Chapter 16: Sit If You Want
When Lin Wan returned to the dorm, all three of his roommates were there. They were all slumped in their chairs, looking like tired and lifeless college students.
Only Zhang Dingding still had some energy. Holding his insulated cup, he took a sip of his goji berry tea and said, "Brother Wan, you're back."
"What's wrong with those two?" Lin Wan glanced at the two guys, who looked as lifeless as wilted cucumbers.
Zhang Dingding shook his head. "You wouldn't understand the pain of people who spend all their money before the end of the month."
Lin Wan nodded as if he understood and walked toward the bathroom.
He had finished today's walking goal. Together with the steps he had already taken before, he had finally reached 100,000 steps. It was time to claim his reward.
Inside the small, dark bathroom, he locked the door and leaned against the cool wall.
"Spirit, let's do it!"
"Here I come~"
"Mm... ah..."
The muscles all over his body shook on their own. Lin Wan could only lean hard against the corner to stop himself from falling to the floor.
About a minute later, the feeling slowly faded away like the tide.
"Phew."
After letting out a long breath, he asked, "Spirit, how much is left before I finish the mission to cure 5% of my illness?"
"Only 2% left~"
Only 2% left?
That wonderful feeling was so addictive. He hadn't had enough of it yet!
Still, there would be more missions in the future. One mission felt great, and doing mission after mission would feel even better.
As soon as he opened the bathroom door and walked out, he found three pairs of eyes staring at him with strange green-looking light.
"Mm, my child has finally grown up!" Sun Mao looked at him with the proud face of an old father. It was obvious he had heard the sounds from the bathroom.
Lin Wan: ?
"The only problem is... one minute is kind of sad," Qiu Cheng sighed.
Sun Mao shook his head. "One minute is indeed a bit... When I have more money next month, I'll buy you some grilled kidneys!"
Zhang Dingding said nothing. He picked up three small packets of red granules from the table and placed them in Lin Wan's hand. Then he made a fist, lightly hit his own chest, and said, "Brother Wan, every man has his difficult times. Goji berries in an insulated cup! I understand you!"
What are these three doing?
Lin Wan was completely confused and had no idea what they meant. He picked up his kettle and went to the hot water room to get some hot water for soaking his feet.
"Dad, fill mine too!" Seeing this, Sun Mao quickly grabbed his own kettle and handed it to him.
Lin Wan took the kettle and walked out of the dorm with both kettles, making light tapping sounds as he went.
After filling them with water, he returned to the dorm. He poured the boiling water into a basin, added some cold water to cool it down, took off his shoes and socks, and carefully dipped his feet into the water.
"Mmm!"
It felt amazing!
On a cold night, soaking his feet in hot water felt almost as good as the feeling he got from having part of his illness cured.
Zhang Dingding squatted beside Lin Wan's desk and poured the remaining hot water from Lin Wan's kettle into his own basin. He glanced at the pair of soft, fair little feet soaking in the basin beside him.
He really couldn't understand why a man's feet could be so small and chubby. What a waste!
Still, his own sweetheart's feet looked much better. Hehe.
Thinking about a certain passionate night, he rubbed his sore waist and slowly returned to his seat.
An ordinary weekend for college students passed just like that, and a busy new week began.
Monday's schedule was completely full of classes. Only on Tuesday night did Lin Wan and his teammates have time to go to the internet café for practice.
At eight o'clock that evening, Chen Jie finished training early.
A light rain had started falling, and it looked like it would only get heavier.
After everyone walked out of the internet café, they said goodbye to each other and left one by one.
Lin Wan breathed out a cloud of white air and watched it slowly disappear into the rain. He pretended to hold a cigarette between his fingers and asked,
"Brother, is smoking supposed to feel like this?"
"If you want to try smoking, when we get to the school gate, I'll ask the security guard for a cigarette for you." Zhuo Feng pushed his bicycle to the side of the road, then turned to Chen Jie. "Seriously, your old man is way too stingy. He won't even buy you a car. Look at your teammates, they still have to ride their bikes back to school in the rain."
"You can always take a taxi," Chen Jie said with a shrug.
"Will you pay for it?"
Chen Jie lowered the curtain at the internet café. "Who are you? We don't know each other. Bye!"
Eating and drinking at the internet café was fine because it was his dad's money. But taking a taxi meant spending his own money. So he couldn't care less about friendship. After all, he was completely broke.
"Let's go." Zhuo Feng looked at Lin Wan, who was still breathing warm air into his hands. He couldn't help feeling that his support player wasn't very bright sometimes.
"Okay." Lin Wan climbed onto the back seat, making a face. "Brother, your back seat is like the Frozen Throne! This metal rack is as cold as a block of ice."
"You should be thankful I'm giving you a ride. What? You're complaining about this luxury convertible?"
"Haha, a convertible? Can this pile of scrap metal even sell for ten yuan?"
"Then don't ride it. Even a dog doesn't complain that its home is poor."
"No way! Giddy up! Hurry, hurry! The rain's getting heavier again."
Lin Wan lifted the back of Zhuo Feng's jacket and held one corner in each hand, using it like an umbrella.
"Can you act like a normal person? What are you doing, holding horse reins?" Zhuo Feng said helplessly as he felt his jacket being pulled.
"Can't help it. I'm very fragile. If I get caught in the rain, I might die tomorrow," Lin Wan joked, even though he was telling the truth.
"Fine then. Master Lin, you delicate little flower, try your best to stay alive. We're good brothers, so don't frame me if something happens!"
"Don't worry. If something really happens, with the friendship we have, you definitely won't get away."
"Then get off the bike."
"Wow, look how bright the stars are tonight," Lin Wan said with a straight face, pretending he had no idea what Zhuo Feng was talking about.
The two of them chatted back and forth as they hurried toward the school.
Lin Wan was much more lively around Zhuo Feng than before. Maybe after truly accepting someone as a friend, the closed-off part of his heart naturally opened.
At the school gate...
"Didn't you say outside the internet café that you wanted to try a cigarette? I'll make your dream come true." Zhuo Feng pretended he was about to knock on the security booth window.
"No! No! No!" Lin Wan quickly grabbed his arm. "I'm not used to cigarettes. I usually smoke cigars."
"Wow! Master Lin has upgraded again. You even know about cigars now?"
"That's how high-class business people like us do things."
"Alright then. In a minute, we'll grab some dry leaves from the bushes and roll one for you."
"I may not know much, but don't fool me! Is that really how cigars are made?"
"Close enough. Besides, you're so smart. How could I possibly trick you?"
"That's true."
………………
Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was Saturday.
Many people were already busy on the football field. As the sun slowly set, a stage gradually took shape.
After all the cables had been tested, it quietly waited for tomorrow's big event.
Maple Internet Café.
Lin Wan and his teammates stepped down from the competition stage.
They had reached the finals just like that?
The school teams weren't very strong. There was almost no pressure at all.
To put it in the words of Ip Man: ‘I want to fight ten of them!’
"Alright, everyone, go back and get a good rest. From now until tomorrow's match, take good care of yourselves. Don't eat anything strange. If you can't play because you get sick, losing like that would be such a waste," Chen Jie warned everyone.
Last year, a player from another school's team got diarrhea and missed the match. The place was packed with people watching, but he ended up creating a disaster on stage. Everyone in the audience panicked and ran away, afraid they would get caught in it.
That student was completely embarrassed in front of everyone and was too ashamed to face people afterward.
"Brother, do you know where I can buy a face mask?" Today, instead of riding Zhuo Feng's bike, Lin Wan decided to walk around and look for one.
Tomorrow was the competition, and there would definitely be a big crowd watching. He felt nervous, so he wanted to cover part of his face with a mask to feel more at ease.
"The pharmacy." Zhuo Feng pointed at a green store not far ahead.
"I mean the kind people wear for decoration."
"Let's just keep looking while we walk." Even he didn't know where to buy one.
"Alright. You can head back," Lin Wan said, waving goodbye before walking away.
After taking a few steps, he heard someone behind him. He turned around and asked, "Why are you following me?"
"I was planning to buy a mask too. I can't let you be the only one trying to look cool, right?"
Zhuo Feng shook his head. Didn't this guy know that being the only person wearing a mask would actually attract even more attention?