Chapter 24: Transmigrated as a Cheapskate Phoenix Man (24)
“It’s just that I didn’t know when you found a partner,” Sang Qianshan said, turning his gaze away to continue driving as the red light turned green. “You didn’t even say a word to me.”
As if realizing something, he suddenly frowned. “…Are you living with him?”
Naturally, he remembered the voice of the man on the other end of the line—it sounded gentle, yet gave off a strangely cold impression.
Sang Qianshan had no idea what was running through his mind at this moment, but he asked almost subconsciously, “How is he as a person?”
“He’s pretty obedient,” Cen Yu answered after pondering for a moment.
Glancing at Sang Qianshan’s side profile, he began putting in a desperate stream of good words for Yu Xinyu—
“He’s pretty, comes from a wealthy family, is obedient, and even hand-washes all the laundry.”
“Doesn’t your place have a washing machine?” Sang Qianshan was puzzled upon hearing this. “Why wash by hand?”
“…” Cen Yu suddenly remembered that in the original novel, to maintain his image in front of his close friend, this scumbag had never shown his exceptionally stingy side. Thus, Sang Qianshan had no idea Cen Yu was such a penny-pincher.
To avoid wasting a bit of electricity and to assert his authority in the household, he wasn’t even willing to let Yu Xinyu turn on the washing machine for routine laundry—
Good lord, how does this guy manage to get lower and lower by the day!
“…He feels hand-washing gets things cleaner.”
“What a weird habit.”
“…” Cen Yu fell silent. He genuinely didn’t know how to salvage this lie, so he simply stared straight ahead.
Not receiving a reply, Sang Qianshan cast a quick glance over, only to catch Cen Yu staring out the side window without saying a word. In his peripheral vision, he could only see Cen Yu’s expressionless face (from sheer embarrassment) and his half-draped eyelids (as he pondered how to patch up the lie).
An inexplicable wave of irritation surged inside him again—more irritating than talking to Pei Zhuo.
“Pei Zhuo is joining that reality show too,” he switched the topic entirely to grab Cen Yu’s attention.
“Huh?” Cen Yu turned his head instantly. “Pei Zhuo is going too?”
There was no plot point like this in the original book at all?!
In the original novel, for this reality show featuring non-celebrity friends, the biggest name had been Sang Qianshan. Consequently, he had been granted the most screen time and the best script arrangements.
Because he received ample screen time and possessed a formidable background, there was plenty of footage of him during the live broadcast without malicious editing later on, which served as a massive catalyst for Yu Xinyu’s viral popularity.
—Why would Pei Zhuo suddenly stick his foot in?
Cen Yu did recall from the original plot that Pei Zhuo and Sang Qianshan happened to be competing for a Best Actor title. Of course, there were subtle rumors that ever since Sang Qianshan bagged his Best Actor award, their career paths had overlapped more and more, leading to increasingly fierce competition.
“How do you know about that reality show?” Sang Qianshan asked out of nowhere.
A subtle smile surfaced on his face, seemingly because he realized Cen Yu paid even more attention to him than he had imagined.
“Of course I do.” Cen Yu picked up on the shift in Sang Qianshan’s mood.
He didn’t dare admit that it was only after reading that forum post that he confirmed Sang Qianshan was truly joining that reality show.
“Who are you going on the show with?” Cen Yu pried quietly.
Just then, they hit another red light. Sang Qianshan looked over at Cen Yu beside him. “Who do you want me to go with?”
“How would I know what other friends you have…” Cen Yu paused mid-sentence. The Sang Qianshan in his memories had always been a lone wolf, rarely liking to socialize with others.
Back in school, no one even knew about his family background.
His friendship with Sang Qianshan had only come about because Cen Yu was strapped for cash at the time.
And Sang Qianshan had money and simply needed a model.
Cen Yu wasn’t someone afraid of pain; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten a tongue piercing, ear industrial, and other ear piercings after getting tattooed. Sang Qianshan had tattooed him right in his own place back then.
A cement-gray single apartment equipped with plenty of tools.
He wasn’t a talkative person, and neither was Sang Qianshan. Only on occasion, when tattooing certain spots, Sang Qianshan would ask, “Does it hurt?” to which Cen Yu would merely reply, “It’s fine, bearable.”
“…Do you have any non-celebrity friends who can appear on camera?” Cen Yu was genuinely curious.
Sang Qianshan didn’t speak, staring at Cen Yu through his non-prescription glasses.
The city night sparkled with neon lights, the taillights of cars outside casting flickering spots of light across Cen Yu’s cheek.
He looked at the two beauty marks under Cen Yu’s eye, but ultimately shifted his gaze away. “I do.”
He said, “It’s just that I’m not really keen on bringing him on camera. Too much trouble.”
? Who could be so embarrassingly unpresentable?
That thought flashed through Cen Yu’s mind for a split second, but in the very next second, he realized who that person was—
Himself.
Heh, truly a bit unpresentable.
Cen Yu wasn’t annoyed; he conceded it was a fact.
Perhaps owing to the evening rush hour, traffic on the road had jammed up, and Sang Qianshan’s commercial van crawled forward through the stream of cars at a snail’s pace.
Right at that moment, Cen Yu’s phone rang. He glanced down and saw it was a call from Yu Xinyu.
[Group Chat: If Sang Princess Doesn’t Flop, Heaven Is Unjust (180)]
[Little Flop: Dying of laughter, the Princess actually has to go hire a friend! Told you he has zero friends, total hard proof!]
[Little Flop: After all, not everyone likes catering to a spoiled young master (licks lips) (winks)]
[AA Old Wang Auto Repair: Durian TV… you really know what you’re doing. Not only do you have the Princess, but also the hypocrite and the clout-chaser. What an explosive lineup. Can I expect 100 live threads on the forum and Weibo hot searches exploding on premiere day? (winks)]
[Eats a Ton a Day: Hot Search: Sang Qianshan Scolds Non-Celebrity with a Dark Face]
[Sang Princess’s Sugar Daddy: Hey, how is Yu Huaining a clout-chaser?? Who did he chase clout from?!]
[Little Flop: Reporting to Admin @LittleYu, a rival fan entered the group!]
[LittleYu: Already kicked.]
[LittleYu: Sang Qianshan truly has no friends.]
After posting these two lines in the group chat, Yu Xinyu began checking the time on his phone—logically speaking, Cen Yu should have been back by now.
Why hadn’t there been any sign of him yet?
Naturally, he had seen the post shared in the group chat as well. When he saw that Sang Qianshan was taking a non-celebrity friend onto a reality show, combined with the late-night message Sang Qianshan had sent that day, a surge of rage flared in his heart.
He was terrified that Sang Qianshan had tracked down Cen Yu.
He wanted to call Cen Yu, yet feared Cen Yu would feel he was keeping tabs on him. After waiting another half hour, Yu Xinyu finally dialed the number—
“Little Yu, aren’t you back yet?”
“Yeah, stuck in traffic, running a bit late.” Cen Yu’s voice was somewhat muffled over the line, punctuated by the sounds of honking car horns around him.
Yu Xinyu frowned. He remembered Cen Yu was supposed to take the subway back.
“Did you take a taxi today?” he probed cautiously.
“No,” Cen Yu said right away. “A friend of mine is driving me back.”
His tone carried a deliberate touch of smugness and boasting. “Perfect timing to introduce the two of you.”
