He is Too Stingy, This Sand Sculpture Cannon Fodder

Shu You was dumbfounded.

“Who am I? Where am I? What did I hear?”

After a groan, silence filled the room. It lasted for a brief yet seemingly long few seconds, or perhaps tens of seconds, or maybe even a whole minute. Then came the rushing sound of water, pouring down and crashing against the walls and floor, bringing him back to his senses.

In that instant, a thought popped into his mind.

So, Lin Mingxu does that too.

It’s not that Shu You thought Lin Mingxu couldn’t do it, but once he imagined Lin Mingxu’s face, he felt a little awkward.

He couldn’t quite explain the specific awkwardness.

As the sound of the water began to slow down, Shu You was suddenly startled. Swiftly and agilely, he took three quick steps backward and closed the door.

His heart pounded, and he stood bewildered in the hallway.

The water inside stopped, and then came the rustling sound of a man drying himself and getting dressed.

This was a sound he had heard many times at home, but now it took on a different hue.

No, no, no, it’s just a normal need.

For a completely healthy adult man like Lin Mingxu, this is normal.

He figured it out.

And then Shu You stepped forward and ran away.

Sorry, even though he had figured it out, he still needed a little time for Lin Mingxu’s face to move out of the position of the person involved.

Luckily, Shu You’s excuse for coming out happened to be going to the bathroom. As he walked, he turned into the courtyard restroom.

On the way, Shu You couldn’t help but think randomly.

Is there anything different when it comes to Lin Mingxu’s situation?

Suddenly, a voice from inside softly spoke, “Friend, can you…”

Shu You was absent-minded and continued pondering.

He only did what most men would do; there’s nothing to make a fuss about.

The male voice paused for a moment and spoke again, “Brother, actually, I…”

Shu You completely ignored it, still immersed in his thoughts.

Besides, it was Lin Mingxu, who excelled in this aspect more than others.

The person in the neighboring room couldn’t bear it any longer and shouted, “Brother outside, I’m in urgent need. Can you please give me some tissue first?”

Shu You: Oh, why is there suddenly a voice?

He looked around in confusion and absentmindedly knocked on the right side, quickly responding, “Hey, hey, I’m here.”

“Buddy, I just need a little bit of tissue, just a little.”

Turns out someone had forgotten to bring tissue.

Shu You suddenly realized and found a roll of toilet paper from the adjacent room. He tore off a few sheets and was about to hand them over when he hesitated, “Um, that…”

He hesitantly said, “Can I ask you something?”

Definitely need to ask a guy; can’t ask those who also know Lin Mingxu. After searching around, finding a stranger seemed like a choice.

The other person replied, “What’s the question?”

Shu You blinked, feeling shy as he said, “A question between men.”

The other person understood. This was a little brother lost on the path of life.

Feeling a great responsibility, the older brother spoke with seriousness, “Right, us men have some little secrets. Go ahead, what question do you want to ask?”

“Not a question about men.”

Shu You emphasized, “It’s a question between men.”

The confused older brother wondered, “Is there a big difference?”

Shu You carefully considered his words.

“Well, you see, I accidentally saw my friend doing that, and now I have mixed feelings.”

The other person’s mind was a bit confused, not understanding what “that” referred to.

Shu You continued, “I know that’s normal, but I’m still surprised by what he was doing.”

The older brother’s legs felt a bit numb, and he still didn’t understand.

However, since he was almost paralyzed, he made an effort to speculate. He felt that “that” should be something embarrassing to be seen.

He pondered using his own experience and knowledge and said seriously, “That doesn’t seem right.”

“If it was that, why are you the only one feeling complicated?”

Shu You hesitated for a moment, “Um, because he doesn’t know that I saw.”

The older brother felt that something was off with this answer but couldn’t pinpoint it.

He tentatively said, “Well, um, it’s natural to feel a bit awkward in such situations, but it’s just that you accidentally stumbled upon it, right?”

“I think you shouldn’t make a big deal out of it, just pretend you didn’t see anything and carry on as usual.”

“Besides, he was just doing it on his own, not directed at you, right?”

Shu You’s mind imagined Lin Mingxu’s face in front of him doing that.

The atmosphere of the scene suddenly changed.

The next second, Shu You’s face turned red, and he quickly threw the few sheets of tissue in and ran away.

The other person called out, “Hey, where are you?”

After rushing out of the restroom, Shu You slowed down his pace.

After the conversation with the understanding older brother next door, he had a rough understanding of why he felt embarrassed.

From liking paper characters to living beings and now facing a flesh-and-blood presence, he used to think of Lin Mingxu as the protagonist who would corrupt others and turn them into compost. He had never imagined such a situation, so he was quite shocked.

“Yes, that’s right.”

So he should pretend that this thing never happened and interact with Lin Mingxu normally.

Breathing heavily, he returned to the massage area and found everyone there except for Lin Mingxu.

Each person had their own massage bed, enjoying the oil massage with cracking bones.

With Lin Mingxu absent, Shu You felt much more at ease. He walked back to his original spot and lay down again as if nothing had happened. At that moment, Chu Qing turned her head and glanced at him, her eyes still a bit red. “What were you doing just now?”

She stared at Shu You suspiciously, her gaze fixed on his slightly reddened ears. “You wouldn’t be…”

“No,” Shu You denied firmly, with a righteous tone. “I just went out for a stroll.”

Chu Qing looked at Shu You sympathetically. “It’s okay. My family’s hospital provides employee benefits with medical check-up cards. I’ll give you one later.”

Shu You remained silent.

Feeling guilty, he discreetly threw the roll of tissue behind the curtain and wondered if it would be enough for the neighboring big brother.

After a while of groaning and moaning on the beds, Lin Mingxu finally arrived.

As soon as the man entered, Shu You instinctively avoided his gaze and pretended to change his posture.

With long strides, Lin Mingxu walked over, and before he could say anything, Peng Shang’en stood up. “Hey, let me change seats. It’s too hot over here facing the air conditioner.”

So Lin Mingxu lay down on the bed next to Shu You.

The masseur started working on them, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Sir, please relax.”

Unable to resist, Shuyou turned his head to look.

Fortunately, Lin Mingxu didn’t notice him and simply closed his eyes.

The masseur worked hard, with sweat forming on his forehead. Shu You couldn’t help but think that massaging someone with tense muscles must be tiring.

Since Lin Mingxu had a good physique with well-defined muscles, the masseur was putting in extra effort.

At this moment, whether it was because the man finally relaxed or the masseur found a technique, just as Shu You was lost in his own thoughts, the man let out a low moan again.

It hit the spot.

Shu You…

This was even more impactful than what he had accidentally heard earlier.

Although the two moans were different, for that moment, Shu You could only picture one scene in his mind.

The one he had imagined based on the big brother’s words.

Unable to control himself, he swallowed nervously, feeling a bit flushed.

Suddenly, Chu Qing said, “Shu You, are you feeling hot too? Why is your face so red?”

Shu You quickly turned his head to look at her, his eyes fixed on her. “Yeah, haha.”

Oh no, his laughter sounded so fake.

Luckily, the lighting in the massage area was dim, and the brightness was low.

Chu Qing didn’t dwell on it and instead followed his words, saying, “Yeah, it’s pretty hot. What’s the name of that variety show you’re on? I’ll watch it tonight.”

“It’s called…”

Only then did Shu You remember that the variety show had already aired. He casually mentioned the name while picking up his phone, pretending to be in a hurry to go online.

Then he opened his social media platform, A.

Swipe.

The phone lagged for a moment.

Shu You…

This wasn’t the latest model of this year. How could it be like this?

Unable to resist, he tapped the screen.

Although the sound was soft, Shu You himself almost ignored it, but Lin Mingxu suddenly spoke up. “What’s wrong?”

“I…”

Shu You saw that his thoughts were scattered and coughed dryly. “My phone froze. It seems to have crashed.”

Lin Mingxu said, “Let me take a look.”

Shu You handed the phone over, and the two parallel massage beds had their hands meet in the air.

Lin Mingxu’s slender fingers touched the back of Shu You’s hand, providing a warm and firm sensation.

Shu You instinctively recoiled, almost dropping the phone.

Lin Mingxu raised an eyebrow, and Shu You awkwardly said, “Um, maybe I should just restart it. When in doubt, always rely on a restart. It should work.”

He quickly withdrew his hand and pretended to be engrossed in playing with his phone, as if the world only revolved around him.

Suddenly, Lin Mingxu sat up and calmly said, “It’s fine now.”

“Okay, great.”

The masseur wiped the sweat off his forehead and couldn’t help but praise, “Sir, you have a really healthy body. Other than some tension in your neck and shoulders, there’s nothing else. Probably from working in an office, right?”

Lin Mingxu nodded, his gaze seemingly naturally falling on Shu You, but it lingered for a while before moving away.

Shu You’s phone finally restarted successfully.

He felt a sense of relief and quickly opened a certain social media platform, A. Perhaps due to the previous partial loading, it was much smoother this time.

Shu You glanced at it briefly and immediately exclaimed in joy, “My fan count has doubled!”

Shu You immediately turned to look at Lin Mingxu, his eyes sparkling. “Lin Mingxu, I have a million fans now!”

He happily held up his phone screen and eagerly shared his joy with Lin Mingxu.

The screen was filled with comments.

[Randomly popping in, I’m here, the new wife.]

[I want him, I want him, so cute, so cute. From today onwards, I’m a fan of Shu You!]

[Xiangtuotuo, for real. The scene with Duan Siqi eating snacks on the roadside was so funny and adorable. I heard you’re a comedian, right?]

[I got the meaning, no doubt. I was also attracted by that particular scene. I’m already searching for Shu You’s offline performances. Seems like they’re all live shows, no recorded videos?]

They even created emojis.

It was a close-up shot of Shu You tilting his head alongside a little yellow dog on the roadside. The screenshot was enlarged with cute fonts, showcasing the tilted heads of both the person and the dog.

Lin Mingxu glanced at it a few times and suddenly spoke in a subtle tone, “Why do they call you their wife?”

“Cough.”

Shu You’s face reddened slightly. “That’s the love of the fans, it means they like me.”

“Then why ‘wife’? Is it a popular term nowadays?”

“Well,” Shu You pondered for a moment and came up with a response. “It’s just more convenient for me to address them that way.”

“I’ll make them change it to ‘handsome guy’ then. So that all my fans are beautiful women.”

No, that wasn’t what Lin Mingxu meant.

The massage session ended, and they thanked the masseur before heading back to their respective rooms.

They were assigned a double room with a tatami bed. Shu You rolled on it to test, finding it reasonably comfortable and not too hard.

After making the bed, they were the only two people in the room.

Shu You was still excited about having a million fans and immersed himself in the online world. On the other hand, Lin Mingxu was also looking at his phone, but he was reading work emails.

Time passed by, and as the wall clock reached 11 o’clock, Shu You stood up as if nothing had happened and said, “I’ll go freshen up.”

Lin Mingxu raised an eyebrow. “There’s no bathroom in the room.”

Shyly lowering his gaze, Shu You said, “Actually, I wanted to grab some late-night snacks.”

Lin Mingxu: [Silent]

He opened the door and walked out into the corridor, suddenly hearing someone talking on the phone not far away.

To be precise, it was a man sobbing alone.

“Please, darling, I didn’t bring my phone to the restroom, and there was no toilet paper. That’s why I didn’t reply to you in time. As soon as I came back, I messaged you quickly.”

Shu You found himself in a difficult situation. He couldn’t walk in that direction.

He glanced to the right and noticed that Chu Qing’s door was slightly ajar, as if she was also about to come out.

That wouldn’t be good either. Chu Qing mentioned she was on a diet recently. What if she asks and he has to lie?

He stood hesitantly at the doorway, unsure which way to go when suddenly, with a swoosh, the sliding door behind him opened, and Lin Mingxu stood there. His eyes sank, his expression unclear as he said, “Aren’t you going to get some late-night snacks?”

“Ah, right, right, right.”

Shu You lifted his foot to leave but unexpectedly, Lin Mingxu said, “Wait.”

The young man froze in place, his right foot suspended in mid-air. He turned his head to look at Lin Mingxu, slightly surprised, and saw a reflection in his eyes.

Lin Mingxu approached, locking eyes with him.

Shuyou, puzzled, asked, “Lin Mingxu, what are you–“

Lin Mingxu stood in front of him, just inches away, calmly questioning, “What about me?”

Shu You, confused, said, “You said ‘wait.'”

He instinctively blinked his eyes but saw the man raise his hand and reach towards his chest.

“Hey.”

Shu You instinctively stepped back, stumbling in his posture, but quickly regained his balance, his eyes drifting around. “Hehe, life is full of ups and downs.”

With that motion, the man’s hand froze in mid-air.

However, Lin Mingxu didn’t show any expression. Calmly, he continued forward, tidying up Shu You’s disheveled collar and softly said, “Go on, come back early and get some sleep.”

Shu You replied, “Oh.”

So, he just wanted to fix his clothes.

Well, it wasn’t a big deal.

Shu You lowered his head and quickly entered the nearby restroom, splashing his face with cold water, determined to compose himself.

After calming down, he suddenly felt that the world was vast, and his life was full of possibilities. Tomorrow would be even better.

Feeling clear-headed, Shuyou returned with long strides, forcefully opening the sliding door with a swoosh.

When he raised his head, he unexpectedly saw Lin Mingxu standing in the inner room.

He was changing into his pajamas.

Smooth muscles, graceful lines, just as the massage therapist had praised.

The man looked up calmly, his gaze deep and filled with various emotions.

Then, he casually spoke, “You’re back.”

“Yeah.”

Shu You closed the door behind him, sensing that something was off about Lin Mingxu.

He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he had a feeling.

After putting on his pajamas, Lin Mingxu walked up to him, his tall figure looming over Shu You, as if he wanted to envelop him in his embrace.

And then…

His expression grew even more tranquil, his eyes gazing deeply at the young man as he casually asked a question.

“Today, were you outside the door?”

Shu You froze for a moment before answering, “Yes.”