Her Cultivation Diary

Qiaoqiao was riding his colorful Daduo, enjoying the cool morning breeze, as he happily led his number one fan towards the dormitory, his voice cheerful in the wind:

"Class leader, have you eaten yet?"

This made Nian Xu chuckle.

He was naturally sitting in the cargo bed, his expensive suitcase placed inside, sitting on it with a hand on the railing. If he weren't so exhausted and lacking energy, he might even have seemed a bit dashing and handsome.

But at this moment, he merely nodded: "I ate on the plane."

"A plane!" Qiaoqiao's eyes sparkled with imagination: "Can you see birds from the plane?"

Nian Xu couldn't answer. Because every time he flies, he tries to close his eyes and rest, hoping to catch some sleep, but ultimately...

Thinking of the sleeping pills prescribed at the hospital, he sighed helplessly.

——Even if he couldn't fall asleep and was intolerant to the medication, he still had to take them.

But Qiaoqiao was waiting for his answer up front, so after thinking it over, he replied, "I haven't seen any."

Qiaoqiao let out an "Oh," not disappointed, but considering his suitcase, he thoughtfully said, "Didn't you bring any blankets? But there are some on the mountain; I'll ask Auntie Xiaofeng to get you a set."

"Thank you." Nian Xu left in such a hurry, he didn't have time to buy these things. Originally facing the streamer he liked, Qiaoqiao, he should have had plenty to talk about.

Plus, with the mountain full of vegetables and fruits and the year-end pork, the conversation topics would be super doubled.

But unfortunately, he hadn't slept well in so long that now even squeezing a smile from his face was an effort, leaving him no energy for conversation.

Meanwhile, Qiaoqiao brought the bike to the factory building entrance and, when dismounting, looked at him and couldn't help but furrow his brow:

"You look so tired."

"Hmm." Nian Xu tugged at the corner of his lips: "Haven't rested properly in days."

Qiaoqiao felt sympathy: "Brother Yanping said working outside is so stressful, many people not only can't sleep but also lose their hair, you all are so pitiful..."

As he spoke, he joyfully shouted:

"Auntie Xiaofeng! I'm here to pick up a set of blankets and sheets, Brother Yanping said the newly recruited employees will sleep in the dormitory."

Currently, there are very few permanent employees on the mountain, and they haven't prepared dedicated logistics yet, so Zhai Xiaofeng holds the warehouse keys.

Having finished breakfast some time ago, Zhai Xiaofeng was idle, and upon hearing this, she quickly took out the key and opened the warehouse door:

"Alright, which dormitory? I'll go tidy up the blankets."

She was much more efficient than Qiaoqiao, quickly sizing up Nian Xu before turning into the warehouse to fetch the blankets, sheets, and pillow.

Once the dormitory was chosen, she directly squeezed in, efficiently wiping down the already cleaned bed board, and then swiftly tidied up the mattress, pillow, and blankets, before checking the room:

"Two days ago I cleaned this room when they said they needed to recruit people, now it doesn't look dirty... This time they recruited 10 people in total, you can clean up when they arrive... By the way, what's your name?"

Nian Xu, impressed by her swift actions, softly replied, "My name is Nian Xu, just call me Xiao Nian."

"Alright." Zhai Xiaofeng skillfully put away the key:

"Xiao Nian, then you have a rest now. Didn't sleep last night, did you? Your eyes look so red... Sleep first, I'll call you for lunch."

"No need, no need!" Nian Xu quickly waved:

"I didn't sleep last night, if I don't get up for lunch, just let me keep sleeping, if I'm awake, I'll come out to eat myself."

Zhai Xiaofeng, being quite adept with short videos, knew somewhat about the contemporary youth's routine, helplessly sighed: "Alright, alright, then you must eat tonight!"

Qiaoqiao nodded earnestly—really so pitiful!

Looking again at the other's sparse hair, it seemed even more pitiful.

...

After the dormitory door closed, Nian Xu didn't have the energy to assess the dormitory, he just peeled off his jacket and shoes, and slipped into the bed.

He had no other demands, just hoped he could fall asleep.

Even half an hour would do!

Since there weren't many permanent employees now, it's around nine in the morning, the dormitory remained fairly quiet.

The blanket was made of cotton; now early spring, seeing he's so thin, Zhai Xiaofeng specially picked a thick one, feeling somewhat heavy when covering up.

But it didn't have any musty smell, the cotton seemed quite new.

The pillow was ordinary too, smelling like hay, maybe a rice husk pillow, hearing a rustling sound when turning over on bed.

The sheet needed no more mention, the sturdy cotton fabric, he had seen the matching couch cover at Qiao Qiao's Home, durable and well-made.

Nian Xu turned over, thinking although the materials were ordinary, he felt comfy nestled in, even the not-very-thick mattress and the hard bed board below felt solid...

Just, too quiet.

Seemingly heard some distant chatter outside the building, Master Jiang in the kitchen talked to the veggie deliverers about the tricycle tipping inside.

Auntie Xiaofeng, who'd just helped him tidy the bed, urged them aside so she could pour the water from the veggie bin.

Qiaoqiao hadn't left, enthusiastically helping to move veggies, claiming today the delivered cabbages seemed round...

So lively.

These sounds were not loud indoors, but Nian Xu was accustomed to seeking these subtle sleep disturbances, listened quietly until hearing Qiaoqiao's tricycle started up again...

Moments later, the phone slid down on the blanket and was soon crushed by the turning person.

...

When Nian Xu woke again, the dormitory was pitch-black, no light at all.

He blinked his eyes in the dark night, hearing the pillow's husk rustling as he moved, feeling dazed, unable to recall anything.

But this vacant state was wonderful, head empty, seemingly burden-free.

Until someone knocked on the door: "Nian Xu, are you there?"

He finally reacted, remembered everything from the night to the day, incredulously reaching to find his phone—

Eventually found it under his bottom.

Checking the time, 11:30 at night.

Opened the sleep monitoring app, syncing with the wristband and system, showing he slept for 14 hours and 18 minutes, with 5 hours in deep sleep.

The data was unprecedented in past records, the graph soared to the peak?

And Nian Xu instantly sat up from bed, repeatedly checking the phone's time and the background record, hard to believe it's his sleep—

Fourteen hours!

The last such sleep, was during healthy post-graduation days! And now he was already in his thirties.

Until someone outside lightly knocked again: "Nian Xu, are you here? Master Jiang sent me to call you for dinner."

Think again, adding through the door: "You can skip work today, but it's been a whole day, you should eat—"