Chapter 52: Transmigrated as a Cheapskate Phoenix Man (52)
Sang Qianshan constantly felt that Yu Xinyu’s words carried a double meaning.
Yet he was absolutely certain that the guy wouldn’t be participating in the show, so the man’s attitude felt almost inexplicably brimming with confidence.
Meanwhile, Yu Xinyu carefully examined the basic itinerary and script—yes, even though it was billed as a live-streamed slow-paced reality show, there were naturally scripts involved.
Since non-celebrity friends were taking part, their acting skills were bound to be limited. Coupled with a lack of understanding regarding Cen Yu, the script’s summary on Sang Qianshan’s end boiled down to “free rein” + “demolishing rumors of having no friends.”
Looking over the proposal, Yu Xinyu remarked, “It seems you truly only have Cen Yu as your one friend.”
“Having Cen Yu as a friend is more than enough,” Sang Qianshan said nonchalantly, before shifting his gaze to Cen Yu. “Some people have more than one lover and nobody finds it strange. What’s so strange about me having only one friend?”
“…” Facing Sang Qianshan’s gaze, Cen Yu broke into a cold sweat.
Although he knew for a fact that the man had zero idea about the plot, why did that sentence sound suspiciously like an oblique attack on someone?
“…” The manager knit his brows, looking at Sang Qianshan and the gentle, harmless-looking Yu Xinyu sitting opposite them.
A sudden illusion struck him that the living room had transformed into an octagon cage in a split second. Why did he get the feeling that these two were itching to flip the table and go at each other’s throats right now?
Yu Xinyu pressed his lips together in a smile. “Having Cen Yu as a good friend is indeed enough for you.” Leaning against Cen Yu’s shoulder, he added, “And having Cen Yu as my lover is more than enough for me, too~”
Sang Qianshan glared at Yu Xinyu.
Yu Xinyu didn’t meet his eyes, merely addressing Cen Yu with a beaming smile, “Right, Hubby?”
“…Mm.” Cen Yu kept his head lowered, staring straight at the proposal, not daring to meet either of their eyes.
In that moment, he suddenly reached a soul-deep resonance with Sang Qianshan’s manager—
If you two want to fight, go fight outside!
Sang Qianshan went over plenty of details with Cen Yu, such as camera angles, or how to handle camera crews following them around and various unexpected situations.
Of course, he made a special point to mention that the crew would be filming at night as well, so he must remember to turn off the cameras inside the room before going to sleep, and turn them back on after waking up in the morning.
Cen Yu looked through the guest list for the entire reality show—
The show hosted by Durian TV was titled We’re the Real Friends!
Aside from the confirmed participants—Sang Qianshan, Pei Zhuo, and Yu Huaining, the guy who had backstabbed Sang Qianshan—there were two other pairs.
Specifically, popular top-tier idol Jian Zhou (male) and his non-celebrity childhood friend Yu Kexin (female).
Pop idol Lin Xinyan (female) and her non-celebrity senior schoolmate Ji Shuang (female).
Cen Yu’s only acquaintances were those two—
The problem was that those two pairs had very little presence in the original novel! They held almost zero reference value!
“That Yu Huaining,” Sang Qianshan said suddenly. “Stay away from him.”
“Hey!” The manager desperately wanted to cover Sang Qianshan’s mouth, but under the man’s murderous glare, he could only offer a sheepish smile before saying to Cen Yu, “…Well, anyway… you understand.”
Mm, I understand.
Cen Yu thought to himself: The very first person I’m going to mess with on this show is Yu Huaining!
The next morning, the moment work started, Cen Yu arrived at the office early.
“So early?” Arriving at the office, Gao Lanyuan was somewhat surprised to find Cen Yu already there.
“Mm,” Cen Yu said absentmindedly. “Got a few things to deal with.”
His gaze drifted toward Lou Baichuan’s office, unable to figure out why this robot-like workaholic who was impeccably punctual every day hadn’t shown up today.
Gao Lanyuan noticed Cen Yu staring so hard he seemed ready to bore a hole through the office window. “Were you together with Brother Chuan over the weekend?”
“…?” Cen Yu looked at Gao Lanyuan. “Huh?”
“Didn’t you check Moments?” Gao Lanyuan smiled. “Brother Chuan posted an update.”
Cen Yu genuinely hadn’t checked. He usually never browsed Moments at all. Seeing Gao Lanyuan make a point of mentioning it, he tapped into Lou Baichuan’s profile.
He saw an update posted on Saturday.
The image showed an open laptop screen on a desk, with a hand entering the frame on the side—clearly a man’s hand, long-fingered, distinctively jointed, and looking strong.
The skin tone was a cool white, though whether due to the lighting or natural complexion was hard to tell.
Looking closer, Cen Yu realized that was likely his own hand.
The caption on the post was equally brief—
[Work.]
Below it was a whole row of brown-nosing thumbs-up emojis and likes.
“What are you, a private investigator?” Cen Yu looked at Gao Lanyuan in bewilderment. “You can tell that’s me just from this?”
Gao Lanyuan’s gaze lingered on Cen Yu’s fingers. “Right here.” He lightly tapped near Cen Yu’s ring finger. “There’s a scar.”
Lowering his head, Cen Yu realized there was indeed a tiny scar near the knuckle between his ring finger and middle finger. He couldn’t remember when he had gotten it; the scar had already faded to white, appearing to be an old mark.
And the hand exposed in the photo happened to reveal that exact same scar.
Cen Yu stared down at it for a moment, then raised his head to look at Gao Lanyuan. “If you played Spot the Difference, you’d score a perfect ten out of ten.”
Gao Lanyuan didn’t take the banter, merely pressing with his previous question, “He called you in for overtime over the weekend?”
“Not really,” Cen Yu explained briefly. “Just happened to run into each other at the same place.”
Right at that moment, Lou Baichuan walked over from the other side dressed in a suit. Seeing the two talking, he gave a slight nod—
“Morning.”
Cen Yu returned the greeting. Seeing Lou Baichuan step into his office, he immediately stood up, patted Gao Lanyuan’s shoulder, and said, “I’ll head in first. Let’s chat later.”
Gao Lanyuan looked at the shoulder Cen Yu had just patted, then watched as Cen Yu walked straight in through the door Lou Baichuan had left open.
Frowning secretly—
Why did he feel that after just one weekend, Cen Yu and Lou Baichuan had suddenly gotten so much closer?
Ordinarily, Cen Yu would at least knock on the glass a few times and wait for Lou Baichuan’s approval before stepping inside.
Cen Yu was entirely unaware that his colleague was already wracking his brain over why his relationship with Lou Baichuan had grown closer.
He casually pulled the glass door shut, watching Lou Baichuan take off his suit jacket, hang it on a nearby rack, loosen his tie slightly, and sit down.
“Something on your mind?” Lou Baichuan looked at Cen Yu, who had followed him inside.
“There is one thing, actually,” Cen Yu said.
“Go ahead.”
“It’s about a reality show.” Cen Yu immediately launched into the excuse he had spent half the previous day making up. “This show only requires filming for three days at each location, and two of those days fall on the weekend. I only need to request one day of leave. It definitely won’t delay any work arrangements, I guarantee I’ll complete every assignment the company hands me with high quality and quantity, and…”
Cen Yu began reciting a corporate worker’s pledge, swearing to prove he wouldn’t hold back work in the slightest!
So just approve my leave!
“…Stop.” Lou Baichuan got a headache listening to him. Leaning back in his chair, he looked at Cen Yu. “You’re certain you want to go on this reality show?”
“Heh, can’t help it.” Cen Yu chuckled. “They offered way too much.”
