Chapter 18: The Eighteenth Day of Being in a Novel – Afterward, We’ll Be Neighbors

Original Poster: The pen and ink really came back! I can’t believe I’m able to wait for her in my lifetime, tears in my eyes.

Post 1: What pen and ink? The host’s name is obviously Shu Yan (dog face).

Post 2: Really, when I heard Shu Shu’s voice, I’m not exaggerating, I cried instantly.

Post 3: Waiting was meaningful, and in the end, it really paid off.

Post 4: The child can finally sleep peacefully. I’ve been listening to that audio for so long these past couple of days that it feels like my ears have calluses. The effect of the audio is getting weaker now.

Post 5: Same here…

Post 6: But I didn’t expect the host to go back to the Koi live-streaming platform. Most people should know that the traffic here is low.

Post 7: Have you considered that the reason Shu Shu came back here is because the traffic is low?

Post 8: That makes sense.

Post 9: What!!! You found pen and ink?? Are you guys not joking?

Post 10: Looks like the village network finally connected.

Post 11: Of course it’s real. Yesterday the forum was flooded.

Post 12: Shu Shu is really just as I imagined, so gentle and kind. She even set gift limits to prevent us from wasting money.

Post 13: But honestly, what’s 20 bucks? You can’t even send a yacht. It’s so meaningless.

Post 14: Suddenly remembered the expensive milk tea war next door. It really made me laugh to death.

Post 15: Why do you all call her Shu Shu? Did something happen that I don’t know about?

Post 16: I think someone started calling her that from the beginning, supporting Shu Shu, and the rest of the fans followed. I think Shu Shu sounds better than Yan Yan or Shu Yan.

Post 17: Speaking of which, Shu Shu speaks very little. Most of the time, it seems like she’s practicing calligraphy. Although Shu Shu looks beautiful even while practicing, I feel like the child would love to hear more of her voice.

Post 18: I agree.

Post 19: I remember Shu Shu seemed to have appointed a few moderators. Should we talk to them?

Post 20: The few people Shu Shu appointed as moderators were all at the top of the gift list, and each of them sent quite expensive gifts.

Post 21: But now we won’t even have the opportunity to spend money like that (tears streaming).

Post 22: By the way, does anyone have a full recording of Shu Shu’s live stream? I got there too late, and the live stream ended soon after I arrived.

Post 23: I want it too, boo hoo hoo, which big shot has it, please save the child.

…

Yun Shuning browsed the forum messages about her, a hint of helplessness flashing in her eyes.

Is her voice really that amazing? Can it really calm people down and cure insomnia?

Even the doctors at the hospital wouldn’t dare to boast like that.

However, because she’s very sensitive to sound, she could tell that when the original owner’s voice combined with her technique, the tone indeed made people relax. But it wasn’t as magical as they made it sound.

While thinking about this, she skeptically logged onto a Q&A platform and asked the question that was troubling her most—Can a person’s voice really help with sleep?

As expected, people on the Q&A platform were experts, and soon someone answered her.

“Thanks for the invitation. It should be possible. After all, when I was in school, I could fall asleep as soon as the history teacher started talking.”

“Thanks for the invitation. I’ve experienced it too. No matter how little sleep I had the night before, when I heard the sound of my classmates reciting lessons in the morning, I could fall asleep instantly.”

“Sometimes, if a person’s voice frequency is in a state that makes people feel relaxed and comfortable, combined with the lack of interactive language, it can naturally induce a feeling of drowsiness.”

…

Yun Shuning read through all the answers and came to the conclusion that it’s not a strange thing for someone’s voice to promote sleep.

As long as it’s not just her, that would be fine.

In the next few days, she continued her live stream routine. The number of viewers and gifts in her stream stabilized, with around 2,000 viewers attending every day. Her daily earnings also stayed at about 20,000. She donated half of her earnings to a children’s charity project every day, just like in her past life.

She wasn’t particularly noble or refined; she had grown up in an orphanage and always felt empathetic towards children who didn’t have parents. She couldn’t do much, and she couldn’t help all the children, but she could do her best. At least she could face herself with a clear conscience.

As for the donation targets and charity projects, she had researched them and chose only those with good reputations.

Today was Sunday, and she strictly followed her agreement with He Chen. She had taken a break from streaming last night, telling her fans that every Sunday from now on, she would rest for the day.

She didn’t explain too much. If she had openly said she had a missing lover and needed to go to his villa every Sunday to remember him, most people would have thought she was just putting on a show.

It was better to leave a suspense and let them figure it out. The emotional impact would be much stronger when they discovered it themselves.

Like every Sunday, she arrived early at He Yan’s villa. As soon as she entered, she saw the familiar figure of Li Shuhua.

“Li Aunty.” Yun Shuning nodded slightly. Her voice was still soft, but it no longer carried the fatigue and despair she had when they first met.

“Shuning.” Li Shuhua smiled kindly at her. “Why are you wearing so little? It’s so cold.”

“Come inside and warm up.”

“Thank you, Li Aunty.”

Yun Shuning looked at her, a faint smile in her eyes. Although she still carried loneliness and sorrow, she had now developed a warmth of her own. It was as though she had begun to form an attachment to the world.

She didn’t see coming here as a burden; on the contrary, she enjoyed it. Here, Li Aunty cared for her, and no one disturbed her.

She went to He Yan’s bedroom, looking at the decorations inside. Sometimes, she found herself really wanting to know what kind of person He Yan was.

“I’ll go to the bedroom first. Li Aunty, you can continue with what you’re doing.” Every time she came here, the first thing she did was head to He Yan’s bedroom, and this time was no different.

“Go ahead.” Li Shuhua smiled at her, and once she walked into the room, Li Shuhua sighed helplessly.

Shuning was only in her twenties, but she had been trapped by this relationship. Sometimes, Li Shuhua wished she could move on sooner.

Such a hopeless relationship was too painful for her.

Yun Shuning had no idea what Li Shuhua was thinking. After entering the bedroom, she started cleaning, and although the room was large, there wasn’t much furniture, so it was easy to clean.

On the bedside table, there was a book titled A Brief History of Time. The first time she saw it, she couldn’t help but think, as expected of a wealthy heir, even the books he read were so deep.

But when she opened the book, she found there was no sign of it being read. On closer inspection, it was clear that the book’s owner had only read the first few pages.

Yun Shuning flipped through the book and suddenly understood why He Yan had done this.

Because reading helped him fall asleep.

At this moment, the figure in her mind—calm, composed, and meticulous—began to take form.

She sat on the edge of the bed, imagining He Yan, dressed in dark pajamas. After realizing he couldn’t sleep, he calmly picked up a book from the bedside table and started reading seriously. After turning two pages, he yawned, casually set the book aside, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

So… cute.

Meanwhile, in He Yan’s bedroom, she was preoccupied with her thoughts, unaware that her fans, devastated by her day off, had fallen into despair.

On the forums, fans were shedding tears, heartbroken.

How could their diligent, kind-hearted, and beautiful-voiced streamer be on leave?

Moreover, she was taking every Sunday off. What were they supposed to do on days without her stream?

After Yun Shuning had consistently streamed over the past few days, her fans had become accustomed to listening to her broadcasts with headphones. She rarely spoke, and the live stream mainly featured the sounds of her writing.

They had developed an unspoken understanding, with fans doing their own work while listening to her. As the stream was nearing its end, they would chat with her for a few minutes, as if they were old friends. Of course, everyone made sure to record the conversation, so they could listen to her voice while falling asleep at night.

At first, many fans had tried to register multiple accounts and send gifts after she only allowed gifts worth 20 yuan, but as time passed, they found this behavior childish and instead followed the streamer’s lead, behaving more sincerely.

During her streams, as long as they looked up, they could see her focused on her calligraphy, and they would unconsciously bring their wandering thoughts back to concentrate on their tasks.

But today, nothing was there.

Especially since it was the weekend, most fans stayed home, eagerly waiting for her stream, but…

For He Yan’s fans, today felt especially long, as did for Su Muqing.

Su Muqing had always known that habits could be terrifying, but he didn’t expect that after watching Yun Shuning’s streams for a few days, he would form the habit of listening to her broadcasts every morning.

He sat in his study, lazily basking in the sunlight. Beside him was a thermos cup with goji berries steeping, the lid open, and through the sunlight, he could see wisps of steam rising.

No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t match his youthful, energetic personality at all.

Su Muqing sat in the chair, looking at the investigation files about Yun Shuning that Xu Zheng had delivered to him earlier.

Her parents had died when she was young, and she had been raised by various relatives. She had been bullied at school when she was younger, but after middle school, she earned scholarships for her excellent grades, which allowed her to continue her studies. Because of her outstanding academic performance, she also made a few like-minded friends.

Looking only at her pre-high school information, one would think she was a strong person who had endured hardship but never gave up on life.

However, her university records were more interesting.

During her first year of college, she rarely stayed in the dorms when she had no classes. Upon investigation, it was found that He Yan’s free time overlapped with hers on several occasions.

With some scattered evidence and the attitudes of He Chen and Yu Cheng, it could basically be confirmed that she and He Yan had once had a past.

However, not long after, He Yan disappeared, so the records between the two were hard to verify because of his disappearance.

One thing was certain though: after Yun Shuning graduated, she joined He Chen’s company, likely seeking revenge for He Yan.

If it weren’t for seeing the police investigation report, Su Muqing wouldn’t have believed that the matter was truly unrelated to He Chen.

Yun Shuning was just an ordinary person. Without He Yan, she wouldn’t have been able to access these records.

A perfect logical loop. Looking at it from this perspective, many of her actions were now explainable.

Su Muqing expressionlessly closed the file, and the scene of meeting her that day kept circling in his mind.

Was it worth it for a man who had been missing for so long?

At this point, he suddenly remembered that back then, she seemed to have lost too much weight. Even though she was wearing winter clothes, it was still obvious how thin and frail she was.

And that voice, tinged with nostalgia and sorrow—it was really unpleasant.

What was so special about He Yan that made someone love him so much? Even now, when he could no longer come back, there was still someone holding on to him with all their might.

“It doesn’t matter,” Su Muqing composed himself, the corners of his lips curving into a faint smile.

“While the living can never compete with the dead,” he leaned back in his chair, his aura becoming deep and unreadable, “don’t forget, the dead will never compete with the living.”

What he wanted wasn’t Yun Shuning’s full love. He only wanted her to stay by his side and talk to him every day.

Not that kind of communication through the internet, where she interacted with so many others. Just with him alone.

In return, he would make her the happiest woman in the world.

He didn’t care who else was in her heart, as long as she left a corner for him.

He applied the same approach he used with Lin Wan to Yun Shuning.

With that thought, he smiled brightly, revealing his sharp tiger teeth.

He wasn’t good at acting. He just habitually exaggerated his kindness to others, making it seem more than it really was, with his parents, his brothers, his employees, Lin Wan, and Yun Shuning.

“Xu Zheng, buy the apartment next to Yun Shuning for me.”

“Why?” Hearing his assistant’s question, Su Muqing silently sighed at the lack of emotional intelligence in his assistant.

He then described it succinctly, “Because proximity brings advantage.”

“Remember, be quick,” his right hand twirled the pen quickly, his tone showing no politeness, “I want to move in by tomorrow.”

“…Okay.”

Just one word, and you could hear the restraint and despair in the voice on the other side of the phone.

“You’ll get double your bonus this month and three extra days of vacation.”

“Okay!” The voice on the other end immediately filled with energy, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you can move into the new house tomorrow.”

Busy time always passes quickly. In the blink of an eye, the day was over.

Su Muqing lay in bed, and the sound system played the words Yun Shuning had said during her stream yesterday.

“Someone asked me why I chose to live stream,” her voice on the speaker was like lake water, capable of absorbing everyone’s frustration and sadness, soothing the wounds in people’s hearts. It felt as though, in this moment, only she and he existed in the world.

“Maybe it’s because I like the hustle and bustle, but I’m also afraid of it,” Upon hearing this, Su Muqing suddenly sat up, pressing the pause button beside him.

After learning about Yun Shuning’s past, hearing these words made him suddenly realize the sadness and confusion hidden in her heart.

At first, he thought he could calmly accept that Yun Shuning liked someone else, just like how he knew Lin Wan liked someone else. But he couldn’t.

Because her voice affected him so much, the faint sadness he had sensed made it impossible for him to sleep.

He had been sleeping well for many days now, forgetting how hard it had been to fall asleep with sleeping pills every night before.

“Easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go back,” his thoughts drifted far away. Yun Shuning named herself Shuyan. Yun Shuning, He Yan.

Her love for He Yan was truly not hidden at all.

After reading the materials, he understood why she had stopped streaming today.

Even though he kept trying to comfort himself, he couldn’t ignore the deep, dense pain surging up from his heart—jealousy and envy.

Even when he liked Lin Wan, even when he watched Lin Wan and He Chen together, he never felt this way.

Su Muqing lay back down on the bed tiredly and pressed play on the speaker.

“Actually, I thought about quitting streaming after my first broadcast. You can probably guess the reason, but one day I suddenly met someone who said he really liked my streams.”

“At that moment, I suddenly felt what it was like to be needed, so I kept streaming. I just changed the location, but thankfully, you’re still here.”

Upon hearing this, Su Muqing’s furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on his face: that person was him.

Just as he was about to continue listening, his phone rang.

Due to his severe insomnia, he always set his phone to silent before going to sleep, and the only calls that could bypass this were from Lin Wan, who was specially marked.

He sat up and looked at the contact on his phone screen, his face devoid of any smile.

With no expression, he pressed the pause button on the speaker and answered the phone.

“Senior.” As soon as he picked up the call, it was like he transformed into another person. His coldness remained, but his voice now sounded particularly close, lively, with a hint of suppressed affection, as if the person on the other end was his deeply loved one, “Calling me so late, you must miss me, right?”

“Muqing, don’t joke around,” the voice on the phone sounded sweet, with a hint of laughter, “I’m calling to invite you for breakfast. Last time, I said I’d treat you, but you ended up paying. This time, I’m definitely paying before you do.”

She seemed sure that he would accompany her.

In the past, Su Muqing had easily accepted this certainty, but now, he wasn’t sure. Perhaps it was because his sleep had been interrupted, or perhaps because he had someone else he cared more about, but an inexplicable irritation surged in his heart.

Especially since he was going to be busy tomorrow—watching the live stream in the morning and handling the house purchase at noon. How could he possibly have time to join her for a boring breakfast?

“Senior, it’s not really gentlemanly to let women pay,” he joked in response, then changed his tone, “But Senior, I have something to do tomorrow, so I might not be able to join you for breakfast.”

“Such a pity,” he sighed dramatically, his voice full of regret.

On the other end, Lin Wan stood frozen.

Su Muqing had never refused her requests before. Even during the Su family’s annual conference, he would come to accompany her at the slightest word from her.

What was different this time?

She suddenly felt a sense of panic, as if something was slipping out of her control.

She quickly composed herself, took a deep breath, and made her voice sound as usual, “Alright then, don’t worry about it. You go handle the important things first.”

“Such a pity,” Su Muqing’s voice sounded even more disappointed than hers. “I didn’t expect to be so busy tomorrow. Once I have some free time, I’ll definitely make up for this meal.”

Hearing his words, Lin Wan’s heart gradually calmed down, and she smiled as she replied, “It’s okay, focus on your work. Once you’re done, we can get together.”

“Alright, Senior,” Su Muqing smiled and said goodbye. “It’s so late, you should get some rest.”

“You too.”

After hanging up, Su Muqing expressionlessly put down his phone and then pressed the play button on the speaker, as if the call had been nothing more than an interruption, offering him no real value.

On the other end, Lin Wan didn’t notice that Su Muqing’s address of her had changed from “Wan Wan” to “Senior” at some point.

After putting down her phone, the smile on her face slowly faded, and a hint of hesitation appeared in her eyes.

Recently, it seemed like many things had been off.

Yu Cheng hadn’t contacted her in a long time. In the past, he would call her once a week, but this week, there was nothing.

Yu Cheng was so unpredictable, so hard to manage. Whenever he called, she would often act a bit dismissive, but when she didn’t get a call from him, she felt a sense of loss.

Then there was Su Muqing, the one who had seemed like he might give up the Su family for her—why had he suddenly started prioritizing work?

Forget it, the most important thing now was to stabilize He Chen. Recently, He Chen had been much colder towards her, and she had to hold on to him tightly.

As for the others, she would have her people look into it, and deal with it once she was done with everything else.

She had her own way of judging the importance and urgency of things.

The next morning, as soon as the alarm went off, Yun Shuning opened her eyes.

The refrigerator was now very clean, with nothing edible inside. Following her doctor’s advice, she was preparing to go out for breakfast.

Even though the people watching her had decreased, and both He Chen and Yu Cheng had begun believing her explanations, once she stepped out of the apartment, she knew she would need to adjust her demeanor.

No one knew when an unexpected event might occur, so she could only make sure she did everything she could, leaving no room for mistakes.

She wore a thin coat over a loose sweater, which, although loose, emphasized her frailty.

Having been in the entertainment industry for so many years, she had seen countless outfits and developed her own sense of fashion.

Therefore, the clothes she chose always suited her well and highlighted the kind of aura she wanted to project.

As her hand rested on the doorknob, there was a subtle change in the air around her, and her expression shifted to one of faint sadness and confusion.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw a familiar figure standing at the door of the apartment next door.

“Shushu, so you live here?” Su Muqing saw the slight surprise in her eyes, and his smile became even brighter. “What a coincidence. We’re neighbors now.”