Chapter 22: The Little Ghost Boldly Eats Cake

The meeting hall was at the other end of the corridor. When Song Yaoyao floated over, he passed by the restroom. He still remembered the two ghosts he had accidentally bumped into last time. Afraid of being discovered, he sneaked past in a flash, moving swiftly.

He curiously glanced inside, but the restroom door was closed, and he did not see any sign of Mop Head or Skinny Bamboo Pole.

He floated all the way to the room with the meeting hall plaque on the door. The door was shut tight. Song Yaoyao probed at the door crack, then finally floated in through the window above the wall.

As soon as he passed through the window, he heard an angry voice from a middle-aged man inside.

“President Xie, what do you mean by this? Are you suspecting that someone on my team has a problem?”

Xie Ningwan’s voice remained indifferent: “You’re mistaken. The submitted report indicates that you yourself have a problem.”

Song Yaoyao sat on the ceiling chandelier and looked down. A pot-bellied man flushed with anger, his face full of fury: “President Xie, you’re directly pinning the blame on me? How is that possible? Everything I’ve done has been above board, crystal clear, without a shred of conscience betrayed.”

After he finished speaking, he even pulled the others into it: “I’ve worked myself to the bone for Xie Corporation for so many years. Even if there are no merits, there are hardships. For you to question me like this chills the hearts of all us veterans present.”

Xie Ningwan looked at him without speaking. Another middle-aged man wearing glasses spoke up in support: “Yeah, President Xie, for you to convict him without distinguishing right from wrong really does chill the heart…”

“…If this continues, it will make us question whether your decisions are even correct.”

“Xie Corporation is already not what it used to be. If you drive away us veterans now, it’ll be even more…”

The group chimed in one after another, echoing each other, trying to put Xie Ningwan on the spot in public.

Song Yaoyao narrowed his eyes, glowered, and sank down to check the nameplates on the conference table.

The ones speaking were exactly those on the list from before that Xie Ningwan had mentioned!

Song Yaoyao could not hold back anymore. He charged straight at the pot-bellied man who had spoken first.

“…Like this, what would the late President Xie and his wife think watching from the spirits in heaven? Their souls in the afterlife…”

Xie Ningwan had been listening quietly to their accusations. When they mentioned his parents, his hands, crossed on the desk, tightened slightly, and his gaze turned icy.

But before he could respond, the chair of the executive who was speaking below suddenly flipped over.

“!?”

“What was that?” The middle-aged man nearly fell and jumped to his feet, looking behind him in shock.

“What happened?” Everyone’s attention was drawn over. “Didn’t sit steady?”

“No!” The man retorted, his face ashen.

The meeting secretary stepped forward to help right the chair. Before she got close, the documents on the desk in front of the man suddenly rustled without wind, flipping noisily before “slap” falling straight to the floor.

“??” Everyone’s faces showed astonishment.

After a moment of silence, the bespectacled middle-aged man was about to speak when, even more abruptly, the lights overhead flickered out, plunging the entire meeting hall into darkness.

“…”

That man had just mentioned the late President Xie and his wife’s spirits in heaven. At this moment, no one failed to make the association.

Cold sweat broke out on everyone’s backs.

Xie Ningwan’s gaze swept through the air before he lowered his eyes, hiding the soft amusement at the bottom.

The meeting ended in chaos, and no one knew what happened after that.

In the break room, a few slacking employees chatted furtively.

“Hey, what exactly happened in the meeting hall? I saw every executive come out looking grim.”

“No idea, I’m curious too.”

“I heard,” one employee lowered his voice mysteriously, “they say the meeting hall is haunted!”

“Ah…!”

“Really? That spooky? No way.”

“I heard it from Secretary Chen. She was in there taking minutes.”

“You’re messing with me. Haunted, hahaha.”

“She said everyone was scared, but President Xie stayed calm.”

“When has President Xie ever not been calm? I’ve never seen any other expression on him.”

“True, hahahaha…”

The group laughed and joked as they opened the break room fridge to grab desserts. The employee standing at the fridge door puzzled: “Hey, why is today’s cake so much less? Did admin slack off?”

“No way, probably someone like us came to slack off and ate extra.”

“Maybe. Whatever, doesn’t matter.”

…

“President Xie, your coffee.” The new assistant pushed open the door to the president’s office and said respectfully.

Xie Ningwan nodded slightly and lowered his eyes to look at the meeting minutes and documents on his desk.

The assistant gently placed the coffee on the table and turned to leave when Xie Ningwan looked up at the cup, as if suddenly remembering something. He said, “Bring in a cup of milk too.”

“Ah, did I do something wrong, President Xie?” This assistant had been newly promoted after the company dealt with Lin Guan. He froze for a moment and asked tentatively, “Assistant Lei told me you always drink your coffee black, no milk or sugar.”

“I suddenly felt like changing it up today.” Xie Ningwan said indifferently. After a pause, he continued, “Prepare some snacks too.”

The assistant bowed his head: “Yes, sir.”

His seniors had also said President Xie never ate the company’s snacks… He left puzzled but unquestioning. Soon, he returned with fresh milk and snacks.

Xie Ningwan nodded slightly and gestured to the desk: “Put it here. You can go.”

“Yes, President Xie.” The assistant bowed slightly, retreated, and closed the office door.

He did not know that after he left, Xie Ningwan moved the cup of milk and plate of snacks to the empty chair across the desk.

“Is it for me? Is it for me?”

Song Yaoyao had been sprawled on the office sofa. Noticing Xie Ningwan’s action, he floated right in front of him.

Song Yaoyao: “If you don’t say anything, that means it’s for me.” He propped himself on the desk corner, looking at Xie Ningwan.

Most of the time, Xie Ningwan still could not hear Song Yaoyao speak now, because his soul power was insufficient. Speaking out loud consumed a lot of energy, so after Song Yaoyao finished speaking without waiting for a response, he leaned his head straight to the milk cup.

“In the future, I’ll have snacks sent over. No need to squeeze into the break room anymore.” Xie Ningwan suddenly spoke, looking at the empty air in front of him.

Xie Ningwan even knew about that! Song Yaoyao jerked his head up to look at him, then puffed his cheeks.

He lowered his head and held the milk cup to drink.

From Xie Ningwan’s perspective, the milk in the cup on the desk gradually decreased, drunk by an invisible little spirit.