Chapter 49: Do you want me to help you solve it, with my hand! ……

She didn’t answer the phone immediately, so it kept vibrating.

After a moment of silence, Tang Man pushed Xie Li, letting him get up first. She also sat up from the bed and casually put on the fallen strap of her nightgown on one side.

She picked up the phone, ready to go out.

But before she could put on her shoes, just as she sat on the edge of the bed, the wrist holding the phone was grabbed by someone.

She turned her head to look at the person sitting up on the bed. Xie Li was covered with a thin blanket, just looking at her quietly, but his grip on her hand was a bit forceful.

“Where are you going?”

Tang Man moved her hand and explained, “I’m just going out to answer a phone call, I’ll be right back.”

Seeing that the phone was about to hang up, Tang Man thought of the message Bel’air had sent her before and felt a little uneasy. She glanced at Xie Li and didn’t insist on going out. She switched the phone to her other hand and answered the call directly while sitting on the bed.

“Si Jiahe?”

There was no sound on the other end, it was very quiet. Tang Man suddenly had a feeling that Si Jiahe had somehow found out about her engagement. Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but glance at Xie Li.

Sure enough, after a long silence, the other person softly called her name, their voice a little hoarse, as if they had been crying.

Almost as soon as this voice came out, Tang Man knew it wouldn’t be good for Xie Li to hear the rest of the conversation. So she wanted to stand up and go out to find a quiet place to talk to Si Jiahe.

But Xie Li was like a hard piece of wood, no matter what, he wouldn’t let go of the hand holding hers at this time, looking at her just like that, very persistently.

“Tang Man, we are now in the relationship of fiancés.” Xie Li said, “There is no need to avoid me in this kind of situation.”

His voice was not low, and Tang Man could feel the crying voice on the other end of the phone pause for a moment.

Si Jiahe must have heard Xie Li’s voice.

At this moment, Tang Man wanted to hold her forehead. For the first time, she felt a little headache. She was afraid of encountering such a situation.

Before she could speak, Xie Li was also looking at her, but Si Jiahe’s voice came from the other end, “Manman, I heard you got engaged, is it true?”

Tang Man frowned and didn’t respond to his words, but asked instead, “Who did you hear it from?”

She kept the news of her engagement quite secret and didn’t really tell anyone. On Old Tang’s side, only a few close partners and old friends knew about it. She hadn’t even told her mother yet. She was a little surprised how Si Jiahe found out about her engagement.

Si Jiahe didn’t speak. He knew it was true now. If it was false, based on Tang Man’s personality, she would definitely deny it immediately. She had once commented so harshly on the meaning of marriage. Even when she was with him, Tang Man was like a strong grass in the wind, without roots.

The silence was like a soundless darkness, instantly permeating the surroundings of the three people. Tang Man was about to ask why he didn’t go to see the psychologist regularly today, when Si Jiahe on the other end suddenly spoke and said a sentence.

“Manman, I miss you.”

This voice penetrated through the electric current and dispersed directly into the air. Tang Man heard it, and Xie Li sitting beside her also heard it. His expression was indecipherable, his face lowered, the light was dim and unclear, and the hand holding Tang Man’s would rub a few times from time to time.

Tang Man didn’t make a sound.

But Xie Li suddenly spoke, took the phone from Tang Man’s hand, opened the speaker under her gaze, kept looking at her and making eye contact, then said to the person on the other end who had fallen silent.

“Mr. Si, it’s already very late now. If there’s anything, call me tomorrow. It may be a little inconvenient for my fiancée to answer the phone.”

Tang Man’s fingers curled a few times. Under Xie Li’s gaze, she smiled and also said to the person on the other end, “Jiahe, it’s already very late now. Go to sleep early. Let’s talk about it tomorrow if there’s anything.”

She was thinking that after Xie Li went to work tomorrow, she would take Si Jiahe to the hospital to see Bel’air. The crying voice of Si Jiahe on the phone just now made her a little concerned. She was worried that his condition had worsened.

The other end fell silent. Tang Man glanced at Xie Li before hanging up the phone.

After hanging up, the room was quiet for a few seconds. Xie Li then got up from the bed, put on a piece of clothing, and said to Tang Man, “It’s very late now. You’re covered in sweat. Go take a shower before going to sleep.”

Tang Man put the phone on the bedside table and made a sound of agreement.

Because of this phone call, the atmosphere that had already been brewing between the two disappeared, and instead, it became much more distant and cold.

After Tang Man took a set of clean clothes and went in to take a quick shower, she came out. But there was no one in the room anymore. Xie Li’s clothes on the bedside were also gone. He should have returned to his own room. She stood there dazed for a while before climbing onto the bed.

But after hesitating for a while, she still got out of bed again, opened the door, and saw Xie Li standing against the wall with his head down. It seemed that he had been standing here all along.

When he met the eyes of Tang Man who had just opened the door, Xie Li was obviously a little surprised, “Why did you come out?”

Tang Man asked, “Why are you standing here?”

Xie Li didn’t answer.

He didn’t know why, but after leaving the room, he suddenly didn’t want to go back. So he just stood here. In that period of time just now, it seemed like he wasn’t thinking about anything, yet it also felt like he thought about a lot.

Tang Man didn’t ask further, as if she understood something. She took the initiative to hold Xie Li’s hand, “If you keep standing, let’s not sleep tonight.”

“You go in and take a shower first. I’ll go to your room and get you some clean clothes.”

Xie Li lowered his head and looked at Tang Man for a long time before smiling slightly and softly agreeing.

After Xie Li entered the room, Tang Man went to the guest room next door, found a set of clean clothes, took out a piece of underwear from the bottom drawer, and then returned to her own room. She knocked on the bathroom door.

“Xie Li, I put the clothes on the counter outside. Get them yourself.”

A low hum mixed with the sound of water came from inside. Tang Man heard it and left the door, climbing back onto the bed.

Because he had already taken a shower before and only sweated a little, Xie Li showered very quickly and came out after a short while. Water was still dripping from his hair. He wiped it with a towel several times before it became a bit dry.

Tang Man arranged the pillows and said to Xie Li, “You sleep on the left side. I like to sleep on the side near the light.”

Xie Li agreed. After drying his hair, he got on the bed. Because the air conditioner was on, there was only a very light blanket on the bed, basically just for show.

After turning off the lights, Tang Man turned on the floor lamp, adjusted it to the dimmest brightness, and met Xie Li’s gaze. She took out an eye mask from the bedside table drawer and handed it to him, “When I sleep with someone, I like to sleep with the light on. If you can’t adapt, you can wear an eye mask.”

If it was just her alone, she wouldn’t mind. But when sleeping with someone else, she always had a layer of distance in her heart. If she couldn’t see the person beside her clearly, she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep.

Xie Li didn’t mind. He took the eye mask. The two of them lay on the bed. After a while, Tang Man found that she was not sleepy at all. She couldn’t help but turn her head to look at Xie Li beside her. He was wearing the eye mask, his breathing steady. She couldn’t tell if he had fallen asleep.

Just as she was about to look away, her hand was suddenly held by someone. Xie Li spoke, his low and slightly hoarse voice sounding in the room, “Can’t sleep?”

Tang Man agreed, “A little.”

She finished speaking and thought of something. She glanced at Xie Li’s lower body and couldn’t help but ask, “Are you okay physically?”

After all, counting it up, this person had held back twice, and each time the arrow on the string had to be more urgent than the last. This time was much more urgent than the last time. Although she couldn’t experience it, she could imagine the feeling of frustration when the final step was withdrawn.

Xie Li turned his head slightly. A black eye mask was stuck on his tall and straight nose bridge. His perfect contours became even more sharp and handsome under the somewhat dim light.

His hand holding Tang Man’s seemed to stiffen for a moment. He pursed his lips and finally said lightly, “Go to sleep, it’s already very late.”

Under such casual words, Tang Man actually felt a little guilty. This was really rare. She thought it might be because she was getting older, so she became a bit kinder. After all, in bed before, she was the kind of person who had no sense of service.

So she said, “Do you want to solve it? I’ll help you.”

She was afraid that Xie Li would misunderstand, so she added, “With my hand.”

But her technique was not very good.

Xie Li’s body seemed to stiffen for a moment when he heard this. Tang Man clearly felt the other person’s change. Just as she was about to speak, unexpectedly, Xie Li suddenly turned over, hugged her, affectionately touched her cheek, then patted her back and said softly.

“Don’t bother, I’m not that uncomfortable. Go to sleep early. I’ll take you to work tomorrow.”

Tang Man moved and wanted to say something, but Xie Li said in a low voice, “Be good.”

These two words stunned her. Tang Man blinked. When she wanted to react, Xie Li’s breathing had already returned to calm, so she couldn’t say anything more.

Well, she finally had the intention to serve once, but the person she wanted to serve was so ungrateful. Tang Man didn’t insist anymore. After all, if this went on for a long time, her wrist would be uncomfortable too, so she was spared the trouble.

But just as she was about to fall asleep, the phone on the bedside vibrated again, waking both her and Xie Li up.

Xie Li didn’t take off the eye mask and still hugged her, asking in a low voice, “Your phone?”

Tang Man agreed, frowned, half-closed her eyes, and grabbed the phone from the bedside. However, she found that it was not a call, but a bunch of messages, about a dozen or so, mostly photos.

Sent by Si Jiahe.

Because the messages were sent too continuously, the phone vibrated as if a call had come in.

After looking at one photo, Tang Man was no longer sleepy. She sat up from the bed at once. Xie Li was also awakened by her movement. The hazy sleepiness disappeared instantly. He took off the eye mask and looked at Tang Man who had suddenly sat up.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Li’s eyes fell on the phone in Tang Man’s hand. He guessed something at once, but still asked, “Who called?”

Tang Man didn’t answer. Instead, she got up, turned on the light, found clothes from the wardrobe, and called while putting them on. But after she made three calls, someone finally answered the phone on the other end. They were obviously still crying, their voice already hoarse, unable to make a sound.

They just kept calling her name.

Tang Man was afraid of stimulating the other person, so she could only comfort them in a gentle voice. After learning that Si Jiahe was at home now, she breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, “Jiahe, I’ll be right over. Don’t cry. Don’t do anything you’ll regret. Sit still where you are.”

She glanced at the time displayed on the phone screen and said, “Half an hour, I’ll be there, around two o’clock. I’ll definitely reach your home, okay?”

Si Jiahe on the other end of the phone kept sobbing and didn’t speak. Tang Man waited while getting dressed, not daring to urge. About a minute later, Si Jiahe softly agreed on the other end, weakly, like a little kitten.

“Manman, then you must come. I’ll wait for you here.”

Only then did Tang Man feel relieved. She agreed, hung up the phone, put on a long dress, said something to Xie Li, and was about to go out.

At this time, Xie Li also got out of bed. Hearing this, he wanted to stop Tang Man.

“What happened?”

Tang Man didn’t want to say too much. She had always known about Xie Li’s contempt and hostility towards Si Jiahe, so she only tried to downplay it as much as possible, “You know, Jiahe is ill. Now his emotions are a bit unstable. I’m going to check on him in case something happens.”

She tiptoed and kissed the corner of Xie Li’s mouth, whispering, with comfort, “You go to sleep first. You still have to work tomorrow. I can drive there myself. It’s just a half-hour drive, I’ll be there in no time.”

Xie Li looked at Tang Man for several seconds. Suddenly, he had a strong urge to ask Tang Man a question—where do you place me, rushing out in the middle of the night just after receiving a call from your ex-boyfriend?

And you’re going out now, so you won’t be back tonight?

……

At the same time, many questions were spreading in his heart, all the way to his throat. But he didn’t ask a single question. Xie Li knew that these questions could not be asked. Tang Man was not a person who could tolerate these questions. Once these questions were asked, the fragile relationship between them, like a layer of ice, would crack.

He himself was not clear what he had thought in such a short time. He only knew that he could not let Tang Man go alone like this.

So in the end, he could only compromise and pretend not to care, smiling, “You think I can rest assured letting you go alone like this?”

Tang Man looked at him.

Xie Li said, “Wait for me for a while. I’ll change my clothes and take you there.”