It was class time for students, and work time for the working-class at this moment. So, there was not a single customer in the cafe.
Ye Xi and Nangong Hai casually found themselves a seat and ordered two cups of coffee.
A soothing western song was being played inside the cafe, and Nangong Hai was tapping his finger on the table by the rhythm.
Ye Xi asked, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"Something seems wrong between you and Xiao Lan recently." Nangong Hai's eyes trailed towards her face.
"How so?" Ye Xi asked him.
"Do you hate him?" he asked.
Ye Xi frowned. "Do I look like I do?"
Nangong Hai smiled and waved his hands, saying, "No no, I'm not saying you hate him as a person. I'm just asking whether you hate his ability."
Ye Xi raised her brows.
Nangong Hai smiled. "He told me that he revealed his ability to you."
Ye Xi did not respond to his question. Instead, she asked, "When did you find out?"
Nangong Hai made an expression as if he were thinking about it, and said after a moment, "I don't know, it's been a long time."
"Does anyone else know besides you?"
"There's you and Xiao Lan, of course."
Ye Xi's eye twitched. "I'm not here to fool around."
"Me neither." Nangong Hai shrugged innocently. "There's me, you, and Xiao Lan. Besides us, I don't think there's anyone else who knows."
It seems that Weisheng Lan trusts Nangong Hai very much. Even the four of them were always together, Nangong Hai was the only one who knew.
After a moment of silence, Ye Xi said, "I don't hate his ability, I just don't like it when he uses it on me."
Nangong Hai suddenly had a realization.
Ye Xi felt like there was nothing else she could say, and nothing else that needed to be said anyway. However, she couldn't help but ask, "Since you know about his ability, aren't you worried about him hearing your thoughts?"
Nangong Hai shrugged. "I'm a strait-laced man with nothing to hide."
Ye Xi stared at him quietly.
...
"You're no fun." After his complaint, Nangong Hai's expression turned serious. "It's because I know how terrifying a person's thoughts could be. And, for Xiao Lan who had this ability, he definitely knows how scary it is. If possible, I'm sure he didn't wish to be able to have it at all, much less use it."
Ye Xi was silent. She agreed with that statement. Even if she didn't have that ability, she had seen the many dark and twisted sides of people. And, as these dark and twisted people grow up into adults, obtaining even more power in their hands, could turn that into powerful weapons that could make a person lose their jobs or even their ability to survive.
Wilfully, they use the resources in their hands to shame others, bully them, and condemn them.
If this was what you could see only on the surface, then who knows what more scary things could be found in their minds?
But of course, they were the minority.
Most people would be all smiles in front of people. However, once one of them falls down into a pit, perhaps even an outstanding person would end up sinking into an abyss because of a single word or two.
She did not know for sure how terrifying a human's mind could be.
But she knew that it must be terrifying.
For Weisheng Lan who was able to hear these scary thoughts, especially at such a young age, would he feel fear and pain when he hears those dark and disturbing voices?
Ye Xi felt like she had something stuck in her chest. She felt even worse now than that time when she saw a middle-aged man kick a female college student to the ground and insulted her because she waited for this man whom she thought really loved her in front of a KTV, and begged for his forgiveness for being willful.
"Hello, here is your coffee."
At this moment, the waitress brought them their coffee and placed them right in front of them.
"Thank you." Nangong Hai raised his head slightly and smiled.
"You...You're welcome." The waitress was a little stunned and left with red cheeks.
Nangong Hai turned his attention back to his coffee and took a sip. Suddenly, he smiled and said, "You know, Ye Xi, if you look at it from another perspective, you could even say Xiao Lan was praising you if he kept listening to your thoughts."
Ye Xi heard his words clearly, but she did not respond. She thought in her mind, she didn't want any part of this kind of praise, okay?
After finishing their coffees, the two of them headed back to school.
At night, Ye Xi stared at her phone inside her dorm.
She wanted to call Weisheng Lan, but it felt like something was stopping her from doing so.
She felt troubled, and even a little uneasy.
That feeling was so strong that besides staring at her phone, she couldn't do anything else.
All her limbs seemed to have lost their energy.
Ye Xi took a few deep breaths and thought to herself that this could not go on any longer. No matter what, this matter can not be dragged on.
Generally speaking, if you don't do it immediately, it'll only drag on till you're old.