The person on the other end of the line was silent for a full three seconds before saying, “Do you think this joke is funny? You don’t find it disgusting, but I do.”
Hearing this, Lu Xi felt relieved, realizing that the other party was denying it.
As long as he doesn’t get into any messy relationships, everything is fine.
He walked to the door and pressed the intercom button. A square screen immediately displayed a young man waiting outside the apartment building.
It was getting dark outside, and combined with the angle of the camera, it was hard to see the other person’s face clearly. All he could tell was that the young man was wearing black-framed glasses and had fair skin.
When the person came up and stood in front of him, Lu Xi stood by the door and observed secretly, still a bit wary.
The young man had a shoulder bag slung over one shoulder and casually changed his shoes at the door. He said coldly, “Are you stupid? Don’t recognize me? Can’t call me Ge?”
As he spoke, he handed over a takeout bag to Lu Xi.
Lu Xi glanced at the takeout and took it without hesitation.
Waking up hungry, it was just what he needed.
This act of bringing food made Lu Xi relax his guard a bit—someone who would bring food usually wasn’t too bad.
Lu Xi glanced at the young man again, starting to guess his relationship with the original owner, but he still didn’t call him “Ge.”
After getting the takeout, Lu Xi turned and went straight inside, looking quite heartless.
The young man was named Lin Shengyao. He was the original owner’s cousin. They went to the same school, but Lin Shengyao was a year ahead. He basically came to deliver food every day, and even if he didn’t, he would stop by to check in as a routine.
This task was forcibly arranged by the elders, who all told him to take good care of this little cousin who had just returned from Italy not long ago.
His aunt who was far away in Italy had repeatedly emphasized, “He can be a young lady, but don’t let him go wild!”
As a result, Lin Shengyao was now half a guardian, becoming a caretaker at a young age, which made him somewhat resentful. He is annoyed but helpless.
Lu Xi carried the takeout inside but after looking around, he couldn’t find… a place to eat.
The table was covered with cosmetics. Lu Xi simply swept his forearm across it, pushing dozens of lipsticks aside and cleared a corner. Then, he sat down and started eating right away.
He must have been really hungry, the kid was lowering his head and eating ravenously, looking completely unpresentable.
After entering the brightly lit room, Lin Shengyao finally noticed something different about Lu Xi and paused with his hand adjusting his black-framed glasses.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Got into a fight?” Lin Shengyao asked.
Oe Wl vlvc’a fnfc iloa tlr tfjv jcv wjvf j rbecv lc gfrqbcrf. Lf abgf boo j ylu qlfmf bo atf mtlmxfc ifu, jcv atf ygelrfv mbgcfg bo tlr wbeat lcrajcais yfmjwf uibrrs klat ugfjrf.
Ktlr kjr rbwfktja ecfzqfmafv obg Olc Vtfcusjb. Pc tlr nlfk, Oe Wl, jr j qegf mgbrr-vgfrrfg, kbeivc’a tjnf atf uear ab ufa lcab j oluta.
…At most, he’d just have a quarrel with others.
“Who?” Lin Shengyao asked.
Lu Xi ignored him, too lazy to mention it.
Lin Shengyao didn’t press further either. He stared at Lu Xi for a while and intuitively felt that something was wrong. He asked, “Your hair… did a dog chew on it?”
Lu Xi stopped chewing, subconsciously grabbing a handful of his hair ends, and then lifted his slightly tired, narrow eyes to look at Lin Shengyao.
Lin Shengyao met his gaze for a while, then suddenly coughed lightly. He looked away and pretended to look for a chair, feeling a bit strange.
For some reason, he found that his cousin today was… a little pleasing to the eye.
His cousin suffered from gender identity disorder and had always believed that he was a girl. After entering puberty, he completely let himself go and adopted the behaviors and mannerisms of a girl. This was no longer a secret in the family, Lin Shengyao had known about it for years.
He also knew that if it weren’t for the problems at his aunt’s shoe factory in Italy, which wiped out the funds for his cousin’s sex change surgery, this kid might have been completely a girl now.
It had only been a month since Lu Xi had returned to the country. While Lin Shengyao didn’t show much on the surface, he still couldn’t accept this androgynous “anomaly” in the short term. Should he treat the other person as a sister or a brother? This dilemma always made him feel awkward every time he visited.
But today felt different…
That face was clean and pleasing to the eye, without any unnecessary decoration, giving off a youthful feeling. His sullen expression even carries a natural coolness.
Lin Shengyao picked up a folding chair, opened it, and sat down. He looked at Lu Xi again and again and couldn’t help asking, “What happened to you? Why did you become like a boy?”
“…” Lu Xi finished the rice at the bottom of the box in a few bites and said, “Any opinions?”
Lin Shengyao shook his head and raised his wrist to check his digital watch. He said, “I still have evening self-study, so I’ll leave first. You…”
He glanced around the room and said disdainfully for the hundredth time: “At least tidy up this place. Which girl’s room is as messy as yours?”
“…” Lu Xi just wanted this guy to leave quickly.
Before Lin Shengyao left, Lu Xi put the empty takeout box back into the bag.
He wiped his mouth with one hand and stretched out the other to hand the bag back to the other person, saying, “Thanks, but there’s no need to bring me food anymore. I can take care of it myself.”
Lin Shengyao took the bag and nodded in appreciation. “You’re quite sensible.”
Then he reminded worriedly, “This is your own request. If Aunt blames you later, don’t involve me.”
Lu Xi raised an eyebrow and said “hmm” lightly, not caring at all.
As Lin Shengyao changed his shoes and headed out the door, he gave Lu Xi one last look and said, “There’s a barbershop near the school. It’s not difficult to get a haircut.”
After he reminded him, Lu Xi turned his head and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror nearby.
–
The next morning, when Lu Xi stepped into the classroom as the morning self-study bell rang, the noisy class suddenly fell silent for a moment.
Everyone’s eyes followed him unconsciously.
It wasn’t until Lu Xi reached the corner and sat down, shoved his backpack into the desk, and then buried his head on his arms to sleep, that the invisible pause button was suddenly released.
“Damn, it’s… Lu Xi…” someone said quietly in the silence, and the entire class heard it.
Just as the class was about to get agitated, the English teacher in high heels entered the classroom and said in a hurry, “Students, let’s do a dictation. Thirty words and twenty phrases. More mistakes, more punishment. Less mistakes, less punishment.”
There was a long-drawned “ah” of complaints from the students below the podium.
Just as the half-hour of morning self-study session ended, a head peeked in through the back door. After scanning the classroom, he beckoned to Ji Nian in the back row, “Ji Nian, come to the office with Lu Xi.”
The person was the head teacher of Class 8. He was surnamed Wang and was a man in his early thirties with prematurely graying hair. He taught Chinese.
The classmates in the classroom hadn’t started moving yet, all looking towards the back door. Seeing Old Wang’s serious expression, they quickly observed Ji Nian and Lu Xi in the back row, their gazes filled with curiosity as their eyes kept moving between the two.
One was the recognized school prince, the other the recognized school beauty, yet these two rarely interacted in class. Everyone was curious why Old Wang had called them together.
Lu Xi had slept through a period of morning study and showed no signs of waking up even after being called.
Ji Nian had already guessed what was going on.
He stood up, walked past a couple of rows, and reached the corner where Lu Xi was. He gently tapped the desk with his fingertips and said, “Classmate, wake up.”
Lu Xi didn’t move.
Ji Nian waited for a while. Then, he bent down and leaned to one side, trying to see Lu Xi’s face buried in his arms.
“Classmate…” he dragged out the last tone of his voice, which sounded a little soft, trying a different way to wake him up, “It’s time to get up…”
The sound caused the female classmates to swoon with excitement. They covered their tingling ears and kicked the ground excitedly.
“Aaaaaaaah, I’m dying! It’s so sweet! If the school prince’s voice were my alarm, there’d be no bed in this world that I couldn’t get out of!”
“Then why are you still standing there! Record it quickly!”
“Oh right, right…”
Even after calling him twice… Lu Xi still didn’t wake up.
Ji Nian had long legs, and when he bent over and leaned closer to Lu Xi who was still sprawled on the desk, the morning sunlight shone obliquely. The scene was like a beautifully crafted movie.
The other classmates were a little dazed by the sight.
At that moment, Ji Nian looked at the still deeply asleep Lu Xi and suddenly smiled. In the eyes of others, that smile seemed somewhat doting.
Then, everyone watched as Ji Nian reached out and gently placed his hand on Lu Xi’s back…
Everyone held their breath. This was the first time they had seen the school prince and the school beauty in such close contact. Facing this rare scene, they looked forward to it, hoping… hoping that the atmosphere of youthful love would intensify even more!
Ji Nian bent his slender index finger under his white shirt, hooking the elastic band that stretched across his chest. After pulling it taut for a moment, he suddenly let go.
“Snap!”
“…”
Everyone was stunned and their disillusionment immediately shattered.
The trick worked wonders. As if he was awakened from a sleeping spell, Lu Xi suddenly shot up. His hand reached his back, covering the spot where the bra strap had snapped against his back. He stared wide-eyed at Ji Nian standing by the desk.
Ji Nian’s eyes swept across his face and thought that his expression was really rare.
“Awake now?” Ji Nian straightened up as if nothing had happened. His expression became indifferent as he said. “The teacher is looking for us. Let’s go.”
Lu Xi glanced around and saw that the whole class was staring. He gritted his teeth, wishing he could beat this guy to death!
The author has something to say:
In high school, there was a period of time when I was often snapped by other girls, the kind where they would suddenly attack from behind.
Fortunately, my breasts are small, so it didn’t hurt much.
Thanks or the chapters! ❤
💛💜
Help my friends also do that bra snap(they snap the starps) in PE class lmao it hurts like hell
Thank you for the chapters
💙🍓
WooW 2 chapters in a day is this my birthday gift 😊
then i’ll post 2 more chapters for you later, happy birthday!!⭐🍓
Still reading though, (unfortunately… sorry to everyone that takes the time to read my comments) I’m willing to overlook the hate that sprouts up throughout the novel.
Thanks for the chapter btw~ ♥️ I really enjoy your translation despite my complaining (I always have so much to say, I promise it’s not all complaints haha) so thanks a bunch!!!
I did not mean to write that much I’m sooo sorry omg.. that’s so embarrassing for me 😭 (adding on to this comment I’m actually really grateful you’re taking the time to translate this, if you think my comments are (or will be) affecting anyone negatively I know how to set limits for myself so tell me!!!)
It’s okay!!🍓 Also, dw, although the original Lu Xi hadn’t really been mentioned much in the whole novel, her parents actually supported her, and she highly likely (as the novel didn’t really mention it) also didn’t do it for other reasons❤️. I’m really sorry but the translation for the part of Lu Xi’s mother speaking didn’t actually have a specific “act” word there huhu, I thought that that translation could still deliver the same message but maybe it kind of made it twitch more on the negative side?? huehue, I’ll try to change its translation…🍺🍺
I LOVE YOUR TRANSLATIONS THOUGHHH!!! TRULLYYY I REALLY DOOO 💝💝💝💝
hihi, i understand, really💜💙 taking a rest and giving yourself a breather is also very important in this fast paced life filled with chemically-different kinds of people (u know, that kind of bonding-bonding in science??🍺), lol, if i continue, i might also write quite a lot, let’s do a journal together😔
I feel you cause I felt the exact same way reading it but the story seems genuinely interesting so here I am😭😭😭
I really like the novel but 😭idk if it’s just me but it feels kinda transphobic ??😭like I get the cousin is confused by why wouldn’t they just say the og body was a girl 😭,they just shove it off as body dysphoria and it feels like the author is saying the og just felt confused ….is it just me
LMAOAOAOAO THANK GOD IT WASN’T JUST ME 😭😭 wouldn’t be able to take it if I was just being hateful if you’re willing to read the convo between me and the translator you can see our thoughts
Apparently most of the characters themselves were/are supportive so..? It still irked me though😭
Nvm the jabs to the manager speaking in a fem voice being seen very negatively. I mean sure, our protag has to live his life, but the disrespect is real, and the comments don’t stop. Too bad, I really like the setup outside of this, but the lack of mourning the og character’s passing and invalidating all her choices make it very sad for me.
Good translation, but what can be done, aye?