Lu Xingmian stared at the big red exclamation mark, lost in thought for a moment.
The person on the other side had actually deleted him without him even realizing it.
Lu Xingmian thought back; they hadn’t even exchanged a single word, and this person had deleted him.
Wasn’t that a bit much?
Lu Xingmian had a bit of a temper too. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Pouting, he added the person back. Once they were re-added, he was definitely going to ask him properly why he had deleted him for no reason.
If they had had an unpleasant argument, that would be one thing, but the problem was they hadn’t even sent a single message.
He remembered how long it took that person to accept him as a friend yesterday. Even after adding him, he hadn’t initiated a conversation, and he hadn’t given a bad review because of that either.
At first, Lu Xingmian thought this kind of sleep-coaxing voice chat was just a gimmick, but he never expected it could genuinely help people fall asleep, especially someone like him who had suffered from insomnia for months and couldn’t sleep no matter what he tried.
Lu Xingmian thought about it, perhaps the voices of all sleep-coaxers were similar. Even if he switched to another person, the effect would probably be similar.
Lu Xingmian added a new sleep-coaxer.
Although the new sleep-coaxer’s voice was also pleasant, Lu Xingmian could tell that this person was deliberately lowering their voice, creating a specially manufactured deep tone, like a “clamped” voice.
It wasn’t like yesterday’s voice, which was deep, sensual, and gentle, sounding very comfortable, as if that was just their natural voice.
The new sleep-coaxer was very enthusiastic.
However, two hours later, Lu Xingmian still wasn’t sleepy at all; in the darkness, he felt even more awake.
The sleep-coaxer on the other side was also puzzled.
Logically, his clients usually felt sleepy under the soothing influence of his voice.
Why did this person not feel sleepy at all?
He had told the client fairy tales for two hours, completely according to his request.
It seems this client’s insomnia is quite severe.
Because he had to speak in a “clamped” voice for two hours, his throat almost felt like it was on fire, so he quickly drank some water to moisten it.
Moreover, the sleep-coaxer thought the client’s voice was very pleasant, it was sweet and clear like a spring, and guessed that the client on the other end was probably a young person.
Before hanging up, the sleep-coaxer told Lu Xingmian that he would delete him as a friend after the call, as it was a studio rule not to contact clients privately.
After hanging up the voice call, Lu Xingmian felt no drowsiness at all.
Last night’s sleep-coaxer had made him feel sleepy after just one short story, and after two short stories, he was already drifting off.
Lu Xingmian opened his phone, and indeed, that person still hadn’t accepted him, so Lu Xingmian added him again.
If the first time he added him, Lu Xingmian wanted to confront that person about why they suddenly deleted him, now he was adding him to apologize.
It turned out this was the reason, and he had misunderstood him.
That night, Lu Xingmian resorted to counting sheep again to hypnotize himself to sleep.
If it had been before yesterday, Lu Xingmian wouldn’t have felt so miserable, but after naturally sleeping for a few hours, Lu Xingmian desperately craved sleep.
Counting sheep didn’t make Lu Xingmian sleepy, so he simply got up, turned on the light, and started memorizing vocabulary.
It was almost 4 AM when Lu Xingmian finally felt a bit sleepy and had a shallow nap.
Today, he slept for less than three hours again.
With insufficient sleep, the body’s protective mechanisms kick in; otherwise, even a superhero couldn’t endure sleeping only three or four hours a day for several months straight.
So, during class, Lu Xingmian leaned on his desk and took a little nap.
At the podium, the math teacher discovered Lu Xingmian sleeping.
The math teacher tapped the blackboard.
“You’re already in your last year of high school! The college entrance exam is next June. It sounds like next year, but it’ll be here in the blink of an eye. You don’t have much time left. Even though it’s tough now, when you look back later, you’ll realize this period of hard work was worth it. Don’t wait until then to regret sleeping in class.”
Chen Che glanced over and saw his deskmate, Lu Xingmian, asleep with his head on the desk.
The math teacher was a strict old man. Seeing the new transfer student sleeping in class, he decided to teach him a small lesson: “Classmate Lu Xingmian, come up and solve this problem.”
Chen Che quickly nudged Lu Xingmian: “Lu Xingmian, the teacher’s calling you to come up and solve the problem.”
Although Lu Xingmian was asleep, his brain wasn’t resting. When he heard the teacher call his name, Lu Xingmian opened his eyes.
The problem on the blackboard was beyond the curriculum; few students could solve it.
The math teacher wanted to give Lu Xingmian a reminder that the college entrance exam was coming soon, and he shouldn’t be so restless. He should focus on class and review properly.
To the teacher’s surprise, Lu Xingmian actually solved it, and flawlessly at that as well.
The math teacher was stunned.
Lu Xingmian could easily solve such a difficult problem. He had heard from the homeroom teacher that Lu Xingmian was an excellent student.
After telling Lu Xingmian to return to his seat, the math teacher simply said to pay attention in class and continued lecturing.
Having been woken up, Lu Xingmian naturally couldn’t fall back asleep.
Back at his seat, Chen Che was very impressed with Lu Xingmian. He could solve that problem without listening to the class, and the teacher had just said it was beyond the curriculum.
After class, Chen Che asked him if he hadn’t slept well last night, which was why he fell asleep in class.
Lu Xingmian said he hadn’t slept very well.
After school, Lu Xingmian got off the bus one stop early and walked back to his residential complex. Looking at the diverse people on the street, Lu Xingmian wondered how many of them suffered from insomnia like him. The probability should be quite small, he thought.
Lu Xingmian placed another order for a sleep-coaxing service, requesting the previous sleep-coaxer in the notes.
The customer service representative sent the contact information to Lu Xingmian as usual, but was very confused.
Their staff member said they hadn’t received a friend request from the client, but the client confirmed it.
Not only that, but they had also placed a new order, specifically for that same staff member as well.
The customer service representative thought for a moment and figured their staff member might have been mistaken.
–
After her bath, Xiao Youzi took Lu Shiran’s phone to play with again.
Lu Shiran made her promise not to add strangers anymore and only gave her the phone after she agreed.
Xiao Youzi agreed.
Lu Shiran went off to do other things.
In truth, children often forget promises as soon as they’re made.
When Xiao Youzi saw the red dot, she couldn’t resist tapping on it.
It was still that cute profile picture.
Xiao Youzi remembered her uncle’s words and exited, but within a few minutes, she still added the cute profile picture. She felt an inexplicable familiarity with this avatar.
Xiao Youzi then went to play games.
That evening, after telling Xiao Youzi three stories, she finally fell into a deep sleep. After tucking her in and turning off the light, Lu Shiran returned to his own bedroom.
His phone received a message.
When he saw it, Lu Shiran stared at the profile picture for a long time.
Wasn’t this the person he had deleted just yesterday? How did they reappear again?
Lu Shiran quickly realized that Xiao Youzi must have accepted the person as a friend again.
[Hello, could you please not delete me first? From now on, could you lull me to sleep?]
Lu Shiran narrowed his eyes. What was this?
When Lu Shiran was about to delete the person again, another WeChat message came through.
[I like the stories you tell. Your voice is very pleasant. I’ve had insomnia for half a year already.]
[The day you told me stories was the first time I’d slept for a few hours in a long time, so could you always lull me to sleep from now on?]
[We don’t need to go through the Taobao process. I’ll transfer the money directly to you. I’m serious, I’ll pay double the price.]
[I want to buy a thousand hours of your time. I can transfer the money directly now.]
[I won’t tell anyone.]
[The other party transferred 20,000 yuan to you.]
[Please.]
Looking at these messages, Lu Shiran was sure this person wasn’t one of those with ill intentions.
He had transferred 20,000 yuan at once; didn’t he worry he’d just take the money and delete or block him?
Having insomnia for half a year, really?
Lu Xingmian anxiously awaited the other party’s reaction.
To stir sympathy, Lu Xingmian deliberately made himself sound miserable, saying he’d had insomnia for half a year.
He even offered double the price, so the other party shouldn’t refuse, right?
He waited nervously for several minutes, so long that Lu Xingmian began to suspect the other party had already deleted or blocked him.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
[The other party has received the payment.]
[Alright.]
