Chapter 141: Transmigrated as a Scumbag in a Boy Group Survival Show (23)
“Then keep it brief.” He Ci raised his wrist to check the time on his watch. “I’ll give you five minutes. Is that enough?”
“After I bumped into him in the restroom, I helped him beat off a stalker creep.” Cen Yu proved with pure facts that far from needing five minutes, he could wrap up the entire affair in five seconds flat.
“…?” Now it was He Ci’s turn to feel somewhat bewildered.
He stared at Cen Yu’s expression for a few seconds, and upon seeing that the boy wasn’t joking, he still found it somewhat impossible to link together—
“Restroom,” “stalker creep,” and “beat off.”
Once he heard Cen Yu recount the full sequence of events, He Ci actually burst out laughing.
“Gone for a single evening,” He Ci looked at Cen Yu, “and you’ve transformed into a martial arts superstar?”
“If there are any kung fu movies lined up in the future, I suppose I can just notify Old Gao to let you star as the lead.”
Having uttered those words, He Ci finally drew a deep breath. “Can you tell me what on earth you were thinking?”
He truly hadn’t expected Cen Yu to stir up such a major incident for him out of nowhere!
“Heh heh,” Cen Yu let out a couple of dry laughs. “Isn’t it just a case of seeing injustice on the road and letting out a roar to help?”
Looking at He Ci, he added, “Besides, that restroom was empty.” He tried to explain that he had actually given it some thought while playing a champion of justice: “Don’t you think that even if this matter got leaked out, my image would still look exceptionally positive?”
Hearing this, He Ci merely felt a pounding headache coming on.
He couldn’t resist looking at Cen Yu. “Do you even know who the guy secretly photographing him was?”
“I know,” Cen Yu said. “A pervert.”
He Ci took a deep breath, and only after settling his nerves did he look at Cen Yu with absolute gravity. “Mu Fengyin and his current agency are locked in a tense relationship over his contract termination.”
“You saw the red carpet today as well; it was clearly the agency intentionally slapping Mu Fengyin in the face.”
“Even if it were a sasaeng fan, they wouldn’t go mad enough to crawl into a restroom at an event like this just to take sneaky photos.” He stared at Cen Yu. “Paparazzi are even less likely; everyone is just trying to earn a living and chase a bit of traffic, not trying to end up behind bars operating a sewing machine.”
To put it plainly, a stunt like this would only happen if his agency bribed someone who had nothing to lose.
In fact, Mu Fengyin’s agency was banking precisely on the fact that he wouldn’t make a massive public scene out of it, which was why they acted so utterly fearless.
For a top-tier star with tens of millions in commercial value like Mu Fengyin, if this incident truly got leaked online, even though he was entirely the victim and just plain unlucky, he would inevitably end up dragged into all sorts of gossip and criticism.
That was precisely the last thing Mu Fengyin would ever want to see.
He Ci’s logic was simple: there was zero need for Cen Yu to wade into this turf war between Mu Fengyin and his agency.
He believed that even if Cen Yu hadn’t shown up, Mu Fengyin would have possessed the means to resolve the issue himself.
Naturally, Cen Yu understood He Ci’s point—the original novel hadn’t even mentioned this segment, which proved that after this incident occurred, Mu Fengyin indeed employed a few tricks to settle the matter.
At the end of the day, however, this world was a game to Cen Yu, yet not entirely a game.
He could play the fool according to the system’s demands, but for matters unrelated to the plot’s direction, he still preferred to act according to his own wishes.
Mu Fengyin had sought his help back then, so he had helped out according to his own wishes.
Even if it had been someone else instead of Mu Fengyin, he would have done the exact same thing.
Cen Yu looked at He Ci. “Boss, what you’re saying makes a lot of sense.”
He Ci took one look at Cen Yu’s expression and knew what he was thinking. “But you don’t intend to change, do you?”
“Mm-hmm.” Cen Yu leaned against one side of the terrace, looking at He Ci. “After all, I respect the elderly and cherish the young; when faced with someone seeking help, I’ll always lend a slight hand.”
He Ci couldn’t quite follow Cen Yu’s train of thought. “Which side does Mu Fengyin even lean toward that makes you feel you need to respect the elderly and cherish the young?”
“Mu Fengyin is 27 this year,” Cen Yu said to He Ci with utmost gravity. “For an idol, he’s already departed the middle-aged bracket and entered the ranks of the elderly.”
“Is that not enough to respect the elderly and cherish the young?”
“…” Although He Ci knew that within the industry, people frequently joked that once a boy group’s combined age exceeded 100 years (taking a four-member group as an example), they were already at retirement age,
faced with Cen Yu’s filterless, wild mouth, he still couldn’t resist speaking up—
“Don’t go saying that stuff outside.”
After bickering back and forth with Cen Yu for a while, He Ci had now calmed down slightly as well.
Although Cen Yu’s action had been somewhat impulsive, just as the boy had stated, it brought zero drawbacks to him personally.
Even if Mu Fengyin’s agency found out who had meddled in their affairs, what could they possibly do?
For a minor idol without a background like Cen Yu, the benefits of forging a connection with Mu Fengyin far outweighed any potential downsides of being discovered by Mu Fengyin’s agency.
He Ci engaged in a intense, anxious brainstorm, weighing the feasibility of this turn of events.
Cen Yu pulled out his phone.
“I have an audio recording as well.”
He Ci froze for a second. “What audio recording?”
Cen Yu tapped open the audio file he had recorded in the restroom containing the wild, unhinged ranting of Mu Fengyin’s manager—
When He Ci caught that familiar voice, his eyebrows first shot up in surprise.
Then, as he listened to the manager’s filterless, reckless words, his clear intent to make life difficult for Mu Fengyin, and his subtext that the company was thoroughly sick of Mu Fengyin as well and that he had better pray for his own good…
He couldn’t help turning his gaze onto Cen Yu, who was holding the phone.
“Did you go to attend a charity gala, or did you go to play spy?”
“A coincidence, purely a coincidence,” Cen Yu let out a dry laugh and turned off the recording on his phone.
Now He Ci genuinely stopped worrying about Cen Yu altogether.
“Does Mu Fengyin know about this recording?”
“Reporting to the Boss: he does not.”
“You can send it to him,” He Ci said.
Anyone in the industry could tell that Mu Fengyin’s stance on setting up his own independent studio was crystal clear… Naturally, He Ci’s agency had entertained thoughts of pulling him over, but judging by the recent intel he had gathered, the man was far more inclined to establish his own studio or company.
Since that was the case, they might as well do Mu Fengyin another favor.
Besides, with Cen Yu’s prior help, Mu Fengyin would likely feel even more grateful toward Cen Yu.
At this thought, He Ci couldn’t resist looking at Cen Yu. “After he followed you back, did he say anything to you?”
Cen Yu opened his Weibo private messages, showing He Ci the direct message Mu Fengyin had sent two hours prior.
When his eyes landed on that line about “not giving contact info,” He Ci’s gaze paused for a second. “What does ‘not giving contact info’ mean?”
Cen Yu offered a shy smile. “I originally wanted to do good deeds anonymously.”
He Ci instantly grasped the subtext behind Cen Yu’s words—
Mu Fengyin had asked him for his contact info, and he had refused.
For the very first time while dealing with an artist under his management, He Ci experienced a sensation of desperately needing an oxygen tank.
Even though he had cleaned up countless messes before, he had never felt such a helpless sensation of communicating with an alien. What felt even more unbelievable to him was that Cen Yu had actually left Mu Fengyin hanging on read for a full two hours.
Looking for all the world as if Cen Yu were the top-tier megastar, while Mu Fengyin was a little fan desperately begging for a mutual follow.
In the end, gritting his teeth, He Ci stated, “You give him your contact info right now.”
At this moment, Mu Fengyin was busy carving a block of ice. Using a small knife to shave down the sharp corners of the ice, he inspected it for a brief moment before placing the transparent ice block—which he had carefully shaped into a neat cube—into a tumbler of spirits with satisfaction.
As the amber liquor slowly submerged the crystal-clear ice block until it reached halfway up its height, Mu Fengyin pushed the glass in front of his friend.
“Not even fond of drinking, yet you pull so many fancy tricks,” his friend complained. “What a weird habit.”
“Has that kid you followed still not replied to your message?” The friend cast a glance at his wristwatch. “He sure knows how to keep his composure.”
Setting aside the small knife used for carving ice, Mu Fengyin picked up his phone resting nearby.
Inside his inbox, the person who hadn’t replied the entire time had finally sent a message ten minutes ago—
[TINONE-Cen Yu V: [Image]]
[TINONE-Cen Yu V: My WeChat, just scan the code to add me directly.]
Two minutes later:
[TINONE-Cen Yu V: Teacher Mu, this is my contact info, you can just add this account~ So sorry! I didn’t have my phone on me earlier, which is why I missed your message, Teacher Mu! (tears) (tears)]
Staring at these two messages—sent barely two minutes apart yet carrying entirely contrasting styles—Mu Fengyin finally couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“Look,” holding up his phone, he presented the screen to his close friend. “The kid replied.”
