Chapter 41: Eyes Full of Gentle Feelings, Love Is About to Bloom
After paying, Lin Wan took the two safety charms and walked out of the temple.
Which one should he give to Grandpa, and which one should he give to Zhuo Feng?
Last time, Zhuo Feng had given him a pendant and refused to let him pay him back. This time, since he was already praying for a safety charm for Grandpa, he got one for his good brother as a return gift.
Zhuo Feng: I'm so upset! So I was just an extra thought?
"Forget it. I'll let Grandpa choose first. Whatever is left can go to Zhuo Feng."
After making up his mind, he was about to step out of the temple.
The old abbot stopped him.
"Young lady, wait a moment."
Lin Wan turned around and sighed.
"Grandpa, I'm a guy."
"Young lady, I can see gentle feelings in your eyes. Your love star is shining! Want me to tell your fortune and see how your love life will go? I'll give you a 10% discount."
Fine, call me whatever you want if it makes you happy.
Ignoring the first few words, Lin Wan replied, "I'll pass on the fortune telling."
You can't even tell if I'm a man or a woman. Sure, my looks can be a little misleading, but my voice is pretty manly, isn't it? It's hard to trust your fortune telling skills...
"You'll pass? Alright, alright. Come here and throw these copper coins."
"Grandpa, I said I'll pass. I don't need it. I meant 'forget it,' not 'let's do it.'"
Holding the safety charms, Lin Wan stepped out of the temple.
"Young lady, your fate is right in front of you! Remember these words. If they come true, don't forget to come back and fulfill your promise!"
Hearing that, Lin Wan quickly walked even faster.
What fate? Since I started college, I've barely talked to any girls. Where would this fate even come from...?
Back at home...
During lunch, Lin Wan took out the safety charms.
"Grandpa, I went to the temple in town this morning and got two safety charms. One is—"
Uh...
The two charms had gotten mixed up, and they looked exactly the same. Which one was which?
Forget it. It didn't really matter.
"Grandpa, pick whichever one you like."
"I'll take this one."
Lin Youfu picked one at random. He thought the other one belonged to Lin Wan, so he didn't ask any questions.
That afternoon, Lin Wan went fishing with Grandpa.
Early the next morning, he returned to school.
As soon as he arrived, he took out his phone and called Zhuo Feng.
"Hello? Lin Wan?"
"Yeah. Are you at school now?"
"I'm in the dorm."
"Come to the supermarket in the old campus."
"What's up?"
"I've got something for you."
"Alright. I'll be there now."
After hanging up, Lin Wan sat on a bench and looked at the safety charm.
The dark golden metal plate had only the two words "Safe and Peaceful" carved on it. There was nothing else.
I hope my good brother doesn't dislike it.
He probably won't... Didn't he say before that friendship is what matters most?
Besides, this wasn't some cheap little thing. It cost twenty yuan!
Yeah. Later I'll tell him it cost fifty yuan, so he'll know I'm not a stingy person!
The moment Zhuo Feng heard that Lin Wan had something to give him, he pedaled his bicycle as fast as he could and rushed to the old campus.
Near the supermarket, he spotted Lin Wan's back.
His slim figure and long neck made him stand out more and more.
Walking up behind him, Zhuo Feng stood on his left side but reached over with his right hand and tapped Lin Wan's right shoulder.
Lin Wan turned to the right but saw no one. Then he looked to the left.
Zhuo Feng stood there with the sunlight behind him, smiling warmly. The light around him was so bright that it was almost dazzling.
"Good brother, what good thing do you have for me?"
"Here. A safety charm. I got it from a temple back in my hometown."
Lin Wan placed the charm into Zhuo Feng's hand.
Feeling the warmth that still remained on the charm from Lin Wan's hand, Zhuo Feng suddenly felt his palm grow warm.
"Thank you."
“Come on, we're good brothers. No need to say things like that!” Lin Wan stood up. “Alright, I've given it to you. I'm going back to the dorm. Make sure you keep it safe. It cost fifty yuan!”
Zhuo Feng made an OK sign with his hand.
“Got it, Boss Lin!”
“Remember to get online later! We still have one more day, so let's finish a few more orders.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Watching Lin Wan's back as he walked farther away, Zhuo Feng felt that his good brother really did care about him. Otherwise, how could someone as stingy as Lin Wan spend money on something like this just to give it to someone else?
Back in the dorm, Lin Wan logged into the game, joined the voice chat with Zhuo Feng, and the two of them got back to making money.
…………………
May 7th
That evening, their class advisor, who was rarely seen, suddenly showed up in the classroom.
As soon as he walked in, he got straight to the point.
The Qingnan University Spring Sports Meet was about to begin!
He hoped everyone would sign up actively. He especially wanted the boys to have someone in every event. As for the fewer than ten girls in the class, he didn't ask for much. As long as two or three of them signed up for a few events, that would be enough.
After saying that, he handed everything over to the class sports representative and disappeared immediately. He left so fast that by the time the sports representative chased him out of the classroom, he was already gone.
The poor sports representative was left behind with a helpless smile, carrying the event registration forms and going from student to student, practically begging everyone to join the sports meet.
There was no helping it.
Most of them had barely passed the 1,000-meter fitness test, and after spending a lazy year in college, asking them to compete in the sports meet felt like asking for their lives.
In the end, only a few students who were in good shape and exercised regularly signed up.
After the meeting, everyone returned to the dorms.
The sports representative then went from dorm to dorm, trying to convince people.
He talked about how participants would get free food, how winning a place would earn extra academic credits, how classmates would cheer for them, and how girls from other departments would see how cool they looked on the track.
After two days of hard work, he finally managed to gather enough people to fill most of the events.
The biggest surprise for everyone in Room 205 was that Sun Mao had actually signed up for the men's 1,000-meter race.
Everyone asked him the same question.
"Brother Sun, why would you do this to yourself?"
Sun Mao crossed his legs and opened the WeChat money transfer his mom had just sent him.
The number had a 2 followed by four zeros.
The huge amount nearly blinded everyone.
He sighed.
"My mom transferred me twenty thousand yuan. If someone gave you twenty thousand to run one thousand meters, would you run?"
Qiu Cheng replied, "How about fifty thousand meters instead? Otherwise I'd feel bad taking the money."
Lin Wan answered without hesitation, "I'd run! Even if it killed me!"
Zhang Dingding looked jealous.
"So this is how rich people live? Brother Sun! Does your family need someone to guard the front gate?"
To encourage her chubby son to lose weight, Sun Mao's mother had really gone all out.
She was using money to force him to exercise.
That night, the quiet park welcomed another new visitor.
Sun Mao was terrible at sports. Even though the 1,000-meter race could technically be finished by walking, there would be so many people watching during the competition that he couldn't bring himself to do that.
So he wanted to practice first. Even last-minute practice was better than none.
He begged Lin Wan to take him running together.
When Lin Wan arrived at the park with Sun Mao, Zhuo Feng, who had come earlier, immediately felt miserable.
Wasn't this supposed to be a two-person outing?
During the run, Sun Mao kept stopping every few steps, just like Lin Wan had when he first started running.
After they finished, Lin Wan and Zhuo Feng had already finished giving each other leg massages before Sun Mao finally staggered over to the resting area, breathing heavily and dripping sweat with every step.
Seeing this, Lin Wan quickly said,
“Sun Mao, don't sit down yet. Keep walking for a while. Wait until your heart rate goes down before you sit.”
“Huff... O-Okay.”
Sun Mao's mind was completely blank from running. He didn't even know how far he had run and simply did what Lin Wan told him.
“I'll teach you how to massage your calves later. If you don't, they'll be really sore tomorrow.”
Hearing that, Zhuo Feng's eyelids twitched.
How is Lin Wan planning to teach him? Is he going to massage him himself, just like he tricked—cough, taught me? No way!
He was already thinking about how to stop it when Sun Mao suddenly pulled a calf massage roller and a massage gun out of his backpack.
This was the perfect example of someone who wasn't good at something but had all the equipment anyway. Whether it worked or not, he had already bought the gear first.
“Thanks, Brother Wan. I'll be counting on you later.”
Sun Mao handed the massage tools to Lin Wan and started walking around slowly to cool down.
Holding the equipment, Lin Wan looked completely confused.
I've never used these before... How are they supposed to work?
He could only give Zhuo Feng a helpless look, asking for help.
The moment Zhuo Feng realized Lin Wan wouldn't have to massage Sun Mao by hand, his mood immediately improved.
“I'll teach him later.”
Ten minutes later—
“AAAHHHHH!!”
Sun Mao's miserable scream echoed through the park, making the leaves on the trees shake.
Zhuo Feng wasn't gentle at all when dealing with another guy. He pressed the massage gun hard enough that Sun Mao felt like he was dying.
“It's okay, Sun Mao,” Lin Wan comforted him from the side. “Once your muscles loosen up, it won't hurt anymore. It's always like this at the beginning.”
“AAAHHH!! Mom, save me! I'm dying! I'm dying!”
Sun Mao wasn't in the mood to listen to any advice.
All he could do was scream, each cry louder than the last.
After that night, the park gained a new local ghost story. A monster that ate people in the middle of the night.