You Sound Sleepy

Translator BipBop:

In the evening, her editor called her.

When she received the call, Lin Mian was immersed in drawing in her office.

Her assistant Fang Xuxu was affected due to the seasonal change and had a high fever. She went to the hospital multiple times and asked Lin Mian for a week of leave.

The book was about to be published. But Lin Mian had dawdled, not finishing the colored pages. The result of accumulating old and new debts was that she had to stay up all night and draw.

“Author Mu Mian, the draft will be reviewed and proofread tomorrow afternoon. In two days, it will be sent for printing.” The editor’s voice was tender, extremely gentle. “May I see your manuscript in my email tomorrow morning when I go to work?”

Lin Mian opened her mouth, still writing, her voice confident and calm. 

“Impossible.”

“…” The editor chuckled a few times and tenderly asked again. “Why?”

“You see, to tell you the truth…” Lin Mian forced a sigh, her tone distressed. She softly said, stuttering, “There is a – a power outage where I live.”

Her voice sounded extremely pitiful. “The apartment I just rented has no backup power and – and all the manuscripts are all on the laptop. I probably won’t be able to get it to you by tomorrow morning.”

Her ability to pretend to be pitiful was top-notch. However, the editor had long been immune to Lin Mian’s acting and said with a cool voice, “You used this reason last month.”

Lin Mian stopped typing and began to double down on her lie. “You always -”

Ke.

Before she finished speaking, the room’s ceiling light went out. In an instant, the room plunged into darkness.

In the darkness, Lin Mian glanced at the already pitch black laptop screen. “…”

There was a saying for this:

Karma’s a bi̲t̲c̲h̲. 

Not only was the power outage real, but the no backup power was also real. Fortunately, the original draft was backed up on a hard disk, and the part that was lost was the work done this night.

The circuit breaker of the main power supply failed. The power outage only affected her. Lin Mian tried to no avail to fix it and looked at the time. The people working in the apartment building were off work.

She was going to improvise. She moved a small desk to her apartment floor’s hallway and then went back to her apartment to grab her laptop and tablet. In the end, she continued to draw right outside her apartment’s door, using the light sensor on the elevator.

Outside the doorway of her apartment, dressed in pajamas, the famous manhua author Mu Mian was drawing a cutesy scene, her heart, on the other hand, was bleak.

As she was layering the colors on the drawing, the door of the tenant across from her opened. 

Lin Mian chose a position that was directly facing the entrance of the floor’s elevator. In front of her, a woman in a purple dress that was holding a little boy was just about to press the elevator button. Once she saw Lin Min, she was surprised.

“Miss Lin, what happened?”

The purple dress woman lived in the apartment across from her and was a single mother. Lin Mian hurriedly stood up and moved to the side, moving a pile of equipment. She apologized, “There was a power outage at my apartment, and I still have to do some work. So sorry for blocking the elevator…”

Lin Mian was polite and apologetic. The woman with the purple dress smiled. “Why don’t you stay in my apartment? We’re all neighbors after all.”

Lin Mian politely smiled back. “I’m okay, thank you.”

The woman with the purple dress didn’t force it. After some small talk, she entered the elevator. Lin Mian was just about to keep drawing but suddenly felt something was wrong…

She turned and looked at her closed apartment door. 

W-wait, I don’t have the key. Huh.

Locked. Out.

Lin Mian: “….”

No keys, no phone, no wallet, what was I thinking?!!! The now truly pitiful Lin Mian gloomily carried her laptop and tablet to the tenth floor. She had something in mind.

Fifteen minutes later, she was staring at a wooden door. After 30 seconds, she tentatively rang the doorbell. 

After waiting for a while, the door opened with a soft click.

Que Qingyan saw Lin Mian standing outside his door, his eyes revealing a slight surprise. He looked down at her. “What’s the matter?”

“Professor Que.” Lin Mian sheepishly glanced at him, her eyes and the tip of her nose red. “The apartment I rented has a power outage. I’m now locked out. My roommate can’t come back tonight, and tomorrow morning I have to hand in a paper for the newspaper club. So, could you lend a little bit of space for me…”

Afraid that he’ll disagree, she added in a soft voice, which was almost inaudible, “Please, I beg you.”
Que Qingyan looked at Lin Mian. 

She only wore thin pajamas, revealing her white skin on her calves and ankles, her feet wrapped in yellow cotton slippers, her hands holding a heavy laptop and tablet, her fingertips reddish. Her eyes wet, it looked like she was fished out of the water, lithe and aggrieved.

It was like a small cute hamster that was miserably holding onto its last kernels of corn was knocking on his door.

Que Qingyan took Lin Mian’s things and turned his face. “Come on in.”

Lin Mian followed, entering the door.

With tears hanging on her eyelashes, Lin Mian recalled her past words and thoughts during her conversation with Bai Jiayi.

“I really want to go upstairs and make a move.” 

“… should also knock on his door wearing skimpy pajamas.”

Am I actually…. a prophet?