086. Shopping Frenzy [Extra Update 6/53]
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By noon, the rain had eased, and Lin Nan and her gang of three rushed toward the school supermarket.
However, when they arrived, they quickly discovered they were too late.
The supermarket looked like it was having a massive sale, with students pouring in like their lives depended on it, snatching up every visible food item and hauling boxes of water outside like they were preparing for an apocalypse.
Lin Nan was flabbergasted, but Tu Junhui rolled up his sleeves and dived right in.
“Nan Nan, you wait outside, I’m going in too.” Tu Junhui, being tall and imposing, squeezed his way through, leaving a trail of disoriented students in his wake. He strutted like a general on a battlefield, bulldozing all those in his path out of the way.
The students around, whether scrawny or overly hefty, could only fume silently; after all, a single glance at Tu Junhui’s solid physique was enough to send them scurrying.
Despite looking like a ball now, Tu Junhui had once been a fitness buff. Underneath that exterior, he was surprisingly strong.
Lin Nan wanted to squeeze in as well, but ever since Lilith showed up, his stamina and physical abilities had plummeted. He was terrified of getting knocked over inside and causing a stampede.
It’s all Lilith’s fault.
He was worried that the approaching typhoon might derail his Friday plans, yet he secretly hoped it would give him a legitimate excuse to avoid his parents’ nagging.
But deep down, he knew he would have to face that situation sooner or later. It was better to deal with it now than to turn into a girl or become completely unrecognizable later on.
Caught in a whirlwind of indecision, he vacillated between retreating and diving in.
“Nan Nan.”
A familiar female voice called from behind. Suddenly, Lin Nan felt his waist being wrapped, and a tingling sensation shot up his spine, shocking him almost into a jump.
He never realized how sensitive his waist was.
Turning around, he saw it was Li Na, with their previous makeup artist Liu Xuefei alongside her, and two other girls behind them whispering to one another.
“Are you here to buy water and snacks too?” Lin Nan tried to wriggle free from Li Na’s grip.
“Nan Nan’s waist is so slim~”
“Yeah, with her sun protection layer on, you can’t even tell, but when Li Na squeezes you, it feels thinner than my waist,” Liu Xuefei chimed in, looking envious.
Lin Nan sneakily glanced at Liu Xuefei’s waist. Sure, she was slender, but her frame seemed a tad bigger, so even though she was skinny, she still gave off a perception of bulkiness.
“Nan Nan, hold the water. I’m going back in for another box,” Tu Junhui squeezed out, handing a large box of water to Lin Nan. But when he spotted the girls next to Lin Nan, he froze and took two steps back. “Am I interrupting something?”
He suddenly felt like Lin Nan was being a bit too chummy with the girls.
Li Na seemed clueless about the social dynamics, or maybe as someone from another world, she didn’t care. She nodded eagerly, about to speak, but Lin Nan clopped his head and swallowed her words back.
Li Na looked so pitiful, gazing at Lin Nan with those big innocent eyes, but Lin Nan brutally pried her hands off his waist and stepped forward to take the water from Tu Junhui.
So heavy…
Lin Nan struggled to hold the box of water, but Li Na flew over, grabbed the outer plastic and lifted it effortlessly.
This girl is a true monster.
Lin Nan guessed Li Na must be loaded with some kind of passive buffs or magic. When they first met, he had a feeling she summoned an entire Pacific Ocean just to counter his escape on the playground.
It could also be because she was still getting accustomed to her new self after being transported.
Li Na’s roommate also squeezed in for water, and after waiting a moment outside, Lin Nan curiously sidled back to Li Na.
“Do you have any magic that can change how others perceive things?”
“Lilith knows how to do that too,” Li Na looked up and replied.
“I know…”
If it weren’t for the ridiculously loose conditions to unlock that kind of magic, Lin Nan wouldn’t have asked Li Na for help.
“Then why don’t you learn it yourself?” Li Na replied, utterly convinced, “I need to save my magic power for going home! Your magic power doesn’t matter; when it runs out, you’ll just turn back into a regular person.”
Speaking of which, Lin Nan had never really felt his so-called magic power.
“So just how long can my magic power last?” Lin Nan curiously inquired.
“With the magic you’ve been using lately, it should last you decades!” Li Na said, “But if I were to fight Lilith, I might run out in a day.”
Lin Nan had never thought he had so much so-called magic power. To him, aside from the fleeting moments when he used magic and sensed something strange flowing within, he didn’t feel it otherwise at all.
Finally, Chen Yao and Tu Junhui squeezed out of the supermarket, Tu Junhui lifting yet another box of water, while Chen Yao had two big bags of snacks in tow.
“I’m heading back,” Lin Nan said, giving Li Na a nod as he accepted the box of water and followed Chen Yao and the others out.
After walking a couple hundred meters, Tu Junhui turned back to glance at Li Na and asked Lin Nan, “Isn’t that the girl you argued with on the playground last time? Back then, your relationship seemed pretty lukewarm.”
“Didn’t she keep clinging to you during class? What’s up with that girl?”
“Probably chasing you,” Chen Yao teased, “That girl must be the one whose WeChat you gave to Lin Nan at the last party.”
“Beats me,” Tu Junhui replied, completely baffled.
Upon returning to the dormitory, they found Xiong Da already awake, sprawled on his bed playing on his phone. When he heard the door creak open, he peeked out, nearly fainting at the sight of them carrying an array of bags and boxes.
“Why did you buy so much? Is it the end of the world or something?”
“You don’t live near the coast, do you? This time, the typhoon is hitting right on top of our school. We might lose water and power,” Chen Yao said, stashing the water in a corner, throwing a glance at Lin Nan, who was munching chips like a hamster. “If you keep eating like that, when the power goes out, we’ll be out of food.”
“It’s fine, you bought plenty,” Lin Nan said, stuffing his cheeks full. It had been ages since he had snacks, and now he was stuffing his face without even pausing to chew.
He waddled over to his spot with an armful of snacks, popping open a new bag, and before he could swallow, he shoved more in.
Tu Junhui tried to reach for some snacks, but Lin Nan’s pitiful gaze shot him down. He retracted his hand and laughed awkwardly, “Never knew you were such a snacks fan.”
“Wasn’t that because I was poor?! Once I have money, I’m getting a whole room dedicated to snacks!”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll have a grand old time with my snacks.” Chen Yao rolled his eyes as he fired up a game.
087. GHS?
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The counselor quickly reminded everyone in the class group to stock up on supplies and that tomorrow’s classes were canceled.
By around ten at night, the typhoon arrived on schedule.
While Lin Nan was quite pleased about the day off, listening to the howling wind outside felt eerily like Lilith was summoning it.
Yep, it’s all Lilith’s fault.
In the dorm, they finally turned off the air conditioner for the first time in ages, and Lin Nan didn’t dare use his phone, just plugging it in to ensure it would charge.
Cuddled up in his blanket, Lin Nan listened to the typhoon’s roar outside and the wailing of bored students. Having gone through several typhoons already, he felt nothing more than it being a massive rainstorm.
But Xiong Da, who hailed from the more inland region, was fascinated. He stood by the door, opening it a crack occasionally to feel the fury of the storm, exclaiming in awe before closing it again in a hurry.
“So this is what a typhoon is like?”
Usually expressionless, Xiong Da’s face was now like a human emoji, showcasing every emotion he could muster.
The other three, however, were far less interested in the storm and were mainly concerned about potential power and water outages.
With no classes tomorrow, Lin Nan didn’t plan to sleep early. He curled up in bed, propped his chin on one hand, and watched the movie playing on Tu Junhui’s computer screen from across the room.
Tu Junhui and Xiong Da had bought a computer monitor, so despite being a bit far away, the picture quality was still excellent.
“Change it up! I don’t get this one,” Lin Nan directed after a moment, hoping Tu Junhui would switch the mind-bending film to something more action-packed, “Have you got that Transformers film from a few years ago? Pull that out for me.”
“Didn’t you say you don’t watch meaningless films?”
Tu Junhui casually switched to the film Lin Nan requested.
Lin Nan felt like his roommates were becoming increasingly tolerant of him lately. Though Tu Junhui still teased him often, it seemed he was also looking out for him more.
For example, carrying water upstairs earlier—if it were the old Lin Nan, he’d have certainly picked lighter snacks to carry.
In general, they instinctively thought Lin Nan was weak.
Chen Yao had always been considerate toward him, while Xiong Da usually kept to himself in the dorm, so he hadn’t noticed any change in his attitude.
Regardless, Lin Nan felt more and more at home in the dorm.
Outside, the storm raged, with branches and leaves banging against the door like they were auditioning for a percussion group. Even though the gap under the door was already blocked with old cloth, rainwater still seeped through, with damp leaves trying their best to worm their way inside.
By morning, the dorm floor was likely going to be a disaster zone.
“Whoa!” Xiong Da suddenly exclaimed as he peered through the crack of the door, “A tree is about to fall outside!”
“Are you kidding me?” Tu Junhui quickly dashed over.
Chen Yao, after playing a couple of games, climbed onto his bed, positioning himself face-to-face with Lin Nan as they both watched the movie on Tu Junhui’s computer.
He glanced over at Tu Junhui and Xiong Da, who were both glued to the spectacle outside and whispered to Lin Nan, “Once your identity changes, you’ll probably just have to rent a place outside, right?”
“Maybe I’ll end up in the girls’ dorm?” he wondered aloud.
“Who knows? I’d kinda prefer living outside.” Lin Nan sighed, “It’d be more convenient, but it’d be nice to stay in the dorm.”
“Good luck with that! You clearly have zero self-awareness,” Chen Yao rolled his eyes.
“I know I’m good-looking!”
“Good-looking my foot.” The two leaned in closer, and Chen Yao caught a whiff of the shampoo in Lin Nan’s hair, instinctively pulling back a bit to maintain distance. He continued with a roundabout hint, “You used to be a guy; what if there’s a cute girl in your dorm?”
“I’d definitely be happy about that.” Lin Nan was fully aware of Chen Yao’s implications but decided to play dumb.
After all, that was an issue they simply couldn’t resolve.
He’d been very mindful of his daily habits; for instance, when showering or changing clothes, he’d always make sure to do so carefully in the bathroom. Yet, after being a guy for so long, he still sometimes unconsciously found himself in too close proximity to his roommates.
Although he’d seen comments before about “if I turn into a girl, I’ll make my roommates happy first,” those kinds of thoughts held no interest for him.
The wind ramped up, and as expected, the power went out.
Last time, Lin Nan and the crew could go to an internet cafe, but this time, the blackout seemed like it would be citywide.
As the power cut off, the dorm was suddenly much quieter. Tu Junhui and Xiong Da reluctantly fumbled their way back to bed, initially planning to sleep, but their pent-up GHS desires kicked in.
“I posted a video in the group—this girl is something else,” Tu Junhui proclaimed, leading the charge for inappropriate content.
Lin Nan immediately opened the dorm group chat only to find the last message he had was from two weeks ago.
“What the heck!” Chen Yao exclaimed, wide-eyed.
“Yeah, that’s pretty wild,” Xiong Da added, equally impressed.
Lin Nan got up to glimpse at Chen Yao’s phone, but Chen Yao swiftly shifted, planting his foot right in Lin Nan’s face.
Though Xiong Da typically wore a deadpan expression, at this moment, he was a master of silent assist, wordlessly sending a few GIFs into the group chat.
“This image is way over the line, must be some Western stuff? Gross,” Tu Junhui said, always leaning towards a more wholesome flavor.
“Next time, get something Asian,” Chen Yao, the white ticket fan, suggested.
Lin Nan grew more curious, persistently peeking to figure out what was on Chen Yao’s phone. No matter how he adjusted his angle, he couldn’t make out the screen.
Feeling left out was frustrating, especially since his curiosity was piqued.
So he boldly climbed onto Chen Yao’s bed.
“What are you doing?” Chen Yao gasped, startled by the soft touch suddenly at his side.
“Let me see!”
Ignoring Chen Yao’s reaction, Lin Nan scrambled beside him, squeezing out a bit of space on the cramped dorm bed. Finally comfortable, he leaned over to peek at Chen Yao’s phone.
Hmm, a bunch of… horses?
“What is this?” Lin Nan asked, bewildered.
“Rainbow Dash!” Xiong Da proclaimed with fervor, “It’s super cool!”
“???”
Lin Nan snatched Chen Yao’s phone away, causing Chen Yao to flip over and cover himself with a blanket. “Really, it’s nothing! I was just messing with you.”
“I don’t believe it! What’s this ‘Yellow Eel’ business? Sounds inappropriate!”
“It’s about the snake lady from ‘Calabash Brothers’!” Tu Junhui exclaimed, dripping with disdain. “Why do you have such a dirty mind?”
“I don’t!” Lin Nan scrolled through the chat history, discovering, shockingly, that it was indeed “Calabash Brothers.” As he scrolled further, he found most of it was clips from series like “Dragon Ball” and “A La Pունակ” anime highlights.
Feeling sheepish, Lin Nan defended himself, “I… was just curious!”
Deep down, Lin Nan felt his roommates were intentionally targeting him.
Or perhaps, they enjoyed toying with him.
Disappointed, he crawled back to his bed, while Chen Yao too sighed with a hint of dismay.
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Thanks to the big-shot book lover for the 17,000 fire tokens.
Currently owing 6/55.
