He is Too Stingy, This Sand Sculpture Cannon Fodder

The guilty hands were still on his sturdy abs, and his fingers couldn’t help but move.

Shu You cleared his throat. “Ahem.”

He naturally retracted his hand and pouted in grievance. “Since you didn’t show me your injury, I had to take a look myself.”

“I’ll wait until you fall asleep to show you. You can’t see it now.”

Even though he had apologized to the wrong person, that guy still came for him.

Lin Mingxu not only stood in front of him to protect him but also took a kick for him — although the other guy had a worse fate.

He stared at Lin Mingxu with pleading eyes. “Just let me take a look.”

He couldn’t feel at ease without seeing it for himself.

Lin Mingxu suddenly became cold. “What difference would it make if you saw it?”

“I just want to see…”

Shu You’s hair stood on end, and he spoke sincerely. “As your boyfriend, it’s important for me to care about your health.”

But Lin Mingxu’s eyes grew even deeper. “Boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

Shu You said matter-of-factly. “Aren’t I your boyfriend?”

“If…”

Lin Mingxu’s tone was subtle. “If I’m not your boyfriend, would you still care about me like this?”

This was a strange question coming from a man.

Shu You immediately became alert, and his hair stood on end like radar.

Why did Lin Mingxu suddenly ask this?

What had happened?

“If you’re not my boyfriend…”

Shu You thought carefully and repeated the question before suddenly smiling brightly. “Then I would still care about you.”

“Why?”

Shu You blushed and lowered his head. “Because I’m a good person.”

Lin Mingxu: “…”

He had never seen someone give themselves a “good person” card before.

Lin Mingxu has so many ideas, but every time he’s caught off guard by Shu You and ends up failing miserably.

He took a deep breath but decided he must ask clearly today. The man calmed himself down and spoke coldly again, “So, if it were someone else, would you treat them the same way?”

“Of course not!” Shu You immediately denied, “Others are not you. The protagonist only has one.”

Lin Mingxu looked at him deeply and asked, “Why?”

“Because…” Shu You hesitated for a moment before suddenly coming up with an idea, “Because you’re not my boyfriend, love you~”

The conversation took a turn, and the word “love” made it uncomfortable.

Lin Mingxu’s eyes flickered, and he suddenly asked back, “Just because I’m your boyfriend, can you touch me whenever you want?”

Shu You: ???

Why does that sound wrong?

He stared at Lin Mingxu in shock, while the latter calmly said, “You can…look now.”

Shu You suspected that Lin Mingxu had not intended to use that word.

But the goal was achieved, and Shu You quickly untied Lin Mingxu’s pajamas and carefully examined his side waist.

Just like when he touched it before, the man’s waist was tight and well-defined, and from this angle, his eight-pack abs were neat and visually appealing – but don’t misunderstand, it’s purely an aesthetic appreciation.

Shu You didn’t have abs himself, so he had always been envious of those with good figures.

He restrained his itchy hands and looked at Lin Mingxu’s side waist, exclaiming, “Wow, it looks so bad!”

There was a large area of purple bruising, which was particularly noticeable.

Actually, it wasn’t that serious, considering the other person who had been beaten was already beaten up and now had a swollen nose and a rare silver bracelet.

“…It’s okay,” Lin Mingxu said nonchalantly, “It doesn’t hurt.”

But Shu You felt pain just looking at it.

He quickly took out some Yunnan Baiyao and sprayed it on twice. Because the medicine was cold, Lin Mingxu instinctively shrank, making him seem even more…

A drop of excess medicine flowed down his waist and disappeared into his clothes.

Shu You felt embarrassed and swallowed nervously.

Lin Mingxu’s expression changed slightly.

After he finished spraying, he didn’t immediately restore his pajamas. Instead, he leisurely asked, “Is it good-looking?”

Shu You’s eyes were still lingering, and he nodded subconsciously, “It’s good-looking.”

“Do you…want to touch it?”

“I do,” Shu You nodded again, eagerly asking, “Can I touch it?”

Isn’t excessive exercise attractive to the same sex? Shu You now believed this statement!

Lin Mingxu suddenly realized what he was doing and stopped himself.

…Damn, what was he doing?

The man suddenly stood up and walked into the bathroom with a cold face.

Shu You looked confused.

Recently, Lin Mingxu has been getting stranger and harder to deal with. But at least he didn’t pull another disappearing act like last time. Soon after he came out of the bathroom with slightly damp hair, he lay down on the bed.

Shu You leaned closer and said, “Goodnight, boyfriend!”

After saying that, he quickly closed his eyes and prepared to fall asleep. However, Lin Mingxu paused because he suddenly remembered something. He looked at Shu You, who was trying to fall asleep, with a gloomy expression and didn’t speak for a while.

The light was still on, and Shu You couldn’t help but open his eyes. “Lin Mingxu?”

He was a bit surprised. “You can’t sleep again?”

Lin Mingxu didn’t say anything. He simply switched off the light with a snap.

A few days later, Shu You’s part-time job was going well and on track. Wu Youzhe began to think about getting him some other opportunities.

On Monday morning, Lin Mingxu suddenly asked him, “Do you have anything to do today?”

“No.”

When Shu You had nothing to do, he would lie on the couch and watch performances by his peers.

He called it studying, like a modern-day college student who buys a high-end computer but insists that it is only for online classes.

“Then come with me,” Lin Mingxu said. “I’m going to look at some office space.”

“Office space?” Shu You recalled the original book, but he didn’t remember this part. The original book was several hundred thousand words long, and he couldn’t remember everything clearly.

Seeing that Shu You didn’t understand, Lin Mingxu said calmly, “I started a company, and now I need to rent an office space.”

Oh, that’s what it was. Shu You thought that Lin Mingxu was starting a business, which was great. He had to show his support!

He immediately bounced to change his clothes, “Do I need to dress a bit more formally?”

“…No need.”

In fact, he had already identified several places, and today he was going to make the final confirmation.

However, despite his words, Shu You still conscientiously changed into a white shirt and a relatively formal suit. Although it was still a casual style, he at least didn’t look like a student anymore.

The young man stood tall and slender, like a male university student who had just emerged from his studies, full of youthful vigor and new to the workplace.

It was just that his hair on top of his head couldn’t be tamed, constantly bobbing up and down, as if trying to provoke uncles, aunties, older brothers, and sisters.

Ling Mingxu’s eyes darkened. “Come here.”

Shu You was confused and moved closer to him.

A little closer.

And a little more.

Ling Mingxu’s mouth twitched, watching him take small steps towards him, resisting the urge to grab him and pull him in.

When Shu You finally arrived in front of him, Ling Mingxu raised his hand and smoothed down the hair on his head.

Shu You looked in the hallway mirror and saw that his hair was much neater.

He couldn’t help but praise, “You’re really amazing.”

Ling Mingxu withdrew his fingers and lowered them, nonchalantly saying, “You’re welcome.”

Unexpectedly, Shu You continued, “Next time, I won’t hire Tony as my teacher.”

Ling Mingxu: “…”

The two of them got into a car and as they were driving, Shu You remembered something and asked, “Do you still need to buy a car?”

It would be very inconvenient without one.

Ling Mingxu replied with a sound of agreement, “Not for now. I’ll borrow Peng Shang’en’s car for the time being.”

At this stage of their start-up, they still needed to be frugal.

…As for whether this was influenced by Shu You, Ling Mingxu had no comment.

Shu You also knew that starting a business was quite difficult and fully agreed.

The two arrived in the city’s commercial district, and one tall office building after another towered above them.

Shu You followed Ling Mingxu up to a high floor and suddenly remembered the ending of the original book.

As night fell, the man stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of the city skyscraper, quietly watching the hustle and bustle of cars and the noise of the city outside.

He once had everything, and then lost it all. In the end, he stood here, becoming the last winner.

But at the same time, he had nothing left to destroy.

What was gone was gone, what was betrayed had been avenged. There would be no more foolish people daring to deceive him or provoke him…

With a shiver, Shu You suddenly said to Lin Mingxu, “I’m afraid of heights. Maybe I shouldn’t go up?”

Lin Mingxu, who was thinking about the office space, was confused. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “When did you start being afraid of heights?”

Shu You’s eyes evaded his gaze as he replied, “Three seconds ago.”

Lin Mingxu forcibly dragged him to the top floor.

There aren’t many companies that can rent the top floor.

Generally, companies with such strength would either buy the building or build their own.

Renting is only a temporary option, but Lin Mingxu had his own plans. For his current plan, he needed this location.

The building management also valued this client and sent a manager to show them around. The two visitors were young and looked inexperienced, which led to some underestimation from the manager.

Lin Mingxu was fine, but Shu You was a complete newbie.

The manager gave them a brief overview of the office situation and tried to persuade Shu You, “Young man, your company will definitely grow and become stronger. Renting here is the perfect step, and you won’t have to move frequently. It’s very suitable.”

Shu You nodded and remarked, “Not bad, the place is quite spacious.”

“The spaciousness is perfect, and our prices are fair. Transportation is also convenient, management fees aren’t high, and cleaning services are included…”

Suddenly, Shu You raised a finger and shook it, “Wait, the transportation isn’t that convenient.”

The manager was taken aback and said, “We’re right next to the subway station. How is it not convenient?”

“Although it’s next to the subway station, there are only two subway lines.”

Shu You continued with reason, “If our employees are in the East District, they will have to transfer twice to get here. If they’re in the North District, they will have to take a bus after transferring. If they’re in the South District…”

The middle-aged manager was confused by his words, “What about the South District?”

“It’s even worse,” Shu You shook his head, “They have to transfer three times!”

The manager was speechless. He had to change his attitude, “Why didn’t you mention the North District?”

Shu You gave him a sly glance, “Isn’t this building in the North District?”

The manager realized his mistake, “Right, my bad.”

He had no choice but to change his approach, “Well, at least having a subway station nearby is better than not having one, right?”

“And if you rent now and sign a contract for three years or more, property fees can be discounted by 20%.”

“I just asked,” Shu You said seriously, “You told the people from the next company to sign a one-year contract and gave them a 20% discount.”

The manager was speechless and turned to Lin Mingxu, squeezing out an awkward smile, “Um, Mr. Lin, what do you think?”

Lin Mingxu’s eyes flashed with a smile.

After a brief discussion, they decided to rent this place.

Compared to the previous underestimation, the middle-aged manager’s attitude had made a 180-degree turn, giving them all the discounts he could offer.

As they walked out of the building, Shu You suddenly burst out laughing. “I actually tricked him,” he said.

Feeling a sense of pride, his hair stood up again. “I didn’t ask anyone from the neighboring company. I don’t know anyone here.”

All is fair in love and war!

That strand of hair seemed to be bouncing in his heart.

Lin Mingxu murmured in agreement, his mind wandering.

Then he heard Shu You say, “Boyfriend, you have to work hard!”

If he could succeed in his business early, then he could retire in glory!

Hearing this, Lin Mingxu suddenly had a thought and asked, “What if I fail in my business?”

“How could you fail?” Shu You exclaimed in surprise, “I don’t think it’s possible.”

Lin Mingxu asked again, “But what if it does happen?”

“There won’t be any ‘what ifs’,” Shu You said with full confidence, “I have blind faith in you. You will definitely succeed.”

As he spoke, he even made a heart gesture and threw a coquettish glance that still failed to win Lin Mingxu over.

Lin Mingxu: …

Shu You didn’t expect this reaction and thought for a moment before saying, “But it’s okay even if you fail.”

“Oh?” Lin Mingxu raised an eyebrow. “Why do you say that?”

Shu You coughed, “Even if you fail, you can still…”

“Become material for my talk show, which is still meaningful.”

Lin Mingxu: …