Chapter 15: Transmigrated as a Cheapskate Phoenix Man (15)
[Lou Baichuan looked disgustedly at his subordinate, who reeked of alcohol and was yelling at Yu Xinyu to fetch his slippers. Seeing the apron-wearing man in front of him actually about to pull slippers out of the shoe cabinet to put on for him, Lou Baichuan immediately stopped him, “No need.”]
[“Are you Cen Yu’s roommate?” Lou Baichuan asked.]
[Yu Xinyu felt a wave of bitterness in his heart. He wanted to say something, but mindful of Cen Yu’s presence and the fact that this man was Cen Yu’s boss, he could only nod.]
“Is this the original plot?” Squinting his eyes as he leaned on the sofa, Cen Yu whispered to the system.
The orange cat rubbed against the back of Cen Yu’s hand. “That’s right, Host.” It reminded Cen Yu, “Don’t forget to say your lines.”
Cen Yu kept his eyes half-lidded, wanting to see what Lou Baichuan and Yu Xinyu were doing after coming inside.
He noticed neither of them was speaking, while Lou Baichuan stood beside him with a dark expression because Cen Yu had been holding tightly onto his arm, refusing to let him leave.
Cen Yu cleared his throat and proceeded according to the original plot’s script—
“Where are my slippers? Why haven’t you gotten my slippers yet?” he bellowed at Yu Xinyu.
Yu Xinyu lowered his gaze to look at Cen Yu’s shoes. Since suit attire wasn’t required today, Cen Yu hadn’t worn leather shoes, opting for a pair of sneakers instead. Right now, as those sneakers stepped onto the floor, they inevitably left faint footprints behind.
The moment Lou Baichuan had stepped inside earlier, he had already taken off his own shoes at the entrance.
He heard Cen Yu’s loud yelling and saw the sneakers on his feet.
Without a word, Yu Xinyu silently walked over to the shoe cabinet to fetch a pair of house slippers—watching Yu Xinyu approach him holding the slippers, accompanied by the system’s nagging in his mind, Cen Yu hardened his heart and acted like an ill-mannered scumbag once more!
“Squat down,” Cen Yu said, leaning back against the sofa as he barked at Yu Xinyu.
Hearing this, Yu Xinyu looked up at Cen Yu, whose cheeks were flushed red from alcohol and whose eyes were somewhat unfocused.
He stared for a moment at the beauty marks under Cen Yu’s eye, then let his gaze slide down his cheek to his neck—which was similarly reddened by the alcohol—before slowly sinking into a half-squat beside Cen Yu.
Like a well-trained, loyal big dog, he slowly shuffled right up to Cen Yu’s side, seemingly waiting for the man to command him.
He paid zero mind to Lou Baichuan standing nearby. Or rather, to him, other people in this world simply weren’t worth caring about in the first place.
Yu Xinyu’s gaze lingered obsessively over Cen Yu’s body before he spoke softly, “I’m squatted down.”
“…” Cue the guilt trip.
Hearing Yu Xinyu’s gentle, tender voice full of devotion, Cen Yu instantly felt like a heinous villain committing an unpardonable sin.
Yet since the plot had progressed to this point, he had no choice but to carry on acting.
He unceremoniously propped his foot onto the knee of the half-squatting Yu Xinyu. “Can’t you see I haven’t changed my shoes yet?”
“Hurry up and take them off for me.”
—Vicious, trashy, and completely devoid of manners.
Cen Yu spat on himself in his heart.
He felt Lou Baichuan, whom he was clutching, shift slightly—appearing as if he wanted to step in and stop Yu Xinyu from squatting down to take off Cen Yu’s shoes, just like in the original book. So Cen Yu quietly released his grip on the man’s hand, leaving him free to act as he saw fit.
Before he could even figure out what Lou Baichuan would do, one of Yu Xinyu’s hands had already grabbed his ankle.
He seemed not to mind in the slightest that Cen Yu placed his shoe right on his thigh. Gently holding Cen Yu’s ankle with one hand, he unlaced the sneaker with the other and slipped the shoe off his foot.
He could feel Lou Baichuan’s gaze from the side.
Thus, he quickly slid the house slipper onto Cen Yu’s foot, and without waiting for the man to say anything, proceeded to change his other shoe.
Once both shoes were swapped for slippers, Yu Xinyu picked up Cen Yu’s outdoor sneakers and set them at the entryway… Turning back, he looked toward Lou Baichuan, who was still standing by the sofa, naturally catching sight of the arm Cen Yu was no longer holding onto.
Lou Baichuan’s expression was difficult to describe.
He looked at Cen Yu, then at Yu Xinyu.
Just as in the original novel, he asked that exact question—
“Are you two roommates?”
Yu Xinyu’s eyes darkened as he looked up at Lou Baichuan, who was about two centimeters taller than him. “Yes.”
Lou Baichuan frowned. He wanted to say something, yet felt he shouldn’t pry too deeply into a subordinate’s private life… His gaze lingered on Cen Yu, who lay sprawled across the sofa.
When he had first seen Cen Yu barking orders at Yu Xinyu, there was a split second where he wanted to speak up and stop him.
However, he had noticed the willing, devoted expression on Yu Xinyu’s face. In fact, as the man squatted down to change Cen Yu’s shoes, there was an indescribable fervency in his eyes—especially when he lowered his head to unlace Cen Yu’s shoes… Had he not been present, Lou Baichuan even suspected Yu Xinyu wouldn’t have finished changing Cen Yu’s shoes so quickly.
The almost pious, worshipful devotion displayed by the young man before him made his scalp tingle inexplicably.
“Since my mission is complete, I’ll be taking my leave.” Lou Baichuan had no desire to stay in this room any longer.
Without even glancing at Cen Yu, he prepared to leave.
The smile on Yu Xinyu’s face grew somewhat more genuine.
“I’ll see you out,” he said, stepping forward to escort Lou Baichuan to the door.
It was only a few steps away—what was there to see him out for? That thought crossed Lou Baichuan’s mind, but facing someone else’s good manners, there was no need to decline.
So he nodded.
Lou Baichuan quickly put on his shoes, ready to leave.
Yu Xinyu simply stood by the doorway, his face putting on a fragile, easily bullied expression once more as he said softly to Lou Baichuan—
“Little Yu is just drunk; he usually doesn’t treat me like this,” he explained to Lou Baichuan.
“He’s actually a very gentle, caring person on normal days.” He looked at Lou Baichuan. “He takes good care of me too. I don’t know how to do anything, so I can only stay home and do the laundry and cooking for him…”
Hearing this, Lou Baichuan instinctively frowned again.
On the surface, Yu Xinyu’s words seemed to make excuses for Cen Yu’s rude behavior while emphasizing how well Cen Yu cared for him, yet between the lines, it gave off the overwhelming impression that he was being heavily manipulated and bullied by Cen Yu.
Claiming he was good for nothing and could only do laundry and cooking for Cen Yu at home.
Not to mention that phone call Cen Yu had made in the car earlier.
…If he hadn’t just witnessed the intense obsession in the man’s eyes when he squatted down to change Cen Yu’s shoes, Lou Baichuan would have pronounced a death sentence on Cen Yu’s character based on both the earlier phone call and the recent behavior.
—While it wouldn’t affect his evaluation of Cen Yu’s work performance, humans were emotional creatures after all. Given equal conditions, one would naturally favor someone more honest, generous, and friendly over a person with poor character.
Lou Baichuan looked at the mixed-race young man before him.
He nodded. “I naturally won’t misunderstand him.”
He offered a subtle smile. “Rest assured, I care far more about my subordinates’ working competence than their private lives.”
“Cen Yu’s work performance is quite good.”
Unsurprisingly, Lou Baichuan witnessed the fragile, handsome young man’s gaze instantly darken the moment his very first sentence left his mouth.
Finding it secretly amusing while feeling a touch of sympathy for the completely oblivious Cen Yu, Lou Baichuan ultimately just nodded. “I’m off then. Tell Cen Yu I’ll see him at work tomorrow.”
