Since Xie Li said this, it meant he hadn’t considered other aspects yet. For the sake of future peaceful cohabitation, Tang Man still said to Xie Li while looking at him:

“Before, Si Jiahe stayed in this room for a while. So there might be some traces left. If you mind, I can have someone repaint this room.”

Xie Li fell silent for a moment. The fingers hanging at his side curled a few times. He looked around the room, then smiled very calmly. “No need, it’s fine like this. I don’t really mind his presence that much.”

Tang Man gave Xie Li a probing look.

Xie Li noticed and smiled, tapping her brow with his finger. “Tang Man, don’t look at me like that. I don’t think I’m that petty.”

Tang Man nodded noncommittally, seeming to agree with what he said. But she couldn’t help thinking of Du Henian.

Back when they first started, Du Henian had also said he didn’t mind Si Jiahe’s existence. He expressed that the past was the past, and them being together now was more important.

But later she discovered saying those words generally signified minding to a certain degree. Where was Du Henian not minding? He probably minded very much, to an extreme degree. He even stopped trusting her and began doubting her loyalty in the relationship. The year she was about to graduate, Du Henian hinted more than once that they should get engaged as soon as they graduated.

It was also at that time that she felt she had nearly been slowly boiled like a frog, almost completely trapped in a dry well, becoming a frog at the bottom of the well. A huge rock had already sealed the top, leaving only a crack for her to occasionally glimpse the sunlight and moonlight, aware of time passing by.

So, she now understood a little. Not only could a woman’s words not be fully trusted, but it was the same for men. In this regard, they seemed to have an extraordinary sense of self-esteem and say one thing while meaning another, as if it were innate.

Therefore, Tang Man said, “If you later find it doesn’t suit your habits, you can tell me.”

Xie Li made an affirmative sound.

Her house here wasn’t very big either, just over a hundred square meters. Only one family lived on this floor. Her father felt that although she was living alone, the space would be too small if it were any smaller. So he had the two units in between opened up and renovated into one. As a result, this apartment had a very large functional area.

Leading Xie Li around took just over half an hour. The boiled water in the kitchen had probably cooled down a bit. Tang Man poured a glass for Xie Li and kept a glass for herself, pulling him along, not knowing what to do.

Thinking about it now, she seemed to not know what Xie Li usually liked to do in his spare time, whether he had any other hobbies besides work.

Thinking this, she sat behind the kitchen island, leaning on it, and asked aloud.

Xie Li thought for a moment. “I used to enjoy rock climbing and hiking in college, but I haven’t been since I started working.”

He hadn’t taken his annual leave for several years. Sometimes during the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, he would get a call from his boss and immediately rush to solve problems. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have climbed to his current position at such a young age in just a few short years.

“Then how many years has it been since you last watched a movie?” Tang Man took a sip of water and asked Xie Li.

Xie Li hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t too sure either. “About two or three years.”

The company used to have team building activities to watch movies together. But at the time, he had a project that ran into some issues. He suddenly received news that he had to go on a business trip, so he didn’t end up going. So thinking about it, it had been about three years since he last watched a movie. He usually used his phone to browse news and check company messages and emails.

This time Tang Man was truly a little surprised that Xie Li hadn’t lost touch with society yet.

Xie Li laughed. “It’s not that I don’t pay attention to social news. I’m just not used to browsing entertainment apps.”

For the first few years after he started working, he often felt there wasn’t enough time. During that period, in order to ensure he could improve work efficiency, he compressed his sleep time to six hours.

But he did know a bit about entertainment and social news. The company had previously invited some celebrities to endorse their products. They had also done background checks on them in private. He had inadvertently found out some gossip. After all, the company paid great attention to brand-related public opinion at the time. They didn’t want the brand to be affected by the endorsers. So they were very careful in selecting endorsers and put in a lot of effort.

However, he knew Tang Man wasn’t interested in this aspect either. Since high school, she had always kept entertainment circles at arm’s length. That attitude made Xie Li suspect Tang Man might have some psychological trauma in this area, causing her to keep a distance from entertainment circles.

“Do you have time recently?” After drinking a big mouthful of water, Tang Man looked at Xie Li, leaning on the marble tabletop. She poked Xie Li’s wrist, touching the protruding carpal bones. “My grandma came here during this time, right? I plan to take her out to play. You should take a day off then to accompany us.”

Xie Li froze for a good while. Meeting Tang Man’s gaze as she turned her head to look at him, he pursed his lips and smiled, nodding. “Mm, I understand. I’ll have my assistant arrange it.”

“What does Grandma usually like to do?”

He knew the grandma Tang Man referred to was Madam Yang Qing’s mother. But this elderly had always lived in a small town and rarely came here. In all these years, he seemed to have never met this elder.

Tang Man thought for a bit and found her memories of the elder were a bit faint. Since she started college, she rarely went back there. She only went back for a few days during the holidays, then returned to this city again. And every time she went back, the elder would prepare a big table of delicious food to treat her.

As for when she was younger, she was also a cold person then. But Grandma had a bold personality. Their personalities clashed and they didn’t get along. Most of the time, she stayed in her own room. Sometimes when she opened the door, she would see the elder sitting under the eaves knitting sweaters. Grandpa would also go out early in the morning to find people to play chess with and only return at mealtimes.

It was a very leisurely and quiet time. But she only attended school in that small town for a year before Old Tang took her back.

The reason was, when Tang Man studied there, because she was too good-looking, a boy liked her and even wrote her a love letter. Somehow this matter was found out by the boy’s parents. It was blown up at the school. They insisted that she, who was just a child at the time, had seduced the little boy. Their words were very vulgar. When scolding her, they even dragged in her mother, Madam Yang Qing.