561. The Last Night Before School Starts
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As the sunlight gradually disappeared from the earth, Chen Yao was sitting in the living room playing games, occasionally glancing outside at the dimming world.
Why is Lin Nan back so late this time?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a light footstep echoed from the hallway outside.
Chen Yao was about to get up when the door was swung open by Lin Nan.
She stepped inside, took a deep breath, and the aroma of dinner wafting through the air instantly lifted her spirits, calming the agitation brought on by Pan Maoxin.
“That little brat didn’t annoy you too much, did he?”
“He nearly drove me to my grave.” Lin Nan marched over to the coffee table, grabbed a pair of chopsticks, and swiftly stuffed a piece of braised pork into her mouth, chewing while mumbling, “His dad found him a young stepmom, and during class, he couldn’t focus at all. If his dad hadn’t been home, I would have knocked him out!”
Especially with Pan Maoxin’s soon-to-be stepmom hanging around, their first meeting was all about making a good impression.
Chen Yao put down the game controller, shut off the console, and cheerfully got up to scoop out two small bowls of rice from the tiny rice cooker.
They had just bought the rice cooker, cheap and not very large, but it was enough for two people.
Moments later, they sat side by side on the sofa, holding their rice bowls, leisurely enjoying dinner.
Lin Nan loved these moments. When it’s just the two of them dining together, she turned into a chatterbox, endlessly ranting about Pan Maoxin’s antics from earlier.
Chen Yao listened quietly, occasionally picking off the fatty bits of braised pork and popping the lean meat into Lin Nan’s bowl.
His girlfriend wasn’t a fan of fatty meat.
After they finished eating, quite a bit of food remained, but Lin Nan had lost her appetite. She reached down for the cola under the coffee table, ready to take a few swigs to wash it down, but Chen Yao snatched it away.
“It’s the end of the month; don’t drink soda.”
Lin Nan wanted to grab it back, but as she recalled her previous run-in with cramps, she sheepishly withdrew her hand, muttering, “It’s not that time yet…”
By the way, her and Chen Yao’s birthdays were also approaching.
She still hadn’t figured out what to get him as a gift.
And how to arrange everything was another issue.
Plus, Pan Maoxin’s final exam… After all, he was the first student she ever taught by herself. Even though she’d slapped him around a couple of times, she still hoped he’d perform well on the finals; otherwise, she wouldn’t have willingly volunteered to teach him language and math.
However, Pan Maoxin wasn’t the best at putting in effort. Influenced by his stepmom, he couldn’t focus on lessons, and his language and math books looked blank enough to sell as a new edition.
Once they finished eating, Lin Nan laid comfortably in her familiar bedroom, letting out a long sigh. Pushing herself up, she looked over at Chen Yao, who was already back to playing Monster Hunter.
With summer sales in full swing, many games were discounted, and Chen Yao was seriously thinking about slashing his wallet.
“So, how much exactly have you spent on games?” Lin Nan asked.
“…..” After a moment of contemplation, Chen Yao replied, “About five hundred, I think?”
“Monster Hunter itself is over three hundred, and then you bought Sekiro too.” He awkwardly played on, avoiding Lin Nan’s gaze.
But Lin Nan wasn’t too bothered by his spending; she just frowned and reminded him, “Don’t buy games you won’t play. Our finals are coming up soon; you don’t want to fail.”
“I know. I only fight one monster a day.”
“One monster a day?” Lin Nan teased before lying back down on the bed.
Chen Yao felt a bit miffed, but glancing at the monster he hadn’t defeated after two days, he pouted, realizing that his talent in League of Legends might not translate to Monster Hunter.
It was just too difficult.
With finals just around the corner, after that would come a month and a half of summer vacation—then who knows where they’d live?
Covering herself with a blanket, Lin Nan pondered about summer plans.
Staying at her grandfather’s house would be ideal, but she couldn’t stand the food there. A couple of days was fine, but long-term, she’d starve herself thin.
If she stayed at Chen Yao’s house, her mom would probably accuse her of leaning too much on other families, as if she were off living with him before they were even married.
Not having a stable home was definitely unsettling.
“What if I just stay here for the finals?” Lin Nan mused. “And maybe find a summer job, work for a month, and have half a month to relax.”
Besides, summer was peak season for training centers, and they might just be looking for teachers.
As long as Pan Maoxin’s English final score was good enough, she could probably use that as part of her resume.
“You want to stay?” Chen Yao asked in surprise, turning to look at her. “Not going to my house?”
“Staying too long isn’t great. Last time I got stuck at your place because of the pandemic.” Lin Nan flipped over, feeling a bit uncertain.
Even though she had done numerous part-time jobs before, they were usually simple tasks like handing out flyers or serving food—nothing that required any real qualifications. Teaching at a training center felt a bit intimidating.
And she didn’t even have a teaching certificate.
Chen Yao clearly didn’t want Lin Nan to stay alone in the rental, temporarily forgetting about the game. He looked at her seriously and asked, “Isn’t staying at your grandfather’s house better?”
“No, it’s boring there. Nobody to play with, and the food is awful.”
“Then… then it’s not safe for you to live alone here.” Chen Yao scratched his head in a panic. “I could stay and keep you company. Even if I can’t find a summer job, I can cook for you every day in the rental.”
“I think you should be more worried about finals,” she said.
“That’s no problem. I’ve been paying attention in class this semester, and I study at home too. Finals will be a breeze.” Chen Yao sat cross-legged on the bed, earnestly persuading her, “There’s no rush. Summer is for relaxing and having fun, and working those pointless part-time jobs won’t really teach you anything.”
Lin Nan pouted and said nothing.
Now that there was no home… her former home was back in the countryside village. Though she rented in the county city, visiting occasionally gave her a sense of belonging. But now her parents had divorced, and she had become a woman; that once lively rental was long uninhabited, and returning to her hometown wasn’t an option.
She had to buy her mom a house first; that way, when she married into Chen Yao’s family and got bullied, she could always run back to her maternal side.
Although the probability was high that it would be the other way around; she’d be the one giving Chen Yao a hard time.
In the small town where her grandfather lived, the housing prices were about five thousand per square meter. Buying a small second-hand apartment of thirty to fifty square meters for one person wouldn’t be too expensive, but it all depended on how much she could earn after graduation.
They said a good training teacher could make several thousand a month.
First, set a small goal: save up a hundred thousand for her mom’s house down payment.
Lying on the bed, she seriously contemplated her future for the first time. Chen Yao stared at her, watching her brows furrow and then relax, unsure of what was going through his girlfriend’s mind.
Just as the outline of her future became clearer in her thoughts, Lin Nan suddenly felt dizzy and her eyelids grew heavier; she realized that she had almost dozed off while lying there.
What was I just thinking about?
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There’s more to come tonight…
