Chapter 17: Class
Yesterday, Li Mu realized that the wig was missing from the shopping bag.
To make sure, he waited until Yu Fan left, then secretly took the bag to his bed. Hiding under the blanket so his roommates wouldn’t see, he checked everything again, still no sign of the wig.
That wig cost fifty yuan! Even if he sold it secondhand, it would still be worth at least ten!
At first, he suspected that pervert Yu Fan had secretly taken it or maybe he had left it behind at the hotel.
But in the end, it turned out he had simply lost it.
After throwing Yu Fan a couple of gloating glances, Li Mu lay back down on his desk, yawning sleepily.
For some reason, his desk mate kept sneaking glances at him from time to time, which made Li Mu a little uneasy.
Did he notice that my body hair is gone?
Or does he think I look more girly?
Even though he had taken care of Lin Xi as quickly as possible, the changes from before couldn’t be reversed, he still hadn’t seen any new hair growing back on his arms.
A few minutes later, Li Mu finally got tired of the constant glances. He straightened up in his seat, turned to Wu Lei, and asked with a blank expression, "Why do you keep looking at me?"
Wu Lei was a straightforward person. Since Li Mu asked, he answered directly, "Did you lose some weight?"
Lose some…?
Li Mu’s face darkened.
"I mean, you seem smaller than before," Wu Lei said, looking him up and down in confusion. "You look like you shrank a bit."
"???"
Oh, that kind of ‘thin.’ Never mind then.
Lately, his mind had been so preoccupied with thoughts of looking more feminine that he almost misunderstood.
He remained calm and nodded. "Maybe I haven’t been eating well lately."
It was already the end of the month, and his living expenses were nearly gone. These days, he was spending less than seven yuan per meal, usually just buying two small bread rolls from the convenience store or a single dish from the cafeteria.
Not to mention, being haunted by that ghost a couple of days ago had killed his appetite. In two days, he had only eaten two meals, of course he looked thinner.
"You should eat more and have a balanced diet," Wu Lei said with warm concern.
Li Mu just nodded absentmindedly and lay back down on his desk.
Try living on 800 yuan a month. That’s less than 30 yuan a day. Even if you skip breakfast, each meal is barely over ten yuan. If you can afford one meat dish and one vegetable at the cafeteria, you’re already doing well.
And yet, he had spent his hard-earned savings on makeup and a wig yesterday.
Thinking about it now, Li Mu felt a deep pang of regret for the wig that Yu Fan had taken.
He should’ve just sold it online!
Spring entrance exam classes were divided into specialized courses and general subjects, each worth 300 points on the final test. Li Mu was good at general subjects, but his specialized courses… not so much.
Even though he tried his best to focus in class, his lack of sleep left him drowsy all morning, barely able to stay awake.
By the time the lunch bell rang, he was still slumped over his desk, pretending to nap.
He had already decided he wasn’t going back to the dorm at noon. The dorm was always ridiculously noisy in the afternoon, making it impossible to take a nap.
He wasn’t going to eat lunch either. The cafeteria was way too crowded, and squeezing through the crowd was just a hassle.
Most of the students had already left the classroom. Only a few remained, working on practice tests. As the room grew quiet, Li Mu felt even sleepier.
"Li Mu."
Out of nowhere, Yu Fan suddenly sat down next to him.
Li Mu turned his head slightly, half-opening his eyes. In a lazy voice, he asked, "What do you want?"
This guy didn’t go home for lunch today?
However, Yu Fan simply looked him up and down before finally frowning. "You look thinner."
"Mm."
Yu Fan had actually come to complain about the wig incident. Because of that wig, he was now struggling to fit in at school. The girls he used to get along with were looking at him strangely.
Although the female classmates' looks could at most be considered average.
But when he got closer to Li Mu, he suddenly realized that his classmate’s body had somehow become noticeably smaller overnight.
"You weren’t this thin yesterday... Could it be because of Lin Xi?"
Li Mu replied coldly, "You just didn’t notice yesterday."
"I placed in the top three in last year’s school-wide sketching competition, okay?"
Yu Fan crossed one leg over the other, leaned back against the desk behind him, and continued studying Li Mu’s body shape.
Artists usually observe things more carefully than most people, and since Yu Fan especially liked drawing human figures, he was particularly sensitive to Li Mu’s physical changes.
He could tell that Li Mu’s shoulders seemed narrower, his arms were slimmer, and his overall proportions looked more balanced than before. But at the same time, he was getting more and more feminine.
Being stared at so intensely made Li Mu uncomfortable. He straightened up from his desk, shot Yu Fan a look of disgust, and then stood up to leave.
But Yu Fan stubbornly followed behind him, asking with concern, "Could it be that Lin Xi’s influence hasn’t gone away yet?"
"Impossible."
"Then... does that mean there’s still a ghost around us?"
"......"
Li Mu’s steps faltered for a moment as he suddenly recalled Yu Fan’s earlier theory, Lin Xi had been killed by another ghost.
Lin Xi had been a dormitory student, which meant if she had been killed by another ghost, there must have already been ghosts at school for a long time.
The corner of his mouth twitched. Maybe he really was cursed to be haunted.
"Aren’t ghosts only supposed to exist for seven days?" he asked, continuing to walk out of the classroom. He reached the corridor and leaned against the railing, looking up with an indifferent expression.
Yu Fan leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, and smiled. "I said ghosts like Lin Xi can only last seven days. I never said that applies to all ghosts."
Wait, ghosts have different types? Aren’t they all just vengeful spirits?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, an image suddenly flashed in his head, the raincoat ghost he had seen that night.
Now that was the kind of ghost that belonged in a horror movie. Not someone like Lin Xi, who had been all about romance and could have come straight out of a comedy.
He lowered his head and looked at his arm. After hesitating for a moment, he used his thumb and middle finger from his other hand to encircle his wrist.
Before, when he did this, his fingers would barely touch.
But now... his thumb could almost cover his middle fingernail.
It was obvious, his wrist had gotten thinner.
But he wasn’t sure if it was because his bones had shrunk or if he had just lost flesh.
A wave of unease crept over him. He had already sacrificed his dignity by crossdressing, yet he was still getting more feminine?!
Keeping his expression calm, he lifted his head and said, "If I change again tomorrow, tell me."
"And then, we’ll go get revenge for Lin Xi." He spoke with righteous determination, but at the same time, his eyes suspiciously darted toward a student passing by in the hallway, seeing everyone as potentially a ghost.
Yu Fan nodded and pulled out his phone. "How about this? I’ll take a picture of you with the regular camera. That way, if you change tomorrow, you won’t think I’m making it up."
Li Mu gave him a strange look.
Maybe it was because his impression of Yu Fan was already completely distorted, his first reaction wasn’t good.
Why is he so eager to take my picture?
Is he going to keep it to admire later?
He’s not that much of a pervert... right?