Asleep

To be honest, Yu Shuman was a bit surprised when she saw the minivan. Especially compared to the other cars in the parking lot, her minivan was clearly in a different league. Before she could say anything, Li Jie explained, "What do you think? Nice car, right? The company only brought it out because of me; otherwise, only the top stars would get to use it."

—So it's not just for me…

Yu Shuman felt a bit embarrassed by her presumptuousness. Of course, she was just a newly debuted artist, so there was no way she'd have a personal minivan, especially one that looked so expensive. Relieved, she followed Li Jie into the car.

The Alphard was a standard seven-seater, with the second-row seats being the most comfortable as they could be adjusted in four directions. As soon as Yu Shuman sat down, she felt how soft the seat was. She kept her feet together, too afraid to move. The car looked expensive, with real leather seats, and Yu Shuman, who had grown up with modest means, felt a bit uneasy sitting in it.

She carefully touched the armrest as Li Jie got into the car from the other side, with the assistant sitting in the back. Li Jie pressed a button on the door, and the electric door closed automatically. She gave a quick instruction to the driver to start the car.

"I've already reserved a restaurant. You must be exhausted, so just eat a little, then go upstairs to the suite and rest. You don't have to worry about us."

Li Jie's words left Yu Shuman with no choice but to nod in agreement. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, "Li Jie, my junior… the girl you arranged to work at the filming base, is she coming tonight?"

Li Jie was momentarily surprised. "No, she's not."

"Oh…"

Yu Shuman felt a pang of disappointment. But it made sense—Qin Ran wasn't associated with 99 Entertainment in any official capacity, so it wasn't likely they would invite an outsider to the celebration. Still, she couldn't help but worry about Qin Ran. She had heard from her roommate that Qin Ran no longer stayed in the dorms and had taken up a part-time job, living in an employee dormitory. If she went home tonight, it would be alone, without the company of her roommates and classmates.

From the moment Yu Shuman stepped on stage until now, she hadn't had a moment to contact Qin Ran. In fact, her first thought after debuting was to find Qin Ran, but she was worried that doing so might inconvenience her.

Now, hearing that Qin Ran wouldn't be at the celebration, Yu Shuman grew more concerned. Unable to hold back any longer, she asked Li Jie for her phone, wanting to send Qin Ran a message to check if she had made it home safely. But as soon as her phone powered on, it was flooded with messages.

Classmates and roommates had all sent her congratulatory messages. She should have responded to each of them, but instead, Yu Shuman ignored them and scrolled through to find Qin Ran. She bit her lip, thinking, Maybe I should pin her contact. She's just too worrisome.

Before she could find Qin Ran, her phone rang. Seeing "Mom" on the caller ID, she realized she hadn't yet shared the good news with her mother. Her mother's voice was filled with excitement. "Manman, you did great today—I saw everything! I didn't understand the song, but it was beautiful. Third place is wonderful! We'll keep working hard!"

Yu Shuman's mother knew her daughter's competitive nature well. As a child, she would cry in bed if she didn't get a perfect score, so she must be feeling down after placing third. What she didn't realize was that Yu Shuman had grown up and wouldn't cry over a small loss anymore.

"Mom, I'm not a child."

She playfully pouted and chatted with her mother for a bit before hanging up. She quickly exited the call screen, found Qin Ran's chat, and sent a message:

[Junior, are you back at the dorm?]

[Yes, I'm here. Don't worry about me. Isn't there a celebration tonight? Have fun.]

Just those few words were enough to put Yu Shuman at ease. She tapped the screen, casually chatting with Qin Ran. She asked Qin Ran how she had performed, and Qin Ran said she was amazing. Qin Ran asked if she was upset about placing third, but Yu Shuman assured her that she was lucky to debut and wasn't dissatisfied at all.

After chatting for a while, Li Jie announced they had arrived. Yu Shuman told Qin Ran that she was heading to dinner and only put her phone away after receiving a response.

Li Jie had booked a small banquet hall where all thirty or so staff members were waiting for Yu Shuman. With a nod from Li Jie, Yu Shuman briefly thanked everyone for their help, and then the meal began.

Yu Shuman was genuinely hungry. From the afternoon until now, she had only eaten a few pieces of bread. It was past midnight, and she felt strange not being hungry. The banquet was set up as a buffet, and Yu Shuman quickly grabbed a plate, found a seat, and began eating.

Xiao An noticed and wanted to stop her. As an artist, eating so much late at night could affect her figure. But before she could approach, Li Jie held her back. "Xiao An, you're her work assistant, not her life assistant. As long as she's healthy, she can eat whatever she wants. Your job is to help her, not control her. Understand?"

Xiao An didn't fully grasp what Li Jie meant. She thought advising Yu Shuman to eat less was in her best interest. After all, most female artists were expected to be slim, and the camera adds weight. If she gained too much weight, it could harm her career.

But Yu Shuman seemed to be an exception. Xiao An had only been her assistant for a short time, but she knew that Li Jie had repeatedly told her, "Just have fun." It didn't seem like the usual manager-artist relationship but more like a mother indulging her spoiled daughter.

From that moment, Xiao An realized that Yu Shuman must have some background she wasn't aware of. Otherwise, why would Li Jie allow her to live so freely?

After being stopped by Li Jie, Xiao An decided not to interfere with Yu Shuman's eating. As long as she was full, that was what mattered. After eating, Yu Shuman informed Li Jie that she was heading upstairs to rest. She found her suitcase already in the suite's living room, along with makeup remover and skincare products on the table.

She carefully removed her makeup and then gingerly took off the black cocktail dress, placing it flat on the sofa while wearing the hotel's bathrobe. Yu Shuman didn't know that the dress cost over 100,000 yuan, but she instinctively felt it was expensive and needed to be handled with care. Otherwise, she might have to pay for it if it got damaged.

Afterward, she showered and couldn't resist filling the luxurious bathtub with water and soaking in it. The water eased her day's fatigue. After a long soak, she got out of the tub, dried her hair, changed into pajamas, and threw herself onto the bed.

Lying in bed, she picked up her phone and first checked her fan group. The fans who had attended the event were happily sharing photos of her, while those who hadn't watched the live stream were admiring the official shots of her.

After scrolling for a bit, she opened Qin Ran's chat and typed, Are you asleep?

She only meant to poke at Qin Ran, not expecting a reply since it was already past midnight, nearly 1 AM. Although tomorrow was Sunday, Qin Ran must have been exhausted today and had likely gone to bed early.

To her surprise, Qin Ran replied almost instantly: Not yet.

Instead of typing back, Yu Shuman called her. She didn't start a video call because Qin Ran was shy and would often hang up and switch to voice when they tried video calls. As for Qin Ran initiating a voice call… that almost never happened.

Compared to the passive Qin Ran, Yu Shuman was much more proactive.

Qin Ran, caught off guard, answered the call. She was still in her study, with her computer in front of her, watching clips from the show, preparing to capture a few screenshots to post on Weibo. Seeing that Yu Shuman was calling, she answered, curling up in her chair, and softly said, "Senior."

"Junior~"

Yu Shuman sounded cheerful, her voice warm and lively. Just as before, her tone was full of enthusiasm and joy as she chattered away, though the conversation was somewhat trivial. She described how delicious the food was and how the hotel's bathtub had a massage function.

—Of course it does; Qin Ran had specifically chosen that hotel.

Qin Ran listened quietly, occasionally responding with a soft "mm-hmm."

As they talked, Yu Shuman suddenly fell silent. Qin Ran hesitated and called out, "Senior?" But all she heard in response were a few incoherent murmurs before the line went quiet again. That's when Qin Ran realized Yu Shuman had fallen asleep.

No wonder—she must have been exhausted after such a long day. She had been busy until now, finally lying down and still making time to call Qin Ran. Qin Ran didn't hang up; she just listened to Yu Shuman's steady breathing. She was sleeping so soundly that she even let out a couple of light snores. The sound wasn't loud, just a couple of faint noises indicating how tired she was.

"…That's pretty cute."

Qin Ran couldn't help but whisper, setting the phone on speaker mode while she continued to watch her clips in silence. By the time the clock struck 3 AM, Qin Ran could no longer stay awake. She yawned, softly said, "Good night, senior," and then ended the call.

Qin Ran: Woohoo! Senior is so adorable!