283. Online Classes 【11/122】
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Normally, classes start around the Lantern Festival every year.
But this year is a bit unusual.
On the third day after the Lantern Festival, Lin Nan’s school officially began online classes. To save on data, she could only use WiFi for her lessons.
“Uncle, I’ve taken over your room with Liu Xinyi!”
Today, Lin Nan kicked open Wu Guodong’s bedroom door as if they were bandits, hands on their hips, strutting into the room with the confidence of mischief-makers.
“Get up already! I have class at 8:30!” Lin Nan shot a disapproving glance at Wu Guodong, who was jolted awake by their antics, and grumbled, “Didn’t I tell you yesterday that we’d be using your room?”
“Yeah, I’m a senior! 8 AM today, and in a couple of days it’ll be 7 AM for early study.” Liu Xinyi chimed in, “Uncle, if I don’t get into Tsinghua, it’ll all be your fault.”
Wu Guodong had been sleeping soundly, yet here he was, feeling inexplicably guilty—why? He yawned and reluctantly crawled out of bed, only to realize he was wearing nothing but boxers. The poor guy blushed like a ripe tomato and ducked back under the covers, “You two go out; I need to get dressed.”
“Ooh, Uncle is shy~” Liu Xinyi teased with delight, “Uncle’s so small~”
With her face aflame, Lin Nan yanked Liu Xinyi, who was still teasing, out of the room.
After waiting a moment outside, Wu Guodong finally emerged with an expression that screamed “nothing happened.” He shot a glare at the two girls and grumbled, “As if you’re actually going to class. You’re probably just going to huddle with your phones playing games.”
“I don’t play mobile games,” Lin Nan retorted. “At most, I just scroll through Bilibili.”
“Does it make a difference?”
Sighing deeply as he left his room, Wu Guodong couldn’t shake off the feeling that the next days were going to be rough.
He was supposed to be back to work on the fifth day of the new year, but here he was, dealing with this chaos. Who knew when the company could start back up?
And after returning to work, he might have to face salary cuts and layoffs.
With a furrowed brow, he trudged downstairs, burdened by his mortgage and car loan. Sure, he had saved up over a hundred thousand, but this situation couldn’t last.
Liu Xinyi turned back to him, puzzled, asking Lin Nan, “Isn’t it just waking him up? Why does he look like he’s just seen a ghost?”
“Mind your own business; he’s your uncle too!” Lin Nan shot back.
“Just speaking the truth, heh…”
Lin Nan plopped down on the bed with her laptop, while Liu Xinyi dashed over to Wu Guodong’s desk to use his laptop. With a little time left before class, they could chat a bit.
“Probably just the mortgage and car loans. You know, there’s a joke on Douyin about a person losing their job halfway through the New Year,” Lin Nan hurriedly downloaded some anime onto Wu Guodong’s laptop, planning to enjoy it later.
“Tsk, the adult world, I don’t get it,” Liu Xinyi sighed, propping her chin on her hand at the computer, stifling a yawn, “I guess I need to start classes now.”
This was Liu Xinyi’s first online class, and she was a bit out of her element, thinking she could play on the computer while treating it like background noise.
But when she began the online class, she soon realized that the video couldn’t be masked by any other software, permanently anchoring itself at the forefront of her screen.
When she had already opened LOL, her expression was nothing short of confusion.
Lin Nan was somewhat familiar with online classes from university; she typically kept her phone up while gaming on the computer, and this time was no different. After each class, she’d magically review the key points—the perks of her quick memory magic.
However, attending class at home was a whole different can of worms.
Without her quirky roommates, the lively atmosphere was gone. No more sneaking peeks at classmates’ screens, no more whispering about games, nor secret anime-watching or jamming to music.
Online classes just didn’t have the same flair.
When she was at school, she got to experience the thrill of whispering to friends during lectures and the exhilarating danger of skipping classes. Now, all of that was nowhere to be found.
Lin Nan expressionlessly sat through an hour of lessons, feeling as though she’d fallen into an emotional pit. With a sigh, she moved over to Liu Xinyi.
“I need to go upstairs for a sec; if someone asks about me, just wing it.” She set the laptop down on the desk and instructed Liu Xinyi.
“What if I mess up?”
“Don’t worry; the teacher won’t mind,” Lin Nan yawned and turned to leave the bedroom.
“Hey!”
Liu Xinyi wanted to say something more, but Lin Nan was already out of the room, phone in hand.
She felt that just sitting there listening to lectures was less comfortable than laying around zoning out, just like how some people would rather stare blankly in bed than get up to write.
Returning to her own room, she glanced at the two cats currently occupying her bed.
“Hey! Lin Nan, I’ve had enough of you! Hurry up and get me a new partner!”
Cola suddenly jumped up, furiously directing her complaints at Lin Nan.
Lin Nan was taken aback. This cat had been an idiot for over a week—what had sparked its sudden mental clarity today?
“I was just pretending to be dumb! No need to make such a grand fuss!” Cola attempted to stand on its hind legs, trying to mimic Lin Nan’s pose, but quickly flopped back down on the bed, continuing to rant, “I can’t stand the food here! I want to go to Chen Yao’s and eat lobster! Not this soup and leftover slop!”
At least that was a rare moment of long-windedness, but sadly, Lin Nan couldn’t understand any of it apart from the general irritation in its tone.
She grabbed Cola by the scruff of its neck, darkly asking, “In heat?”
The three words instantly silenced Cola, which scurried away to sit next to Sprite.
Cola was absolutely certain that Sprite wasn’t Li Na; after all, Li Na hadn’t shown her face for ages.
And if her son could get so confused, who knew how much longer this act could last before he really mistook a thief for his mother?
“Crazy cat,” Lin Nan muttered, flopping down onto the bed. Just then, she noticed Sprite slowly creeping forward, and before she knew it, it kicked her off the bed.
This cat was a total player!
Lin Nan had repeatedly found herself lost in the irresistible cuteness of Sprite, only to end up being taken advantage of.
Even during showers, she’d caught it peeking, prompting her to block off the vent in her bathroom door with cardboard.
She scooped up the sneaky Cola, cuddling it close.
“Pervert! Let go!”
The more Cola resisted, the more excited Lin Nan became; she suspected she might have developed a bit of a cat-obsession.
“Who knows when we’ll be able to go back to class…”
Snuggling the cat, Lin Nan gazed up at the ceiling, speaking to herself.
