Chapter 48: Try Harder Next Time

Chapter 48: Try Harder Next Time

"Brother Tong, do you get it? I’m really heartbroken right now."

Ye Man had never considered himself inarticulate, but when he couldn’t speak in his usual flowery manner, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words, feeling as if a cat was clawing at his heart.

The system replied in a calm tone, "Stop talking. I’m feeling even worse than you."

Its tone suggested a heart turned to ice.

Ye Man’s sobbing voice turned to confusion, "What do you mean?"

What did he mean?

The system wished it could show him that old rascal’s face in his mind, let him see his own reflection now, and then make him notice the expression on the other person’s face.

Looking so pitiful and heartbroken, begging the other person not to get hurt—being blind, if the other person couldn’t resist and wanted to do something to him, he’d be thoroughly tasted inside and out before he could even grasp what was happening, let alone have the chance to escape in advance.

"Ah!"

The system screamed out loud.

Ye Man jumped at the sound, "What? What happened?"

"Ye Ye Ye Man—"

"Huh?"

Ye Man turned his head, confused and alert, trying to find the terrifying presence that had caused Brother Tong to make such a sound.

Is there a ghost?

That made sense.

It was midnight in the mountains, with rain pouring down...

Just as his terrifying thoughts were halfway through, a warm and dry hand lifted his face, cutting through his terrifying thoughts.

The relentless downpour that had lasted all day finally began to subside as midnight approached, leaving only a light drizzle lingering.

A chilly breeze swept across his cheeks, followed by a warm breath closing in on his lips. Ye Man opened his eyes wide in vain, still unable to clearly discern the other person’s actions.

As the breath seemed to get closer, he instinctively shut his eyes tight.

Contrary to his expectations.

First, a kiss brushed the tip of his nose, then fluttered over his trembling eyelids, and finally rested on his forehead.

Each movement was as gentle as caressing the storm-torn flowers by the courtyard wall.

A finger pressed against the corner of his mouth, triggering a sharp pain that sent a shiver through Ye Man.

"Tsk."

The warm breath that enveloped him gradually faded away, allowing the outside air to rush back in.

It must be over now.

Ye Man opened his eyes, his clothes all twisted and wrinkled.

The system emitted a prolonged sigh.

Ye Man didn’t have time to think it over.

He heard Xu Huaiting ask, "You don’t want me to get hurt?"

Xu Huaiting always asked these kinds of rhetorical questions. He had already said it, yet he had to ask again, really annoying.

"Yeah..."

"I don’t make promises lightly because once promised, I must fulfill it, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Now that I've assured you, I’ve added another burden on myself. In the future, whatever I do, I'll have to think about what you said today, about how I promised you not to get hurt. I can’t act carelessly anymore, hmm..." He muttered, troubled.

Ye Man couldn't help but ask, "Isn’t that a good thing?"

"Not good," Xu Huaiting said, "What if I accidentally forget, and in a place you don't know, I break my promise to you, wouldn’t I feel guilty? Unless..."

"Unless?"

"Unless you keep an eye on me."

Ye Man was taken aback.

"When I forget what I promised you, remind me and stop me in time. With you keeping watch, it should greatly reduce my chances of making mistakes, wouldn’t that be the perfect solution?"

"To avoid making a promise to you, then accidentally get hurt because of something, breaking my promise to you, owing you."

"Once or twice I can still find a way to repay this debt, but over time, accumulating, the debt piles up until I can't repay... Mr. Debt Collector, if it really comes to this, what should I do?"

Ye Man opened his mouth, thinking, is it that serious?

He hadn’t even considered this angle.

Xu Huaiting smiled, pulling the person up: "It's okay, take your time to think, tell me when you've considered. Verbal promises aren’t binding, we can sign an agreement later, if I can't do it, you can hold me accountable with the contract, rest assured, I won't let you suffer."

"Ah..." Ye Man replied, feeling dazed.

"Let's go, it's late, time to go home."

...

As they were about to leave, Xu Huaiting found his phone was broken, the screen was cracked, and it didn't respond no matter how he pressed it.

"Xiao Man, did you call me?"

If he hadn't mentioned this, it would have been fine, but once he did, Ye Man’s nose tingled again.

He immediately accused, "I called several times, and you didn't answer."

Xu Huaiting patted his head: "The phone is broken, it's not that I didn't answer your calls on purpose, making you worry."

Ye Man subtly rubbed against his hand, starting to ramble without backing down: "You don't even know, I was alone in a strange place, didn't know anyone, couldn't go anywhere else, do you know how scared I was? And you didn't answer my calls, what if something happened to you, what would I do? I couldn't even go find you, I don't even know what you look like, wouldn't know how to tell the police if I called them..."

The more he spoke, the more heartbroken he became over the situation he described.

"I was really worried about you, so worried that I couldn't eat or drink, I’m so pitiful, boohoo..."

If he could see, he would definitely be peeking at Xu Huaiting's expression through his fingers.

He was a bit unsure whether the worldly big shot would fall for his act.

To his surprise, it worked.

Xu Huaiting stroked his hair and said, "You seem really pitiful. How can I make it up to you? Wait, I know, the villa next to my house is up for sale recently, and it has a nice view. How about I buy it for you?"

Ye Man's ears perked up, and he urgently poked the system in his mind: 「Brother Tong, Brother Tong, he's going to give me a villa! It’s probably expensive, right?」

The system replied: 「Not too bad, just three royal blue gems.」

Ye Man couldn’t bring himself to cry.

He reluctantly said, "No, no, no, it's actually not that pitiful, I was just saying..."

Damn, he’d been too convincing lately, and now he had even managed to fool the big shot.

...

Around 7 PM, Ye Man had called Chi Yan to say he would be back late, and now before heading back, he called again.

Chi Yan wasn’t one to be fooled, and after a few probing questions, he figured out Ye Man was with Xu Huaiting, so he asked Ye Man to hand the phone to Xu Huaiting. The two of them spoke for a while, and when the phone returned to Ye Man, he hesitantly picked it up, but Chi Yan didn't say much, just told him not to stay out too late and sternly informed him that staying out overnight wasn’t an option.

Once in the car, Ye Man sneezed.

He’d been in such a rush leaving the supermarket that he forgot to put on his jacket, and with only one layer on, it had vanished in the crowd’s chaos. He had stood outside for a while, getting soaked by the rain, but fortunately, the car’s heater was cranked up, and Ye Man figured he’d dry off soon.

Soon after, Ye Man ended up in Xu Huaiting’s black turtleneck sweater, while his own pullover was now on Xu Huaiting.

The shirt Xu Huaiting had been wearing under his coat had gotten a bit wet when he hugged Ye Man, but it had dried quickly from body heat during that time.

They simply swapped clothes.

Ye Man initially disagreed. When Xu Huaiting told him to take off his clothes, Ye Man was incredulous, thinking he had misheard, and shook his head vigorously.

But Xu Huaiting held him down, saying, "Don't move, I'm just swapping clothes with you."

He swiftly peeled off Ye Man’s wet, cold clothes and in one swift motion, pulled his own dry sweater over Ye Man.

Ye Man barely had time to react before the clothes were swapped, and with his hair all messed up, he was a little disoriented.

Soon, warmth spread throughout his body.

If he’d kept on the wet clothes, it wouldn’t have been a big deal—it wouldn’t kill him to wear them a bit longer, and they would dry eventually.

But now that he was warm, who would want to put the wet clothes back on?

Ye Man stayed silent for a moment, then awkwardly said, "Thank you."

After that, he couldn't help but add, "Don’t get sick."

Xu Huaiting was putting on Ye Man's clothes, which were a bit tight and small for him, requiring some effort.

Hearing this, he raised an eyebrow, "Or do you want to give the clothes back to me?"

Ye Man immediately tightened his grip on Xu Huaiting's clothes and shook his head vigorously, as if Xu Huaiting might actually try to take them back.

Xu Huaiting squinted, openly eyeing the person in his clothes.

As he watched, he couldn't help but think about just stuffing him into a sack and taking him back home.

The big shot's clothes were way too big for Ye Man, with long sleeves and a long hem, making Ye Man look like he was wrapped in a woolen blanket.

After changing into dry clothes and feeling the warm breeze, Ye Man's cold body gradually warmed up, and he started to feel so sleepy that he could barely keep his eyes open.

Xu Huaiting glanced over and saw that half of Ye Man's face was buried in his collar, curled up in the seat, fast asleep.

When he snapped out of it, he realized he had taken the wrong road.

This was the way to his house, which was in the opposite direction of the Chi Family.

Tsk.

He let out an annoyed sound from deep within.

He had no choice but to turn around at the next intersection.

...

By the time they got home, it was nearly midnight, and Chi Jue was waiting at the door. As they walked into the living room, there was some noise coming from the kitchen.

Qin Fangrui had fallen asleep on the counter and was startled awake by the sound.

Chi Jue had been waiting at the door for more than half an hour, picked up Ye Man, and upon returning, saw that Qin Fangrui was there too. For a moment, he was a bit surprised, but quickly figured it out and calmed down.

Qin Fangrui stood there, feeling a bit awkward: "Xiao Man, you're back. I made some ginger soup, would you like some?"

Ye Man hadn't expected Qin Fangrui to still be up so late and felt a bit uneasy, not responding immediately. Chi Jue squeezed his hand.

Only then did Ye Man say, "Um... sure."

Qin Fangrui smiled happily: "Then go take a shower and change your clothes first, I'll bring it over to you."

Ye Man went back to his room, quickly took a shower, changed his clothes, and after a while, there was a knock at the door.

Qin Fangrui brought him the ginger soup.

Ye Man stood at the door and said, "Thanks, Mom."

Qin Fangrui hesitated and asked if she could come in and sit down for a while.

Ye Man nodded, confused, and wondered to himself: "Brother Tong, why is she asking if she can come in?"

"Shouldn't she?"

Ye Man: "I don't know, my house is pretty small, my mom converted a small room for me in the kitchen, no door, so people usually just come in without asking."

"I've been with the Chi Family for so long, and no one has barged in!" He excitedly shared with the system.

"Brother Tong, I don't think I need to hide my treasure chest, it seems like no one will barge in and rummage through my stuff! What do you think, Brother Tong!"

Every time he went through the trouble of taking out his treasure chest, packing it, and hiding it again, it was a real hassle for a blind person like him.

If it weren't for the fear that it might be gone when he returned, he wouldn't go through such complicated operations.

The system hissed in exasperation. So that's what he was always fussing about.

Qin Fangrui said in a soft voice: "No need to hide it. If you like, you can display it, place it somewhere within easy reach, and touch it whenever you want. It's all up to you."

Ye Man hesitated for a moment but still refused the suggestion. He felt more at ease keeping everything in the box, though he didn’t need to hide it anymore.

As he sipped the ginger soup, he felt a bit warmer. He chatted briefly with Qin Fangrui, not saying too much, just mentioning where he had gone during the day. Seeing that Ye Man was getting sleepy, Qin Fangrui took the empty bowl and gently touched his head.

"Get some sleep, night."

Ye Man nodded.

The system started narrating a story to him. Ye Man was improving, and so was the system, which had learned to narrate stories with emotion.

Ye Man was almost asleep when a sudden thought occurred to him. He got up, pulled the sweater he’d taken off into the blanket, and hugged it, nuzzling against it.

"Brother Tong, next time we’ll give it our all, and we’ll definitely make it. Trust me..."