Chapter 35 Digestion and Absorption

Chapter 35: Digestion and Absorption

The intestines felt cool and soft, exactly the sensation he had accidentally touched in his sleep.

The coiled intestines were so incredibly long that even after Lin Jianyuan lifted them over his head, the other end—the upper opening of the digestive tract, namely the mouth and throat—still rested on his arm.

…How could they be so long!!!

The more Lin Jianyuan looked at this scene, the more unsettled he felt.

Who was he, where was he, what was he doing?

Why was he holding his roommate's intestines high above his head while his roommate's mouth and throat remained on his arm…

Oh, right, he remembered.

He was a mental patient.

Well, that explained it.

Lin Jianyuan instantly calmed down.

At the same time, he gently lowered his roommate's intestines.

"Xie Yu," Lin Jianyuan whispered, "Why are you here?"

It was already very dark outside. Lin Jianyuan had no idea what time it was, but his fellow patients were asleep, their snores rising and falling.

Lin Jianyuan pushed himself up, maneuvered around his roommate, and reached out to close the curtain opposite.

At the same time, he heard his roommate's slurred voice.

"...Sleepy..."

The tone was clearly that of someone sleep-drunk.

Lin Jianyuan hadn’t expected his roommate’s voice to sound so soft when drowsy, and he was momentarily stunned.

Lin Jianyuan gingerly lay back down. His arm was still trapped under his roommate, making the movement quite difficult.

Using all his core strength, Lin Jianyuan finally managed to lie back on the bed. He couldn’t help but sigh and whispered, "I thought you’d gone back. If you’re so tired, why didn’t you go back to sleep? And how did you even get in here? The inpatient ward stops allowing visitors after 7 p.m., right?"

Lin Jianyuan clearly remembered what the nurse had told him when he was first admitted.

"No visitors allowed" meant the ward door would be locked. Unless absolutely necessary, it wouldn’t be opened again.

His roommate seemed too tired to even open his eyes. The gallbladder and stomach rubbed against each other, glistening with moisture.

"Too full..." his roommate mumbled drowsily.

Only then did Lin Jianyuan notice that his roommate’s stomach and intestines were bulging. The pancreas and gallbladder were slowly undulating, like a Pea Shooter secreting digestive juices at an extremely low frequency, "glug," "glug."

At the same time, small, bulging masses moved from the lower opening of the stomach—what was it called again, the pylorus?—into the intestines, slowly traveling through the winding digestive tract.

...The intestines were really long.

The front part, thin and narrow, was likely the small intestine, while the gradually thickening, rounder part was the large intestine.

What about the duodenum?

Oh, the duodenum must be this section…

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t resist poking it.

His roommate didn’t react much, but a low gurgle erupted from the intestines.

The sound was mixed with a watery noise.

It was as if food was floating in a river of digestive juices, flowing downstream.

...Damn. This was too bizarre.

As strange as it was, Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but smile.

"What delicious food did you eat without me?" Lin Jianyuan whispered with a laugh. "You’re this stuffed."

"So much..." his roommate mumbled drowsily. "So good."

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t tear his eyes away from his roommate—come on, who could resist looking?

This was a fresh, warm digestive tract actively digesting food!

It was just too bizarre.

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t resist reaching out and touching his roommate’s stomach again.

The sensation under his fingertips was incredibly soft. The tender stomach lining indented slightly where he poked it, but it didn’t interfere with the digestion process.

The food continued to slowly advance with the flow of digestive juices. Lin Jianyuan could sense it through the stomach wall.

The stomach kept churning and breaking down the food. What had been semi-solid was gradually processed into chyme suitable for absorption.

Mass after mass of this chyme passed through the pylorus into the intestines.

He burned with curiosity about what his roommate had eaten.

There really was so much.

It seemed like the stomach had been working overtime, churning and undulating for a long time, yet it was still bulging, filled with food waiting to be digested.

What could possibly be so delicious?

The glistening mucous membrane, exposed to the air, was gradually growing cool. Lin Jianyuan reached for the covers and carefully covered his roommate with them.

Only his mouth was left exposed for breathing.

Logically, the digestive system shouldn’t need to breathe...

But this wasn’t just a digestive system—this was his roommate!

He couldn’t risk suffocating his roommate under the covers.

After covering him up, Lin Jianyuan heard another gurgling sound from under the covers.

It was the digestive juices gurgling.

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but laugh. "You ate something delicious without me."

"Mmm..." His roommate seemed to hear him in his drowsy state but couldn’t quite comprehend it.

After a long pause, he continued, "Then next time..."

Food coma.

His roommate looked like he'd eaten too much and was in a food coma.

Lin Jianyuan secretly felt his roommate's stomach under the covers—or rather, his abdomen?

The sensation was incredible—cool and soft, bulging from being full, and making cat-like gurgling sounds as it churned.

And his roommate seemed to really enjoy being touched like this… actively pressing his guts against Lin Jianyuan's arm and rubbing against it.

For a moment, Lin Jianyuan felt something very odd.

It was like…

Like holding a pregnant wife.

Damn! What the hell, pregnant wife, hahahaha!

His roommate was just stuffed from eating!

Lin Jianyuan cracked up at himself, suddenly remembering something, and switched to massaging his roommate's belly in a clockwise motion.

His guts pressed softly, cool against the back of his hand.

His roommate really seemed to like him massaging his belly like this.

As he massaged his belly to aid digestion, Lin Jianyuan chuckled softly, "You're like the snake from *The Little Prince*."

He had to keep his voice very low, afraid the patients in the neighboring beds might hear.

His roommate nestled in his arms, his voice lazy and soft, "What snake?"

"Haven't you read *The Little Prince*?"

"No, what is it?"

"It's a novel. Well, a fairy tale? I'm not really sure what it is."

"Oh… what's it about?"

"It's about a little prince from another planet… you should just read the original. The original is really good. A very interesting and heartwarming little story."

"Tell me."

"I wouldn't do it justice, it wouldn't have the flavor of the original. You should read it."

"Too lazy to read… so sleepy…"

"Food coma."

"What's a food coma?... Tell me about the snake first."

"You ate too much, you're all woozy." Lin Jianyuan sighed, gently rubbing his roommate's soft belly. "Why are you so greedy?"

Then, helplessly, he began to tell him the story of *The Little Prince* in a low voice.

…Of course, he didn't finish it in the end.

Because as Lin Jianyuan was telling the story, he got sleepy too.

The next day, before dawn, Lin Jianyuan was awakened by the sound of metal scraping.

He groggily opened his eyes and heard the nurse behind the curtain say to the patient in the next bed, "Wake up, time to draw blood."

The young patient in the next bed yawned, and the rustling sound of hospital garments came from the bed.

The nurse seemed to be preparing disinfectant supplies, and as she did, she turned around and said softly, "Bed 1302, Lin Jianyuan, are you awake? You'll have your blood drawn in a little while too."

Blood draw…

Lin Jianyuan was too sleepy to open his eyes, vaguely remembering that this was indeed the case.

He was about to reach out and roll up his sleeve when his arm suddenly touched something soft.

Huh? What's this?

Lin Jianyuan groggily felt it a few more times, only to find that the thing was soft and pliable, warm with body heat. Like a slime warmed by his own body temperature…

Wait, slime?!

Lin Jianyuan pulled back the covers—his pupils instantly dilated in shock!

—What slime!

It's clearly offal, ahhhh! Eww!

What offal, it's his roommate!!!

His roommate had fallen asleep in his bed last night!

He had actually slept holding his roommate all night!

He had actually slept holding his roommate in a three-bed psychiatric ward!!!

"Mmm, morning…"

His roommate made a clearly still-asleep sound.

Lin Jianyuan quickly yanked the blanket back over him and pressed down on his roommate's shifting "head."

Roommate: "?"

From under the covers came his roommate's confused voice: "What are you…"

"Nurse!" Lin Jianyuan suddenly called out loudly, "How many tubes of blood are you drawing from me later?!"

"Huh?" The nurse was startled but quickly replied, "Four tubes in total."

"Oh, got it."

Lin Jianyuan said calmly, pressing down on his roommate's "head" through the blanket to keep him hidden, hoping he would understand.

But clearly, his roommate didn't get it.

Not only did the roommate fail to understand, but he also started wriggling under the blanket against Lin Jianyuan’s hand. "What are you doing…?"

Lin Jianyuan felt a warm, slimy mass writhing beneath the covers.

As it squirmed, it even managed to undo the buttons of his clothes. Its slightly moist surface brushed against his skin, sending shivers down his spine.

Lin Jianyuan felt goosebumps rising all over and quickly whispered a warning, "Stop moving!"

The roommate seemed to realize something and chuckled softly, saying, "It's fine, 'she' can't see me."

Lin Jianyuan replied helplessly, "How could 'she' not see you when you’re this big…?"

"You think I’m big?" The roommate grew even more delighted, his warm, soft intestines rubbing against Lin Jianyuan’s waist like a snake softened by a farmer’s body heat.

At this point, it was more than just goosebumps—Lin Jianyuan was about to lose control!

Early mornings were always a vulnerable time, especially under the covers, skin against skin…

What made it worse was that the roommate wasn’t cool to the touch but warm, which made the skin-to-skin sensation even more intense.

Flushing red, Lin Jianyuan felt that if the roommate kept this up, his pants would be worked loose. He quickly pressed down on the roommate firmly and said irritably, "Seriously, stop moving!"

"Hahaha…" The roommate laughed so hard his intestines trembled, making the entire blanket shake.

How could he even laugh out loud?!

Lin Jianyuan was utterly at his wit's end. Before he could stop him, he heard a rustling sound!

The nurse pulled open the curtain and wheeled the cart over, asking, "Hmm? What did you say just now? I didn’t catch it."

Lin Jianyuan froze completely.

He glanced at the lump under his blanket, then at the nurse with her questioning expression.

His anxious heart finally sank into despair.

In desperation, Lin Jianyuan lifted the blanket and said, "Sorry about that. My friend came to visit me yesterday and ended up spending the night because it was too late. My apologies, I’ll have him leave in a bit."

A pink, soft esophagus emerged from under the covers.

Like an obedient snake.

The nurse was taken aback at first, looking from the corner of the blanket Lin Jianyuan had lifted to Lin Jianyuan himself.

Her face went blank.

The next second, she understood, "Ohhh, your friend."

She glanced down at the medical chart, then up at the bedside card.

Then she asked Lin Jianyuan, "Name?"

Knowing she was verifying his identity, Lin Jianyuan held out his ID bracelet and stated his name.

As she scanned his ID bracelet, the nurse said, "Mhmm. It’s fine. We’re about to draw blood. You and your friend, please don’t move, okay?"

The young nurse looked to be in her early twenties. Her tone was so gentle, as if comforting a child during a shot, which made Lin Jianyuan quite embarrassed.

He quickly pushed the roommate aside and dutifully bared his arm, saying, "Of course. I won’t move during the blood draw."

Although the roommate was a bit childish, he wasn’t so immature as to deliberately disturb Lin Jianyuan during the blood draw.

This was something Lin Jianyuan wasn’t worried about at all.

Just as he expected, while the nurse was drawing his blood, the roommate remained in his original position, quietly staying by his side.

Since the roommate was just a digestive system with no eyes, Lin Jianyuan had no idea where he was looking.

He could only guess by the direction of the mouth and throat that he seemed to be watching the blood draw.

Admittedly, it was a bit weird, but Lin Jianyuan also quite enjoyed watching others get their blood drawn. After all, it didn’t hurt when it was someone else.

But it was different when the needle pierced his own hand.

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but tense up nervously. Especially the moment the cold needle tip broke his skin, he couldn’t help but clench his buttocks.

Fortunately, although the nurse looked young, her skills were excellent.

She found the vein immediately and efficiently finished drawing his blood.

The nurse then gave him his medication and pushed the cart out of the room.

The two patients in the adjacent beds went back to sleep after their blood draws. Lin Jianyuan picked up his phone and saw that it was only six o’clock. So hospital blood draws were this early in the morning.

Luckily, it was still early, and the other patients were going back to sleep. Otherwise, if they started discussing his roommate staying over, it would have been quite awkward.

Lin Jianyuan pressed down on the needle mark on his arm, lay back on the bed, and let out a long sigh as he stared at the ceiling.

The roommate nuzzled closer, curiously resting his "head" on Lin Jianyuan’s chest.

Well, there was no helping it—the hospital bed was too small. It was, after all, a single bed.

The roommate asked, "Why did you need a blood draw anyway?"

Lin Jianyuan replied casually, "It’s just part of being in the hospital. By the way, do you have many classes today? Can you go back and get some things for me? I was in such a hurry when I was admitted yesterday that I didn’t bring anything."

"Sure. How long are you going to be in the hospital?" The roommate began picking at the IV patch on his arm.

"Not sure. Let me order breakfast for you." Lin Jianyuan reached for his phone but suddenly remembered he was still pressing down on the needle mark.

So he pulled the roommate over and let him rest on his arm.

Using the roommate’s head to apply pressure and stop the bleeding.

Roommate: "?"

The roommate caught on and laughed, pushing him playfully.

Lin Jianyuan directly pulled the roommate close, not letting him escape.

Lin Jianyuan and the roommate leaned in together, their heads close as they ordered takeout.

Chatting, laughing, and joking around.

The first morning after waking up in the psychiatric hospital began in a way Lin Jianyuan had never expected—lighthearted and relaxed.