Chapter 33: Why Can’t I? @

Tang Man smiled slightly, her eyes meeting Du Henian’s face. As their eyes locked, she faintly furrowed her brows, seeming a bit puzzled.

Then, with a casual smile, she said, “Henian, don’t make yourself so miserable.”

And it’s really not worth it for someone like her, a rotten person.

Definitely not worth it.

Tang Man, who always had a clear understanding, said these words to the man humbly pleading with her.

Du Henian remained silent, his eyes glaring fiercely at Tang Man, tears on the verge of falling but still stubbornly held back in his eye sockets.

Tang Man pulled Du Henian’s hand off her sleeve and told him to go back and properly treat the injury on his face. She then turned around, holding Si Jiahe’s hand, and walked towards Xie Li.

Standing in front of the man, she said with a playful smile, “Assistant Xie, sorry for the trouble. Could you give us another ride later?”

Xie Li’s gaze shifted to Du Henian, who was discarded behind like a stray dog, and then fell on Si Jiahe, who seemed to be honestly relying on Tang Man. Unexpectedly, he let out a scornful laugh, full of mockery.

Tang Man felt a bit embarrassed and couldn’t help but cough.

What she did wasn’t very nice, but there was no one else to turn to, right? Otherwise, why would she ask Xie Li to handle this matter? It’s no wonder Xie Li was so useful to her; she knew he would definitely resolve the issue perfectly.

No wonder Old Tang valued this assistant and kept him by his side for promotion.

She had a kind of intuition that no matter what request she made, even if it was a bit excessive, Xie Li would hesitate for a while but eventually agree.

This was a very irresponsible thought and attitude. Could it be called being a green tea or white lotus? Tang Man wasn’t quite sure. She seemed to be able to ignore others’ affections and shamelessly learn to take advantage of them.

Just like someone who was never short of love, having too much of something made her feel it wasn’t worth cherishing.

In the end, Xie Li only said, “Get in the car,” and then turned to leave.

When opening the car door, Tang Man was about to sit in the back seat with Si Jiahe, but she met Xie Li’s gaze in the rearview mirror. She then heard the man say, “You sit in the front.”

His tone was not polite at all, not like how one would speak to the daughter of a boss. But Tang Man had just done something wrong, and fortunately, she still had a bit of propriety and shame, feeling that her behavior wasn’t very good. She glanced at Si Jiahe, comforted him with a few words, and then unhesitatingly exited, closed the door, and got into the front passenger seat.

All her actions were done in one smooth motion. Xie Li, sitting in the driver’s seat, couldn’t help but let out another light scoff, which Tang Man heard clearly as she just sat down.

After a moment of silence, Tang Man decided to remain quiet, fearing that Xie Li might really kick her out.

She could see that he disliked Si Jiahe, and of course, she was well aware that Si Jiahe was rejecting this man. However, for convenience, Tang Man still decided to pretend she didn’t notice. She lowered her head, took out her phone, and began fiddling with it, trying to ignore the unusual atmosphere and silence in the car.

A few seconds later, Xie Li started the engine, and the car gradually drove away from the police station entrance.

Tang Man couldn’t help but glance at the rearview mirror on her side and saw Du Henian standing alone at the brightly lit police station entrance. His entire figure was slowly devoured by the night, his back seeming to bend a little more, like a withered pine tree growing on a rugged rock.

He seemed to be constantly watching the departing car.

That rugged light and shadow, like tentacles hidden in the darkness, had all its brightness erased, becoming dim.

At this moment, Tang Man couldn’t help but feel a bit of compassion.

For a moment, she recalled Du Henian’s appearance when she first saw him.

It was during a summer a year ago when the weather had just turned hot. When she arrived at the office, the door was half-open, and the people inside were all wearing short-sleeved shirts and casual pants. Yet, this man was wearing a pair of white trousers, which looked quite good, better than she had imagined.

Well, he also had more hair than she had imagined.

The moment their eyes met, Du Henian seemed to freeze for a second before calmly standing up. A young graduate student beside him asked Tang Man what she was doing here.

It was just another sunny day when they met.

It seemed that from that moment, the gears of fate began to turn.

She had an argument with Si Jiahe and then broke up, just like with any previous boyfriend. Later, she got together with Du Henian. It happened so naturally, without many twists and turns.

In Tang Man’s opinion, they got together too smoothly. The two of them were first entangled due to □□, and this throbbing feeling was neither formal nor pure in its origin.

No one could say for sure whether it was a drunken fling or due to Du Henian’s seduction at that time. Perhaps it was both. As a result, their relationship gradually became ambiguous amidst more and more □□ entanglements.

Her fingers on her clothes suddenly curled up as if touched by static electricity. After all, the time they spent together was too long.

In an instant, her heart calmed down again, and the ripples on the lake surface were smoothed out by a gust of wind.

Tang Man’s eyelashes couldn’t help but tremble a few times. Just as she was about to withdraw her gaze, Xie Li beside her spoke up.

“Can’t bear to let go?”

Tang Man turned her head to look at him, and out of the corner of her eye, she also saw Si Jiahe’s bright eyes staring straight at her. She couldn’t help but inwardly curse Xie Li for being a troublemaker. Couldn’t he see that Si Jiahe’s face had tensed up again?

She had just spent a great deal of effort to stabilize Si Jiahe’s emotions. If this happened a few more times, she wouldn’t be able to take it.

This was a piece of honey paste that was too sweet to the extreme, sticky to the teeth.

She smiled, “You know, I never look back.”

She really rarely looked back. Once they broke up, it was truly over.

Xie Li laughed and showed particular disdain for her statement. His tone was unusually sharp, “Then is the person sitting in the back a ghost?”

Tang Man looked back at Si Jiahe. At this moment, the boy didn’t pay attention to Xie Li’s words but sat right behind her, seemingly about to lean on the back of her chair. As she turned her head, she almost bumped into that bruised face.

Startled, Tang Man quickly told him to sit properly.

Somehow, his mood seemed to brighten up instantly, his eyes shining.

“Man Man, am I your exception?”

He didn’t seem to mind Du Henian at all. In Si Jiahe’s current concept, being Tang Man’s exception was equivalent to being unique. So, Du Henian, who was almost thirty years old, really couldn’t compare to him. How many youths does one have in life? Du Henian’s youth was definitely gone.