Chapter 10

Cheng Yu's expression did not change. He continued staring coldly at Pei Yan, as though trying to drive him away with his eyes. Pei Yan touched his nose, pretending not to understand Cheng Yu's look, then turned to Cheng Shao. "What did you order? Is it enough? If not, we can order more."

Cheng Shao smiled and gave Pei Yan an out. "...We've ordered about enough. How did you find us?"

Pei Yan said, "I called Auntie just now. She said Ah Yu had run away from home. I guessed you'd come here for barbecue."

Whenever Cheng Yu used to fight with Chen Lingyun, he liked to come to these street stalls to drink and eat. Pei Yan had come along a few times too. Even though Cheng Yu never welcomed him, and eight times out of ten, he and Cheng Shao had to find another table so they could keep an eye on Cheng Yu and make sure he did not drink too much.

Thinking of this, Pei Yan looked at Cheng Shao with unusual sentiment and silently mouthed, "How come you're allowed at the table today?"

Cheng Shao raised his brows at Pei Yan, looking particularly pleased with himself. Worried that acting too smug would provoke Cheng Yu into anger, he gave a restrained cough and set the edamame he had just shelled in front of Cheng Yu. "Aren't you taking medicine lately? Don't drink, okay?"

As he spoke, he pushed the cola closer to Cheng Yu and casually shifted Cheng Yu's iced beer off to one side.

Cheng Yu glanced at Cheng Shao but said nothing, allowing him to move the beer to the opposite diagonal corner. He picked up his chopsticks and ate the edamame one bean at a time.

Not to be outdone, Pei Yan pushed the crayfish meat he had shelled in front of Cheng Yu. "Eat this while it's hot."

Cheng Yu acted as though he had not seen it. Pei Yan pushed the small plate closer. "It won't taste good once it gets cold."

Cheng Yu turned a deaf ear. Pei Yan sighed. "Don't be so distant. You saved my life, after all. I'm grateful to you for saving me, so what's wrong with shelling a few crayfish for you? Our families have been friends for generations, your brother and I are classmates, and we've known each other for four or five years. Do you really have to keep me at arm's length?"

Cheng Shao watched the show with a smile. After eating two lamb skewers, Cheng Yu found it a little hard to withstand Pei Yan's pleading gaze—he had always responded better to softness than force. Besides, in his previous life, Pei Yan had indirectly died because of him. Cheng Yu felt guilty toward Pei Yan. Though that guilt might amount to nothing when major interests were at stake, over such harmless little things...

Cheng Yu lowered his eyes and glanced at the neatly arranged crayfish meat on the small plate. After a moment of deliberation, he ate every piece, one by one. When he finished, he even gave Pei Yan a reserved nod and softly thanked him.

Pei Yan's eyes lit up. He did his best to suppress the corners of his mouth from shooting upward, then began shelling more crayfish for Cheng Yu. As he shelled them, he racked his brains for conversation. "School starts soon, and we'll be split into arts and sciences. Are you planning to study arts or science?"

In his previous life, Cheng Yu had not even made it to the start of his second year of high school. Almost as soon as the first seven days after his grandparents' deaths had passed, Cheng Kaiyun and his wife had packed him off overseas. He did not return until after he finished university, when Cheng Kaiyun and his wife died in a plane crash. That had all happened years ago. So to Cheng Yu, the trivial matter of choosing between arts and sciences again in a dream was not important at all. Its only use was probably discussing it with his grandparents and making them happy.

Hearing Cheng Yu's answer, Cheng Shao and Pei Yan looked at each other. Both felt that Cheng Yu seemed a little too unconcerned about his own future. It did not quite fit with the forceful style Cheng Yu had always displayed. But then again, although Cheng Yu was strong-willed in every other respect, he really had never put much effort into school. If he had no drive in the first place, it was perfectly normal for him not to care about a minor detail like being assigned to arts or sciences.

Cheng Shao and Pei Yan exchanged a look, then began tacitly persuading Cheng Yu to choose science.

"Science is actually really easy. You just need to remember the basic formulas and do practice problems. You don't have to memorize textbooks and study materials every day like arts students."

"Besides, your brother and I both study science. If there's anything you don't understand, we can tutor you. I can even take you into the lab. Some physics and chemistry experiments are really fun."

Cheng Yu looked utterly uninterested. He let Cheng Shao and Pei Yan chatter away in his ears while he ate skewers expressionlessly, giving them no reaction whatsoever.

Cheng Shao and Pei Yan talked themselves hoarse. Just as they were about to take a sip of soda and rest, a fat man in a white T-shirt and blue jeans came panting over. His hair was dripping wet. He stopped beside Cheng Yu and said loudly, "This is my business card. I really am an agent, not a scammer. I even have photos with Zou Wenkai on my phone. You know Zou Wenkai, right? He's the male lead in that idol drama that's airing right now. Let me tell you, I'm amazing at managing talent. If you sign with me, I'll definitely make you an even bigger star than Zou Wenkai."

Cheng Shao and Pei Yan looked at each other. Seeing Zhu Jianxin, who had specifically bought a new outfit at the night market and apparently found somewhere to take a shower just so he could speak to Cheng Yu up close, they could not help thinking that this scammer was really putting in the effort.

Zhu Jianxin extended his pale, chubby hand toward Cheng Yu. "If you're interested, let's get acquainted."

Cheng Yu scooted his chair away in obvious disgust.

Chapter 10

Seeing Cheng Yu's reaction, Cheng Shao and Pei Yan burst out laughing and high-fived each other. As Pei Yan shelled crayfish for Cheng Yu, he advised Zhu Jianxin, "Give it up. He'll never enter the entertainment industry to become a star."

Zhu Jianxin rubbed his fingers together pitifully and continued looking at Cheng Yu with pleading eyes. "Why not? Your qualifications are really exceptional."

"But your qualifications are terrible." Cheng Yu frowned. He had always hated being pestered by others, especially strangers who clung to him shamelessly after meeting him only once. His tolerance for that was even lower.

Zhu Jianxin stared at him in shock. He probably had not expected Cheng Yu, who looked so cool and aloof, to speak with such devastating bluntness. For a moment, he was completely stunned.

Cheng Shao and Pei Yan continued holding back their laughter. Honestly, when Cheng Yu's sharp tongue was aimed at someone else, it was truly satisfying to hear.

Cheng Yu had eaten about enough. He stayed where he was and played two rounds of Snake, ignoring Zhu Jianxin from beginning to end. Faced with Cheng Yu's cold, indifferent face, Zhu Jianxin did not dare speak again. In the end, he could only place his business card on the table. "If you change your mind, you can call me."