After Shen Xiunian finished speaking, he fell silent, as if waiting for Jiang Tang’s response.
Jiang Tang was stunned by Shen Xiunian’s focus. She typed a reply: “A female classmate.”
Shen Xiunian’s lips curved slightly, and he continued speaking.
He responded to every voice message she sent, sentence by sentence.
Listening to his calm, unhurried voice, Jiang Tang felt an overwhelming sense of peace.
She heard Shen Xiunian’s final words: “Goodnight.”
It was a response to her own “goodnight.”
Jiang Tang also whispered, “Goodnight.”
The dormitory lights went out. Jiang Tang didn’t want to tap her phone to hang up—the screen was too bright.
She thought Shen Xiunian would hang up, closed her eyes, and quickly fell asleep.
Shen Xiunian listened to Jiang Tang’s soft, shallow breathing through his earphones.
Jiang Tang was asleep.
He temporarily muted his own audio, drove back to his place, quickly freshened up, and turned the audio back on when he lay down in bed.
He fell asleep listening to Jiang Tang’s breathing through the earphones.
When Jiang Tang woke up the next day, she groggily pulled out her phone and checked the screen—it still showed the voice call was ongoing.
Her eyes widened in surprise. Had Shen Xiunian not hung up last night?
Just then, Shen Xiunian’s voice came through the earphones: “Awake? Good morning.”
Jiang Tang froze. His voice sounded as if he were speaking right beside her ear, carrying an indescribable intimacy.
She pursed her lips and said softly, “Shen Xiunian, good morning.”
Freshly awake, her voice was sweet and soft, with a slight huskiness.
Shen Xiunian paused briefly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he asked casually, “Are you getting up now?”
Jiang Tang stretched with a big yawn, humming softly, “Mm, I’m getting up. What about you, Shen Xiunian?”
Shen Xiunian listened intently to Jiang Tang’s voice—so soft and sweet. The corners of his lips lifted. “I’ll be at the underground lab soon.”
He was actually already at the entrance of the underground lab.
But entering the underground lab required disconnecting from the network, so he waited at the entrance for a while. Jiang Tang had mentioned she had an 8 a.m. class today and would wake up at seven.
Jiang Tang thought for a moment and said, “Well… goodbye, Shen Xiunian.”
“Goodbye.”
Jiang Tang ended the voice call.
Shen Xiunian turned off the network and entered the physics underground lab.
The System had given up.
It said to Tangtang, “Tangtang, even if you keep messaging Shen Xiunian, he won’t be overwhelmed.”
Its dream of slacking off was shattered.
“Fine, meeting once a week is fine too.”
It was just four times the workload, right?
Ha! The System gritted its teeth.
Jiang Tang replied, “Okay.”
Since that was the case, she didn’t continue sending messages to Shen Xiunian.
After all, they would break up in a year, and she didn’t want to be too influenced by Shen Xiunian during this time.
Jiang Tang began her busy, fulfilling day.
Shen Xiunian emerged from the underground lab at eleven. Out of habit, he pulled out his phone, only to find Jiang Tang hadn’t sent him a single message.
Shen Xiunian: ?
He tilted his head, puzzled. Was the signal bad?
Shen Xiunian walked a bit farther and opened other apps, finding no issues with the network.
Jiang Tang simply hadn’t sent him any messages.
Shen Xiunian thought for a moment and suddenly remembered that last night, Jiang Tang hadn’t wanted him to reply to her messages—she wanted him to sleep earlier.
So, was she refraining from messaging him because she was afraid of disturbing his sleep?
Shen Xiunian’s heart softened, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
She was too well-behaved.
He wanted to see her.
He now truly felt that meeting once a week was far too long.
He sent a message to Jiang Tang: “Are you asleep?”
Jiang Tang wasn’t asleep yet at this time. She wasn’t as tired as yesterday because there was no early class at eight tomorrow, so she could sleep in. Her three roommates were also still awake, and the dorm lights hadn’t been turned off yet.
The yarn she bought had arrived, and she was using it to crochet snowflakes as freebies.
She was momentarily stunned when she received this message and replied, “No.”
Shen Xiunian didn’t ask Jiang Tang why she hadn’t sent a message today. Instead, he asked directly, “Do you have class tomorrow night?”
Jiang Tang: “No.”
She had back-to-back early classes at eight and evening classes at eight on Monday and Tuesday. If she had to do it again tomorrow, life would be too miserable.
Shen Xiunian’s reply came quickly: “Then let’s have a date tomorrow night?”
Jiang Tang: ?
Jiang Tang: “Do you have time?”
Shen Xiunian: “I’m free tomorrow night.”
Jiang Tang: “Didn’t you say we’d only date once a week? Tomorrow isn’t our scheduled date, is it?”
Shen Xiunian: “Don’t you miss me?”
Jiang Tang: …
Shen Xiunian: “I want to see you.”
Shen Xiunian: “Let’s have dinner together tomorrow night, okay?”
Jiang Tang had no resistance at all when Shen Xiunian asked “okay?”
She replied weakly, “Okay.”
Shen Xiunian: “You haven’t answered the previous question.”
Jiang Tang: ?
Jiang Tang: “What?”
Shen Xiunian: “Don’t you miss me?”
Jiang Tang took a deep breath while holding her phone. She touched her flushed cheeks and tried to reply as nonchalantly as possible: “I do.”
Shen Xiunian was satisfied.
Shen Xiunian: “I’ll pick you up downstairs at your dorm at six tomorrow evening.”
Jiang Tang: “Okay.”
Shen Xiunian had originally planned to return to his residence but now headed straight back to the underground laboratory.
His senior lab partner was shocked to see him return: “Year God, why are you back again?”
Shen Xiunian replied politely, “I want to catch up on the progress.”
He decided to sleep in the lab tonight so he could free up time for tomorrow evening.
Jiang Tang was a bit confused. She spoke to the System: “Tongtong, didn’t you say that Shen Xiunian’s plans never change? Why does he suddenly want to meet?”
“Won’t this last-minute change affect his overall schedule?”
“Don’t worry, Tangtang, it won’t be a problem.” The System glanced at Shen Xiunian’s current status: “He’s staying in the lab tonight to work overtime and catch up, so he can free up a few hours tomorrow evening.”
Jiang Tang: …
She cupped her face in her hands: “Shen Xiunian is so strange.”
When their first date ended on Saturday, he insisted they only meet once a week.
Why did he suddenly change his plan and want to meet earlier?
Jiang Tang couldn’t figure it out.
She asked the System: “Tongtong, has Shen Xiunian broken?”
The System’s CPU had been overloaded these past two days: “Tangtang, don’t worry. Just focus on maintaining your Gold-digging Value.”
It didn’t know if the Male Lead had broken, but it was about to break itself!
It had to work overtime tomorrow!
The System calculated the reason for the overtime: “Tangtang, you sent messages to Shen Xiunian for two days in a row. Not only did he not get annoyed, but he might have even gotten used to it.”
“When you suddenly stopped today, Shen Xiunian couldn’t adjust immediately, so he impulsively asked for a date.”
It decided: “Tangtang, you should keep sending messages to Shen Xiunian every day from now on.”
“Don’t suddenly stop like this. He can’t handle it, and neither can I.”
It couldn’t handle having to work overtime.
“Okay.” Jiang Tang agreed, but she still felt worried. “If something happens to Shen Xiunian, won’t it affect the subsequent plot?”
System: “If the Male Lead really encounters issues that affect the later plot, other departments will handle it. It has nothing to do with us; we just need to focus on ourselves.”
No one can add extra workload to the System.
Jiang Tang remained concerned. “Will it affect my bestie?”
“Tangtang, don’t worry. Only a Plot Collapse would affect your bestie, but the plot isn’t that easy to collapse.
You should know, one bug is a bug, but ten bugs are work.
As long as the world keeps turning, that’s enough. How it turns isn’t your concern.”
Jiang Tang nodded in confusion.
Looking at the yarn in her hands, she decided to crochet a small gift for Shen Xiunian.
Shen Xiunian was truly very, very good. He had bought her so many things, so she ought to give him a gift in return.
Of course, she couldn’t afford a gift of equal value, so she would make a small crocheted gift with her own hands instead.
Though inexpensive, it was still a token of her sincerity.
What should she crochet?
Jiang Tang thought for a moment and decided on a little cloud.
Shen Xiunian spent his days in the underground laboratory, and Jiang Tang wasn’t sure how long it had been since he last looked up to see the clouds.
Jiang Tang got to work right away. She used fluffy white yarn to crochet the main body of the cloud, stuffed it with cotton and sewed it up, then attached small black doll eyes and fixed them in place. She also used black thread to create a smiling little mouth.
The main body of the cloud was now complete.
A small, fluffy ball with little eyes and a mouth—utterly adorable.
Jiang Tang planned to turn this cloud into a keychain. Shen Xiunian could hang the little cloud in his car as a decoration.
She attached the keychain accessory to the top of the cloud and rested her chin in her hands, admiring the cute little cloud.
“Will Shen Xiunian like this gift when he receives it?”