You Sound Sleepy

Translator: BipBop

The staff at the convention were dismantling the venue. The hanging horizontal frame wobbled. With a crash, it smashed Lin Mian’s little heart.

From across the crowd, the man gave a casual glance, his gaze pausing on Lin Mian.

At this time, Que Qingyan’s expression was different from normal, more cold, frigid. 

It felt like everything was going in slow motion. Her heart taut, Lin Mian was holding her breath. His gaze felt like it had some sort of penetrating power, digging through her secrets.

One second.

Two seconds.

The person next to him was still talking enthusiastically. Que Qingyan calmly retracted his gaze, his eyes steady and responded to the person.

More and more people left the convention center.

Inside, the assistant brought over a bag, seeing the scene. Puzzled, the assistant asked, “Author?”

Time moved normally. Lin Mian returned to her senses.

I’m wearing a mask. He couldn’t have noticed me… right?

“Xiao Ting and I are going to have dinner. Are you going back to your hotel or staying with us?” 

“I can’t be with you guys, sorry. You guys have fun.” Lin Mian’s heart curled up. After a while, she said, “I need to rush back to City B.”

“You’re going back now? Isn’t it really late?” Surprised, the assistant checked the time. “At this time, the first available flight is late at night. The hotel is still booked for tonight. Why don’t you stay one night and leave the next morning? Author, do you have anything urgent?”

Lin Mian had a lingering sense of dread. Que Qingyan is also in the city tonight. I…

I don’t want to meet him now!

This isn’t the time to confess. The timing is wrong. The location is wrong. If another law professor comes over and asks him if I was Que Qingyan’s student…

What would he do?

Would he say: “I treated her like a student, but unfortunately she actually wasn’t a student, but -”

Que Qingyan certainly wouldn’t say such words filled with vitriol, but Lin Mian, just thinking about it, felt ashamed to the point she wanted to find a hole in the ground and die.

In the next second, the assistant saw Lin Mian, who was already wearing a mask, fumble around in her bag and pull out another mask. Lin Mian put it on. After thinking about it more, Lin Mian decided it wasn’t enough and put on yet another mask.

Assistant: “Author, won’t you suffocate like this?”

Her eyes complicated, Lin Mian replied, “It’s not stuffy, gonna die…”

After Lin Mian said her goodbyes, she booked a ticket, left her hotel, packed her luggage, and returned to City B.

It was already 10 pm when she returned home.

Lin Mian finished tidying some things and took a bath in her bathroom. In the misty, foggy white bathroom, she had two arms clutching the side of the bathtub, her chin resting on the edge of cold porcelain. Her heart was cold. Her heart was frigid.

During the day, although she hadn’t paid much attention to the list of people in the academic seminar, she had glanced at the ending time. The meeting ended on Sunday.

In other words, if nothing went wrong, Que Qingyan would probably come back tomorrow.

Lin Mian began simulating her meeting with Que Qingyan. She pursed her lips and thought. Worst case scenario, he’ll be done speaking with me. 

From Que Qingyan’s point of view, it was nothing more than his student finding someone else to take attendance for her; the person who took her place didn’t do anything and rightfully slept in every lecture. Right?

He wouldn’t know about her inner drama, dreams, and thoughts about him. 

Wrapped in a bath towel in the bathroom, Lin Mian felt miserable. Before she caught her breath, she received a call from her mother.

Since the death of her father, several senior directors of the company redivided the equity between themselves, effectively eliminating all the traces of the Lin family. The Lin family has fallen. Her mother filed a lawsuit and fought in the courtroom for half a year, finally winning a chair in the company, from a rich wife to a strong independent woman.

Her mother had graduated from a well-known business school before marrying her father and becoming a full-time mother. Although her mother’s business acumen was still there, she started back from scratch. There have been numerous problems over the years.

In the car, Ruan Lishu, having just finished a social gathering, sat in the backseat, rubbing her temples. After she finished processing her work, she called Lin Mian.

“Mama.” Lin Mian sat on the edge of her bed, her voice sweet. “I was just in the shower. I couldn’t pick up the calls before.”

Ruan Lishu was in a good mood. She and Lin Mian had contacted each other frequently, so after a few friendly sentences, she got the point. 

“Mianmian, are you free tomorrow night?”

Tomorrow night…

Lin Main hesitated for a moment. “Yes.”

“Tomorrow is your Auntie Song’s birthday banquet. She has helped our family before.” Ruan Lishu smiled. “Mama wants to take you there.”

Tl Note: auntie here does not mean familial relationship 

Auntie Song. Lin Mian searched her memory but couldn’t find any information on her. 

Regardless if it was Auntie Song or Auntie Zhang, the birthday banquet, filled with rich people, was actually a social banquet. People would attach themselves to those higher up and network. The focus wasn’t on the banquet itself.

Lin Mian rarely attended these banquets in the past, and she had never attended one since the Lin family fell out of the rich circle. Her mother would not force her daughter to socialize and network.

Ruan Lishu knew her daughter didn’t want to go, but…

She sighed softly and warmly continued, “I’ve already picked out a present. Tomorrow afternoon, I will ask a chauffeur to pick you up. Your apartment is near Xu Tong’s school, right?”

 Speaking of Xu Tong, she was going to return in two days. Lin Mian trembled.

Tomorrow, I should confess the truth to Que Qingyan. But if I go to the banquet, I may not be able to come back in time.

Lin Mian struggled and asked in a low voice, “Is it okay if I don’t go?”

“It’s only half a day. You won’t lose too much time.” Ruan Lishu pampered Lin Mian. It was rare for her to be tough to her precious daughter. “There’ll be a lot of people coming. It’s good to know more people.”

Ruan Lishu had her own plan.

How many big shots would be invited to the Que family wife’s birthday banquet?

Her daughter was no longer young and had reached an age where discussing marriage was appropriate. Although Lin’s mother wasn’t willing to sacrifice her daughter to marriage no matter the hardship of the Lin Family, she still thought Lin Mian should at least find a good person in her circle and marry.

It just had to be Mianmian’s favorite.

A day passed. The birthday banquet was held in a villa on the mountainside. When Lin Mian had arrived, there were quite a number of luxury cars already parked in front of the massive garden.

A fountain surrounded by white sculptures was in the middle of the garden. On the grass of the garden, a professional ensemble played. The guests walked through the flowery entrance, greeted by servants.

“It’ll be good for you to chat to Auntie Song for a bit.” Ruan Lishu descended from the car with a present, smiling. “You saw her several times when you were young…”

Lin Mian didn’t reply. She didn’t pay attention to her mother’s words. Her entire mind returned its focus on how to confess.

Switching perspectives, Bai Jiayi, still under house arrest, sent a text message to Lin Mian, acting as her military advisor. 【Mian Bao, people like Que Qingyan who have experienced the waves of life unfettered won’t hold a grudge on a small lie. Just tell him the truth and write another reflection paper.】

Lin Mian stared at it for some time and replied 【Can’t.】

If he knows I’m not his student, how could he ask me to write a reflection paper…

…

In the grand banquet hall, Lin Mian waited. The banquet hadn’t officially started.

The host was still missing. Guests got together in groups of four to five, conversing. Ruan Lishu had coincidentally bumped into a business acquaintance. After whispering a couple of sentences to Lin Mian, she left to chat with some people.

The light in the banquet hall was dazzling. There was a champagne tower rippling with sparkling champagne glasses. Lin Mian went about the table. She took a glass of sparkling water ignoring the assortment of wines.

She took out her phone, glancing at the time, her mind fiercely struggling to come to a decision.

What if I don’t say it in person…

After thinking for a moment, Lin Mian tapped WeChat and looked at Que Qingyan’s chat field, thinking Maybe he blocked her…

Lin Mian:【Professor Que, hi.】

The message went through.

Lin Mian:【I’ve been hiding something from you. I’m really really sorry. I’m actually not your student. I’m actually not Xu Tong.】

Lin Mian, her heart beating rapidly, deleted that sentence and instead sent:

Lin Mian:【My name is Lin Mian.】

After sending the message, Lin Mian gulped down her glass of sparkling water, staring at the message. She took a breath and put the phone away.

The more anxious she got, the thirstier she was. She turned around, wanting to get another glass of sparkling water.

When she turned back, Lin Mian caught a glimpse of someone walking straight towards her.

Her gaze moved up. It moved from his pair of leather shoes to his tailor-made pants, and then finally rested on the man’s face. 

“…”

Excluding the stare at the convention center, Lin Mian hadn’t seen Que Qingyan for several days.

But…

But I never thought I’d meet him here! AHHHHHH!

Lin Mian blanked out.

Shocked, Lin Mian whispered, carrying a pitiful expression, “Que – Professor Que…”

She wore a long dress, her black hair pulled up, accentuating her delicate, pale neck, her apricot eyes full of guilt.

Que Qingyan stood still. More and more of the ladies drew their gaze over to him.

He looked down at Lin Mian. He loosened his collar and bent down slightly, putting his wine glass on the table behind her.

“…” He paused and finally opened his mouth. “Lin Mian?”