Chapter 141:  Extra- Modern Campus (6)

“Stay over?” Lin Ting was slightly taken aback.

The floor-to-ceiling window reflected their figures, and Duan Ling’s hand casually landed on hers.

“The apartment I rented has two bedrooms. You can stay in the other room tonight.”

They had come to see the place together, so Lin Ting knew there were two rooms.

“But I didn’t bring any clothes.”

Although she hadn’t done anything strenuous today, she had been walking around and worked up a bit of a sweat.

She wanted to take a shower and change.

Duan Ling withdrew his hand and said, “I have some new T-shirts and pants I haven’t worn yet. If you don’t mind, pick a set to wear.”

Lin Ting glanced out the window again.

The heavy rain and wind showed no sign of letting up.

Even in daylight, going out in such weather was dangerous, not to mention it was already eleven at night.

Staying over was definitely the best choice.

Besides, it wasn’t the first time they’d stayed in the same house.

Whether as kids or now, whenever school was on break, she always stayed at Duan Ling’s place for a few nights.

If she didn’t, Li Jingqiu would probably ask if she’d had a fight with one of the Duan siblings.

The only difference tonight was that Duan Xinning wasn’t there, and the apartment was newly rented.

Most importantly, they’d known each other for over ten years.

Duan Ling wouldn’t do anything to her.

So what if she stayed one night?

Lin Ting joked, “Alright, I’ll stay tonight. But just so you know, no overnight fees.”

It was the weekend, so no classes.

Staying here wouldn’t mean rushing back for school.

Plus, she could make Duan Ling buy her food tomorrow.

“You come over so often, when has my family ever charged you overnight fees? I won’t either.” Duan Ling led Lin Ting to the wardrobe to pick out a T-shirt.

“The top shelf is all new.”

Lin Ting looked up at the upper shelf and said, “Tsk, just joking. You’re taking it seriously.”

His T-shirts were a bit long on her, almost like a short dress.

As for the pants, they were ridiculously long, but that wasn’t an issue—she could fold them a few times when wearing so they wouldn’t trip her.

The problem was the waist.

Due to body shape differences, Duan Ling’s waist was slim, but the pants’ waistband was still bigger than hers.

What should she do?

This brand of casual pants didn’t have belt loops or a drawstring.

Lin Ting thought for a moment, then decided to use the hair tie she used to tie her hair.

After putting on the pants, she tightened the waist with the hair tie.

As long as her movements weren’t too large, the pants wouldn’t slip.

Satisfied with the plan, she casually picked a white T-shirt and black pants.

Duan Ling bent down slightly, opened the middle drawer of the wardrobe, and took out a blue new towel still in its packaging.

He handed it to her, then took out a freshly laundered bedsheet from the cleaning lady.

“You know where the bathroom is, so I won’t show you. I’ll go set up the bed in the other room.”

Lin Ting tore open the towel’s bag and casually asked, “You have two bedsheets?”

He closed the wardrobe, turned around and replied, “I wash my bedsheets every few days. With weather like today, even if I use the washing machine, they can’t dry properly, so it’s best to have a spare.”

True.

She almost forgot.

Back at home, every few days she would see the little balcony outside Duan Ling’s room with bedsheets hanging to dry.

Lin Ting wasn’t as diligent about washing bedsheets—just once a month.

If they couldn’t dry that day, she’d just sleep on the bamboo mat and make do for the night.

She’d never thought to keep spares, considering it a waste.

She didn’t ask further and was about to leave the room when her stomach growled loudly.

“I’m hungry.” She looked back at him.

Duan Ling glanced at her rumbling stomach and said, “I’ll cook you some noodles in a bit.”

At the word “noodles,” Lin Ting’s stomach growled even louder.

She pressed down her belly with her hand and asked, “Do you even have noodles?”

Duan Ling replied, “You haven’t been in the kitchen today, right? The fridge is full of fruits and vegetables, and there’s rice and noodles in the cupboard. I had the cleaning lady buy them yesterday so I could cook easily. I rarely order takeout—I prefer cooking myself.”

“Is there meat? I want meat.”

Without meat, Lin Ting wouldn’t have much appetite.

“There is.”

Those few words reassured her.

Meat was a must.

“Alright.” Lin Ting’s phone buzzed in her pocket.

She thought it was a WeChat message and opened it.

Instead, it was a warning text about today’s heavy rain, advising people to avoid going out.

She scrolled up and saw she’d received a similar message yesterday but hadn’t noticed it.

Because she often got spam texts and couldn’t block them all, she rarely checked messages, usually just WeChat.

Today she looked closely only because of the heavy rain outside and the alert containing the words “heavy rain.”

Duan Ling asked, “Someone looking for you?”

Lin Ting shook her head, “No, it’s a heavy rain alert. Didn’t you get it?”

“I put my phone on silent after you went to sleep. Didn’t want to disturb you. I was reading in the room and only checked my phone occasionally.”

He took out his phone and looked, “Yeah, I got it.”

She walked toward the bathroom.

“It sent the same warning yesterday, saying there would be heavy rain this afternoon. Too bad we rarely check messages or weather forecasts. Otherwise, you could’ve avoided moving today.”

Duan Ling smiled but said nothing.

Lin Ting sang a couple of lines while showering, the good soundproofing of the apartment reassuring her she wouldn’t disturb the neighbors.

Whether she bothered Duan Ling was out of her consideration.

At home, she liked to linger in the shower, but here she was quick—fifteen minutes, done.

She turned off the showerhead, folded her pant legs, tied the waistband, and pushed the door open.

A faint smell of frying meat greeted her.

The closer she got to the kitchen, the stronger the aroma.

Peeking inside, she saw meat frying in the pan and swallowed.

“Smells amazing. Your cooking talent beats Xie Qinghe’s by a lot.”

Xie Qinghe’s cooking skills were notoriously terrible.

Duan Ling flipped the meat, and the aroma spread again.

“Almost done, about two more minutes. Wait in the living room. The plastic on the sofa hasn’t been removed yet, help me peel it off.”

“What’s the WiFi password here?” Lin Ting wanted to scroll through short videos, but her SIM card’s data was almost used up.

He wiped his hands and said, “Give me your phone, I’ll enter the password directly.”

She handed him the phone.

“Done.” Duan Ling typed a string of letters and numbers so fast she couldn’t catch the exact password.

She wasn’t curious, took her phone back, and left.

In the living room, Lin Ting tore off the plastic from the sofa and lay down, holding her phone to watch funny videos.

Laughing, she accidentally dropped the phone, wincing at the pain.

Just then, Duan Ling appeared from the kitchen with two bowls of noodles.

“Lin Ting, come eat.”

She tossed the phone aside, rubbing her still-red forehead.

“Coming, coming.”

Her mood, soured by the phone mishap, lifted with the smell of meat and noodles.

“What happened to your forehead?”

Lin Ting sat down, “Just accidentally hit by the phone. It’s nothing.”

“I’ll bring some ointment after you finish eating.”

Renting an apartment meant you always needed a first-aid kit; Duan Ling had one.

Her mind was focused on the bowl of noodles loaded with meat.

After cooling it a bit, she dug in.

“Really fine… so good. You should eat too, noodles get soggy if you wait.”

Duan Ling gave a “Hmm.”

In the end, she finished all the broth too.

Partly because it was delicious, partly because she was hungry.

Afterward, she grabbed some tissues to wipe her mouth.

“I forgot to take a photo.”

She liked sharing everything with the group chat.

“It’s fine. I’ll cook you another bowl tomorrow morning and remind you to take a photo before you eat.”

She tapped his arm and said, “Good. I’ll have to post on Moments to praise you.”

It was summer, and Duan Ling was in short sleeves.

When she touched his arm, she felt the warmth of his skin.

He paused a few seconds, then stood up and got ointment for her forehead.

“You should put some on.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to you.” Seeing his insistence, she stayed still and let him apply the medicine.

Duan Ling put the ointment away and took the bowls to wash.

Lin Ting followed him into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

“Have you sent photos of this apartment to your parents yet?”

“Not yet. Why are you following me in here?” Duan Ling glanced over and saw her standing by the fridge.

“You weren’t full earlier and still want to eat?”

She closed the fridge and replied, “I’m full, just bored and came to watch you wash dishes.”

“Not playing on your phone?”

Lin Ting stood behind Duan Ling and replied, “Not really.”

Then she changed the subject, “Duan Ling, are you really going to be a doctor?”

He was studying medicine.

“I think I’ll be a forensic pathologist.” Duan Ling finished washing and slowly dried the dishes before putting them in the sterilizer.

She was surprised, “Forensic pathologist?”

He looked at her and quietly asked, “You don’t like that profession?”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just surprised.” Being a forensic pathologist wasn’t for everyone.

Lin Ting admired Duan Ling’s courage.

Back in senior year, she’d seen him reading anatomy books and thought he wanted to be a surgeon.

Even when he denied it later, she stuck to her assumption.

She hadn’t expected him to want to be a forensic pathologist.

Duan Ling left the kitchen.

Lin Ting followed out and glanced at the clock on the living room wall.

“Almost midnight. You should shower and sleep.”

He yawned, having slept from afternoon until eleven, but still not tired.

“Not in a hurry.” Suddenly he asked, “Where do you want to go tomorrow?”

“Huh?”

The topic shifted too quickly for Lin Ting to react immediately.

Duan Ling patiently repeated, “I’m asking where you want to go tomorrow? It’s Sunday, no classes. Don’t you want to go out?”

“I do! But I haven’t decided where yet. I’ll look online tonight for fun places. I’ll text Xinning first to see if she wants to go anywhere.”

She picked up her phone from the sofa.

He said, “She told me on WeChat that Xia Zimo is taking her out tomorrow.”

Couples like their private time.

If they joined, they’d just be third wheels.

Lin Ting understood that and didn’t open WeChat again.

“So, just the two of us going out tomorrow?”

Their school was a bit far from Qing University.

If they invited others, most of the time would be spent commuting.

Plus, last-minute plans might mess with everyone’s schedule.

Duan Ling looked her in the eye.

“No?”

There was no “no.”

Who didn’t want to have fun?

She shrugged, “Sure. You go shower first; I’ll look for places online now.”

He stepped into the bathroom she’d just used, still smelling faintly of shower gel.

Lin Ting lay down in her room.

She played on her phone until two in the morning before finally feeling sleepy.

She yawned and wanted to get up to use the bathroom before going back to sleep.

Unfortunately, someone was in the bathroom.

Since it was just the two of them in the apartment, it had to be Duan Ling.

Lin Ting knocked on the door and asked, “Duan Ling, how much longer?”

Right after she said this, she heard a muffled grunt and something dropping inside.

Did he fall?

Worried, she knocked again, “Are you okay?”

No response.

“Say something! If you don’t answer, I’ll come in.” She’d seen enough news about people getting hurt in bathrooms.

Her worry grew.

Just as she hesitated whether to try to open the door, Duan Ling pulled it open from inside.

He was soaked with water; his clothes clung to his body, and his exposed skin was flushed an abnormal red.

Lin Ting hurriedly reached out to feel his forehead.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

It was pretty hot.

“I’ll take you to the doctor…”

Duan Ling interrupted, “I have sex addiction.”