Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Thereafter, she graduated from elementary school, she went to America to study. Only in the winter holidays did she return home for a short period. The two then hardly met up, and they gradually grew apart.
Mu Xiaoxiao said, “Okay then, I’ll call you that from now on. However, the condition is that you have to count sheep for me.”
“Count sheep?” Yin Shaojie looked at her.
She laughed and said, “That’s right. I can’t sleep, and it’s late. If I’m not going to sleep soon, it would not be healthy for my female skin. Therefore, I want to sleep soon, and you can just help me by counting sheep because I’m too lazy to do that.”
Yin Shaojie was unsure to laugh or cry. She was too lazy to count, so she wanted him to count instead? She was a smart one.
“Alright then, I’ll do the counting. But, it’s no longer trendy to count sheep.”
“What’s trendy then?” Mu Xiaoxiao curiously asked as she had been from the country in recent years. Because of this, she had not updated on the latest trends in the country.
Yin Shaojie laughed and said, “It’s trendy to count dumplings because ‘dumplings’ sound like ‘sleep’ in Mandarin.”
“Haha, dumplings! That’s too amusing! Okay okay, start counting,” Mu Xiaoxiao said as she shifted herself into a comfortable posture, preparing for his ‘dumplings’ to put her to sleep.
Yin Shaojie began counting. “One dumpling, two dumplings, three dumplings…”
“Wait!” with only a few counts, she interrupted him.
“No, you can’t count like this! It’s making me think of dumplings, so I’m hungry now. It’d be better if you counted something else instead,” she said dejectedly, quickly forgetting the dumplings in her head lest she really got hungry.
Yin Shaojie thought about it, and he suddenly smiled and said, “One Xiaoxiao, two Xiaoxiaos, three Xiaoxiaos…”
Mu Xiaoxiao laughed unexpectedly and nodded her head, looking satisfied. “Count this way then.”
Then, in the darkness, his deep, attractive voice echoed in the room.
“Four Xiaoxiaos, five Xiaoxiaos, six Xiaoxiaos, seven…”
—–
The next day.
Mu Xiaoxiao opened her eyes, Yin Shaojie’s handsome face was close up again. She lowered her head and realized that they were in that hugging posture, just like before.
She was puzzled. Frowning, she muttered, “How did it end up like this…”
Although she had the habit of hugging onto objects when sleeping, whenever she was sleeping with others, that wouldn’t happen.
Why was it that every time she slept with Yin Shaojie, it would end up like this?
Even stranger was that even if she had the habit of hugging onto things, she should be hugging him. Why was it the other way round? Why was he the one hugging and her?
Mu Xiaoxiao escaped from his embrace, opened her sleepy eyes, and sat up.
“Oi, wake up.” She patted his shoulders.
Yin Shaojie was woken by her. He opened his eyes and appeared a little groggy and pale. He glanced at her.
“I’m a real masochist…” he muttered.
Mu Xiaoxiao couldn’t hear clearly what he had said and probed, “What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
Yin Shaojie sat up. He placed his pillow behind his back and languidly stretched his back. His hair was messy, yet it appeared that he could still preserve that air of charm.
Mu Xiaoxiao felt curious and got up close, realizing something. “Didn’t you sleep well? Your eyes are bloodshot.”
Yin Shaojie groaned and shot a glance at her. “I had to count sheep and could only sleep after you fell asleep. You then woke me up while I was sleeping… how could I have slept well!”
Thus, he had called himself a masochist. Why did he have to stay the night!