“Did I wake you up?” Nian Xi felt apologetic.

Jiang Yuning sat up from his bed and walked over to her and said, “There is acute insomnia and there is chronic insomnia. Acute insomnia is further divided into psychobiological insomnia and episodic insomnia. There is maintenance insomnia…”

“All right, enough.” Nian Xi knew when he was going to head into a lecture and interrupted him impatiently. “I’m having psychological insomnia; I’m troubled over my relationship.”

Jiang Yuning frowned, extended his graceful fingers and started counting. “Relationships can be classified into family, friendship, romantic…”

“Romantic,” Nian Xi said, interrupting him again.

Jiang Yuning was silent.

Nian Xi inhaled sharply. “My ex-boyfriend just called and text me. I’m feeling a little bothered.”

Jiang Yuning pursed his lips and clutched his chest. His chest felt a little stuffy, like a heavy rock was crushing his heart. He felt breathless.

He couldn’t explain why.

“You won’t understand love even if I tell you.” Nian Xi thought he didn’t know how to respond to her.

“You’ve… been in a relationship before?” Jiang Yuning whispered.

She was troubled over her ex-boyfriend. His chest felt tighter and tighter.

“Yeah.” Nian Xi nodded her head. The lights were off, so she couldn’t see his discomfort. “We were supposed to get married last year but it didn’t happen. We broke up, but now we’re working at the same station; it’s bothersome.”

Jiang Yuning was very uncomfortable now. “Will you… get married?”

“I don’t think so. How can we just move past all that happened between us?” Nian Xi laid back down. She realized that Jiang Yuning was still sitting on the edge of the bed and she kicked him playfully. “Go to bed now.”

Jiang Yuning looked at her tiny foot. She didn’t use much force when she kicked him. His heart yearned for more contact. Instead of dodging, he scooted closer to her.

“What are you doing?”

He whispered, “It’s nice when you kick me.”

“…”

Was there something wrong with him?

She recalled that she saw Luosang kick Nian Junting’s ass or thighs to command him to do something when she was at the Tianhu Villa.

It was kind of awkward thinking about that. It seemed that she wasn’t supposed to kick any man, because it was only for romantic couples.

“Um… go to bed early. You have to attend the International Physics Conference tomorrow. You were terrific today. Keep up the good work tomorrow,” Nian Xi said in a serious tone.

Jiang Yuning was thrilled to hear her compliments. It was like the joy he felt when he scored his first hundred points.

He laid back down but it was his turn to have insomnia.

After Nian Xi confided in him, she was relieved, and quickly fell asleep.

He was afraid of disturbing her rest, so he kept as still as possible. He used a few physics theories to try to put himself to sleep, but to no avail.

His chest felt stuffy.



At 6:30 a.m., Uncle Han was the first one to wake up. He was the oldest and had trouble getting over the jetlag. In the bathroom, as he squeezed the toothpaste, he looked up and saw Jiang Yuning staring back at him in the mirror.

His hands trembled in shock. “Mister, what are you doing up so early?”

Jiang Yuning took out a post-it and wrote, ‘I had insomnia.’

Uncle Han adjusted his spectacles. Except for when he was doing his research, it was rare for him to have insomnia.

It must have been something serious.