Lin Nan was very resistant to questions about his father.
He had no idea how he should face his father when they met again, or rather, how his father would treat him.
Right now he didn't dare think about this matter at all, afraid that thinking about it in any depth would make his emotions even more depressed and painful. Therefore, he had always maintained an avoidant attitude toward it.
Similarly, Lin Nan had the same attitude toward his future. He didn't dare imagine that when he became a woman, he would date, marry, and have children with some man. If he was unlucky, he might even encounter the same situation as his mother.
His parents' failed marriage had already made him feel resistant to marriage, and his previously neglected treatment had made him deeply aware of what kind of impact unqualified parents would have on their children... Therefore, he neither wanted to get married nor wanted his possibly future children to experience what was happening to him now, since he couldn't guarantee he would know how to educate children.
He sat silently with his roommates in the back row of the classroom, unable to focus on what the teacher was saying on stage, his head hanging low.
Chen Yao knew that the topic he had brought up in the cafeteria had caused Lin Nan's current dejection, but he didn't dare say much more. While playing King of Glory in a five-man team with classmates, he would occasionally glance at Lin Nan's expression from the corner of his eye.
It should be fine, right? He should have kept his mouth shut.
Chen Yao was panicking. If Lin Nan fell into another period of withdrawal, he really didn't know how to comfort him.
Fortunately, Lin Nan quickly realized that continuing to think this way might lead to short-term depression, so he hurriedly stopped those increasingly rampant thoughts.
When he looked up again at the teacher lecturing on stage, he realized this was another Marxist philosophy class.
He didn't like these purely theoretical courses that required memorization. The main issue was that he didn't study when he had free time, but instead piled everything up for the month before final exams, sometimes even just the two weeks before.
Should he look for some kind of super memory magic?
Lin Nan's mind immediately became active, instantly pushing aside his recent worries.
However, before he could start searching, he suddenly heard someone knocking on the glass window with their knuckles. Looking back, he saw his academic advisor standing outside the window with a serious expression, looking inside.
For a moment it felt just like being watched by a homeroom teacher in junior or senior high school. Lin Nan felt time freeze for an instant, then the students in class frantically put away their phones. Only then did he suddenly remember that he hadn't been playing with his phone at all.
His academic advisor was probably in his early thirties, with a buzz cut similar to Chen Yao's, though his face was somewhat softer than Chen Yao's. He looked a bit like the protagonist from "In the Name of the People," or that type of man. Probably because he was handsome, he was quite popular in the class, even though they rarely saw him normally. (TN: Chinese drama based on weeding out corruption.)
Additionally, even though he'd been in the class for over a year, Lin Nan still couldn't remember this advisor's name.
The advisor glared at the students playing with phones through the window, then walked to the front door and gave an apologetic smile to the teacher who was conducting class: "I need to tell the students something. Just five minutes."
The teacher nodded and went directly to the hallway for some fresh air.
Only then did the advisor come to the podium, scan the students in the class, and say: "There's a physical examination next Tuesday afternoon. We should be scheduled for 3 PM. You need to gather in front of the academic building at 2:30. The class monitor will give you forms to fill out. If you have any serious medical history, remember to write it down."
Physical examination?
Lin Nan was stunned. Although it was somewhat unexpected, there had actually been a school-organized physical examination around November last year too. Thinking back carefully, the physical examination didn't really involve much content, probably just vision, blood pressure, height and weight, and sometimes blood draws. But what made Lin Nan most nervous was the internal medicine examination.
That is, lifting up his shirt to let the doctor press around on his body. Although he didn't know what could be determined from that, his chest...
"The physical examination is free, just remember not to eat breakfast," the advisor said, then started talking about recent activities. "The school is participating in an essay contest. Each dormitory needs to submit one essay. The theme is the seventieth anniversary, one thousand words. Any dormitory that doesn't submit will have points deducted."
This threat of point deduction had worried Lin Nan quite a bit when he first entered school last year. Back then, no matter what the advisor wanted students to do, he would threaten with point deduction. Later, Lin Nan and the other students discovered that this didn't really seem to be a thing.
He would say points would be deducted, but in reality the advisor usually didn't have the authority to do such a thing.
So this semester, Lin Nan had skipped all the activities the advisor announced, including the class meeting at the beginning of the semester. He just greeted the class monitor and had him help mark attendance.
However, the girls seemed to obey almost everything the advisor said. After all, he was a handsome guy, which was understandable.
After the advisor finished explaining things, he started nagging like an old mother, continuing until the class bell rang. Only then did he realize and turn to look at the hallway, but the teacher had long since returned to the office.
"Alright, class dismissed. Eat less takeout, the cafeteria is more hygienic," the advisor said, somewhat embarrassed.
After spending time with this advisor for so long, his original authority had long since faded. The girls in the front row all crowded around to tease him, some complaining about finding wire in cafeteria food, others joking that the advisor had scared away the course teacher.
Lin Nan had no interest in such things, though he was somewhat envious of those students who could chat and laugh freely with the advisor.
"Hey, by the way, who is Lin Nan?"
As he passed by the advisor, he suddenly heard his own name. Confused, he looked up and found that his classmates were all looking at him in unison, clearly having exposed him.
"So you're Lin Nan?" The advisor looked at him, confused for a moment, then tried hard to recall the students in his memory, but couldn't remember there being such a girl in the class... wait, this should be a boy.
He scratched his head in confusion and said bewilderedly: "No wonder the dorm supervisor keeps complaining to me that there's a female student named Lin Nan in the class who keeps staying in the male dormitory... I remember you're male, right?"
Because this name was often mentioned by the dorm supervisor, he had checked the student roster several times and explained several times that Lin Nan was male, but that supervisor would still come find him every so often, making him think he had somehow offended that dorm supervisor uncle.
Turns out it wasn't the dorm supervisor's problem. This student really did look too much like a girl. Most of the girls in the class couldn't compare to how pretty this man was.
"What's wrong?" Lin Nan asked curiously.
"Nothing, I finally understand why the Building A dorm supervisor keeps complaining to me about you."
The nearby classmates burst into laughter, and Lin Nan's face quickly flushed red. He glared at the advisor, then hurriedly left the classroom with his head down.
This student is quite interesting...
Although he hadn't been an advisor for many years, he had never seen such a beautiful boy in his lifetime. That glare was just like a woman's... full of charm?