He is Too Stingy, This Sand Sculpture Cannon Fodder

Posted on September 18, 2023 by ry

Shu You quickly turned off his phone after sending this message.

He stared blankly out the window, and suddenly someone poked his shoulder. “Hey, young man, can you help me see what kind of ticket this is?”

Without lifting his head, Shu You muttered, “It’s a return ticket.”

The other person “…”

Shu You suddenly snapped back to reality and instinctively covered his mouth. How could he have such a thought?

Even if he bought a return ticket now, he would definitely have his legs broken by the furious Lin Mingxu.

Thinking about how angry Lin Mingxu was in the office that day, not only did they break up, he even ran away, Shu You wished he could kill him.

He trembled and quickly turned his head to look at the ticket in the other person’s hand. It was a coincidence—it was the seat next to him.

The man sat down, wiping sweat and smiling. “Young man, are you also going to Songcheng?”

Shu You waited and wondered where Songcheng was.

He had never heard of this place; he bought the ticket randomly.

Shu You quickly checked and found that it was a small first-tier city, about one to two hundred kilometers away from the city he previously lived in, Baijing City. Not far, but not close either.

That’s good.

He took a deep breath, thinking that it was just a short stay. He had money with him and could stay in a hotel. He could stay for a few more days and consider it as a way to relax.

As for the rest…

Shu You chatted casually with the man for a while and learned that he was going to Songcheng to visit his son, who was starting university.

“My son is about the same age as you, and he’s studying for a master’s degree. He loves watching stand-up comedy, just like you.”

“Hey young man, could you give me an autograph? It would be a small gift for my son. Hehe.”

Shu You gladly agreed.

Not only did he sign his name, but they also took a photo together, and he wrote a paragraph with great enthusiasm.

The two parted happily at the train station. Before leaving, the man wanted to treat him to a meal, but Shu You firmly declined.

Shu You walked out of the train station with his suitcase, hailed a taxi, and headed to a hotel near the local stand-up comedy theater in Songcheng. He checked in and settled down.

It was already past 10 PM that night when he finally dared to open his phone and take a quick glance.

Just one glance.

The phone froze.

The notification bar was filled with missed call notifications and messages from Lin Mingxu.

Shu You had set his phone not to display message content, so he only felt a sudden jump in his heart and quickly swiped to find a message from Wu Youzhe.

When he left, he had told Wu Youzhe in advance that he would be going out to play for a few days and not to worry.

So Wu Youzhe wasn’t too surprised, but he was still shocked.

Wu Youzhe: Shu You, what the hell did you do? Your boyfriend called me.

Shu You’s heart skipped a beat again, and he quickly replied, asking what he said.

Wu Youzhe replied almost instantly: “Where did you run off to? You didn’t explain anything to me. Turns out you ran away from home. Your boyfriend is going crazy. I dare not even look at him. I’ve been alive for forty years, but I’ve never seen such a terrifying person.”

The following lines describing how frightening Lin Mingxu was are omitted.

Finally, Wu Youzhe got to the point: “Shu You, come back quickly. Whatever it is, we can talk it out. Look at me and my wife, we talked it out just fine that day. Last time she saw me, she told me to get lost, but this time we had a good meal together.”

In any case, Shu You, come back.

Shu You pursed his lips.

He knew that Lin Mingxu would definitely be angry, furious even, but when he heard it confirmed, his heart still stirred up waves.

Lin Mingxu cared about him, right?

He said he liked him.

At this moment, Shu You felt like he had eaten a strange flavored bean, sour and sweet, bitter and spicy all at once.

But the next second, he remembered how he had fooled Lin Mingxu and then ran away.

He immediately buried himself in the blanket, afraid to show his face.

Forget it, being an ostrich is quite enjoyable.

Anyway, he couldn’t see how bad it was outside. Should he go find the original author of the book and ask why the protagonist and the love interest had to be together?

Then, as he was lost in thought, probably due to exhaustion from the past few days, Shu You dozed off.

At this moment, Lin Mingxu was truly going crazy.

He wished he could find Shu You right now.

Immediately, right away, this very second.

That day, Shu You dropped a bombshell and quickly ran off before Lin Mingxu could figure out how to handle it. Lin Mingxu had to change his strategy. He knew he couldn’t act impulsively these days and had to give Shu You some space.

But he never expected that after enduring for three days, he couldn’t hold back anymore. He found out from Wu Youzhe the filming location of Shu You and hurriedly rushed over, only to find that Shu You had already finished filming and left.

Finished.

Left.

Very well, he dared to do this.

At first, when he heard the other party mention breaking up in the office, he was furious beyond words. But he restrained himself and actually believed Shu You again, willing to give him seven days. And what did he get in return?

Nothing but lies upon lies.

Lin Mingxu didn’t care if Shu You had ulterior motives for showing affection toward him, but he couldn’t accept his departure. If he wanted to deceive him, then he should be prepared to deceive him for a lifetime. Stopping halfway, leaving midway, changing his mind—those were all behaviors he couldn’t tolerate.

The darkness in his heart surged forth. Since his rebirth until now, the beast that had been gradually worn down by the young man seemed to break free from its chains at this moment.

With a gloomy face, the man made a few phone calls.

Half an hour later, Tang Le rushed over in a hurry. Before he even got close, he trembled at the sight of Lin Mingxu’s sinister gaze.

“CEO Lin…”

He hadn’t known Lin Mingxu for long, but it was the first time he had seen him so repressed and angry.

It was as if something was already out of control, but he was desperately holding onto the last thread, waiting for a moment when his sanity would completely collapse.

No one could say what would happen then.

“Inform Zhu Feiche to start closing the net,” Lin Mingxu’s words were as cold as ice. “Tell him that he’s in charge of everything from now on.”

“Don’t contact me for the next few days. I have something to take care of.”

Something.

Tang Le pondered for a moment but couldn’t recall any other important matters concerning Lin Mingxu.

Although he didn’t know about the plan between CEO Lin and that Zhu executive, he could sense that the plan was significant. In such a moment, could there be anything more important than this?

His thoughts circled around, and he replied with a nod.

Lin Mingxu added, “Delay all my appointments for the next few days.”

He was going to find someone.

Tang Le was surprised. It was the first time he had seen Lin Mingxu postpone work.

Without giving any further instructions, Tang Le left. After he was gone, Lin Mingxu sat behind his desk, rubbing his throbbing temple, feeling somewhat fortunate that he was reborn.

Because of it, he knew some hidden places, the people in the dark corners, and the ways to find Shu You.

He used to think that being reborn was meaningless to him, but now he realized that fate had given him something perfectly timed.

That young man who had infuriated him to no end, the one he wanted to disgust and drive away, had unknowingly had such a profound impact on him.

Shu You.

Shu You.

Shu You.

Lin Mingxu silently repeated that name, his eyes filled with dark depths, like an unbreakable black mist that had accumulated to its peak.

He would find him.

With a crack, he broke the pen in his hand.

On the first morning, Shu You slept until he woke up naturally.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked around the unfamiliar room setup, only then remembering that he was away from home—or rather, wandering around.

He was so hungry.

Shu You ordered a table full of breakfast, which the hotel quickly delivered. But as he looked at the abundant food in front of him, he suddenly lost his appetite.

He took a bite of bread absentmindedly and weakly lay back on the bed.

What a miscalculation.

He had thought of staying in a hotel near the talk show theater, where he could also watch performances to pass the time. But now that he actually tried to implement the plan, Shu You realized that he didn’t want to go out at all.

He just wanted to lie down.

Lying down was quite nice.

It was good for the back and could relax the mind and body. Since he had nothing to do, he decided to surf the internet for a while.

After a night’s rest, Shu You turned on his phone again.

The unread messages were still there, stubbornly reminding him of their presence. Unable to resist, Shu You opened and read them.

“Shu You, answer your phone.”

Shu You answered the phone.

“Shu You, where are you? Come back, let’s talk. I’m at your filming location.”

“Shu You.”

“Lin Mingxu went to his filming location.”

Shu You’s heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, he had managed to create a time difference by running away quickly.

Although there was no one else in the room, Shu You couldn’t help but shiver.

He crawled back into the covers and called Wu Youzhe, “Brother Wu.”

“Shu You.”

Wu Youzhe’s voice suddenly increased by eight degrees. “Where did you go?”

Shu You was taken aback by the loud voice and quickly moved the phone away, awkwardly replying, “Nowhere, just nearby.”

“Where exactly nearby?”

“Just nearby, around the area, not far.”

Shu You cleared his throat and said, “I’m not telling you for your own good.”

Wu Youzhe agreed.

Seeing Lin Mingxu’s appearance yesterday, Wu Youzhe was genuinely afraid that he would be implicated and end up in a terrible situation.

Wu Youzhe believed he had experienced storms and waves, but in front of Lin Mingxu, he still felt his heart pounding.

Because of this speculation, his voice instantly lowered by several decibels, and he cautiously asked, “So, what are your plans now? What are you going to do?”

“Nothing.”

Shu You explained, “I just want to relax and take a break for now. Once Lin Mingxu calms down, I’ll figure out what to do.”

“But-“

Wu Youzhe thought to himself that it wouldn’t be easy for Lin Mingxu to calm down based on his current state.

Worry filled him as he said, “Can you handle being alone outside? Have you eaten? Where are you staying? Oh, right, the production team asked me to tell you not to go too far and not to take on any other work for now. It seems like they haven’t finished everything.”

Not finished.

Shu You felt that he had performed quite well, and he had done well in the first round. How could they not have finished?

But since the client’s father had spoken, Shu You replied confidently, “Don’t worry, I can at least hide in the hotel for half a month.”

After half a month, Lin Mingxu’s anger should have subsided, right?

He wasn’t entirely sure.

After hanging up the phone, Shu You ate a few bites of food, put on his clothes, wore a hat and a mask, and planned to go out for a stroll.

The surrounding area was a bustling commercial district. However, as Shu You walked around, he felt a sense of boredom.

It was dull.

Biting his lip, his steps unconsciously led him back. Just as he reached the same street as before, he suddenly felt a familiar figure on the side of the street.

It looked a lot like him.

Shu You trembled for a moment and quickly shook his head. It couldn’t be him. It must be his own mistake.

He had mistaken someone before at the hot springs, right?

And Lin Mingxu had no idea that he was in Song City. How could he appear in front of him?

At that moment, the other person turned around, and indeed, it was a stranger. Shu You breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly heard a couple arguing nearby.

The owner of a roadside clothing store peered out from the window, holding a handful of melon seeds.

Shu You hesitated for a second, leaned towards them, and their eyes met, reaching an instant understanding.

The store owner willingly moved aside and extended their hand.

Shu You grabbed a handful of melon seeds and started cracking them open.

“You don’t answer calls or reply to messages. Do you think I can’t do anything to you?”

Shu You crackled the melon seeds.

“We were doing well, but you said let’s break up. What did I do wrong?”

Shu You crackled the melon seeds.

“What does sending a message mean? You don’t even have the guts to break up with me face-to-face, you coward.”

Shu You suddenly couldn’t continue cracking the melon seeds.

He turned to the store owner weakly and asked, “Is it scummy to break up over a message?”

“It depends on the specific situation.”

The store owner spat out the melon seed shell, thought for a moment, and said, “It’s not scummy, but it shows cowardice.”

Shu You’s knees felt weak.

He couldn’t continue shopping, so he sullenly walked back.

When he reached the vicinity of the hotel, Shu You felt a daze as if he saw Lin Mingxu again.

It’s fake, just an illusion.

Either that or someone wearing a similar coat, a trendy and popular style that many people wore.

Shu You snapped back to reality but still stood in place for a while before returning to the hotel. He entered the elevator, swiped the card, and entered his room.

As soon as the door closed, Shu You let out an inexplicable sigh of relief.

Then…

“Knock, knock, knock.”

The door made a sound.

Shu You stopped his steps and turned to open the door. As soon as the door cracked open, a familiar figure in a suit and leather shoes forcefully pushed the door open and locked his sharp gaze on him.

Under that hawk-like gaze, Shu You’s face turned pale, and his hair stood on end.

Yes, yes, it was Lin Mingxu.

How did he find him here?