085. Typhoon
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Lin Nan was currently very troubled by his appearance.
Every day when he left the dormitory to go to class, he could hear some strangers gossiping about him. The teacher even caught him twice during roll call, claiming he was being marked present by someone else. Gossip about him was spreading through the class, and some of the girl classmates seemed to always look at him with a hint of jealousy.
His manly facial contours had disappeared for only about a week; in his eyes, he still had some flaws—like a few spots on his cheekbones, the marks left by the acne on the corners of his mouth, some tiny pits on his cheeks, and those pesky whiteheads that stubbornly clung to his nose. He had many blemishes, but they weren’t very obvious. Even he had to get up really close to the mirror to see them. But to outsiders, his skin seemed almost gloriously perfect!
If he could unlock magic next time, maybe those blemishes would vanish too?
Lin Nan’s mindset now resembled that of a girl using skincare for the first time; watching her skin get better day by day, she would naturally want to buy even more fancy products. All Lin Nan needed to do was unlock more magic.
In class, he casually cast a Purification Magic on himself and felt like he had lost half a pound, his whole body feeling much more relaxed.
Tu Junhui, sitting next to him, seemed to sense something and turned his head to look at Lin Nan, then quietly asked, “Lin Nan, I’ve noticed you haven’t been to the bathroom recently. Constipated?”
Lin Nan gave him a face that looked like he just swallowed a fly, utterly disgusted. “Why the heck are you keeping track of my bathroom habits?”
“Well, at least I’ve noticed you haven’t been out to the balcony all Tuesday,” Tu Junhui said with innocent concern. “There’s a clinic off-campus that sells laxatives, you know.”
“Gross…”
“How is that gross? I’m just being helpful here!”
Lin Nan shifted his b*tt, trying to create some distance from Tu Junhui, but as he moved, his arm bumped into Chen Yao on the other side.
Chen Yao shot him a glance and asked, “When are you buying your round-trip ticket? Let’s at least try to sit together.”
“Isn’t that app a hassle?” Lin Nan scratched his head. “Buying it at the station might take at least four hours for the round trip. Plus, with the wait, it could stretch to five. I really don’t have the time right now with classes…”
True enough…
Chen Yao rubbed his temples. Even if there was time to go buy a ticket at the station, he wouldn’t want to squeeze into that bus, packed tighter than a can of sardines.
Their school wasn’t too far from the county town of their old home; the train ride took just over an hour. But every time they took the bus, it took way longer, like dying a slow d*ath in transit.
He regretted not checking the transportation when he chose this school. Otherwise, there was no way he would have ended up in such a remote suburban school.
“Just pick the same train,” Lin Nan said, taking out his phone to check the train schedule for Friday night around nine.
Right now, there weren’t any holidays that would send students rushing home, so there were plenty of seats available on the trains—it was basically just random picking.
Chen Yao thought Lin Nan’s current situation was actually very dangerous.
He had seen Lin Nan’s medical report and knew that although Lin Nan was eighteen, due to some organs developing slowly, he had only just entered puberty. His body and appearance were rapidly taking on feminine traits. Yet, in his mind, he was still stuck in nearly twenty years of boyhood, completely unaware that he might be attracting unwanted attention.
At least in Chen Yao’s mind, Lin Nan’s changes were quite scientifically valid; after all, apart from his mom, he hadn’t had any deep interactions with girls in his life.
Lin Nan leaned over to confirm that Chen Yao had indeed bought the same train ticket as him before looking back at the teacher at the front.
Most of the classmates were busy playing games or watching videos on their phones, or whispering to each other, with barely anyone paying attention. Yet, the teacher remained unperturbed, sitting confidently at the podium, head down, controlling the computer and projecting the screen. He proceeded to read from the slides monotonously.
This teacher didn’t take attendance today, and coincidentally, Xiong Da, who had stayed up all night, also didn’t show up. Lin Nan felt tempted to skip class.
Glancing towards the back door, he noticed four classmates who had been there were already nowhere to be seen.
It was only mid-October, with finals still two or three months away. Lin Nan wasn’t in a hurry at all. He figured by then they would all gather in the library or dormitory to study, and if worst came to worst, he could use some kind of magic to speed-read, right?
Or maybe a good magic for cheating, something like the Byakugan from Naruto?
“Hey, Nan Nan, skipping class?” Before Lin Nan could suggest anything, Tu Junhui was already asking.
“Let’s just finish this class, okay?” Lin Nan said, his heart racing. “The teacher might take attendance next class.”
“Who cares? This teacher barely takes attendance anyway. If we get marked absent once or twice, it won’t matter,” Tu Junhui continued to coax Lin Nan.
Lin Nan nodded without hesitation, and while Chen Yao didn’t agree, it looked like he had no intention of staying in class alone.
But just as they finished talking, the weather took a turn for the worse. From clear skies, suddenly thunder cracked, and just like that, rain began to pour down like someone turned on a deluge.
The classrooms filled with the groans of students.
Since there had been no sign of rain in the morning, most students hadn’t even bothered bringing umbrellas.
The three of them, who were about to skip class, were dumbfounded, all turning to watch the torrential rain outside and the classmate by the window frantically trying to close it.
Now no one could escape class. If the rain persisted, they might have to run back to the dorms in the downpour.
The happiest people should be the new students in military training. With no indoor facility available, they’d probably just dissolve the groups and head back to their dorms to play games.
“I think I heard on the news that there’s a typhoon today…” Tu Junhui suddenly recalled, “No wonder it’s so windy.”
“Where’s it making landfall?”
“Not too far from school, I think?” Tu Junhui scratched his head and checked the typhoon path on his phone, finally letting out a mournful sigh, “It’s a super strong typhoon, and we’re right in its path. The school is probably going to lose power…”
Lin Nan was in a state of shock.
Though he lived by the coast, he had only experienced two major typhoons in his life and barely remembered them. Most other typhoons just brought a bit of cool air in the summer.
Chen Yao was also checking the typhoon path map while complaining, “This typhoon suddenly turned and headed straight for us. Is it out of its mind? But it’s not hitting until tomorrow; we should stock up on supplies today. It’ll be a hassle if there’s no water or power.”
“Shouldn’t we go back and put some tape on the windows?” Lin Nan suggested.
“That’s useless; it’s been debunked ages ago…”
