Chapter 43: The Little Ghost Boldly Eats Ice Cream

After parting with Song Huaichuan, Song Yaoyao’s mind was still in a daze.

‘Could it really be like that?’ Song Yaoyao hesitated.

His identity had been arranged by the System. Although he still had not figured out who he was, Song Huaichuan’s younger brother should originally have been a character in the book, so it probably was not him.

He walked back to the company lobby, head hanging low in thought.

When he reached the elevator reserved for the president, Song Yaoyao reached out to press the button. He looked up and realized the elevator doors were already open, and a hand withdrew from behind him.

Song Yaoyao turned his head and saw Assistant Lei standing behind him.

“Assistant Lei, why are you here?” Song Yaoyao asked in surprise.

Assistant Lei bowed to him apologetically and confessed frankly, “Sorry, Little Young Master. I was just sitting at the table diagonally behind yours earlier. President Xie was not entirely at ease about you.”

Song Yaoyao nodded, indicating he understood.

“But don’t worry, Little Young Master. I did not hear your conversation,” Assistant Lei explained.

“It’s fine,” Song Yaoyao shook his head.

The two entered the elevator. Assistant Lei swiped his card and pressed the floor. Seeing that Song Yaoyao was not in high spirits, he said to him, “Although I am powerless to help, if there’s anything, you can tell President Xie. He will definitely listen to you.”

“Got it, thank you,” Song Yaoyao nodded again.

The elevator soon reached the floor with the president’s office. After getting off, Song Yaoyao headed straight to Xie Ningwan’s office.

Assistant Lei walked at his side and pushed open the large door for him ahead of time, then gently closed it behind him before stepping out.

Behind the desk, Xie Ningwan had already received the short message from Assistant Lei. He leaned back in his chair, watching Song Yaoyao’s state with a furrowed brow.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Ningwan asked softly.

Song Yaoyao walked forward and slowly climbed onto Xie Ningwan’s lap to sit. He draped himself over Xie Ningwan’s front, wrapped his arms around his neck, and listlessly rested his head in the hollow of Xie Ningwan’s shoulder, completely devoid of his earlier energy.

Xie Ningwan frowned, wrapped his arm around Song Yaoyao’s waist, and gently patted his back. He asked again, “What’s wrong?”

Song Yaoyao rubbed his head in the hollow of Xie Ningwan’s shoulder. His soft hair brushed against Xie Ningwan’s neck, looking utterly wilted.

“Did President Song say something bad to you?” Xie Ningwan’s hand did not stop its rhythmic patting to soothe him.

“It’s not exactly bad,” Song Yaoyao mumbled into his clothes.

“Mm.” Xie Ningwan pulled him close, lowered his head slightly, and rested his jaw against the soft hair on top of Song Yaoyao’s head, patiently waiting for him to speak.

The person in his arms really was like a sticky mochi dumpling. Xie Ningwan faintly smelled strawberries on Song Yaoyao.

A strawberry mochi dumpling.

“President Song first said that he had checked my registration matching information for me but found nothing…” Song Yaoyao’s words were a bit jumbled as he mumbled on, “Then he said someone at the Charity Association was negligent and that he would investigate it later…”

“…Finally, he said I look a lot like his missing younger brother and wanted to do a kinship test with me,” Song Yaoyao got to the point.

Hearing this, Xie Ningwan paused as well. He looked down at Song Yaoyao, his brows knitting together.

He remembered now. Back then, he had not been very old yet and had not gotten involved in his parents’ business affairs. One day, he vaguely overheard them chatting about how the Song Family’s Little Young Master had fallen into the water by accident and had never been found, which dealt a heavy blow to the Song Family.

After that, the Song Family stopped doing business and focused entirely on charity work, establishing the Song Family Charity Association.

Later, the Xie Family went through a series of upheavals. Xie Ningwan’s parents passed away, and he stopped paying attention to the matter, letting it fade into the depths of his memory.

“President Song said that you, me, and his parents all look a bit alike. Do you think I resemble them?” Song Yaoyao suddenly lifted his head to ask.

The distance between them closed abruptly, and Xie Ningwan’s lips nearly brushed against Song Yaoyao’s forehead and bangs.

Song Yaoyao paid no mind to that slight touch. He tilted his face up, eyes wide open earnestly, lips pursed, expression serious.

At such close range to Song Yaoyao, close enough to share breaths, Xie Ningwan’s gaze was equally serious as it swept over Song Yaoyao’s curved eyebrows, round eyes, and perky nose one by one, finally lingering on his lips, his eyes darkening.

“Do I?” He had stared for so long that Song Yaoyao could not help but ask again curiously.

Xie Ningwan’s gaze traveled back from his lips to his nose, eyes, and eyebrows.

“The former president and president’s wife of the Song Family Charity Association rarely appear in public, so my impression of them is not deep,” Xie Ningwan said in a low voice. He raised his hand and gently tapped the corner of Song Yaoyao’s eye. “But I just noticed that your eyes are very similar to Song Huaichuan’s.”

He had not met with Song Huaichuan much before and had not noticed it in the past few days.

Song Yaoyao and Song Huaichuan had very similar eye shapes, except Song Yaoyao’s eyes were a bit rounder, lively and spirited, while Song Huaichuan’s were more aloof and refined, so it was not obvious at a glance.

Song Yaoyao was stunned again. “Really?”

“But that is not something you can tell just from the eyes,” Xie Ningwan supported Song Yaoyao’s waist, helping him sit up straight. He adjusted his own posture as well to look him in the eye and said solemnly, “What did Song Huaichuan say? Did he schedule a time with you to draw blood?”

“Mm,” Song Yaoyao, straddling his lap, nodded. “But I said I wanted to think it over carefully first and would contact him in a couple of days.”

“Good. Let’s think it over carefully first,” Xie Ningwan soothed him.

Song Yaoyao buried his face back into the hollow of Xie Ningwan’s neck again. His whole body was limp and soft, unwilling to move. Having suddenly received this news, his mood was still low.

“Did you just eat strawberry cake downstairs?” Xie Ningwan held him and sniffed lightly at his cheek.

“No,” Song Yaoyao said. “It was strawberry milk tea.”

“Then do you want cake now? The administrative department just bought some. I can have Assistant Lei bring it in,” Xie Ningwan coaxed him.

“I don’t want any,” Song Yaoyao said.

Xie Ningwan tempted him. “How about another cup of milk tea?”

“No more.”

Xie Ningwan: “What about ice cream? Your favorite kind.”

Song Yaoyao: “No.”

Xie Ningwan: “Not even ice cream?”

Song Yaoyao had worries weighing on his mind and said glumly, “I’m not eating anything.”

Xie Ningwan smiled with affectionate helplessness. “That really is serious.”

The two quietly embraced for a moment. Xie Ningwan still had documents to sign. In this position, he rested his jaw on top of Song Yaoyao’s head, one arm around him, and picked up his pen with the other to sign on the desk.

Song Yaoyao lay on Xie Ningwan for a while. He did not know if it was due to long-term psychological habit, but back when he was the Little Ghost, he had relied on sticking to Xie Ningwan to absorb fortune and recover energy. Now that he had turned back into a human, sticking to Xie Ningwan seemed to restore some energy as well.

After regulating himself, he slid off Xie Ningwan like a little fish and went back to the sofa to grab his tablet.

“Want ice cream now?” Xie Ningwan paused his work to watch his movements.

It was a pity that the mochi dumpling in his arms was gone.

“I do,” Song Yaoyao picked up the tablet, returned to the desk, and placed it across from Xie Ningwan, preparing to watch online classes and do homework.

“Good.” Xie Ningwan felt relieved and messaged Assistant Lei to bring in the ice cream.

·

Two days later, Song Yaoyao replied to Song Huaichuan. Xie Ningwan accompanied Song Yaoyao to meet Song Huaichuan for the kinship test.

The testing location was at the most authoritative judicial identification center in a hospital in the city. The center usually cooperated with the Charity Association as well.

Inside the identification center, Song Yaoyao went into the room first with the doctor to have his blood drawn. Xie Ningwan and Song Huaichuan waited outside.

Song Huaichuan was usually a very composed person, but today he seemed particularly restless. He shifted positions in his chair several times and finally crossed his knees, barely calming down, though his expression remained tense and urgent.

Xie Ningwan’s gaze was steadily fixed on the door, his deep, sharp brows somewhat tense as well.

“President Xie,” Song Huaichuan took a breath. To stay calm, he struck up a conversation with Xie Ningwan and asked the question he had been concerned about from the start. “Where did you first meet Yaoyao?”

“Picked him up,” Xie Ningwan replied calmly and concisely.

“Picked him up?” Song Huaichuan’s eyes widened in disbelief as he exclaimed in surprise.

“Mm.” Xie Ningwan responded indifferently.

He glanced at the door where Song Yaoyao had gone in. If he said it was because the Little Ghost had been acting like a rogue and got caught by him, Song Huaichuan would probably find it even harder to believe.