He is Too Stingy, This Sand Sculpture Cannon Fodder

The snow outside the window had stopped long ago, and the night was silent except for the sound of water rushing from the bathroom, which was particularly noticeable.

Shu You lay on the bed, holding his slightly aching leg, looking dazed.

“What’s wrong?” he wondered.

He hadn’t done anything to cause this.

Why did Lin Mingxu suddenly run away? Did he not want to help look at his leg? Was he disgusted with him? Or was it because of their argument earlier?

Shu You had gotten angry with him many times before, but he had never seen such a strong reaction.

But then he thought, Lin Mingxu was not an ordinary person. He was the protagonist, the one who always sought revenge.

Could it be that he had done something to offend him, and now it was finally showing?

At the thought of Lin Mingxu walking into the bathroom, facing himself in the mirror with a gloomy and terrifying expression, Shu You let out a scream and buried himself under the covers.

…Lin Mingxu was indeed staring at himself in the mirror in the bathroom.

His expression was also somewhat gloomy.

But it wasn’t because of Shu You.

The sound of water from the faucet was still rushing, and the man had washed away all the blood stains. A drop of water remained on his chin before falling off with a splash. He frowned slightly, unable to relax.

It was clear that something had spiraled out of control and was developing in an unpredictable direction.

After a long time, Lin Mingxu walked out with a cold face, and his eyes fell on the strange lump on the bed.

“…”

Shu You heard his footsteps and cautiously peeked out from under the covers with only his face showing and a corner of the blanket on top of his head. “Lin Mingxu?”

As if confirming something, Lin Mingxu’s brow was still furrowed, and his tone was slightly cold. “What are you doing?”

“Uh…” Shu You coughed. “Nothing.”

How could he dare say he was afraid of Lin Mingxu, who was already a top-level player?

Shu You tried to explain, “I’m just a little afraid of the dark.”

“Did you just start being afraid of the dark today?” Lin Mingxu’s expression was subtle.

“Yes,” Shu You replied decisively. “I’ve been reading some novels online recently.”

“They say the doors in your house suddenly open, and a dazzling big shot walks out, claiming to be from a god/infinite/abyss/horror realm. It’s often haunted, suspenseful, and thrilling…very scary!”

Lin Mingxu didn’t comment and asked, “Did you hide under the covers because of this?”

“Yes.”

Shu You nodded quickly. “I suddenly felt a little cold.”

“Well, then…” Lin Mingxu suddenly paused, as if pondering. He looked deeply at Shu You and said in a light tone, “Is your leg still cramped?”

Shu You checked and honestly replied, “It still hurts a little.”

Lin Mingxu walked slowly over.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Shu You feels a shadow behind him. Why does just walking from the doorway to the bedside give such a sense of oppression? He was nervous for a moment and held the blanket tighter.

The man walked to the bedside and was about to lift the blanket to check Shu You’s calf, but he stopped.

Lin Mingxu’s mouth twitched. “Relax.”

“Oh, okay.” Shu You obediently let go of his hand, and the corner of the blanket slipped down from his head, revealing a stubborn strand of hair standing upright.

He watched Lin Mingxu’s movements closely, afraid of missing anything.

Lin Mingxu reached out and held his leg. Uh oh, he raised his other hand – huh? It feels…kind of good…

The man’s strong hand gently pressed and rotated Shu You’s calf with skill and patience, rivaling that of a professional masseur. Shu You couldn’t help but be curious. “Wow, boyfriend, you’re so good at this.”

Lin Mingxu’s arm stiffened slightly, and he casually said, “My family used to do this often, and I learned a little.”

As we all know, Lin Mingxu’s family is deceased. Except for some distant relatives who are out of touch and have already passed away, he is truly alone in this world.

Shu You’s whole body involuntarily softened, and he let out a few satisfied murmurs. “Thank you, Xu Xu (Lin Mingxu’s nickname in Chinese).”

Lin Mingxu: ???

Shu You shamelessly said, “Xu Xu, you’re really amazing.”

Lin Mingxu let go, his face darkening, and said, “Thank you, but you’re also great, You You (Shu You’s nickname in Chinese).”

As he spoke, his facial features twisted, as if he was about to turn black.

Shu You shyly said, “No, You You is not as good as Xu Xu. Xu Xu is the best!”

“…”

Lin Mingxu was struck by lightning.

The atmosphere of sadness disappeared without a trace. After enjoying the massage, Shu You found that his calf was no longer in pain, and he felt much more comfortable. He sincerely said, “Xu…boyfriend, you’re amazing.”

Lin Mingxu sneered, “You practiced dancing all night, you’re really amazing.”

Shu You pretended not to understand his sarcasm, blushed and said shyly, “Yeah, too bad you didn’t get to see my most beautiful side.”

Lin Mingxu didn’t want to play along with him, turned his head to look at his phone, and it was almost one o’clock in the morning.

Looking at Shu You again, he was indeed starting to feel sleepy. The tuft of hair on top of his head slowly drooped with his head, like golden wheat fields swaying in the wind, wave after wave.

…One wave after another.

Lin Mingxu suddenly frowned and waved away the inexplicable image in his mind, saying lightly, “You should go to sleep first.”

Shu You: ???

He blinked his eyes curiously and asked, “What are you going to do?”

Lin Mingxu remembered his concealment today, and coldly spat out two words, “Something’s up.”

Shu You was surprised, “Are you leaving home too?”

…This “too” was very vivid.

Lin Mingxu gritted his teeth, “No.”

Shu You said, “At this time, you can go to the North City District. The bars there are open until four in the morning. If you go, can you help me bring back a pancake from the street vendor? The one there is really good.”

Lin Mingxu’s temple throbbed. “…I’m not going out.”

“Not going out?”

Shu You was confused, “If you’re not going out, why aren’t you sleeping?”

Lin Mingxu said, “Anyway, you should sleep first.”

Shu You: ???

What’s going on?

He looked puzzled and was momentarily unable to react.

Lin Mingxu turned and walked out. Shu You watched him take one step, two steps, three steps… he suddenly spoke softly, “You haven’t said good night to me yet.”

The man’s footsteps paused, turned around without saying a word, and asked incredulously, “…Why do I have to say good night?”

“It’s a habit.”

Shu You replied casually, “I’ve been doing it since I was a kid.”

Since childhood.

But the previous “Shu You” didn’t have this habit.

After going through so much, Lin Mingxu could already see two Shu Yous separately.

Two.

His eyes were complicated, his thoughts were complicated, but ultimately, he whispered, “Good night.”

“Mhmm, good night to you too…”

The spell was cast, and Shu You immediately lay down and closed his eyes, falling asleep instantly.

Lin Mingxu: “…”

The man glanced at him, turned around and walked out.

The next day was a weekend. Shu You had to perform at the Guest House and was also invited to dinner by Zhu Feiche, and Lin Mingxu was going too.

With their manager Wu Youzhe and Peng Shang’en, who wanted to join the fun, there were four of them.

Shu You heard that Peng Shang’en was also going, and asked Lin Mingxu quietly, “Does Peng Shang’en not know that Zhu Feiche is the owner of the Guest House?”

“…He probably doesn’t know.”

The last time Lin Mingxu heard Peng Shang’en mention it, he said that the Guest House was opened by the Song family. From this perspective, he seemed to be unaware of Zhu Feiche’s connection to the Guest House.

But Peng Shang’en is actually very magnanimous, and that incident was more than a year ago. Even if he knew, it probably wouldn’t matter.

On that afternoon, Wy Youzhe came over.

This was Shu You’s first proper performance after successfully signing, and Wu Youzhe was the one who valued this performance the most, without question.

Two hours in advance, he ran over to Shu You’s side to pick him up.

Because it was too early, he had to sit in Shu You’s living room, rambling on and on.

“Did you eat? Don’t eat too much in case you feel uncomfortable on stage. Do you want to drink water? Go to the bathroom before going on stage or you might feel uncomfortable. . . “

Shu You was humming along while changing clothes, and just as Wu Youzhe remembered something else to say, Lin Mingxu suddenly walked out of the bedroom in a black coat, already dressed in a complete suit. He looked sharp and handsome, standing next to Shu You, who was dressed in fluffy clothing, creating an oddly harmonious pairing.

Then Shu You’s hair suddenly shook, and Lin Mingxu raised an eyebrow. “Did you comb your hair?”

Shu You was taken aback, “It seems like I didn’t.”

He quickly ran to find a comb, but Lin Mingxu stopped him and used his hand to comb his hair, quickly smoothing it over.

As his hair disappeared through the gaps between his fingers, Lin Mingxu’s fingers slightly curved, as if he was trying to hold on to something.

Shu You: Huh???

Is this okay?

He looked at himself in the mirror by the door and found that it actually looked good, with a free and easy style.

So Shu You chuckled, “Thanks, boyfriend.”

Lin Mingxu just murmured in response.

At that moment, Wu Youzhe felt a pang in his heart, as the words he wanted to say turned into sourness in his mouth.

“My darling, I really miss you. . . “

Unfortunately, no one knew the lamentations of a middle-aged man.

The three of them went downstairs, and Peng Shang’en was already waiting. He drove a top-of-the-line black Audi, and just as Wu Youzhe was about to get in the car, he suddenly felt out of place.

Wu Youzhe forced out a reason, “I suddenly remembered that I need to refuel the car… you guys go ahead, I’ll catch up later.”

Shu You glanced at him and said to Lin Mingxu, “Let’s go together with Brother Wu.”

The black Audi left in a flash, and Wu Youzhe was moved to tears, “Shu You, you. . .”

He thought Shu You had given up his boyfriend and the big Audi for his sake.

Unexpectedly, Shu You looked serious and said, “Brother Wu, I hope you can help me with something.”

He was so serious that Wu Youzhe immediately straightened up his old bones and said, “Tell me, how can I help? I will do my best.”

“Do you have a Pinduoduo1 account? Can you help me buy some tissues?” asked Shu You.

Wu Youzhe paused for a moment, thinking it was something important. The agent handed him the phone with tears in his eyes and asked, “Why don’t you ask those two?” (referring to Peng Shangen and Lin Mingxu)

Shu You replied confidently, “Do they look like they have Pinduoduo accounts?”

Wu Youzhe thought for a moment and then realized that Shu You was right. He felt bitter about being asked to do such a small task.

Two cars arrived at Ke She Xiao Ju, one in front and one behind. Peng Shangen went to reserve a private room, while Wu Youzhe went backstage to check Shu You’s performance order, leaving only Lin Mingxu and Shu You in the room.

Shu You was still looking at the jokes he had prepared. He finally felt a hint of nervousness, as this was his first formal performance.

And this time, it’s different from the last time when he rushed to make money by catching ducks. He said whatever he thought of without any plan, and he didn’t expect the audience to be so supportive.

Shu You couldn’t help but look at the only acquaintance in the room. “What if I fail, Lin Mingxu?”

Lin Mingxu raised an eyebrow slightly. “Why would you fail?”

“Um…”

Shu You’s mind was a mess, and he tentatively said, “What if I have stage fright?”

“You won’t have stage fright.”

“…What if I forget the lyrics?”

“If you forget, just say something else.”

“…What if the jokes are not funny, and the audience doesn’t like them?”

“They will.”

Lin Mingxu said lightly, “Just perform normally, and they will laugh.”

Shu You: “…”

Although it was comforting, it sounded a bit off.

But chatting with people probably helped relieve his nervousness, and he felt better.

Shu You poked his own cheeks with two index fingers and pushed them up. “Thank you, boyfriend.”

Lin Mingxu paused slightly and gently pressed his shoulder with his hand. “No need.”

It seemed that some power could really be transmitted.

At this moment, the man’s eyes were particularly deep.

“Boyfriend, you’re so kind.”

Shu You habitually made a heart sign and continued to look down at the script.

The performance only lasted one or two minutes. But as the old saying goes, a few minutes on stage require more preparation off stage. Shu You didn’t know how difficult it was to create before, but now he realized that there was really nothing easy in the world.

He lowered his head and looked at the script for a while. Because his head was down, his messy hair wasn’t very noticeable, revealing a hair whirl on the top of his head. It was round and not very obvious, but it could be seen if you looked closely. Below it was a round and bulging occiput, and a slender white neck under the short white hair.

The curve was very beautiful — especially in this posture.

Lin Mingxu suddenly took off his scarf and handed it to Shu You. “Put it on.”

The lounge was heated and not cold.

Shu You’s mind was still on the script and he didn’t think too much about it. He just put the woolen scarf around his neck.

For him, the scarf looked too big and the color was not quite suitable, obviously belonging to someone else. It felt like it was closing him in.

After putting it on, Shu You didn’t even lift his head when Lin Mingxu got up and said, “I’m going to Peng Shang’en place.”

“Mhmm.”

Shu You responded without looking up.

Lin Mingxu walked out and sent a message on his phone, “I’m in the Guest House.”

Shortly after, his phone rang with a reply, “The room at the end of the second floor, my office.”

The man walked along the corridor and quickly found the room. Without knocking, he pushed the door open and entered.

The room was indeed an office, decorated in an extremely luxurious manner. When Zhu Feiche saw him come in, he stood up with a smile, “I thought you wouldn’t come.”

Lin Mingxu walked over with a blank expression and asked, “Do you want to see me?”

“Sure.”

Zhu Feiche smiled, “We haven’t seen each other in years, can’t we meet?”

“We can meet,” Lin Mingxu said indifferently, “but there’s no need to go through others.”

“Oh,” Zhu Feiche laughed, “Does Shu You count as someone else? I don’t think so.”

“I can’t ask my family to pass along a message?” Lin Mingxu asked.

… The two of them didn’t exchange many words, but the air was thick with gunpowder and tension.

Lin Mingxu raised his eyebrows and didn’t respond to Zhu Feiche’s mention of Shu You. He smirked and said, “I’m here now, what do you want?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Zhu Feiche said, “I just want to know how much you know about your family’s situation now.”

“If you don’t know anything, you can leave.”

“If you know something, you can listen to what I have to say.”

“If you know everything, then the two of us…”

He deliberately paused and observed Lin Mingxu’s expression, but he couldn’t read anything. He could only say regretfully, “Then we can consider cooperating.”

Lin Mingxu understood.

Although he had no extra thoughts about this life, he had to admit that being reborn was an advantage. He was very clear about some things that had happened, not happened, known, and unknown.

He also understood what Zhu Feiche meant by “cooperation”.

Zhu Feiche must have set his sights on something belonging to the Lu family.

People like them had the same fundamental essence in their bones. Even if there were many emotions wrapped around on the surface, when it came to actually gaining benefits, they would not hesitate.

The initiative was now in Lin Mingxu’s hands.

Combining some information he knew from “before”, the man’s expression was dark and he calmly restrained his emotions in his eyes, saying calmly, “Alright.”

Zhu Feiche was surprised, “Do you really know everything?”

“Not bad.”

“I know,” Lin Mingxu said. “It just takes a little more time for some important details.”

Zhu Feiche looked at him skeptically, but couldn’t detect any flaws.

After a while, he had no choice but to trust him. But his curiosity got the better of him and he couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know if Shu You has blocked me?”

Lin Mingxu replied, “…”

He really didn’t know.

However, he looked at Zhu Feiche subtly and agreed with him in his tone, even a little proud. “Well done.”

Zhu Feiche said, “…”

He was speechless. “If Peng Shang’en blocked me, why did Shu You block me too?”

Lin Mingxu calmly replied, “You must have done something that deserved being blocked.”

Zhu Feiche was so angry that he rolled his eyes. “Then I have a condition. You make sure Shu You doesn’t block me and add me as a friend.”

He had no other intentions, just for the sake of amusement. He could occasionally take a peek at Lin Mingxu’s dynamics from Shu You’s account and have some fun.

Lin Mingxu’s heart moved, but he said, “No, Shu You is not possible.”

“But I can get Peng Shang’en to unblock you.”

Zhu Feiche didn’t believe him. “Really?”

“Really,” Lin Mingxu replied, looking at him.

“But I also have a condition.”

Zhu Feiche immediately became wary. “What condition?”

Did he want him to compromise in their future cooperation? Did he want Lin Mingxu to take the lead? Or did he want to find out some information?

Although they had to cooperate, Zhu Feiche was also wary of Lin Mingxu and had to be cautious.

With quick thinking, Zhu Feiche came up with several countermeasures.

However, he heard Lin Mingxu say in the most natural tone, “You exempt Shu You’s employees from paying for their meals.”

Zhu Feiche: ?????

Half an hour later, Lin Mingxu left Zhu Feiche’s office and headed to the private room that Peng Shang’en had booked.

Peng Shang’en was already ordering dishes. When he saw Lin Mingxu enter, he chuckled, “I asked, and Shu You will come out soon.”

Lin Mingxu nodded and sat down with him. Soon after, Peng Shang’en couldn’t help but ask, “Did you make a deal with Zhu Feiche?”

Lin Mingxu had mentioned these things to Peng Shang’en on the way here.

Lin Mingxu made a sound of agreement. “We will have future cooperation, and I need you to unblock him.”

“Okay,” Peng Shang’en said, feeling a little uneasy. But he thought it over and said, “It’s okay, I’ve thought it through.”

“I didn’t block him because he was pursuing me.”

“It’s because of who he is.”

Lin Mingxu: … This sounds familiar.

Sure enough, the next second, Peng Shang’en chuckled, “Ever since I met Shu You, I’ve realized that I can learn a lot from him.”

Lin Mingxu: “……”

On stage, Shu You finally made his appearance.

His opening remarks were different from the rest.

“Hello everyone, my name is Shu You, you can call me Shu You, or my English name You Shu! I am a very knowledgeable person!”

Peng Shang’en: “Hahahaha…”

Because it was cold, the performance stage was moved indoors, the room was well heated, and Shu You had taken off his coat, wearing only a white sweater with a high collar, making his small face look even more delicate.

Then, this pretty young man delivered his stand-up comedy with a serious expression, making the contrast even cuter.

“Since I was young, everyone has always said that I am very knowledgeable.”

“For example, I know that life is fair, you get three minutes of pay for three minutes of work.”2

“For example, I know that opportunity is reserved for those who are prepared, so if you have no opportunity, don’t waste your time preparing.”3

“For another example…”

Shu You deliberately drew out his tone and smiled as he said, “I found a boyfriend, he’s handsome and has great taste.”

The audience immediately responded with cheers and laughter: “…don’t show off your affection!”

“But isn’t this a manifestation of my knowledge?” Shu You confidently explained, “Because I know myself very well.”

“I am a person who cares about looks, and I also like people with great taste.”

“If I had found someone ugly, I might have cheated on him.”

He paused for a moment, and then smiled shyly, “But it’s not possible anyway.”

“After all, I wouldn’t be with someone who doesn’t look as good as me.”

Peng Shang’en: “Hahahaha…”

He couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Lin Mingxu, but found that the man had not noticed his gaze at all, and was also watching Shu You.

…Focusing, concentrating, and watching Shu You.

Note:

Pinduoduo (拼多多) is a Chinese e-commerce platform that allows users to participate in group buying deals and get discounts by buying products together with friends or other users. It is one of the largest and fastest-growing e-commerce platforms in China.

means that Shu You believes in the idea of fairness and that people should receive a fair amount of compensation for the work they do.

means that Shu You believes that preparation is important in order to seize opportunities. He thinks that if someone doesn’t have any opportunities available to them, then they should focus their energy on other things rather than preparing for something that may never come.