Chapter 4: Fake Innocence

Chapter 4: Fake Innocence

The Chi Family's concern about Ye Man's bad behavior was not unfounded.

Others might not know, but Ye Man knew exactly what he was like.

From a young age, he knew he was good-looking. Every time he went out, as long as he gave a sweet smile at passing uncles and aunties, he would always receive a round of praise, occasionally even scoring some snacks like jelly or chocolate.

After enjoying these rewards, even at a tender age, he had already learned how to use his looks and charm to get what he wanted.

At that time, his neighbors were a grandmother and her granddaughter. The little girl's parents were rarely seen, but her grandmother doted on her. The girl was clearly spoiled from a young age, naive and innocent, always dressed in pretty dresses and holding lollipops with foreign words on the wrappers that Ye Man couldn't read.

Once, Ye Man heard Ye Guowen say that it was an imported brand, not available where they lived, and speculated that the girl's parents must be quite wealthy, though he couldn't understand why they lived in their old, rundown building.

The candy looked so bright and appealing, and the wrapper was beautiful too.

Ye Guowen had become addicted to gambling when Ye Man was just three years old, refusing to work, leaving the family to survive on the 2,000 yuan his mother earned each month as a textile worker. Money was tight, and Ye Man had never seen such luxuries before, so he really wanted them.

One day, when the little girl was playing alone in the sand at a nearby park, Ye Man, with his innocent and harmless face, started talking to her casually, pretending to befriend her. Eventually, he used a sand sculpture of a rabbit to get her to give him her candy.

A sand rabbit wasn’t worth her fancy candy, was it?

So Ye Man lied, telling her that he was secretly a magician, and that the rabbit he made wasn't ordinary. Once he mastered his magic, the rabbit would come to life.

The girl was foolish. Ye Man had stopped believing such tales by the age of five, but she, at seven, believed him and reluctantly handed over her lollipop.

They agreed that every evening, Ye Man would teach her "rabbit magic," with the tuition fee being one lollipop.

Thus, the great magician Ye Man acquired a disciple who gave him a lollipop every day.

Under the fiery evening sunset, Ye Man sat on a swing, calmly eating the girl's candy while directing her to tirelessly build sand sculptures in the pit, laughing at her in his mind.

Later, something happened. Late at night, a bunch of police cars showed up, and the girl and her grandmother were taken away by her parents, never to return. Before leaving, the silly girl was still upset about not finishing her rabbit magic, crying bitterly.

There was also the lady who owned the snail noodle shop who initially didn't want to hire him because he was too young. Ye Man immediately made up a sad story that moved the owner to tears, convincing her to take him in kind of as a favor.

Such incidents, big and small, were too numerous to count.

Using his looks and his smooth talk, Ye Man always got what he wanted.

He used his looks to seem nice and harmless, but in reality, he was sinister, narrow-minded, and greedy, a sneaky liar.

He coveted Chi Jue's possessions, not because he understood their value, but out of sheer jealousy and resentment. In his mind, everything Chi Jue had should rightfully be his. Whatever Chi Jue took from the Chi Family, Ye Man harbored petty grudges.

Although the mix-up at birth wasn't Chi Jue's fault—he was innocent, and no one was to blame—it was just an unfortunate mistake. A reasonable person wouldn't hold it against Chi Jue, but Ye Man was anything but reasonable.

He was a malicious antagonist, after all. Could someone like him be expected to be fair-minded? The system picked the right guy.

He only pretended to be understanding to win the favor of those around him; he wasn't truly considerate.

...

At the doorway.

When Chi Jue heard Ye Man’s sweet talk, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Then I'll choose. Don't get upset if you don't like it. You've worked hard today, so rest early and don't stay up too late, okay?"

Ye Man felt a pang of guilt.

Does he know about the time I was "swimming" in the big bathtub in my room late into the night?

The room the Chi Family gave him was huge—bigger than his entire old home. The bathroom had a massive bathtub, incredibly beautiful. Ye Man, who’d never seen anything so fancy, spent hours happily splashing around in it over the next few days.

But then again, it seemed impossible.

He’d cleaned up after himself, so there was no way anyone could’ve found out.

Ye Man straightened up.

He twitched his ears. With no one around, his mischievous side couldn’t help but show.

Even though he knew his antics would backfire, old habits die hard.

Seeing Chi Jue play the part of the refined older brother, Ye Man couldn’t resist the urge to mess with him.

Chi Jue’s misery was his joy.

Feeling mischievous, Ye Man put on a shy, apologetic look: "There’s no need for Second Brother to spend money. The watch Dad gave you the other day is quite nice. I happen to be missing a watch. How about Second Brother gives me the watch Dad gave you as my birthday present?"

The system held back its words.

Maybe because Ye Man had talked about those cheesy dramas before, the system thought his words sounded... manipulative, like a classic villain.

"Ye Man..."

Ye Man: "Brother Tong, don’t sweat it. If he dares to yell at me, I’ll just tattle to Big Brother tomorrow and say he’s picking on me!"

"No..."

Chi Jue said, "Xiaoman, it’s not that I don’t want to give it to you..."

Chi Jue paused, weighing his words, "I’ll buy you a new one."

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Ye Man quickly put on a wounded look: "It’s fine if Brother doesn’t want to share. I was being selfish. Forget I even asked. Goodnight."

He shut the door, leaving Auntie Zhou, holding a cup of hot milk, looking puzzled.

"Second Young Master?"

Chi Jue rubbed his forehead, took the milk from Auntie Zhou, knocked on the door, and set the tray down gently, saying, "Xiaoman, Auntie Zhou brought you some milk. Don’t forget to grab it before it cools."

When no reply came, Chi Jue left.

A moment later, the door creaked open, and a hand darted out to snatch the milk.

The door closed.

The system finally added, "Host, you’re blind. What’s the point of a mechanical watch? You can’t even see it."

Just as Ye Man was about to ask if he’d done a good job making the protagonist cry: "..."

Ye Man’s face flushed.

With milk in one hand and his phone in the other, he fumbled with the quick-access feature Chi Yan had shown him earlier.

Still getting used to the phone’s accessibility settings, he accidentally opened another app.

Suddenly, the room erupted with loud, fast-paced drum music.

A male voice said sarcastically, "No need for you to spend money, big bro. That watch Grandpa gave you the other day is pretty nice. I could really use a watch, so how about you just hand it over to me?"

Another male voice angrily responded, "Li Liu, you’re crossing the line! That’s my mom’s heirloom!"

Ye Man: "..."

System: "..."

Ye Man’s face flushed even deeper.

Fumbling to close the tab, he accidentally clicked on another drama.

A woman’s voice wailed in despair, "Divorce! I want a divorce! Li Jue, you knew my grandma has Alzheimer’s and needs someone to look after her, yet you left her alone at home to celebrate your precious ‘white moonlight’s’ birthday. Now she’s in the hospital with severe injuries from a gas explosion. She’s all the family I’ve got left! If anything happens to her, I’ll make you and your precious ‘white moonlight’ pay for this!"

System: "..."

Ye Man scrambled to turn off his phone.

The frantic sound effects finally stopped.

The room plunged into dead silence.

Ye Man: TAT

"Brother Tong, you’re my one and only Brother Tong, give me one more chance!"

System: )

"Brother Tong, don’t stay silent!"

Ye Man was so nervous he started sweating.

He collapsed to the floor with a groan, this time remembering to cover his right hand. His eyes welled up with tears instantly, looking even more pitiful than the heroine whose grandmother was severely injured in the hospital. "I... I’m just scared. Losing a leg would be so painful, not being able to walk—it’s just tragic. I’ll never find a job, never find a partner, no one’s gonna want me, it’s so pitiful..."

The system let out a snort.

It had seen through it now—Ye Man was no different from the malicious cannon fodder it had dealt with before!

"Cut the act. I’m heading back to headquarters. We’ll talk tomorrow if there’s anything."

Ye Man froze, his panic growing, his voice becoming even more pitiful and soft. "Brother Tong, don’t leave. I’m scared alone at night..."

The system let out a cold laugh.

Keep spinning your tales.

Anyone who believes him again is a fool!

"...Brother Tong?"

The room was silent.

The mind became quiet again.

Brother Tong was gone.

Ye Man sat on the floor, biting his lower lip, alertly turning his head, trying hard to open his sightless eyes wide, attempting to see the surroundings clearly.

Darkness and silence washed over him like a wave.

The room was large and empty, and a leaf fell against the floor-to-ceiling window, startling him, causing his shoulders to shrink.

Ye Man mumbled as he got up, "I'm really scared."

He stood still for a while, staring at the large bed in the center of the room that didn't touch any walls, at a loss.

Using his limited vision, he locked onto the wardrobe on one side. Ye Man immediately dragged his quilt and pillow with enthusiasm, huffing and puffing as he lugged them toward the wardrobe. Midway, he tripped and fell because he couldn't see clearly.

He rubbed his sore nose, sat there alone, and called out for Brother Tong twice. Getting no response, he got up and continued his makeshift move.

Finally, he successfully rolled up his quilt and squeezed into a dark, cramped corner of the wardrobe, with his back tightly pressed against the doors on both sides. Ye Man sighed in relief, and his furrowed brows of grievance relaxed.

He thought he wouldn't have to sleep in the wardrobe today.

Brother Tong is so petty. It was just one time I tricked him, why is he more narrow-minded than me, the villainous cannon fodder?

Ye Man grumbled to himself about the system's pettiness, and before long, he drifted off into a deep sleep.