by the door of Jiang’s classroom and ask, “Anyone walking him home tonight?”

Whoever was doing it would naturally speak up, and after hearing that, Su Yunjing would simply leave with Fu Hanzhou.

Jiang Chuyan was a shy, self-conscious person. He always felt awkward about troubling others, even Su Yunjing.

He actually missed how things used to be; Su Yunjing walking him home, then staying to do homework together until his parents came back.

But he was afraid of being a bother, so he didn’t know how to bring it up.

Ever since their picnic the previous weekend, Jiang Chuyan had felt that something about the way Fu Hanzhou looked at Su Yunjing wasn’t quite right.

That feeling only grew stronger, until one evening, when his father was watching a detective movie at home.

He joined him for dinner and caught a few scenes on TV. There was a gay couple in the film.

The first time he’d ever heard the word “homosexual” was years ago, in an old Hong Kong crime drama— the protagonist’s younger brother had been gay.

When the two men on screen kissed, he suddenly thought of Fu Hanzhou. The chopsticks slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor.

“Eat first,” his mother scolded lightly. “You can watch TV after dinner. See? You can’t even hold your chopsticks properly when you’re distracted.”

Her voice mingled with the faint buzzing in his ears.

Jiang Chuyan didn’t have Wen Yanlai’s worldly experience, he hadn’t met many people. But he was observant, and his sensitivity to others’ emotions was far keener than most.