Jiang Tang brushed her teeth and climbed into bed to sleep.
She drifted into a hazy slumber and had a dream about Shen Xiunian.
Shen Xiunian was still wearing that sporty short-sleeved shirt and shorts. He lifted the hem of his shirt and asked Jiang Tang if she wanted to see.
Jiang Tang said she did.
Shen Xiunian really lifted it up.
Jiang Tang reached out and touched him.
She touched upward, then downward, and then they embraced and kissed.
Shen Xiunian’s kiss was so intense it left Jiang Tang breathless.
Gasping for air, she suddenly opened her eyes. Staring at the bed curtain in the darkness, it took her a moment to realize she had actually had that kind of dream.
In the quiet of the night, Jiang Tang sighed, pressing a hand over her pounding heart.
She glanced at the time: 3:21 a.m.
Jiang Tang turned over and went back to sleep.
The next day, when Jiang Tang woke up, the System felt ready to go again.
“Tangtang, how about you send Shen Xiunian 99 voice messages today!”
Today, the System decided to level up and launch a voice message bombardment.
It said, “Tangtang, good morning. Most people nowadays don’t like listening to voice messages because it takes time, and Shen Xiunian hates wasting time the most. If you send him 99 voice messages, he’ll definitely be fed up.”
Then they could go back to meeting just once a month.
The System really wanted to slack off!
Jiang Tang nodded.
The System asked again, “Tangtang, do you think sending 99 voice messages is difficult?”
“Not at all.”
Jiang Tang: Got this in the bag.
For Jiang Tang, this was a piece of cake.
She tapped into Shen Xiunian’s chat page. Shen Xiunian had sent her a message as usual.
“Good morning.”
The time was 6:10 a.m.
Jiang Tang replied, “Good morning.”
She had an 8 a.m. class today, so she got up at seven.
While eating breakfast, she took a photo, edited it, and sent it to Shen Xiunian, along with a voice message.
“Shen Xiunian, I had brown sugar steamed buns, soy milk, and eggs for breakfast. What did you eat?”
When she saw a kitten on campus, she took a photo and sent it to Shen Xiunian, followed by a voice message.
“Shen Xiunian, look at this kitten! Isn’t it cute?”
Before class, she sent a voice message: “Shen Xiunian, I’m heading to class.”
After class, she sent another: “Shen Xiunian, class is over! I’m so happy.”
When a classmate gave her a snack, she sent a voice message: “Shen Xiunian, a classmate gave me this super tasty snack.”
During a lecture, when the teacher assigned in-class work, she sent a voice message; after finishing the in-class work, she sent another; after class, when she saw there was still homework, she sent a frustrated voice message; during lunch, she sent one; when the weather was nice, she sent another…
As someone with an overflowing desire to share, Jiang Tang easily handled the 99 voice messages. By the time she returned to her dorm in the evening, she had sent the 99th voice message.
“Shen Xiunian, classes are so exhausting. I’m finally back in the dorm.”
Jiang Tang put down her phone. She was exhausted today—damn Mondays with both early morning and evening classes. She didn’t get back to the dorm until nine.
Jiang Tang spent another half-hour finishing the homework she hadn’t completed during the day, then went to wash up. By ten, utterly drained, she climbed into bed, pulled the all-encompassing bed curtain shut, and fell asleep.
As she drifted into a hazy sleep, she suddenly remembered something. She pulled out her phone and sent Shen Xiunian a voice message.
“Shen Xiunian, good night.”
Jiang Tang fell into a deep sleep.
At eleven o’clock that night, Shen Xiunian walked out of the underground laboratory. Rubbing his temples, he felt a tinge of regret—Jiang Tang was probably already asleep, so he wouldn’t get to hear her voice today.
He took out his phone, turned on the internet, and went straight to Jiang Tang’s chat page.
Jiang Tang had sent him 155 messages.
Shen Xiunian’s lips curved slightly. Jiang Tang had sent him more messages today than yesterday.
He tapped in to see that besides photos, there were voice messages.
Shen Xiunian raised an eyebrow, feeling an unexpected sense of delight. He put on his headphones and began listening to Jiang Tang’s voice messages.
“Shen Xiunian, Shen Xiunian, Shen Xiunian…”
His name appeared with high frequency.
Her voice sounded so sweet, so sweet when she called his name.
Jiang Tang’s voice messages told him everything she had done throughout the day.
Shen Xiunian felt secretly pleased.
But… as he listened to Jiang Tang’s sweet voice, he suddenly felt like seeing her.
The second date he had planned was on Saturday.
Today was only Monday.
When he had decided to meet once a week, Jiang Tang thought the interval was a bit long, but he felt it was fine.
Now, he also felt it was a bit long. Saturday—still five days away—felt like such a long time.
Shen Xiunian got into his car. Originally, he should have driven toward the north gate, but for some reason, he drove toward the south gate.
As the top university in the country, D University had a large campus. The School of Physics was in the north campus, while the School of Fine Arts was in the south campus.
Some had jokingly said that students from the north and south campuses dating were practically in a long-distance relationship.
Shen Xiunian now felt the same way.
He stopped the car when he saw Jiang Tang’s dormitory building ahead.
He didn’t drive any closer.
He opened his phone, intending to reply to Jiang Tang’s messages, and unexpectedly saw that she had sent him a new message.
“Are you not done yet?”
Jiang Tang had suddenly woken up.
She had been asleep and inexplicably woke up. When she checked her phone, it was 11:27 PM.
Jiang Tang rubbed her eyes and whispered to the System, “Tongtong, why did I wake up at this hour?”
She never woke up in the middle of the night.
She casually picked up her phone, opened Shen Xiunian’s message page, and saw that he hadn’t replied to her messages. She sent a text: “Are you not done yet?”
The System remained silent for a moment before saying, “Tangtang, this is why you woke up.”
Jiang Tang: ?
She stared at the phone she had casually picked up and the text she had casually typed, saying nothing.
The System said, “Tangtang, your subconscious remembered that Shen Xiunian leaves the lab at 11 PM, so you woke up.”
Jiang Tang was stunned.
Yesterday, she had woken up in the middle of the night because she dreamed of Shen Xiunian. Today, she woke up because of Shen Xiunian again.
It seemed like Shen Xiunian was affecting her.
She couldn’t let this happen.
Jiang Tang ordered herself not to be influenced by Shen Xiunian.
A message from Shen Xiunian popped up: “I’m done. I just left the lab and was about to reply to your messages. Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
Jiang Tang looked at his message and replied, “I was asleep, but I woke up again.”
As she watched the “typing…” indicator appear on the chat page, she hesitated for two seconds and asked the System, “Tongtong, did Shen Xiunian get annoyed?”
“Not at all,” the System confirmed. After listening to the voice messages, Shen Xiunian was quite pleased.
The System didn’t understand why he was so pleased.
Jiang Tang asked again, “Did he finish listening to the voice messages?”
“He listened to all of them!”
Jiang Tang was puzzled. Shen Xiunian still wasn’t annoyed?
His patience was truly impressive.
Watching the continuous “typing…” indicator, she felt a sudden impulse and sent a message: “You’re not planning to reply to every single message, are you?”
Shen Xiunian: “Yes.”
Jiang Tang smiled helplessly. She had sent messages because she wanted to slack off, but Shen Xiunian was still replying so seriously.
She felt a little guilty.
“Shen Xiunian, don’t reply anymore. It’s fine. You should go to bed early.”
Replying to every single message was too time-consuming for Shen Xiunian.
It’s almost half past eleven now, and by the time he replies, it’ll be midnight.
He still has to wash up when he gets back to his place, so the earliest he can sleep is one o’clock—that’s far too late.
She hopes Shen Xiunian can get to bed earlier.
“I want to reply to you.”
Shen Xiunian wants to respond to every word Jiang Tang says to him.
Jiang Tang’s fingers curled slightly, and her heart began to tingle. She pursed her lips, took a moment to steady herself, and said, “Shen Xiunian, let’s have a voice call. My roommate is asleep, so I won’t talk. You speak, and I’ll listen. How does that sound?”
This way, it’ll be faster, and Shen Xiunian can still get to bed earlier.
Shen Xiunian said okay.
Jiang Tang put on her earphones, and Shen Xiunian’s voice call came through.
She answered.
Shen Xiunian’s voice sounded in her ear: “I had a sandwich and an iced Americano for breakfast.”
“The kitten is very cute. I’ve run into it too.”
Then, his tone shifted, and he asked casually, “Your classmate gave you snacks—was it a male classmate or a female classmate?”