The Scum Gong Refuses the Crematorium [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 5

No. 1 Chengnan (South City).

The kitten had been washed clean and brought back; it was a pure white Munchkin cat. Because it was still young and had just returned from the pet hospital, it was a timid, fuzzy little ball.

Sheng Yan, who was still recovering at home and hadn’t gone back to the office, had nothing to do. He liked to hold the kitten in the crook of his arm, gently stroking its fur to comfort it. Over time, the kitten went from being frozen with fear in his arms to boldly moving its paws and poking its head out.

On this day, Sheng Yan had found a small bell from somewhere and was using it to tease the cat.

The butler announced, “Mr. Sheng, Mr. Lu is here to visit.”

Sheng Yan had been so happy raising the cat lately that he had long forgotten about the mission. Hearing the butler’s words, he thought someone from the company had come to find him again. As a CEO, he couldn’t even catch a break while on sick leave.

Lately, the person who sought him out most frequently was his special assistant, Lu Xin. Hearing “Mr. Lu,” he assumed it was Lu Xin. Without looking up, he nodded. “Let him in.”

When Lu Mingyue entered the room, Sheng Yan had just tied the bell around the kitten’s neck with a silk ribbon. The kitten, having been teased by the bell for so long, looked up at Sheng Yan and let out a happy “Meow~” when it realized the toy was now its own.

Sheng Yan smiled at the kitten’s antics and looked up at the person who had just entered.

Ding—

A crisp sound echoed in the room.

System 667 asked in confusion, “What was that sound?”

Sheng Yan’s finger flicked the bell on the kitten. Hearing the chime, he responded indifferently in his mind, “A bell.”

“Really?” 667 was still puzzled. It scanned the surroundings with its radar but found nothing unusual.

Sheng Yan didn’t bother answering further. Instead, he fixed his gaze on the visitor.

Lu Mingyue had neat, short hair that exposed his forehead, revealing refined and balanced features. Perhaps because it was hot outside, he wore only a white shirt with the top two buttons undone. Abandoning his usual aloof and formal demeanor, he carried a sense of relaxed ease. His beautiful phoenix eyes curved slightly upward, mirroring the smile on his lips. He looked gentle and pleasant.

If Sheng Yan didn’t possess the original owner’s memories, he truly wouldn’t have recognized this as the “White Moonlight,” Lu Mingyue.

Similarly, Lu Mingyue barely recognized Sheng Yan. The Sheng Yan in his memory was always egocentric, doing whatever he pleased without considering others, his brow constantly shadowed by overbearing arrogance. It was rare to see him like this—his aura restrained, like a bottomless pool of water, calm and composed.

Holding the cat, Sheng Yan asked curiously, “Why are you here?”

Lu Mingyue snapped out of his thoughts and spoke with a relaxed expression. “I came to apologize.”

“Hmm?” Sheng Yan didn’t quite follow. Although the fact that Lu Mingyue took five million from Sheng Yan’s mother was hard for the original owner to swallow, Lu Mingyue had been forced into that position. He didn’t really need to come and apologize for it.

“I…” In the living room, Lu Mingyue sat at the coffee table, holding a cup of coffee the butler had brewed. He stirred it unconsciously with a spoon, paused, and then gave a self-deprecating smile. “I failed to grow into the person you liked.”

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

Sheng Yan, who had been stroking the cat expecting something significant, paused his hand. That’s it?

“You thought very highly of me,” Lu Mingyue pursed his lips. “But I… I’m sorry.”

He apologized again, let go of the coffee cup, and leaned back into the chair, spreading his hands with a smile. “Now it’s fine. You’ve seen through me, so I don’t have to pretend in front of you anymore.”

He seemed to have completely opened up. “Brother Sheng, your family background put too much pressure on me. I was afraid I couldn’t keep up with your pace, and I was afraid I—didn’t deserve you.”

“Forget it.” He seemed to catch himself in a slip of the tongue and leaned forward to take something out of his pocket. “I came today to—”

Before he could finish, a commotion broke out outside. Both Sheng Yan and Lu Mingyue looked toward the door.

At the entrance.

Song Liguang looked at the butler imploringly. “Butler Lin, please just let me in. I’ll see Mr. Sheng and then leave immediately, I promise!”

While begging the butler to make enough noise to be heard inside, Song Liguang secretly surveyed the garden, which had completely changed styles. He felt a surge of hatred.

Hateful Lu Mingyue!

He had heard from his informants that the style of South City No. 1 had changed drastically since he left. Sheng Yan was not someone who cared about such details; the only person who could make him care was Lu Mingyue. It must have been Lu Mingyue who whispered in his ear to make him renovate the villa!

The thought that the “Crematorium” (regret) traps he had prepared were all gone made him anxious. Seeing the butler refuse to budge, he steeled his heart, pushed the man aside, and barged in.

As soon as he entered, his eyes met the two people sitting on the sofa who had looked toward him in unison. Song Liguang nearly ground his back teeth to dust.

He knew it! His “home” had been stolen!

“Mr. Sheng, I couldn’t stop him.” The butler, having stumbled after being pushed, rushed in to apologize.

Sheng Yan’s gaze turned cold. “Don’t let there be a next time.”

A butler who couldn’t even stop one person would need to be replaced if it happened again.

“Understood.” The butler bowed, his palms sweating. He knew Mr. Sheng had been extremely disgusted with Mr. Song lately, which was why he had refused entry. He hadn’t expected the usually kind and somewhat timid Mr. Song to actually push him. That was close, I almost lost my job.

As the butler retreated, Song Liguang’s face turned deathly pale. What did Sheng Yan mean? That there would always be someone to block him from South City No. 1 from now on? Was he being banned from coming here? Or banned from approaching him entirely?

If so, wouldn’t all his years of effort go to waste?!

Ignoring the butler, Sheng Yan looked at Song Liguang and asked the same question: “What are you doing here?”

“I…” Song Liguang’s face was white. He glanced at Lu Mingyue, opened his mouth, and said in a small voice, “I came to see you.”

Sheng Yan was puzzled. “What is there to see?”

Song Liguang’s gaze swept over Sheng Yan lingeringly, filled with both adoration and inferiority. “I heard you were sick.”

I heard you were sick, so I came to see you. A simple sentence, but spoken in such a broken way, it was truly pitiable. Enough to make anyone feel protective.

Lu Mingyue observed this substitute who looked 70% like him but had a personality world apart. He shook his head imperceptibly. Sheng Yan must have only been interested in the face. If he were Sheng Yan, he would have made the substitute mimic him one-to-one. From looks and clothing to personality and education to achieve a perfect fake.

As the saying goes: “Shut up, you don’t sound like him when you talk.”

Yet the overbearing Sheng Yan had raised a substitute who, aside from the face, shared no similarities with the original.

While Lu Mingyue was judging Song Liguang, Sheng Yan spoke: “Thanks, but I’m fine. No need for you to make a special trip.”

Lu Mingyue turned to Sheng Yan with concern. “Brother Sheng, you were sick?”

“That was over half a month ago,” Sheng Yan replied.

“Are you better now?”

“Yes.”

Lu Mingyue sighed in relief. “You should usually pay more attention to your health. Keep a few more family doctors around for regular check-ups so you can understand your physical condition at all times.”

Then, he changed the subject and looked at Song Liguang. “In this regard, Mr. Song has done very well. Even from a distance, your concern for Brother Sheng is quite significant.”

The words seemed casual, but the implication was sharp. Song Liguang nearly vomited blood from anger. He had ended the substitute relationship with Sheng Yan a while ago, yet he still “knew everything from afar”—this was Lu Mingyue blatantly telling Sheng Yan that Song Liguang had spies in the house.

Sure enough, Sheng Yan pondered for a moment. He had been so focused on changing the house’s style that he had forgotten to change the people inside. After all, as a “wife” about to be chased in a “Crematorium” plot, Song Liguang surely had people who had received his favors. When the time came, these people would pop up to help him and act as wingmen on the scumbag’s road to redemption.

Sheng Yan immediately instructed the butler: “It’s time to change the servants. We don’t want people biting the hand that feeds them after being here too long.”

Butler Lin nodded. “Yes, sir.”

This order was given right in front of him, showing that Sheng Yan didn’t value Song Liguang at all. Song Liguang’s eyes flared with rage as he looked at Lu Mingyue; he wanted to burn him to a crisp. If Lu Mingyue hadn’t fanned the flames, how could Sheng Yan be so cold!

Sheng Yan looked back at Song Liguang, who was still standing motionless by the door, and asked indifferently, “Is there anything else?”

“I…” Song Liguang didn’t want to leave like this. He paused and came up with an idea. “I left some very important things here. I’ll just collect them and go.”

He looked at Lu Mingyue with a hint of triumph. He had an entire room in this house. No matter how much Lu Mingyue stirred the pot, he couldn’t change the fact that Song Liguang had lived here for five years.

“Oh, those?” Sheng Yan looked at him apologetically. “You didn’t take them when you left, so I thought you didn’t want them anymore. I threw them all away during the renovation. That room has been turned into a cat room now.”

Song Liguang froze.

Thrown away!

Cat room!

These two phrases were like slaps to the face, making his previous triumphant look at Lu Mingyue appear utterly ridiculous. He didn’t even dare to look at Lu Mingyue’s expression. He glared at the cat in Sheng Yan’s arms, cursing it in his heart: Dead cat, stupid cat, one day I’ll skin you and feed you to the dogs!

The kitten couldn’t hear the curses. Feeling Sheng Yan stroking it again, it poked its head out and meowed.

Sheng Yan let out a low laugh and pointed toward the massive glass window. “But those things were only thrown out recently. You can go check the trash cans outside; maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

Digging through trash cans!

The thought of a famous star like himself digging through trash made Song Liguang’s face turn red and white with humiliation. But he had just said he was here to get his things; if he didn’t act, he’d be caught in a lie. Moreover, the trash can was positioned right in front of the floor-to-ceiling window where Sheng Yan was sitting. If he performed well, he might still catch Sheng Yan’s attention.

He didn’t believe five years hadn’t left a single mark on the man, making him this heartless.

“O-okay,” Song Liguang replied with difficulty, not forgetting to “thank” him. “Thank you for telling me, Mr. Sheng.”

He hurried out of the villa as if desperate to find his belongings and actually began rummaging through the trash. It was the peak of summer, and the temperature outside was easily 38°C. Digging through trash in that scorching sun was surely agonizing.

The System couldn’t watch anymore: “Please follow instructions: Whitewash the scumbag, win back the True Partner.”

Sheng Yan gave a tsk. “I am being a scumbag right now. He came back to find me on his own, which proves I wasn’t scummy enough before. If I don’t treat him poorly now, how can I ‘chase’ him later?”

System: “…”

Sheng Yan ignored it. As a former Great Villain, he had stabbed thousands of pathetic protagonists just like this. Expecting compassion from a villain was looking in the wrong place. He only felt he hadn’t twisted the knife enough. Compassion? That was just a blade used to bury oneself.

Sheng Yan thought of the fates of those talkative, soft-hearted villains in his past missions, and his heart remained unmoved. He didn’t spare a single glance at the pathetic Song Liguang roasting in the sun. He turned his gaze back to Lu Mingyue.

“What were you saying you came here for?”

Lu Mingyue hadn’t paid any attention to Song Liguang either. Every cause has an effect; those who harm others will eventually be harmed. It was all self-inflicted, and he felt no sympathy.

Hearing Sheng Yan’s question, he took an uncreased check out of his wallet and placed it in front of Sheng Yan. “Your mother gave this to me before. Now that I’m back and in contact with you again, I’ve technically breached our agreement. This should be returned to you.”

Sheng Yan looked at the coffee cup Lu Mingyue had barely touched. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the butler had served some magical tea that transformed people. This “retreating to advance” and “attacking by defending” move might have worked on the original owner, but to Sheng Yan, it was amateur hour.

Sheng Yan looked down and continued to pet the cat, refusing to take the bait. “Give it back to whoever gave it to you.”

Lu Mingyue’s hand froze as he pushed the check forward.

Has Sheng Yan turned into a pro-player? He’s so heartless today.