Hearing these words, Wen Yifan didn’t react immediately, thinking she had accidentally clicked on yesterday’s voice message. Her eyelashes fluttered as her fingertip instinctively slid down.
But she had already reached the bottom.
Wen Yifan’s mind cleared a bit, and she tapped the latest voice message again.
The same words repeated once more.
A suspicion began to form. Wen Yifan frowned, slowly scrolling back up. She opened and listened to the previous few voice messages, going upward until she heard the one that said, “69 days left.”
68, 69.
Oh.
The numbers were different.
Wen Yifan was about to habitually reply with an “okay,” having typed just one character when she suddenly came to her senses. She blinked hard, sat up, and stared directly at the screen.
She could still see her previous message: “Can you give me a countdown every day?”
At that time, she had been out of her mind, just wanting to find an excuse for him to send her a voice message every day. But now, looking at this request again, she suddenly felt it was quite shameless, appearing ridiculous and idle.
And she was dragging him into her idleness too.
But hadn’t Sang Yan refused?
He had even directly criticized her for being thick-skinned.
Wen Yifan licked her lips, hugging her quilt as she hesitantly replied: [Didn’t you tell me to keep track of it myself?]
Perhaps he was out and hadn’t checked his phone; Sang Yan didn’t reply for a while.
After quite some time, when Wen Yifan was almost falling asleep again, he sent over a few voice messages. It seemed he had changed locations; the background noise on Sang Yan’s end had noticeably diminished, making it much quieter.
Wen Yifan had always thought his way of speaking was unique, though she didn’t know who had taught him. His pace was neither fast nor slow, flat and unwavering, always ending with a habitual drawl that carried an inherent roguishness.
Sang Yan: “Hm? Yes. But you’re too good at muddying the waters.”
Sang Yan: “You’ve mentioned the meal several times before, but haven’t followed through yet. If I don’t remind you, you’ll probably treat your own words as air in the same way. Wouldn’t I be the one losing out then?”
Sang Yan: “Alright, go to sleep now.”
Wen Yifan was indeed very sleepy. Her sleep quality had improved considerably lately, unlike before when even falling asleep was difficult. She had fewer dreams and slept deeply, often able to sleep through until dawn. Forcing her eyelids open, she replied: [I’ve cooked for you quite a few times.]
Wen Yifan: [Doesn’t that count as repayment?]
Sang Yan: [?]
Wen Yifan yawned: [Okay.]
Wen Yifan: [Then see what you want to eat.]
Wen Yifan: [I’ll repay all of it.]
After thinking for a moment, Wen Yifan seriously added: [I won’t let you lose out.]
After waiting for quite a while, there was no reply from his end.
Wen Yifan unconsciously fell asleep.
The next day when she woke up, Wen Yifan’s first reaction was to reach for her phone beside her, checking for unread messages. Shortly after she had fallen asleep, Sang Yan had replied to her, still in his crisp and concise voice messages.
“That’s a fresh line from you, like a weasel paying New Year’s respects to a chicken,” the man’s tone carried a hint of sleepiness, casual and relaxed. “I’ve long since used up all the advantages I could take; where’s the room for me to lose out?”
Wen Yifan: “…”
–
Hearing this, Wen Yifan pondered and felt that she might be at a disadvantage.
After all, she had no recollection of the things Sang Yan mentioned, such as the alleged hugging and kissing. But from Sang Yan’s perspective, these events had occurred, causing various emotional fluctuations.
It was as if another version of herself had done these things with him.
Before even catching him, Wen Yifan started to worry unnecessarily. She was a bit concerned that if she was lucky enough to eventually win Sang Yan’s heart when they did such things again, he might have already lost the sense of novelty.
This made Wen Yifan even more resistant to the idea of sleepwalking.
Although from the beginning, Wen Yifan felt she couldn’t have done such things. But during this time, she finally realized that she indeed had those kinds of thoughts about Sang Yan.
Because of this, Wen Yifan began to think that she might have done these things.
These might all be things she subconsciously wanted to do.
Thinking this way, Wen Yifan felt she was quite scary.
From Sang Yan’s perspective.
Her image was that of a hooligan who would sleepwalk at night, get up to hug and kiss him, and even threaten him while awake to keep his clothes on, otherwise, she might commit criminal acts of violating him.
“…”
Wen Yifan vaguely felt that this path of pursuing him was quite difficult; she had already lost at the starting line. If a strong competitor were to appear now, she would have no chance of winning.
Because of Wen Yifan’s words, in the following period, Su Tian would occasionally ask about her progress. Each time, she would concisely answer with the same six words: “Still working hard on it.”
After many times, Su Tian, as an observer, also became anxious: “Is he stringing you along?”
“No, he probably doesn’t know I’m pursuing him,” Wen Yifan said, then added uncertainly, “Should I say it out first?”
“Of course not!” Su Tian immediately said, “You can appropriately show your fondness for him, but you can’t put yourself in a weak position in the relationship from the start. You need to be more confident in yourself, chat with him when he’s free, and don’t appear too clingy. Or you can approach from his hobbies, occasionally ask him out or something.”
“I see.” Wen Yifan pondered, “I understand.”
“So how’s your pursuit going?” Su Tian looked at the time and recalled, “It’s been a month since you first told me you were going to pursue someone. Hasn’t your relationship warmed up at all?”
Wen Yifan thought for a moment: “I’m not quite sure.”
Su Tian: “Then when do you plan to succeed in pursuing him?”
“No rush,” Wen Yifan pulled back her thoughts and continued typing on the keyboard, “I’ll think about it some more.”
Su Tian was stunned: “Think about what?”
Wen Yifan: “Think about how to pursue him.”
“…”
During this time, Wen Yifan was indeed pondering this question while secretly trying to make her presence felt in front of Sang Yan.
The question she had posted to the Tree Hole blog earlier might not have been as sensational as before, so this time Wen Yifan hadn’t been picked up. She had no experience, and all her pursuit behaviors were carefully thought out based on her understanding of Sang Yan.
But Su Tian’s suggestion about approaching from his hobbies.
She felt this advice was quite feasible.
From what Wen Yifan knew of Sang Yan’s hobbies, he seemed to have been playing a mobile game for a long time, and he played it quite well. When at home, Wen Yifan often heard him criticizing his teammates in an arrogant tone: “What kind of trash move is that?”
Wen Yifan didn’t have much interest in games. When she first started university, she played online games with her roommates for a while. She was only online frequently at the very beginning, but later she would only log in once in a while.
After starting work, she had even less time to touch these things.
By now, Wen Yifan had hardly played any games. She had long since uninstalled that online game from her computer.
But Wen Yifan thought, since she was pursuing someone, of course, she should do some things she wasn’t interested in for the other person’s sake. That evening, after returning home, she downloaded this mobile game onto her phone.
Wen Yifan looked up guides online and studied them while playing for several days before gradually getting the hang of it.
A few days later, noticing Wen Yifan’s constantly tired and listless state, Su Tian casually asked: “What’s wrong with you?”
“Hm?” Wen Yifan honestly said, “Following your advice, I’ve decided to approach his hobbies recently. I’m playing a mobile game that the person I like enjoys playing.”
“How is it?”
“It’s quite fun, just a bit time-consuming. I haven’t gotten much sleep these past few days.”
Su Tian casually asked: “Are you playing by yourself or…?”
“I’m playing by myself.”
“…”
Su Tian was shocked: “No, of course you should play with him! What’s the use of playing by yourself!”
“I’m playing too poorly, I don’t dare to play with him,” thinking of Sang Yan’s scolding demeanor, Wen Yifan’s concerns were strong, “I’m afraid of being scolded.”
“…” Su Tian found it amusing, “Don’t worry, when you play games with guys, they all have a sense of achievement in carrying a girl. Even if you play terribly, they won’t say anything. They’re all very gentle with girls!”
Wen Yifan shook her head: “He won’t be.”
“…”
“Besides, I think not playing together also has its advantages,” as if unable to accept her suggestion, Wen Yifan found her reasons, “This way we have one more common topic to discuss.”
Su Tian was silent for a few seconds: “I suppose that works too.”
“There’s just one drawback,” Wen Yifan sighed, “I don’t have much time to chat with him now.”
“…”
Su Tian choked, feeling that her way of pursuing someone was particularly peculiar: “Look, Yifan. Even if you’ve never pursued anyone before, surely you’ve been pursued by others, right?”
Wen Yifan made an affirmative sound.
Su Tian: “Then you can learn from their methods.”
“Ah? But I don’t think these people’s methods are worth learning from.” Wen Yifan seemed to have never considered this aspect, bluntly saying, “Aren’t they all failed cases?”
“…”
–
On the other side.
After finishing overtime, Sang Yan had initially planned to go straight home, but under Su Hao’an’s repeated urging, he still went for an “overtime session.” He went directly to the second floor, entering the innermost private room.
Inside, there were about six or seven people, all with a fairly good rapport among them.
As soon as he entered, Su Hao’an’s booming voice rang out as if amplified, saying sarcastically, “Well, well, who do we have here? What a rare guest! Suddenly remembered your old brothers, have you?”
Sang Yan glanced at him and said, “Can you stop talking like a sissy?”
“…”
On the other side, Qian Fei shook his head and said, “Su Hao’an, can you tone it down? You’re like a nagging wife. We can’t spoil Sang Yan like this. Just look at his smug face, I can’t stand it.”
Sang Yan found a seat and sat down, his lips curling slightly as he said, “Mr. Qian, you seem to have quite a few opinions about me.”
“What have you been up to lately?” Qian Fei asked. “Tell us.”
“Well, it’s not easy to say,” Sang Yan grabbed a can of beer and opened it with one hand, his tone not entirely serious. “I’m afraid if I tell you, you’ll all get jealous and your faces will contort with envy.”
Qian Fei: “?”
“I give up,” Su Hao’an rolled his eyes and sat down next to Qian Fei. “He’s saying a girl is pursuing him lately, and he hasn’t had time for us, get it?”
“Are you sick?” Qian Fei stared at Sang Yan’s calm demeanor, utterly perplexed. “Is this the first time you’ve been pursued? How come we’ve never heard you brag about it before? Don’t tell me you like her too?”
Sang Yan raised an eyebrow: “So what if I do?”
This answer exploded like a thunderclap in the room.
“What? Really?”
“Who is she?”
“Has the iron tree finally blossomed?”
“Wait, so you like her but you’re waiting for her to pursue you? Can you be any more of a dog? Are you stringing her along?” Qian Fei criticized. “What’s your psychology here? Why are you being so coy, you big man!”
Hearing this, Sang Yan’s eyelids twitched, and he called out with a half-smile, “Qian Fei.”
Qian Fei: “What, just spit it out if you have something to say.”
“I won’t say much, but if you had even a thousandth of my emotional intelligence,” Sang Yan drawled, “would you still be a backup for your goddess after half a century?”
Silence for three seconds.
Someone burst out laughing.
“…Damn it.” Qian Fei tried to hold back but couldn’t. He stood up, started rolling up his sleeves, and walked towards Sang Yan. “Come on, let’s end this together.”
A man next to him held him back, trying not to laugh: “Let it go, let’s not bicker with a dog.”
Soon, someone else teased: “So who’s this fairy that our high and mighty Young Master Sang has taken a liking to?”
Mentioning this, Su Hao’an remembered something: “Oh. Is it that new intern at your company? A junior or senior in college, right? She is pretty good-looking.”
“Not bad, Sang Yan, robbing the cradle? A college student?” A man in the corner said with a grin. “Hey, I suddenly remembered, isn’t she about the same age as your sister?”
“So you like girls that much younger than you?”
Sang Yan immediately grabbed the cigarette box from the table and threw it at him: “Watch your mouth.”
Qian Fei was exasperated by his prejudice: “What’s wrong with that? Love knows no age, okay? What’s wrong with being five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten years younger? As long as they’re of age! A friend of my mom’s even found someone thirteen years younger than her.”
Sang Yan sneered: “What a beast.”
“…”
His reaction clearly showed that Su Hao’an had guessed wrong.
As others continued to guess a few more names, Sang Yan neither confirmed nor denied, completely withholding any information. Finally, when he got annoyed with the questions, he impatiently said, “Why are you a bunch of grown men so gossipy?”
The others were not affected at all.
Su Hao’an continued guessing: “Maybe you met her through a blind date?”
“Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered, isn’t Duan Jiaxu also going on blind dates recently? The ones his boss set up for him. He’s in the hospital now, had his appendix removed,” Qian Fei clicked his tongue twice. “Look at us, the twin campus heartthrobs of Nanwu, how have we ended up like this?”
Sang Yan took a sip of his beer: “Don’t lump me in with you, thanks.”
The topic drifted further and further.
Finally, when Sang Yan was about to leave, someone suddenly asked, “So what are your plans with this girl?”
Sang Yan looked over.
“What plans? Isn’t she the one trying to seduce me?” Sang Yan smiled, tapping the can on the table, his manner careless and lazy. “What can I do?”
“…”
“Just wait for her to come and seduce me, I guess.”
…
Returning home, Sang Yan glanced at the empty living room, then looked towards the master bedroom door, his movements becoming a bit quieter. He took off his jacket and went back to his room. Just as he was about to turn on the light, he suddenly noticed something extra on the bed.
Sang Yan stopped.
In the light from outside, he could see a lump under the covers, with slightly curly long hair scattered on the pillow. Wen Yifan was always very quiet when she slept, her breathing so shallow it could be ignored. She liked to curl up into a ball, like a little sphere.
Sang Yan walked over, half-squatting down, staring at her face half-hidden by the blanket.
He found it amusing and said softly, “What kind of bully are you? Occupying both rooms.”
Not intending to wake her up, Sang Yan was about to stand up and grab his clothes to go take a shower when he suddenly remembered what Qian Fei had said earlier. He lowered his eyes, looking at Wen Yifan sleeping on his bed without a care in the world.
“Hey, Wen Shuangjian.”
In the extremely quiet room, even a casual word seemed to echo.
“Can you be any more obvious?” As if afraid of waking her, Sang Yan’s voice was so low it was almost a whisper. “Otherwise, I’m not sure either.”
After all, he used to think that even if it wasn’t much, she must have had at least a little affection for him.
But later he realized that emotions are the hardest things to guess.
What he believed wasn’t necessarily what happened.
The fervent devotion he wanted to give her, even if one-sided, she might not want to bear.
So this time he had to wait.
Wait until she was willing to reach out to him on her own.
Only then would he.
Once again, place everything in her hands.
–
When she woke up, Wen Yifan looked around and realized she had sleepwalked again, ending up sleeping in Sang Yan’s room. Perhaps due to her recent lack of sleep, her sleep quality had deteriorated again. She felt a bit of a headache and looked to the other side, not seeing Sang Yan.
Wen Yifan breathed a sigh of relief.
But she didn’t know if this situation was the same as last time.
Was it that Sang Yan hadn’t come back when she sleepwalked; or did she come to sleep in his room, causing him to wake up in the middle of the night and have to reluctantly go sleep in the living room?
Wen Yifan hoped it was the former.
Because she didn’t want to take advantage of Sang Yan unconsciously again. She scratched her head, got up from the bed, and tiptoed out.
As soon as she left the room, her eyes met Sang Yan’s, who was on the living room sofa. He was covered with a small blanket, leaning against a pillow, seeming to have just woken up not long ago. He was looking straight at her, without saying a word.
“…”
Wen Yifan stopped in her tracks, feeling strongly like a cuckoo in the nest. Hesitantly, she walked towards Sang Yan and asked, “Did you come back when I was sleepwalking last night?”
Sang Yan made a sound of agreement.
“…” Wen Yifan asked again, “So you came out to sleep in the middle of the night?”
Sang Yan yawned and casually agreed again.
Wen Yifan put on a nearby jacket, pondered for a while, and decided to have a good talk with him about this matter again: “How about this, from now on, you lock your door before sleeping, okay? That way I definitely won’t be able to enter your room. This won’t affect your sleep either.”
Sang Yan was indifferent: “You know how to pick locks.”
Wen Yifan patiently said, “How could I have that skill?”
“To violate me,” Sang Yan slowly raised his eyes and said lazily, “What wouldn’t you do?”
“…”
Wen Yifan closed her eyes for a moment.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed.
So, did she try to violate him when she was sleepwalking?
Did she do such a thing?
Wen Yifan couldn’t quite understand Sang Yan.
If such a thing happened, why didn’t he lock the door?
Did he only learn his lesson when things got to the most critical point?
After a moment of silence.
To prevent this from happening again, in a flash of inspiration, Wen Yifan came up with an idea and said sincerely: “If I violated you, would you be willing to lock the door then?”
Hearing this, Sang Yan’s brow twitched.
The next moment, Wen Yifan started taking off her jacket: “Well then, let’s do it.”
Sang Yan: “…”
Sang Yan: “?”