While Li Sisi was resting, Lin Nan stood to the side chatting with her.
Through their conversation, he roughly learned about Li Sisi's situation.
Her family was classified as financially disadvantaged, but going to university with national student loans wasn't a big problem. The issue was the shortage of living expenses. Compared to Lin Nan's monthly thousand yuan, she only had a meager three hundred.
A few hundred yuan might be manageable at those top-tier universities, since their cafeterias received substantial government subsidies and food prices were much lower. But the problem was that Li Sisi had only gotten into an ordinary second-tier university.
Her school cafeteria's prices were almost identical to Lin Nan's school, meaning her three hundred yuan allowed her to spend only ten yuan per day.
Based on prices of two yuan for rice, two yuan for vegetables, and meat dishes starting at five yuan, she lived even more poorly than Lin Nan at each meal.
Previously, she had delivered food for the school cafeteria, which included lunch, so that was manageable. But the problem was that she had gotten into a fight with someone recently, received disciplinary action, and consequently lost her part-time job.
"A fight?" Lin Nan asked curiously when this came up.
"I was a bit slow with delivery, and that psycho started cursing at me. Did he think I was easy to bully?!" Li Sisi snorted through her nose, her brow furrowed tightly. Thinking about that scene still made her furious. "Damn! I've been fighting from elementary through high school and never been afraid of anyone!"
What a tough character.
Lin Nan sheepishly shuffled his feet a bit.
Actually, Li Sisi's appearance was quite gentle and quiet, matching her name, except her face was severely gaunt, making her cheekbones prominently sharp. She also wore round-framed gold-rimmed glasses, looking scholarly and refined.
If she didn't speak and just stood somewhere quietly, like when she had stood beside Liu Yi before, probably anyone would think she was a well-behaved girl.
But who knew this girl would start with "I" and follow up with profanity every time she opened her mouth. (TN: She refers to herself with 老娘, somewhat more rough and masculine.)
Lin Nan was used to hanging around with his dormmates and would occasionally curse when really angry, but not like Li Sisi, who seemed to have profanity constantly on her lips.
"Rest a bit more before distributing flyers. I'll come help you after I finish mine." Lin Nan said this while picking up the costume head from nearby and putting it on. Though his words were caring, his feet were already eager to leave. "Don't push yourself too hard. If you get heatstroke, medical bills would cost more than distributing flyers."
"I know."
Lin Nan didn't hear Li Sisi's response and turned to head back to the traffic control uncle's side.
There was an umbrella there. While working in the sun wasn't impossible, having some shade was always more comfortable.
He distributed flyers as before, but the uncle didn't chat with Lin Nan like earlier. Lin Nan thought his money-grabbing behavior might have scared the uncle.
But there was nothing he could do about it. Originally, he still had a thousand yuan for living expenses, which would basically cover daily food and drink if he didn't buy unnecessary things. But now with his father hospitalized and the family still owing on their mortgage, he could only try every means to earn some money.
As for Wu Guodong's side, since he had fooled him too many times, Lin Nan felt a bit guilty and planned to wait a week or two before going to "scam money" again.
He just didn't know what his parents' reaction would be when they saw his current appearance next week when he went home. If he told them about his current situation... they'd probably think he was mentally ill or delusional, right?
Would his parents kick him out? Would they treat him as mentally ill and have him locked up? Or would they confine him at home under house arrest?
Perhaps his parents would think he was a pervert with a male body but female heart?
He always liked to imagine uncertain things in the worst possible direction. This way, even if things really turned out terribly, he'd have some psychological preparation. And if it wasn't as bad as imagined, he'd only feel relieved.
"How about this—you come to my house next Tuesday and take a look?" the uncle beside him suddenly spoke up. "Trying is better than letting him stay home all the time."
Lin Nan was stunned for a moment, then looked up and asked, "One hundred yuan?"
"Fine!" The uncle nodded through gritted teeth. He had never imagined someone could be so shameless.
"Forty yuan per hour?"
"I'll pay according to what you said."
"Mm, then let's add each other on WeChat. I finish class at noon next Tuesday. Send me your home address." Lin Nan instantly forgot the worries in his mind and excitedly took off the mascot costume to pull out his phone from his pocket. "Remember to give me one hundred yuan first when the time comes. I still need to take a taxi there."
The uncle's old face twitched a bit. While adding Lin Nan on WeChat, he earnestly advised, "Young people should look forward, not just think about making money."
"But I'm not just looking at money, am I?" Lin Nan saw they'd become friends and nodded with a bright smile. "So it's settled. I'll leave Tuesday at noon. If I take a taxi, round trip, I won't earn much from this hundred yuan. I'm being quite conscientious."
Actually, Lin Nan hadn't figured out at all how he could get the uncle's shut-in son to leave the house, but he figured even if he didn't succeed, at least he would have tried, right?
"Several of my nephews and nieces have tried. My son just refuses to step out the door." The uncle shook his head.
"What's your son's name?"
"Chen Jiang."
Hmm, good name. He just didn't know if this trip would result in him being "sunk in the Min River." (TN: 陈江, Chen Jiang–Name; 沉江, Chén jiāng–To sink or drown in a river.)
Lin Nan felt this name was a bit intimidating, but the uncle didn't think there was anything strange about his son's name at all. He was just a bit confused by Lin Nan's ghostly expression.
"What does he usually do hiding in his room?" Lin Nan scratched his head and asked. "I need to know some of his interests and hobbies before I can make a move."
"Just plays games, I think?" The uncle answered with some uncertainty. "Anyway, nothing good comes from playing on the computer all day."
Hmm, games.
Lin Nan felt the uncle's son was somewhat similar to his uncle—both were gaming shut-ins.
Perhaps his uncle and Chen Jiang would have some common ground, like those long, highly embarrassing body pillows? Unfortunately, his uncle was busy with work and couldn't possibly come help him now.
"What about his personality?"
"His personality is fine. He just doesn't say more than two sentences a day and won't chat with us." The uncle continued with distress. "We didn't understand before, but now looking at the internet, we know we should chat more with our children. But now he gets annoyed when he sees me."
"Could it be that he encountered something that hit him hard when he graduated?" Lin Nan speculated.
Some college students had weak psychological resilience, or perhaps had never faced major setbacks in their lives, so they could easily have mental breakdowns from a single breakup or job interview rejection.
"He won't say, so I don't know."
It seemed not only was he a shut-in, but also withdrawn, with a poor relationship with his family.
Lin Nan frowned in thought and asked, "So he never goes out to watch movies either?"
A few years ago, the Warcraft movie had become popular throughout gaming circles. Game enthusiasts would probably all be interested in buying tickets to watch it for two hours.
"I've never seen him go out."
"Does his room have lots of plastic figurines? And lots of stuffed animals that girls usually like?"
Now the uncle looked completely surprised: "Did you install surveillance in my house?"