Chapter 82: How Could I Ever Dislike the Smell of a Boy’s Sweat?
Xia Changyu’s silly smile looked a little strange.
It made Lin Yibai feel a bit dazed because she had seen that kind of silly smile before. She remembered when she used to chase after Gu Xiaoxue, she would often smile like that too.
Lin Yibai walked over to the big metal frame inside the badminton court. She was wearing the skirt with shorts underneath. She tugged at the hem of her skirt to straighten it a little.
Then she gracefully sat down on the ladder attached to the frame. She asked, "Hey, why did you call me over?"
Xia Changyu was still grinning foolishly as he said, "It’s about what happened this morning."
Lin Yibai: "?"
Xia Changyu continued, "It’s... it’s about Zhao Hailin! Don’t you remember?"
Lin Yibai frowned slightly, looking a bit helpless. She said, "Slow down. Don’t rush. What about Zhao Hailin? Why are you acting all weird?"
She scooted over a little bit, making room for him to sit on the ladder steps. The ladder wasn’t very wide. It could barely fit two or three people sitting side by side.
Xia Changyu instinctively climbed up the ladder. After a while, he realized and asked, "Is it really okay for me to sit next to you?"
Lin Yibai rolled her eyes. "I’m not a man-eating tiger. What’s not okay about it?"
"Then I’m really going to sit down!"
"Sit, sit, sit!" Lin Yibai felt a little headache coming on. She emphasized again, "You don’t have to ask for my permission. I’ll make it clear, if you don’t sit, you’re basically disrespecting me today."
Xia Changyu couldn’t help but laugh, "Haha~"
The atmosphere suddenly became much lighter.
But there were still some small problems. For example, even though they were sitting close on the narrow ladder, Xia Changyu kept moving closer to the edge, like he was trying to avoid something.
Lin Yibai rubbed her temples with both hands.
After that, she rested one arm on her knee, then used her other hand to prop up her cheek as she gazed sideways, feeling a bit annoyed.
"Even though you technically sat next to me, why does it still feel like you didn’t? You’re leaning away like crazy. Are you looking down on me or something?"
Xia Changyu quickly waved his hands, showing he didn’t mean it that way. But he still stayed right at the edge, like he was worried about something.
Seeing Lin Yibai’s questioning look again, Xia Changyu finally explained, "I’m all sweaty and probably smell bad. I didn’t want to get too close."
Anyone who had lived through a summer in Fucheng would understand. It was one of the hottest cities around!
Because of things related to Lin Yibai, Xia Changyu had been running around outside all afternoon under the burning sun.
His clothes got soaked with sweat, dried, and soaked again. After a whole day like that, of course he wasn’t going to smell great.
But Lin Yibai didn’t think it was a big deal at all. She said very naturally, "You’re a boy. It’s normal to have a bit of a smell."
This silly rival of mine, seriously!!
Who exactly does he think he’s looking down on? What’s he struggling with?!
When I was still a guy, after sweating all day, did I smell like flowers or something? Of course not!
Exactly because she had been a boy herself, Lin Yibai could totally understand and accept the fact that sweating could cause some body odor.
Not like some girls who had no sense and no manners. Just a little bit of sweat smell and they’d cover their noses and act like you were disgusting.
Xia Changyu froze for a second, "Uh, what?"
Lin Yibai even scooted closer to her "stinky rival" on purpose, now let’s see where you can run!
Under the lights at the entrance of the badminton court, Lin Yibai noticed something strange. She saw that the side of Xia Changyu’s face and his neck were unnaturally red. Clearly, he had gotten sunburned. Even his arms showed two different shades of skin.
Seeing this, Lin Yibai stopped worrying about the little stuff and got straight to the point.
"Alright, just tell me. What’s going on?"
Xia Changyu handed her a piece of notebook paper and said, "Here’s the thing, I went to talk to some of the small business owners this afternoon, and after checking with everyone, it’s pretty much confirmed. That Zhao Hailin guy is a total scammer trying to cheat people out of money."
Lin Yibai took the paper and, like someone checking a banknote, held it up under the lights at the entrance of the badminton court. But honestly, her mind had already drifted away.
The writing on the paper was strong and confident. It listed all the wrong things Zhao Hailin had done to trick people.
She asked softly, "So?"
Xia Changyu said excitedly, "So you were right! Your reasoning was completely correct! You really don’t need to worry about it or feel bad about it anymore."
Feel bad, huh?
Lin Yibai admitted to herself that she had cared about that whole situation.
She had felt a little down when people accused her of "taking screenshots" and "acting like a judge online."
But!!
She glanced at Xia Changyu, who looked kind of messy and worn out, and suddenly all that didn’t seem important anymore.
After a long moment, she asked, "So, you’re saying... you got yourself all tired and messy like this because of me?"
Xia Changyu, like most honest boys, had a calm and steady way about him. He didn’t laugh and joke around. He didn’t act cocky or ask for praise.
He just spoke simply and sincerely, "You helped me this morning. If that caused you any trouble, there’s no way I could just ignore it."
Lin Yibai: "You—!"
Being cared for so directly gave Lin Yibai goosebumps on her face. Her heart felt happy to be cared for like this.
But at the same time, she felt extremely conflicted. There was even a little fear.
Because... she was a boy after all!
Having another boy care about her like this made her feel really uneasy.
At the same time, this sudden kindness made her feel she had to respond, so she said softly, "Thank you."
Xia Changyu gave a silly smile again and quickly said, "No need to thank me, it’s what I should do."
"I mean, you did a really good job," Lin Yibai said.
"Huh?"
She continued, "But next time, don’t go through so much trouble for me. It’s not worth it."
Xia Changyu froze, then said, "Why would you say that? Did I do something to upset you...? When you say things like that, it makes me feel really uneasy."
Lin Yibai just shook her head. She wasn’t upset with him, she was doubting herself.
She was wondering if she had done something wrong by using this girl's body after becoming a girl.
Because, deep down, she was still a boy.
Yet, using a girl's body, she had gotten another boy's attention. And made him work hard and sacrifice for her.
From a philosophy point of view, you could say it was just cause and effect. But from a biology point of view, it was even simpler. Same genders repel, opposite genders attract.
It was ridiculous to even be thinking about philosophy and biology at a time like this. Basically, Lin Yibai was getting really tangled up because of being a boy inside but having a girl’s body now.
Her ideal dream had been to use the "benefits" of being a girl to help her original male self, to create a win-win situation.
But in reality, it didn’t always go according to plan. It wasn’t something she could easily control.
"Ah, I can’t overthink this anymore," she muttered to herself.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, Lin Yibai looked again at the sunburned red marks on Xia Changyu’s neck.
She opened one of the packages she had brought. Inside was a bottle of body lotion.
Carefully, she asked, "How about I help you put some on? That way it won’t hurt so much when you try to sleep tonight."
Lin Yibai swore to herself.
If he agreed, she would do it.
If he said no, she wouldn't insist.