Since he started late, Lin Nan only worked one hour during his first lunch shift.
The afternoon deliveries were handled by the cafeteria's full-time delivery staff, though they were usually not fast. Each delivery typically took forty to fifty minutes.
When Lin Nan returned to the dormitory, his face was pale and his legs were weak, as if his body had been completely drained after a night of intense activity.
Chen Yao and Tu Junhui had probably just woken up and were discussing dinner plans for the dorm, while Xiong Da was still sitting at his desk, playing games on his phone.
When Lin Nan walked into the room, everyone's attention focused on him, making him instantly bristle and stiffen.
At some point, he had started finding it difficult to handle others' gazes, worried they might notice something strange about him.
His chest had only just started developing, so it shouldn't be noticeable, and his hands and feet weren't making any odd movements. Right now, he probably didn't have any feminine gestures.
After considering this for a moment, Lin Nan's stiffness gradually eased.
"Didn't I tell you? Delivering takeout isn't that easy," Xiong Da sighed lifelessly. "It took you almost an hour to deliver, though it's not your fault—the noodles just got mushy."
"Maybe the zhajiang noodles were flown in from Beijing," Tu Junhui teased as usual.
Lin Nan's face showed embarrassment as he hurriedly returned to his seat, massaging his sore calves with a helpless expression.
Who was it at noon who had confidently guaranteed that delivering takeout would be no problem?
His cheeks burned red with shame at his own boasting.
This decrease in stamina was definitely Lilith's fault! Although he didn't understand how something on the soul level could affect physical stamina, any recent physical anomalies were almost certainly her doing.
And now 'it' was even developing!
Lin Nan heaved a long sigh. His roommates' teasing sounded more like mockery to his ears. However, Chen Yao wasn't so bad—he just bounced over with a grin and asked, "Why didn't the cafeteria let you deliver to the girls' dormitory? Isn't that a huge loss?"
"There's an auntie in charge of that area, and besides, I couldn't get in anyway."
"How could you not get in? Just wear some women's—" Chen Yao was about to continue when he suddenly noticed Lin Nan's pitiful expression and quickly changed the subject, "How about we all go to the back gate for a nice dinner tonight?"
Hearing this, Lin Nan withdrew what he considered to be his fiercest glare.
"Your treat?" he immediately perked up.
"Dutch treat!" (TN: Everyone pays for their own meal.)
He immediately deflated again, slumping onto the desk and shaking his head vigorously, "Not going. I'm already half dead from delivering takeout. Now that I'm sitting down, I can't get up anymore."
"So why deliver takeout? Wouldn't you earn more boosting game accounts with me? If not that, at least being a waiter would be easier than running around all day."
"Besides, is your stamina really that bad? It's just climbing a few floors."
That wouldn't do! He'd already made his bold claims, and backing out after just one hour of delivery wasn't Lin Nan's style.
"It's good exercise. My poor stamina might be because... I haven't left my comfort zone for too long, yeah." He made up an excuse.
But talk was just talk—exercise was impossible to do, unthinkable for this lifetime.
Lin Nan's mind started calculating whether he could use magic to temporarily or even permanently boost his stamina.
Thinking about this, Lin Nan suddenly remembered his experience using magic to crossdress a few days ago.
Before that, he had already been soul-merged with Lilith for two days, but during those two days, apart from some subconscious feminization of his body language, he hadn't noticed many other issues. But it seemed that after using magic, according to his classmates, his skin had become fairer, he'd gotten shorter, and even his chest had started developing.
Because the changes were subtle, he hadn't noticed the physical changes before, until he returned to the dormitory for the new semester...
Behind him, Chen Yao noticed Lin Nan had suddenly frozen, not knowing what was wrong. He waved his hand in front of Lin Nan's eyes and, seeing no response, simply bent down and brought his big head right in front of Lin Nan's face.
Still no response.
Though Lin Nan's blank expression... how had he never noticed this guy could be quite adorably stupid?
He couldn't be bothered to wake Lin Nan from his thoughts, so he called the other two roommates over to examine Lin Nan's dopey expression.
However, before the other two could come over, Lin Nan suddenly slapped the back of Chen Yao's head: "Why the hell are you getting so close?!"
Chen Yao was caught off guard and nearly hit his chin on the desk, but quickly caught himself with his arms on the table surface, then straightened up while cursing colorfully: "Screw you!"
Lin Nan turned back to glare at Chen Yao but saw Chen Yao pause with a strange expression: "Why are you batting your eyes at me?"
"He did that to me at noon too," Xiong Da coldly interjected while gaming, "Maybe he's in heat?"
This guy always said risqué things with an ice-cold face, clearly a closet pervert trying to disguise himself as a cool, balding guy.
At this moment, a sudden scream came from behind Lin Nan, drawing everyone's attention. They found Tu Junhui, that fatty, acting crazy for some unknown reason.
"What's wrong with you?" Chen Yao went over and saw the fatty was weighing himself. He glanced at the electronic scale's screen and couldn't help but burst out laughing, "You gained 20 jin over the two-month summer break?! Didn't you get down to 180 jin before the break last semester?" (TN: 2 Jin=1 kg= 2.2 lb)
"Damn!" Tu Junhui cursed as he stepped off the electronic scale, muttering to himself, "No wonder I felt like I was getting fatter again."
Lin Nan quickly tried to follow Chen Yao's lead in mocking Tu Junhui, but just as he was about to speak, there was a sudden "beep" sound. All the electrical appliances in the dormitory stopped working.
Lin Nan was stunned. He looked up at the gradually stopping fan and then down at his phone, which was showing a low battery warning.
"Why did the power go out?" Tu Junhui was the most heat-sensitive person in the dorm. Even with the air conditioner set to 16 degrees normally, he often walked around the dorm in just his shorts. Now, with the power out, he was the most bewildered.
Xiong Da quietly put away his phone: "My phone's dead. Anyone have a power bank?"
Chen Yao quickly checked his phone, relieved to confirm it had been charged last night.
The four dormmates looked at each other, unable to accept the reality of no air conditioning or power in this hottest period of late August.
The atmosphere grew stagnant, with what little cool air remained gradually dissipating. Tu Junhui, already only in shorts, now seemed ready to strip completely naked. Lin Nan lay dejectedly on the desk, pressing his cheek against its cool surface. Chen Yao opened the door, hoping to catch some summer breeze, but the air outside was so hot that the road was distorted, without even a hint of wind. Xiong Da took off his shirt and wiped his sweat with warm water from the tap on the balcony.
"Should we go to the internet café?"
Someone suddenly suggested, and immediately, all four chorused: "Let's go!"