339. Crawfish
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“How are you feeling?”
The next day at noon, Lin Nan returned from class and pushed open the door, only to find Chen Yao already planted in front of the computer, gaming like a pro, with a bottle of pineapple beer at his side.
She frowned a bit and asked, “Why aren’t you staying in bed? Drinking beer even when you’re sick?”
“Why would I stay in bed if I’m feeling better?” Chen Yao declared, looking as sprightly as a kid on a sugar rush. His eyes sparkled, he didn’t feel tired anymore, and the puffiness in his face had vanished. The sickly dude from yesterday was now a bundle of energy!
Seeing Lin Nan come in, he quickly jumped up and urged her to sit on the couch, “Let’s have a good lunch today! I’ll go get something; you just chill here.”
“What’s good to eat?” As Chen Yao bounced back to life, a smile crept onto Lin Nan’s face as she watched him put on his jacket. “I want crawfish.”
“Crawfish goes with beer, and it’s usually eaten at night.”
Lin Nan casually grabbed the half-drunk pineapple beer from the table and took a swig, her eyes sparkling like she’d found treasure: “So today we’ll have pineapple beer with crawfish?”
“Are you really going to eat crawfish for lunch?”
“Of course! Why not?”
“Should I invite Tutu and the others over? Maybe he can bring back my game console too.”
“Sounds good.” Lin Nan polished off the pineapple beer in two gulps and started poking around on Chen Yao’s laptop.
Chen Yao suddenly grew wary and reminded her, “Don’t mess with my computer; play on yours!”
“What’s so precious on your computer that I can’t touch it?” Lin Nan teased, tilting her head. “Is it something scandalous? Are you chatting with girls about… you know?”
Lin Nan then recalled her uncle: “Wait! You actually helped Liu Xuefei play games?”
Chen Yao froze. “Who’s Liu Xuefei?”
“Aren’t you the one who helped her with ‘Honor of Kings’? She’s in the class next door.”
He scratched his head, deep in thought. “Oh, there was a girl who asked me to help her level up last semester.”
“You know I was bored and liked helping people level up for some pocket money. I don’t even know what her name is,” he said with a wry smile. “I charged her a hundred bucks; you’re not going to stop me from making money off of my gaming skills, are you?”
Lin Nan had a light bulb moment. So Liu Xuefei actually paid Chen Yao for that?
Suddenly, she felt a tinge of jealousy in her earlier attitude, so she waved it off nonchalantly. “No biggie, I was just curious. Now go get those crawfish already.”
“Alright, should I grab some more pineapple beer for you?”
“Pick up three to five bottles, will you? You and Tutu can drink beer together.”
With no major classes in the afternoon, Lin Nan thought to skip out and invite her roommates to join in the crawfish feast.
When Chen Yao left, she hurried to find some movies to watch while they devoured the crawfish.
But that magic spell really worked wonders…
Lin Nan recalled how sickly Chen Yao had looked last night compared to the vibrant guy from this noon. It was like night and day! According to Li Na, the improved Holy Light Spell was safe enough to use…
Maybe she could try it out when she visited her grandfather on Friday.
But still, she was a bit apprehensive. Chen Yao’s illness was probably just a nasty cold, but appendicitis was another story altogether.
It’d be best to kidnap Li Na along for the trip—just in case anything went amiss, she could lend a hand.
She made a quick call to her uncle, and they set a time to head out on Friday, spend the night at the hospital, and then return Saturday.
Wu Guodong was always busy at work, hardly took breaks, and while he earned a lot, Lin Nan felt it was like trading health for money.
As soon as she hung up, she had already picked a few movies. The door to the rental apartment swung open, and Chen Yao walked in empty-handed, followed closely by Tu Junhui and Xiong Da.
The previously quiet apartment instantly turned into a lively hub. Tu Junhui, the loudmouth chatterbox, wasted no time teasing Chen Yao.
“Yesterday, I heard Lin Nan say you were almost dead! I was ready to hire a few guys to carry you out, then you just “poof!” magically got better!” Tu Junhui rammed into Chen Yao with his jokes, then turned to Lin Nan, “Nan Nan, your new hairstyle looks way better than before! This morning I almost thought a middle school girl showed up to crash the party!”
Xiong Da, who had just reloaded a few hundred bucks into a mobile game, nodded while pulling a card: “Couldn’t hardly recognize you this morning; that hairstyle really suits you.”
“Really?” Lin Nan instinctively tucked her hair behind her ear, beaming with joy. “I got stopped at school this morning! Luckily, I’m clever enough to carry my student ID.”
Tu Junhui interjected without missing a beat, “They just started checking IDs at school today; it has nothing to do with looking young!”
Seriously, if you can’t say something nice, just keep quiet.
Lin Nan shot him a glare before looking back at Chen Yao and asking, “Why are you back so early?”
“I’m still cooking; once it’s done, I’ll send it over.” Chen Yao was busy clearing clutter off the coffee table and found a stool after searching high and low. Then he shifted his gaze to Tu Junhui, “So, who’s going to stand while eating? This couch can barely fit two!”
“I’ll eat standing!” Lin Nan volunteered, “I can’t eat much anyway.”
“What are you being polite with these two for?” Chen Yao encouraged her to sit on the couch with him.
Seeing that Tu Junhui didn’t plan on being polite either, he plopped down on the armrest of the couch, causing it to wobble, which made Chen Yao worried it might break, so he quickly urged Tu Junhui to move.
Lin Nan watched their antics, feeling nostalgic for the days when the four of them lived in the dorm together.
“If you two get married, I’m not giving you a red envelope!” Tu Junhui declared as Chen Yao kicked him off the armrest. When he got up, the only stool was occupied by Xiong Da.
“Then when you get married, no red envelope for you from us either!”
“Whether I get married is a whole other story, alright?” Tu Junhui sighed dramatically and took a swig from the soda on the table. “Once we finish this meal, I start my diet tonight!”
How many times had they heard that? Ever since Tu Junhui tried to lose weight in his freshman year and failed spectacularly, he’d never really committed to dieting since.
As they chatted away, the crawfish delivery arrived at the rental apartment door—six pounds for three hundred bucks. It looked like a lot, but split four ways, they probably wouldn’t even get full.
Lin Nan hugged her pineapple beer, sitting on the couch and sipping slowly. Once she got into it, she squinted her eyes happily, taking a bite of the shrimp tail that Chen Yao handed her.
Tu Junhui plopped down on the floor, casting a sideways glance at the lovey-dovey couple, thinking to himself that the crawfish was oozing with sour vibes.
“Sooner or later, I’ll find myself a girlfriend to annoy you two!”
