As soon as he heard Xie Ningwan mention cake, Song Yaoyao’s guard went up.
He had just admitted to discovering him eating ice cream, and now he deliberately had someone send cake over. His intentions were obvious!
‘He wants to trick me? Not that easy.’
Song Yaoyao sat cross-legged. After the scene where he had almost been caught out earlier, he felt a bit guilty and now began to review what had happened.
He said he had discovered him secretly eating ice cream and that he had been staying by his side.
That meant Xie Ningwan had noticed his presence long ago. Since when? And how had he figured it out?
He had been too careless. If only he hadn’t stolen Xie Ningwan’s shirt—he could have just stolen a tie instead.
…Anyway, he would never admit it was because of the ice cream theft.
Song Yaoyao propped up half his face, frowning in thought, while silently calling out to the System in his mind.
He had been trying to contact the System since earlier to talk about this, but it appeared at unpredictable times. It had shown up that morning but was gone now.
However, the System had said there were no celestial masters in this world, and he wasn’t really a ghost anyway—others couldn’t catch him.
…So it should be fine even if Xie Ningwan had discovered him?
No, Song Yaoyao decided to play it by ear for now and try to fool Xie Ningwan temporarily at least.
He pursed his lips and resolved not to touch the ice cream in the fridge for a while. Maybe Xie Ningwan would forget about it after some time.
Yeah, that was right.
While waiting for the cake to be delivered, Xie Ningwan turned on the TV in the living room of the hospital suite.
To mislead the mastermind behind the accident, he had publicly announced that he was injured and was now pretending to recuperate while actually handling work from the hospital room.
Xie Ningwan stood up and went to the window, his back to the living room as he made phone calls to arrange company matters. Song Yaoyao stayed on the living room sofa, watching the TV with both eyes.
The TV wasn’t playing SpongeBob SquarePants but rather the news. Song Yaoyao watched without much interest. He suspected Xie Ningwan was doing it on purpose again.
Xie Ningwan ended the call, walked back to the living room, glanced at the news on TV with a dark smile, then sat on the sofa and opened his laptop to work.
The sofa was large. Song Yaoyao had originally been lying in one corner, but when Xie Ningwan came over, partly to regain some ground after nearly being tricked earlier, he scooted closer, using Xie Ningwan as a backrest and leaning against his arm to absorb some Fortune while he was at it.
The news on TV ended, followed by financial reports, which Song Yaoyao didn’t understand. He grew drowsy watching and soon closed his eyes.
Half-asleep and half-awake, he unconsciously snuggled closer to the warm body nearby.
Xie Ningwan’s shirtsleeve was rolled up to his forearm, and he felt a faint chill on the exposed skin.
Moments later, that chill began burrowing into his embrace.
He didn’t know how long he slept before an upbeat cartoon theme song suddenly blared. Song Yaoyao jolted awake.
He tried to roll over and realized he was fully pillowed in Xie Ningwan’s arm bend, his head buried against the man’s chest and abdomen.
‘…’
Song Yaoyao sat up straight, pretending nothing had happened, and stared fixedly at the TV.
Xie Ningwan felt the arm he’d been typing with suddenly lighten, as if a weight had lifted. The persistent chill that had lingered around him also dissipated.
He set down the remote he’d used to change channels and glanced down at his side.
This faint chill—he had felt it off and on before. So that was how it was…
…
The cake Assistant Lei ordered arrived quickly, delivered by a dedicated person. When Assistant Lei brought the exquisite box into the room, the SpongeBob SquarePants background noise from the TV made him pause again—President Xie had truly become more childlike.
“President Xie.” Assistant Lei placed the cake box on the coffee table in front of Xie Ningwan.
“Mm,” Xie Ningwan looked up and said, “Just leave it there. I’ll open it myself later.”
Assistant Lei: “Got it.”
After Assistant Lei left, Xie Ningwan continued working on his laptop without any intention of stopping to eat the cake.
Song Yaoyao stared at the cake box, holding back for a while before he couldn’t stay calm anymore.
He floated up and landed on Xie Ningwan’s back, lightly draping over his shoulder to sneak a peek at the laptop screen.
Xie Ningwan was reviewing a report from his subordinate. Right after his car accident, several people in the group had gotten restless and shown their true colors.
As Xie Ningwan browsed the list, Song Yaoyao rested his head on his shoulder to look along, memorizing the names. He decided that once they returned to the company, he’d secretly go scare those guys.
He was helping Xie Ningwan, after all. Song Yaoyao pursed his lips slightly and glanced at the small cake on the coffee table.
He really wanted to eat it.
Xie Ningwan still wasn’t planning to have any. If it sat too long, it would go bad—better if he secretly ate it. Song Yaoyao tilted his head, slumped on Xie Ningwan’s back, utterly conflicted.
It felt like a long time passed—so long that Song Yaoyao couldn’t resist wrapping his arms around Xie Ningwan’s neck—before Xie Ningwan finally set down the laptop and turned his attention to the cake on the table.
He leisurely opened the box, took out the delicate little cake, then unpacked the small fork and spoon inside. His movements were slow as he scooped a bit of cream and put it in his mouth.
“Too sweet. Have someone throw it out.” Xie Ningwan tasted it and muttered to himself calmly.
“?”
Song Yaoyao knew he was doing it on purpose and puffed out his cheeks in anger.
He was the ghost here—why did it feel like Xie Ningwan had him pinned down? It was so embarrassing. If anyone should be scared, it ought to be Xie Ningwan scared of him!
So when Xie Ningwan stood up, seemingly about to really call someone to take the cake away, Song Yaoyao floated to the wall and deliberately bumped the light switch, plunging the room into darkness with a click!
The hospital room dimmed instantly. Xie Ningwan paused mid-step.
He walked slowly to the switch by memory, turned the light back on, and when he turned around, the cake on the small plate had vanished.
“…”
Xie Ningwan couldn’t help curving his lips, nearly laughing softly.
Though Song Yaoyao got to eat the cake, he felt annoyed that Xie Ningwan didn’t seem the least bit scared by the supernatural event he had created.
He floated to Xie Ningwan’s laptop and hammered out a string of gibberish, causing chaos.
But Xie Ningwan showed no surprise or fear, calmly tidying the cake box on the table before sitting back down, deleting the gibberish, and resuming work.
In the time that followed, Xie Ningwan didn’t tease the little ghost anymore or press him on the truth. Song Yaoyao settled down too, leaning beside Xie Ningwan to watch TV again.
The System only appeared at specific plot nodes before, and since it hadn’t shown up this time, it meant there were no issues with the world for now. Even if Xie Ningwan had discovered his presence, it was fine. Song Yaoyao felt his guess was correct.
