Chapter 49 Wait for My Return

Chapter 49 Wait for My Return

The watch was sent for repair and returned three days later.

Ye Man had always liked it, but now he cherished it even more. Afraid of losing it again, he stored the watch in his box along with his other treasures. Closing the box, he felt much more at ease.

At breakfast, Chi Jue noticed Ye Man wasn't wearing the watch he had given him and thought something might be wrong again. He asked Ye Man if he wanted to have it repaired again or buy a new one.

Ye Man shook his head, unwilling to admit his fear of losing it, which might make him seem petty compared to the generous Chi Jue. Shifting his approach, he innocently said, "I can't bear to wear it. After all, in all this time, Second Brother, you've only given me two watches. If it breaks, there won't be any more."

Chi Jue was puzzled.

Who was it who, in the middle of the night, held the watch, upset, saying it was broken? When Chi Jue offered to buy a new one, he started crying, insisting he wanted the old one and not a new one. And who was it that was overjoyed when it was repaired, exclaiming how great Second Brother was?

Chi Jue, amused, pinched his cheek and said, "Just you wait."

That afternoon, Ye Man received a collection of new watches, both electronic and mechanical. Chi Jue mentioned that while he might not use the mechanical ones, some designs were quite interesting and he could play with them or just listen to the ticking.

Ye Man touched the watches, secretly clenching his teeth, "Even if he gives me more watches, in my heart, they can't compare to my previous one! I'm not someone who can be easily swayed by the enemy's sugar-coated tactics. He underestimates me!"

The system retorted, "Then why don't you throw them all back in his face?"

Ye Man: "..."

He silently placed the watches into his box.

The system laughed softly.

Ye Man muttered discontentedly, "Brother Tong, do you not know me? Have you ever seen a villainous minor character who would return what they've received? Do I appear that generous?"

Even if he couldn't use them, he wouldn't give them to others.

Ye Man thought selfishly.

He planned to hide them all; they were his, and the thought alone made him happy. He could even wake up laughing at night.

The system had no response.

Later, when Chi Jue called to say he had spent all his earnings that month on watches for him, Ye Man was happy again. Chi Jue's startup company was doing well, but it was in need of funds at the moment. As the boss, he didn't have much money to spend extravagantly. He sighed and said that he would have to live a frugal life for a while after buying the watches for Ye Man.

Ye Man said in a coy manner, asking him not to do this again, saying that it would make him feel sorry for Second Brother.

Chi Jue was amused by the pride and excitement Ye Man couldn't conceal, as if he could see Ye Man's face glowing, head held high, and a smile on his lips.

Returning to work, he would occasionally recall this and couldn't help but shake his head and smile.

Assistant Xiao Liu brought coffee and, noticing Chi Jue's smile, curiously inquired if there was good news.

Chi Jue covered his mouth, cleared his throat, and said, "Nothing, just thinking my brother is really cute."

Xiao Liu thought of Young Master Xiao Man and coughed silently.

Not to mention... Xiao Wu occasionally mentioned a bit in the work group. Although many people hadn't met him, they weren't unfamiliar with their third young master.

What the boss said was not wrong.

"By the way, a Mr. Ye came to see you before. You weren't in at the time, and he left his contact information, saying... he's your father, and he hopes to meet you privately when you have time."

Chi Jue took the note with a string of numbers. It was different from the contact information left during the last meeting between the Chi and Ye families. The previous number had already been discontinued.

Chi Jue's happiness faded a little.

He actually wanted to sit down and chat with Ye Guowen.

But last time they met, Ye Man didn’t want them talking to Ye Guowen.

Recalling the scene of their first meeting, Chi Jue frowned.

Ye Guowen acted awkwardly, trying to flatter, praising Ye Man a few times, saying that the child had been obedient and filial since he was young, everyone liked him, but sadly, the family was poor, his mother died early, and he couldn’t afford to give him a good education.

Whenever they tried to dig deeper, Ye Man would cut in with a sweet smile and steer the talk to something less important.

Ye Man was good at steering conversations, quickly shifting focus with his own stories, without anyone catching on.

Back then, the families didn’t know each other well, and things were awkward, Chi Jue’s head was spinning, so he didn’t think much about it.

Looking back, it seemed like Xiao Man was blocking Ye Guowen from getting too close.

Chi Jue tried to see it from their perspective; he never thought he’d hear that his parents and brother weren’t his real family. Even after finding out, it still felt unreal and absurd. His parents and brother likely felt the same way.

So, what about Xiao Man and Ye Guowen?

Ye Guowen gambled, ran from his debts, and left his young son to deal with the mess...

Yet, that day, Xiao Man kept smiling, He didn’t seem to hate Ye Guowen, just a little cold.

In those missing eighteen years, Ye Man wasn’t the only one who missed out on time with the Chi Family; there was also a part of Ye Man’s past the Chi Family couldn’t see or be part of.

Paper records couldn’t capture every moment of someone’s life, and Ye Man barely spoke about his past.

He acted like his past didn’t exist.

People always bring up their past in conversations, because those shape their views and lessons.

Chi Jue said he got up at six because as a kid, his brother would drag him out of bed if he slept in.

But Ye Man never told them these things.

He didn’t say anything about his past, as if he were a person without a past.

Chi Jue once again recalled every detail of their first meeting.

At that time, when Ye Man and Ye Guowen's eyes met, the feeling that made it impossible for others to intervene was—

"A secret."

There was a secret that invisibly and tightly bound these two people together.

The moment this thought emerged, Chi Jue swallowed hard, and even his heart began to race.

Xiao Man's attitude on the plane was also quite strange.

He warned him in a very cold tone, explicitly stating that he was not allowed to contact Ye Guowen.

That person was not only Chi Jue's biological father, but also, not long ago, Ye Man's 'biological father'. Chi Jue had to consider whether Xiao Man was refusing to let him approach Ye Guowen out of fear of having his 'father' taken away.

Ye Man didn't say anything, so they could only speculate about his views on Ye Guowen through his actions.

But Xiao Man's attitude was sometimes a bit elusive.

Chi Jue massaged his temples.

He was worried that if Xiao Man found out he’d privately contacted Ye Guowen, it would make him angry.

Xiao Liu: "Second Young Master, when Mr. Ye arrived, he seemed... evasive, like he was avoiding someone."

Chi Jue thought for a moment and replied, "Got it."

His phone rang.

It was Meng Yao.

Chi Jue stared at it for a moment before hanging up.

...

On the other end, the system sneered at the person gleefully asking for points: "Done."

Why doesn’t he come over and see if it even looks like points?

Ye Man felt pumped and doubled down on his tasks.

But soon after, the system informed him that progress between Chi Jue and Meng Yao had been docked again.

Ye Man was confused: "I didn’t even do anything!"

No, it had to be because of his role as the seemingly troublesome but secretly supportive villain who kept failing, driving Chi Jue and Meng Yao further apart.

Realizing this, Ye Man slammed the bed in frustration: "Is my role really that crucial to their relationship?"

The system replied, "You don’t get it. People are naturally rebellious. Someone has to stand in their way. The more you keep them apart, the more they’ll want to be together. If you don’t interfere, it’s no fun."

Now feeling the pressure, Ye Man spent days subtly and not-so-subtly checking Chi Jue’s schedule.

...

Chi Jue noticed his younger brother had been unusually clingy lately.

For example, as Chi Jue was putting on his shoes to leave, Ye Man trailed behind him, asking, "Second Brother, any plans to go out soon?"

Chi Jue replied offhandedly, "No, I’m swamped at work these days. No time for that."

A few days later at dinner, Ye Man asked again, "Second Brother, are you done with work? Any plans for a date soon?"

"No," Chi Jue replied, then asked suspiciously, "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, I’ve just... never been on a date, so I’m curious how it works. Just wondering."

Seeing his younger brother’s guilty look, Chi Jue felt a pang of suspicion.

He asked casually, "Did someone bring this up recently?"

Ye Man shook his head no.

Chi Jue kept a straight face but started keeping a closer eye on Ye Man.

...

Back in his room, Ye Man slammed his fist into the bed in frustration.

"Brother Tong, the guy's way too focused on his career. He only works and doesn’t date—what should we do?"

Does he really have to stick with this crappy job?

"Why isn’t he giving me any room to maneuver? Did he figure out I’m up to something and is he already on guard?"

The system sent him a smiley face.

Ye Man was at a loss for ideas.

When he called the big shot that evening, he launched right into whining about it.

"What’s their deal? Why aren’t they sneaking off to meet up? I wanted to take their photos, but now I can’t."

Xu Huaiting let out a soft chuckle on the other end. "I’ve got an idea."

"What idea?"

"Well..."

He made a dissatisfied sound, unwilling to say. Ye Man was practically bouncing off the walls with impatience. "Mr. Xu, just tell me..."

He covered the phone and whispered, "Ricardo, come on."

Xu Huaiting: "How about I bankrupt your brother’s company?"

Ye Man gasped in surprise, wondering why he hadn’t thought of that. Without the company, he wouldn’t be busy anymore.

But after a second, he hesitated.

Ye Man muttered gloomily, "Nah, let’s think of something else."

Xu Huaiting: "Why?"

Ye Man: "If the company goes under, a lot of people will be out of work."

Thinking about it, having a boss like that would be just bad luck. Finding a decent job isn’t easy.

He whispered, "My brother’s company has some killer benefits. I overheard last time that their cafeteria serves up eight major cuisines at lunch, even international dishes! That chef pulls in twenty grand a month!"

He sounded completely awestruck.

The system figured if he weren’t blind, he’d probably be packing his bags to join his brother’s company as a chef. No wonder the original script said he couldn’t blend into high society—what young master would be fixated on a chef’s paycheck?

Thinking this, even it couldn’t help but laugh, let alone Xu Huaiting on the other end of the phone.

The system sighed silently, thinking that with such a host, its system life was probably just like this.

But it actually felt... this wasn’t bad.

Xu Huaiting was at the airport, and after talking with Ye Man for a while, he was about to board the plane.

Before boarding, he said to Ye Man, "I have some things to handle, I’ll be away for a month, and I’ll be back around Christmas. Can you keep that day free?"

"I guess... your brother and Meng Yao will go on a date on Christmas, and I’ll accompany you to catch them then?"

Ye Man: "Really!"

"Really, rest well recently, build up your energy, go to the hospital on time, and call me at night, understood?"

Ye Man gripped his phone and nodded, "Yeah!"

"Alright, I'm heading out. I'll bring you a gift when I come back."

"Ricardo!" Ye Man called out quickly.

"What is it?"

"So... um, when the time comes, can I also take a photo of you, just..." Ye Man didn't know how to say it.

Xu Huaiting paused for a moment.

"Ye Man, you know what I'm thinking?"

"What are you thinking?"

Ye Man was confused.

The big shot chuckled again, seemingly out of nowhere.

He said softly, "I’ll fill you in when I get back."