Chapter 44: Transmigrated as a Cheapskate Phoenix Man (44)
“Elder Brother?!”
Staring at the familiar man he had just met earlier, Cen Yu froze on the spot, utterly at a loss for words.
He watched as Yu Xinyu greeted Yu Jinheng intimately, while Yu Jinheng merely gave a light nod. “A bit earlier than you guys.”
Both he and Yu Xinyu acted completely natural, as if they were truly meeting after a long absence, showing zero trace of the sharp, confrontational atmosphere from a few hours ago.
Yu Jinheng shifted his gaze toward Cen Yu, offering a faint smile. “You must be Cen Yu? This is our first time meeting.”
Saying that, he made a move to step forward and shake Cen Yu’s hand. Cen Yu truly hadn’t expected the man who appeared in his courtyard to actually be Yu Jinheng—he now fully understood why a complete stranger had popped up in Qiang Yuanqing’s hot spring villa.
And why that stranger had happened to wander straight into the courtyard he shared with Yu Xinyu.
Turns out the guy had come fully prepared!
It wasn’t appropriate for him to expose Yu Jinheng’s lie about having visited their courtyard and claiming this was their first meeting on the spot. He could only let out a dry laugh and reach out to take Yu Jinheng’s extended hand, only to be held back by Yu Xinyu.
“Elder Brother~ why be so formal?” Yu Xinyu looked at Yu Jinheng’s outstretched hand with a sweet smile. “Let’s just keep things simple.”
Looking at his own extended hand and Yu Xinyu’s move holding Cen Yu back, the expression on Yu Jinheng’s face didn’t change in the slightest, remaining as elegant and refined as ever.
He nodded at Yu Xinyu. “Alright.”
Then he offered Yu Xinyu a smile. “You don’t mind if I borrow him for a moment, do you?”
The smile on Yu Xinyu’s face faltered slightly, but facing his elder brother under the watchful eyes of everyone around, he could only nod generously. “Of course not.”
Seeing this, Yu Jinheng signaled for Cen Yu to walk over to the side with him to speak privately.
…Realizing that Yu Jinheng wanted to speak with him alone,
Cen Yu’s legs felt a bit weak.
After all, this man was the genuine super villain and final BOSS of this book—a true lunatic, no joke.
As he walked over to the side with Yu Jinheng, Yu Jinheng simply looked at him and said, “I don’t want Little Yu to know about what happened this afternoon.”
His tone was completely flat when speaking to Cen Yu, as if he were merely informing him of a decision.
Cen Yu naturally understood what Yu Jinheng meant.
His gaze drifted over toward Yu Xinyu, only to see Yu Xinyu catch his eyes, offer him another smile, and say to Yu Jinheng—
“Elder Brother, don’t make things difficult for him.”
Yu Jinheng merely smiled without replying.
Cen Yu hardened his heart and said to Yu Jinheng, “I naturally won’t speak a word about this afternoon.”
Yu Jinheng remained silent, staring at Cen Yu as if pondering something. In the end, he merely reached out, patted Cen Yu’s shoulder, and said softly, “That’s good then.”
With that, he didn’t remove his hand from Cen Yu’s shoulder. Instead, he intentionally put on a friendly facade, resting his arm over Cen Yu’s shoulder.
Although he appeared frail, he was actually taller than Yu Xinyu, making resting his arm over Cen Yu’s shoulder completely effortless.
Practically slinging his arm around Cen Yu, Yu Jinheng led him right back in front of Yu Xinyu. “I naturally wouldn’t make things difficult for him,” he said, taking his hand off Cen Yu’s shoulder before offering a slight nod to the others, then stepping into the venue where Qiang Yuanqing was hosting the banquet.
Watching Yu Jinheng’s movements, Lou Baichuan felt an odd sense of discord.
He recalled that Yu Jinheng was exceptionally neurotic and almost never allowed anyone near him on normal days. Even if he were putting on a show for Yu Xinyu, this was… a bit too intimate.
He watched Yu Xinyu instantly cling to Cen Yu the moment he returned.
According to his understanding of the two Yu brothers, there was no way Yu Xinyu hadn’t seen his elder brother after arriving at the villa…
Watching Yu Xinyu act as though he feared Yu Jinheng would swallow Cen Yu whole, Pei Zhuo found it quite amusing. He could also tell that Cen Yu seemed terrified of Yu Jinheng—naturally he’d be terrified, considering everyone knew Yu Jinheng was not a man to be messed with.
However, Yu Jinheng’s attitude left him somewhat unsure of whether he was giving face to Yu Xinyu, or simply genuinely didn’t care about such an insignificant nobody.
Qiang Yuanqing felt a massive headache coming on as he took in the whole scene.
He truly hadn’t expected Yu Jinheng to show up as well… Wiping an imaginary sweat off his face internally, he maintained a pleasant smile on the surface and said to everyone, “Since Brother Yu has spoken, let’s head inside quickly.”
Because it was just a casual dinner with a small number of people,
Qiang Yuanqing had simply chosen a round table.
Yu Jinheng naturally took the main seat of honor, leaving the seating arrangement as a dilemma… Just as Yu Xinyu was about to avoid his elder brother—wishing he could hide Cen Yu in a spot where his brother couldn’t see him at all—he heard Yu Jinheng, sitting at the main seat, speak to him: “Little Yu, sit next to me. You haven’t eaten a meal at home in a long time.”
Yu Xinyu cast a glance at Yu Jinheng, seeing a faint smile on his elder brother’s lips as he looked at him, as though knowing he wouldn’t refuse.
He glanced around the table, confirming that if he switched to any other seat, it would only make it easier for Yu Jinheng to watch Cen Yu. Thus, he walked over to sit beside his elder brother, making Cen Yu sit to his left.
Next was Lou Baichuan, who sat beside Cen Yu.
Followed by Pei Zhuo and Qiang Yuanqing.
Once everyone was seated, Qiang Yuanqing offered a few pleasantries first. Perhaps feeling that the atmosphere was suffocating, he simply wanted everyone to finish eating quickly and be done with it.
Yet unexpectedly, Yu Xinyu suddenly spoke up: “Is Elder Brother going to join the reality show together with Pei Zhuo?”
Yu Jinheng looked at Yu Xinyu, not understanding why he brought this up.
“Yes.”
“That’s so nice,” Yu Xinyu put on an envious expression. “I heard Sang Qianshan is going too.”
Sitting to the side, Cen Yu suddenly realized—
Isn’t everyone from the romantic rivalry arena present except for Sang Qianshan?!
No wonder he was already feeling the pressure, heh.
Sang Qianshan…
The moment this name was dropped, it sounded extremely familiar to everyone.
Pei Zhuo genuinely disliked this guy, but he suddenly remembered—wasn’t Cen Yu sitting right in front of him the one involved in rumors with Sang Qianshan?
He carefully observed Yu Xinyu’s expression, feeling that Yu Xinyu seemed to know about this as well…
“Since when did you get so close with Sang Qianshan?” Although Yu Jinheng wasn’t particularly familiar with the Sang family’s young master, he knew that by all rights, Yu Xinyu shouldn’t know him.
“Not me,” Yu Xinyu said, tilting his head to lean against Cen Yu’s shoulder.
Looking up at Cen Yu, he added, “Sang Qianshan is Cen Yu’s good friend.”
The moment these words fell, all the remaining eyes gathered onto Cen Yu.
Cen Yu instantly felt like needles were poking his back! Why were they all looking at him, a mere cannon fodder—especially what was with that thoughtful, probing gaze from Yu Jinheng?
A moment later, Yu Jinheng inquired, “Could it be that the friend Sang Qianshan plans to invite is actually Cen Yu?”
