YMW CH 11

Stray Cat

The moment Cen Wu caught sight of Xie Guilan’s icy expression, he shivered. Fine, he doesn’t have to agree, but why does he always have to look so angry?

Xie Guilan lowered his gaze, his voice cold. “Sorry, young master, I don’t have WeChat.”

Cen Wu: … Who are you trying to fool?

But honestly, Cen Wu wasn’t entirely sure. Xie Guilan’s phone was ancient, after all. Song Lingwei, who had been hospitalized for years, spent most of her time in dull solitude. Whenever Xie Guilan got a new phone, he would always give it to her first. Only when she’d used it to the point of near breakdown would he take it back and continue using it himself. It was entirely possible his phone was as broken as he claimed.

Cen Wu hummed noncommittally, not pressing further. He waved goodbye and turned to head home.

Xie Guilan barely lifted his cool, sharp eyes before letting them drop again. He didn’t bother to stop Cen Wu. A soft click echoed in the damp night air as he flicked open his lighter, biting down on a cigarette while holding up his umbrella and heading toward school.

A few minutes later, however, his phone screen lit up suddenly. A friend request had appeared.

Cen Wu thought Xie Guilan underestimated him. What was the point of being a fan who could recite the 3.5 million words of the original novel backward? He had memorized Xie Guilan’s phone number ages ago.

He’d even tried calling it before—unsuccessfully, of course. But this time, lying on his bed, he entered that familiar number into the search bar. Sure enough, a black profile picture popped up.

Xie Guilan frowned. The request came from someone named Wu Wuwuwu with a profile pic of a cartoon kitten emoji.

A caption might as well have read: “I want to scream.jpg”.

The note with the friend request was short and to the point: 【You lied to me.】

Xie Guilan: “…”

Who was this supposed to be cutesy with?

His gaze turned colder. He had no intention of becoming anyone’s plaything, much less getting entangled with Cen Wu. But for now, he didn’t have the right to refuse him outright.

Cen Wu hugged his pillow, half of his face buried in it, his soft cheek puffing out against the fabric.

Suddenly, the phone buzzed. 【“-“ has accepted your friend request. You can now start chatting.】

【Cen Wu: Goodnight.】

Xie Guilan ignored him.

Moments later, another message arrived. This time, it was a cartoon cat lying in bed under a blanket.

【Cen Wu: Goodnight!】

Xie Guilan stared at his screen for a few minutes, the cigarette between his teeth burning low. With a cold and reluctant air, he finally typed back.

【Xie Guilan: Goodnight, young master.】

Cen Wu grinned in satisfaction, tossing his phone aside to take a shower. Afterward, he lay in bed, replaying the events of the night for a solid twenty minutes. It was only when the sheer weight of social embarrassment consumed him that he finally managed to drift off to sleep.

The next morning, Cen Wu woke up early again. He hadn’t finished much of his homework the previous night and planned to catch up at school. On the way, he passed the cafeteria and bought breakfast for Xie Guilan.

But even after the first class ended, Xie Guilan still hadn’t shown up. Cen Wu, feeling a little concerned, ended up splitting the breakfast with Lu Wang. He sent Xie Guilan a message, but there was no reply.

Worry nagged at him. Deciding to find out if Xie Guilan had requested leave, he headed to the homeroom teacher’s office.

The senior-year office was a large, shared space where all the Class Three science teachers worked. The homeroom teacher was there too.

Cen Wu felt fine at first, but the closer he got to the office, the more his legs began to tremble. By the time he reached the door, he could barely feel his legs at all.

Cen Wu: “…”

Ugh, this is the worst.

The office door wasn’t fully closed; a small gap remained. Just as he raised his hand to knock, he overheard the physics teacher chatting with the chemistry teacher.

“Hey Lao Hou, weren’t you supposed to be training Xie this morning? What are you doing here?”

“I left him with a few competition practice papers to work on. I’ll go over later when he’s done. Kids these days are too reliant on teachers—surely they can manage a little self-discipline, right?”

It clicked for Cen Wu. The provincial chemistry competition training had technically ended before the semester began, but Xie Guilan hadn’t signed up because Song Lingwei had been ill at the time. Now that the competition was just a month away, the teacher must have called him in for extra training. It seemed like nothing was wrong after all.

Relieved, Cen Wu turned to leave. But before he could take a step, a loud voice startled him from behind.

“Hey! What are you doing lurking around here?!”

Cen Wu: !!!

He jumped so hard his heart nearly stopped. Already pale, his face turned ghostly white. Slowly, he turned to see his homeroom teacher, Meng Liangping, holding a tea cup and glaring at him.

Meng Liangping’s anger flared at the sight of him. “Skipping class last night, and now you come straight to me? What are you doing here?”

“I… I was just passing by,” Cen Wu stammered.

The teacher had been ready to give him a lecture, but seeing how utterly terrified he looked—shoulders hunched, eyelashes drooping, nothing like his usual defiant self—Meng Liangping softened a little, holding back the harsher words.

“If you’re not here for anything important, go back to class,” he said, waving him off. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he stopped him again. “You turned in this morning’s homework, right?”

“Y-Yes, I did,” Cen Wu stuttered.

Finally satisfied, Meng Liangping’s expression eased.

Everyone knew Cen Wu came from a well-off family, but being wealthy wasn’t an excuse to slack off. Still, his rebellious nature had always made it difficult to manage him. Yet something had shifted recently. Since yesterday, he had started paying attention in class—a change that left every teacher who returned to the office visibly stunned.

What miracle had made the prince decide to study?

“Teacher,” Cen Wu blurted out nervously, voice trembling, “I’ll do my best to improve.”

The homeroom teacher leaned in suddenly, face close to his, deliberately intimidating him. “Promises don’t mean anything. I’ll be waiting to see your test scores this weekend!”

Cen Wu: “…”

Fine, you win.

After that ordeal, Cen Wu trudged back to class, utterly drained. He sat down and began preparing for the weekend test.

Still, Xie Guilan didn’t show up all day. It dawned on Cen Wu that there was a serious flaw in his plan. Without knowing Xie Guilan’s whereabouts, how could he protect him? Sure, he could work around the events from the original story, but what about the things outside of it?

Pressing his lips together, Cen Wu slowly packed his bag. After mulling it over, he finally sent a message to the man he had met the previous night, asking him to meet at the back entrance of Blue Night Bar in thirty minutes.

As night fell, the bar’s back alley remained quiet. Rainwater on the ground reflected dim neon lights, casting a faint glow.

“Second Young Master,” a familiar, flirtatious voice called out as the man approached. His tone was just as cloying as the night before. “You were looking for me?”

Cen Wu: “…”

Can’t he talk like a normal person?

“Do… do you hang out at Blue Night every… every night?” Cen Wu asked, fighting the urge to flee.

Being around strangers made him deeply uncomfortable. Cold sweat beaded on his fair cheeks, and the tips of his ears turned red from the strain.

“Just call me A-Ling,” the man said, misinterpreting his question. With a teasing smile, he added, “I don’t normally take appointments, but for you, I can make an exception.”

If Cen Wu had a tail, it would have puffed up by now. His face flushed bright red as he waved his hands frantically. “I, I, I… I don’t mean that.”

What he actually wanted was for A-Ling to keep an eye on Xie Guilan. If anything happened to him, all A-Ling had to do was send him a message. Nothing more.

The original owner of Cen Wu’s persona had a vast “pond” of admirers, but only kept in touch with a few dozen—after all, expecting men to maintain their physiques forever was a luxury. If they lost their abs, the original owner would lose interest.

A-Ling had been in touch with the original Cen Wu for over a year. Their exchanges were limited to ab pictures, with no deeper conversations. A-Ling’s straightforward and intelligent demeanor made Cen Wu think of reaching out to him for help.

A-Ling clicked his tongue. Last night, Cen Wu had gone out of his way to protect Xie Guilan, yet Xie Guilan’s perpetually cold expression didn’t suggest any romantic tension between them. Still, now A-Ling wasn’t so sure.

What did Xie Guilan have? More abs? Bigger chest muscles? What had he done to earn such special treatment from Cen Wu?

“I don’t think…” A-Ling began to refuse.

But before he could finish, Cen Wu had already picked up his phone, flashing the screen to show a freshly sent transfer. “Three hundred a night.”

“I don’t…”

“Five hundred,” Cen Wu said firmly.

A-Ling: “…”

Alright, Daddy. Whatever you say, Daddy.

“Don’t worry, Second Young Master,” A-Ling said, accepting the payment with a sense of mock dignity. Dropping the playful tone, he added, “If not me, then who? I’m absolutely the best person to look after him.”

Cen Wu: “…”

Fine, you win.

A-Ling wasn’t just any regular guy; he was one of the top male models at Blue Night. On a good night, he could earn far more than that, sometimes tens or even hundreds of thousands from generous clients. Still, easy money was easy money. Besides, it wasn’t like someone would be bothering Xie Guilan every night. Cen Wu hadn’t even asked him to intervene, just to keep an eye out.

Interestingly, most of the male models at Blue Night disliked Xie Guilan—not for anything personal, but because he was too much competition. Xie Guilan was young, exceptionally good-looking, and if he ever decided to work full-time, their jobs would all be in jeopardy.

But from what A-Ling had heard, Xie Guilan was a top student, ranking first in his grade at Huaijing No. 1 High School. A promising future like that meant he wasn’t likely to stick around as a model.

Still, why on earth was someone like him working at a place like this?

---

By 7:30 PM, Xie Guilan finished his training and left school, heading straight to the bar. His shift started at 8 PM and usually lasted until midnight. On busy nights, he sometimes stayed until one or two in the morning.

When he arrived, he went straight to the locker room to change. As soon as he slipped off his school uniform jacket, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Old Xie,” Ji Changyu greeted him. He had just arrived as well and was changing next to him, a worried look on his face. “What’s going on? I heard that Cen family kid was here again last night.”

Ji Changyu had met Xie Guilan a year ago when he first started working at Blue Night. Coincidentally, it had been during the Cen family younger master’s birthday celebration.

Every year, the Cen family threw a grand birthday party for their youngest. After the party ended, the young master would bring his friends to Blue Night to continue the festivities. The manager had assigned both Ji Changyu and Xie Guilan to serve drinks to the group.

Cen Wu had been slightly drunk when they arrived. Before Xie Guilan could even say a word, Cen Wu’s face darkened as soon as he saw him. He shot up from his seat, yelling like a madman.

“Who let him in here?! Why is he here on my birthday?! No one is allowed to take what’s mine!”

No one understood what he was talking about. Xie Guilan was just an illegitimate son the Xie family refused to acknowledge—what could Cen Wu possibly be competing with him over?

But when Cen Wu gave an order, no one dared disobey.

In this line of work, offending a customer often meant getting fired. And sometimes, fighting back or not made no difference. That time, Xie Guilan didn’t resist. He ended up with multiple fractured bones and soft tissue injuries, all while that spoiled young master smashed several wine bottles over him.

Laughter. Mockery. Humiliation.

Xie Guilan was pinned to the ground, his black dress pants wrinkled and scuffed as if anyone could walk by and trample on him.

Ji Changyu hadn’t known Xie Guilan at the time—it was their first meeting. But watching someone be humiliated like that made his head buzz with anger. He charged in, trying to break it up, only to earn himself a slap from the young master.

Strangely, the young master seemed both resentful and afraid of Xie Guilan. He wouldn’t dare touch Xie Guilan himself, only ordering his bodyguards to beat him. But he had no problem laying hands on Ji Changyu.

After getting punched around, Ji Changyu came out of it with a bruised face—and a new acquaintance in Xie Guilan.

Back in the present, Ji Changyu placed a hand on Xie Guilan’s shoulder. “Old Xie, I’m talking to you here.”

“I don’t know,” Xie Guilan replied with a frown. “If you’ve got time to chat, go clean up the private rooms.”

Ji Changyu: “…”

What a jerk.

The bar wasn’t particularly busy that night, with few guests to attend to. As they left the locker room, the manager waved them over. “Xiao Xie, Xiao Ji, head to the back door and help unload the delivery.”

Some beer crates had finally arrived after being delayed by the rain for several days.

“Got it,” Xie Guilan responded.

He walked to the back entrance. As he approached the truck, a movement caught his eye, and he froze. Not far away, in an alley, Cen Wu was talking to A-Ling.

He couldn’t hear the conversation, but something A-Ling said caused Cen Wu’s ears to flush bright red. Even in the dim light of the evening, with neon lights reflecting off his wet eyes, that blush was striking—like rouge on flawless white jade.

A-Ling smiled faintly, then leaned in closer to Cen Wu. Being taller, he had to bend slightly, and Cen Wu tilted his head up to continue the conversation, his figure almost entirely blocked by A-Ling’s broad shoulders. People passed by in the busy backstreet, but through the crowd, it looked like the two were tangled together, caught in a secret kiss in the rain-damp alley.

Xie Guilan’s expression darkened further, his already cold black eyes growing colder.

He knew Cen Wu had plenty of contacts. Xie Shangjing had been renting hotel rooms since his first year of high school, so Cen Wu was probably the same. Cen Wu had likely already done it all—touching, kissing, and more. His playful attitude toward Xie Guilan was just a game, a form of manipulation. And judging by the way Cen Wu blushed and tensed around A-Ling, it was no different now.

So promiscuous.

Last night, he had been clinging to Xie Guilan, and now he was all over someone else. Xie Guilan let out a low, mocking laugh, his brows furrowed darkly under the shadow of the night.

Cen Wu seemed to sense something. He lifted his head under the neon lights, his eyes so beautiful they felt almost unreal, scanning blankly in the direction of the bar’s back door.

It felt like someone was cursing him.

But with the delivery truck in the way, Cen Wu didn’t spot Xie Guilan. Muttering to himself, he turned and prepared to leave.

Ji Changyu had waited long enough without seeing Xie Guilan start unloading, so he walked over, asking, “What are you looking at?”

Xie Guilan replied coldly, “A stray cat. Nothing worth watching.”