Chapter 48: Transmigrated as a Cheapskate Phoenix Man (48)
The hot spring pool Yu Xinyu had mentioned wasn’t too far from their villa.
Perhaps because Cen Yu’s apology had softened Yu Xinyu’s attitude, the two of them waited until the butler delivered fresh bathrobes before putting them on and heading over to the hot spring.
By this point, Yu Xinyu seemed to have completely forgotten his earlier displeasure. Holding Cen Yu’s hand, he led the way toward the spring.
Cen Yu instinctively wanted to pull his hand away, but found Yu Xinyu gripping it tightly, with no intention of letting go.
He looked up at Yu Xinyu, only to see the man staring back at him with a look that seemed on the verge of tears—
Fine! Cen Yu thought.
In the end, he didn’t pull his hand away after all. Hand in hand, the two arrived at the hot spring that supposedly possessed skin-beautifying properties.
The pool was quite spacious.
For the sake of privacy, it was surrounded by flowers, plants, trees, and rockeries that served as natural screens.
It was already late at night, and the entire villa resort had fallen into a deep slumber. Placing his bathrobe on a nearby rack, Cen Yu lightly tested the water temperature before stepping slowly down into the pool.
He found a comfortable spot to sit down, letting the thermal water submerge him up to his chest.
Then he watched as Yu Xinyu shed his bathrobe as well and walked over to his side. Without saying a word, the man slowly sat down right beside him, resting his head lightly against Cen Yu’s shoulder.
“…” Cen Yu cast a glance at Yu Xinyu, ultimately deciding to pretend to close his eyes and rest.
The atmosphere right now was just right. The spring water wasn’t particularly crystal clear, and combined with the faint ambient light in the late-night spring, Yu Xinyu felt utterly satisfied as he gazed down at his intertwined hands with Cen Yu beneath the water.
Cen Yu’s skin was cool and white, taking on a jade-like texture after being soaked in the hot spring.
Yu Xinyu studied Cen Yu’s side profile in minute detail. Since the man currently had his eyes closed in feigned sleep and wouldn’t notice his gaze, Yu Xinyu grew all the more uninhibited. He stared at Cen Yu’s profile, taking in his damp hair ends wet from the spring water, as well as his pale lips.
Cen Yu always gave off a handsome yet distant impression.
He projected a strong sense of cynicism, looking as though he cared for nothing and found everything trivial.
Staring at the piercing in Cen Yu’s earlobe and the faint trace left behind on his upper ear cartilage from an industrial piercing, Yu Xinyu merely felt that the man was an absolute enigma.
“…Hubby,” Yu Xinyu called out to Cen Yu in a tiny voice.
Cen Yu opened one eye to look at him.
“Can I take a look at your tongue piercing?”
Although Cen Yu didn’t know what Yu Xinyu was up to this time, perhaps because the hot spring was far too comfortable, he felt a bit too lazy to think.
Hearing Yu Xinyu’s request, he poked out the tip of his tongue, revealing the tongue stud.
Yu Xinyu stared at the stud resting on the surface of Cen Yu’s tongue. Sensing that Cen Yu was about to pull it back, he instinctively reached out his hand, wanting to touch the tip of Cen Yu’s tongue, only for Cen Yu to turn his head immediately and dodge his reach.
“Only looking, no touching,” Cen Yu said slurringly.
Feeling that sticking out his tongue like that looked a bit too silly, he quickly drew it back in.
Looking at Yu Xinyu standing there dazed as if lost in thought, as well as the hand he had raised above the water, Cen Yu asked, “What’s up with you?”
Yu Xinyu seemed to snap back to reality only then. He cast a glance at Cen Yu. His own brownish hair had darkened after being soaked in water, its medium-length ends curling wetly against his neck.
A drenched Yu Xinyu carried an even stronger air of fragility.
He stared at Cen Yu for a good while before letting out a soft laugh. “Nothing.”
He said, “I was just wondering if I should get one done, too.”
“What would you get one for?” Cen Yu asked instinctively.
Yu Xinyu merely shook his head without a word, gazing at Cen Yu. It was hard to tell whether he was talking about the tongue piercing or Cen Yu himself—
“I just think it’s very pretty.”
“Doesn’t suit you,” Cen Yu said.
After soaking for a while longer, he felt his body breaking into a sweat and prepared to step out of the pool to clear his head. Just as he stood up, however, he caught the sound of approaching footsteps.
He sat right back down into the spring pool immediately.
A moment later, when the owner of those footsteps revealed himself, Cen Yu was surprised to see that it was actually Lou Baichuan.
The man was likewise dressed in a bathrobe and slippers, looking at Cen Yu and Yu Xinyu with surprise, as if he hadn’t expected anyone to be in this pool.
“…What a coincidence,” Lou Baichuan said.
Seemingly because he had walked quite a distance to get here, he showed no intention of leaving.
Shedding his bathrobe, he stepped down the stone stairs into the pool, finding a spot some distance away from the two of them to sit down.
He also appeared somewhat weary, leaning his head back against the rock behind him and closing his eyes to rest.
Although Cen Yu was somewhat surprised to see him appear here, on second thought, it wasn’t all that strange—
Apart from the private hot springs in each villa, this resort also featured several specialty pools. Though designated as VIP specialty pools accessible only to guests staying in specific room types, since Lou Baichuan had been invited as a guest, Qiang Yuanqing must have informed him from the start that all outdoor hot spring pools were open for use.
It was just that for some reason, he had happened to come to this exact pool.
Is this really the natural attraction between the main leads?
Cen Yu thought to himself, secretly studying Yu Xinyu beside him and Lou Baichuan resting with his eyes closed over there.
Because he had sat back down into the pool in a rush earlier, he was currently sitting with his knees hugged to his chest. Realizing it was an acquaintance, he relaxed a bit, uncurling his limbs and stretching his legs out slightly.
However, due to the dim lighting in the hot spring pool, he failed to notice his foot accidentally brushing against Lou Baichuan’s calf.
Realizing he had kicked someone, Cen Yu pulled his foot back immediately.
Lou Baichuan, however, had already opened his eyes.
“…Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
Saying that, Lou Baichuan closed his eyes once more.
Yu Xinyu watched for a bit, then whispered softly to Cen Yu, “My head feels a little dizzy. Can we go back?”
Cen Yu figured they had been soaking for over ten minutes, which was about enough anyway.
Plus, since he had originally been planning to leave, he nodded instinctively and prepared to stand up.
Hearing the rustling water on this end, Lou Baichuan opened his eyes as well, catching sight of Cen Yu standing up out of the hot spring pool right at that moment.
His gaze was drawn almost instantly to the tattoos on Cen Yu’s abdomen and arm.
The half-exposed snake bones, the rotting apple, the other half hidden beneath the waistband of his swim trunks, as well as the little angel blowing a trumpet on his arm.
As Cen Yu stood up, he casually slicked his wet hair back away from his forehead, revealing his sharply defined, handsome features all the more clearly.
Seemingly sensing Lou Baichuan’s gaze, he frowned instinctively, looked down at his own body, and the expression on his face instantly turned visibly flustered.
