121. In the Bedroom
==============================
Uncle Wu was always quite generous, at least in Lin Nan’s eyes. Whether it was back in the day or now, Uncle Wu had a big heart.
When he was younger, he only had thirty bucks for pocket money but was willing to spend twenty of those on his nephew. Nowadays, though their bond wasn’t as pure as it used to be, Wu Guodong still found himself quite happy to splurge on Lin Nan.
But then again, Wu Guodong might just think it’s because Lin Nan is particularly good-looking.
After buying Lin Nan a pair of shoes, grabbing a meal, and walking around a bit, the reclusive uncle was already feeling a bit bored.
Lin Nan couldn’t go on a shopping spree; he wasn’t that into it, so the duo decided to head home around eight.
“Go sniff around the room and see if there’s still a smell of smoke,” Wu Guodong plopped onto the sofa and yawned a few times.
“Are you sure you’re sleeping here tonight?”
“Well, it’s got a fan, and there’s air conditioning in the room so you can sleep better.”
Fine, whatever.
Lin Nan didn’t really care. He didn’t need air conditioning anyway, but hey, it was Uncle Wu’s good intentions, so he padded barefoot into the bedroom for a little tour.
The smell of smoke was gone from the air, but if you sniffed closely, you could still catch a hint of it lurking in the furniture.
Not too bad, really. He had put the comforter out on the balcony before leaving in the afternoon, so it was mostly smoke-free now.
Acceptable enough, right?
Lin Nan also moved the little fan Uncle Wu had left inside to the living room. Glancing back, he noticed his uncle had already worked up a sweat.
It was only a little over thirty degrees. Even back when there was no magic involved, Lin Nan didn’t think this temperature was anything special. After all, he didn’t have air conditioning in high school; it wasn’t until they decided to rent long-term that his parents finally got him a secondhand unit. And since Lin Nan thought the electricity bill was too high, he usually only turned it on when it hit thirty-five degrees.
Only since starting university this past year had Lin Nan been enjoying the coolness of air conditioning all summer, mainly because that guy Tu Junhui couldn’t handle the heat at all.
After setting up the fan in the living room, Lin Nan ventured into the bedroom to acclimate to whatever residual smoke was left. Meanwhile, Wu Guodong popped two cigarettes to satisfy his cravings before bouncing into the cool haven.
As soon as he stepped inside, he caught a whiff of a milky scent and saw Lin Nan just taking off his sunblock jacket.
Then his eyes were drawn to the undulating display up front.
Earlier, dressed in that sunblock jacket, Lin Nan may have seemed a little flat, but now he realized his nephew was leveling up from that board-like physique to something a bit more… ahem appealing.
Maybe soon he’d be calling him ‘niece’?
“Aren’t you playing on the computer?”
“I’m worried I might stumble upon something weird.” Lin Nan joked, neatly folding his sunblock jacket and placing it on the bedside table before finally looking up at him, “Aren’t you supposed to sleep in the living room?”
Wu Guodong rolled his eyes, “What time is it? Can’t I come in here to enjoy some air conditioning?”
With that, he plopped down at the foot of the bed, unable to resist sneaking glances at Lin Nan.
How did a perfectly good boy turn into such a pretty girl? And even without any makeup, Lin Nan was already looking a cut above the average college girl.
If he put on some makeup and grew his hair out, Lin Nan might not be a blockbuster beauty, but he’d certainly be as attractive as those small-time celebrities, at least!
Those beautifully shaped eyebrows mixed with that faint milky scent… If Lin Nan was a girl all along, he’d probably have a line of suitors stretching all the way down the block.
Feeling a tad shy, Wu Guodong diverted his gaze, focusing on his phone instead.
Lin Nan sorted out the bed, then tossed his legs over the edge and leaned back against the headboard to play on his phone.
Should I get a bra? Walking around feels a little weird without one… and jumping makes it bounce a bit… Plus, I’ve heard if you don’t wear one, it can lead to sagging, like with Tu Junhui’s, right?
Even though those thoughts crossed his mind, Lin Nan still rejected the idea of wearing any women’s items. He rummaged through Taobao for ages, eventually turning red and deciding to give up.
What does a big man have to fear about sagging?
Feeling a bit bored, he looked over at his uncle who was glued to his phone, then shot up, crawling over to spy on Wu Guodong’s screen.
“What are you doing?” Wu Guodong nonchalantly revealed his screen, stealing a quick glance at Lin Nan. “Why are you so worked up about a novel?”
“I thought you were fully engrossed in something interesting!” Lin Nan squatted down but soon decided it was a bit uncomfortable, so he spread his legs out and settled onto the bed, then continued, “Got any good novels? I’m running out of things to read.”
Wu Guodong eyed Lin Nan’s awkward sitting position and made a face, “Reincarnation Paradise is great.”
“Seen it!” Lin Nan was still blissfully unaware of his feminine posture and enthusiastically launched into a discussion about the novel with Wu Guodong.
He didn’t read too many novels—mostly because he was rather broke when it came to the legitimate ones which often cost dozens or even hundreds. So, he had to stick to a few ongoing ones, which meant recharging about ten bucks a month sufficed.
Since they were both fans of the same book, they excitedly chatted about plot points, and soon after, Lin Nan sat down at the computer, preparing to link up with his roommates for some LOL time.
After all, there was a match coming up next Tuesday. Once that was over, he planned to try out some other similar games too, because after playing since middle school, it was starting to feel a bit repetitive.
Wu Guodong dragged a chair over to sit beside Lin Nan, watching him play while chattering away.
“Seriously, your positioning is off.” Wu Guodong was busy with his own job but mostly played single-player games in his downtime, making him what you’d call a ‘cloud player’ for LOL. Still, he’d seen enough matches to have plenty of theoretical knowledge, “If you go up there, you’ll just get killed!”
“Lin Nan, your support is slacking! How did you d*e again?”
“Do you really think you can compete?”
Lin Nan shot him a look over his shoulder, “I’m in Diamond One! The other side has players from Master rank! You think you can do better? Go ahead!”
Wu Guodong wanted to keep commenting but held back. It was like complaining about a fridge not cooling without needing to know how to fix it, right?
But when he noticed Lin Nan getting heated while criticizing his teammates over the voice chat, he figured it was best to leave him be. So, he decided to get back to reading, even though his gaze kept wandering back to Lin Nan.
It was only upon close inspection that he noticed Lin Nan’s chest had, well, grown quite a bit since their last encounter…
Thinking back to when they used to bathe together as kids, how on earth did he not realize Lin Nan was actually this girl?
