CH 25

Chapter 25 – Two Sided Insomnia

I can turn on that light

Putting his cellphone down, Pei Tingsong still couldn’t fall asleep smoothly. He tossed and turned until the clock struck 3:30 a.m., then got up to sit at his desk and turn on his computer. That USB drive was lying on his desk. Thinking about Fang Juexia’s piqued words, he picked up the USB drive and stuck it into his computer. 

However, just when the pop-up for the USB drive appeared on the screen, Pei Tingsong hesitated.

Right now wasn’t a good time yet.

He could see that Fang Juexia cherished his creation, and he could completely understand this frame of mind as a creator. A painstakingly created work required better treatment. 

After pulling the USB drive out of the computer, Pei Tingsong lay on his desk, and recalled the scene of the interview as soon as he closed his eyes. They had given different answers for almost every question. Fang Juexia was like a window; by just pushing it open a little, he had already seen a world completely different from his own.

He had never seen such a person, one who lived both silently and soberly, who did not need to shout any slogans, or needed to show off any rebellious spirit; it was as if being self-sustaining was his natural ability.

Remembering something, Pei Tingsong sat up and found the documentary about the proof process of Fermat’s last theorem. 

Since he was a child, he knew little of mathematics, and also wasn’t very interested in it. Before watching the documentary, he didn’t expect his viewing experience to be very good. But unexpectedly, he actually seriously kept watching it and actually got quite deep into it. 

Clatter——

Suddenly, a loud noise came from outside.

Pei Tingsong stopped the movie, took off his earphones, and walked out the door quietly. The source of the sound seemed to be coming from the living room. He went out and walked along the corridor, but unexpectedly, he actually saw Fang Juexia there.

He was still wearing the sweater that Ling Yi had given him, while squatting furtively at the entrance to the corridor. Pei Tingsong wanted to scare him a bit, but was also afraid that if he really did get scared, he would yell and wake up the others. So he simply stepped closer and quietly squatted beside Fang Juexia.

In this way, the two of them crouched side by side, blocking the entrance to the corridor. 

Regarding the sudden appearance of an extra person, Fang Juexia was completely ignorant of his presence. At the moment, he was trying to sort out a pile of books that he accidentally knocked down when he was passing by. On top of the books had been an old copper vase. He had been walking along the hallway, and had run into it as soon as he had turned the corner. The vase had crashed down, startling him into jumping up.

Fang Juexia stood the vase upright and set it next to his hand. Most of these books were so old that their pages had started to curl, which may be why they were being pressed down by the vase like this. 

It must be from when Pei Tingsong had moved here and had no place to put these, so he had just piled and left them here. Fang Juexia’s obsessive-compulsive disorder compelled him to organize it for him, which he did until there was only one book left. A rectangular bookmark had been placed on the open page, and under the light of the lamp, he recognized the handwriting.

It was Pei Tingsong’s.

Fang Juexia couldn’t help but read out in a low voice, “A robin redbreast in a cage, puts all heaven in a rage…”

“Cough.“

The sudden cough scared Fang Juexia into directly sitting down on the ground, and his hand accidentally knocked the vase over.

Oh no——

The vase didn’t fall down the way he had thought it would; the corridor was still very quiet, so quiet, to the point where Fang Juexia could hear his heartbeat clearly. 

The dim light of the floor lamp brightened the face that was so incomparably close to him. Pei Tingsong was very near him, and with one of his hands on the wall of the corridor, they were face-to-face as he encircled him.

“You…”

“Shh.” Pei Tingsong relaxed the hand that was against the wall, stabilized his center of gravity that had tilted forward from having to save the vase, and then set the vase down gently.

Fang Juexia blankly held the bookmark in his hands, and his eyes were wide open as he stared at Pei Tingsong without moving a muscle, looking just like a badly frightened hamster.

Seeing him like this, Pei Tingsong held back a smile and pulled the bookmark away from him. He pretended to be angry and stared back at Fang Juexia, then lowered his voice and said, “It’s the middle of the night, and you’re not sleeping just to steal a peek at my bookmark?” 

Fang Juexia’s expression currently was a little innocent.

After all, he was innocent.

“No…” He also lowered his voice. “I was a little hungry and wanted to eat something, but then I accidentally knocked into it.”

Pei Tingsong nodded meaningfully, stuck the bookmark back into the last open book, and placed it back on the top of that pile of books.

Fang Juexia supported himself against the wall as he got up; he had been really scared by this person just now. 

“I’m hungry, too. Is there anything to eat?” It was too dark, so Pei Tingsong turned on the light in the dining room.

“En.” Fang Juexia started to work quietly.

Their kitchen had a semi-open layout, separated from the rest of the space by a small bar. Pei Tingsong sat in front of the bar and poured himself a cup of juice. He also poured a cup for Fang Juexia and set it across from him. 

He quietly watched Fang Juexia busy himself in front of the kitchen counter. This was a rare scene for him; from his childhood to his adulthood, he had only had nannies who were responsible for his daily necessities, and they did not, and also could not, eat together with him at the same table. He had already gotten used to the loneliness of dining alone since he was a child, especially after his grandfather had died.

“Do you want to eat fried eggs?” Fang Juexia turned and asked him in a low voice.

Pei Tingsong shrugged. “Alright.”

Not long after, Fang Juexia carried over some dishes and set them on the bar. There were six crystal clear shrimp dumplings, two runny fried eggs, and a dish of radish cake.

“You cooked so fast?” Pei Tingsong asked.

“It’s just a midnight snack,” Fang Juexia knew he was an otherworldly young master, so he explained, “The shrimp dumplings were quick-frozen, but they still taste pretty good. As soon as they’re steamed thoroughly, they can be eaten.” He pointed to the radish cake. “My mom sent this to me some time ago, and she made it herself. You can try it.”

Although Pei Tingsong was born with a gold spoon in his mouth, he was rarely particular about things. Even though he had been forced into StarChart to suffer, he had seldom complained about it.

He picked up a shrimp dumpling and stuffed it into his mouth; it was delicious, going way beyond his expectations. When Fang Juexia saw that Pei Tingsong’s eyes had even brightened, his mouth quirked up in a slight smile.

“This is really delicious, no wonder you like to eat it.”

Fang Juexia froze for a moment before remembering that that was a question they had answered in the rapid-fire Q&A session. He used his chopsticks to break open the fried egg and let the yolk flow out. “The ones from dim-sum at the teahouse are even better.”

Pei Tingsong then picked up a radish cake. He was very curious what this rectangular, soft, and glutinous thing tasted like. 

“This is delicious, too.”

Seeing his satisfied expression, Fang Juexia felt a bit happy inside. 

This person ate just like a child. But that was right, he was a child who had just turned 20 a few days ago anyway. 

Thinking that this dish of radish cake was made by Fang Juexia’s mother, Pei Tingsong felt a little envious and a little curious. “When you were a child, did you eat meals made by your mom every day?”

Fang Juexia drank a mouthful of juice before replying, “Not necessarily.” He hesitated for a few seconds, then explained, “My mom is a middle school teacher. When I was in primary school, I couldn’t wait for her to come back to cook, so she would give me money and let me go downstairs to buy roasted pork rice or something. But as long as she had time, she would cook for me.”

So his mom was a teacher. Upon hearing Fang Juexia talk about his family and childhood himself, a sense of joy inexplicably appeared in Pei Tingsong’s heart. 

Fang Juexia seemed to think of something. He looked up at the camera installed in the corner of the kitchen. “They’re also recording at night ba.”

“It’s fine.” Pei Tingsong picked up another shrimp dumpling. “We’re not wearing mics, so they can’t hear anything.”

“But they will see us sneaking a midnight snack.”

Pei Tingsong said ambiguously, “You were so hungry that you couldn’t sleep, and you’re still caring about that.” Having said that, he glanced at Fang Juexia again. “And on that topic, look at you, so thin you’re about to die.”

Fang Juexia choked. He just knew that this guy couldn’t speak any good words. He changed the subject and stretched out his chopsticks to get the last piece. “Why aren’t you sleeping? It’s not like you’ve gotten a lot of sleep already.”

“I was watching Fermat’s Last Theorem.”

Upon hearing his words, the shrimp dumpling that Fang Juexia had just picked up accidentally fell down. He really hadn’t expected that this person in front of him would actually go and watch a mathematical documentary just because he had mentioned it.

Pei Tingsong supported his chin with his hands and looked at him. “It’s better than I expected.”

“Really?” Fang Juexia put down his chopsticks. “I thought you would find it boring.”

“There are a lot of places where I can only half-understand what’s going on. After all, I’m not good at math.” Pei Tingsong added, “I only wanted to see it because you said it moved you.”

This sentence fell on his ears, and they started to feel faintly warm. 

“But my level of understanding is limited, and so my experience after watching it must be different from that of yours. So I wanted to ask you,” Pei Tingsong looked him in the eye. “Why do you like it so much? Is it because of that kind of academic spirit?”

Fang Juexia lowered his head, picked up the remaining small pieces of radish cake, and packed them together neatly, one by one, as he answered, “En, after all, for more than 300 years, so many people have gone one after another to prove this theorem. This process is very hot-blooded.”

“And,” he raised his head and spoke, “Wiles dreamed of proving Fermat’s Last Theorem since he was ten years old, and he really did so after becoming an adult. Can you imagine that feeling?”

The light that shone in Fang Juexia’s eyes as he said this made it seem as if his whole person had come alive. Pei Tingsong couldn’t help but nod, wanting to affirm his statement.

“Of course,” Pei Tingsong said, “Your expression right now is very similar to the one he had when he was talking about that in the documentary.”

Fang Juexia was a little embarrassed. He composed his facial expression and drank a mouthful of juice. “No, it’s just that every time I think about it, I feel that it’s very inspiring.” 

Almost immediately, Pei Tingsong thought back to Fang Juexia’s definition of an idol during the interview.

“So, this is the embodiment of a dream that you were talking about.”

Fang Juexia nodded, his face showing a peaceful calmness. “At least this existence allowed me to dare to dream when I was a child.”

Pei Tingsong felt that this was inconceivable. “When did you start to think like this?”

Fang Juexia finished the juice in his glass. “The first time I saw this film was when I was in junior high school. I still remember the beginning scene of the movie to this day, and I’ll probably remember it for the rest of my life.”

“That monologue?”

His eyes softened as he recalled, “I remember the background sound for that scene was the ticking of a clock. Wiles then said, ‘Perhaps I can best describe my experience in mathematics as entering a dark mansion. One goes into a dark room; it’s dark, completely dark, and he stumbles into the furniture.’”

This was surprisingly similar to the unexpected and startling experience they had just had.

“Gradually, you learn where each piece of furniture is. And finally after six months or so, you’ll find the light switch and turn it on, and suddenly, it’s all illuminated, and you can see exactly where you were.”

Fang Juexia stopped, and after a period of silence, he added, “I know I’m in the dark right now.”

“But one day,” he said, looking up at Pei Tingsong with a quiet smile, “I’m sure I can turn on that light, too.”

“That day, I’ll see where I am, and will let everyone see me too.”

—

The author has something to say:

A robin redbreast in a cage, puts all heaven in a rage ——from The Roots of Romanticism

Little K Group Omake:

At the same time Pei Tingsong and Fang Juexia sneak into the corridor——

The group chat of four people in Kaleido, minus #4 and #6, flashes red:

[Kaleido’s #1 Boss 01: Juexia actually ran out without sleeping.]

[National first-class flower hand dance performer: What are you saying, aren’t you also not sleeping?]

[Kaleido’s #1 Boss 01: I slept too much in the car, I’m hiding in my quilt and reading novels right now. Juexia has never been the frightening insomnia type!]

[Your Fire Ge is still Your Fire Ge: My roommate went out, too.]

[National first-class flower hand dance performer: ???]

[Kaleido’s #1 Boss 01: !!!]

[The Household’s Essential Good Captain: I actually didn’t turn on Do Not Disturb…You guys woke up the last person.]

[Your Fire Ge is still Your Fire Ge: Still selling fanservice at 3:30 in the morning, do they have to be so hardworking?]