Chapter 44: The Little Ghost Was Kidnapped by the Villain

The appraisal required twenty-four hours for results. After Song Yaoyao and Song Huaichuan had both collected their blood samples, Xie Ningwan first took Song Yaoyao home.

Song Huaichuan showed no intention of leaving. He looked like he planned to stay here and wait.

“President Xie, goodbye,” Song Huaichuan said with a nod to Xie Ningwan, then shifted his gaze to Song Yaoyao. “Yaoyao, goodbye.”

“Goodbye, President Song.” Song Yaoyao was half-hidden behind Xie Ningwan, poking his head out to say to Song Huaichuan.

“Goodbye.” Song Huaichuan looked at Song Yaoyao. The hand at his side twitched, as if he wanted to lift it to pat Song Yaoyao’s head, but in the end, he did not.

“Then we’ll head out first.” Xie Ningwan said.

“Okay,” Song Huaichuan replied seriously, with a trace of irrepressible tension. “Yaoyao, once the results are out, I’ll contact you.”

“Got it, thank you, President Song.” Song Yaoyao nodded obediently.

Although they had reached the appraisal stage, no one could be certain before the results came out whether the two were truly blood brothers.

Song Yaoyao was equally tense, also filled with confusion about this “book” world. He hid behind Xie Ningwan, somewhat timid.

After he turned back into a human, the System had only appeared once, telling him that his identity in this world had been arranged, and then it had not contacted him again.

The child from the Song Family had gone missing after drowning, and he had arrived here after being swept away by the current and “drowning” as well.

If he really was the child who had drowned in the Song Family more than a decade ago…

As they exited the hospital building, the driver had been waiting outside. Xie Ningwan held Song Yaoyao’s hand and led him into the car.

Song Yaoyao was distracted. When getting into the car, he did not lift his foot high enough and nearly tripped.

“Careful.” Xie Ningwan wrapped one arm around his waist and pulled him up.

“Mm.” Song Yaoyao steadied himself and got into the car again.

Sitting in the car, Song Yaoyao pressed against the car window, staring blankly at the passing scenery outside. Xie Ningwan reached out to ruffle his hair, paying attention to his mood. “Worried?”

“Mm,” Song Yaoyao turned his head back, pursed his lips, and said slowly, “…Will President Song really be my brother?”

“The results will be out tomorrow, and then we’ll know.”

Xie Ningwan pulled him to his side and looked at his listless and uneasy face. He paused for a moment, then lifted his hand and gently stroked the side of Song Yaoyao’s face with his fingers, full of concern and comfort.

“Do you remember anything from before?” Xie Ningwan asked. He also recalled how Song Yaoyao had once told him that he had become a little ghost after falling into the water.

“I don’t remember,” Song Yaoyao shook his head. “I only know that I was an orphan from a young age, with no mom or dad.”

Xie Ningwan’s expression filled with heartache, and he gently stroked Song Yaoyao’s face again.

“That lines up. Like this, there’s a real possibility that Song Huaichuan could be your brother.”

Song Yaoyao’s cheeks were lightly cupped in Xie Ningwan’s hands. He simply relaxed and buried his entire face into the broad palm.

“But what if he’s not my brother?”

His cheeks were warm and soft, his breath hot. His tone was a bit downcast. Xie Ningwan’s hand paused for two seconds, then pinched his cheek. He lowered his gaze to look at him. “If he’s not your brother, then I’ll be your brother.”

Song Yaoyao lifted his long, straight lashes. There was a bit of surprise in his eyes. He had not expected Xie Ningwan to say that.

He already saw Xie Ningwan as family, but… Xie Ningwan was different from a brother.

If Xie Ningwan was not a brother, then what could he be? He still could not figure it out.

“I don’t want you to be my brother.” Song Yaoyao rested his chin in Xie Ningwan’s palm, his voice low.

“Then what should I be to you?” Xie Ningwan raised the question as well. His eyes were filled with emotions that were hard to discern. He leaned down close to Song Yaoyao’s face and looked into his eyes.

Song Yaoyao shook his head buried in his palm. His mind was stuffed with too many things, tangled up like a ball of yarn from the Little Bear Doll, with no end in sight. For the moment, he could not sort it out.

He did not want to talk about this anymore. He lifted his face from Xie Ningwan’s hand, then leaned forward and buried it against Xie Ningwan’s chest, closing his eyes to rest.

Xie Ningwan did not press him further. He wrapped Song Yaoyao in his coat and held him in his arms.

Xie Ningwan did not go to the company today. The driver took them straight back to the villa.

Meanwhile, in the Xie Group building, on the central floor where the president’s office was located, inside the public restroom in the office area:

“I checked. Xie Ningwan didn’t come in today.” Next to the restroom sink, a man who looked ordinary in both appearance and clothing, like an average employee, was speaking lowly into the phone.

After he finished that sentence, he vigilantly scanned the restroom door. Confirming no one was outside, he checked each stall again.

Empty.

He continued the call with peace of mind. “Don’t worry, I’m being very discreet. No one’s noticed me. I’m scouting the place today so we can make our move tomorrow.”

“Make it quick, don’t let anyone notice. And strike hard.” The voice on the other end said viciously.

“I know. Let Xie Ningwan wait and see.” The man who looked like an employee replied.

After the man finished speaking, he hung up the call. His gaze swept ruthlessly around one last time, then he reverted to a bland, normal expression. He washed his hands and left the restroom.

.

The next afternoon was when the paternity test results between Song Yaoyao and Song Huaichuan came out. From the morning at the company onward, Song Yaoyao sat primly at Xie Ningwan’s desk, staring at his phone, nervously waiting.

Xie Ningwan understood his tension—or rather, Xie Ningwan’s own tension was no less. But seeing how Song Yaoyao had barely eaten any breakfast and sat motionless in the chair, he felt a bit heartbroken.

“I’ll have Assistant Lei or the secretary bring some food in for you.” Xie Ningwan said.

“No need.”

Song Yaoyao propped his cheeks on his hands and shook his head, but after a short while, he stood up from the chair.

Xie Ningwan gave him a questioning look.

“I’ll go check the break room myself. I need to walk around a bit.” Song Yaoyao said.

He wanted to find something to distract himself first.

“Okay.” Xie Ningwan agreed warmly and watched him leave the office.

Song Yaoyao followed his usual route, wandering along. He first strolled through the break room, ate a cookie, then pocketed two more cookies, planning to sneak to the restroom to share them with Mop Head and Skinny Bamboo Pole.

Ever since the last time Song Yaoyao had turned back into a human and gone to chat with them, proving he was not a bad ghost and that he had cultivated into a human, the one little ghost and two big ghosts had formed a small friendship.

Although lately Mop Head and Skinny Bamboo Pole always looked at him with strange, shifty glances, then at the direction of Xie Ningwan’s office, Song Yaoyao did not pay it any mind.

Just as Song Yaoyao could not leave Xie Ningwan when he was still a little ghost, Mop Head and Skinny Bamboo Pole could not leave the restroom either. So Song Yaoyao would occasionally bring them little cakes and other snacks.

Today, Song Yaoyao looked around with the cookies in hand. It was office hours now, and there was hardly anyone in the break room and restroom rest area.

Confirming no one saw him carrying food to the restroom, Song Yaoyao pushed the door open confidently and slipped inside.

He entered, turned to close the door, and before he could lock it, Mop Head and Skinny Bamboo Pole suddenly appeared from the corner of the restroom and surrounded him.

Song Yaoyao turned around and got a fright. Before he could react, Mop Head urgently said, “Song Yaoyao, someone wants to harm President Xie!”

“What?” Once he processed it, Song Yaoyao clenched the hand holding the cookies and widened his eyes.

“Yesterday, a man was on the phone here, saying he was going to make a move on President Xie—today.” Skinny Bamboo Pole added excitedly.

Song Yaoyao grew alert. He had almost forgotten: on the night of the Charity Gala when he met Song Huaichuan, he had also seen Xie Ningwan’s third uncle and guessed that his plotline was coming soon.

In the past few days, caught up with contacting Song Huaichuan and worrying about his own background, with no one from the Xie Family stepping forward, he had nearly overlooked it.

Xie Ningwan’s third uncle was different from his second uncle Xie Ming. Unlike Xie Ming, who wore his schemes openly on his face, the third uncle was a two-faced hypocrite who smiled on the surface. He loved dirty tricks, hiding in the shadows to cause trouble, like a rat lurking in the gutters.

Mop Head: “I also heard that man say to strike hard and fast and such!”

Song Yaoyao’s heart began to race chaotically. His hand gripped the door handle, wanting to rush back to the office to find Xie Ningwan, but he forced himself to stay calm and planned to get more information. He asked, “What did that man look like?”

Skinny Bamboo Pole: “Wearing Xie Group employee clothes, flat features, hair medium length, faint eyebrows, and… right, there’s a mole next to his nose!”

With the key information, Song Yaoyao worried for Xie Ningwan and immediately went to open the restroom door.

Unexpectedly, before he could even apply force, the door handle turned on its own.

Song Yaoyao was already on edge and startled back two steps at the sudden movement.

The restroom door opened, and a Xie Group employee walked in, looking perfectly natural. Seeing Song Yaoyao, he even gave him a casual nod, probably there for a bathroom break during work.

Song Yaoyao breathed a sigh of relief and sidestepped him to head out.

As he brushed past the man, Song Yaoyao caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of a faint mole on the side of the man’s nose.

“!”

Song Yaoyao jolted all over and abruptly looked up.

The man in Xie Group employee attire had at some point fixed a dead stare on him, his eyes dark and deep.

Skinny Bamboo Pole and Mop Head behind him began to scream. Song Yaoyao ignored everything else and bolted, only to have the man swiftly cover his mouth with a towel.

…

In the office, Xie Ningwan was reviewing documents with his head down, lifting his eyes to the wide-open office door every couple of seconds.

“President Xie.” Assistant Lei came over from the adjacent assistant’s office, lightly knocked on the doorframe, and entered to deliver forms.

Xie Ningwan gestured for him to place them on the desk. Assistant Lei did so and, as he turned to leave, his gaze brushed over the tablet on the desk where Song Yaoyao had paused an online class.

“Where’s Young Master Song?” he asked casually.

Xie Ningwan paused his pen. He was also starting to worry that the little ghost had not returned after going to get food. “He went to the break room.”

“Really?” Assistant Lei said oddly. “I just went to the office area and passed the break room—no sign of Young Master Song.”

Xie Ningwan’s brows furrowed. Panic surged in his heart, and he stood up from behind the desk.

Xie Ningwan moved quickly with large strides. Assistant Lei followed behind him, his expression turning serious as well.

The public break room—no one.

The public restroom—no one.

They searched everywhere Song Yaoyao usually went in the company, but found no trace of him.

Only at the restroom door did they find a piece of crushed cookie.