Yang Shuli turned off the light. Ye Qingchang held the cat.
Both their phone screens lit up, forming a harmonious and reassuring melody.
It was even more comforting than the lawnmowers in Plants vs. Zombies.
Yang Shuli was about to scroll through videos when she suddenly asked Ye Qingchang, “Third, are you asleep?”
“Asleep,” answered Ye Qingchang, whose phone was glowing.
“Oh, okay.”
Yang Shuli turned up the volume and started playing videos out loud.
From time to time, she sent over a couple of crappy videos to Ye Qingchang and Xu Nian.
Ye Qingchang inexplicably found it a bit noisy.
Maybe it was because the little cat had burrowed into her blanket and she was holding it against her chest, making her feel a bit hot and stuffy.
So she asked Yang Shuli, “Did you and Xu Nian go to the amusement park today? Why are you back so late?”
“What’s so fun about the amusement park? The food there isn’t even good, and it’s way too expensive.” Yang Shuli bounced on her bed twice. “Actually, something happened to me today.”
“What happened? Were you mistaken for a lost child and taken to the broadcasting station to find your guardian?”
Ye Qingchang’s words successfully made Yang Shuli pause the brainless short video she was playing.
“Um, actually, I was kidnapped, and Xu Nian found me. He brought a bunch of gangsters and broke the hands of the two guys who kidnapped me.”
Ye Qingchang’s expression immediately turned flat.
“You could just say you spent the whole day eating and drinking with him without doing anything important. You don’t have to make up something so ridiculous.”
“I’m telling the truth.” Yang Shuli even raised her hand to swear, but unfortunately it was pitch black and nothing could be seen.
The dorm was quieter than when the counselor did bed checks. “How are you still so sleepy after waking up at noon?”
She held the kitten in her arms a little tighter, but it didn’t struggle.
“Alright, I’m going to sleep.” Ye Qingchang yawned.
She felt the kitten in her arms move. Was it uncomfortable sleeping like this?
Just as she closed her eyes, Ye Qingchang’s brows furrowed again. She felt the kitten stir.
So she loosened her grip slightly, and then felt the kitten turn over.
Now it was facing her.
Then it extended its two front paws, placed them on Ye Qingchang’s chest, and alternated.
Even though she had never owned a cat before, Ye Qingchang had heard of this phenomenon.
It’s called kneading, a behavior kittens do when they feel safe.
An inexplicable sense of accomplishment enveloped Ye Qingchang, and her lips curled up involuntarily.
Then the little orange cat stopped.
It seemed to test again, then finally stopped completely.
Next, it gave a somewhat regretful meow: “Meow.”
Ye Qingchang froze, looked down at her flat chest.
Could it be that because there was nothing to knead, it stopped?
Ye Qingchang grabbed the cat’s front paws and placed them on her chest, but the kitten only patted symbolically a couple of times before pulling its paws back.
Ye Qingchang couldn’t hold it together anymore.
On the other side, seeing that Ye Qingchang’s light had dimmed, Yang Shuli suddenly lifted her head.
She looked over at Ye Qingchang.
“Third, are you asleep?”
Ye Qingchang didn’t bother to reply. She usually ignored such pointless topics. The fact that she had responded to Yang Shuli earlier was already merciful.
Receiving no response, Yang Shuli also turned off her phone screen and closed her eyes.
The already pitch-black dorm became even darker.
She opened her eyes, and everything was still the same, as if nothing had happened.
As if she were still at that powerless intersection. As if she could still hear the faint screech of brakes and an inexplicable collision.
As if she were still in that life-threatening van. It was still a bit shocking.
Just as she was about to bury her head under the blanket, Yang Shuli suddenly remembered something.
Xu Nian had said she could call if she was scared.
So she opened their chat, ignored the silly videos they had sent back and forth, and tapped the video call button.
For once, her mind was sharp enough. Before making the call, she chose to put on her Bluetooth earbuds.
After two rings, Xu Nian answered.
The view was from his desk, facing his upper body but not including his face.
It did capture his rolled-up sleeves and hands.
It seemed to be his phone stand on the desk.
Xu Nian was using a tissue to wipe the water droplets off his arm.
He looked down at Yang Shuli’s pitch-black screen— apparently the phone’s light only illuminated her face.
He immediately understood. She was calling while her roommate was asleep.
Probably couldn’t sleep, feeling scared.
He also put on his earbuds.
His roommate wasn’t asleep. He wasn’t afraid of disturbing his roommate; he just didn’t want to miss a single word Yang Shuli said.
Of course, he also didn’t want his roommate to hear her voice. That was his little selfishness.
“My roommate is asleep, so I can’t talk loudly.” Yang Shuli whispered to Xu Nian on the other end.
“It’s fine, I can hear you.”
Xu Nian muted the sound on his computer and started playing a game for a while.
He didn’t really like playing, but he needed to kill time while waiting for Yang Shuli to fall asleep.
He played the game, listening to Yang Shuli’s breathing through the earbuds.
In other words, he would be awake while she was asleep.
Although he was used to a healthy lifestyle, staying up a little late wasn’t a big deal.
Thus, his focus would gradually shift into the game, and he could easily pass the time.
Xu Nian thought that after finishing two rounds, Yang Shuli would probably be asleep.
He wasn’t very talented at games and didn’t win much.
He felt that this kind of fighting game wasn’t as real and satisfying as Mortal Kombat.
But in Mortal Kombat, you couldn’t regenerate health and reload like in a game.
In short, Xu Nian was tired from playing.
He let out a long breath, cracked his fingers, producing a crisp sound.
Even he felt a bit tired.
Or maybe it was because of the physical labor today?
Anyway, Xu Nian stretched slightly, then looked at the phone on the stand.
Inside the screen was a pair of bright, big eyes staring at him from beyond the screen.
A rare look of surprise appeared on Xu Nian’s face.
“Aren’t you sleeping yet?”
“I’m looking at you.”
It was as if someone had suddenly poured honey into his mouth, sickeningly sweet.
“What’s there to see about me?” Xu Nian chuckled lightly.
“You’re just really good-looking.”
He found that Yang Shuli’s personality was actually very good at hitting straight to the heart.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?”
Because Yang Shuli was whispering, pressing close to the speaker, it was like she was whispering in Xu Nian’s ear. Like ASMR.
Sickeningly sweet.