536. Returning Home for Dragon Boat Festival
==============================
As expected, but also slightly out of the ordinary.
Chen Yao easily accepted her secret.
Uncle and Aunt probably left around nine o’clock, and for the whole morning, the two of them were holed up in the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, cuddled up together, while Lin Nan softly recounted the events starting from last summer vacation.
Chen Yao listened with a dazed expression, finally understanding why Lin Nan always seemed to have scientifically impossible things happening around her.
For instance, how she looked rather plain at the time with no makeup and no wig, yet when she put on a maid outfit, she became breathtakingly stunning.
That was transformation magic.
Or why, despite looking weak, she could swat him away with a single slap.
That was the Void Hand.
And why it seemed like Lin Nan undergoes slight bodily changes every now and then, becoming more and more perfect.
Each time she learned a new spell, she became even prettier.
Chen Yao was soaking it all in but couldn’t help but ask, “So that means you had surgery?”
“I got Li Na to help. I didn’t actually have surgery; I just used magic to create a fake certificate to change my gender.”
“So your mom forked out money for the surgery?”
“Nope! I told my mom it was you who gave me the money for the surgery.” She sounded a bit shy, her voice lowering, “Mom thought that counted as your bride price, but we weren’t even officially together at the time.”
Chen Yao suddenly understood, “No wonder your mom promised such a high dowry…”
He’d always thought Lin Nan was just a silly single-thread girl, but after hearing all this, he realized his girlfriend had a little strategy up her sleeve.
The details were many and tangled. Lin Nan tried to straighten them out but ended up explaining things to Chen Yao one by one in chronological order.
Chen Yao didn’t dwell on the anger he felt from being teased earlier; he was just awakening to some realizations.
“No wonder you keep sending me perks! I thought you were trying to seduce me because I was so handsome.” He looked at Lin Nan and burst out laughing, “I always felt you liked me because you kept sending me those perks.”
“Where am I handsome?” Lin Nan lowered her head, fiddling with her phone, her long hair hiding her face, her voice as soft as a mosquito buzzing, “But I did like you a lot eventually…”
At first, she just thought it was normal to be a bit ‘fabulous’ among friends, but Lilith’s memories were uncontrollably altering her thoughts, making her inexplicably feel a bit more than just friendship towards Chen Yao.
They chatted until eleven in the morning, and Lin Nan laid out all her cards on the table.
It was one thing to have gone through these experiences before, but saying them out loud felt incredibly embarrassing, like someone watching an adult video and then needing to explain the plot to their classmates.
“Time to eat,” Aunt knocked on the door.
The bedroom door was locked. Hearing the commotion, Chen Yao got up and opened it, looking at his mother outside.
“How’s Nan Nan?” Aunt peeked inside, curiously wondering what the kids had been up to all morning locked away in the room.
There were no strange noises, and Lin Nan looked properly dressed.
This kid, she and her father had purposely left them some space… The two wouldn’t still be at the hand-holding-and-pecking-on-the-lips stage, would they?
“She’s feeling much better.” Chen Yao’s smile grew wider, “We talked all morning, and she’s all good now.”
Aunt eyed Chen Yao suspiciously, seeing nothing unusual, so she called into the room, “Nan Nan, come out for lunch.”
“Coming!”
Just from her tone, Aunt noticed Lin Nan was indeed much more upbeat.
Now she finally felt at ease: “Let’s go to your grandpa’s house after lunch?”
“After lunch, I have to go right away; otherwise, Grandpa will be mad at me.” Lin Nan got off the bed, slipped on her slippers, and walked toward the door.
“What about Chen Yao…”
“I’ll pass. I’ve got stuff to do,” Chen Yao shook his head in refusal.
Lin Nan looked at him in surprise: “You’re not going?”
She thought Chen Yao would take the opportunity of the Dragon Boat Festival to visit her grandpa’s house and make a good impression as her grand-daughter’s husband.
“I’ve got things to do. How about I drive you over?”
Lin Nan didn’t pry further, just nodded a bit regretfully.
Lunch was Aunt’s homemade pancakes, somewhat like street-style wraps, stuffed with various ingredients and neatly arranged on the table. There was even a bottle of cola at Lin Nan’s spot.
Aunt knew Lin Nan’s preferences, and while she set out the cola, she still had to nag a bit before they ate: “Drink fewer sodas.”
“I usually drink a bottle every two or three days; the rest of the time, it’s just plain water,” Lin Nan cheerfully accepted Aunt’s suggestion.
Though cola was always readily available in the rental apartment under the guise of Lin Nan liking it, it was actually Chen Yao who drank the most after returning home all sweaty each day.
The pancakes were delicious, at least way better than the usual ones sold outside.
Lin Nan’s mood improved to normal, and she gained an appetite for good food. Not having had a late-night snack last night, she ended up devouring several pancakes during lunch, washing them down with a whole can of cola, and now she was almost waddling.
After lunch, Chen Yao led Lin Nan downstairs, ready to take her to her grandpa’s house.
In the elevator, Lin Nan curiously asked, “What’s your thing anyway?”
“Nothing much, just a friend asked me for something last minute.”
Hearing that excuse, Lin Nan huffed, puffing out her cheeks: “So you’re skipping out on seeing my grandpa on Dragon Boat Festival just to meet your friend?”
“It’s not some girl, is it?”
Chen Yao shook his head without hesitation: “No way!”
But deep down, he felt a bit guilty. Was Lin Nan really this sensitive now?
Arriving at the community’s underground parking garage, Lin Nan finally noticed that Chen Yao’s family actually owned several cars.
There was a small delivery truck, the Audi she saw yesterday, and what looked like Aunt’s little red car.
Chen Yao had gotten his driver’s license years ago, but since he hadn’t driven in a while, he was extra cautious behind the wheel.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Lin Nan clumsily buckled her seatbelt.
She rarely rode in cars, usually opting for ride-hailing services where she always sat in the back; unless the driver insisted, she wouldn’t bother buckling up.
It was mostly just a hassle for her.
As the small car slowly emerged from the underground parking, Lin Nan leaned back in her seat, yawning and somewhat awkwardly fiddling with her seatbelt.
“Remember to greet my grandpa when we get there, or he’ll dislike you,” she turned her head and said to the focused-on-driving Chen Yao.
Chen Yao nodded; he wasn’t the type to miss basic social courtesy.
But while driving, he seemed a bit distracted.
Lin Nan didn’t know why he appeared to be deep in thought after their chat that morning.
It took just half an hour to reach her grandpa’s doorstep.
To their surprise, quite a few cars were parked out front, and a bunch of kids and adults were chatting and laughing at the door, making it seem very lively.
What’s going on?
“Isn’t it New Year’s today?”
——————
Evening still has more to come!
