TN: Yes, that’s the title.
Although he'd been single for many years, he still had some life experience. He could clearly see that Lin Nan definitely hadn't had intimate contact with any males, yet his eyes and brows somehow carried an incredibly alluring quality.
This was clearly the kind of temperament that only some young wives and similar women would possess.
This temperament caused tremendous damage to him as someone who'd been single since birth, or rather, it would have great appeal to any man who'd never had contact with women.
After eating grilled fish together and playing games with Lin Nan in the living room for a while, he finally managed to get used to Lin Nan's current appearance that carried a hint of seductive charm.
"I'm going to my room to enjoy the air conditioning for a bit."
He was craving a cigarette. Perhaps he'd already subconsciously started treating Lin Nan as a girl, so he resisted the urge and didn't smoke around Lin Nan.
"Go ahead, you're only weak because you blow too much air conditioning." Lin Nan, relying on his magic, shamelessly accused him.
Only then did Wu Guodong helplessly realize how he'd become the one being lectured.
He felt around in his pocket for cigarettes and discovered the pack was completely empty. He simply pulled out a crumpled ten-yuan note from his pocket and handed it to Lin Nan: "Can you go downstairs and buy a pack of Blue Seven. The leftover money is yours."
Lin Nan happily accepted and ran out the door with the money, grinning.
"This guy..." Wu Guodong didn't know when his nephew had become such a money-grubber. Lin Nan certainly hadn't shown money-grubbing potential as a child.
He just felt an intense headache. When he looked at Lin Nan, he felt somewhat guilty, afraid of being discovered coveting his body.
"That's your nephew, your nephew." He muttered to himself, went to the bathroom and splashed cold tap water on his face, finally feeling his inner fire cool down considerably.
"He's a little demon... clearly only eighteen years old, still completely looked like a man at the beginning of the year. How did he become like this now?"
He deeply felt Lin Nan's power, wondering how Lin Nan's roommates managed to have no interest in Lin Nan despite spending day and night together.
"Looks like I need to get Lin Nan moved out early." Wu Guodong took out his phone to check his bank balance. Although he'd just received his salary not long ago, he'd lent Lin Nan's mother fifty thousand yuan last week, so now he only had nearly ten thousand left for living expenses. After deducting rent and utilities, he estimated he'd only have five or six thousand remaining.
Still fairly comfortable, since he was single. Although takeout in the city center was quite expensive, it wasn't ridiculously priced. He just didn't know how much rental housing near Lin Nan's school would cost.
He walked out of the bathroom and had just reached the living room when he saw Lin Nan running back, gasping for breath.
"A pack of cigarettes costs eight yuan! You only gave me two yuan to run errands, Uncle, you're so stingy!" Lin Nan started complaining frantically as soon as he entered. "Takeout delivery costs four or five yuan per order now, you know?"
"Be grateful I left you any money at all." Wu Guodong rolled his eyes at Lin Nan, took the cigarette pack, then asked, "Does your school allow people to live off-campus?"
"I heard only seniors can." Lin Nan returned to the sofa, picking up the controller to continue grinding through Sekiro.
Last time with his uncle helping run around the map while he only needed to focus on fighting bosses, it felt quite easy. But this time playing New Game Plus, with bell chiming and having to run the map himself, the game's difficulty immediately increased. Plus Lin Nan had no natural sense of direction—while he wasn't exactly directionally challenged, in this kind of game without a map and complex terrain, it still troubled him greatly.
"Why isn't there an auto-run function like in online games?"
"Why don't you add auto-monster fighting and auto-quest completion while you're at it?" Wu Guodong put the cigarette in his mouth and asked again, "How strict is your evening roll call? If it's not strict, you could just have roommates cover for you."
Lin Nan recalled the evening roll call process and nodded: "It's really not strict... the problem is that the dorm supervisor knows me and has a deep impression."
"???"
Lin Nan couldn't help complaining about this: "Back when I wasn't as feminine as now, he grabbed me saying I was a girl staying overnight in the male dorm and gave me a scolding."
At least you know you're feminine.
This Lin Nan was also strange. Back when his face still looked somewhat male, his movements and behavior were naturally feminine. Now that his appearance was no different from a girl's, he was awkwardly trying to learn masculine behavior.
The problem was, if you're going to do it, could you not cross your legs while frowning and looking troubled?
This didn't make Lin Nan look more masculine at all; instead it made Wu Guodong think his nephew was adorably silly.
"So that means you can only live in the male dorm now?"
"Pretty much, there's no good solution." Lin Nan also wanted to live off-campus. The three people in the dorm were clearly somewhat constrained because of him now.
After chatting for a bit, Wu Guodong couldn't resist his cigarette craving anymore. He turned and walked toward the bedroom. Moments later, a faint smell of smoke drifted from the crack under the bedroom door.
Lin Nan didn't pay much attention. The windows were wide open now, so a little smoke would easily dissipate.
Meanwhile, Wu Guodong sat at his computer smoking while reporting the latest news to Lin Nan's mother.
"Lin Nan says he'll definitely go back for surgery during winter break, and his body doesn't seem to have any problems." He sent a WeChat message, then continued: "But he's much thinner than when I last saw him. Probably because of this matter, he hasn't been eating or sleeping well. Just go along with his wishes and don't put too much pressure on him."
Although Wu Guodong saw that Lin Nan still appeared to be his former carefree self on the surface, he could clearly tell that Lin Nan was suppressing something deep down.
Lin Nan's mother responded quickly.
"You couldn’t do it either?" The mother was clearly very troubled. "The doctor said the sooner he has surgery for this condition, the better."
"There’s not much I can do."
Wu Guodong flicked his cigarette into a cola bottle with some water in it, looking completely helpless.
His personality wasn't the eloquent type to begin with. His programming job didn't require frequent communication with people, and he was a shut-in. Now facing Lin Nan's face, not stuttering was already good enough—wasn’t he already over performing?
Moreover, Lin Nan was clearly very averse to his persuasion.
After briefly chatting and confirming that Lin Nan was indeed a girl, Wu Guodong left the bedroom and looked toward the living room sofa, discovering that Lin Nan had somehow fallen asleep while hugging the controller, leaning against the sofa.
Wu Guodong knew some of what happened last weekend. Although he didn't have detailed information, he knew Lin Nan's father had said harsh things to Lin Nan. Now he understood why his father had been so emotional.
He walked over and casually covered Lin Nan's stomach with the thin blanket.
Just moments ago, Lin Nan had still seemed like his former playful, money-loving self, appearing to be a carefree college student. But now asleep, Wu Guodong noticed his tightly furrowed brow.
"How did he encounter such a thing?"
Wu Guodong looked at Lin Nan's delicate face and sighed deeply. Even as an outsider, he felt at a loss about this kind of situation, let alone the person involved.
He could only feel heartache for Lin Nan, trying hard to think of ways he could help.