HSS CH14
by InterstellarSnakeChapter 14: My Lips Seem Swollen
When he woke up in the morning, Lin Miao went to the bathroom to wash up. As he looked up at the mirror, he noticed that his lips seemed a bit swollen.
He was puzzled. Had he been stung by some insect?
He went downstairs to find Huo Yuchuan. “Huo Yuchuan, my lips seem swollen.”
Huo Yuchuan was sitting at the dining table, leisurely taking a bite of his sandwich. “Did you bite yourself in your sleep?”
Lin Miao thought for a moment but couldn’t recall any dreams from the night before. “I don’t remember.”
He leaned in close to Huo Yuchuan. “Take a look. Is it very noticeable?”
Huo Yuchuan remained still, pausing for a moment before saying, “It’s not.”
“That’s good,” Lin Miao said as he sat down to have breakfast. “Otherwise, Jiang Leming and the others would tease me to death.”
Huo Yuchuan: “Don’t you have no classes this morning?”
“We still haven’t finished our group assignment,” Lin Miao said, sipping his milk. “We need to discuss it today.”
All four roommates were finance majors, and they hadn’t yet decided on a topic for their group assignment. He Yu felt they couldn’t delay any longer and insisted they finalize it this morning.
“Jiang Leming and Zhou Zhuo were supposed to play basketball, but He Yu glared at them, and they ended up putting the basketball in the toilet,” Lin Miao explained.
Zhou Zhuo was their other roommate.
Huo Yuchuan noticed a bit of milk on the corner of Lin Miao’s lips, wiped it off with his hand, and then got up and left.
Lin Miao thought he had spilled milk all over his face and quickly wiped his mouth with a napkin.
After finishing breakfast, Lin Miao went back to school and met with his three roommates. Fortunately, they had little disagreement and quickly settled on a topic for their group assignment.
Lin Miao was in charge of finding materials. He took his laptop to the library and, nearing noon, received a message from Huo Yuchuan.
“Finished discussing?”
“Little Zheng will pick you up.”
Lin Miao was puzzled. “I’m not going back for lunch.”
Huo Yuchuan: “I need a nap.”
Lin Miao: “…Did you not sleep well again last night?” Why does he need a nap again?
Huo Yuchuan: “I’ll nap every day from now on.”
Lin Miao: “Why?”
Huo Yuchuan: “Because I want to.”
Lin Miao was shocked. “So I have to come to you every noon?”
Huo Yuchuan: “Does the contract specify only accompanying me at night?”
Lin Miao: “There’s no extra money?!”
Huo Yuchuan: “Stop always thinking about money.”
The wicked capitalist! Lin Miao grumbled, “If I don’t think about money, what else should I think about? You?!”
After a while, Huo Yuchuan finally replied, “That’s fine too.”
Lin Miao was delighted. “Does that mean you’ll pay?”
Huo Yuchuan: “……”
In the end, Lin Miao won by securing fifty bucks for every noon.
He had planned to eat some vegetables in the cafeteria before heading over, but Huo Yuchuan said Aunt Chen had already sent over lunch for two, and if he didn’t eat it, it would go to waste.
Lin Miao felt torn and heartbroken. “But I’m on a diet……”
Huo Yuchuan: “You can go running with Little Zheng in the morning.”
Lin Miao asked curiously, “What time does he go?”
Huo Yuchuan: “Six a.m.”
Lin Miao: “Goodbye.”
Lin Miao called Aunt Chen and asked her to only send Huo Yuchuan’s portion for lunch in the future, as he would eat at school.
Aunt Chen immediately sounded like she was about to cry. “Is Aunt Chen’s cooking not good anymore?”
Lin Miao quickly reassured her, “No, it’s not that.”
Aunt Chen was in tears. “Then why don’t you like it anymore?”
“I don’t dislike it,” Lin Miao explained. “I just need to lose weight.”
“You’re so thin already, why lose weight?” Aunt Chen cried even harder. “You just don’t like it anymore. You’re deceiving Aunt Chen.”
“Aunt Chen knows that her home-cooked meals aren’t as good as those from outside. You all look down on them. Aunt Chen is useless now. I might as well resign and go back to my hometown tomorrow……”
“No, no,” Lin Miao felt like he had committed some heinous crime and hurriedly tried to make amends. “Aunt Chen’s cooking is the best. I love it the most.”
Aunt Chen: “Then will you still eat lunch here tomorrow?”
Lin Miao: “……Yes.”
“Good, good,” Aunt Chen’s face lit up with a smile. “Then Aunt Chen will make a bit more for you tomorrow.”
“……Alright.”
Lin Miao hung up the phone, feeling like he really needed to start running with Little Zheng at six in the morning.
Losing eight pounds seemed like a distant goal, while gaining eight pounds was all too easy.
That noon, Lin Miao cleaned his plate, not wanting to waste a single bite, feeling it would be disrespectful to Aunt Chen otherwise.
He lay on the sofa in the office with his bloated stomach, playing with his phone while Huo Yuchuan sat beside him, reviewing some documents.
A “ding” sound alerted him to a special offer push notification on a shopping app on his phone.
Lin Miao opened it and saw that it was for pillows.
He had searched for terms like “extra-large bed,” “three people sleeping,” and “rolling around” the day before, and now he was getting many related push notifications.
He didn’t want to pay attention, but then he saw the bright headline.
“Invite friends to help cut the price, get it for free……”
He immediately sent it to Huo Yuchuan, looking up and saying, “Huo Yuchuan, help me cut the price.”
Huo Yuchuan glanced at it and said, “Do you need a pillow?”
Lin Miao: “Three people, don’t we need three pillows?”
Huo Yuchuan: “……”
Huo Yuchuan: “You’re really thinking ahead.”
Lin Miao grumbled, “I’m saving you money.”
But Huo Yuchuan said, “I won’t cut the price.”
Lin Miao: “Why not?”
Huo Yuchuan: “I just don’t want to.”
He won’t even tap a button, Lin Miao complained, “I’d do anything for a friend, and you won’t even help me cut the price on Pinduoduo?!”
Huo Yuchuan: “Cut where?”
“Cut……” Lin Miao instinctively looked at his ribs.
No, what does that even mean?
Isn’t that just a metaphor? Does he really expect me to stab myself twice?