Chapter 161: She
“You two still remember to come to school?”
Early in the morning, out in the hallway, Teacher Yang Ye angrily scolded the two of them.
“How many times have you asked for leave this week? And when I don’t approve, you just skip school, huh? Do you think I don’t exist?”
“We had something urgent...” Yu Fan muttered quietly.
“Speak louder! You’re a grown man, don’t talk like a mosquito!”
“I was wrong!” Yu Fan shouted, “From now on, I won’t skip school or ask for leave again!”
Yang Ye didn’t take his promise seriously at all. He turned to look at Li Mu, who was standing quietly with his head down, looking like he was honestly admitting his mistake. He sighed in frustration.
“Li Mu, Li Mu... I told you long ago not to hang around with Yu Fan. Now look, you've been led down the wrong path by him.”
He’s the one who led me astray, Yu Fan thought secretly.
He peeked at Li Mu, and noticed a small smile on his face. He was probably holding back a laugh. It was rare to see his smile.
After being scolded, the two of them went back to the classroom. But as soon as Li Mu raised his head, the smile disappeared. He was once again the cold and distant person that his classmates saw him as.
No one in class could tell if Li Mu was a boy or a girl anymore. There were even quiet discussions about it.
They got ready for morning reading.
“You’re in a good mood today,” Wu Lei said, easily noticing the little bit of joy in Li Mu’s expression.
But Li Mu kept a straight face and said in his usual quiet voice, “No, I’m not.”
“Really?” Wu Lei scratched his head. Since Li Mu didn’t say anything else, he went back to reading his book.
Thanks to the notes from Wang Ruoyan, even though Li Mu hadn’t been to class much lately, he was still keeping up with the lessons.
Most of the work now was just review and practice, doing the same kinds of problems over and over.
As the spring entrance exams got closer, the mood in the classroom became more serious. Stacks of practice papers filled the desks.
Even though they weren’t as busy as senior high school students, for these vocational school students, it still felt like a taste of real exam pressure.
Li Mu felt uneasy in his seat. His lower belly felt cold and uncomfortable, as if something was moving around inside. It wasn’t super painful, but it was enough to distract him.
Still, he couldn’t stop feeling a little happy. Every now and then, he looked back at Yu Fan, like if he didn’t look at him enough, he might suddenly disappear.
When class officially started, the pain in his belly got worse. He held his stomach with one hand, and used the other to write answers on his test paper. But the pain made it hard to focus, and his eyebrows stayed tightly furrowed.
“Not feeling well?” The English teacher noticed something was wrong as she walked around the classroom.
“It’s okay.”
The pain was similar to a stomachache from bad food. Li Mu wondered if the noodles he had yesterday weren’t fresh.
After all, Yu Fan seemed fine, and only he and Xiao Jing had yesterday's meal.
This English teacher was new. She had started just two weeks ago because the previous one went to the provincial capital for training.
She looked like she was under thirty. After watching Li Mu for a moment, she went back to the teacher’s desk and brought over a thermos.
“Warming your stomach might help.”
“Okay.”
Li Mu didn’t say no. He took the thermos and pressed it against his belly. It felt a little better. Maybe the pain was from getting cold the night before?
Honestly, the teachers at the vocational school weren’t bad. But when they saw that most students didn’t want to study, they stopped trying too hard.
Still, if they met a student who wanted to learn, they were always willing to help.
By the time lunch break came, the pain still hadn’t gone away.
When Yu Fan came over, the first thing he noticed was how pale Li Mu looked.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He hurried over and looked at Li Mu from head to toe. He was sitting with his body curled up, holding a warm water bottle against his stomach.
"Do you want to go to the school clinic?"
"I don't think so," Li Mu shook his head. "It's not that painful."
"Then how about going back to the dorm and drinking some warm water?"
"Okay."
Li Mu used the desk for support and slowly stood up. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and although his face was pale, he didn't seem too sick.
Yu Fan quickly reached out to support him, like he was too weak to even walk. To someone watching, it might have looked like he was seriously ill.
Most of the classmates had already left. But just as Li Mu stood up, a voice came from the back of the classroom. Wang Chen, who was still at his seat, asked in confusion.
"Did you hurt your leg?"
Both Li Mu and Yu Fan turned to look at Wang Chen. Then Yu Fan looked down and saw that Li Mu’s jeans were puffed up around his hips, which looked round and full.
"Are you bleeding?"
"Huh?"
"There’s blood on your butt."
Li Mu turned to look and his face turned bright red in an instant. Still, he forced himself to stay calm and kept his voice steady.
"Maybe I accidentally scratched myself somewhere last night?"
But… why would it start bleeding now?
There wasn’t a lot of blood, just a palm-sized red patch on the back of her jeans. If it were more, he probably would have felt the cold and noticed it earlier.
Yu Fan looked up at his face. He knew Li Mu was shy, so without saying much, he returned to his seat and grabbed a light jacket from the drawer.
But when he turned back, he saw Wang Chen already holding out a jacket to Li Mu.
Yu Fan panicked a little and quickly walked over, just in time to hear Li Mu politely say. "No, it's okay."
That made Yu Fan feel much better. He gave Wang Chen a proud look, then handed his own jacket to Li Mu.
Li Mu took Yu Fan’s jacket without hesitation this time. He tied it around his waist, covering the red stain on his jeans.
"Now you really need to go to the clinic. Where exactly does it hurt?"
"I’ll check in the bathroom first."
He didn’t feel any pain on his skin. If there was pain, it was just a slight stabbing feeling in his lower belly.
Yu Fan carefully walked with him to the restroom at the end of the hallway.
"Aren’t you being a little too careful?" Li Mu gave him a cold look. "You’re acting weird."
"It’s better to be careful," Yu Fan said with a gentle smile. "I’d treat anyone the same."
Li Mu didn’t reply. He just walked into the boys' bathroom. He even startled a boy inside, then opened a stall and went in.
He untied the jacket from his waist and unfastened his belt, hanging both on the stall door. Then he slowly pulled down his black jeans and looked at his backside in the mirror.
Hmm… no visible injury.
Without the belt holding it up, his underwear started to slip a little. To see more clearly, Li Mu took it off too.
"......"
He blinked, touched the area gently, and muttered. "It's gone?"
He felt confused. But strangely, he didn’t feel very sad, just a little disappointed. After all, it had been with him for 18 years. He had even thought, if it ever did fall off, maybe he could keep it as a memento. But now, it was just… gone.
He stayed quiet for a few seconds. He was starting to understand what was happening to him, and why his belly hurt.
And now… he was “she,” right?
"Yu Fan!"
"I’m here! Where are you hurt?" Yu Fan rushed into the bathroom from just outside.
"Buy me a pack of sanitary pads."
"Huh?"
"And grab a pair of pants from the dorm, too."
The student who had been scared earlier looked even more confused now. He glanced at the urinals on the wall, then walked out to check the bathroom sign again.
"No mistake… this really is the boys’ bathroom."