Chapter 19: Men, Thirty, Hehe

“Is this okay…”

“Is this okay?” Tang Man smiled and kissed the corner of Si Jiahe’s eye again. “I’ll come find you when I have some free time.”

Si Jiahe’s eyes were half-lowered, his eyelashes fluttering a few times. However, one hand was clutching Tang Man, unwilling to let go. After hesitating for a long time, he finally managed to say, “So how will you contact me then?”

Actually, in the past two years, there were a few times when Si Jiahe couldn’t resist contacting Tang Man. Whether it was calling or sending WeChat messages, either it showed they weren’t friends, or the number was out of service. Later, when he finally got through with great difficulty, before he could feel joy, he discovered that the voice on the other end was very unfamiliar.

At that time, his self-esteem was almost rolled on the ground several times. He sought his own salvation in a way that resolutely intruded into other people’s relationships, even willingly becoming a mistress.

At that time, he thought so humbly, as long as she still wanted him, as long as she still wanted him.

But in the end, he found that the salvation had long given up on him, and he didn’t even have the chance to be the third party.

Only then did Tang Man remember that she had previously blocked all of his WeChat and contact information. And despite this, Du Henian had still been uneasy before and had her change her phone number.

So she obediently took out her phone, opened the page, and the two added each other on WeChat. She also made a phone call to let Si Jiahe save her phone number.

Not the slightest bit embarrassed about blocking someone right after a breakup, and now sleeping with her ex-boyfriend upon seeing him again.

Having seen many such scenes, Tang Man had also developed a body of steel, at least her skin had thickened a lot.

Only then did Si Jiahe smile, his eyes shimmering with light. The radiance emitted by those brows and eyes had mesmerized Tang Man countless times.

She touched the boy’s exquisite features and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Jiahe, with your appearance, you would also be very popular in the entertainment industry.”

Nowadays, this kind of boyish vulnerability seemed to be in vogue, highly sought after by young women.

Si Jiahe smiled indifferently and slightly raised his eyes. “Does Man Man have any favorite celebrities?”

With Tang Man’s family background, it really wasn’t difficult to get to know a few male idols. But in Si Jiahe’s memory, Tang Man was someone who avoided the entertainment industry like the plague.

Only later, from the small details of Tang Man’s life, did he manage to vaguely perceive Tang Man’s slightly concealed preferences.

She had a strong aversion to dirt, especially in her love life. Her mental cleanliness reached an extreme. But Tang Man was very good at disguising herself and never directly stated her preferences. She was also good at concealment. It was only after Si Jiahe later learned about a few of Tang Man’s ex-boyfriends that he discovered those young men had a very unified characteristic.

Very clean love lives, even described as innocent.

Sure enough, Tang Man smiled, but the smile on her face seemed a bit casual. If Si Jiahe didn’t already have the answer in his heart, he wouldn’t have noticed such subtle differences in expression. “I don’t chase stars.”

In the entertainment industry, people could be said to change every year. When she was young, she had seen a few of Old Tang’s partners in a club, surrounded by handsome men and beautiful women. Later, she learned that most of them were some not-so-famous youngsters in the entertainment industry who could only be sent over by their agents to accompany drinking in order to fight for some casting opportunities.

From that time on, her strong mental aversion made her resolutely refuse anything related to that circle.

Hearing Tang Man’s words, Si Jiahe wanted to say a few more things, but Tang Man’s phone rang again. It was a call from the hospital. Seeing that it was almost noon and Tang Man still hadn’t gone over, Old Tang called to urge her.

Si Jiahe could only affectionately hold Tang Man’s hand and say a few more words before reluctantly preparing to let her go.

Only after Tang Man drove away did she let out a sigh of relief.

Although Si Jiahe was soft and sweet, he was too clingy. Dealing with him once was refreshing, but the mental fatigue was also real.

She was the kind of person who valued social distance. Even when dating, she actually preferred people who valued privacy and a sense of detachment. In a nutshell, when I want you, you can be there, but when I don’t want to see you, don’t appear in front of me.

No matter how sweet, candied hawthorns ultimately stick to the teeth a bit.

Si Jiahe stood in place watching Tang Man’s car disappear into the distance. Just as he was about to turn around, his movement paused for a moment, and his gaze fell on a car not far away.

A black compact car, very ordinary, nothing special about it.

But he didn’t overlook the strange feeling he had just now when turning around. And while being intimate with Tang Man, he often had this feeling, as if being watched by someone. If he remembered correctly, this car had been following them since yesterday at the hospital.

And just after Tang Man left, Si Jiahe stood there for a long time looking in that direction. Just as he was about to leave, his cell phone in his pocket rang, displaying a familiar number.

It was a call from Du Henian.

In an instant, Si Jiahe understood who had sent the person following them all the way.

He thought for a moment, suddenly smiled with an unfathomable meaning. The softness and naivety on his face was replaced by a different expression. He let the phone ring for a while before answering the call. As he walked towards his home, his words were full of sarcasm.

“Senior, long time no contact. I thought you would permanently put my number on your blacklist.”

After all, back then, he had called and begged the other party so humbly not to take Tang Man away. In the end, he was dismissed with a flippant remark, and that call could no longer get through.

Du Henian, who was driving to the hospital, smiled. He thought of the few photos that had just been sent to his mailbox. The woman sitting in the car had an indistinguishable face, and the boy had half his body leaning into the car, what they were doing was self-evident. But his tone was strangely gentle, the violence in his heart suppressed in the deepest part.

“Jiahe, after not seeing you for so long, you’re still so childish.”

Si Jiahe pursed his lips and didn’t speak, but his expression wasn’t very good. This sentence was almost like a replay of the confrontation between the two back then. At that time, Du Henian had also stood on the moral high ground in such a noble manner, as if he was the victim, and Si Jiahe was just a child making unreasonable trouble.

After a long while, he also laughed, even letting Du Henian hear his laughter on this end, vicious and sharp, his soft voice like honey and also like a knife:

“Senior, you’re not wrong in saying that. Man Man and I are only in our early twenties, just the right match in age. But senior, you’re about to hit thirty. Your family elders must be anxious. I heard that men start going downhill at thirty. You should also plan well for yourself, don’t put all your attention on Man Man. She’s still young now, fickle like me.”

After saying this, Si Jiahe listened to the slightly unsteady breathing on the other end of the phone, unsurprised. With a faint smile on his face, he walked up the stairs, step by step, slowly climbing, his voice also continuing.

“And, I heard from Man Man, you two seem to have broken up. In the future, leave some face and bother Man Man less. Don’t exhaust the last bit of affection she has for you in her heart… oh, just like me back then… But senior, you’re not like me back then, you still have youth to spend.”

After saying that, regardless of the reaction on the other side, he directly hung up the phone. Looking at the somewhat dim stairwell, he pursed his lips and smiled, revealing a pair of deep dimples on both sides of his lips, looking especially well-behaved.

He hummed a song and walked up step by step. He thought that next time they met, he would invite Man Man over here. He had decorated and furnished the entire home according to Tang Man’s habits and preferences back then. Man Man would definitely like it.

As for Du Henian, who was driving near the city center with complex road conditions, he was caught off guard by Si Jiahe who said all those words and specifically targeted his age, an issue he cared about. Each remark hit the nail on the head, trampling his face on the ground.

He was directly angered to the point of losing clarity. No one had ever spoken to him like this before. His usually gentle expression darkened. His hands tightly gripped the steering wheel, the veins on his hands bulging from exerting too much force. In the end, even he, who never cursed, couldn’t help but utter a hateful expletive.

“Bitch.”