Chapter 71: Transmigrated as a Stingy Phoenix Man (71)
When Yu Jinheng found Cen Yu, he was standing on the patio outside the living room, smoking a cigarette.
Leaning against the waist-high glass railing with a cigarette between his fingers, he gazed out at the ocean view. As the breeze caught the hem of his shirt, Yu Jinheng deliberately heavy-footed his steps. Cen Yu turned around instantly, and seeing who it was, asked, “Taking me to the airport?”
“I couldn’t find you earlier.” Yu Jinheng glanced at Cen Yu’s luggage set beside him. “I thought you’d already left.”
Cen Yu held the cigarette. “The ocean view here is pretty nice.”
Yu Jinheng followed Cen Yu’s gaze. Because this was a private beach, there were no crowds of tourists. Now that the show’s shooting had wrapped, the crew had departed, and all the camera equipment had been cleared away, it had indeed become extraordinarily quiet.
The waves crashed rhythmically against the shore. Yu Jinheng took in the scenery through Cen Yu’s eyes for a moment before speaking. “There’s still some time. Want to go down for a walk?”
“Sure.” Cen Yu walked over, cigarette still between his fingers.
Abruptly catching the scent of smoke, Yu Jinheng broke into an involuntary fit of coughing. He noticed Cen Yu holding the cigarette between his lips before giving a slight shrug. “Sorry about that. Didn’t do it on purpose.”
Yu Jinheng lowered the hand covering his mouth.
His eyes flicked toward the ashtray beside the teak chair. In the past, Cen Yu would have snuffed out his cigarette the moment he saw him walk over.
Even if he hadn’t snuffed it out right then, there was a high probability he would have put it out after seeing him cough.
Perhaps because his glance toward the ashtray had been too obvious, Cen Yu mumbled around his cigarette, “Didn’t you say you wanted to try smoking?”
“Try second-hand smoke, then.”
Cen Yu was angry.
Yu Jinheng was no fool; he could naturally sense Cen Yu’s suppressed hostility.
He guessed the man had already seen the gossip and rumors spreading online. Yu Xinyu’s true motives, along with Yu Jinheng’s own opportunistic remarks after joining the show, had all been laid bare before Cen Yu. It was only natural for him to be furious.
When Yu Jinheng had returned to the villa earlier, seeing the empty bedroom and the wide-open patio door, he had assumed Cen Yu had left after seeing the news online.
Unwilling to accept it—since the villa was far from the airport and cabs weren’t easy to catch here—he had searched the villa high and low, only to finally realize the man was out on the most prominent living room patio all along. It was just a shame he had been too anxious earlier, single-mindedly rushing up to the second-floor room to find Cen Yu, completely forgetting to check here.
Cen Yu brushed past Yu Jinheng and walked into the living room. Slipping along in his sandals, he noticed no footsteps following behind him.
He turned back to look at Yu Jinheng, who was still standing out on the patio—
“Didn’t you say you wanted to take a walk by the sea?”
“Not coming?”
There was nothing particularly exciting about the beach.
Cen Yu’s cigarette had long burned out, and he had no intention of lighting another. Pulling a portable ashtray from his pocket, he snuffed out the spent cigarette.
Just as he was about to put it away, he heard Yu Jinheng beside him speak up. “Can you give me one?”
Cen Yu turned his head, his face devoid of expression. In the past, he probably would have refused, but now there was no longer any need to reject the request. So he simply pulled his cigarettes and lighter out of his pocket and tossed them to Yu Jinheng.
Yu Jinheng caught them somewhat clumsily.
Flipping open Cen Yu’s pack, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and then returned the lighter and pack back to Cen Yu.
Cen Yu took them back.
Yu Jinheng attempted a few drags—
Naturally, he broke into another fit of coughing, looking entirely disheveled. With one hand holding the cigarette and the other covering his mouth, his entire body was hunched over, looking as if he might snap in half the next second.
“Enough.”
Cen Yu stepped over, snatched the cigarette from Yu Jinheng’s fingers, and snuffed it out inside the portable ashtray. Just as he was about to slip it back into his pocket, he heard Yu Jinheng clear his throat with a few light coughs and ask—
“Can I have that?”
“?” Baffled, Cen Yu raised the portable ashtray in his hand. “This?”
Yu Jinheng nodded. “I can buy it from you.”
Hearing this, Cen Yu let out a scoff. He casually tossed the object over to Yu Jinheng. “It’s worthless junk. Take it and play with it.”
He looked out at the ocean view ahead. Yu Jinheng stood silently beside him; despite claiming they were here for a walk, the two ended up merely standing on the sand… Cen Yu looked down at the sand that had crept inside his sandals. “Forget it, let’s go.”
He turned to look at Yu Jinheng. The man was impeccably dressed, still wearing leather shoes on his feet.
Tsk. Who knew how uncomfortable it must be with sand trapped inside them.
He didn’t care to ask where Yu Jinheng had come from, nor who he had met while dressed so formally—it had absolutely nothing to do with him anyway.
“It’s getting late, time to head to the airport,” Cen Yu said, turning to walk back toward the villa.
Yu Jinheng instinctively reached out a hand, but by the time he raised it, Cen Yu was already far ahead. All that landed in his palm was the ungraspable wind.
Yu Jinheng drove Cen Yu all the way back to the apartment building.
When Cen Yu carried his luggage back into the apartment, he didn’t find Yu Xinyu inside. He guessed the man was likely still abroad and hadn’t returned yet…
By this time, the System had already forwarded all the home security footage to Cen Yu.
Reviewing the footage from this recent period, Cen Yu clicked his tongue in amazement. He realized that Yu Xinyu had installed even more security cameras around the apartment than he had originally thought.
Still, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise—it was going to save him a world of trouble.
With that thought, he booted up his computer and began editing the footage like a man possessed.
By Monday morning, Yu Xinyu had still not returned, nor had he replied to any of Cen Yu’s messages.
It was hard to tell whether he was “fleeing from his crimes” or harboring some other scheme, but either way, it worked out immensely in Cen Yu’s favor. After all, in the original novel’s timeline, Yu Xinyu was supposed to have a falling out with him around this time and resolutely leave the scumbag behind, moving out of this apartment.
With both essential conditions—Yu Xinyu achieving grand fame and acclaim and Yu Xinyu leaving the apartment to distance himself from the scumbag—now met, the narrative completion had reached 90%.
One last push to stoke the flames, and his mission would finally wrap up!
At the thought, Cen Yu couldn’t help but whistle, grabbing his things before heading off to work.
The moment he entered the office building, Cen Yu could feel the subtle, assessing glances darting toward him from all directions. Once he reached the office, everyone was surreptitiously stealing glances at him.
When he sat down at his desk, Gao Lanyuan looked as though she wanted to say something, but ultimately kept quiet. The red-haired designer, however, sent him a message over WeChat—
[Sang Luo: You’re done for, iron bro. The big boss feels this mess is reflecting terribly on the company, and he’s lost a few more strands of hair off his head.]
[Cen Yu: ? So?]
[Sang Luo: Beats me, just pray for yourself. But don’t worry, I’ve got your back!]
Cen Yu thought to himself: Heh, just wait until he loses a few more strands off his head in a bit.
At 9:00 AM on Monday morning—the exact moment office workers clocked in and promptly began slacking off—
A video surfaced right in the view of every slacking employee. The video was clearly security camera footage: Cen Yu, who had recently gained widespread notoriety after joining the variety show, was sitting on the sofa, impatiently ordering Yu Xinyu around with a series of foul, toxic remarks spewing from his mouth—
[How many times do I have to tell you?! Clothes need to be hand-washed, HAND-WASHED! Do you think my electricity comes for free?! How can you be so lazy with everything you do?!]
[Look at how useless you are! Who else would take you in besides me?!]
And the title uploaded by the leaker was brutally simple—
Let’s lay it out straight: Cen Yu still being active is pure revulsion! He’s nothing but a stingy phoenix man through and through!
