Chapter 55: Activities
After the National Day holiday.
“The sign-up for the Top Ten Singers ends today. It’s the last day!”
During the break between classes, Yu Fan came back to the classroom holding two sign-up forms. With his usual bright and cheerful smile, he loudly announced to the class.
“And also, the school sports day is next Friday! If you want to join, sign up quickly! The top three will even get prize money!”
“First place only gets 100 yuan. Only a fool would go.”
“You should’ve said this earlier. There’s no time to train now.”
“Wait, we have the spring exams in January, and you still want to do activities?”
Yu Fan ignored their complaints and said with a grin, “The school said each class must send at least five people to the sports day. If no one signs up, I’ll choose for you!”
Li Mu looked up at Yu Fan, then turned his eyes to the window.
Wu Lei, who sat beside him, leaned in and whispered, “You seem really different after the holiday. What happened?”
“Really?” Li Mu looked at him with a blank face.
During the seven-day National Day break, his body had been becoming more and more like a girl’s. He had gotten used to seeing himself in the mirror every day, but for his classmates, the change was obvious.
“I can’t explain it... You just look more like a girl now. And your voice, it sounds softer too.”
“Oh.”
Seeing no reaction, Wu Lei reached out and touched his chest. “Look! You’ve even grown some chest!”
Li Mu smacked his hand away and stepped on his toes. “Keep your hands to yourself.”
Of course he knew he had something there now!
It was getting more and more obvious. Before, people couldn’t even see any shape from the front. Now, anyone with eyes could tell there were small bumps on his chest.
Even girls don’t develop this fast during puberty!
He frowned and looked down at his fingers, which were clearly slimmer than they were two weeks ago.
“Li Mu, want to go to the bathroom together?” Yu Fan walked over with the sign-up forms and casually sat on Li Mu’s desk.
“No.”
“What? Too small and embarrassed to go with someone?”
That smiling face made Li Mu want to punch him.
Why did he have to say the truth out loud like that?!
He turned away and realized that ever since they got rid of that ghost girl together, Yu Fan had started treating him more casually.
After they helped Lin Xi with her lingering regret, Yu Fan began thinking they were close teammates. Now, he even acted like they were brothers who had survived life-or-death situations together.
Just as Yu Fan was about to leave, Li Mu called out, “Wait.”
“What? You changed your mind about the bathroom?”
“Add me to the Top Ten Singers.”
“???”
Yu Fan and Wu Lei stared at him in shock. No matter how they looked at it, they never thought this cold and quiet classmate would want to join a singing competition.
Their surprised faces really annoyed Li Mu.
“Just write my name.”
“Why the sudden change of heart?” Yu Fan muttered as he picked up Li Mu’s pen. While filling out the form, he added, “Want me to join too? Not to brag, but I’m not just good at drawing, my singing is top-notch too.”
If someone was going with him, it might not be so bad.
Li Mu nodded. “Sure. Let’s go as a group.”
A group, so we can embarrass ourselves together.
"A group?" Yu Fan looked interested. He called Wu Lei to stand up, then sat down next to Li Mu with a plop and asked curiously, “Is this to help someone finish their last wish?”
Even though he had only known Li Mu for about half a month, Yu Fan felt like he already understood him well.
He was sure that someone like Li Mu, shy and quiet, would never want to be in the spotlight on his own.
Hmm... After the National Day holiday, Li Mu's appearance had fully changed from just “delicate” to honestly looking “girly.”
His face hadn’t changed much, but his body now looked completely like a girl’s. Maybe in a while, even his figure would...
Yu Fan’s eyes unconsciously drifted to Li Mu’s chest.
Li Mu, with a blank face, suddenly poked two fingers toward Yu Fan’s eyes, scaring him so much that he leaned back and fell off the chair with a loud crash. Everyone in class turned to look.
“Want me to poke your eyeballs out?” Li Mu sneered as he pulled his hand back, then crossed his arms in front of his chest to hide the shape showing under his shirt.
But even that movement made him look a bit more soft and feminine.
“Okay, okay, no more jokes,” Yu Fan stood up and sat back down again. “So this is for that girl, the one in your mirror?”
“It’s not a last wish,” Li Mu said. “More like a small dream.”
“Ohh~” Yu Fan nodded. “Since she’s your little sister, it makes sense to help. So her dream is to be in the singing contest?”
Li Mu remembered what Xiao Jing had said.
She wanted to stand on stage and sing…
That didn’t really surprise him. When she was five years old, she would use a broom as a microphone, dancing and singing along with talent shows on TV.
“Something like that.”
“So you’re gonna let her go on stage with you? Don’t tell me you’re going to let her possess you? She’s a ghost.” Yu Fan’s tone grew more serious. “She’s dead, Li Mu. She’s not your sister anymore.”
After finding out how the ghost girl died, Yu Fan had looked up old news reports online.
Back then, the girl had been known for being super gentle, couldn’t even watch someone kill a chicken. But after becoming a ghost, she used Li Mingjuan’s body as a cover and killed at least four people, in really brutal ways.
No matter how kind a person was when alive, ghosts often lose their sense of right and wrong because of their regrets. You can’t judge them like normal people anymore.
Li Mu was quiet for a while. “I know. That’s why I still call her Xiao Jing.”
Even though he said that, he couldn’t help feeling soft-hearted.
Xiao Jing had real talent for singing. If nothing bad had happened, she might have gone to a music school one day. Even if she didn’t become a star, she would at least have become a music teacher.
But her life ended because of a planned car accident.
“Uncle Chen Yi originally wanted to destroy her,” Yu Fan said, laying his head on the desk. “He said smashing the bathroom mirror would do it. But you stopped him, and now you’re even offering to let her use your body? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“It’s fine. Her dream is to see our parents. If something happens to me, no one else will help her.” Li Mu gave a weak smile.
Yu Fan didn’t try to argue anymore. “Let’s pick a group name, then.”
“Anything’s fine.”
So Yu Fan wrote on the form: “Helping Ghosts is Fun” Group. Then he happily wrote down both his and Li Mu’s names and contact info.
Honestly, he really wanted to write: “My Li Mu is the Best in the World,” but he was afraid Li Mu might actually kill him.
Plus, that name made it sound like they were a couple or something.
“Alright then. There’s an audition this Wednesday on the fifth floor of the main building. I’ll come get you, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Hey, should we put on some makeup when we go to the audition? Use our good looks to win over the judges?”
Li Mu gave him a side glance. “So you've given up already?”
But when he heard the word “makeup,” Li Mu’s mind suddenly filled with images, different makeup techniques and moves, as if he had practiced them before. He probably learned them from Lin Xi’s memories.
But still, what kind of guy knows how to do makeup that well?!