Jiang Yumo’s phone in her hand was vibrating so much that her hand felt numb.
She decisively hid back under the quilt. Although her father wouldn’t wake up even if someone dragged him away once he fell asleep, it was still dangerous to talk on the phone with a boy at home so late. She also tried to make her voice quieter with this method.
“Hello.” Jiang Yumo spoke softly.
Duan Ye’s low laughter came through the phone to her ear: “Can’t sleep?”
“A little bit, how about you?” Jiang Yumo asked.
“I’ll sleep when you do.” Duan Ye said, “What do you want to chat about?”
Jiang Yumo slept well and rarely had insomnia. It seemed that every time she couldn’t sleep, it was when she was talking on the phone with Duan Ye.
The last time was in the first semester of their sophomore year in high school. The phone was still on even after she fell asleep, and the call didn’t end until her phone ran out of battery and shut down. The call lasted for two and a half hours, and for at least half an hour, he listened to her breathing as she slept.
“I don’t know, haven’t thought about it yet.” Jiang Yumo said, “By the way, are you at home now?”
Duan Ye replied, “Yeah, my Mom went on a trip.”
Jiang Yumo felt energized and asked, “Where did she go?”
“She should be in Hong Kong now,” said Duan Ye with some helplessness, “She loves shopping.”
“Who doesn’t?” Jiang Yumo imagined for a moment, “I really want to travel too. I wish high school would end soon. Being an adult is great, you can go wherever you want, unlike us, we still have to go to class tomorrow.”
On the other end of the phone, Duan Ye also lay down on the bed, with the fan blowing on him. He held the phone in one hand and put the other hand behind his head, listening to her voice.
“Then,” he paused for a moment, not sure if it was the night that made his voice sound a little lazy and hoarse, “shall we go out and play after the college entrance exam?”
Afraid that she might not want to, he added, “We can bring Zhao Zheng, Yan Qing, and the others with us.”
Jiang Yumao suddenly became energized and not sleepy at all. “Okay! My parents said they won’t care about me after the college entrance exam.”
Duan Ye was amused by her, “Then it’s a deal. We’ll have a lot of time after the college entrance exam.”
“Deal! Deal!” Jiang Yumao asked curiously, “Speaking of Zhao Zheng and Yan Qing, hey, does Zhao Zheng like Yan Qing?”
Without waiting for his reply, she rambled on about the evidence she had observed, “Every time Zhao Zheng deliberately provokes Yan Qing, and when Yan Qing gets angry, he apologizes faster than anyone else. Also, I noticed that Zhao Zheng likes to steal Yan Qing’s food. He never steals mine or Mengting’s food. Every time Yan Qing gets angry with him, she threatens to block him, but she still hasn’t done it until now. Hmph, her words are insincere.”
Duan Ye actually rarely pays attention to other people’s affairs.
He is too busy with his own.
He smiled faintly, “I don’t know.”
Jiang Yumo was surprised, “You don’t know? Don’t you hang out with Zhao Zheng all the time? Don’t guys talk about this kind of stuff?”
She and Yan Qing, as well as Mengting and even the top scorer Ning Zhiyu, all talk about this kind of thing! If you don’t talk about who you like, then you’re not good friends, after all, this is the highest level of personal matters~
Duan Ye tried to recall, “We didn’t talk about it.”
Jiang Yumo was very disappointed, “Then what do you guys talk about all the time?”
“I don’t remember.” Duan Ye honestly replied.
“Ugh.” Jiang Yumo grumbled, not discouraged, and continued to ask him, “Then, do you think Zhao Zheng likes Yan Qing?”
Duan Ye : “…”
He really hadn’t thought about it before.
Duan Ye actually doesn’t know how to answer. Who Zhao Zheng liked… it has notheing to do with Duan Ye.
“I’m not sure,” he could only reply so.
“But Zhao Zheng doesn’t have a chance with Yan Qing anyway, he’s not her type,” Jiang Yumo continued.
“Hmm,” Duan Ye replied.
Jiang Yumo was frustrated with his attitude, how could they have a pleasant conversation like this? He seemed uninterested in everything she said, and she complained, “Do you want to sleep?”
“…No, I’ll sleep after you,” he replied.
“But you keep saying ‘I don’t know, I don’t remember, I’m not sure’…you seem really tired,” she asked, wondering if her topics were boring.
Duan Ye couldn’t help chuckling. He was afraid of disturbing her on this night, so he deliberately spoke and laughed softly, making it sound like he was right next to her, by her ear.
“I’m not tired, I’m just not interested in who Zhao Zheng likes and who Yan Qing likes,” he replied.
Jiang Yumo asked casually, “Then what are you interested in?”
But she regretted it as soon as she said it.
Why the hell did she ask that question?
Duan Ye remained silent.
So did Jiang Yumo.
But it was strange that they could both hear each other’s breathing in their ears.
Jiang Yumo closed her eyes. “Do you have any books in your room?”
“Yes.” Suan Ye got up and used his shoulder to hold the phone while searching through his desk. “I found it. ‘The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng’. Do you want to listen? I’ve marked where we stopped last time when we were on the phone together.”
It was the last time they cooked up the phone together.
Jiang Yumo had asked him what books he had on hand.
Many people have a dream of martial arts. Duan Ye preferred the depiction of a carefree world of Jianghu1 in the works of Gu Long2 more than Jin Yong3‘s.
He happened to have The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng, which Guo Shichao had sent him. So he opened the book and read it to her.
She fell asleep before he finished the book.
Jiang Yumo : “Okay, okay, but I’ve forgotten the earlier part. We have to start from the beginning.”
Duan Ye sat on the bed and opened the front page of the book, making a rustling sound that also reached Jiang Yumo’s ears. She closed her eyes, feeling satisfied.
Duan Ye’s bedtime story should never be finished.
She wants to hear it again next time.
Duan Ye doesn’t know how long he’s been talking, he guesses that she’s fallen asleep, so he gets up, puts on a short-sleeved shirt, and goes to the living room to pour water to drink.
He glanced at the clock on the wall, and it was almost one o’clock.
The battery of his phone was too hot to touch his ear.
This phone call has been going on for almost two hours.
Maybe she’s asleep now. Some people like to write down their thoughts on a notebook, but Duan Ye doesn’t want to write down any more words except for taking notes for Jiang Yumo. Some people like to talk to their friends about their inner thoughts, but Duan Ye thinks it’s a waste to tell those things to people who are not important to him.
Yes, even the best and closest buddy would be an outsider when it comes to the matter between him and Jiang Yumo.
Either don’t talk about it, or only speak about it to her.
The ceiling lamp in the living room was on, casting a long shadow of Duan Ye.
He held his phone and called out to her, “Yumo.”
Of course, there was no response.
Jiang Yumo had long gone to sleep.
“I really…like you.”
These four words were difficult and ambiguous, and he didn’t dare to speak too clearly for fear that she would hear, but he was also afraid of hearing himself. He began to admire the self after the middle school entrance exam, who had the courage to say “I like you” in front of her with her staring at him.
Later, he wouldn’t hang those words on his lips anymore, but they accumulated in his heart.
He needed to occasionally release a few sentences to maintain his adult-like mature and stable personality.
Finally he said, “Good night.”
- the name used for calling the world that was usually used as the setting of martial arts (wuxia) novels ↩︎
- the writer of the wuxia novel ‘The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng’ ↩︎
- known as the best wuxia novelist ↩︎
He is so cute, I just can’t