The three-point routine of classroom, cafeteria, and dormitory life began once again.
The day before classes started, Lin Nan had thought the National Day holiday was worse than attending classes. But when classes actually began and he sat in the classroom listening to Marxist Philosophy with nothing to do, he realized that although vacation was boring and uninteresting, it was still better than listening to sleep-inducing courses. (TN: I won’t mind it personally.)
"Attendance." The Marxist Philosophy teacher was the more responsible type compared to other teachers. She took attendance before both periods and tried to maintain classroom order, not allowing anyone to play with their phones. This course had been criticized by Tu Junhui for a long time—he felt such courses only needed the key points highlighted before finals for memorization at home, with no need to actually attend class.
"Chen Yao."
The class roster was arranged by gender and the first letter of surnames. After the female students' names were called, Chen Yao was next.
"Here." Chen Yao called out, raised his hand to signal, then languidly collapsed back onto his desk, pillowing his head on his hands and turning sideways, half-opening his eyes to study Lin Nan's profile.
He realized he could no longer control himself from seeing Lin Nan as female.
Last night when showering, he'd even specifically brought a short-sleeved shirt and shorts to the bathroom, whereas normally he, like Xiong Da and Tu Junhui, would return to the dorm in underwear before getting dressed.
And Lin Nan, probably having always known there was something off about his gender, had never been seen shirtless since they'd met... wait, that wasn't right. In middle school he'd still seen his little... thing.
Chen Yao became even more confused. Years of established perception clashed violently with recent information, leaving him at a loss.
Originally he'd planned to comfort Lin Nan, who'd obviously been in poor spirits before National Day. But after learning the truth, he realized he couldn't actually help with anything and had nearly shattered his worldview.
"Lin Nan."
"Here!"
Lin Nan, who'd been secretly playing with his phone, quickly raised his hand in response. But after lowering his arm and looking up, he saw the middle-aged teacher push up her glasses and snort coldly: "Are they getting girls to answer attendance now? Mark Lin Nan as absent. What's your name?"
"???"
Lin Nan was full of question marks.
What? Even if I usually have no presence in class, you still see my face every week during attendance, right? If not recognizing me, you should at least find me familiar, right? How did this become proxy attendance?
"Which class are you from? I think I've seen you—you're my student too, right?" The teacher marked Lin Nan absent on the roster and wanted to pursue the matter further. "Which class? Next time you come to my class, don't bother—I'll mark you absent even if you show up."
"???"
Lin Nan continued outputting question marks, completely bewildered, at a loss, and feeling a bit wronged.
All the classmates turned their heads to watch his humiliation, making him even more flustered. Being thin-skinned, his face immediately turned completely red.
He heard some classmates starting to whisper: "Never noticed before—when did Lin Nan become so feminine?"
"Holy shit, I really thought it was some girl auditing the class! That's actually Lin Nan?"
"Isn't that Chen Yao's girlfriend?"
Since he had almost no social interactions in class except with his roommates and always liked being invisible, even when people noticed his appearance changes, most thought in the direction of "this is a girl from another class."
"Teacher, I'm male!" Without time to think, he immediately stood up and said.
The teacher looked Lin Nan up and down, noticing the bulge on his chest and his obviously feminine figure. Just as she was about to open her mouth for sarcastic ridicule, Chen Yao also suddenly stood up in support: "Teacher, I'm his roommate—he's male!"
Although he could no longer control seeing Lin Nan as female, he knew this wasn't the time for Lin Nan to be exposed.
Xiong Da expressionlessly raised his hand: "Male."
Although Tu Junhui usually enjoyed mocking Lin Nan for being feminine and calling him a girl, he was quite reliable at this moment. Following the other two in standing up, he forcefully slapped his chest muscles: "Male, I stake my life on it!"
Lin Nan looked blankly at the three who had stood up beside him. During daily dorm life, each of them was more annoying than the last, always enjoying teasing and mocking him, and constantly using his things. But at crucial moments, true friendship really showed through adversity.
Now it was the teacher's turn to be confused. She pushed her glasses and walked directly up the steps to Lin Nan's side, examining him even more carefully for a long time.
No matter how she looked, this was definitely a girl. Look at that chest, that skin, that figure—not only a girl, but with a little dressing up, at least someone who could rank among the top beauties in class.
The teacher, with over thirty years of teaching experience, began to doubt her worldview and eyesight.
Had her presbyopia gotten worse again?
"Teacher, he's male."
Lin Yuan, sitting in the front row, also suddenly spoke up. Then his roommate, who often borrowed Lin Nan's computer, flattered Lin Nan seeking boosting services, and had once said Lin Nan would be campus heartthrob material if dressed up, also stood up: "Teacher, Lin Nan is going for the Japanese-Korean style!"
After saying this, he turned back to wink at Lin Nan, obviously planning to ask Lin Nan for boosting again.
Lin Nan thought carefully for a long time and realized he only remembered this guy's nickname "Big Dog."
Well, it actually meant "simp," because he could flatter anyone at any time. He'd once been blind enough to praise a 200-pound girl as "voluptuous" and "like Yang Guifei," gradually earning this universally recognized class nickname. (TN: One of the beauties of Ancient China.)
Just because "simp" sounded too harsh, he was called Big Dog, later extending to nicknames like Dog Bro, Dog Brother, etc.
After getting used to calling him that, Lin Nan had completely forgotten his real name.
Lin Nan looked gratefully at Lin Yuan in the front row and Big Dog.
Then he discovered no one else in class stood up to speak for him, but the teacher beside him realized her mistake and awkwardly turned to head back to the podium.
After taking two steps, she paused and said without turning back: "Sorry."
Lin Nan was stunned. This was the first time in his life he'd heard a teacher or elder say such words to him.
Before he could respond, the teacher went to the podium and began class, leaving him no choice but to sit back down, propping his chin with one hand while looking at the teacher lecturing from textbooks and slides.
She should be considered a good teacher, right?
"Remember to help me with two matches at lunch." Big Dog turned around from the front row.
"Got it."
"You have to treat us to lunch!" Tu Junhui also didn't hesitate to try taking advantage. "Look how much we helped you!"
Lin Nan looked at him with extreme disdain: "Want plain white rice? I'll pack some from the cafeteria for you."
"At least lobster, sea cucumber, and abalone!"
"You must be living in a dream." Lin Nan controlled his expression to avoid rolling his eyes, afraid of accidentally making it look flirtatious again.