Chapter 321: – Love Rival?
Lin Jin's mentality was becoming increasingly feminine. Although he always tried his best to be more manly, but due to his appearance, people always treated him as a woman. This made him both infuriated and somewhat happy at the same time.
What he hated was other people looking at him as if he was a woman and he would even unconsciously start regarding himself as one too. Yet what he liked was the care people gave when they treated him as a woman…
Yep, being cared for felt pretty comfortable.
He hadn’t seen Director Zhu all day and nothing unusual happened during class, so Lin Jin comfortably spent four hours playing on his phone for two class sessions before casually strolling back to his rented apartment.
However, the only surprise was that Wu Min, worried about Lin Jin being bullied by a suitor, insisted that Lin Jin take him back with him, saying he could help monitor the guy.
Lin Jin didn't really care. Things were already chaotic enough, so what was one more troublemaker?
Back at the apartment, Lin Jin tiredly flopped down on his bed. Just when Liu Shengqi was about to speak, he saw another man walk in.
It was Lin Jin's roommate.
Liu Shengqi eyed Wu Min suspiciously, fearing that Wu Min was also interested in Lin Jin. Thus, he directly marked Wu Min as his potential love rival.
This love rival was a real threat! Even though he had known Lin Jin longer, this love rival Wu Min had lived with him for nearly half a year as his roommate. Even if Lin Jin wasn't initially interested, what if the familiarity bred affection?
Thus, Liu Shengqi’s gaze towards Wu Min became even more wary, afraid that Wu Min might directly steal Lin Jin away. Although Lin Jin had once said he wasn’t into guys, who really knew if that was just him being dismissive?
"Time to eat." Liu Shengqi was a bit reserved, but to strike at his rival, he pretended to be very close with Lin Jin. He ran to Lin Jin with a bag of dinner he’d bought to show his affection. "For dinner, I helped you get beef noodles, beef soup, and a fried chicken leg."
"Are you trying to make me fat? Giving me this much food!" Lin Jin frowned at Liu Shengqi and scolded "And didn’t you even check the price! All this must be at least thirty, right?! Later, I’ll transfer you the money!"
"No need, you don’t have to pay me" Liu Shengqi said meekly to Lin Jin. "Come try it, I just had some, it’s pretty good."
Lin Jin frowned and looked at Wu Min, who was thoroughly enjoying the show. Wu Min’s eyes were full of laughter and was very interested in their interaction.
"You laugh." Lin Jin rolled his eyes, took out the chicken leg from the bag and handed it to Wu Min "Here, this is for you."
Seeing Lin Jin’s action, Liu Shengqi was obviously not happy but he didn’t say anything. He just suddenly felt quite despondent and walked aside to continue his food.
Lin Jin didn’t care about Liu Shengqi’s feelings at all. In fact, he even thought about making Liu feel even more dejected so he can leave sooner.
So without any hesitation, he also shared the beef soup with Wu Min, telling him with a smile "Eat some more, no need to be polite."
"Bullshit, like I need to be polite with you" Wu Min rolled his eyes. It’s not as if Lin Jin had paid for the beef soup and chicken leg, so why the hell should he be polite with him?
After Wu Min arrived at Lin Jin's rental place, Liu Shengqi visibly toned down his usual behavior. Originally, Liu Shengqi always liked showing Lin Jin attention, often buying him snacks and telling jokes. Even though Lin Jin found the snacks unappetizing and the jokes unfunny… But yesterday, Liu Shengqi was still enthusiastic. Yet today with Wu Min here, he stopped all those things.
Instead, he looked like a stranger, sitting alone on the floor while charging his phone and playing on it. He looked quite pitiful in his isolation.
Meanwhile, Lin Jin and Wu Min were having a great time. They both enjoyed playing Dota, so Wu Min used Lin Jin's computer to play, while Lin Jin relentlessly mocked Wu Min's skills and game sense.
"Wu Min, you’re playing it wrong. Ultimate in place, and where’s your Blink Dagger?"
"It got cancelled, you do it if you’re so great" Wu Min replied unfazed.
He was playing a hero known as Earthshaker, capable of dealing massive area of effect magic damage. However, due to the cast range, this hero needs have an item that could initiate. Wu Min, a noob, always prematurely used his abilities before the enemies were even in range. This caused not only to Lin Jin to mock him but also his teammates began verbally bashing him in the game’s voice chat.
But Wu Min completely ignored his teammates' bullsh*t, muted them, and continued to play at his own garbage pace.
Lin Jin had proficiency in gaming, giving him a deep understanding of Dota. While not quite good enough to play professionally, he was still a god among casual players. If he wanted to, he could probably reach a rating of six to seven thousand if he tried. So watching Wu Min, a barely two thousand rating noob, play was extremely unbearable for him.
"Blink and ult! Blink and ult, come on!" Lin Jin, who was sitting beside him, was more anxious than if he were playing himself. He was continuously shouting, "Hurry up! You’re gonna miss your chance!"
"Saving the ult, so the team fight will be easier later." Wu Min responded calmly to Lin Jin’s backseating.
Lin Jin watched for half an hour and felt that Wu Min was really too garbage. He lost all interest in watching the game and just laid down on his bed, feeling sleepy.
"Lin Jin, do you have any classes this afternoon?"
Liu Shengqi, with nothing better to do, sat on the floor by the bed and looked up to ask Lin Jin.
"No. No classes except on Wednesday afternoons."
"Then… How about we go to Gulangyu this afternoon?" Liu Shengqi looked at Lin Jin with anticipation. "Zengcuoan works too."
"Zengcuoan?" Lin Jin was momentarily stunned. He remembered that last year, there had been a major incident at school involving a female student from some class who had fell into the sea. He didn’t know if it was suicide or homicide, but her body was finally found at Zengcuoan. Remembering this, Lin Jin reflexively shook his head, "Not going!"
Liu Shengqi looked utterly confused, having no idea why Lin Jin had such a strong reaction.
"I'm a salted fish, staying home is fine. I'm not planning to go out and play, yeah." Lin Jin declared boldly, "Us salted fish aren't suited for outings. What if I get hit by a car? What if I accidentally fall into the sea! What if someone steals my wallet!"
Liu Shengqi continued to be confused.
Was there something wrong with Lin Jin's head? Was me liking him a bad thing?
"If you don’t want to go, then fine. I’ll go alone. You'll have to buy your own lunch tomorrow." Liu Shengqi shrugged. "I plan to go to Zhongshan Road for some food."
"Zhongshan Road?"
Lin Jin had heard of Zhongshan Road from his local classmates. It was said to be a place with lots of food, and lots of tasty food.
But! Zhongshan Street was too far.
Under Liu Shengqi's hopeful gaze, Lin Jin rolled his eyes and turned his head away: "You go. I’m not going. Remember to bring me back some food."
Liu Shengqi looked disappointed.
Translator’s Note: The places are all districts in Xiamen. Zhongshan Road’s a road though.