Tang Ning signed the contract given by Xie Yunting because from the perspective of the contract alone, he would not suffer any loss and could even make a profit.
He couldn't think of the reason for his refusal. After all, his goal at the time was to make more money to prepare for his future, and also to save some retirement money for Lin Yun. Otherwise, he was worried that Lin Yun would end up on the streets in the future.
After discussing the contract, Xie Yunting asked Tangning what she planned to do after taking over the contract. "Do you want to go out together? We haven't been out and about like we did when we were kids for years."
He is already a mature man, but his eyes are still filled with expectation as when he was young, making it hard to refuse him.
However, Tangning was still very hard-hearted at times when rejecting someone, "Maybe I don't have time. I need to go see Jiang Mianmian and the others next."
"I heard that Jiang Mianmian got promoted recently. In her industry, it's not easy for a girl to achieve such a high level." Xie Yunting naturally continued, "I was just thinking of paying her a visit. Wanna join me?"
Now that things have come to this, it would be really ruthless to refuse.
Tangning nodded in agreement.
Xie Yunting took out a mask from his bag, "Star, put it on."
He always takes care of many details.
Tangning and Xie Yunting left the restaurant. The leaves outside had turned from emerald green to golden yellow. There were not many cars on the street. Tangning took a few steps and passed by a passerby. She heard a familiar song coming from the other person's phone. It was the song he sang in front of the tea restaurant.
The passerby subconsciously looked up at Tangning, but felt that she looked familiar and wanted to take a closer look. However, Tangning was wearing a mask and moved quickly, and Xie Yunting was standing by as a human shield, so the passerby didn't notice that the owner of the song had passed by him.
Xie Yunting opened the car door. He had many small parts hanging on the car, many of which were from the protagonists of the stories he had just told Tangning, such as the wisdom teeth pulled out by zombies, the hair balls made from the shed hair of foxes, etc. Xie Yunting still had the habit of collecting small things.
Tang Ning was sitting in the passenger seat. He opened the group chat on his phone to check on his teammates' current situation, especially Jiang Mianmian. He remembered that Jiang Mianmian had told him at the beginning that she felt something was following her.
Tangning: "Have you dealt with that thing following you now, Jiang Mianmian?"
Jiang Mianmian: "I used props to detect, and I really couldn't detect that there was any ghost staring at me, but I always felt that thing was still following me."
Tangning: "Where are you now?"
Jiang Mianmian: "My home." She sent Tangning an address.
Soon, Xie Yunting drove to the residential area where Jiang Mianmian lived. During that time, Tang Ning learned from Xie Yunting about Jiang Mianmian's experiences over the years. Xie Yunting said that Jiang Mianmian later went abroad to study, and worked very hard after returning. She never got married for the sake of her career and was the only unmarried girl in their high school class.
Xie Yunting paused and said, "It is said that birds of a feather flock together. The few people we played with back then are all single now."
Tangning felt that Xie Yunting might ask him why he was still single all these years, but Xie Yunting did not ask any more questions. Instead, he stopped the car and said, "We're here."
He took a bag from the car, which looked like it was filled with a lot of gifts. Tang Ning originally thought that Xie Yunting was just being polite when he said he wanted to visit Jiang Mianmian, but now it seemed that Xie Yunting came prepared.
They pressed the elevator number and arrived at the floor where Jiang Mianmian was. Tang Ning had just taken a few steps when he saw a man hurried away with his head lowered. The man was wearing a baseball cap and his age could not be determined. He was thin and not as tall as Xie Yunting. He walked past them directly.
Tang Ning didn't care much about this passerby-like role. He and Xie Yunting rang the doorbell, and soon Jiang Mianmian opened the door.
The 30-year-old Jiang Mingming had lost the baby fat on her face. She was not wearing glasses and had her hair tied in a low ponytail. When she saw Tangning and Xie Yunting, her tense expression relaxed a little, "Come in quickly."
Jiang Mianmian turned around and poured hot water for Tang Ning and Xie Yunting. They sat in the living room. After Xie Yunting exchanged a few words with Jiang Mianmian, he took out the gift he had given her, which was a dragon turtle. Dragon turtles are said to have the effect of boosting career.
After delivering the gift, Xie Yunting asked casually, "Is that man an acquaintance of yours?"
"What man?" Jiang Mianmian frowned.
"He looks like a colleague of mine." Xie Yunting directly gave a name. Tangning was unfamiliar with the name, but Jiang Mianmian was obviously familiar with the NPC. "He just showed up at my doorstep?"
"Well, he was wearing a cap and kept his head down. He didn't dare to look up at anyone." Xie Yunting said, "I saw that he was in a hurry and looked a little sneaky, so I took a closer look at him."
Jiang Mianmian looked at Tangning to confirm. Tangning nodded and said, "There is indeed someone."
Jiang Mianmian looked strange: "... He is my subordinate, a very ordinary person."
The word "ordinary person" meant that the other party was not a ghost. Tang Ning believed that Jiang Mianmian still had some judgment.
The one following Jiang Mianmian was not a ghost, but her subordinates, and this discovery did not seem to make people feel relieved.
If we ignore their workplace identities, then it means that an adult man is secretly following a beautiful woman living alone. What on earth does he want to do
"Do you need my help?" Tang Ning asked but didn't know how he could help. If the other party was a ghost, he could just put a talisman on it and it would be solved. But that was a living person, and a living person who had attempted a crime. He couldn't just imprison the person in a small dark room, that would be illegal.
"I'll buy a cute dog from Li Haoyuan then." Jiang Mianmian thought for a moment and said, "And then inform everyone in the company that I have a dog."
After she came up with a solution, she didn't feel relieved because she couldn't help but start to worry that the card game might be a trap for her because she was single and lived alone.
"If it really doesn't work, hasn't Zhou Kang been forced to go on a blind date recently? I will have a fake marriage with him." Jiang Mianmian said calmly.
Tang Ning chatted with Jiang Mianmian for a few more sentences before getting up and leaving. He planned to go check on Si Tai's situation because Si Tai and Li Haoyuan lived together and he could see both of them at once, and their home was relatively close to Jiang Mianmian's.
"By the way, isn't Si Tai a writer? If our company wants to buy some copyrights for novels, we can consider Si Tai," Tang Ning recommended. It is said that good things should be kept within the family, and now that Si Tai calls him dad, of course they should make money together.
"I just wanted to tell you something." Xie Yunting said, "Can this be considered as telepathy?"
He briefly mentioned the telepathic connection and without waiting for Tangning's response, he quickly changed the subject, "Si Tai hasn't finished a novel in years. Even if I want to buy it, I can't buy a bad book."
Tang Ning: “!” How could Si Tai be so disappointing!
Tangning was so angry that she shouted to Si Tai in the group chat: "What's going on?! How can he still be a eunuch at the age of 30!"
When Tang Ning saw Si Tai's grief-stricken look on the third day, she thought Si Tai had really turned over a new leaf.
Si Tai: "Ah, Dad, don't mention it. Don't blame me for once. Si Tai has been severely beaten by society a few days ago. I no longer write for fun since I was in my twenties. I really want to write."
Even though she couldn't see Si Tai's expression behind the screen, Tang Ning could still imagine Si Tai's face as a company animal who had lost all hope in life.
Tangning: "Then why are you still cheating on me now?"
Si Tai: "The websites are not humane. I can't do anything. I looked at the websites I ran away from. The editor of the first website I worked for appreciated me, gave me money for recommending me on the list, but later he resigned and was replaced by a new editor. Not to mention the list, he swallowed up most of the money, and the revenue plummeted. What can I, a stepmother, do? I rely on this for a living, so of course I have to run away."
Si Tai: "I changed to a new website, but before I could write many words, the website couldn't pay me for my writing, and the CEO ran away."
Si Tai: "I have another website, but unfortunately, the subject matter I wrote was severely banned on that website, and it went 404 directly."
Si Tai: "I changed to a new website, that website..."
Si Tai talked about his experience of fast-forwarding in the game over the years, and then he said, "You know what, this game is really real, almost the same as what I encountered in real life, but in real life I didn't turn back until I hit the wall. After running away twice, I went straight back to work at the company."
Tang Ning stared at what happened to Si Tai in astonishment. Si Tai had never told him these things before.
Si Tai: "Hey, Dad, I'm going to deal with Li Haoyuan's pet shop..."
Tangning: "Are you going to give up writing?"
Si Tai: "If I could not give up, to be honest, even though it is just a copy, I just looked back and saw how many holes I dug and how many words I wrote. If I had to stop, I would really feel sorry for Si Tai."
Si Tai: "But, I'm already thirty years old. If I don't save some money for myself by this point in time, I can only starve with my dream."
Tangning was in the hallway. He sent a message to Si Tai, "Xie Yunting founded an entertainment company. He is now planning to acquire a number of novel copyrights. If he can fill in the gaps he has left, he might be able to acquire the company."
Si Tai: "!!!Really?!"
Tangning and Xie Yunting had already reached the door at this time. Even through the door, Tangning could hear the cheers from inside the room: "Fuck! Brother Li! I won't follow you anymore!"
Tangning couldn't help but be infected by the joy in Si Tai's voice. The corners of his lips curled up slightly. Just as he was about to knock on the door, Li Haoyuan's anxious voice suddenly came from inside: "Si Tai!!!"
It seemed that something serious happened to Si Tai in an instant.
Even though she couldn't see anything, Tang Ning's expression suddenly changed just by hearing the sound. Xie Yunting, who was standing next to her, immediately opened the door. When they pushed the door open, they saw Si Tai lying on the ground with his eyes closed, while Li Haoyuan was standing beside him, at a loss.
"Get out of the way!" Xie Yunting raised his voice: "Call an ambulance!"
As he spoke, Xie Yunting rushed forward and performed CPR on Si Tai. The panicked Li Haoyuan quickly called an ambulance.
Tangning wanted to feed Si Tai some healing items, but when he approached Si Tai, Xie Yunting, who was performing CPR, stopped him sternly, "Don't come over!"
From the time Si Tai suddenly fainted to the time he was sent to the operating room, Xie Yunting had been performing CPR non-stop. He did it very standardly, maintaining high-frequency chest compressions as accurately as a robot. The strength, compression depth and speed all met the standards perfectly. Even the medical staff on the side chose to let Xie Yunting perform CPR after seeing this.
When Si Tai was pushed into the operating room, a thin layer of sweat appeared on Xie Yunting's forehead and his fingertips were trembling slightly.
"What's going on?" Tang Ning originally thought it was a ghost invasion, but Xie Yunting's series of responses did not seem like there were ghosts at work.
Xie Yunting did not answer Tangning's question first, but instead asked Li Haoyuan, who was also in shock, "Is Si Taiping's condition very bad?"
"Yes, he lives day and night." Li Haoyuan nodded and added, "He is addicted to smoking and drinking. When he is stuck, he smokes on the balcony. When it is serious, he can smoke a whole pack a day. Sometimes he also drinks a lot of alcohol."
Irregular sleeping, reversed day and night, smoking, drinking, and a series of things that have lasted for ten years have caused the sudden crisis today. It has nothing to do with ghosts, but its lethality is not much less than that of ghosts. Si Tai has indeed stepped half a foot into the palace of Hades. If Xie Yunting had not arrived in time... Tang Ning didn't dare to think about it any further.
"Xiao Ning, don't be nervous." Xie Yunting's gentle and powerful voice came to my ears. His tone was very steady, with a kind of calmness that could dispel the listener's uneasiness.
Xie Yunting had adjusted his state. His slender and strong hand grasped Tangning's cold hand, just like when they held hands when they were children. The warmth and firm strength seemed to be transmitted to Tangning through the physical contact.
Tangning's fingertips trembled. He looked up at Xie Yunting in shock and met his firm and powerful eyes. "It will be fine."
He affirmed, “I said so.”