Chapter 28: Transmigrated as a Cheapskate Phoenix Man (28)
Regardless of the dark, undercurrent-ridden rivalry between the two—each itching to drag the other into an octagonal cage and tear his face to shreds right then and there—
On the surface, in front of Cen Yu, one was gentle and endearing, while the other was attentive down to the smallest detail.
Once Yu Xinyu finished reheating the dishes, he called Cen Yu over to eat. After sitting down, Cen Yu couldn’t help whispering again to the big fat orange cat in his mind—
“Yu Xinyu is even amazing at cooking.”
Four dishes and a soup sat spread across the dining table. Cen Yu had sampled Yu Xinyu’s culinary skills before, feeling that the guy could easily go work as an executive chef at a star hotel.
Taking the bowl of soup Yu Xinyu handed him, he took a sip, finding the fish soup brewed to rich, fresh perfection—
Sang Qianshan picked up a Kung Pao shrimp ball with his chopsticks and ate it.
“Hmm?” An unexpected look surfaced on his face.
Cen Yu immediately began singing Yu Xinyu’s praises, “His cooking is great, right? Little Yu is super good at cooking.”
“It is quite good,” Sang Qianshan said. “Tastes pretty similar to a private kitchen restaurant I used to frequent.”
That private kitchen operated on a strict membership basis, requiring advance reservations just to dine, and strictly refused takeout orders… He glanced over at Yu Xinyu, who maintained an unchanging smile while placing food onto Cen Yu’s plate. “I didn’t expect to taste a dish like this here.”
“I just whipped it up casually,” Yu Xinyu offered modestly. “I didn’t expect it could actually rival a high-end private kitchen.”
Ha, Sang Qianshan sneered internally.
Although he didn’t know where Yu Xinyu had disposed of the takeout packaging, he was a hundred percent certain that the man had definitely ordered it delivered.
Yet Cen Yu nodded along regardless. “I told you his cooking was great. Go on, try some more.”
Yu Xinyu looked at him as well. “Yes, eat up.” So you can shut your foul mouth.
As if completely blind to the hostility in Yu Xinyu’s eyes, Sang Qianshan casually brought up another topic, “Have the people at your company ever noticed your tongue piercing?”
Cen Yu simply assumed Sang Qianshan was curious.
Hearing this, he stuck his tongue out slightly, revealing the tongue stud resting on its surface.
Because he had chosen an inconspicuous piece of jewelry and didn’t usually talk with his tongue sticking out, aside from the red-haired designer who was somewhat familiar with him, no one really knew he had his tongue pierced.
“Nope,” he said, pulling his tongue back in.
“I remember back then I looked at that tongue stud of yours with envy,” Sang Qianshan reminisced about the past with Cen Yu. “I even said I wanted to get one myself.”
“Didn’t you end up backing out? Got a navel piercing instead?” Cen Yu still recalled that matter.
Sang Qianshan’s gaze drifted over toward Yu Xinyu, whose smiling facade was on the verge of crumbling. “Yeah,” he said. “Though I took it out later for acting roles anyway.”
Yu Xinyu cursed Sang Qianshan internally. What was the point of deliberately bringing up old times right in front of him?!
Playing cheap tricks like this, huh?!
At that thought, he immediately looked at Cen Yu with deep concern… “Hubby, did it hurt when you got your tongue pierced back then?”
He pinched Cen Yu’s chin, appearing as if he wanted to inspect his tongue stud carefully. “I heard that after getting a tongue piercing, you can’t eat properly for a while.”
“It was fine,” Cen Yu answered perfunctorily.
How on earth would he know if it hurt or not! He wasn’t the one who had gotten it pierced back then!
Seeing Sang Qianshan frown due to Yu Xinyu drawing close, Cen Yu let out a quick cough. “We’re eating, let’s just focus on the food.”
Although Yu Xinyu felt a bit unwilling, seeing that Sang Qianshan’s expression was equally unsightly made him feel a touch better inside. He offered a gentle smile and sat down beside Cen Yu, continuing to place food into his bowl every now and then.
Sang Qianshan barely moved his chopsticks after that.
Until the meal ended, it couldn’t exactly be called a harmonious gathering—either way, both Sang Qianshan and Yu Xinyu were itching to slice each other to death.
Because their desire to chop each other down was far too intense, it led Cen Yu, who was quietly observing from the side, to sigh with emotion for the ten-thousandth time—
As expected of the universe’s beloved main protagonist and Male Lead 3 from the original novel; this was practically dry tinder meeting a roaring fire!
Holding on to the mindset that his mission might be completed very soon, Cen Yu offered another subtle hint while seeing Sang Qianshan off, “Actually, I think you could look around for someone else?”
“Look around for someone else?” Sang Qianshan let out a soft laugh, adjusting the non-prescription glasses resting on the bridge of his nose.
Slightly lowering his head, he looked down at Cen Yu.
“Who do you think I should look for?”
For instance, Yu Xinyu, a line Cen Yu naturally wouldn’t say out loud—after all, the two of them were still completely unfamiliar with each other right now!
Given Sang Qianshan’s character, he certainly wouldn’t do something like asking Yu Xinyu out on his own either. He would only invite him out after discovering that Cen Yu wasn’t a good person and developing a sense of pity toward Yu Xinyu…
Cen Yu pondered for a moment, realizing this matter couldn’t be rushed too hastily either.
So he added, “Look around a bit more, and maybe you’ll find someone even more suitable.”
“Maybe I really do need to go hire one then,” Sang Qianshan mocked himself.
Putting on his mask, he nodded at Cen Yu. “No need to see me out, I can head down on my own.”
The instant Sang Qianshan opened the car door, he immediately realized he was being filmed.
He frowned.
His movement pulling open the door paused. Sweeping his gaze across the surroundings, he instantly locked onto his target.
Striding over on his long legs, just as the paparazzo hiding in the car thought he was about to get beaten up by Sang Qianshan, he watched as Sang Qianshan tapped on his car window a few times.
That paparazzo was an acquaintance of Sang Qianshan—a fairly famous big paparazzo who had filmed him who knew how many times.
He knew the rules of this industry. Generally speaking, if a celebrity was in a good mood when caught in harmless follow-cam footage, they might even greet him. But since the person before him was Sang Qianshan—famous for his foul temper, wealthy background, and utter disregard for rules—his heart instantly sank into his boots…
He hesitantly rolled down the window, looking at Sang Qianshan, who was wrapped up tightly outside.
Cap, glasses, mask—not a single item missing—
“Brother Sang!” He pleaded for mercy right off the bat. “Please spare me this time!”
“There’s really been zero news lately, I’m almost starving here!”
Sang Qianshan had originally intended to make the guy delete the photos. He didn’t care about being snapped himself; he simply didn’t want Cen Yu exposed to the lens… Yet that thought only lingered for a split second before being replaced by a different idea.
He crooked a finger at the paparazzo, whose nickname was “Skinny Monkey.”
“What did you take? Let me see.”
Skinny Monkey felt reluctant inside, but still passed the camera over—
Sang Qianshan glanced through the footage Skinny Monkey had captured. It had been shot almost from the moment he entered the garage to wait for Cen Yu.
Not only were there shots of him wearing a baseball cap and glasses while waiting for Cen Yu, but there were also shots of him unconsciously revealing a subtle smile after Cen Yu entered the vehicle.
And after arriving at the parking lot at Cen Yu’s place, there were shots of him smiling while turning sideways to chat with Cen Yu for a while.
Complete with video and photos, the shooting technique was actually quite skilled.
His own face could be seen crystal clear, whereas Cen Yu’s face was either blocked by the rearview mirror or reduced to a blurry outline.
After looking through all the videos and photos, Sang Qianshan deleted the few shots that captured Cen Yu’s face somewhat clearly, then handed the camera back to Skinny Monkey.
“Alright.”
“Stop playing the pity card with me.” Sang Qianshan jerked his chin at him. “Returned it to you. Don’t write anything too out of line.”
With that, he didn’t even bother putting his mask and cap back on, walking straight toward his commercial van.
Skinny Monkey hurriedly opened the camera returned by Sang Qianshan. He had originally felt heartbroken watching Sang Qianshan delete photos, but hearing the words the man tossed at him when returning the camera, a spark of hope flared in his chest again!
“…Holy crap.” Skinny Monkey pinched himself hard.
Every single photo involving Sang Qianshan himself hadn’t been deleted at all; only the shots capturing the side profile of his friend had been wiped clean.
“Could it really be a secret underground lover?” Skinny Monkey muttered to himself. “Otherwise, why protect him like this?!”
