Chapter 11

## Chapter Guide

**A Long and Lonely Night** (漫漫长夜多寂寞 *Màn Màn Cháng Yè Duō Jì Mò*) is the eleventh chapter of Tong Yao's *Guardians of Night*.

## Summary

The chapter opens with Ye Yan contemplating about something being bothersome. A flashback to his conversation with Huang Xiaoyan on the school rooftop ensues. Ye Yan obliges to her request of living at his home and then asks when she came to Bozhou and where she's been living. Huang Xiaoyan replies that she arrived five days ago and has been living in the hospital since then due to her incidents with Ye Yan.

Back to the present, Ye Yan remarks that Huang Xiaoyan must harbor a deep resentment towards him, and that only performance art can calm him at times of worry. It is then revealed that he has been sitting at the edge of his apartment's balcony in nude. Two of his neighbors on the ground below him call him a weirdo, though he brushes off their remarks. Huang Xiaoyan then steps out onto the balcony wearing only her red undershirt while holding a plastic-wrapped sauage, asking Ye Yan if it is edible. She then peels off the plastic wrap and takes a bite out of it, noting that it tastes decent. The two neighbors below begin to gossip, and Ye Yan asks if Huang Xiaoyan could wear more clothing before coming out of the house, noting that the two of them living together could attract some unwanted gossip. Huang Xiaoyan says that he is in no position to tell her that, before remarking that such gossip are "profane thoughts" and returns inside. Ye Yan mumbles to himself that Huang Xiaoyan living with him will disrupt his life. He then hears a crash coming from inside his house and asks what happened while shouting. Huang Xiaoyan replies that she was practicing Tai Chi and accidentally hit the light. Ye Yan mockingly asks if Tai Chi had a technique that involved kicking a light, in which Huang Xiaoyan retorts angrily that the small space of his apartment is to blame. Ye Yan then demands her to go to sleep while noting that he will get an electrician to fix the light the next day. Huang Xiaoyan yells at him to sleep as well. As they argue, the two elderly neighbors below that youngsters are too wild nowadays.

The chapter cuts to Li Lingbiao in a multimedia classroom. He notes in relief that Huang Xiaoyan did not recognize him and proceeds to use a computer to play games. A brown-haired woman wearing a red dress and a black-haired woman wearing a white crop top and a pair of jean shorts then appear behind him, asking if he'd like to play a more "exciting game" with them in a hotel room instead of playing boring games by himself. Flustered, Li Lingbiao agrees. The woman in a red dress then says that they will only accompany him if he answers her question correctly. She then asks, between her and the black-haired woman, whose face and figure is the most beautiful. Hoping to appease both of them, Li Lingbiao answers that they are both his type, but if he had to choose, he would prefer the brown-haired woman's face and the black-haired woman's body. Complimenting Li Lingbiao's flattery, the brown-haired woman then replies that she will accompany him with her face and her younger sister's body. The two of them proceed to remove their heads from their bodies and began to swap them in front of Li Lingbiao, horrifying him.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Ye Yan
* Huang Xiaoyan
* Li Lingbiao