077. You Installed Surveillance in My House?
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During Li Sisi’s break, Lin Nan stood by chatting with her.
In their conversation, Lin Nan gathered some information about Li Sisi’s circumstances.
Her family was financially struggling, but college loans made things manageable; the only issue was the lack of living expenses. While Lin Nan received a thousand yuan a month, Li Sisi barely got three hundred.
Three hundred yuan might work at those prestigious universities, thanks to subsidies at the cafeteria, but Li Sisi only managed to get into an ordinary second-tier university.
The cafeteria prices there were nearly the same as at Lin Nan’s school, and with three hundred yuan, she could splurge ten a day.
With rice costing two, veggies two, and meat starting at five, her meals were even more meager than Lin Nan’s.
Previously, she worked in the cafeteria delivering meals, which wasn’t bad until she got into a fight, resulting in a mark on her record, which cost her the job.
“Fight?” Lin Nan asked, curious.
“Just because I was a tad slow, that wacko started yelling at me, like I’m some pushover!” Li Sisi snorted, frowning at the memory, still fuming, “d*mn! I’ve never been afraid of anyone from elementary to high school!”
Ah, the wild wild social life.
Lin Nan shifted awkwardly.
Actually, Li Sisi looked quite demure, matching her name, but her gaunt features made her high cheekbones stand out obnoxiously. She wore round gold-rimmed glasses, appearing all prim and proper.
If she stood quietly somewhere, just like when she was next to Liu Yi, anyone would think she was a goody-two-shoes.
But who knew once she opened her mouth, it was all about “I’m the boss” followed by explicit words?
Lin Nan was used to hanging out with his roommates, and he sometimes let a curse slip when he got flustered, but it was never as casual as Li Sisi flaunting a foul mouth.
“Take a breather before passing out flyers. I’ll help you out once I finish,” Lin Nan suggested, picking up a hoodie and putting it on. He pretended to care while his feet itched to leave. “Don’t push yourself too hard; if you get heatstroke, healthcare is gonna cost more than flyer-passing.”
“I know.”
Lin Nan didn’t catch Li Sisi’s reply and turned back to where that traffic cop was hanging out.
There was a sunshade here; it was bearable under the sun, but some shade was always more comfortable.
Just like before handing out flyers, this time the cop didn’t engage with Lin Nan as much as earlier. Lin Nan figured it was because his broke look freaked the guy out.
What could he do? He had a thousand for living expenses, which would suffice if he didn’t splurge, but with his father hospitalized and a mortgage to pay, he had to find ways to earn a little.
As for Wu Guodong, after playing him too many times, Lin Nan felt guilty and planned to “ask for money” again in a week or two.
Wondering how his parents would react seeing his current self… If he told them everything, they’d probably think he’d lost his marbles or was delusional.
Would they kick him out? Call the cops on him for being crazy? Or just keep him locked up at home?
Maybe they’d think he was a weirdo with a male body and female heart?
He always imagined the worst in uncertain situations; that way, if things did turn out terrible, at least he’d be mentally prepared. And if not as disastrous as anticipated, he’d just feel relieved.
“How about this, you go see my place on Tuesday?” the cop suddenly pitched in. “Better than letting him sit at home all day.”
Lin Nan blinked, lifting his head to ask, “One hundred yuan?”
“Sure!” the cop gritted his teeth, shocked that someone could be so shameless.
“Forty an hour?”
“Just pay what you said.”
“Okay, let’s add WeChat, and I’ll message you my address on Tuesday at noon after classes. Remember to give me that hundred yuan first—gotta take a taxi there.”
The cop’s face twitched while adding Lin Nan on WeChat, as he earnestly advised, “Young person, keep your eyes on the future; don’t just think about money.”
“Isn’t this looking ahead for me?” Lin Nan beamed after adding the cop, nodding enthusiastically. “Alright, I’ll set off Tuesday at noon. If I take a taxi both ways, I might barely earn anything, being a good Samaritan.”
Honestly, Lin Nan hadn’t figured out how to motivate the cop’s homebody son to step outside, but he thought if he at least tried, then he could say he put in some effort.
“My nephews and nieces all gave it a shot, but my son won’t even budge from the house,” the cop shook his head.
“What’s your son’s name?”
“Chen Jiang.”
Nice name, but what if this trip sinks like the Minjiang River?
Lin Nan raised an eyebrow; the name sounded kind of intimidating, but the cop didn’t see anything weird about it—just looked puzzled at Lin Nan’s ghostly face.
“What does he do holed up in his room all day?” Lin Nan scratched his head, thinking he needed to figure out this kid’s interests to plan an approach.
“Plays games, I guess?” the cop replied uncertainly. “But playing on the computer doesn’t yield much.”
Hmm, games.
Lin Nan figured this guy’s son was like his uncle—just another gaming recluse.
Perhaps his uncle and Chen Jiang might hit it off about some ridiculously embarrassing long-bodied pillow? Too bad his uncle was busy working; he surely couldn’t come help him out.
“What about his personality?”
“Not bad, but he hardly talks two words in a day, and he won’t chat with us,” the cop lamented. “We didn’t know before, now we’ve seen online that we should talk more with kids, but now just the sight of me drives him nuts.”
“Could it be that something hit him when graduating?” Lin Nan speculated.
Some students have weaker mental resilience; when faced with a breakup or a bad job interview, they can easily blow a gasket.
“If he doesn’t say anything, I can’t tell.”
Looks like he’s not just a recluse but also a bit withdrawn; the family dynamic isn’t great.
Lin Nan frowned, pondering. “So he never goes out to catch a movie?”
A few years back, the Warcraft movie was a big hit in the gaming community; surely, a gaming recluse would want to watch it.
“Never seen him go out.”
“Does his room have tons of plastic figurines? And, like, a bunch of plush toys only girls like?”
The cop’s face switched to pure surprise. “Are you monitoring my house?”
——————
Previously, the extra chapters had been criticized for being too pointless and full of various issues. My bad.
Currently, I owe twenty-two chapters; since I need to maintain quality while gearing up for a major release next month, I plan to add an extra chapter daily post today. This way, I’ll catch up by the end of the month. If you’re on board, hit 1.
I’ll write as much as possible today to thank for the generous reward of a hundred thousand for “Game Life,” but it might be a bit iffy, my apologies.
