Chapter 37: Transmigrated as a Cheapskate Phoenix Man (37)
Yu Jinheng didn’t bother asking why his younger brother knew he had visited his courtyard to see Cen Yu.
Just as Yu Xinyu didn’t ask him why he had gone to his courtyard in the first place.
When both sides understood the situation crystal clear, there was no need to lay it out explicitly. The only reason Yu Xinyu brought it up was to serve as a warning to his elder brother—
I know what you went to do. Don’t push it too far.
Having said his piece, he paid no further attention to Yu Jinheng, who remained surrounded by his personal doctor and assistants, and walked straight out of his elder brother’s courtyard.
Cen Yu was still sitting in the living room watching television when he saw Yu Xinyu walk into the yard.
The expression on the man’s face had been plain and indifferent, only softening into a slight smile the moment his eyes landed on Cen Yu.
“Been waiting long?” Yu Xinyu stepped into the living room. Looking at the freshly opened bottle of mineral water placed beside Cen Yu’s hand, his eyes darkened slightly. “Why are there two bottles of water?”
He asked with a look of surprise, then naturally sat down beside Cen Yu, resting his head against the man’s shoulder.
It wasn’t the familiar scent of body wash, which he disliked.
Even so, Yu Xinyu didn’t pull his head away from Cen Yu’s shoulder. He drew closer, practically pressing his entire body against Cen Yu, before taking hold of one of his hands. “Did a guest come over?”
Cen Yu’s attention was still glued to the TV. Hearing Yu Xinyu’s question, he merely offered a perfunctory nod. It wasn’t until his hand was gripped that he finally shifted his focus onto Yu Xinyu.
Seeing that Yu Xinyu still seemed to be waiting for his answer, Cen Yu carefully recalled the question from earlier before speaking up—
“Someone passed by.”
He mentioned it nonchalantly, “Seemed like he lost his way. Seeing that he wasn’t feeling well and needed to take medication, I let him in to drink some water.”
He held zero curiosity regarding the man’s identity, simply assuming he was one of Qiang Yuanqing’s friends. Besides, since that photo-related plotline hadn’t occurred yet, there was naturally no need to bring it up.
“Not feeling well?” Hearing this, Yu Xinyu felt somewhat curious. Looking at Cen Yu, he scrutinized his expression closely—
“What kind of man was he?”
Cen Yu didn’t pay it much mind either, assuming the person belonged to Yu Xinyu’s social circle, so he offered a simple description: “Pretty tall, but looked to be in poor health. Very pale face.”
“You know him?” Seeing Yu Xinyu pressing for details, he grew slightly interested as well.
Yu Xinyu lowered his gaze, pondering for a moment. “I don’t seem to have met anyone like that…” he said. “Strange, didn’t Qiang Yuanqing say we were the only ones here? How come strangers keep showing up?”
Cen Yu knew he wasn’t just referring to that man, but to Lou Baichuan as well.
So he refrained from responding, merely pondering in his mind how he could get these two main characters to cross paths and form a connection.
Just then, the content on the television shifted.
The commercial break ended, replaced by a down-and-out face on screen. Even with dirt smeared across his face and a messy stubble, it was hard to hide the man’s handsome features.
“You’re watching Pei Zhuo’s movie?”
The moment Yu Xinyu caught sight of the picture on screen, he recognized the actor’s identity.
“Yeah, TV just happened to be airing it.” Cen Yu was merely watching it casually.
In the original novel, this person only served as Sang Qianshan’s rival. Knowing that Sang Qianshan didn’t particularly care for him, and with Pei Zhuo now slated to join that reality show as well, Cen Yu decided to watch a bit since his movie happened to be playing.
In the film, the character played by Pei Zhuo was an underground fighter. The entire movie followed a drama narrative style, operating on a modest budget with a touch of dark humor.
Pei Zhuo had previously cultivated an image of a refined, noble gentleman, with people always claiming he could only play artistic or positive roles. This movie served as his self-breakthrough, unexpectedly winning awards later on.
While the box office earnings weren’t astronomical, reaching 500 million yuan for a dark comedy drama was more than enough to validate Pei Zhuo’s personal box office draw.
Cen Yu watched for a while before hearing Yu Xinyu beside him suddenly speak up—
“I heard a piece of gossip about him earlier.”
“…” Cen Yu looked over. “What gossip?”
Yu Xinyu looked at Cen Yu. “Lean closer and I’ll tell you.”
Suspecting nothing, and seeing that the smile on Yu Xinyu’s face was as gentle as ever, Cen Yu leaned over—
“I heard Pei Zhuo likes men.”
“…” That didn’t sound like major news at all. Just as Cen Yu was about to say that people had speculated about this before, he felt a sharp bite on his ear in the very next second.
Yu Xinyu bit directly down on his earlobe, the tip of his tongue pressing against his ear piercing, before releasing him immediately before Cen Yu could push him away.
He looked at the stiffened Cen Yu with a beaming smile. “The gossip I heard was…”
“…He has a bit of a special preference, just like this.”
Cen Yu’s body went completely rigid. He wanted to touch his ear, yet feared such an action would look too deliberate, so he could only scowl and say, “Who allowed you to bite me!”
He rubbed his earlobe. “What if my colleagues notice it?”
“It’s fine, it’ll fade in a little bit.” Yu Xinyu smiled brightly, as if he had merely played a casual joke on Cen Yu just now.
His gaze lingered on the earlobe he had bitten moments ago. Cen Yu’s skin possessed a bloodless, cool-toned white hue; right now, whether from anger or embarrassment, his entire ear had turned bright red.
There was still a faint teeth mark on his earlobe from the bite, very shallow, bound to disappear after a short while.
Practically unable to restrain his facade, he reached out to pinch Cen Yu’s earlobe.
“It’s alright, Hubby.”
He lowered Cen Yu’s guard, “I’ll rub it for you and it’ll be gone.”
He adjusted his posture, leaning his back against the sofa, and pinched Cen Yu’s ear with one hand.
He wore dark washed denim jeans made of stiff fabric. Reaching out to grab a throw pillow nearby, he held it casually in his arms, right until Cen Yu grumbled, “Not watching anymore, what a boring movie,” slapped his hand away, and got up to leave.
He didn’t move the throw pillow away the entire time.
Leaning back against the sofa with one arm wrapped around the throw pillow, Yu Xinyu rubbed the fingertips of his other hand together for a moment.
He looked at the movie playing on the television screen.
The female lead in the film was expressing her feelings for the first time to Pei Zhuo, who was running away from love—
[Without your love, I would die.]
