267. Video
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In the evening, Lin Nan finished her meal at her grandfather’s house and headed straight back to her bedroom on the third floor.
Her mood was inexplicably gloomy. Even with two peers around, she felt that her grandfather’s house lacked anything remotely interesting.
The town’s pandemic measures weren’t too shabby; you could often hear broadcasts from moving vehicles. Mostly, it was just middle-aged and elderly people here, and on ordinary days, you hardly saw anyone on the streets. During this special period, not a single car could be seen for half an hour.
Her grandparents had lost the joy of playing mahjong. It was said that two weeks ago, they had gone to play as usual but got reported by some kid from the neighborhood. The police showed up, smashed the mahjong table, and sent the group of seniors back home like they were naughty children.
This meant that they could only huddle in the living room or bedroom, watching movies with a few kids.
Downstairs, the movie had already started. Wu Guodong had set up a projector in the living room, projecting images onto the wall, and apparently, the effect was decent, just enough to create a squint-worthy illusion of a cinema.
However, Lin Nan wasn’t too interested in the film. She lay sideways on her bed, scrolling through short videos and occasionally checking her QQ with great anticipation—yet nothing ever came.
“They promised daily video chats…” Lin Nan grumbled, flipping over. “But not even a single message.”
It had been a few hours since she left in the afternoon, and Chen Yao was as silent as a tomb. Lin Nan suspected he was glued to a game instead.
But she couldn’t think of anything to message him about.
With a sigh, she realized she really wasn’t used to her grandfather’s cooking. Nowadays, he couldn’t even go out every day to buy takeout for her like before, leading to her barely finishing her meal tonight with just a few bites.
Who knew why the beef at her grandfather’s house was so tough you could hardly chew it?
And any meat with skin—beef, pork, or fish—had visible hairs or scales still clinging to them.
With a face of despair, Lin Nan felt like even though her stomach was full, having hardly eaten any veggies made her feel like she hadn’t eaten at all.
Meanwhile, the two cats, Cola and Sprite, were also looking miserable, lying beside her. They hadn’t saved any cat food, and once the expiry date passed, it had gone stale. They had a few cans left, but they were stuck with the sad fate of eating leftover soup mixed with rice that Grandma prepared.
After waiting for an hour in bed, and by 7 PM, still no news in sight, she hugged her pajamas and decided to take a shower.
The pajamas were a cute onesie from Chen Yao’s mom. A bit too adorable, but at least it wrapped around her snugly enough to prevent any potentially embarrassing situations.
Unlike that flimsy nightgown her mother bought her… wearing that felt like being practically n*ked.
Clutching her clothes, she walked into the bathroom, plugged the bathtub, and turned on the faucet.
Locking the bathroom door, she stripped down and stood in front of the half-length mirror.
It seemed… she was getting more comfortable with this feminine body.
Staring at her reflection, she felt slightly bashful, but the disgust she initially had for her body had faded, whether out of habit or something else entirely.
Tilting her head, she observed herself in the mirror for a moment before letting out a sigh and muttering, “If I had a girlfriend with skin and curves like this back in the day, I’d definitely wake up laughing in the middle of the night.”
“Turns out…”
She stepped into the bathtub, gradually crouching down until she lay back in the water.
At her height, she had to bend her knees slightly to fit entirely in the tub, but if it was Liu Xinyi, she could probably lie flat without a care in the world.
Feeling the water rise steadily from her hips to her waist, Lin Nan hugged her phone closer and wasted time scrolling through more amusing short videos.
Eventually, the water level reached her collarbone just as she was about to put her phone down to start her bath. Suddenly, she got a video call from Chen Yao.
Her eyes lit up, and without thinking, she clicked to answer, only to have her face drop as she realized she was in a state of full fruitiness.
“Why’s it so foggy on your end?”
Fortunately, the hot water from winter filled the bathtub to the brim, so the bathroom was enveloped in a cloud of mist.
Lin Nan propped her phone on the edge of the tub where she kept her bathing supplies, adjusting the angle to ensure only her face was visible. She finally sighed in relief.
“Just washing up.”
Under the steam, Chen Yao couldn’t even see her face clearly.
But, thinking about it, Lin Nan was wearing absolutely nothing right now…
“Good, good.”
Just from his tone, Lin Nan could tell what was going on in his head, and she rolled her eyes silently. “I’ll have to hang up soon. If I keep soaking here, I might just drown myself.”
“Live bath streaming?”
“Yeah, dream on!”
Lin Nan settled back comfortably in the tub, glancing at Chen Yao sitting in front of his computer on the other end of the video call. She pursed her lips and started complaining, “You must have gamed all afternoon, right?”
“Not really, I made a video too, and I’m still uploading it.” Chen Yao’s eyes were glued to the screen where Lin Nan was.
Lin Nan was already pretty and in the mist, her delicate face was partially obscured, reminiscent of the prettiest fairy from a stage show. Even though she tried her best to only show her face in the camera, you could still vaguely see the rise and fall of her collarbone.
He suddenly wondered if this was intentional seduction.
But Lin Nan was blissfully unaware and continued her rant about how boring her grandfather’s house was.
“The internet here is terrible; it takes ages to load a TikTok.” She looked at Chen Yao’s face on her phone and shifted the topic abruptly, “Why not just let your hair grow a bit? You can’t get a haircut anyway—who knows, you might look good like that!”
“Yeah, I have no choice but to let it grow,” Chen Yao said, running a hand through his bangs that fell onto his forehead.
Suddenly, Lin Nan halted, staring wide-eyed at a cockroach lazily emerging from behind the toilet.
Her brows knitted together. Even though she wasn’t one to freak out at the sight of a cockroach, who wouldn’t find that disgusting?
“What’s wrong?”
“A cockroach is crawling on the wall.” Lin Nan grabbed the nearby body wash, aiming it confidently at the roach, “Watch me smash it!”
If it weren’t for the video call, she’d have jumped up and squished it with a slipper.
Chen Yao was indifferent; he knew the roach wouldn’t harm Lin Nan. He yawned nonchalantly, “What did you have for dinner?”
“Beef, drunken crab, wine-battered clams, and cabbage.”
“Not bad, sounds pretty rich.”
Lin Nan sighed, “I don’t like wine-battered stuff; you know that.”
The cockroach on the wall suddenly halted, giving Lin Nan just the opening she needed. She hurled the body wash straight at it.
However, the cockroach sensed the danger immediately, spread its wings, and flew away just in time to avoid the attack, directly targeting Lin Nan’s face.
Lin Nan’s mind went blank; watching the cockroach rush towards her face, she instinctively leaped up and ran.
“Ahhh!!!”
Chen Yao looked up in concern at his computer screen as he heard her scream, “What…”
But suddenly, his voice caught in his throat.
