The part-time job ended around seven in the evening. After eating dinner outside, Lin Nan returned to the dormitory.
He used his key to open the drawer and organized his medical examination report.
Although his parents had probably given him medical checkups after birth, that was eighteen years ago. Medical standards weren't high back then, so errors would be normal... right? Anyway, the hospital probably wouldn't have records from that long ago, so if his parents blamed him later, the hospital would take the blame.
After all, there were cases of hospitals mixing up babies back in that era, right?
Recalling his memories from childhood to now, at least from when Lin Nan could remember, he had never had medical examinations like ultrasounds. Most checkups were organized by school and generally just involved measuring height, checking heartbeat, and testing for nearsightedness—simple examinations like that. He had never been seriously ill since childhood, mostly just fevers and colds that community hospitals could handle.
He wondered if this medical report could fool his parents.
Lin Nan anxiously folded the medical examination report again, preparing to stuff it back into the drawer, when suddenly a shadow flashed by and the medical report in his hands instantly disappeared.
He looked up in terror to see Tu Junhui behind him, teasing while asking, "Why so secretive about it? Oh? A medical examination report?"
"Give it back!" Lin Nan's face darkened as he tried to snatch it back, but his height was really a disadvantage. Tu Junhui just stood on his toes and held it high with one hand, and no matter how Lin Nan jumped around, he couldn't touch the medical report.
"Why so nervous? Do you have AIDS or something?" Tu Junhui continued teasing. He was too lazy to actually look at the medical report and just stood on his toes watching Lin Nan hop around beside him.
Lin Nan was so anxious he was almost in tears, but still tried his best to snatch back his medical report. Tu Junhui hadn't noticed at all and continued holding the medical report high, chuckling.
He suddenly had the illusion of teasing a girl, and this illusion made him even more excited.
"How can you be so short? You must be severely disabled."
"What's in this medical report that can't be seen? Hepatitis B? AIDS? Don't tell me the checkup confirmed you're actually a girl?"
Having his truth accidentally hit, Lin Nan became even more panicked. His mind went completely blank, unable to think of any other solution, so he could only desperately jump up, but no matter what, he couldn't reach that medical report.
Finally, Xiong Da, who was reading a novel on his bed, spoke up as a reminder: "Junhui, that's going too far."
"Really?" Tu Junhui was stunned for a moment and looked back at Xiong Da. "Just joking around."
Lin Nan stopped, panting heavily, and angrily cursed at him: "Who's joking with you! Fuck your mother for giving birth to you!" (TN: Added some flair.)
Now Tu Junhui was even more confused. Usually Lin Nan would at most use profanity to express emotional fluctuations, but this was the first time in all this time he'd heard Lin Nan curse someone's mother.
That was local dialect for cursing someone's mother, quite harsh. Such language was never heard in their dormitory normally.
He looked down at Lin Nan, who was trembling with anger, and only then realized Lin Nan's eyes were red, with tears already rolling in his eye sockets. Yet he was still trying to put on a fierce, glaring expression, looking very wronged.
"Here, here you go."
He sheepishly handed over the medical report, which Lin Nan snatched away in one motion. Without saying a word, he climbed onto his bed and pulled the blanket over his head.
"Is it really that serious..." He was still slow to realize, scratching his head. Not quite comfortable apologizing directly, he asked Lin Nan in a roundabout way, "How about I order takeout for you tonight?"
"I'm not eating!"
"What do you want to eat? No matter how expensive, I can afford it!" Tu Junhui pounded his chest and said in a grand tone, "Money's no object!"
"Get lost!" Lin Nan said angrily from under the covers.
So Tu Junhui smoothly rolled back to his own spot, still completely puzzled about why that medical report was so important to Lin Nan.
Before long, he couldn't contain himself again and carefully asked, "I'm ordering takeout. Are you really not eating?"
"Get lost!"
Tu Junhui could only look pleadingly at Xiong Da, but Xiong Da expressionlessly turned his head away, not wanting to look at him.
This guy was just too stupid, wasn't he?
At that moment, Chen Yao, who had been participating in the basketball game, entered wearing his game jersey and wiping sweat. As soon as he returned to the dormitory, he felt waves of palpitations and unease. He looked around but didn't notice anything wrong.
Lin Nan was tired from distributing flyers in the afternoon and was on his bed, Xiong Da was reading a novel, Tu Junhui sat in his chair playing on the computer. Everything seemed as harmoniously as before... except it was strangely quiet, and the atmosphere was tense as if World War III was about to break out.
They couldn't have gotten into a fight, could they?
But Xiong Da had a good temper, never got angry, and didn't compete with anyone. Lin Nan's personality could be irritable sometimes, but he also knew his physique wasn't good, so he never fought since childhood. Tu Junhui did indeed have a troublemaking personality—not only was he the most annoying but also had a bunch of bad habits.
Sensing the atmosphere in the dormitory, Chen Yao didn't dare act carelessly either. He tiptoed to close the door, trying not to make any sound, while using his eyes to question Tu Junhui.
Tu Junhui, seeing his savior had finally arrived, hurriedly got up and dragged Chen Yao, who hadn't caught his breath yet, out to the corridor.
After understanding the situation, Chen Yao gained new recognition of Tu Junhui's ability to cause trouble.
Wasn't this just asking for it?
He knew the inside story and had seen that medical report, so of course he knew why Lin Nan had panicked like that.
He looked speechlessly at Tu Junhui, who now wanted to apologize but had no way to do so, shook his head and patted his shoulder: "You're done for. Lin Nan will definitely remember this for life."
"Nan Nan isn't that type of person, is he?"
Chen Yao was speechless, shrugged his shoulders, left Tu Junhui in the corridor, and went directly back into the dormitory.
He had known Lin Nan for a long time and knew that when Lin Nan was angry, it was best not to disturb him too much. After a while, his emotions would gradually calm down... he just didn't know if Lin Nan's mindset was now shifting toward that of a girl. If so, it would probably be troublesome.
Although Chen Yao had never been in a relationship, he had learned from the internet how difficult it was to appease an angry girl.
He looked up at Lin Nan's bed but could only see the lump under the covers.
"Lin Nan, want to go to the cafeteria together for dinner?"
"Already ate."
It seemed Lin Nan wasn't angry to the point of lashing out at everyone indiscriminately.
Chen Yao felt somewhat relieved and asked again, "How about a late-night snack? Junhui says he'll treat us to crayfish and barbecue."
"Not eating."
"Junhui says you don't need to pay back the remaining hundred or so yuan for that computer."
Tu Junhui, who had just followed from the corridor into the room, was confused. He didn't seem to have said that, did he?
"Really?"
"Really!" Tu Junhui confirmed without hesitation. "I'm not short on money anyway!"
"Then the barbecue..."
Tu Junhui quickly nodded: "My treat! Eat as much as you want!"
Only then did Lin Nan poke his head out from under the covers. His hair was messy, and he looked at the two with red-rimmed eyes, then snorted lightly: "Call me when it's time."
"Got it!"