What did she mean by saying that even without her magic, he would have to endure pain for a few days each month?
Lin Nan actually found the answer quickly but refused to believe it, continuing to hope for better possibilities.
Due to Lina's warning, for the next period of time, Lin Nan didn't dare drink cold Cola, didn't dare have too much contact with cold water, and even wrapped himself up like sushi in his blanket every day, afraid of catching a cold.
But thinking carefully, with his temperature regulation magic, he probably wouldn't catch a cold even if he wore short sleeves in Northeast China.
He became more focused on exercise and running, hoping running would strengthen his constitution.
Two days later, on Tuesday afternoon, Chen Yao was planning to invite Lin Nan to watch the game again, but when he turned around, he saw that Lin Nan had already hurriedly left the dorm.
"Does he have a date? With that girl from before?" Chen Yao scratched his head and asked Xiong Da.
"Haven't noticed," Xiong Da lay on his bed playing with his phone, his face full of drowsiness, obviously planning to take a nap in the afternoon.
Chen Yao reluctantly looked toward Tu Junhui, but before he could speak, Tu Junhui waved his hand and said, "I'm taking an afternoon nap so I won't go watch. When you come back, buy me a bottle of Cola and just leave it on the table."
"Is my game that unwatchable?" Chen Yao was quite puzzled, but he could do nothing about his roommates and could only start changing into his basketball uniform alone.
"It's not unwatchable, but when the bed is so comfortable, why should we watch you play basketball?" Tu Junhui was always straightforward in his speech, and Chen Yao thought about it carefully - it did make sense.
Chen Yao was a bit worried about Lin Nan. In the past, Lin Nan would never go out voluntarily during rest time. Even for buying drinks, he would mostly ask his roommates to get them for him. Moreover, this time he left in such a hurry without even a casual explanation.
But he had a game this afternoon, so there wasn't much he could do.
Even including the halftime break, the game only lasted two hours, but when Chen Yao returned to the dorm, he found that Lin Nan still hadn't come back.
Looking up at his two roommates again, they were both already snoring away.
"Where could Lin Nan have gone?" Chen Yao couldn't figure it out, "Could he have gone to hand out flyers again?"
There wasn't really a fixed time for handing out flyers - as long as it was done in the afternoon, it should be fine. Lin Nan really had no reason to be in such a hurry.
He sent Lin Nan a message and made a call, but there was no response.
Since becoming best friends in middle school, Chen Yao had gotten used to the two of them playing together almost every moment. Even if one of them had something come up temporarily, they would usually explain the situation clearly. It was rare for Lin Nan to be like this now - not answering calls or messages, as if he had suddenly disappeared.
Chen Yao’s phone was already dialing the police before remembering Lin Nan was an adult.
He remained anxious until around five in the afternoon when the dorm door was pushed open, and Chen Yao finally saw Lin Nan who had been missing all afternoon.
His complexion didn't look too good.
Chen Yao didn't ask immediately, observing Lin Nan's expression. This guy almost had his emotions written all over his face.
Unhappy, defeated, red eyes suggesting he might have cried.
Could it be that he had failed in confessing to some girl?
Chen Yao suddenly understood. No wonder Lin Nan hadn't told him his plans - it must have been because he was embarrassed? He immediately walked to Lin Nan's seat, patted his shoulder, and smiled, "It's okay, it's not a big deal."
Lin Nan, sitting in his seat sad and dejected, looked up and glanced at him, then expressionlessly lay his body on the desk, burying his head between his arms.
Did he like that girl that much?
Chen Yao frowned - he rarely saw such an emotional side of Lin Nan.
"Could it be that you were scammed out of money?" Chen Yao asked tentatively.
It would be understandable if Lin Nan, a boy with little experience in relationships, encountered a scammer and got cheated out of money. The problem was that Lin Nan didn't seem to have any money.
"It's none of your business," Lin Nan's face buried in the crook of his arm, answered while holding back his grief, "Go play your games."
"....."
Chen Yao couldn't stop scratching his head - what was going on with Lin Nan?
He glanced at the half-empty bottle of rum on Tu Junhui's bookshelf and asked, "If you're feeling down, how about a drink? I’ll be here to listen. It’s better than keeping it all to yourself, right?
Chen Yao really had no better ideas - he had never seen Lin Nan this withdrawn before.
He looked around the dorm, glanced at the two who had been woken up, then asked Lin Nan again, "How about we find somewhere private for you to tell me?"
"Forget it." Lin Nan only managed to squeeze out these two words after holding back for a long time, then decisively got up and climbed into bed, flipping up his blanket and wrapping himself up tightly.
Seeing this, Chen Yao was at a loss and could only turn his pleading gaze toward Tu Junhui.
Just woken up, Tu Junhui was still a bit confused and couldn't quite understand the situation, but he also clearly noticed that something was wrong with Lin Nan's mood.
After a moment of silence, he called out loudly to Lin Nan: "Whatever difficulties we face..."
Before he could finish half his sentence, a pillow flew over and hit him in the face. Tu Junhui awkwardly threw the pillow back and gave Chen Yao a helpless expression.
"You play TikTok videos on speaker every day, Lin Nan's already sick of hearing that line," Chen Yao gave him a side-eye, then looked toward Xiong Da.
Xiong Da sat up, thought for a moment, then climbed down from his bed, and without even putting on his shoes, went straight to Lin Nan's bedside.
He pushed Lin Nan's bed board, and when Lin Nan peeked out from under the covers with red eyes to look at him, he suddenly pulled at the corners of his mouth with both hands and made an exaggerated scary face: "Wah!"
"You're crazy!"
Xiong Da rubbed his aching face, returned to his expressionless state, and turned back to shrug at Chen Yao.
"You're treating him like a kid..."
It seemed like no one in the dorm had ever had a girlfriend before - they were all just guys and complete "straight men," with no idea how to comfort someone.
Chen Yao saw that both of them had tried their best, especially Xiong Da, who usually maintained a stern face and was taciturn, being the one with the heaviest "idol burden" in the dorm. Now he actually made a scary face to cheer up Lin Nan - if Chen Yao hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.
The three dormmates were out of ideas. Chen Yao could only temporarily return to his seat, absent-mindedly playing games. Xiong Da, perhaps feeling embarrassed about making faces earlier, returned to his bed and silently played mobile games. Tu Junhui still maintained his carefree attitude.
He continued to tease Lin Nan as usual:
"If you're heartbroken, how about getting a boyfriend? I think you have potential."
"Honestly, I think you're wasting your talents being a man."
"Don't stay quiet, I think Chen Yao is right - have a drink, then you can say anything. We're all broth... sisters here!"
Lin Nan's blanket trembled twice. Tu Junhui thought he had made him laugh and quickly pressed his advantage: "Here's the plan! Whoever made you angry, we'll go beat them up together! I'm two hundred jin and one-point-eight meters, Chen Yao is also almost one-point-eight meters, Xiong Da and you can cheer us on and call the ambulance!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, that pillow flew over again.
"You're crazy!"
Well, if he could get angry and laugh, that was much better than his previous silent state.
At least that's what Tu Junhui thought.