Chapter 22 His World Was Slowly Fading into Darkness

Chapter 22 His World Was Slowly Fading into Darkness

The security guards shoved Ye Guowen forward, nearly causing the scissors to jab his face.

"Murder! Help! Someone, help!"

Without waiting for Xu Huaiting's order, the security guards grabbed a pack of tissues from the box on the table and stuffed it into his mouth.

Ye Man gripped the scissors, hearing Xu Huaiting ask him, "Don’t know what to do next?"

What next?

"You said you wanted to kill him, and now he’s right in front of you. Go ahead," he said casually.

Ye Man turned towards the voice, his eyes wide open, brimming with uncertainty and doubt.

Unable to meet Xu Huaiting's gaze, he tilted his head back, his eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth downturned, clearly showing his suspicion of being mocked and his dissatisfaction.

One could imagine that if he could still see, those sparkling eyes, which sometimes made people doubt whether he was truly blind, would likely be filled with accusation.

Xu Huaiting looked at him and couldn’t resist reaching out to play with the ends of his hair.

The boy, caught off guard by the unexpected touch, flinched and moved aside.

Xu Huaiting wasn’t surprised by his reaction; he had no ulterior motive, it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, and he didn’t insist on touching him.

Unexpectedly, the boy hesitated for a moment, then slowly straightened his body, cautiously tilting his head a bit.

He moved very slightly, gradually placing that strand of hair into Xu Huaiting's hand.

Xu Huaiting, about to pull his hand back, paused and looked at him with a deep gaze, rubbing his fingers.

The boy was skinny, but his hair was surprisingly nice.

Ye Guowen was mumbling, and beside him, Zheng Min timidly called out, "Brother Xiao Man?"

Ye Man tightened his grip on the scissors, his fingers turning white. After a moment, he relaxed, his previously tense expression softening instantly. He turned towards the direction of Zheng Min's voice and smiled gently, "I was just venting, it was all talk, I wouldn’t really do anything. Don’t worry."

Secretary Chen, who was in communication with his private lawyer and medical team, casually glanced up and was momentarily stunned.

Only when his boss gave him an inscrutable look did the usually composed Secretary Chen awkwardly cough, silently reciting "form is emptiness, emptiness is form," and quickly returned to his efficient work mode.

When Li Mingyan came out with the braised pork rice, Ye Guowen was gone. Several black-clad, expressionless security guards were cleaning up, the spilled braised pork rice had been cleared, and the floor was so clean it shone.

Zheng Min sat at the table, with Ye Man beside her, apologizing, "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lost my temper in front of you."

The system was now completely puzzled by his thought process.

He was the one who had held the scissors to himself; he was the one who lied constantly, even deceiving the system; and now, he was the one who gave up on taking action against Ye Guowen because of a girl he barely knew.

This time, the system could clearly see that Ye Man was lying again.

Saying it was just venting, just talk... the system was certain that the murderous intent it had sensed in him moments ago was real.

—Ye Man had truly intended to kill.

This was a golden opportunity. Xu Huaiting was here, and he had clearly indicated that he could help Ye Man achieve his goal without consequences.

Though it was unclear why he wanted to help Ye Man... perhaps it was because Ye Man had been causing trouble between Meng Yao and Chi Jue, playing the role of a relationship saboteur quite diligently, and Xu Huaiting felt some sympathy for the hardworking underling. Or perhaps he had been moved by Ye Man’s acting, swayed by his feigned pitifulness. In any case, this was an opportunity that wouldn’t come again. Ye Guowen held leverage over Ye Man, and Ye Man dared not let the Chi Family know, fearing it would be made public. A person with a bad character and malicious intentions, no matter how much he tried to manipulate, would no longer find anyone willing to sympathize with him. Therefore, Ye Man had to deal with Ye Guowen secretly, not daring to use the Chi Family’s power.

He’s not afraid of anything, except the day he loses the tools and skills to survive in this world.

But he still passed up the opportunity that was right in front of him.

"Adults shouldn’t fight in front of kids," Ye Man told the system, his tone almost rigidly serious.

The system: "?"

You were about to commit murder in someone else’s shop, and you’re worried about being a bad influence on the kids?

Would he have gone ahead with the act if there weren’t any kids around—?

Does he even get what’s important?

The system suddenly wanted to crack open Ye Man’s brain to see what was going on in there, to have such a weird way of thinking.

The system was speechless for a moment, and Ye Man, thinking it didn’t get how serious this was, said very seriously, "Especially adults the kids know—they can’t do this. The kids might think it’s their fault, that they weren’t good enough, so we can’t do this."

"We can’t argue or fight. If there’s a problem, we should talk it out."

He then began to regret, "If I’d known Li’s daughter was here, I’d have picked a different time, ugh."

The system: "You’re really thoughtful."

Should it thank him for Ms. Li? Or maybe he should just stop doing such scary stuff altogether?

Ye Man shyly replied, "Oh, it’s no big deal, really."

The system: "."

While he was talking to the system in his head, he was also scrambling to explain to Li’s daughter that he’d just had a small argument with his dad and it’d be over soon. Zheng Min visibly relaxed and came over to say, "Brother Xiao Man, I get it. I argue with my mom too, but even when she’s mad, she doesn’t really do anything. She still sneaks me some tasty food, so don’t worry too much. You and Uncle Ye will make up in no time."

Ye Man tugged at his clothes and then smiled warmly, "Yeah, I know."

After chatting for a bit, Zheng Min got pretty comfortable with him. Ye Man found it easy to talk to people; there was no one he couldn’t win over, especially a young girl just starting middle school.

Getting excited, Zheng Min brought up her childhood memories, "I remember I always bugged the cute brother to play sandbag toss with me!"

That was like five or six years ago.

Ye Man, a big kid, would join two or three little kids in their sandbag toss games, filling in the numbers.

"I remember it so clearly—Brother Xiao Man ran so fast, his moves were so quick. Wu Li and I could never hit you. Wu Li got so mad she started crying, and Brother Xiao Man just laughed at us! Brother Xiao Man was such a jerk, always teasing us!" Zheng Min said with great animation.

Ye Man was several years older than them. Looking back, if he hadn’t let them win on purpose, how could they have ever hit him? They would’ve just kept losing. But Ye Man didn’t let them, and he loved teasing the kids.

Remembering those times, Ye Man also smiled a bit, "Then why did you and Wu Li always come to me?"

Zheng Min sweetly said, "Because Brother Xiao Man is so handsome, we forgive you."

Also, they really couldn’t find a third person. Playing with just two wasn’t fun, and only Ye Man had the patience to play with two kids, from sunset to dusk, until Zheng Min and Wu Li’s families called them home for dinner. Ye Man was always there.

They went their separate ways, each led home by their parents. Zheng Min turned back to say goodbye, and in the fiery sunset, Brother Xiao Man still stood there, perhaps waiting for his parents to call him home too.

Li Mingyan brought two bowls of braised pork rice, one for Ye Man and one for Xu Huaiting, who had quietly pulled up a chair and sat down, "You’re Xiao Man’s friend, right? If you haven’t eaten yet, try our family’s cooking. We picked fresh and clean meat from the market the first day, and we braised it ourselves overnight. It’s very fragrant. Xiao Man has loved my cooking since he was a kid."

She handed Zheng Min a thermos filled with red date water, "Enough talking, it’s almost time for class. Next time you have a chance, chat with your Brother Xiao Man again."

"Got it," Zheng Min mumbled, picked up the thermos, and walked to the door. Like when she was a child, she turned back and waved to Ye Man, "Brother Xiao Man, Wu Li and I have grown up. Next time we have a chance, let’s play sandbag toss again. This time, you definitely won’t win against us!"

Ye Man smirked confidently, about to call her delusional, but suddenly hesitated: "...Hmm."

Hearing him gasp internally, the system inquired curiously: "What's wrong? Did something happen again?"

"Nothing," Ye Man said, "I just remembered that I might not be able to play sandbag toss with her anymore."

The system hesitated too.

It suddenly clicked.

The current Ye Man could probably only stand there like a sitting duck, letting the sandbag hit him.

He couldn’t even walk quickly, let alone run and dodge freely.

His world was slowly fading to black; he couldn’t discern directions and had to carefully use a cane to navigate.

The system was silent for a long time, and a sharp 'snap' echoed in Ye Man's mind.

"Brother Tong?"

"Nothing, I’m just slapping myself out of boredom. You go ahead and eat."

"Oh, okay..." Ye Man hesitated but finally decided to respect Brother Tong's personal quirk.

He picked up the spoon, then paused.

Ye Man put down the spoon and gently tugged at Xu Huaiting's sleeve: "Mr. Xu..."

"Has Minmin grown very tall now? Can you show me how tall she is now? What does she look like now?" He felt a bit awkward, but it wasn’t something he could ask Brother Tong about, as he wouldn’t understand even if Brother Tong explained.

Ye Man gestured on himself, "The last time I saw her, she was about this tall. How about now?"

He himself didn’t have good nutrition and didn’t grow very tall. After a few encounters, he felt he was much shorter than Mr. Xu. Although he couldn’t compete with Zheng Min anymore, he still couldn’t help comparing himself, wondering if he’d come up short.

Xu Huaiting and Secretary Chen, sitting at another table, simultaneously stopped their actions and looked at Ye Man.