第五章 深夜的声音

At eleven in the evening, Mia began her "bedtime ritual".

She drank a glass of warm water, put her phone on the table, took three deep breaths, and then softly said to the window: "Good night, moon."

This was a habit she had when she was in France. She believed that if the pre-sleep ritual was done well, her dreams would be good too.

She turned off the light and lay down.

Then, from next door came a burst of loud laughter.

"Hahaha! Thanks for the rocket, boss! Family, look at this!"

It was A Kai. He was livestreaming.

Mia opened her eyes, stared at the ceiling, and waited for a while. The laughter didn't stop, accompanied by the sound of slapping the table.

She sat up, then lay down again. Sat up, then lay down again.

At half past eleven, she finally couldn't bear it anymore.

She put on her slippers, walked to A Kai's door, and knocked.

"A Kai," she said, "It's already half past eleven."

The door opened a crack. A Kai stuck out half his head, headphones still around his neck: "What's up?"

"You're too noisy," Mia said. "I need to sleep."

"I'm livestreaming," A Kai said. "My fans just came in; I can't stop."

"When can you stop?"

"Twelve o'clock," A Kai said. "Soon!"

"Okay," Mia said. "At twelve, I'll come again."

She turned and went back to her room. Passing the fridge, she thought for a moment, then tore off a sticky note.

At five past twelve, A Kai's livestream was still going.

Mia stood at his door, holding a note written in red pen.

She stood on tiptoe, stuck the note on A Kai's door, then went back to her room and closed the door.

When A Kai finished streaming, he came out to drink water and saw the note on the door.

"Silence, s'il vous plaît! Merci!" he read aloud. "What does this mean?"

He thought for a moment, then said to the camera: "Family, this was stuck by my roommate. It seems to say... quiet?"

Bullet comments: "Is your roommate French?" "A Kai, you can't even understand French" "Translation: Please be quiet! Thanks!"

A Kai: "She even knows how to write French. Amazing. Then I'll learn a French phrase to reply to her tomorrow!"

Bullet comment: "Can you even learn it?"

At one in the morning, Mia still couldn't fall asleep.

She heard that A Kai's side had quieted down, and she breathed a sigh of relief. But she tossed and turned, and just couldn't fall asleep.

She got up and went to the kitchen to get some water.

When she walked into the living room, she was startled — Xiao Mei was sitting on the sofa, with a bag of barbecue in front of her.

"Xiao Mei? Why aren't you asleep yet?" Mia asked in a low voice.

"Just got back from overtime work," Xiao Mei also whispered. "And you?"

"A Kai was too noisy, I couldn't sleep."

"Where's A Kai?"

"He just ended his livestream."

Xiao Mei looked at the barbecue in her hand, then at Mia: "...How about you come over and have a bite?"

"Now? One in the morning?" Mia said. "We French people believe that after twelve o'clock at night, one shouldn't eat."

"That's your French rule," Xiao Mei said. "Our Chinese rule is — eat when you're hungry."

Mia looked at the bag of barbecue, thought for a moment, and sat over there.

"Alright," she said. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

The two sat in the dark living room, quietly eating barbecue and quietly chatting.

"This skewer of lamb is delicious," Mia said softly.

"Keep your voice down," Xiao Mei also whispered. "Don't wake A Kai."

"Didn't he just fall asleep?"

"He just ended his livestream; he's definitely sleeping," Xiao Mei said.

At noon the next day, A Kai, carrying his phone, came to find Mia excitedly.

"Mia! I learned a French phrase! Bonne nuit!"

"Bonne nuit..." Mia said. "It means 'good night.' You say it like you're singing."

"Isn't singing good?" A Kai said. "Let me do it again: Bonne nuit!"

"Still sounds like singing," Mia said. "And it's off-key."

"Then tell me, how do you say it correctly?"

Mia demonstrated once. A Kai tried once, then again, but still off-key.

"Forget it," A Kai said. "I did my best. The meaning is there anyway."

He paused, then said: "Um... last night, I disturbed you. Sorry. Starting tonight, I'll wear headphones when I stream."

Mia looked at him and nodded: "Very good. You follow the rules."

A Kai held up his phone, "During my livestream tonight, you say 'Hello everyone' in Chinese to the camera, okay?"

Mia thought for a moment: "Okay. But I need to write it down first, so I don't mispronounce."

"Great!" A Kai ran away happily. "I've already thought of the livestream title: 'French Roommate Warns Me in French'!"

In the evening, Mia wrote in her little notebook:

"A Kai's apology was in song. Off-key."

She thought for a moment, and then wrote:

"A Kai said he would wear headphones when streaming. I need to observe whether this is true."

She closed her notebook and heard A Kai's voice from next door:

"Family! Today my roommate is going to appear on camera! She's also going to speak French!"

Mia put down her notebook, looked at the ceiling, and softly said:

"Good night, moon."

Next door, A Kai's voice suddenly quieted down.

After a while, she heard A Kai say in a very low voice:

"...Bonne nuit."

Off-key, but very soft.

Mia smiled and closed her eyes.

This time, she fell asleep quickly.