"Help me! Help me!"

As soon as Cen Yu stepped into the private hot spring, he wished he could grab the big fat cat and beg for help.

The private hot tub in the bedroom can only accommodate two people at the same time, and the floor-to-ceiling windows offer a direct view of the private courtyard. However, Cen Yu has no intention of enjoying the view at all.

When he came in, he was holding his phone, thinking about what excuse he could come up with to not stay with Yu Xinyu.

What right does a mere cannon fodder like him have to share a room with the protagonist?

Even with its small brain, the big fat cat pondered for a long time before finally just meowing and deciding to sneak out to play.

With a sense of certain death, Cen Yu took off his clothes and soaked in the hot spring. He lay on the edge of the hot spring, looking out at the deserted courtyard while listening intently to the sounds of Yu Xinyu inside the room.

He noticed that after he entered the hot spring, Yu Xinyu didn't seem to leave; instead, she remained in the master bedroom.

—This is bad.

Cen Yu thought to himself.

On the other side, Yu Xinyu sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the door after Cen Yu went in.

The moment the warm yellow lights inside came on, Cen Yu's figure appeared on the other side of the sliding door.

The sliding doors in this room are specially distressed, made of paper with maple leaf patterns painted on them.

Yu Xinyu sat on the edge of the bed, able to hear the sound of water in the hot spring and Cen Yu's comfortable sigh. He sat there for a while—when his phone vibrated.

He ignored it.

Then came the constant phone calls.

Yu Xinyu finally took out his phone. After glancing at the caller ID, he wasn't surprised at all. After all, apart from his older brother, no one else would call him so persistently.

He glanced at Cen Yu, and after confirming that the other party wouldn't be coming out anytime soon, he left the bedroom directly.

"Come see me," Yu Jinheng's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"No." Yu Xinyu had completely lost the gentle demeanor he showed in front of Cen Yu. He said to his elder brother, "I told you not to interfere with me."

Yu Jinheng remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.

After a long pause, he said, "You think you can get someone to like you by putting on this pitiful act?" The other person scoffed, "He knows your true colors and will run away faster than anyone else."

"Your bedroom..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yu Xinyu interrupted him.

The other person simply opened the door and walked out. "Stop talking nonsense, where are you?"

...

Cen Yu was still brainstorming when he heard Yu Xinyu leave the room, and immediately afterward, he received a message from her—

[Yu Xinyu: Honey, Qiang Yuanqing wants to catch up with me, I'm going to go find him for a bit~]

Upon seeing this, Cen Yu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He immersed himself in the pool until he felt dizzy, then climbed out of the hot spring.

Since Yu Xinyu wasn't around anyway, he had no more worries. He grabbed a towel from beside him, dried himself off, then took a brand new one and wrapped it around his waist before leaving the private hot spring pool.

He walked out of the bedroom, found the mini bar in the living room, grabbed a bottle of chilled mineral water, and gulped down several mouthfuls.

Once the dizziness in his head subsided, he prepared to go back and change his clothes, only to discover that someone was standing in the courtyard at some point.

The other person seemed surprised to run into someone in the courtyard, and then quickly turned around.

Before Cen Yu could even process why there was a stranger in the private courtyard, and that person certainly didn't look like the hotel butler, he hurriedly scurried back into his bedroom. He quickly changed his shirt and pants before returning to the living room.

The person remained standing there, and when he saw Cen Yu approaching, he gave her a very apologetic look.

Cen Yu pushed open the door closest to the courtyard and walked straight out—

"Sorry, I didn't expect there to be people living in this courtyard." The man spoke first. He was dressed casually, in a beige sweater and trousers of almost the same color. Although he was tall, his skin was pale and he looked rather thin, as if he was not in good health.

After he finished speaking, he coughed a few times, then smiled apologetically at Cen Yu, "I'm sorry you had to see this."

Cen Yu was unsure who this person was—after all, according to Qiang Yuanqing, there was no one else in the manor besides them.

But since there's already Lou Baichuan, it wouldn't be surprising to have another stranger.

He shook his head. "It's nothing." Then he looked at the stranger.

After considering her words for a moment, Cen Yu asked, "Are you also a guest staying in this area?"

"Are you Mr. Qiang's friend?" the man asked softly.

Mr. Qiang? Cen Yu was somewhat unfamiliar with the way this person addressed Qiang Yuanqing, assuming that the other party was Qiang Yuanqing's business partner.

"I guess so," Cen Yu said vaguely.

The stranger smiled, seemingly not too bothered. He said softly to Cen Yu, "I saw that the maple trees in this courtyard were growing well, and I heard that there was no one else in the entire manor for the time being, so I took the liberty of entering the courtyard to take a closer look."

"It's probably a mistake made by the housekeeper."

Cen Yu didn't take it to heart. He had no intention of making new friends, so after nodding, he prepared to leave discreetly with him.

But to his surprise, the man looked at him curiously—

"Excuse me, have you ever worked as a model?"

"?" What kind of question is this?

Cen Yu was somewhat puzzled.

The man hurriedly said, "I just happened to buy a set of photos a few days ago." He smiled apologetically, then coughed a few times, covering his mouth. He seemed to be about to take something out of his pocket, but then stopped himself, mindful of the presence of others.

"It's nothing." Cen Yu noticed his movement. "Are you going to take your medicine?"

"Yes," the man said somewhat embarrassedly, taking out a medicine bottle from his pocket.

Cen Yu immediately averted his gaze. He had no intention of prying into other people's privacy—he saw that the man was dressed so warmly even in this not-so-cold weather, and guessed that the man was probably not in good health.

"Why don't you come in and sit down?" Cen Yu asked. "I'll get you a bottle of water, and you can take your medicine first."

The man looked at Cen Yu with some surprise, then immediately smiled – his face was pale, his features were three-dimensional and deep, but his hair and eyes were as black as ink, and perhaps because of his poor health, he also had some dark circles under his eyes, and his lips were very pale.

But this did not affect the man's good looks at all; on the contrary, it gave him a gloomy and handsome impression.

"Okay, thank you then," the man said with a smile.