088. After the Typhoon
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The next day, when Lin Nan woke up, the wailing wind from last night had vanished outside the dormitory, finally giving her some peace.
This power outage was, after all, due to the typhoon, and the temperature had dropped several degrees. Thanks to the cool breeze sneaking in through the door cracks, even without the air conditioning, they could sleep comfortably.
The howling wind outside muffled Tu Junhui’s snoring, so Lin Nan actually had a decent night’s sleep.
Rubbing her eyes, she got out of bed and took a look at the dorm floor. Sure enough, after a night, the area near the front door was now a mess of water stains, leaves, and twigs.
She yawned and glanced at the shared power strip by her bed with Chen Yao, which was still dark.
“Still no electricity,” she muttered.
Looking around the dorm, she realized she was the last one up; the other three were already wide awake, either scrolling through their phones, gaming, or watching videos.
“Is the water out too?” she asked.
“Why don’t you go check?” Chen Yao turned over, propped on his elbows, absorbed in his phone, clicking his tongue at the news. “They say our whole neighborhood’s out of power.”
“It’s that bad?”
“The typhoon wasn’t too bad once it made landfall; otherwise, the entire city would’ve plunged into darkness,” Tu Junhui chimed in. “So, we’re the first and last of the victims.”
“Really tragic,” Lin Nan said, still a bit groggy, but then recalled how the three of them had teamed up to bully her last night, and her face darkened. She zipped her lips and got out of bed, not bothering with them.
Who would’ve thought this bunch would end up lounging around like lazy cats because of a typhoon?
As Lin Nan climbed down to the balcony, she found even more chaos—various items scattered everywhere, clearly victimized by the wind, and the ground was soaked with water. As she pushed open the back door, a blast of cold air sent a shiver through her.
The typhoon had passed, but it was still chillier than usual; it took Lin Nan a moment to adjust.
Quickly, her passive magic kicked in, and the cold dissipated, making her feel a lot better.
She sauntered over to the sink, turned on the tap, and—surprise!—the water was indeed off.
Luckily, she had bought two big boxes of bottled water yesterday; that would keep them clean for a few days, as long as no one insisted on taking a shower for fun.
Peering out over the school grounds, she surveyed the greenery. Most of the tall trees had been blown apart, and several didn’t survive the night, toppling over like clumsy giants. Across at the dormitory building’s corridor, she spotted some doors wobbling like they were suffering from a hangover—probably got banged up by something large that was flung about.
“Water’s out in the dorm,” Lin Nan reported back inside.
“Seriously?” Xiong Da shot up, astonished as if he’d never heard of a typhoon before. He must think big cities never cut off water.
Lin Nan used to think the same; even as a country kid, she sometimes experienced power outages in the summer, but never really faced a water supply cut.
Snagging two bottles of water, Lin Nan dashed off to freshen up while the others rolled out of bed, checking their laptops to see if they could still squeeze some gaming time in.
The typhoon had indeed cleared out the heat, finally giving October a hint of autumn. After washing up, Lin Nan cheerily threw on a light fall jacket, glancing down at her covered chest, feeling quite satisfied.
It was a sleek, fitted denim jacket, the kind that could turn heads, especially among the spooky youth.
But with her new curves, what had fit perfectly now felt like it was squeezing the life out of her shoulders.
“Is it this cold?” Tu Junhui, still in his shorts, was wrestling to put on his clothes in bed.
“Then why are you rushing to get dressed?” Lin Nan rolled her eyes at the back of his head.
“There’s a girl in the dorm; I can’t be underdressed!”
Though Lin Nan didn’t see it as problematic, it felt oddly off.
She had been trying to look somewhat decent in the dorm, but hey, when you’re a big guy, you tend to get hot and just wear shorts to bed.
“You’re the girl here,” Lin Nan weakly rebutted, plopping down in front of her computer to play some single-player games, only to find her battery was nearly dead.
“By the way, the canteen isn’t going to stop cooking just because the water and power are out, right?” Lin Nan suddenly remembered that little detail.
The three in the dorm turned green with distress.
Just then, conveniently overhearing Lin Nan, Lin Yuan from next door burst in, announcing, “I just came back from the canteen; the one on the second floor is still open.”
“But they’re running out of food,” he added, pulling out a discount coupon, “You can still get a ten-off coupon if you eat there now, but it can only be used tomorrow.”
Is this some marketing ploy?
His gaze settled on Lin Nan, who seemed to be caught in a moment of confusion. “Lin Nan, why are you dressed like a girl?”
“This is totally legitimate male wear!” Lin Nan shot back angrily.
“You look like you’re in girl’s clothes…” he scratched his head while crouching down to appease Cola with a can of cat food.
Lin Nan hated it when Xiong Da and Lin Yuan delivered their punchlines with stone-cold faces, making it impossible to tell if they were joking or serious.
So she stood in front of the mirror; before even looking at her face, a thought bubbled up in her head: “Is that a girl in the mirror?”
Then she examined her upper body and, thanks to a narrow waist, rounded hips, and some curves, that snug denim jacket truly made her look a bit girlish… Tilting to the side, what she thought was camouflaged under the jacket still revealed a bit of curve, but at least it didn’t show everything.
Fuming, Lin Nan began to unbutton her jacket, achieving a somewhat masculine look—well, sort of—until the girls would definitely show themselves now.
She ran to her wardrobe, hoping to find another lightweight jacket, only to realize with dismay she had no other options.
“Hey, Nan Nan, we’re heading to the canteen for food. Didn’t you hear Lin Yuan say it’ll run out soon?” Tu Junhui joked habitually. “You look lovely; no need to check yourself out.”
“Wait, do I really look like a girl in this outfit?” Lin Nan asked, her face filled with conflict as she turned to her roommates.
Chen Yao scrutinized her for a moment; looking at her conflicted face, he reluctantly shook his head. Tu Junhui, however, wasted no time in nodding enthusiastically. “Yep, it suits you well; you might as well head to Thailand!”
Lin Nan turned to Lin Yuan and Xiong Da, hoping for their opinions.
But Xiong Da was too busy gaming, completely ignoring her, while Lin Yuan was playing with the cat, wearing an uncharacteristic grin.
