076. Lin Nan the Warm-hearted【Extra Update 1/23】
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Lin Nan had become a pro at handing out flyers. Of course, this kind of job had no technical skills required—just endure the heat and have thick skin.
His skin wasn’t particularly thick, but being hidden under the Kumamon costume gave him a bit more courage.
Since school had Tuesday afternoons off, which was prime time for all kinds of activities, Lin Nan had managed to squeeze in two or three flyer sessions over the past half month.
As usual, while distributing flyers, he chatted with the traffic cop Uncle next to him.
He had met this Uncle a couple of times already. Just stepping under the shade of the awning, the Uncle recognized Lin Nan right away by his walking style.
“Why didn’t you come during National Day?” The Uncle glanced at the red light on the opposite side of the crosswalk, then stared intently at the pedestrians waiting, and asked, “Where did you go for National Day?”
“I went to my Uncle’s house for a few days,” Lin Nan said, noticing the crowd squeezing together while waiting for the light, and took the chance to get back to handing out flyers.
After a while, when he returned to the Uncle, he heard, “Your voice sounds nicer than before.”
“Really?”
“If I didn’t know you, I’d think it was a girl’s voice.”
Lin Nan pouted inside the costume. After all, he was the first to say his voice sounded feminine.
Maybe it was because since his appearance became more feminine, many of his facial flaws had disappeared, paired with a slightly baby-faced look. He felt he was crossing over to the realm of being everyone’s “good friend.”
When he went to the supermarket, the shopkeeper’s wife always wanted to chat with him; occasionally, vendors at the Snack Street behind the school would strike up conversations with him too. This traffic cop Uncle and a manager named Liu at the supermarket were no different and loved to talk to him about trivial matters.
Lin Nan was a relatively introverted person but could still hold a conversation, though sometimes he ended up killing the mood.
The light turned green, so the Uncle didn’t need to keep an eye on the pedestrians anymore. He sighed and said to Lin Nan, “If only my kid was as sensible as you.”
“Your kid… Is he over twenty?”
“He’s been living off me for over three years after graduating.” The Uncle shook his head with a bitter smile. “I injured my leg years ago, so I can’t do heavy work. His mother is just a sales clerk, and our family’s income is low, but we still have to support that kid’s food and drinks. Other kids at his age, not to mention having a wife and children, at least can support themselves.”
Lin Nan fell silent for a moment. He was just a listener now, nodding along with the Uncle’s ramblings. “That’s just not right.”
“If only he’d be willing to step out of the house,” the Uncle sighed again.
Lin Nan had never really felt the love from his parents, but hearing such sighs tugged at his heartstrings.
He suddenly thought of his father in the hospital after the car accident. Although his mother said his father ran a red light so he brought it on himself, while their finances were tight, they could scrape together enough for treatment.
But now, Lin Nan felt a twinge of sympathy.
Maybe it wasn’t that his parents didn’t want to be with him; they were just too busy trying to buy a house in the provincial city for him, right?
His grandparents were just honest farmers, and it was his parents’ generation that had begun to prosper thanks to their trucking business. Unfortunately, once they started making money in middle school, they didn’t consider buying a house in the provincial city. They just rented in the county to provide a better education for Lin Nan, and then their investments went up in smoke.
Later, the trucking business became increasingly tough…
If only they had made the right choices back then, his parents might have been retired by now.
Lin Nan tried hard to empathize with his parents, suddenly feeling the urge to visit his father. But a round trip home took at least ten hours, and he’d have to wait until next weekend.
If nothing else, it would give his parents time to adjust to his changes. If things went well, maybe he could finally tell them everything that had happened to him recently.
The Uncle continued to ramble about his unemployed kid. Maybe he had been holding in his frustrations for too long, as once he started talking, he couldn’t stop. Meanwhile, Lin Nan thought about his situation, nodding occasionally to show he was listening.
According to the Uncle, his kid had been jobless for three years, hiding in his bedroom all day. Fortunately, he didn’t really spend money and could cook for himself, but he wasn’t making any, and his health was deteriorating.
“That kid’s hopeless; who doesn’t work by thirty?” The Uncle shook his head with a bitter smile. “Even if I could support him for life, at the rate he’s going, I’ll probably end up burying him before he even gets a job.”
“Is there any way I can help you?” Lin Nan asked quite abruptly.
He had never been one to care too much, but suddenly, the thought sparked within him.
“Next Tuesday afternoon, I just happen to be free…” Lin Nan started to say but immediately regretted it.
Lin Nan was introverted too. If he didn’t have any life pressures, he could easily spend every day locked up in the dorm, who knew how to drag an introvert out of their cave?
The Uncle looked a bit surprised; he had only been casually complaining.
After a pause, he joked, “If you can take him out to exercise, I’d even pay you.”
Hearing the word “money,” Lin Nan realized he might be unable to refuse the Uncle now.
“How much?”
The Uncle was taken aback.
Lin Nan lowered his head, counting on Kumamon’s thick fingers, muttering, “I can hand out flyers in an afternoon, about four hours for a hundred and fifty bucks, so roughly forty bucks an hour. If I bring him out for exercise, I’d definitely have to go to your house, so at least a hundred for travel, right? After all, I have to take a bus.”
“Hmm… that doesn’t seem unreasonable. If I don’t manage to get him out, you can just charge me the travel fee, and how about we start timing from when you leave?” Lin Nan looked up, feeling quite pleased, but noticed the Uncle’s expression was a bit dazed. “Uncle?”
The Uncle took two steps back and pretended nothing was happening, shouting at a pedestrian who had nearly stepped onto the road, “Step back a bit! Do you want to d*e?”
Lin Nan thought perhaps his desperate need for money had frightened the Uncle. He pouted, feeling disappointed about missing out on a side job, and continued handing out flyers.
If this worked out, he could even put “tutoring” on his resume after graduation.
After an hour of handing out flyers, Lin Nan started to worry about Li Sisi.
After all, she was still a newbie. She probably hadn’t spent a day in the blazing sun dressed in a heavy mascot costume, and as a man, it was his duty to check up on her. Yep.
So, he headed to a nearby milk tea shop and bought two cups of the cheapest iced milk tea, heading straight for the mall.
After walking a few steps, he spotted Li Sisi, soaked in sweat and half out of her mascot suit under a tree not far from the mall.
“Have some milk tea.” Lin Nan gallantly handed her a cup.
“Thanks.” Li Sisi gasped as she took the milk tea, downing half of it in one go, fanning herself with her hand, and exclaimed, “It’s so hellishly hot! d*mn it!”
Uh… why do I feel like this girl is even more manly than me?
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Waking up from a nap, I felt dazed; I should be dreaming.
Thanks to Game Life for the ten thousand tips and a hundred chapter votes.
I really can’t keep up with the writing…
