333. Break Time
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The girl opened her eyes, quickly forgetting everything from her dream. Her head felt a bit fuzzy, and her eyes were slightly strained.
She tried to stretch, but when she looked down, she suddenly found that she had wrapped herself in the blanket like a sushi roll during the night.
And not just any sushi—two layers of it!
She turned her head to the side and saw Chen Yao sleeping soundly, except he had no blanket and was curled up in a ball, shivering in his sleep.
Lin Nan was dumbfounded.
So I really do steal the blanket?
She sat up, which startled the already shallow-sleeping Chen Yao awake. Blinking at her, he looked thoroughly confused.
“Lin Nan, I think I’m even worse off now…” His voice was hoarse, and he looked like a deflated balloon—just a sad blob of despair.
Lin Nan was at a loss for words and silently draped the blanket she was wrapped in over Chen Yao.
Finally, his shivering body stopped quaking. He closed his eyes, sneezed, sighed deeply, and his face finally returned to some semblance of normalcy.
A while back, the nighttime temperature had been in the low twenties; the indoor temperature was nearly thirty! People were even thinking about cranking up the AC, so when Lin Nan stole the blanket back then, it was understandable. A jacket would suffice. But now, after a few days of heavy rain, the nighttime temperature had plummeted—just above ten degrees…
She placed her palm gently against Chen Yao’s forehead and frowned; he was definitely worse off with a fever.
“Are you an idiot? Why didn’t you just steal the blanket back?” Lin Nan asked, a bit anxiously.
Chen Yao, eyes still closed, mumbled from under the blanket, “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“What’s the point? You’re sick; you shouldn’t care about waking me up!” Lin Nan sighed and draped her other blanket over him. “Don’t go back to sleep; have some breakfast.”
“Mm.”
This won’t do.
Lin Nan climbed off the bed, her mind racing as she went to get breakfast for Chen Yao. She glanced into the bathroom and started washing up while pondering her options.
Although the rental apartment had one bedroom and one living room, it was too small for a makeshift bed. The sofa was tiny, leaving only this bed for anyone to sleep on.
“What if I just sleep on the sofa from now on?” Lin Nan turned her head, peering through the glass partition towards Chen Yao.
Chen Yao weakly sat up, grabbing the milk and bread, and shook his head. “The sofa is uncomfortable; let’s pass on that.”
“Then why don’t you stay at the dorm for a few days?” Lin Nan scratched her head. “I don’t really feel comfortable staying in the dorm.”
“What if it’s a virus that hasn’t been detected? Staying at the dorm would be putting others at risk, right?”
Fair point. Honestly, Lin Nan shouldn’t have been going to class lately. She should be holed up in this rental apartment, keeping Chen Yao company while quarantined.
But things had been back to normal with work, with life resuming its track, and people’s vigilance against illness declining significantly.
The outbreak seemed resolved in the country, and the school hadn’t reported any new cases in a month. Besides, Chen Yao’s illness appeared traceable—not likely a virus.
“Even if I stop stealing your blanket, I doubt this illness will be gone in just a few days.” Lin Nan spat out the toothpaste foam.
Chen Yao chewed on his breakfast and nodded. “If only I’d known. I said you’d steal the blanket last night, and you didn’t believe me.”
After all, she usually slept alone. Nobody had ever pointed out that she might be a blanket thief at night.
Lin Nan felt a bit wronged. Stealing blankets was like snoring; it’s something you don’t even realize you’re doing!
Even if she did notice, she’d be half-asleep the next morning and would just forget all about it.
“You never mentioned it before…”
“It was hot before, so it was fine without a blanket.” Chen Yao sighed dramatically, “When will I get better? I feel like my bones have turned to mush just sitting around. Even without being sick, I’m making myself sick!”
Lin Nan pursed her lips, confidently declaring, “Just a couple more days! You’ll definitely be fine!”
Looks like she’d have to try out the magic Li Na had mentioned.
Fortunately, there was a large class with several students at the same time that morning, so she could also ask her doubts about magic.
She washed her face and perked up immediately.
“Remember to take your medicine and measure your temperature. I’m heading to class!”
Lin Nan stepped out of the bathroom, glanced at Chen Yao’s haggard face, and felt a pang of sympathy. Turning away, she mumbled an apology, “I won’t steal the blanket anymore.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll catch some sleep. I didn’t sleep well last night.” Chen Yao yawned widely.
“Make sure to send your temperature to the school nurse. If anything comes up, call me. I might miss your texts.”
After a few more reminders, Lin Nan looked doubtfully at Chen Yao’s face before she picked up her books and left the rental apartment.
Even though the school mandated that all students must stay in the dorms unless they were interns, many students, like Chen Yao, preferred to sneak out after roll call.
By the time it was time for class, the alley was buzzing with activity as students, clutching textbooks, streamed out of the bungalow-style houses and makeshift buildings, rushing towards the back entrance of the school.
Lin Nan just made it into the classroom as the bell rang, quickly spotting Li Na at the back of the lecture hall.
It seemed she arrived at a perfect moment because, upon entering, Lin Nan felt a swarm of gazes directed at her, making her feel uneasy and flustered. Lowering her head, she clutched her books and hurried over to Li Na.
“Lin Nan! Over here!” Tu Junhui waved to her from the third row, but she completely ignored him, heading straight to the back and sitting down with the two girls.
“What a j*rk, she didn’t even give me a glance,” he grumbled. “Why does it feel like Lin Nan is getting colder towards me?”
“Hey, she’s a girl now.” Xiong Da mumbled as he focused on his mobile game. “And she has a boyfriend; it’s not great hanging around with us all the time.”
With a sidelong glance at Tu Junhui, Xiong Da added disdainfully, “And who told you to keep teasing Lin Nan? If I weren’t your roommate, I’d have kicked you to the curb a long time ago.”
“You don’t love me anymore.”
“Get lost!”
Lin Nan quickly sat down beside Li Na, and before she could speak, she saw Lilith glaring at her while holding a cat.
Who knows why this girl insists on bringing a cat to class?
Luckily, the teacher wasn’t too strict; otherwise, this girl would have been kicked out ages ago.
“What’s wrong? Didn’t you say you weren’t going to study yesterday?” Lilith complained with a frown. “All I asked was for you to wear a few nice dresses! What difference does it make? If I weren’t too tall to fit in them, I would’ve worn them myself!”
Lin Nan fell silent for a moment. At the end of the day, it was still Lilith who turned her into a girl, wasn’t it?
And honestly, what she wore wasn’t even half as cute as what Li Na wore!
Not wanting to indulge Lilith, she quietly asked Li Na, “I read online that an overly strong immune system can actually k*ll you. Is there a problem with the magic you’re giving me?”
Li Na, who was engrossed in her book, paused, looked up, and her innocent face was full of confusion. “Is it?”
“Absolutely!”
“Then I’ll look into it more! This magic is something I developed based on Earth concepts! It’s normal for there to be issues!”
Look at you, all confident; are you trying to say you already knew?
