Chapter 247 – Report to the CEO: Madam Has Run Away Again – Saving Someone Without Expecting a Reward (11)
“Now, come with me and explain everything clearly to Tang Tang,” Gu Yan forcefully dragged Jiang Hongzhe to Bai Tang’s room.
Sha Yao opened the door and, seeing the two of them, blocked the entrance. “What are you doing here? Isn’t Tang Tang already hurt enough?”
“It’s all my fault. I came to explain,” Jiang Hongzhe said.
“Go away, go away.” Sha Yao’s attitude was far from friendly—just seeing them annoyed her.
Bang—
The door was slammed shut, nearly hitting Jiang Hongzhe’s nose.
Sha Yao looked at Bai Tang, who was already fast asleep on the bed, and thought her Tang Tang really had been through too much. She even began to consider where she could send Bai Tang to escape Gu Yan’s entanglement.
When Zhao Lou and the others finished gossiping and singing and came out to prepare for a barbecue, they immediately noticed how strange the atmosphere was.
First of all, Bai Tang wasn’t there. Gu Yan and Sha Yao both had dark expressions on their faces, and Jiang Hongzhe looked like a wronged little wife who had done something bad.
Zhao Lou and the others didn’t even dare to breathe loudly. Meili secretly messaged Sha Yao, “What’s going on with you guys? Where’s Tang Tang?”
Sha Yao replied quickly, “Tang Tang’s asleep. The food is already done, and the barbecue ingredients are ready. You can go cook if you want.”
Meili glanced up at Sha Yao, who was looking down at her phone to reply, then looked at Gu Yan sitting silently on the sofa. She decided it was best to stay far away.
She signaled to the others, and only once they were all outside did they feel the oppressive air finally lift.
“This is scary. We just turned around to sing a few songs, and suddenly the whole mood turned so heavy. Especially Yao Yao and President Gu—it’s like someone owes them millions.”
“Did you see the look on the team leader’s face? I think this definitely has something to do with him.”
Previously, no matter how much Sha Yao and Gu Yan disliked each other, they at least maintained a surface-level harmony. Now, they were on the verge of falling out—no, they probably had already fallen out. The others had just missed it and didn’t witness it firsthand.
The barbecue sizzled on the grill with a loud “zzzz”, and none of them dared to talk loudly, afraid the people inside might hear.
All four of them had been pampered since childhood, always waiting to be served. None of them had ever tried grilling food themselves.
The two women didn’t know the first thing about barbecuing. The two men were slightly better—they at least had some theoretical knowledge—but it was still like forcing ducks to climb trees. They didn’t know how to manage the heat or how to properly brush on the seasoning.
They ended up eating a batch of barbecue that tasted like nothing at all—spitting out as much as they swallowed—and their stomachs were still empty.
Fortunately, Bai Tang had prepared some proper food earlier. It was still being kept warm on the stove, ready for anyone who got hungry.
Meanwhile, after receiving the second male lead’s warning and hearing Gu Yan, the male lead, admit it all personally, Bai Tang didn’t even feel like completing his task anymore.
He lay on the bed, staring blankly at the white ceiling.
After a long silence, he said, “Xiao A, I’m sorry. I might not be able to complete this world’s mission. I won’t be able to collect more luck for you.”
“It’s okay! You already gathered a lot of luck for me before,” Xiao A replied cheerfully. “It’s just… if you don’t finish this mission, you’ll be sent into a punishment world.”
Xiao A was really worried about Bai Tang’s state. If he brought this emotional burden into a dangerous and unknown punishment world, the risks would be even greater.
When Sha Yao came in carrying dinner, Bai Tang instinctively closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Sha Yao was a really good person—kind and upright. If she ended up with the male lead, it honestly wouldn’t be a bad outcome either.
Bai Tang made up his mind:
He would not complete this world’s mission.
He didn’t want to make everyone unhappy.
“Tang Tang, I’ll leave dinner here to stay warm. Remember to eat it later,” Sha Yao said gently. She noticed his eyelashes flutter slightly—he was already awake. Maybe he just wanted to be alone for a while.
Sha Yao didn’t disturb him. She set the tray down and quietly closed the door behind her as she left.
The next day, under Sha Yao’s interference, Gu Yan still didn’t get a chance to say a single word to Bai Tang.
She refused to ride in Gu Yan’s car and instead hailed a taxi to take Bai Tang home.
While Sha Yao was still trying to figure out how to keep the two apart, Bai Tang took advantage of her absence when she left for work. With no one else at home, he asked Xiao A to activate the signal-blocking function and quietly left Sha Yao’s house.
In the original storyline, he—the vicious yet naïve supporting male character—was a stumbling block on the road to the protagonists’ relationship. Whether it was Ling Xue or Gu Yan, they were both people he liked being close to. He couldn’t bear to see either of them get hurt.
So why not just step aside?
Let things run their course, die a natural death in this world, and return to the system space.
When Sha Yao came home from work and found Bai Tang missing, she thought Gu Yan had sneaked into the house again and taken him away while she was gone.
What was he trying to pull this time?!
Fuming, Sha Yao immediately dialed Gu Yan’s number. “Where did you take Tang Tang?!”
Recently, Gu Yan had been easing up on overseeing his division, which gave rival companies an opening. A mole had appeared within the branch, and he had been dealing with the fallout all day.
Hearing Sha Yao’s question, a sense of dread surged in his chest. “Tang Tang isn’t with me. What happened to him?”
Gu Yan’s anxious tone didn’t sound fake at all, which made Sha Yao start to doubt herself. “It wasn’t you? Tang Tang’s not at home.”
“Quick, check if his luggage is still there!”
Sha Yao rushed to Bai Tang’s room and found that all of his clothes were gone.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
Gu Yan’s heart pounded—Tang Tang was really leaving him.
If he’d taken his luggage, it meant he left on his own. In that case, calling the police would be useless.
Despite having worked himself to exhaustion all day, Gu Yan didn’t even pause to rest. He immediately got in his car and headed to Sha Yao’s place.
Meanwhile, Bai Tang sat on a park bench with his suitcase beside him.
Xiao A looked up at the star-studded night sky and said, “Host, why don’t we go to a hotel first? It’s already late—wandering around outside like this is dangerous.”
Bai Tang had left home on a whim, driven only by the thought of “not causing trouble for others.” He didn’t really have a plan.
“Okay~”
Hearing Bai Tang’s response, Xiao A breathed a sigh of relief. He had really been worried that his host might fall into despair over love and do something reckless…
Bai Tang dragged his suitcase along a deserted forest path in the park. Before he reached the end of the trail, angry shouting came from up ahead.
“Old man, if you know what’s good for you, hand over the money!”
Under the faint moonlight, Bai Tang hid behind a tree and saw a burly man with a thuggish face robbing an elderly man with white hair. A sharp dagger gleamed menacingly in the moonlight, sending chills down his spine.
“Young man, you’re still so young. Why walk down a road of no return?” the old man said kindly, trying to persuade him.
“Cut the crap. Hand it over, now.” The man glanced around nervously, clearly worried someone might show up in this secluded park.
The elderly man didn’t resist. He removed the gold watch from his wrist and pulled out his wallet, giving everything to the man.
The robber was overjoyed as he counted his haul.
He hadn’t expected this old man to be so wealthy. Since he was being cooperative, the robber didn’t plan to make things harder for him.
However, just as he turned to leave, the man suddenly noticed a silver ring on the old man’s finger.
The ring wasn’t worth much, but money was money—he was here to rob, after all, and wouldn’t leave even a cent behind.
“Old man, give me your ring.”
The elderly man hid his hand behind his back. “You can take everything else, but not this.”
That silver ring held deep meaning for him. It was a token of love from his wife in their younger days. Everything else could be given away—but not that.
“Are you giving it to me or not?!” The man pointed the tip of his knife directly at the old man. If he refused, he would just take it by force.
“I really can’t give this up…”
The old man tried to appeal to the man’s emotions, but the robber’s patience had run out. What robbers feared most was wasting time—the longer it dragged on, the more likely something could go wrong.
The sharp knife stabbed toward the old man.
The next second, the very thing the robber feared most happened.
A vine suddenly sprang up from the soil. Just as the blade was mere millimeters from the old man’s stomach, the vine swiftly intercepted it.
The vine twisted the knife around in a full 180-degree arc and drove it back toward the robber.
The man tried to run, but he hadn’t noticed that his feet had also been bound by vines. He could only watch helplessly as the knife stabbed into his own thigh.
He screamed in pain and dropped the knife from his right hand. The vine instantly retreated back into the earth just as the old man turned to look at him in confusion.
The old man, with poor eyesight and in the dim light, couldn’t clearly see what had just happened. All he knew was that the robber suddenly hurt himself and collapsed.
Xiao A, using the system, called the park security via a public phone line.
Bai Tang stepped out from behind the tree and helped the old man to a nearby bench to rest. He discreetly checked the old man’s condition and found that aside from a scare, he was physically healthy and strong—no need to worry.
“Grandpa, the security guards will be here soon. Don’t be afraid,” Bai Tang said gently.
“Thank you, young man.”
Under the nearby streetlight, the old man finally got a good look at Bai Tang’s face. In his entire life, he had rarely seen someone as stunning as the boy in front of him.
Bai Tang radiated a pure, clean aura. With decades of sharp insight, the old man could see the essence of his character at a glance.
The guards arrived quickly—less than ten minutes later, they were on the scene.
“Were you the one who made the emergency call and left the message?” one of the guards asked.
“Yes. That man over there tried to rob this elderly gentleman,” Bai Tang said, pointing to the man lying not far away on the ground.
The guards walked over and searched the robber’s bag, finding a stash of criminal tools—knives, rope, the old man’s wallet, and other stolen items—enough to prove Bai Tang wasn’t lying.
Using the rope the man had brought, the guards tied him up.
“Is the old man alright? Does he need to go to the hospital? Also, could I trouble you to stay for a moment and give a statement?” one of them said to Bai Tang.
“Um, I was just passing by. When I got here, that man was already lying on the ground. I only came out when I saw the elderly gentleman, to ask if he needed any help.”
Bai Tang didn’t want to give a formal statement—if he did, it would make it much easier for Gu Yan to track him down.
He gave the old man a pleading look, and the elderly man spoke up to the guards in support, confirming that Bai Tang had indeed arrived afterward and wasn’t the one who subdued the robber.
Faced with Bai Tang’s insistence, the guards had no choice but to let him give a simple verbal account of what he had witnessed and sign his name. Then they allowed him to leave.
“Then I’ll be going now. Goodbye, Grandpa,” Bai Tang said politely.
Dragging his suitcase behind him, Bai Tang still felt a lingering fear.
“If only I could do remote diagnostics and healing,” he muttered. “I almost exposed myself back there.”
Xiao A’s expression flickered slightly, but in the end, he didn’t tell Bai Tang that the elderly man he had just saved… was actually Gu Yan’s grandfather.
Author’s Note:
Grandpa Gu: My useless grandson couldn’t win over his future wife, so I had to step in and play wingman.
Gu Yan: Grandpa, I’m counting on you.
Bai Tang: I blocked my location… so how did Ah Yan still manage to find me?
Xiao A: I know nothing. 😇