Xie Ningwan claimed his injuries were serious and needed rest, so all the hypocritical people came to “care” about him one by one, but not a single member of the Xie Family showed up. No one knew if they felt guilty or something else; it was intriguing.
Old Master Xie did make a phone call to inquire about Xie Ningwan’s condition.
Xie Ningwan stood by the window, absentmindedly feigning civility with the old master while his gaze fell on the lunch the medical staff had just delivered to the table.
He saw a piece of meat disappear from the lunchbox one moment, then a small vegetable the next.
Not picky at all. Xie Ningwan listened to the old master’s nagging on the other end of the line and thought idly to himself.
“. . . I had someone send some supplements to you. Take good care of your body and rest well. Your parents died in a car accident back then; don’t let anything happen to you. . . ” The old master’s voice was hoarse.
Xie Ningwan tugged at the corner of his lips and said faintly, “Yes, I will rest well.”
“Sigh, this was just an accident. Fortunately, nothing major happened. Let the people below handle it; you just rest easy.”
An accident . . . ?
Afterward, his men immediately pulled the surveillance footage. That car had come straight at him without deviation. If not for that little ghost’s help, he probably would have lost half his life.
Xie Ningwan had long seen through the old master’s true attitude. He had turned a blind eye to the deaths of his eldest son and daughter-in-law, and now he certainly did not care about this grandson.
After all, whether it was him, his second or third uncle, or several cousins, they all bore the Xie surname—they were all his sons and grandsons. He enjoyed watching them scheme against each other. Anyway, the Xie Corporation would always remain in the Xie Family.
A mocking curve hooked at the corner of Xie Ningwan’s mouth, dark shades surging in his eyes.
He turned his gaze back and noticed that the food in the lunchbox was no longer decreasing. His expression softened as he searched inch by inch through the ward, no longer bothering to respond to the old master on the phone.
His subordinates moved quickly. That very afternoon, Assistant Lei laid out all the information and documents on the car accident and its driver in front of Xie Ningwan.
Although the driver insisted after his capture that it was fatigue driving and he had veered off course by accident with no one instructing him, they still found clues: the large gambling debt he had racked up not long ago had suddenly been paid off by someone.
“Keep digging and find out who wired him the money.” Xie Ningwan sat on the sofa and slapped the driver’s file onto the table.
“Yes, President Xie. I’ve already given the orders,” Assistant Lei said.
Song Yaoyao lay on the edge of the table, his hands resting on the surface. He tilted his head to look at the driver’s file, then floated up and stomped on it twice.
Having vented, he lay back down beside Xie Ningwan. He had seen the plot from the System and knew who was behind the accident, but he could not tell Xie Ningwan yet—they needed evidence first. Though he figured Xie Ningwan already had his suspicions.
The next day, the doctors examined Xie Ningwan once more and confirmed no major issues, so he arranged to be discharged and go home to “rest.”
As they left, Song Yaoyao reverted to his old ways and lay on Xie Ningwan’s back, getting carried along.
Xie Ningwan’s steps paused. He could not see it, but he felt that momentary cool touch, like a faint breeze. He had previously thought it was just the wind and never noticed, but now with his suspicions, the sensation became obvious.
No wonder his shoulders and back had felt heavy lately—it was this little ghost up to mischief.
Xie Ningwan remained composed and continued walking out.
Back home, Song Yaoyao still refused to get off Xie Ningwan’s back. He got carried through the door, into the bedroom, and then into the bathroom.
Standing in the bathroom, Xie Ningwan’s fingers rested on the buttons of his shirt. He waited.
The slight heaviness on his shoulders lingered.
“. . .”
Xie Ningwan closed his eyes. How had he forgotten this little ghost was also a little pervert? He had peeked at him showering from outside the bathroom door before and even stolen his clothes.
Xie Ningwan opened his eyes and slowly unbuttoned his shirt while saying calmly to himself, “I bought extra ice cream last time; it’s in the fridge, and I haven’t had a chance to eat it yet. After my shower, I should have two boxes.”
As soon as he spoke, his shoulders felt lighter.
Xie Ningwan calmly turned, first closed the bathroom door, then drew the shower curtain and stepped into the shower.
Downstairs, the fridge by the counter opened silently on its own.
Immediately after, two boxes of ice cream flew out on their own, lined up in a row on the counter, and their lids popped open automatically.
Before long, the ice cream in the boxes diminished spoonful by spoonful until they were empty.
An invisible little shadow stood at the counter, biting the small spoon used for scooping ice cream, devouring both boxes bite by bite.
The past couple of nights he had to sneak into bed, during the day he went to the company to prank the antagonist, and he even went back to the Xie Family with Xie Ningwan once. With so much going on, he had not had a chance to eat ice cream.
Song Yaoyao quickly finished the ice cream, tossed the empty boxes into the trash to cover his tracks, closed the fridge, and pretended nothing had happened.
He had just floated out of the kitchen when he ran into Xie Ningwan, who had finished showering and come down from upstairs in loungewear.
Song Yaoyao floated to Xie Ningwan’s side and followed him back to the kitchen. He saw him actually open the fridge as if to get ice cream—
“Hm?”
Sure enough, Xie Ningwan opened the fridge and glanced at the several boxes of ice cream in the freezer. His tone rose lightly: “How come one chocolate and one strawberry are missing?”
Song Yaoyao lightly kicked the trash bin containing the evidence toward the wall corner to hide it.
“Strange, I just noticed one of my shirts is missing too,” Xie Ningwan took out a box of ice cream, propping the fridge door open as he continued talking to himself. “Did a thief take it?”
“? ” Hearing this, Song Yaoyao slowly puffed out his cheeks.
Clearly, he had returned all of Xie Ningwan’s stolen items a few days ago, and these past few days he had stuck right to Xie Ningwan himself without stealing any more shirts. Xie Ningwan was tricking him again.
And that had not been stealing in the first place—just borrowing, borrowing for a bit!
From an angle Song Yaoyao could not see, Xie Ningwan held the fridge door with one hand, his arm blocking his lips and the slight upward curve there.
After Xie Ningwan finished speaking, his phone vibrated. He glanced down at the message, took the ice cream back to the living room, casually set it on the coffee table, and opened the laptop beside it.
Song Yaoyao followed closely. While he focused on the screen, Song Yaoyao went up and opened his box of ice cream too, eating it.
On the laptop screen, a private email sat quietly on the desktop.
【President Xie, we found something. There were indeed loopholes in the case closure of the car accident that killed the former Chairman Xie and his wife.】
Xie Ningwan looked at the email and leaned back on the sofa, closing his eyes to rest for two seconds. Although he had expected it, he still needed a moment to buffer in the face of the facts and truth.
He even had to “thank” whoever orchestrated this car accident—the method was very similar to his parents’ deaths, making the clues obvious at once.
That car accident from back then that took his parents and left him all alone . . .
Xie Ningwan opened his eyes. He had still been immersed in dark emotions, but as he turned his head, he saw a neat little divot eaten out of the ice cream box he had just taken out.
“. . .”
It was eaten quite neatly, the divot perfectly round.
Xie Ningwan’s mood shifted from gloom to something more variable in an instant. He rubbed his forehead with a light sigh, the fatigue and gloom swept away as he chuckled helplessly.
Right, he was not alone anymore; a little ghost had sneaked into his home.
One who loved stealing ice cream from the fridge, peeking at storybooks in the study, secretly turning on the TV to watch cartoons.
And a little pervert too.
Always sneaking onto his back to stick to him, peeking at him shower from outside the bathroom door, and crawling into his bed.
Xie Ningwan continued rubbing his forehead: “. . .”
But he had taken care of him when he was sick and protected him during the car accident . . .
Song Yaoyao had just finished off two boxes of ice cream and really could not eat more, so he left a small hole in Xie Ningwan’s box and stopped.
He lay at the edge of the coffee table right then and also saw the email on the laptop screen.
The little ghost’s face darkened, looking utterly grim.
Once the plot progressed and Xie Ningwan uncovered the truth, and he turned back into a human, he would make those antagonists pay.
But before that—
Song Yaoyao looked at his transparent arm. The soul power he had painstakingly accumulated over the past while had been scattered by the crash.
He was not discouraged. He would start over, keep at it.
·
At midnight, a cool evening breeze rustled outside the window, swirling up a few leaves.
Xie Ningwan’s bedroom was already dark with the lights off.
A faint cool breeze suddenly slipped in through the door crack, floated to the center of the bedroom by the bed, and gently lifted the edge of the blanket.
Song Yaoyao held his breath, slowly pulled back the blanket, and quietly inched onto the bed, drawing close to Xie Ningwan.
Just then, Xie Ningwan, who had been sleeping in the middle of the bed, suddenly stirred and silently opened his eyes.
He stared at the ceiling and spoke calmly into the darkness: “You’re breaking the rules. According to ghost realm regulations, you can’t attack people under the covers.”
