Chapter 11: Transmigrated as a Stingy Phoenix Man (11)
Cen Yu carried his laptop into Lou Baichuan’s office. Instead of sitting behind his desk, Lou Baichuan stood with his back to the door, gazing out the window.
Their company occupied the thirty-first floor. As a mid-level manager, Lou Baichuan enjoyed a private office situated right in the corner of this Grade A building. Floor-to-ceiling windows wrapped around the room, flooding it with light. From this vantage point in the high-tech industrial park, the surrounding cityscape was on full display. Cen Yu even spotted something incredibly cheesy—”I Heart XX” blazing across the outer curtain wall of a building a hundred meters away. Someone had actually rented it out just for a public confession.
“Which parts need to be modified?” Cen Yu asked, completely unfazed by Lou Baichuan’s dramatic window-gazing. He figured the man was probably having a cinematic ‘it’s getting cold, time to bankrupt this lousy company’ moment. Cen Yu only cared about following the plot; he just hoped Lou Baichuan wouldn’t make them late for dinner and mess up his mission progress.
Hearing Cen Yu’s voice, Lou Baichuan turned around.
Outside, the city lights were just beginning to twinkle, but inside the office, it was glaringly bright. The intense overhead lights seemed desperate to outshine the sun, illuminating Cen Yu’s indifferent, sleepy face and the document he had conveniently submitted right before clocking out.
A competent leader, naturally, always knows when their employees are slacking off. Lou Baichuan knew exactly what Cen Yu was doing, which was precisely why he had kept him behind to revise the document. His gaze flicked past Cen Yu to the frosted glass outside, where Gao Lanyuan was lounging in his own office, tapping away on his phone.
“Let’s make this quick.” Lou Baichuan gestured for Cen Yu to open the laptop.
Cen Yu set it down and pulled up the proposal.
Walking up behind him, Lou Baichuan pointed at the screen. “I think this part needs a change.” He motioned for Cen Yu to make some room, his fingers sliding smoothly across the laptop’s touchpad.
Because the desk space was tight, and to clearly point out the specific data that needed fixing, Lou Baichuan had to lean over. His body inevitably drew close to Cen Yu, who remained seated. As he navigated the touchpad, his elbow hovered in the narrow gap between Cen Yu’s chest and the laptop. They were so close that Cen Yu couldn’t help but catch a faint waft of perfume lingering on his cuffs.
A warm blend of tobacco and black tea.
It was incredibly subtle. Only at this intimate distance, with Lou Baichuan having shed his suit jacket to reveal just his dress shirt, could he catch that fleeting trace of scent with every movement.
“…Are you listening?”
Cen Yu suddenly realized the voice had stopped, and Lou Baichuan was looking down at him.
“Of course,” Cen Yu replied, refusing to be caught spacing out. He fixed his eyes on the screen. “I’m looking right at it.”
Lou Baichuan didn’t press the issue and resumed his explanation.
The edits weren’t extensive, just a bit tedious. Leaving digital comments probably wouldn’t have conveyed the points as quickly; talking face-to-face really was more efficient. Even so, Cen Yu couldn’t shake the feeling that Lou Baichuan was doing this on purpose. He glanced at the clock in the top right corner of his screen. Half an hour had already passed since he walked in.
Naturally, Lou Baichuan caught his wandering eyes.
“We’ll handle the rest tomorrow.” His fingers lifted from the touchpad as he stepped back, returning to a normal social distance—or perhaps a safe distance. Standing there, he had a clear view of Cen Yu’s profile, the delicate tear mole beneath his eye, and… the faint indentations of pierced ears.
It wasn’t until Cen Yu looked up at him in confusion that Lou Baichuan realized he had been staring. He knew he had to say something, or the atmosphere would turn hopelessly ambiguous. “Did you get your ears pierced?”
Cen Yu hadn’t expected the man to stare for so long just to ask that. He stood up, closed the laptop, tucked it under his arm, and lightly touched his earlobe. “You mean this? Yeah, I did,” he replied casually.
He pushed open the office door, his eyes brightening the second he spotted Gao Lanyuan.
“All done? Let’s go grab dinner then!” Gao Lanyuan waved his phone. “They’ve been asking when you guys are getting there.”
Lou Baichuan followed Cen Yu out, flipping the light switch behind him. “Soon. Twenty minutes.”
Gao Lanyuan grinned, then shifted his attention to Cen Yu. He took the laptop from his hands, set it on a nearby desk, and urged, “Then hurry up, Brother Cen, I’m starving.”
Cen Yu glanced back at Lou Baichuan.
“Let’s head down together,” Lou Baichuan said.
Hearing that, Gao Lanyuan cheered. He stuck closely to Cen Yu’s side, shoving his phone into his hands. “Brother Cen, look at the menu! They’re almost done ordering.”
…
When they reached the parking lot, Cen Yu hovered by Lou Baichuan’s car, hesitating. In theory, he should probably take the passenger seat, but there was Gao Lanyuan to consider. Was he supposed to relegate Gao Lanyuan to the back? It wasn’t exactly fitting for the two of them to sit in the back together either. How ridiculous—it wasn’t like this was a ride-share and Lou Baichuan was their chauffeur.
“Brother Cen, I want to sit in the front.”
Before Cen Yu could solve the seating puzzle, Gao Lanyuan bounded up like an eager golden retriever and pulled open the passenger door right in front of him. “I get a bit carsick, so it’s better if I’m in the front.”
“… Don’t you drive to work yourself?” Cen Yu asked, highly skeptical of this alleged carsickness.
“I only get carsick in other people’s cars,” Gao Lanyuan replied smoothly. Under Cen Yu’s deadpan stare, he slid into the passenger seat. When he turned to Lou Baichuan, his smile was still there, but it was visibly more polite and formulaic. “Sorry for the trouble, Brother Chuan.”
Shrugging, Cen Yu opened the back door and climbed in.
Just as he settled into his seat and Lou Baichuan prepared to start the engine, his phone began to ring. Cen Yu checked the screen—it was a voice call from Yu Xinyu.
…? This wasn’t in the script.
Cen Yu recalled the plot: they were supposed to have a normal dinner, and Lou Baichuan would only interact with Yu Xinyu after Cen Yu went home drunk. Then again, in the original story, Lou Baichuan hadn’t forced him to work overtime either. Heh.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” As the ringtone echoed through the quiet car and they pulled out of the parking space, Lou Baichuan spoke up.
So impatient to see your future wife? Cen Yu glanced at the two men up front. Perfect. One of the main love interest contenders and one of Yu Xinyu’s admirers were both trapped in the same car. Deliberately, he accepted the call, even though he hadn’t fully decided how to play the scene yet.
Then, Yu Xinyu’s voice floated out from the speaker.
“Hubby, what time does your dinner end tonight? I’m scared being home alone~”
Hearing that, Cen Yu practically cheered internally. Well done, Yu Xinyu! You actually set the stage for me!
Cen Yu cleared his throat and slipped right into character. “Do I need to report my schedule to you every time I go out?! Can you be a little more sensible? I’m out having dinner with colleagues to discuss serious matters, so stop being so suspicious and checking up on me!”
