Lin Nan didn't want to trouble Wu Guodong too much. After all, this wasn't like when they were younger - back then, Wu Guodong was just a student, not working 996 schedules like he did now.
The next day, after having a good lunch together, Lin Nan returned to the dorm around 2 PM.
The first thing he did upon returning was to bring back Cola from the neighboring dorm where someone had been looking after the kitten. After feeding it and cleaning the litter box, Lin Nan climbed into bed with the heating pad his uncle had given him.
His own blanket really was more comfortable.
Although his uncle's bedding had clean covers, it had been in a smoke-filled environment for so long that the tobacco smell had probably seeped into the cotton, and that faint cigarette odor was unbearable.
His stomach was noticeably better. Since last night, Lin Nan had strictly avoided cold water, drinking only warm water and using the heating pad. The abdominal pain had decreased significantly compared to the previous night, though there was still an empty chill in his lower abdomen and an inexplicable irritability that kept surfacing.
This irritability had actually been present last night, but Lin Nan had been in too much pain to notice it then.
After being in pain half the night and barely sleeping, now back in his own dorm bed, he was drowsy within ten minutes and quickly fell asleep.
When he woke up, it was already dark outside.
Lin Nan poked his head out from under the covers in a slight daze, immediately feeling sharp pains in his lower abdomen. He glanced at the air conditioner and found it had been set to 16 degrees at some point.
He remembered not turning on the air conditioning when he got back.
Due to the poor sleep last night, even after his afternoon nap, Lin Nan's head felt like mush. He sat up in bed wrapped in his blanket, leaning against the wall, one hand gently rubbing his foggy head while the other clutched his stomach, his face somewhat pale.
"Awake?"
A familiar voice suddenly came from below, instantly snapping Lin Nan to attention. He looked down at the desk below and saw Chen Yao sitting in his spot, carefully reading his medical examination report.
Lin Nan suddenly didn't know what to say, overwhelmed by awkwardness.
What should he do about this?
Back then, he had confessed to Chen Yao largely because his mind was fuzzy from being unable to sleep late at night. Lin Nan had regretted it right after confessing, but Chen Yao had been waiting by his phone, giving him no chance to take it back.
But it had been a month of psychological pressure for Lin Nan, and the feeling of relief after telling someone had actually been quite nice.
"Turn off the air conditioning," Lin Nan decided to play dumb and not bring up the topic first, saying instead, "My stomach hurts."
"No wonder you were wrapped in a blanket without the AC on when I came back. I turned it on because I was worried you'd be hot." Chen Yao casually turned off the air conditioning and put the medical report he'd been reading back in Lin Nan's drawer. "You should probably lock this report away, don't let the other two see it."
"I know."
Lin Nan took a deep breath, nervously afraid that Chen Yao would continue along this topic.
However, Chen Yao also seemed unsure how to handle this situation.
As the cold air gradually dissipated from the room, Lin Nan managed to climb down from the bed while holding his stomach.
Chen Yao's presence somehow made Lin Nan feel much more at ease. He wasn't as paranoid as when he had been living alone - the strange noises in the room were naturally filtered out by his brain, unlike before when his heightened sensitivity would amplify every sound in his mind and startle himself.
Using the bathroom, there was blood in his urine again like yesterday, but Lin Nan had gotten used to that striking dark red color and didn't make a fuss about it. He simply flushed and walked out, only to find Chen Yao smoking on the balcony.
"Why are you smoking?"
Chen Yao rarely smoked, or rather had no addiction to it. Unless friends offered him cigarettes, he basically didn't touch them.
But for some reason, today Lin Nan found him smoking on the balcony.
He smiled at Lin Nan without saying much, but appeared lost in thought.
Lin Nan didn't know what was troubling him, but felt awkward facing Chen Yao, unsure how to start a conversation.
Chen Yao threw the extinguished cigarette butt into the bathroom, glancing around, and noticed some dark red stains on the edge of the toilet.
Could it be menstrual blood?
He paused, not quite sure what was going on. Walking out of the bathroom, he looked at Lin Nan who was clutching his stomach and asked, "Your stomach hurts again?"
"Mm." Lin Nan held his stomach, face pale.
"Last time too... was it your period?" Chen Yao's face showed even more awkwardness than Lin Nan's, his eyes constantly darting around.
"Probably." Lin Nan sighed deeply, putting on a plaintive expression. "I can't even touch cold water these days, don't know how I'll manage to wash clothes."
"I can help you wash them." Chen Yao leaned against the railing, still unsure how to broach the main topic.
The atmosphere between them was full of awkwardness, both looking at each other intermittently. Lin Nan's mouth twitched, and he turned to head back to bed for a rest.
At this point, Chen Yao asked: "This condition of yours, is it what they call... that intersex thing online?"
Seems he had done his research before coming.
Unable to explain about the magic, Lin Nan could only go with this most scientific explanation, nodding: "That's what the doctor said."
"Didn't your mom have prenatal checkups?"
Lin Nan was caught off guard.
"Or at least you must have had checkups when you were born? How come this is only being discovered now..."
Lin Nan's expression froze.
"Logically, with your condition, shouldn't you have had corrective surgery when you were young?"
Indeed, if he used this excuse with his parents, it wouldn't make any sense. Moreover, if he remembered correctly, his parents had mentioned he was premature and had spent a long time in an incubator after birth, so it would have been impossible not to have had medical examinations.
But he could still try to fool Chen Yao.
"I lived in the countryside before elementary school, it's normal that my parents didn't understand these things, right? Maybe I was delivered by a midwife and never went to the hospital?"
"That's true." Chen Yao's slight confusion was cleared up.
Afraid he wouldn't be able to answer Chen Yao's next questions, Lin Nan hastily retreated back to his bed.
But Chen Yao continued pondering Lin Nan's situation and circumstances. Thinking back carefully, he realized Lin Nan hadn't seemed feminine before, nor had he experienced periods.
It had only been happening for about a month, right? To be precise, it was after that hospital stay with the high fever that Lin Nan started seeming different.
But if it really was that intersex condition, it meant Lin Nan was essentially a girl, so it was normal that he kept unconsciously seeing Lin Nan as a girl, right? Maybe his intuition was better than he thought?
He returned to the room and looked up at Lin Nan, who was curled up in bed with only his head showing.
"Want to get another checkup tomorrow?" he suggested.
"Better not."
Chen Yao knew Lin Nan was unwilling to go to the hospital. After pondering for a moment, he asked: "Are you... really a girl?"
"...."