Lin Nan went to bed very late.
His sleep quality had always been poor. If there were messy sounds before bed, he couldn't fall asleep no matter how tired he was, and if there were any loud noises while sleeping, he would suddenly wake up.
When he first started college as a freshman, Tu Junhui always liked to play games and shout late at night, making him Lin Nan's primary target. During that time, together with Chen Yao, they criticized Tu Junhui until he had nothing left to say. Although he improved later, he also started feuding with Lin Nan, often teasing him.
However, though he liked quiet when sleeping, tonight Lin Nan discovered that what he liked wasn't actually quiet, but rather a sense of security.
He was the only one in the dorm, the black cat Cola had gone to sleep early, and the whole dorm could only hear the soft noise of the air conditioner. Because of this, he could hear every little movement outside the dorm clearly.
The sound of wind outside the door, insects, the faint rolling of marbles from upstairs, and the mysterious soft sound of the wardrobe closing...
It seemed all sounds gathered in his mind, so any slightly abrupt noise would make Lin Nan jump in fright, his hair standing on end.
At home, he often lived alone too, but that was his own home after all. He could lock his bedroom door, turn on the night light, play some livestream sound on his phone, wrap himself in the blanket, and feel completely safe. But in the dorm, he was mentally tense, as if in some dangerous situation where any little movement could make him nervous for a moment.
Since he had to interview for the part-time server position tomorrow afternoon, Lin Nan went to bed before ten, but even though he had cultivated sleepiness, he couldn't fall asleep due to inexplicable tension. The occasional footsteps and conversations in the corridor scared him so much his scalp tingled, instantly driving all sleepiness from his brain.
After tossing and turning until twelve, his phone vibrated, startling the drowsy Lin Nan awake again.
He felt around his pillow, found his phone to check the chat messages, and saw it was a message from Chen Yao.
"Are you asleep? Didn't you say you'd tell me something online?"
Having known each other for so long, they both knew the other disliked starting conversations with "are you there," so Chen Yao's first message got straight to the point.
Lin Nan's head was fuzzy with drowsiness, and he didn't think much, or perhaps felt that this matter couldn't be hidden forever anyway.
"I wasn't feeling well before, so I went for a physical examination."
"So?"
"The doctor said I'm a woman."
As soon as he sent this, Lin Nan instantly became much more alert, suddenly sitting up in bed, hurrying to recall the previous message.
However, before he could recall it, Chen Yao had already seen the message and replied continuously: "?"
"What do you mean? Was that stomach pain last time really your period?"
"That can't be right? We've used the bathroom together before?"
"Must be a misdiagnosis? What kind of examination did you get?"
"Don't joke with me."
Although he couldn't see Chen Yao's face, Lin Nan could naturally imagine his anxious appearance right now. Of course, he might also be secretly pleased?
They could be considered childhood friends, and if he was a girl, wouldn't that make them childhood sweethearts?
Lin Nan couldn't really explain the examination items, so he simply climbed down from bed, turned on the light, and sent photos of the examination report to Chen Yao.
The examination form didn't explicitly say Lin Nan was a woman, but it clearly indicated delayed development of certain female organs. Additionally, due to Lin Nan's long-term habit of eating takeout and greasy food, he also had mild fatty liver.
Mild fatty liver was probably common among slightly overweight young people nowadays, but Lin Nan hadn't expected to get this condition when he only weighed just over a hundred jin. However, this wasn't a terminal illness; it could be cured by maintaining a healthy diet for a period of time.
"Could the doctor have mixed up the reports?"
"It has my name on it."
The other side was silent for a moment before responding again: "I'll come back as soon as possible, accompany you for another examination?"
"Okay."
"Do your parents know?"
"No."
"Then I feel quite honored."
Lin Nan had no expectations for the next examination. He knew the reason - even if it was truly a misdiagnosis now, as long as he continued relying on magic, this trouble would eventually return.
It had only been about a month since he started using magic.
Thinking about this, Lin Nan felt particularly troubled. Although he knew using magic wasn't good, having experienced the "cheat" made it hard to control himself when encountering problems. Adding to that his poverty and desire for a computer, he had become entangled with money.
"Go to sleep early," Chen Yao saw Lin Nan hadn't responded and replied again, "Don't go to the part-time job tomorrow, I should be able to get to the dorm by the 4th."
After chatting a bit more, Lin Nan finally put his phone in his pocket, but he couldn't sleep anymore. Chaotic thoughts rushed to his head all at once, making his previously drowsy brain unusually excited.
Who knew how crowded the hospital would be during National Day.
He glanced at the corridor light shining into the dorm and simply turned on his computer to play games.
"If I can't wake up tomorrow, I'll just skip the interview. After all, it's only a hundred something per day, not as good as handing out flyers," Lin Nan muttered. Perhaps most people would consider being a server easier than handing out flyers under the scorching sun, but he really didn't think so.
Actually, now that his reactions were faster, his gaming skills were above average even when tired, so taking orders to play for others wasn't impossible. But boosting didn't earn money quickly - some people could play all day and barely earn a hundred yuan, and if they messed up, they'd have to compensate.
If regular part-time jobs were unstable, boosting basically relied on luck to make money. Look at Chen Yao - he took boosting orders whenever he had time, but hadn't been seen earning much money from it yet.
Lin Nan felt uneasy, wondering if Chen Yao's attitude toward him would change after he came back.
He sat at the computer, chin propped on one hand, staring at the screen, his head full of various strange fantasies.
When going home for New Year, he wondered if his parents would notice anything. It would be normal to have some changes after not seeing them for so long, right?
After spacing out at the computer for an hour, Lin Nan finally felt sleepy again.
The dormitory building had become even quieter. Previously he could still hear some footsteps, but now only environmental sounds remained, the silence making Lin Nan uneasy.
He was about to return to bed when someone knocked on the dorm door, startling him so much he almost fell off the ladder.
"Who is it!"
"Has Junhui gone home?"
From the voice outside, it should be a classmate Lin Nan wasn't familiar with.
Tu Junhui was the type who could get along well with anyone, and people indeed often came looking for him to hang out at night.
"He left ages ago."
"Damn! He told me he wasn't going home and would pull an all-nighter in my dorm, I waited forever, fuck!" The classmate outside cursed and left. Lin Nan was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile.
Someone unfamiliar with Tu Junhui's habit of talking nonsense really couldn't tell truth from fiction.