Chapter 14: Transmigrated as a Stingy Phoenix Man (14)
“Are you Cen Yu’s roommate?” Lou Baichuan supported Cen Yu with one hand while looking at Yu Xinyu, who had opened the door.
Cen Yu was still pretending to be thoroughly wasted, but hearing Lou Baichuan’s voice, he knew he was home and forced his eyes open.
Yu Xinyu was wearing a soft cashmere sweater, his slightly long hair falling over his shoulders. His face wore the naive, sheltered innocence of a rich young master. His hazel eyes were currently fixed on Cen Yu with deep concern, looking intensely worried.
“Are you Cen Yu’s colleagues…?” Yu Xinyu asked, wringing the apron he was wearing.
The strawberry pattern printed on it was twisted out of shape by his fingers.
With a gentle smile on his face, he reached out to take Cen Yu off their hands. “Thank you for bringing him back.” As he spoke, he took hold of one of Cen Yu’s arms, his other hand naturally moving to wrap around Cen Yu’s waist.
“Let’s get him inside first,” Gao Lanyuan said with a smile.
“It’ll be easier if the two of us carry him.” He looked at Yu Xinyu, who seemed rather fragile despite his tall stature in that soft cashmere sweater. “We wouldn’t want Cen to fall.”
Yu Xinyu’s gaze turned cold.
Yet when his eyes landed on Cen Yu—whose cheeks were flushed with a drunken haze and whose breath carried a faint smell of alcohol—his gaze filled with adoration and tenderness once more. “It’s fine.” Holding onto Cen Yu’s arm, his grip around Cen Yu’s waist tightened, seemingly wanting to pull Cen Yu directly into his own arms.
“I’m used to taking care of him.”
“Besides, it’s getting late.” Yu Xinyu’s voice was soft, and his movements as he embraced Cen Yu were very gentle. His hand slowly slid from Cen Yu’s waist to the back of his neck, preparing to pull him close and carry him inside. “Thanks for your help, but I can manage. You should head back.”
As he leaned close to Cen Yu, he couldn’t help but catch the familiar scent of rum mixed with patchouli perfume.
That bitch!
His eyes darted over to Gao Lanyuan, who was dressed casually. “I haven’t asked how I should address you two?”
“Gao Lanyuan.”
“Lou Baichuan.”
A flicker of surprise flashed across Yu Xinyu’s eyes. He hadn’t expected the perfume to belong to someone other than Lou Baichuan… He shifted his gaze to Lou Baichuan, who was supporting Cen Yu from the other side. To make things easier, Lou Baichuan had unbuttoned his suit jacket slightly, and his meticulously styled hair at the forehead was now somewhat disheveled.
Having cursed the wrong target, Yu Xinyu felt not a shred of remorse.
Holding onto Cen Yu, he looked at Lou Baichuan’s hand still supporting his roommate, and then at the bitch standing nearby. He simply smiled and said, “I’m Yu Xinyu… Cen Yu’s roommate. We’ve lived together for three years.”
“You can let go now. I can take good care of him.”
Cen Yu had been resting his head on Yu Xinyu’s shoulder the entire time. The only reason he hadn’t reacted was to let Yu Xinyu and Lou Baichuan meet and interact, hoping to trigger some chemistry between them—so that Yu Xinyu would eventually kick a scumbag like him to the curb and stride toward a brighter future.
Influenced by the alcohol, Cen Yu wasn’t completely dead drunk, but he wasn’t entirely clearheaded either.
His cheek rubbed against Yu Xinyu’s shoulder, separated only by the soft cashmere sweater, as he pondered whether he should say something.
Why are you all just standing at the doorway?!
And what is Gao Lanyuan even doing here, joining in on the chaos?
Feeling annoyed, he swat away Gao Lanyuan’s hand, which was holding his other arm. “So sleepy…”
Saying this, he rubbed his cheek against Yu Xinyu’s shoulder a few more times. “…Yu Xinyu?” He raised his head, pretending to regain a bit of consciousness.
Yu Xinyu immediately stroked the back of Cen Yu’s neck. “Are you waking up?”
“Shouldn’t you be doing the laundry right now?!” Cen Yu began acting unreasonably. “Why are you standing here!”
Lou Baichuan stood to the side, still holding onto Cen Yu’s arm with one hand to keep him from falling. Truthfully, he should have left earlier, but perhaps because Cen Yu had been so out of it, he had planned to see him safely into the apartment first.
Seeing that Cen Yu seemed to be coming to his senses, Lou Baichuan released his grip.
“Now that Cen Yu is awake, we’ll take our leave,” he said, shifting his gaze to Gao Lanyuan, who was looking down at his own hand—the hand Cen Yu had just swat away.
“Gao, coming with me? I can give you a ride.”
Gao Lanyuan lowered his hand, the bright and cheerful boy-next-door smile still plastered on his face. “I’ll just grab a cab from here.” His attitude toward Lou Baichuan was far from enthusiastic. “No need to bother you, Brother Chuan.”
Seeing both men let go and prepare to beat it, the smile on Yu Xinyu’s face became significantly more genuine…
“We’ll be off then,” Lou Baichuan nodded. “If Cen Yu feels unwell after he sober up, he can text me to ask for leave,” he added. “After all, I’m partly to blame for him drinking so much.”
He was referring to the fact that he had kept Cen Yu in the office revising documents, causing him to arrive late to the dinner.
However, the calmer his tone was as he explained, the more venomous Yu Xinyu felt inside.
What does he mean, “partly to blame”?
The smile on Yu Xinyu’s face almost crumbled.
He wanted nothing more than to kick these two out immediately… but then he remembered that Cen Yu was somewhat awake now. What Cen Yu loved most was his naive, innocent rich boy persona, along with his gentle, sweet, and understanding side.
Effortlessly maintaining his character, he braced the unsteady Cen Yu and prepared to step back into the apartment and slam the door—
“…Don’t go!” Cen Yu blurted out instantly!
Hearing that Lou Baichuan was about to leave, he panicked!
This was the top-tier candidate that everyone was supposed to bet on in the original novel! He was also the very first person in the original story to notice Yu Xinyu, the pure white lotus betrayed by a scumbag. This was a crucial plot point between the two of them.
If he left now, how was the story supposed to progress?!
Seeing the plot about to veer off the rails, Cen Yu didn’t care if he was breaking character anymore. He reached out and grabbed Lou Baichuan’s wrist, then immediately faked passing out cold from the alcohol in the next second.
“…” The smile on Yu Xinyu’s face collapsed entirely.
Lou Baichuan frowned as he looked at Cen Yu, who appeared to have fallen fast asleep, and then at the hand gripping his wrist.
He tried to pry Cen Yu’s fingers off, only to find that the other held on with a vice-like grip, leaving zero possibility for him to pull away and leave.
“Ha.” Gao Lanyuan, who had been standing to the side, let out a laugh, though it barely reached his eyes.
“Looks like you won’t be able to leave anytime soon, Brother Chuan.” He glanced at Cen Yu, who had passed out and was practically hanging off Yu Xinyu, and waved. “I’m heading out then.”
After Gao Lanyuan left, Lou Baichuan looked at the situation in front of him with a growing headache.
Yu Xinyu looked down at Cen Yu’s sleeping face.
“Come inside first,” Yu Xinyu said.
“The slippers are right here.”
And so, just as the original plot dictated, after Cen Yu got drunk at the gathering, Lou Baichuan—who had escorted him home and saw that Yu Xinyu couldn’t handle the drunkard alone—helped Cen Yu right into the apartment he shared with Yu Xinyu.
