Chapter 109: Strategy
"Teacher, Li Juan said he can't come to vocal class today."
After school, Yu Fan, on Li Mu's suggestion, went up to the podium and stopped Yang Ye in the classroom.
"What's going on? Is it that time of the month again?" Yang Ye asked, holding a textbook and a thermos filled with cola. He had a slight smile on his face. "There are only two vocal classes a week, and each one is only half an hour. You can't make time for it?"
Yu Fan explained seriously, "She’s a senior in a top high school, of course she’s busy."
Yang Ye sighed lightly and looked up at Li Mu, who had already packed up his books and was getting ready to leave the classroom.
Over time, Yang Ye had lost much interest in figuring out whether Li Juan was Li Mu dressed as a girl, but he still teased Yu Fan, saying, "I heard you and Li Juan are dating now?"
"Yeah!"
"I didn’t notice anything when I taught you before."
Yu Fan fell silent for a moment, then started thinking about whether he should act closer to Li Mu next time they had a vocal class. He wasn’t trying to take advantage of Li Mu. He was just trying to protect him from being exposed.
He quickly changed the topic. "By the way, I need to take two days off this Thursday and Friday because of something at home."
"Is the girl from a prestigious high school taking a day off too?" Yang Ye asked, sounding sarcastic.
"No," Yu Fan replied. "I’m attending a wedding. It’s an important one."
Before Yang Ye could ask more, Li Mu, who had been walking out of the classroom, stopped and turned back.
"I need to take time off too this Thursday and Friday," Li Mu said with a serious face. "I’m going to a wedding. It’s really important."
Since Yu Fan wouldn’t tell Yang Ye the full story under Chen Yi’s suggestion, Li Mu decided to just go along with it.
Yang Ye glanced at Li Mu. "What’s going on? Are you two going to the same wedding?"
Without thinking, Li Mu nodded. "Yeah."
"You two are getting married and didn’t invite me?"
"......"
Seeing that the two didn’t know how to respond, Yang Ye laughed helplessly. "Your excuses are getting old. Give me a new one."
As a good homeroom teacher, even though he didn’t know why they were both asking for time off at the same time, it was obvious that they were lying.
Yu Fan looked like he was struggling to come up with a reason, and after a long pause, he finally said, "Teacher, I sit too long in class and got hemorrhoids. I need surgery."
Li Mu opened his mouth, but he couldn’t bring himself to say that excuse along with Yu Fan.
Yang Ye was silent for a moment, surprised at how shameless Yu Fan was. There’s a saying that "nine out of ten men have hemorrhoids," but few would openly admit it.
"Let’s discuss this again on Wednesday," Yang Ye said, quickly dropping the topic. He turned to Li Mu and asked, "Why hasn’t your sister come here? Even if she’s busy with the college entrance exams at a different school, she’s still part of our school’s Top Ten Singers, right? You should talk to her and encourage her to come."
"......" Li Mu didn’t know what to say.
However, the sign-up for the Top Ten Singers was very simple, just a name and phone number. The number he had written down was actually Yu Fan’s.
After thinking for a moment, he considered using this opportunity to drop out of the Top Ten Singers event and completely remove his cross-dressing image from everyone’s sight.
But then, he suddenly remembered how excited and full of energy Xiao Jing had been during the last audition.
"Uh, how about next time? She really has something to do," Li Mu answered hesitantly.
"Alright, then Yu Fan, come with me. Let’s go buy a chicken burger off-campus, and then I’ll give you a lesson," Yang Ye said as he stretched lazily, yawning, and left the classroom with Yu Fan, leaving Li Mu standing there, confused.
Li Mu sighed. He could only use this excuse once or twice, but after a while, it wouldn't work anymore.
Besides, Yang Ye already had some doubts about him.
He originally just wanted to give Xiao Jing a chance to sing on stage, but somehow it turned into such a big problem.
With a sense of hopelessness, Li Mu sighed again. Just as he was about to head back to the dorm, he suddenly noticed that Wang Chen was still sitting at his desk, fixing his hair in front of his phone's camera.
And this guy... he clearly just wanted to tease him, but why was he taking it seriously?
Facing the risk of his cross-dressing being exposed, Li Mu felt a strong sense of danger, making him quite nervous.
If it were exposed in front of Yang Ye, it would be awkward and embarrassing, but not much risk. However, it couldn’t be exposed in front of Wang Chen. After all, male-to-male seems to only count as forced indecency... no, he already had a female ID.
While walking toward the dorm, Li Mu started searching online for a real-looking wig. He needed a good one that no one would notice.
If he ordered it from SF Express by Monday, it should arrive in time.
Unfortunately, Yu Fan had left with Yang Ye, and now he had no one to ask for help. He had to pick one on his own online. After a lot of searching, he finally found a wig that seemed to match his previous hairstyle, but the price was too high.
He suddenly missed Yu Fan’s generous way of spending money.
"Li Mu!"
Just as he stepped out of the teaching building, a voice behind him made him stop. He turned around to see Wang Chen, who was dressed much more stylishly than usual, jogging toward him.
The thought that Wang Chen was dressing like this to go on a date with him made Li Mu shiver.
"Is your sister coming today?" Wang Chen said, walking over with excitement. He had learned Li Mu’s routine and pulled a bag of chips from his pocket, offering it with a flattering smile. "Come on, tell me?"
Li Mu instinctively took the chips but then shook his head. "She has class this afternoon. She can’t come."
"Ah?"
"Also, my sister is with Yu Fan now. What are you planning to do?" Li Mu, holding back his pain, handed the chips back to Wang Chen and said firmly, "Please stop bothering my sister, okay?"
That was close. He almost let the bribe change his mind.
After thinking for a moment, Li Mu added, "She probably won’t come on Wednesday either. She has a mock exam this week, from today until Wednesday."
Wang Chen nodded sadly.
Maybe he had just passed the test?
But Wang Chen’s next sentence made him nervous again. "I’ve noticed, you’re starting to look more and more like your sister."
"Twins. It's normal," Li Mu replied, trying to keep his face expressionless.
"Really?"
Wang Chen seemed to discover something new, his eyes focused on Li Mu for the first time. He looked amazed and asked, "How come you’ve become so feminine? At first glance, I thought you were a girl!"
"......"
Then Wang Chen pouted. "Too bad I don’t like guys."
He liked girls who were more mature, and Li Mu’s cross-dressing fit his preferences, which is why he fell for him at first sight.
Before, Li Mu’s cross-dressing mostly relied on makeup to hide his male features, but now, even without makeup, his features didn’t seem much different from a girl’s.
"I’m leaving." Li Mu’s face turned slightly red, but he held back the urge to complain and feel embarrassed.
Now, aside from his hairstyle and a few other things, his appearance was almost indistinguishable from that of a woman. He should just get used to it.