Chapter 7: Putting Someone to Sleep
Peng Chengyi's eyes lit up, and she raised them incredulously: "Weren't all of Chopper's units sold out?"
Chen Yubai said casually, "It's just that the store is sold out."
“Oh.” Peng Chengyi nodded, the corners of her lips gradually turning up, and said in a teasing tone, “So you also had a children’s meal for lunch? You didn’t think it was childish.”
Chen Yubai raised his hand and touched the back of his neck, saying calmly, "Zhang Yang ate it, not me."
Although his expression didn't reveal any flaws, she was all too familiar with his habit of touching the back of his neck when he lied.
This kids' meal was clearly eaten by him.
They just can't bring themselves to admit it.
Normally, she would definitely seize this rare opportunity to tease him a few more times.
But today, for Chopper's sake, she won't expose him.
Peng Chengyi picked up the Chopper toy from his palm, and the corners of her lips curved up even more: "Then please thank Zhang Yang for me."
Chen Yubai paused, then said somewhat displeased, "Aren't you going to thank me?"
Peng Chengyi feigned confusion and asked, "Why are you thanking me? Wasn't it a free gift with the package Zhang Yang bought?"
Chen Yubai paused for two seconds: "If I hadn't reminded him to ask for Chopper, the shop assistant probably wouldn't have given him that character."
"That's true." Peng Chengyi nodded, suppressing a laugh. "Then thank you too."
Chen Yubai's tone began to carry a hint of resentment: "Could you please remove the 'bar'?"
Peng Chengyi couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Okay, thank you."
Seeing her laughing so hard, it didn't seem like she was simply happy to have gotten Chopper. Chen Yubai frowned in surprise, wanting to ask her what she was laughing about.
But Peng Chengyi had already opened her own door and cheerfully said goodbye to him.
"..."
Oh well, as long as she's happy.
Chen Yubai glanced down at the lunchbox in his hand, then turned and went inside.
-
Because the new students at No. 1 Middle School need to participate in a 10-day military training, they will have to go to school to register on August 20th.
The summer vacation, which already flew by, suddenly seemed even shorter.
After taking a total of 10 guitar lessons, Peng Chengyi has basically mastered all the basic chords and can play simple songs.
Chen Yubai's skill level is slightly better than hers; she has mastered more complex chords and plays them more steadily.
Peng Chengyi attributes this to his larger hands, which makes it easier for him to press those complex chords.
It's not that he has more talent for playing the guitar than she does.
On the way home, Chen Yubai, carrying his guitar, slowly rode his mountain bike and turned to ask Peng Chengyi, who was pedaling her beat-up bike beside him with difficulty, "Are you going to continue studying when school starts?"
Peng Chengyi gripped the handlebars, slightly out of breath, and replied, "I want to continue this weekend, but my mom might not agree. Do you still want to continue?"
Chen Yubai looked at the road ahead and said calmly, "It's up to you."
Peng Chengyi: "Then I'll go back and talk to my mom later. If we only study once a week, it won't take up much time. Maybe I can persuade her."
However, when she got home, Zhou Lifen refused to agree to her request to learn guitar every weekend during high school.
“You’re not going to pursue an arts college entrance exam, so why spend so much time and energy learning guitar? Besides, you can already play something like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which is enough for your own enjoyment,” Zhou Lifen said while picking chives.
"Mom!" Peng Chengyi opened her mouth unhappily, wanting to argue with her again, but Zhou Lifen interrupted her, saying, "Alright, if you keep arguing, I'll confiscate your guitar."
"..."
Peng Chengyi choked and obediently shut her mouth.
She went back to her room dejectedly and texted Chen Yubai:
Negotiations failed.
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Chen Yubai: "Is there absolutely no room for negotiation? I thought Aunt Zhou was usually quite easy to talk to."
Peng Chengyi: "You think she's easy to talk to because she's not your mother and doesn't have any demands on you."
Chen Yubai: "...Okay"
Peng Chengyi: "So I'll tell Dasheng that we'll stop going to class from now on?"
Chen Yubai: "I went."
Peng Chengyi: "...?"
Peng Chengyi: "Didn't you say you were going to see me? I wasn't going, so why are you still going?"
Chen Yubai: "Didn't you want to continue learning? I'll learn it and then teach you."
Peng Chengyi was stunned for a moment, and said in disbelief, "Why are you suddenly being so kind? I'm a little scared."
Chen Yubai: "...What are you afraid of?"
Peng Chengyi: "I'm afraid you'll use this against me and make me work like a slave for you from now on."
Chen Yubai: "Is that how you see me?"
Peng Chengyi: "Otherwise what? You'd help me for nothing?"
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone before his reply finally popped up: "Didn't you say that an older brother should protect his younger brother?"
Oh right, she almost forgot.
She has already handed over the position of the eldest daughter to him.
Unexpectedly, being his underling comes with quite a few perks.
If I had known, I would have given it up two years earlier.
That way, she wouldn't have to go through so much trouble to steal his allowance to buy comics.
Peng Chengyi smiled and replied with an emoji that said, "Big brother, please accept my bow."
-
Although there is a direct bus from the Binzhou Medical University Family Compound to the No. 1 Middle School, it takes almost an hour to get there.
Since evening self-study sessions usually don't end until 10 p.m., both of them chose to live on campus and only go home on weekends.
As it was her first time living away from home, Peng Chengyi felt both excited and quite nervous.
After packing my suitcase, I lay in bed for a long time but couldn't fall asleep.
After all, she's going to a completely unfamiliar environment tomorrow.
Although Chen Yubai was with him, it was said that there were a total of 16 regular classes at No. 1 Middle School, so the two of them were unlikely to be assigned to the same class.
She had to walk into an unfamiliar classroom alone and face unfamiliar classmates.
This was somewhat of a test for her, given her mild social anxiety.
Peng Chengyi became increasingly anxious as she thought about it, and finally couldn't help but pick up her phone and tap Chen Yubai's WeChat profile picture.
His profile picture was one she had carefully chosen for him: the dog that Shin-chan keeps.
There was no particular reason; it was just because the dog's name was Xiaobai.
It actually suits his name quite well.
But because she chose Crayon Shin-chan as her profile picture, he initially refused to use it.
He only reluctantly accepted it after she changed her profile picture to Luna, the black cat from Sailor Moon.
Chen Yubai: "?"
Peng Chengyi: "School starts tomorrow, are you nervous?"
Chen Yubai: "Are you nervous?"
Peng Chengyi: "I'm not nervous, I'm afraid you'll be."
Chen Yubai: "..."
Chen Yubai: "I've already had a nap."
Peng Chengyi: "Then how come you can still reply to my messages?"
Chen Yubai: "I'm a light sleeper, and your message woke me up."
Peng Chengyi: "Do you keep your phone off to mute when you sleep?"
Chen Yubai: "I forgot."
Peng Chengyi: "Then you can't blame me."
Chen Yubai: "...Are you so nervous you can't sleep?"
Peng Chengyi: "What a joke, how could I possibly be nervous?"
Chen Yubai: "Tomorrow you'll be facing a room full of strangers."
Peng Chengyi: "Ahhhhhh, please stop talking!"
Chen Yubai: "Weren't you not nervous?"
Peng Chengyi: "I wasn't nervous at first, but after you said that, I started to get nervous."
Peng Chengyi: "So you have to take responsibility for me."
Chen Yubai: "...What are you responsible for?"
Peng Chengyi: "He was responsible for making me fall asleep quickly."
Chen Yubai: "Do you have a rolling pin at home?"
Peng Chengyi: "Yes, what's wrong?"
Chen Yubai: "Put me by the bed, close your eyes, I'll come over and knock you out in a minute, I guarantee you'll sleep until dawn."
Peng Chengyi: "..."
She shouldn't have sought help from that bastard.
Peng Chengyi silently turned off her phone, lay in the dark for a while, and then her phone, which was on her pillow, vibrated again.
She turned her head, glanced at the video that Chen Yubai had sent.
On the still cover, a boy wearing a black T-shirt is holding a guitar.
Peng Chengyi inexplicably clicked on the video.
He didn't show his face; only his long, slender fingers with distinct knuckles rested on the strings, starting to play the scales from the beginning.
This video, judging from the progress bar, is a full 5 minutes long.
What's going on...?
Peng Chengyi, increasingly confused, turned off the video and sent him a "?".
Chen Yubai: "Didn't you say before that writing was too boring and made people want to sleep?"
Peng Chengyi was stunned, not expecting him to come up with such a method to help her hypnotize.
I couldn't help but feel a little touched and said, "You didn't get up just to play for me, did you?"
Chen Yubai: "I'm overthinking it. These are recordings I made while practicing the piano."
Since Da Sheng did mention that it's okay to record practice sessions to help identify problems.
Peng Chengyi suppressed her emotions and replied with an "Oh".
Then I turned on the video, placed it next to my pillow, and closed my eyes.
As the monotonous, repetitive scale played, drowsiness gradually crept in.
So she didn't notice that the window next door, which had been lit up in the middle of the night, had gone dark again.
-
The next day, with Zhou Lifen's repeated instructions, Peng Chengyi, carrying her schoolbag and dragging her suitcase, boarded bus number 33 with Chen Yubai.
Because it was close to the starting station and the train departed early, there were very few people on board.
The two chose the spacious single seats in the middle and sat down one after the other.
Two stops later, Zhang Yang also came up from the back door with his suitcase and sat down behind Chen Yubai.
"Long time no see, Boss Peng." He reached over Chen Yubai and patted the back of Peng Chengyi's chair.
"Huh? You got into No. 1 High School too?" Peng Chengyi turned her face in surprise.
Zhang Yang's grades were average, often hovering in the middle to upper range of his class, which, in theory, shouldn't have been good enough for the top high school.
Zhang Yang: "I got accepted as an art student, didn't Brother Yu tell you?"
Peng Chengyi: "No..."
Zhang Yang turned to Chen Yubai: "Brother Yu, what's wrong with you? You didn't tell her something so important."
Chen Yubai turned her head away, raising an eyebrow slightly: "Does it matter to her where you take the exam?"
Zhang Yang: "..."
It seems that it's not that important.
He only became friends with Peng Chengyi because of his good relationship with Chen Yubai.
Otherwise, he probably would never have had any interaction with a seemingly well-behaved and quiet academic star like Peng Chengyi in his entire life.
You wouldn't even realize that she's actually quite talkative and a bit of a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur).
Peng Chengyi interjected with dissatisfaction, saying, "How can it not matter? He's my friend too! He's also the keyboardist for my future band."
Chen Yubai scoffed lightly: "He's your friend, why don't you ask him where he got his exam results?"
Peng Chengyi: "I'm afraid he didn't do well on the exam, and I got into the top high school. It would be hurtful to ask him about it."
Chen Yubai: "Then why were you so eager for me to check my results before? Weren't you afraid that I wouldn't pass the exam and that it would hurt me?"
Peng Chengyi choked slightly.
She was so eager to know his score that she didn't even consider what would happen if he failed the exam.
She was always cautious around others, but she never had such concerns around him.
Perhaps it was because he subconsciously felt that no matter what she did to him, he would not break off their friendship.
That's why she's so fearless.
After a few seconds of silence, she turned her face away guiltily: "You always say you have a high IQ, how could you not pass the exam?"
Chen Yubai chuckled and leaned against the back of her chair, saying, "It's only when you're in the wrong that you admit I'm smart."
Peng Chengyi's expression froze slightly, but he pretended to be calm and stared at the road ahead, saying, "Who's in the wrong!"
Chen Yubai twitched the corner of his lips, hunched his back, and leaned closer to her ear, saying, "If you're not in the wrong, why don't you dare turn around and look at me again?"
A note from the author:
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[Eating popcorn][Eating popcorn][Eating popcorn]
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