Chapter 11
The post offering a hefty sum for a doll stirred a heated discussion within the Tongcheng University forum. Once it spread online, soon more than half the campus knew that a vendor at the Creative Market was selling a doll with miraculous sleep-inducing powers.
Not only was Wei Jiang stared at like a national treasure by his classmates for quite some time, but many others who had bought the doll also found themselves receiving similar attention.
On the forum, the rapidly trending post’s replies kept soaring, holding the top spot on the homepage. Just reading the title was straightforward and clear:
Subject: [Lost and Found | Seeking to Buy a Doll]
Original post: [Offering 5,000 yuan, sincerely seeking to buy, image.jpg]
Reply 1: [A wealthy patron appears on the forum! I’m watching!]
Reply 2: [Boss, hungry, feed me.]
Reply 3: [Rushing to the post: I want to see what doll has this rich poster so obsessed! After reading: ??? Question marks everywhere.]
Reply 4: [I don’t get it. What’s so special about this doll? It looks ugly, how can it be worth 5,000??]
Reply 5: [I think I’ve seen this doll somewhere, probably sold at the Creative Market? Ugly in a very distinctive way. When I passed by, I wondered how the vendor could be so uninterested in making money to display such a strange doll on the entire table. But now, the poster’s offer makes me question life.]
Reply 6: [You rich people sure know how to have fun.]
...
Reply 17: [Reply to 5, you can drop the “a bit” — just learned from a friend that the vendor’s dolls have long since been snapped up. No wonder the poster came here to buy.]
Reply 18: [No way??? People are even scrambling for this? Even if it were free, I’d think it’s tacky.]
Reply 19: [Repeatedly clicking the image, I’m losing my sense of aesthetics.]
Poster: [I’m the original poster. To explain, I suffer from chronic severe insomnia and have been tormented by it for years. I came to the forum because I found a fellow Tongcheng University alumnus who has been insomniac for nearly half a year, and after getting this doll, their sleep quality greatly improved. With hope, I’m here to buy one on campus.]
Reply 21: [Sounds ridiculous, just take sleeping pills for insomnia.]
Reply 22: [Believing a doll can cure insomnia? The poster must be deceived or crazy.]
Reply 23: [Reply to 22, no joke, no scam. This doll truly works—I’m using it.]
Reply 24: [Strongly recommended! The sleep doll is forever a godsend! With it, I no longer worry about pre-exam insomnia and anxiety! Sleep is incredibly sweet!]
Reply 25: [Haven’t hugged it to sleep yet, but I studied with it this afternoon and felt energized!]
Reply 26: [Reply to 25, I heard the vendor puts traditional herbs inside the doll with calming and sleep-inducing effects—energizing during the day and aiding sleep at night! Truly amazing!]
...
Reply 58: [Why are the earlier replies so odd? Paid posters?]
Reply 59: [Haha, an ugly doll praised to the skies by the above—what kind of demons have entered the thread?]
Reply 60: [This post is pure self-promotion by the vendor. What a load of nonsense.]
Reply 61: [The above seems to be rubbing their IQ on the floor.]
...
Reply 99: [Initially wanted to join in cursing the hype, until I saw IDs of 23L and 26L... never mind, I’ll keep quiet.]
Reply 100: [Shut up! I thought I was seeing things; haven’t dared speak for a while.]
Reply 101: [Curiously checked 23L and 26L’s IDs and—pupil quake! Are these paid posters? Am I seeing things? One is the campus radio station chief, the other the fencing club president???]
Reply 102: [Reply to 101, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, it really is them.]
...
Reply 277: [Girls’ money is so easy to scam.]
Reply 278: [I don’t believe it!!! The senior girls’ accounts must have been hacked!!!]
Reply 279: [Uh, this doll really works. I hugged it to sleep for two nights and feel like I can score 20 points higher in the exam.]
Reply 280: [Wait! Is the above the genius senior I know? Dementia.jpg]
Reply 281: [Damn, even the study department head shows up here.]
...
Reply 523: [Seeing so many big shots vouching here, I’m torn between kneeling to them or envying they all have the sleep doll I don’t…]
Reply 524: [No use being jealous, didn’t they say it’s all sold out?]
Reply 525: [Waiting for the vendor to restock! I’m so curious! How magical can a doll be to get so many big shots singing its praises?]
Reply 526: [Waiting for restock +1. After reading all the big shots’ comments, I’m thoroughly convinced—even if it’s an IQ tax, I accept it.]
...
Poster: [@23, 24, 25, 26, 279, do you sell your dolls?]
Reply 720: [This is 23L, sorry, not for sale.]
Reply 798: [279L, got money but not selling.]
Reply 713: [I’m 24L, sorry, not selling for now.]
...
Poster: [I can raise the offer to 10,000 yuan. Anyone selling?]
Reply 1037: [Wow, a doll originally priced at 39 yuan hyped up to 10,000 by one man alone. Respect.]
Reply 1038: [Big shot, need a leg pendant? Undergrad fluent in three languages.]
Reply 1039: [Just asking, with such a big spender, isn’t anyone curious about the poster’s identity?]
...
Reply 1100: [This is 25L, advising the poster: raising the price won’t help, better to camp the vendor’s stall tomorrow.]
Poster: [Sorry, can’t wait. I just want to sleep, immediately.]
...
As more people who bought the sleep doll joined the discussion, the thread ballooned in replies, its popularity nearly rivaling last year’s scandal about the mistaken wealthy heir.
Coincidentally, the long-forgotten mistaken heir post surfaced a few times quietly but was swiftly buried again by new threads seconds later.
At the Creative Market, Ning Chu was playing a match-three puzzle game on his phone when he suddenly received a barrage of messages from Mingming Chu.
Mingming Chu: “Bro!! Your stall is going to blow up!!”
Mingming Chu: “@forum link, you gotta check this post!”
Mingming Chu: “Someone’s offering 5,000 to buy your doll.”
Mingming Chu: “…No, half an hour ago, they raised the price to 10,000!”
Ning Chu replied: “Oh, I know.”
Mingming Chu: “Bro, you’re reading the thread too?”
Ning Chu: “Not really.”
Mingming Chu: “Eh? Then how do you know?”
Ning Chu: “…”
Ning Chu: “Because he’s sitting right in front of my stall.”
Mingming Chu: “?”
Mingming Chu: “!!!”
Closing the chat, Ning Chu calmly reopened his game. While playing, he glanced with minimal effort at the man sitting before his stall.
The man had arrived half an hour earlier. Judging by appearance alone, he was impeccably dressed, handsome and commanding, but his eyes were heavy with exhaustion.
Ning Chu also noticed a well-worn string of Bodhi seed Buddhist beads on the man’s wrist, likely cherished for years.
Upon arrival, the man introduced himself briefly, then his phone buzzed incessantly. He apologized to Ning Chu, set his laptop on a black-and-white Bagua cloth, simultaneously edited a contract and attended a video conference without pause.
When he finally finished, Ning Chu put down his phone and, sympathizing with the grind of corporate life, naturally asked, “Mr. Qiu, all done?”
Qiu Changsheng pinched the bridge of his nose, apologized again, then slowly explained his purpose: “Hello, I was referred here. I hear you sell a very special doll that can cure insomnia.”
In truth, Qiu Changsheng hadn’t been referred by anyone. Instead, during his rare free moments, while searching insomnia forums for a method to enter deep sleep, he happened upon a post.
The poster was a current Tongcheng University student.
Qiu Changsheng carefully reviewed the poster’s history on the insomnia forum and found they had suffered over six months of continuous insomnia, actively trying new treatments.
He read about their journey—from initially taking sedatives but fearing dependency, then switching to acupuncture, diet therapy, and sound therapy, none of which worked, and finally bravely trying folk remedies and hypnosis.
In each post, Qiu saw reflections of his own past. But unlike the poster, who had suffered only six months and was still hopeful, Qiu had endured nearly three years, trying nearly every method to no avail, growing numb.
Fortunately, the poster seemed luckier—recently they found a doll that cured their insomnia.
An ugly, oddly shaped doll.
At first, Qiu felt it absurd, but then a voice inside urged: What if it’s real?
What if this doll is his last hope?
With this mindset, Qiu privately contacted the poster and learned the doll came from a small, obscure stall run by Tongcheng University students. He went there personally.
Unfortunately, on the way, he found out from the poster that students had quickly snapped up all the dolls, which led him to post on the forum offering a large sum to buy one.
Qiu desperately yearned for normal sleep and was unwilling to give up. Eventually, he found Ning Chu.
As expected, Ning Chu’s stall was bare, not a single doll or thread in sight.
Ning Chu hadn’t imagined his dolls would attract buyers from outside the university and naturally suggested, “Mr. Qiu, if you need, come buy one tomorrow.”
Afterward, Ning Chu wondered, given today’s popularity, whether he should make more dolls tonight.
If he set them out tomorrow, would a long queue form like the tarot booth next door?
He had envied that long line for a long time.
Qiu Changsheng said, “No time. I have a flight at 3 a.m. for work abroad that will take three days round trip.”
He looked at Ning Chu eagerly and added, “I can pay you a lot.”
“Money’s not the problem.” Ning Chu had neither wool nor steel needles on hand to conjure a doll instantly. He looked at Qiu seriously and asked, “Mr. Qiu, do you want the doll, or do you want to sleep?”
Qiu almost blurted out, “I want to sleep!”
Wanting to sleep? That was easy.
Ning Chu smiled, about to offer a QR code, then paused, cleared his throat confidently: “Wanting to sleep is simple. You don’t need that doll; I can make you sleep.”
Qiu almost spat blood at the word “simple,” pointing to his dark circles. “I’ve had insomnia for three years. Don’t joke with me.”
The last time he slept was 48 hours ago, and only for two hours under a hypnotist’s influence.
Ning Chu said, “Oh,” then suddenly pointed at Qiu’s wrist, asking, “How long have you worn these Buddhist beads?”
Qiu was agitated. He was busy, just wanted to sleep, and had no interest in chatting with a stranger.
But when he met Ning Chu’s calm, penetrating gaze, he inexplicably held back his anger and looked down at his wrist.
“...Almost three years,” Qiu said.
A look of memory crossed his face. He recalled that the beads were a parting gift from a longtime friend before going abroad, back when his startup was just beginning and he was overwhelmed.
Three years had passed without a reunion.
Seeing the fondness in Qiu’s eyes, Ning Chu guessed the beads were from someone close and felt a pang of sympathy.
“I’ll give you some advice—burn those beads.”
Qiu blinked, puzzled, “Why?”
Ning Chu sighed, tapped his temple, and asked, “Think carefully—when did your insomnia start? When did it worsen?”
Qiu hesitated, “Three years ago...?”
Ning Chu said, “If I’m not mistaken, those beads only bear the ‘swastika’ symbol on the surface but hide a curse inside. They haven’t been blessed in front of a Buddha, but soaked in corpse oil. The resentment is too strong…”
Wearing such a cursed bracelet for three years and only suffering insomnia? Ning Chu marveled whether Qiu had saved humanity in a past life—his luck was enviable.
Normally, this would have brought far worse consequences, likely a graveyard two meters high.
But Qiu was oblivious and utterly disbelieving: “Impossible! My good friend wouldn’t harm me.”
Ning Chu said, “If you don’t believe me, crush one bead and see what’s inside. Then you’ll understand.”
He spoke earnestly, not joking. Qiu’s heart was shaken but he trusted his friend deeply, yet the doubts grew.
As Ning Chu suggested, Qiu’s insomnia had not been this severe at first. His initial sleeplessness was due to anxiety over starting his business.
But now?
His career was successful, family harmonious, life mostly trouble-free except for busy work. No anxiety. Doctors from traditional, Western, and psychiatric medicine all said he was healthy, mentally positive, with no issues.
So why couldn’t he sleep?
His gaze fell to the desk, where he realized the black-and-white patterned mat he thought decorative was actually a Bagua chart!
This stall—what exactly was it?
Noticing Qiu’s shock, Ning Chu quickly spoke: “Selling dolls is just my side hustle to attract customers. My main business is this.”
He pulled two yellow talismans from a drawer and smiled warmly at Qiu.
“The Sleep Charm is 1,000 yuan each, the Soul-Calming Charm is 2,000. Which would you like to try first?”
Qiu was speechless.