007. Blackout
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Due to getting a late start, Lin Nan only managed to work for one hour during her first lunch shift.
The afternoon deliveries would be handled by the cafeteria’s dedicated delivery person, but their speed usually left much to be desired—food deliveries typically took around forty to fifty minutes.
When Lin Nan returned to the dormitory, her face was pale and her legs felt like jelly, as if she had just survived seven rounds of intense cardio.
Chen Yao and Tu Junhui were likely just rolling out of bed, huddled together to discuss the evening’s dorm party, while Xiong Da sat at the table, engrossed in his game on his phone.
As soon as Lin Nan walked into the room, all eyes turned toward her, and she instantly froze, stiff as a board.
Since when did she become so sensitive to the gaze of others? She dreaded the possibility of someone noticing her unique quirks.
Her chest was just starting to develop; surely no one would notice! Her hands and feet were doing nothing weird, so she was pretty sure there weren’t any “feminine” actions going on.
After a moment of anxious pondering, Lin Nan’s stiffness began to ease.
“I told you, delivering food isn’t exactly a walk in the park,” Xiong Da sighed dramatically. “You took almost an hour to deliver, and it’s not your fault, but the noodles are a total mess now.”
“Maybe they flew in from Beijing by plane?” Tu Junhui chimed in with his usual teasing tone.
Lin Nan felt a blush creep across her cheeks and promptly returned to her seat, rubbing her sore calves, utterly defeated.
Who was the genius who guaranteed that delivering food was a walk in the park during lunch?!
Her face burned with shame over her own bluster.
Declining stamina? Totally Lilith’s fault! Although she had no idea how soul-level stuff affected physical energy, anytime she felt something strange with her body lately, it was probably because of her.
And now it was actually affecting her development!
With a deep sigh, Lin Nan listened as her roommates’ teasing felt more like barbed jabs. Chen Yao was all right, just cheerfully bouncing over to ask, “Why didn’t the cafeteria have you deliver to the girls’ dorm? Doesn’t that seem like a missed opportunity?!”
“There’s an old lady over there handling it. Plus, I can’t even get in!”
“How could you not get in? Just dress in a girl’s outfit and stroll right in…” Chen Yao was about to go on when he suddenly caught sight of Lin Nan’s pouty face and quickly switched topics. “How about we head to the back gate for dinner tonight?”
Lin Nan perked up instantly, her gaze shifting to her most fearsome look.
“You’re treating, right?” she asked, all bright-eyed.
“Split the bill!”
Her excitement deflated like a popped balloon, and she collapsed on the table, shaking her head wildly, “No way! I’m still recovering from that delivery, and if I sit down now, I won’t get back up!”
“What did you even deliver? Join me for casting practice; you’ll earn more than delivering food. If that doesn’t work out, you can always serve tables. Just standing around is better than running back and forth.”
“And really, how out of shape are you? It’s just a few flights of stairs!”
No way! After boasting about her prowess, backing out after an hour would not look good.
“Just think of it as a workout! My endurance is probably low because… I haven’t stepped out of my comfort zone in ages, yeah.” She scrambled to justify her unwillingness.
But for real, actually working out was not happening—not in this lifetime.
Lin Nan’s mind started racing, wondering if she could use magic to temporarily or even permanently boost her stamina.
Suddenly, she recalled her recent magical experience involving cross-dressing.
Before that time, she had been fused with Lilith’s soul for two days, and aside from her subconscious actions tending to lean feminine, she hadn’t noticed anything else off. But it seemed after using magic, her classmates noted her skin was paler, she was shorter, and even her chest began to develop.
Because the changes were subtle, she didn’t realize her body was shifting until she started dorm living…
Noticing that Lin Nan had spaced out, Chen Yao waved his hand in front of her face, but got no reaction. So he leaned in closer, proper nose-to-nose style.
Still no response.
But Lin Nan’s dazed expression? How had he never noticed how adorably clueless she looked?
Not bothering to wake her up, he called over their other two roommates to gawk at Lin Nan’s blank stare.
However, before the others could reach them, Lin Nan suddenly slapped Chen Yao on the back of the head, exclaiming, “What the hell are you getting so close for?!”
Caught off guard, Chen Yao nearly smacked his chin on the table but quickly caught himself with his arms and stood up, muttering angrily, “What’s wrong with you!”
Lin Nan shot him a glare, but then Chen Yao gave her a puzzled look, “Why are you giving me bedroom eyes?”
“He did that to me too at lunch,” Xiong Da chimed in while gaming, “Guess he’s feeling a little frisky?”
Always with the ice-cold face throwing around comments like that—Xiong Da was obviously the shy type pretending to be a stoic love god.
Just then, a loud shriek came from the back, drawing everyone’s attention to Tu Junhui, who was having a meltdown.
“What’s wrong with you?” Chen Yao leaned in to investigate, only to discover Tu Junhui was standing on a scale, staring at the screen in disbelief. He couldn’t help but burst into laughter, “Did you really gain twenty pounds over the summer?! Weren’t you just bragging about being down one hundred and eighty before vacation?”
“d*mn it!” Tu Junhui cursed as he stepped off the scale, grumbling to himself, “No wonder I felt like I was piling on the pounds.”
Lin Nan was ready to jump in on the roasting bandwagon, but just as she opened her mouth, there was a sudden “beep” sound, and all the electronic devices in the dorm cut off.
Lin Nan stood there, blinking in confusion as the fan slowed to a halt, and her phone flashed a low battery warning.
“Wait, what? There’s a blackout?” Tu Junhui—a notorious heat-hater—most of the time wandering around in just his boxers while blasting the AC, was now completely dumbfounded by the sudden power loss.
Xiong Da silently put away his phone, “My phone’s dead too; anyone got a power bank?”
Chen Yao checked his phone to confirm it had charged last night. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Then the four of them exchanged glances. In the scorching heat of late August, they were collectively in denial about living without air conditioning or power.
The atmosphere grew tense, with the remaining cool air in the room quickly fading. Tu Junhui, desperate to strip off his clothes, looked miserable, and Lin Nan, feeling gloomy, lay on the desk trying to absorb any coolness, while Chen Yao opened the door in search of a faint summer breeze—which didn’t exist, just hot, twisted air. Xiong Da had ditched his shirt and was trying to wipe off his sweat with lukewarm water from the faucet on the balcony.
“Want to head to the internet café?”
Someone casually suggested, and instantly four voices chorused, “Let’s go!”
