The Prime Minister Becomes a Global Sensation After Transmigrating into a Pariah - Chapter 18

“Sure!” Lou Yishu agreed, feeling the onset of hunger. Since a few shrimps wouldn’t be enough to satisfy them, he excitedly grabbed the fish spear and hurried toward the river.

He failed to notice Qiao Yuxi standing by, his expression dark and pensive.

Su’er? The name sounded incredibly familiar. He was certain he had heard it somewhere before.

“Brother Qiao, I’ve got some new talent, his name is quite catchy, called Su’er. What do you think…?” He recalled a shifty-eyed man likely someone’s lackey whose face Qiao Yuxi couldn’t quite remember, only that he was hideous.

“Tch.” Qiao Yuxi had been extremely irritable at the time. He shouldn’t have listened to his childhood friend’s suggestion to go out drinking to drown his sorrows. Even after retreating to a private lounge, there were still those with no sense of boundaries pestering him with these wretched “recommendations.”

“He’s saving himself for his sweetheart~” His friend’s voice had drifted through the air. The lackey, sharp as a tack, immediately realized he had misspoken and began performatively slapping his own face.

“Oh! Look at me and my big mouth! I deserve this!”

The men and women in the room had burst into laughter. The old-money families moved in the same tight-knit circles and knew each other well. Among the core figures in that lounge, everyone was a playboy except for Qiao Yuxi.

“I told you not to pursue her back then, but you wouldn’t listen,” his friend had said, his voice turning serious and steady—a stark contrast to his flashy red shirt unbuttoned to his chest and the way he swirled his wine glass.

Frustrated, Qiao Yuxi had no desire to engage: “If you have nothing good to say, shut up.”

“How much did she take from you this time?” came the mocking tone.

“Five million.” Five million was nothing! It was just five million, wasn’t it? Qiao Yuxi had ground his teeth, nursing his silent anger.

“Whoa! That brings the total to 43.25 million.”

“What?” Qiao Yuxi had turned to look at him in confusion.

In wealthy families, children were rarely unattractive because they had the resources and generations of excellent genes. His friend was no exception a mixed-blood with a French mother, he possessed very sharp features and a head of flamboyantly curly hair.

The friend’s lips curled into a smirk. His two prominent canine teeth didn’t quite match his overall playboy vibe, instead lending him a touch of boyishness. “Your memory really is failing you, noble one. That is the grand total the great star Qiao has given away. I’ve been keeping track for you.”

“Get lost!”

Qiao Yuxi looked up at the azure sky. Having leverage over someone certainly made things much easier.

While Qiao Yuxi was lost in thought, he was suddenly startled by a loud splash.

“Help—!”

Lou Yishu had been spearing fish in the shallows, but after a missed throw, his spear had wedged between several rocks. When he went to retrieve it, his foot slipped on a mossy stone. He lost his balance, twisted his ankle, and tumbled into the river.

Icy water surged from all directions. Lou Yishu instinctively tried to scream for help just as he once had during those sunny days in Jiangnan. But as soon as he opened his mouth, the fishy river water flooded his throat. The memory of the pain and terror of drowning rushed back, and a wave of profound despair washed over him. The world seemed to turn upside down. Perhaps this time I really will die. Perhaps I will return to my own era.

“Lou Yishu! Yishu!!!”

The voice sounded so anxious. But it was so chaotic then, with the screams of the commoners everywhere, how could anyone have noticed me?

“Hold onto me! Hold onto me, Yishu!!!”

Lou Yishu’s eyes snapped open. There were no assassins. There was no Jiangnan. There was only Qiao Yuxi, gripping his arm with all his might and trying to pull Lou Yishu’s weight onto his own shoulders. His survival instinct finally kicked in. Like a man clutching a literal lifesaver, Lou Yishu wrapped his arms tightly around Qiao Yuxi’s neck.

With a heavy effort, Qiao Yuxi supported Lou Yishu’s body and swam them back to the bank.

“If you can’t swim, why the hell did you get so close to the deep water!” Once they reached the shore and saw Lou Yishu still dazed, Qiao Yuxi pushed his soaking hair back. He was flushed with pure rage. “I was right next to you why didn’t you call me? Are you a mute?”

“Do you have any damn idea how dangerous that was? I was screaming your name and you didn’t even respond! Do you know how—!”

Suddenly, a pair of arms lunged into his personal space, cutting off Qiao Yuxi’s fury with an unexpected embrace.

“I’m so scared”

The other man clung to him tightly, leaving no space between them. This was the first time Qiao Yuxi had ever experienced such intimate contact with him. For a split second, Qiao Yuxi’s subconscious registered how out of character this was, but the thought was quickly pushed aside because the person in his arms was trembling violently.

He wrapped his hands around Lou Yishu’s waist, pulling him firmly into his chest.

“I’m so scared,” Lou Yishu’s voice shook. Although he had only come to this world because of a drowning incident, the sensation of approaching death remained etched into his mind. Hit by such a massive psychological shock, he was desperate for a sense of security.

“It’s okay, it’s over now.” Qiao Yuxi gently patted the man’s back. His movements were clumsy and inexperienced, but his words were uncharacteristically firm. “As long as I’m here, nothing will happen to you.”