Chapter 48: The Little Ghost Takes Intimacy with People for Granted

Song Yaoyao’s pupils were black and bright, pure and innocent. His eyelashes were straight and long. At that moment, he was clearly stunned and stared at Xie Ningwan with wide eyes.

He had just cried, and a faint redness lingered at the corners of his eyes. In Xie Ningwan’s gaze, it only added a touch of heartache.

He was a bit anxious. Song Yaoyao’s emotions had fluctuated a lot that day, and he shouldn’t have suddenly asked at that moment, adding more pressure to him.

The piece of apple in Song Yaoyao’s hand gave off a fresh, sweet fragrance with the unique tartness of apples.

“It’s fine. Eat the apple first.” Xie Ningwan remained calm and steadily changed the subject.

“…” Song Yaoyao didn’t speak for a moment. He obediently lowered his long eyelashes, took a bite of the apple, and held it in his cheek.

One side of his cheek bulged out, moving gently as he chewed, like a little hamster. Xie Ningwan’s expression softened even more.

The tart and sweet taste of the apple filled the space between them and lingered in Song Yaoyao’s mouth.

Xie Ningwan’s words earlier had been a confession to him, right? Song Yaoyao’s mind was a bit dazed and at a loss, his heart beating erratically.

He had never thought about it that way.

After transmigrating into the book, he had always been with Xie Ningwan—eating Xie Ningwan’s food, sleeping in Xie Ningwan’s bed, perching on Xie Ningwan’s head, sleeping on Xie Ningwan’s body… He had grown very used to it, taking it for granted. Even after turning back into a human, he still wanted to cling to Xie Ningwan and sleep together, not seeing anything wrong with it.

Now that he thought about it, it seemed a little—no, very intimate.

And he had kissed Xie Ningwan many times, though it was to turn back into a human.

Song Yaoyao’s head drooped lower and lower. He mechanically chewed the apple in his mouth, blinked his eyelashes, came back to his senses, and his ear tips gradually heated up.

He had kissed Xie Ningwan, so should he take responsibility…?

But Xie Ningwan had kissed him back today, and it was a deep kiss. That evens it out.

“Yaoyao?” Song Yaoyao’s forehead was about to bump into the small table. Xie Ningwan spoke up, reached out to shield between him and the table, and cradled his forehead.

Song Yaoyao’s forehead landed in Xie Ningwan’s broad palm. He subconsciously rubbed his soft forehead hair against it, then suddenly reacted, abruptly lifted his head, sat up straight, and his gaze darted away.

Xie Ningwan chuckled softly, reached out to lightly poke his bulging cheek, and said warmly, “It’s fine. You don’t have to give me an answer right away.”

His tone was light, but his eyes closely watched Song Yaoyao’s expression, worried about seeing any emotions other than nervousness and confusion on his face.

Song Yaoyao was poked by him and covered his cheek. His round eyes lifted again to look at him.

The faint red at the corners of his eyes hadn’t faded, and now his eyelids and cheeks had a bit more color too, rosy and plump, like a little apple. Xie Ningwan’s expression softened as he gently wiped the corner of his eye with his fingertip.

Song Yaoyao’s gaze unconsciously drifted to Xie Ningwan’s lips, then quickly shifted away.

Xie Ningwan noticed and subtly curved his lips, also recalling that kiss from before.

He naturally took the small fork from Song Yaoyao’s hand, speared a crisp piece of apple, put it in his own mouth, savored it slowly, then speared another piece and held it to Song Yaoyao’s mouth.

Song Yaoyao was often fed by him and habitually opened his mouth to bite it.

The TV in the hospital room was still playing, showing Song Yaoyao’s favorite cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants. He had already watched the full series and was now rewatching from the beginning.

The screen was playing the episode where SpongeBob blew bubbles—the one Song Yaoyao had watched when he first transmigrated—full of joyful comedy.

Song Yaoyao ate the apple Xie Ningwan fed him while rewatching the cartoon. He tilted his head to glance at Xie Ningwan’s face, and his heart gradually calmed.

He could let things take their natural course, slowly.

Although Song Yaoyao hadn’t been seriously injured this time, he had still been quite frightened. His nerves were tense, and after receiving the news that Song Huaichuan was his biological brother and Xie Ningwan’s confession one after another, he fell asleep from exhaustion not long after dinner.

He had some trouble sleeping in new places and didn’t sleep soundly. Without his soothing Little Bear Doll beside him, he tossed and turned in his half-asleep state.

Xie Ningwan sat by the bed, gently holding him, rhythmically patting his back with one hand while using the other to contact Assistant Lei on his phone, investigating and handling the mastermind behind today’s kidnapping.

He already had a suspect in mind. As he read the messages from Assistant Lei, his face darkened coldly, his eyes like a deep abyss.

Song Yaoyao in front of him moved restlessly, turned over, hugged his waist, and pillowed his head on his lap. Xie Ningwan looked down, his gaze turning gentle. He stroked the back of his head, pulled up the blanket, and tucked him in properly.

Messages from Assistant Lei kept popping up:

【The two perpetrators have been detained. One of them has talked, and it involves a lot of people. The other was beaten quite badly by President Song and was sent to the hospital first.】

【President Song took into account that the person behind it is from the Xie Family, so he asked me to inform you first.】

Xie Ningwan grasped Song Yaoyao’s wrist, which had emerged from the blanket to wrap around his waist, and gently rubbed it. In a cold voice, he replied: 【Tell President Song not to hold back. I’ll handle the aftermath.】

He had said he would make them pay a hundredfold.

【Yes, President Xie.】 Assistant Lei replied.

…

After resting simply in the hospital room overnight with Song Yaoyao in his arms, the next morning, Xie Ningwan had the doctor come for a second checkup on Song Yaoyao. Once it was confirmed there were no issues, he took him home.

Regarding the kidnapping, Song Yaoyao only met a few police officers in white uniforms before going home, accompanied by Xie Ningwan. They gently asked him a few brief questions.

After discharge, back at the villa, Xie Ningwan didn’t go to the company for the next couple of days. He stayed with Song Yaoyao, working from home and handling matters.

In the afternoon, Song Huaichuan came to visit and see Song Yaoyao.

“President Song.” Xie Ningwan received the notice in advance and opened the gate for him.

“President Xie.” Song Huaichuan stood at the door. His handsome face looked slightly fatigued, but his eyes were spirited. After greeting Xie Ningwan, he looked toward Song Yaoyao.

“Yaoyao.” His voice was gentle.

Song Yaoyao still stood half a step behind Xie Ningwan’s side, tugging at the hem of Xie Ningwan’s clothes. He poked his head out and tentatively called, “Brother.”

Song Huaichuan was moved, his eyes reddening again. Seeing Song Yaoyao’s intimate little action toward Xie Ningwan, he paused slightly.

“President Song, please come in.” Xie Ningwan subtly curved his lips and gestured him inside.

The three of them moved to the sofa in the living room. Song Yaoyao sat in the middle, with Song Huaichuan on one side, keeping a person’s distance between them.

Xie Ningwan sat on Song Yaoyao’s other side. He went to the kitchen first to brew tea and temporarily left the living room space for them to talk.

On the sofa, Song Yaoyao wore Little Bear loungewear and sat upright with Song Huaichuan alone.

Song Huaichuan’s gaze uncontrollably softened as it swept over his cute, childish Little Bear clothes. He noticed the Little Bear Doll beside him—the same one he had seen last time in the president’s office at Xie Building, Xie Ningwan’s office.

“Yaoyao, how’s your body?” Song Huaichuan asked about his condition first.

“It’s almost better.” Song Yaoyao proactively rolled up his loungewear sleeve to show him. The red marks on his wrist had faded quite a bit.

“That’s good.” The marks were very faint, but seeing them still made Song Huaichuan’s brows furrow with heartache.

After confirming his physical condition, Song Huaichuan continued from yesterday’s reunion topic and slowly recounted Song Yaoyao’s childhood.

“You were lost when you were so small, just this big.” Song Huaichuan gestured with his hand, his lips curving, but his smile looked like crying, his eyes reddening.

A hint of sadness appeared in Song Yaoyao’s eyes too. He kept his hands properly on his knees and listened silently.

Halfway through, Song Huaichuan felt he had lost composure and didn’t want to make Song Yaoyao sad with him, so he held his breath and asked, “Yaoyao, how did you get by before?”

His hands clasped together on his knees—a nervous gesture. He was very afraid of hearing a bad answer.

Song Yaoyao selectively mentioned a few things about watching cartoons with friends at the foster family’s place and going to school.

Song Huaichuan followed up on some, and Song Yaoyao obediently responded. The two went back and forth.

Soon, Xie Ningwan brought out two cups of tea from the kitchen and warmed a cup of milk for Song Yaoyao.

Song Huaichuan picked up his teacup and took a sip. Song Yaoyao also held his milk cup and slowly sipped.

After a moment, Song Huaichuan gripped his teacup, his fingers tightening slightly. He looked at Song Yaoyao and gently tried again, “Yaoyao, once this matter is resolved… Brother will take you home, okay?”

Song Yaoyao lifted his eyes from the milk cup, pursed his lips, and nodded. “…Okay.”

Song Huaichuan’s throat bobbed as he swallowed the tension and apprehension. He blinked his reddened eyes.

Song Yaoyao blinked his eyes too. Xie Ningwan, sitting behind him, reached out to soothingly stroke the back of his neck.

Song Huaichuan had other arrangements later. After spending some time with Song Yaoyao, he prepared to leave.

Song Yaoyao and Xie Ningwan saw him out together.

Standing outside, Song Huaichuan turned back, smiled faintly at the fluffy Little Bear Slippers on Song Yaoyao’s feet that matched his loungewear, and said, “You go inside first, Yaoyao. President Xie and I have something to discuss.”

“Okay.” Song Yaoyao clung to the door obediently, nodded, and returned to the living room first.

Song Huaichuan’s gaze followed his back until it disappeared around the corner, then shifted to Xie Ningwan.

“President Song.” Xie Ningwan’s expression was composed.

“President Xie.” Song Huaichuan nodded to him, steadied himself, and bluntly asked next, “What is your relationship with Yaoyao?”

In the past few days, he had been focused on the excitement and mixed joy and sorrow of finding Song Yaoyao. Although he had noticed their closeness, he had no time to dwell on it. He thought Song Yaoyao was really working as an assistant at Xie and had only asked once how Xie Ningwan met him, but Xie Ningwan hadn’t answered directly.

Just now in the villa, Song Yaoyao was completely relaxed and natural, like he was at his own home. Everything he wore and used was custom-made to match.

Even in just the living room, there were many things that belonged to Song Yaoyao.

“What exactly is your relationship with Yaoyao?”

“…”

After a moment of silence, Xie Ningwan said concisely, “Ask Yaoyao.”

He didn’t have a clear title yet.