After lying on Xie Ningwan’s back for forty minutes and watching him work, Song Yaoyao had long since fallen asleep. When Xie Ningwan moved, he tumbled rolling off into the air and fell with a bump.
Song Yaoyao rubbed his eyes and floated up, then stuck close again.
He had just hugged Xie Ningwan’s neck once more and buried his head in the crook of Xie Ningwan’s shoulder, preparing to continue sleeping, when he heard Xie Ningwan facing the direction of the sofa say, “Little Bear, come here.”
As he spoke, his throat vibrated, and Song Yaoyao woke up: “?”
Song Yaoyao was dazed for a moment before he remembered that Xie Ningwan was calling him. He quickly floated over to cover it up, moved the little bear doll a bit, and pretended he had been sitting there the whole time.
Xie Ningwan tapped his finger on the desk: “Come here.”
Song Yaoyao lifted the little bear doll and flew it toward Xie Ningwan.
A faint cool breeze circled past him, sweeping up the little bear doll and bringing it back.
Xie Ningwan smiled faintly without smiling, looking at the little bear doll floating in midair. Through it, he gazed at the sneaky little ghost behind it who was controlling it, but for the time being, he did not expose this rogue little ghost trying to fool him.
Just now, while signing a document, he had thought of something else. The little ghost had previously stolen his pen and could read storybooks.
Xie Ningwan: “Can you write?”
The little bear nodded.
Xie Ningwan placed the pen and paper from in front of him to the side: “I can’t keep calling you Little Bear forever. What’s your name?”
Song Yaoyao set the little bear doll on the desk and picked up the pen to write on the paper.
His handwriting was actually very nice; back in school, teachers often praised it. But now that he had no physical body, his hand holding the pen was ethereal, and it had been a long time since he had written anything, so he couldn’t adapt right away.
Xie Ningwan watched as the pen moved on its own in midair, leaving a line of crooked, ant-crawling scrawl on the paper.
[I am called Song Yaoyao.]
Song Yaoyao? Something flashed through Xie Ningwan’s mind. He vaguely felt like he had heard or seen this name somewhere before, but he couldn’t grasp it.
“Good,” Xie Ningwan picked up the paper and read it once, “Song Yaoyao.”
Song Yaoyao sat on the swivel chair across from him, arms resting on the desk, head also laid down on it, tilting his head to look at him. The little bear doll sat right by his head.
Xie Ningwan looked at the little bear doll. It wore a little yellow outfit with a small pocket just right for the purpose. Xie Ningwan took a signing pen and a memo pad from nearby and put them inside, so Song Yaoyao could write whenever he wanted to communicate with him.
“In the future, when you want to talk to me, use this memo pad to write.”
Song Yaoyao pressed down on the little bear’s head and nodded.
One person, one little ghost, and one little bear doll stayed together, the atmosphere strangely harmonious.
Xie Ningwan asked again: “How old are you? Do you remember?”
【18.】 Song Yaoyao wrote on the memo pad.
Xie Ningwan lowered his eyes and lightly raised a brow. Sure enough, he really was just a little little ghost.
“The room next to the study is the one you’ve been staying in, right?” Xie Ningwan said.
Song Yaoyao hadn’t expected that Xie Ningwan had even discovered his previous room. He was a bit surprised and nodded.
After nodding, he remembered that Xie Ningwan couldn’t see him, so he pressed down on the little bear’s head and nodded again.
However… Song Yaoyao thought secretly, he hadn’t returned to “his” room for several days now. Nowadays, he slept directly in Xie Ningwan’s room and on Xie Ningwan’s bed, and he had even been caught once.
But Xie Ningwan didn’t mention it, so Song Yaoyao decided not to say anything either and pretend he knew nothing. He hoped Xie Ningwan had already forgotten.
“That room will be your room from now on. You can continue sleeping there at night.” Xie Ningwan’s gaze swept over the little bear, his speech slowing, the words pointed.
Song Yaoyao tilted his head, pretending not to hear.
·
After Xie Ningwan exposed Song Yaoyao’s existence, he could openly watch TV and read books.
That evening, after leaving the company and returning home, Xie Ningwan worked at his desk while Song Yaoyao sat not far from him watching TV.
Now that Song Yaoyao had gained the freedom to watch TV, he was no longer limited to just SpongeBob SquarePants. He watched everything, and bursts of chattering and squealing from cartoon characters came from the TV one after another. Xie Ningwan sat on the single sofa nearby and occasionally looked up, disturbed by the noise.
Song Yaoyao, still in his little ghost form, occupied the entire long sofa, lying right in the center with several throw pillows piled beside him and the little bear doll in his arms as he watched the cartoons and laughed heartily.
After one ended, he picked up the remote by his hand and switched to another.
The TV remote floated in midair and changed channels automatically—a scene that would seem eerie to anyone else—but Xie Ningwan found it somewhat amusing.
He lowered his head to look at the screen of his laptop and gently shook his head.
As night deepened and he noticed the time approaching midnight, Xie Ningwan closed his laptop and said to the little bear on the sofa, “Time for bed.”
“Okay.” Song Yaoyao reluctantly hugged the little bear doll and floated up from the sofa.
He said okay, but actually stayed floating motionless in front of the TV, still holding the little bear doll. Xie Ningwan held his laptop in one hand, stepped forward, and turned off the TV with the remote. Only then did Song Yaoyao snap out of the cartoons.
Xie Ningwan was ready to sleep too. He went upstairs first to put the laptop back in the study, then returned to the master bedroom. Song Yaoyao hugged the little bear and followed closely behind him, step by step.
When they reached the bedroom next to the study, Xie Ningwan stopped.
Song Yaoyao had been seriously following right on his heels and couldn’t brake in time. He collided with Xie Ningwan’s back along with the little bear.
Song Yaoyao rubbed his forehead and looked up at him: “?”
“Your room is here.” Xie Ningwan turned around and lifted his chin to indicate.
“Oh…” Song Yaoyao stopped, placed his hand on the doorknob, watched Xie Ningwan’s expression carefully, slowly opened the door, and then dawdled inside with the little bear doll.
As he entered, he glanced back at Xie Ningwan again and noticed that Xie Ningwan was still watching him, so he had no choice but to obediently go in.
Once Song Yaoyao had put on the act of returning to his bedroom to “sleep,” Xie Ningwan continued to the study, then went back downstairs to the master bedroom on the second floor.
Separated only by the ceiling, Song Yaoyao entered the room and placed the little bear doll he was holding on the bed.
He looked at the little bear, thought for a moment, lifted the covers to place the little bear doll in the center of the bed, then tucked it back in.
He thought a bit more and even patted the nearby bedsheets to make them a little messy, making it look like someone had slept there.
After completing this series of disguises, Song Yaoyao clapped his hands and nodded, very satisfied. Then, he floated out of the room and sneaked off once more to climb into Xie Ningwan’s bed.
Song Yaoyao arrived at the door of the master bedroom and carefully tested the waters. He even waited a while, pressing against the door crack to eavesdrop on the sounds inside.
Confirming that Xie Ningwan had fallen asleep and that the bedroom held only the sound of steady breathing and nothing else, Song Yaoyao quietly slipped inside.
The room was very dark, but ever since becoming a little ghost, Song Yaoyao’s eyesight had become exceptionally good; he could see clearly at night. He spotted Xie Ningwan on the large central bed at a glance.
He sneaked to the bedside and climbed up. He had just lifted the edge of the blanket—
“Song Yaoyao.” A low voice sounded in the darkness.
