066. The Noisy Dormitory [Monthly Vote Bonus]
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On the last day of the National Day holiday, Lin Nan finally rolled out of bed from a nap, only to find Tu Junhui and Xiong Da already back in the dorm.
Tu Junhui had been home for seven or eight days and looked a lot sturdier—clearly, his family’s cooking was on point. Xiong Da, on the other hand, still had raccoon eyes; probably spent his whole time at home staying up late chasing mobile game events.
Lin Nan sat up in bed and glanced at the still-snoozing Chen Yao. Chuckling, he asked Tu Junhui beneath him, “Hey Tu, when did you guys come back?”
“Been back for over two hours,” Tu Junhui said, looking up at him with a bewildered expression. “A week apart and you somehow got prettier, Nan Nan?”
“Must’ve gotten plastic surgery!” Xiong Da chimed in, still wearing a baseball cap that cleverly concealed his receding hairline. Stretching lazily, he teased Lin Nan, “Did you get double eyelids or something?”
“Uh?” Lin Nan was confused but quickly explained, “I probably just didn’t sleep well?”
He had inner double eyelids, which were hard to notice usually, but if he stayed up or didn’t sleep well, they’d finally make an appearance.
But he must have caught up on sleep since he woke up feeling fine.
It seemed like the new magic had feminized him once again, this time focusing on his appearance.
Slowly getting out of bed, Lin Nan glanced at himself in the mirror on his wardrobe.
Something was different—his features and face shape looked more balanced, and overall he did indeed look pretty, with his double eyelids now much more prominent, just like Xiong Da had said.
He pulled out his phone and snapped a selfie using the front camera.
In the past, trying to take a selfie made him realize his face was horribly asymmetrical—one side bigger, a crooked nose, an awkwardly positioned mouth. It was ugly enough to make him question his existence—did he look that hideous to others?
But now, this time his cheeks appeared balanced and symmetrical, even after Apple’s reverse processing in the photo didn’t look weird to him.
Apparently, a star’s first requirement is a symmetrical face; otherwise, you could be gorgeous in daily life but just drop several levels on camera.
Hmm… The external changes might not be that significant; he just didn’t know if the internal organs had developed too.
Staring into the mirror for a while, Lin Nan finally stood up, satisfied.
“Tsk tsk, it’s like you’re staring into the mirror half a day like a narcissist,” Tu Junhui continued to jabber non-stop, a talent he clearly possessed. “Hey Nan Nan, I brought beef jerky; want some?”
“Just leave it there.”
Lin Nan pushed the back door open and walked into the bathroom. A few days ago, because of his period, he was dealing with some terrifying bl**d-curdling toilet experiences, making him think he was on the brink of d*ath. But after casting Purification Magic…
He now couldn’t get out.
He had lost the joy of scrolling through his phone while on the toilet.
“Guess I’ll have to get used to it…” Lin Nan was in and out in just a minute, dramatically flushing the toilet before heading back to the balcony.
Normally, he’d have to make a trip to the bathroom every time he woke up, but now, thanks to the Purification Magic, he only needed to go once every two or three hours, transforming into an otherworldly “little fairy.”
This magic was a must-have tool for Lilith and wasn’t overly complicated to use; following his memory of how to use it, it was basically a breeze.
After splashing some water on his face to wake up, Lin Nan returned to the dorm.
Honestly, a noisy university dorm was comforting; previously, when Lin Nan was alone, it felt extremely empty and lonely. Now, hearing Tu Junhui’s ruckus felt surprisingly nice.
Unfortunately, Chen Yao was not too happy about it.
Roused from his slumber by the commotion, he sat up with a bewildered expression. Once he figured out the source of the noise, he wasted no time yelling, “Can you keep it down?!”
“It’s two in the afternoon!” Tu Junhui continued to embrace his thick-skinned personality without an ounce of shame, glaring back at Chen Yao. “Didn’t you go to some concert last night? Of course you’re sleeping during the day! I’m not your dad; I’m not here to cater to you!”
Fair point…
And thus, they hurled obscenities at each other, words as sweet as honey pouring from their mouths.
Lin Nan, along with Xiong Da, who was just about to wipe his “wife” (a.k.a. his gaming device), stood at the back door, dumbfounded, watching their verbal spar.
“Aren’t you going to stop them?” Lin Nan asked in a hushed tone.
“Eh, they won’t actually fight,” Xiong Da said with a blank expression.
True, both were pretty good with words; after all, they had been dorm mates for a year, so a physical confrontation was unlikely.
“Even if they did, I’d just call the cops,” Xiong Da added. “Manhood is forged through fighting; you wouldn’t get it as a girl.”
“Who’s the girl here?!”
While they were at it, Tu Junhui decided to blast a suona from his phone. Chen Yao, seeing this, immediately played a sorrowful tune and then displayed Tu Junhui’s photo on his phone, cradling it with both hands, a cigarette sticking upright beside it, wearing an expression of deep grief.
Lin Nan couldn’t help but laugh; these two had gone from bantering to belting out songs, turning the whole dorm into a chaotic performance, and the mood was gradually shifting to pure ridiculousness.
He slipped back into his seat, his head buzzing from the music, and put on his headphones to drown out the chaos.
Tu Junhui’s computer had decent specs; it could smoothly run most of the recent games on low settings. Lin Nan initially wasn’t too interested in single-player games, but after being influenced by Uncle, he started to look for ones that piqued his interest.
Unfortunately, he was too poor to risk playing pirated games amidst a dorm full of original ones, so he borrowed Chen Yao’s Steam account and played the games he had purchased.
“Alright, we have a competition next week. If you have time to squabble, it’d be better to practice for five-man matches,” Chen Yao, finally tired after all the ruckus, jumped off his bed with a glance at Tu Junhui. “If you screw me up in the five-man, I’m so going to roast you!”
“I’ve got a good temper, roast me all you want!” Tu Junhui immediately forgot who he was arguing with earlier.
The dorm returned to its usual lively atmosphere, and Lin Nan felt much more at ease, absentmindedly bouncing his leg while resting his chin on his hand, searching for games to play on his computer.
However, Chen Yao, who intended to hit the bathroom, curiously noticed something and leaned closer, eyes wide with wonder: “You weren’t this pretty in the morning before you went to sleep, were you?”
“…”
Lin Nan was momentarily dumbfounded; this was a headache, and he had no idea how to explain.
If there had been a significant change in his face over time, it’d be easier to brush it off like Tu Junhui and Xiong Da did with a few teasing remarks, but the issue was, he had just seen Chen Yao earlier that very morning.
“Maybe I just caught up on sleep?” Lin Nan offered a vague excuse.
Chen Yao rolled his eyes, toothbrush and cup in hand, walking towards the back door. He felt Lin Nan’s evasion skills were getting sharper by the day.