The break was approaching fast. At his school, there wasn't the usual sense of urgency felt at other colleges nearing their final exams. At least in Lin Jin's surroundings, everything was pretty peaceful. Those guys were either happily looking for companions to go home with or asking around about when people were leaving.
In any case, Lin Jin was a complete outlier.
He was probably the only one in the entire class who looked at English textbooks during class, looked at English textbooks after class, and continued studying English after going home from school by jogging.
The debate had also concluded. This debate was hardly formal. Basically, if you had enough information and spoke fast enough, you were good. Lin Jin's eloquent speech didn't help at all. When you spoke quickly, who knew what the hell you were saying. It would be good enough to catch a few keywords, who cares whether Lin Jin was eloquent or not.
In the end, due to Zhuang Yuqing's too-fast speech that was incomprehensible, the animation cohort regretfully lost.
Lin Jin barely opened his mouth until the end, just as Zhuang Yuqing had said, he hardly needed to speak while sitting there.
If it weren't for the sake of this still being a competition, Lin Jin would probably have played with his phone right then and there during the debate.
"Lin Jin, have you finished your end-of-term assessment?" Lin Xin popped into Lin Jin's dorm. As soon as he got there, he pleasingly put his hands on Lin Jin's shoulders and started massaging them.
"No." Lin Jin put both feet up on the chair, placed the English textbook on his lap, and looked down to read, not bothering to pay much attention to Lin Xin. "Just spit it out, what do you want?"
"Can you help me make a poster when you're free? I'll treat you to a meal" Lin Xin finally revealed his true intentions.
Lin Jin frowned and rejected him without hesitation, "No way, at least fifty."
Although Lin Jin was poor in academic subjects, he was exceptionally gifted in software courses like Photoshop. Back in high school, he had skipped computer classes to self-study Photoshop, intending to learn a skill that would allow him to find non-manual labor after graduating. He had even found a small advertising shop where he planned to work, but his mom insisted that he go to college instead.
And, as it turned out, Photoshop was part of the curriculum in his first semester of college, something he had already self-studied for nearly a year.
So, making a poster or something like that was basically a piece of cake for Lin Jin. He could whip up a somewhat mediocre one in about ten minutes, even if it might end up looking like the common eyesores seen on street corners.
"How about twenty?" Lin Xin was utterly useless when it came to Photoshop. He basically spent his class time watching movies on his phone, and his classroom assignments were haphazardly done.
Lin Jin hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded under the lure of money.
Though twenty wasn't much, it was still money! With Lin Jin's current living expenses, twenty yuan was at least some food money!
He had also been exercising for three days now, and another half-hour of exercise tonight would finally complete this weight-loss task.
"I'll transfer the money to you as soon as you finish" Lin Xin immediately broke into a smile.
Lin Jin gave Lin Xin a heads-up, saying, "If it ends up looking ugly, don't complain. It's just for the end of term."
"No problem!" Lin Xin wasn't picky. After receiving a satisfactory answer, he stopped massaging Lin Jin's shoulders and dashed back to his dorm without hesitation.
"This guy." Lin Jin shook his head, tossed his English textbook aside, bent down to put on his shoes, and glanced at the darkening sky outside.
It was already getting dark, and Lin Jin planned to go finish his task. Although the reward for this task wasn't what he wanted, he still had to complete it to avoid penalties.
Having speed walked for two days, Lin Jin had grown accustomed to the pace as well as the odd stares from others. After all, most people jogging in the field were slow running, and Lin Jin was the only one speed walking.
"Lin Jin."
He had only completed two laps when he noticed a familiar person approaching from behind.
"Chen Shi, what's up?" Lin Jin turned his head to look at her.
It had been a week since Lin Jin and Chen Shi had seen each other. A week ago, he had some mild feelings for her and the idea of dating her. But after a week, all he saw her as was a regular friend.
Did he actually not like Chen Shi back then?
Lin Jin even began to question if he was fickle. He had wanted to confess his feelings to Chen Shi just a week ago, but now he felt nothing.
"Why haven't you come to find me?" Chen Shi slowed down her pace to walk beside Lin Jin, her voice tinged with a sense of grievance. "Did I say something wrong that day?"
"No, I've just figured things out" Lin Jin responded indifferently.
Chen Shi was stunned for a moment before asking, "Figured what things out?"
Lin Jin couldn't possibly say that he had come to the realization that he was likely to become a woman in the future, so he didn't want to date any girls. Nor could he mention that he no longer had strong feelings for Chen Shi.
If it hadn't been for the black cat, Lin Jin might have accepted Chen Shi's hints a week ago, and they might have already become a couple.
But then again, if it hadn't been for the black cat, Lin Jin would have never been interested in getting to know Chen Shi in the first place...
So it was all the black cat's fault! It wasn't Lin Jin who was in the wrong, it was the "world!"
"We can't be together" Lin Jin's steps slowed a bit as his thoughts drifted while he spoke. He sighed, his mind racing as he spun a lie, "My mom told me not to date in college because relationships usually end after graduation, and it's a waste of time and money."
"How could that be?" Chen Shi, who still had some lingering feelings for Lin Jin, desperately wanted to salvage what could have been her first romantic relationship in college. "If we truly get together, we can work in Xiamen in the future, earn money together, buy a house, and even a car. My family isn't poor and we don't have the custom of demanding a high dowry. We would be really happy together!"
Ah, where could one find such a great girl...
Lin Jin's lips twitched. If it weren't for the black cat's insistence on transforming him into a goddess, he would have accepted Chen Shi's proposal last week, right?
"Would your family be able to accept a homosexual relationship?" Lin Jin gave a wry smile.
"Homosexual?" Chen Shi was stunned, standing still for a moment before rushing to catch up. She urgently asked, "But aren't you a boy? Don't you live in the male dormitory? How could you be gay..."
Lin Jin was just about to deploy his ultimate excuse: "I am actually a woman" as a way to reject Chen Shi, but she had already filled in the blanks in her own mind.
"You mean... you actually like men?" Chen Shi hesitantly asked.
What the hell?!
"If you actually like men... then I guess that's it" Chen Shi looked expectantly at Lin Jin, hoping to get a denial from him.
"I... I..."
Which is less compromising, "I am gay" or "I am actually a woman"? Urgently waiting for answers!
The break was approaching fast. At his school, there wasn't the usual sense of urgency felt at other colleges nearing their final exams. At least in Lin Jin's surroundings, everything was pretty peaceful. Those guys were either happily looking for companions to go home with or asking around about when people were leaving.
In any case, Lin Jin was a complete outlier.
He was probably the only one in the entire class who looked at English textbooks during class, looked at English textbooks after class, and continued studying English after going home from school by jogging.
The debate had also concluded. This debate was hardly formal. Basically, if you had enough information and spoke fast enough, you were good. Lin Jin's eloquent speech didn't help at all. When you spoke quickly, who knew what the hell you were saying. It would be good enough to catch a few keywords, who cares whether Lin Jin was eloquent or not.
In the end, due to Zhuang Yuqing's too-fast speech that was incomprehensible, the animation cohort regretfully lost.
Lin Jin barely opened his mouth until the end, just as Zhuang Yuqing had said, he hardly needed to speak while sitting there.
If it weren't for the sake of this still being a competition, Lin Jin would probably have played with his phone right then and there during the debate.
"Lin Jin, have you finished your end-of-term assessment?" Lin Xin popped into Lin Jin's dorm. As soon as he got there, he pleasingly put his hands on Lin Jin's shoulders and started massaging them.
"No." Lin Jin put both feet up on the chair, placed the English textbook on his lap, and looked down to read, not bothering to pay much attention to Lin Xin. "Just spit it out, what do you want?"
"Can you help me make a poster when you're free? I'll treat you to a meal" Lin Xin finally revealed his true intentions.
Lin Jin frowned and rejected him without hesitation, "No way, at least fifty."
Although Lin Jin was poor in academic subjects, he was exceptionally gifted in software courses like Photoshop. Back in high school, he had skipped computer classes to self-study Photoshop, intending to learn a skill that would allow him to find non-manual labor after graduating. He had even found a small advertising shop where he planned to work, but his mom insisted that he go to college instead.
And, as it turned out, Photoshop was part of the curriculum in his first semester of college, something he had already self-studied for nearly a year.
So, making a poster or something like that was basically a piece of cake for Lin Jin. He could whip up a somewhat mediocre one in about ten minutes, even if it might end up looking like the common eyesores seen on street corners.
"How about twenty?" Lin Xin was utterly useless when it came to Photoshop. He basically spent his class time watching movies on his phone, and his classroom assignments were haphazardly done.
Lin Jin hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded under the lure of money.
Though twenty wasn't much, it was still money! With Lin Jin's current living expenses, twenty yuan was at least some food money!
He had also been exercising for three days now, and another half-hour of exercise tonight would finally complete this weight-loss task.
"I'll transfer the money to you as soon as you finish" Lin Xin immediately broke into a smile.
Lin Jin gave Lin Xin a heads-up, saying, "If it ends up looking ugly, don't complain. It's just for the end of term."
"No problem!" Lin Xin wasn't picky. After receiving a satisfactory answer, he stopped massaging Lin Jin's shoulders and dashed back to his dorm without hesitation.
"This guy." Lin Jin shook his head, tossed his English textbook aside, bent down to put on his shoes, and glanced at the darkening sky outside.
It was already getting dark, and Lin Jin planned to go finish his task. Although the reward for this task wasn't what he wanted, he still had to complete it to avoid penalties.
Having speed walked for two days, Lin Jin had grown accustomed to the pace as well as the odd stares from others. After all, most people jogging in the field were slow running, and Lin Jin was the only one speed walking.
"Lin Jin."
He had only completed two laps when he noticed a familiar person approaching from behind.
"Chen Shi, what's up?" Lin Jin turned his head to look at her.
It had been a week since Lin Jin and Chen Shi had seen each other. A week ago, he had some mild feelings for her and the idea of dating her. But after a week, all he saw her as was a regular friend.
Did he actually not like Chen Shi back then?
Lin Jin even began to question if he was fickle. He had wanted to confess his feelings to Chen Shi just a week ago, but now he felt nothing.
"Why haven't you come to find me?" Chen Shi slowed down her pace to walk beside Lin Jin, her voice tinged with a sense of grievance. "Did I say something wrong that day?"
"No, I've just figured things out" Lin Jin responded indifferently.
Chen Shi was stunned for a moment before asking, "Figured what things out?"
Lin Jin couldn't possibly say that he had come to the realization that he was likely to become a woman in the future, so he didn't want to date any girls. Nor could he mention that he no longer had strong feelings for Chen Shi.
If it hadn't been for the black cat, Lin Jin might have accepted Chen Shi's hints a week ago, and they might have already become a couple.
But then again, if it hadn't been for the black cat, Lin Jin would have never been interested in getting to know Chen Shi in the first place...
So it was all the black cat's fault! It wasn't Lin Jin who was in the wrong, it was the "world!"
"We can't be together" Lin Jin's steps slowed a bit as his thoughts drifted while he spoke. He sighed, his mind racing as he spun a lie, "My mom told me not to date in college because relationships usually end after graduation, and it's a waste of time and money."
"How could that be?" Chen Shi, who still had some lingering feelings for Lin Jin, desperately wanted to salvage what could have been her first romantic relationship in college. "If we truly get together, we can work in Xiamen in the future, earn money together, buy a house, and even a car. My family isn't poor and we don't have the custom of demanding a high dowry. We would be really happy together!"
Ah, where could one find such a great girl...
Lin Jin's lips twitched. If it weren't for the black cat's insistence on transforming him into a goddess, he would have accepted Chen Shi's proposal last week, right?
"Would your family be able to accept a homosexual relationship?" Lin Jin gave a wry smile.
"Homosexual?" Chen Shi was stunned, standing still for a moment before rushing to catch up. She urgently asked, "But aren't you a boy? Don't you live in the male dormitory? How could you be gay..."
Lin Jin was just about to deploy his ultimate excuse: "I am actually a woman" as a way to reject Chen Shi, but she had already filled in the blanks in her own mind.
"You mean... you actually like men?" Chen Shi hesitantly asked.
What the hell?!
"If you actually like men... then I guess that's it" Chen Shi looked expectantly at Lin Jin, hoping to get a denial from him.
"I... I..."
Which is less compromising, "I am gay" or "I am actually a woman"? Urgently waiting for answers!
