Chapter 45: Going Upstairs to Change Clothes
"Uh... are you serious?"
Wang Wenxin, her desk mate, was a little embarrassed after hearing that and gave Zhang Xiaoling a strange look.
Even though she kind of had the same feeling, it was only a tiny bit, and she quickly told herself it wasn't possible.
"Emmm, I’m not sure either, but my gut feeling says they really look alike."
As she spoke, she looked again at the photo on her phone. At Ye Ziming and the blurry girl next to him.
She tilted her head, wondering… if Lin Muqing wore a wig, would she look like that?
"Ahem, they’re not… you know… into the same gender, right?"
Wang Wenxin glanced at the photo too, then frowned a bit awkwardly.
She wasn’t sure about Ye Ziming, but she knew Lin Muqing liked Eromanga-sensei anime.
Even though that was a 2D character, it still showed she liked girls, not guys.
"That’s true."
Zhang Xiaoling thought of that too, so she shook her head and forced herself to stop thinking those weird thoughts.
She even deleted the photo, worried that if she kept staring at it, those weird ideas would come back again.
After a while, the two of them arrived at the old apartment complex where Lin Muqing lived and stood outside her building.
The neighborhood was old and kind of run-down. Even the keycard door on the ground floor was a recent addition. In the past, there wasn’t even a door at all.
"Wait, boss, you can just wait for me down here. I’ll be quick."
After unlocking the door with her keycard, Lin Muqing opened it and stepped inside. Only to find that her “bro” Ye Ziming had followed her in.
She quickly turned around and blocked him, using both hands to try and push him back out.
Oh no! If he followed her upstairs and found out her secret, how was she supposed to survive high school?!
"...Alright then."
Ye Ziming looked into her eyes and hesitated for a moment. Then he nodded and went along with her request, stepping back outside.
If he had really wanted to go up, no matter how hard Lin Muqing pushed, it wouldn’t have worked.
"Whew~ I'm going up now."
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Lin Muqing gave her bro a slightly awkward smile before turning to head upstairs.
"Don’t forget to change into that new outfit."
Just before the door closed, Ye Ziming suddenly remembered something.
He reached out and held the door handle, speaking to Lin Muqing with a serious and sincere look on his face.
This was really important, at least to him it was, so he had to remind her again.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her.
"Ah… this..."
Her body, which had just relaxed, instantly tensed up again. She froze for a second, then turned her head back awkwardly.
She had just been thinking if she could pretend to forget and skip it, maybe everything would be fine.
But who would've thought her bro would bring it up himself? That made it harder to avoid...
"Alright… okay."
She raised one hand, gave her bro an awkward smile, and made an “OK” gesture with her fingers.
Her feelings were really mixed. She walked up the stairs, went home, and stood on the balcony, looking at the set of girl’s clothes.
It wasn’t a dress, but the feeling of embarrassment from wearing it… wasn’t much less than wearing one.
Emmm… this was something her bro told her to wear, not something she chose on her own. She was just keeping her promise.
So her manly pride was still intact. She had never lost it.
Exactly, that’s how it is. This logic is simply perfect.
At this moment, Lin Muqing felt like giving herself a thumbs-up!
Thinking that, she picked up the clothes hanger, took down the outfit hanging on it, and spent a little time changing.
A long T-shirt with a pair of short shorts. It gave her a fresh and pure look, making her look really cute. It was a bit like the style of that artist from certain ecchi comics.
If someone saw her like this, they might ask if she was in 8th or 9th grade.
“Boss, let’s go!”
She quickly rushed downstairs, and the first thing she did after opening the door was to hurry over to her best buddy, urging him to trigger the event quickly.
She acted like a sneaky thief, afraid someone might see her.
“Yeah.”
He glanced again at Lin Muqing’s outfit, then turned and walked toward where Uncle Liu was waiting.
At that moment, Uncle Liu had already parked the car by the side of the road, just waiting for the two of them to get in so they could leave.
“Whew~”
Seeing her best buddy open the door and stand aside, Lin Muqing quickly slipped into the car. Once Ye Ziming also got in and closed the door, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness no one saw her.
Wearing something like this, Lin Muqing didn’t even dare walk around outside. She wasn’t even sure how she’d face the cafe’s maid girls later.
“So… how do I look?”
After relaxing a bit, Lin Muqing noticed her best buddy looking at her with a strange expression.
She straightened her clothes, sat properly in her seat, and looked at him with a bit of confusion. She wanted to know what he thought.
“It looks great… but the shoes don’t match.”
Ye Ziming frowned slightly and gave her shoes a look of disapproval before giving his honest opinion.
When she first stepped outside, he had been stunned for a second, she looked really cute.
But as his eyes moved down, he saw those worn-out black sneakers.
At a glance, he could tell they were rarely washed, or maybe never.
The charming image that had just built up in his mind was instantly shattered. It was like a rotten leaf in a fancy dish, completely ruined!
What a mistake!
Ye Ziming rubbed his forehead with one hand, a little frustrated at himself for not thinking of this last night.
“Huh?”
Lin Muqing looked surprised. She glanced down at her shoes, she didn’t think there was any problem.
Their ways of thinking were different, so naturally, they had different standards.
Ye Ziming made up his mind. Later, he’d help her pick out a nice pair—no, at least two pairs of good shoes.
As long as they looked nice, price didn’t matter!
Before long, the car arrived at the back entrance of the cafe. The two got out together.
Familiar with the place, Lin Muqing headed straight to the break room, while Ye Ziming went to the office.
As she pushed open the door to the break room, she saw Sister Yu standing near the changing room. It looked like she had just finished changing.
“Hi, Sister Yu.”
Out of habit, Lin Muqing raised her hand in greeting, then walked toward the changing room to get dressed.
“Hmm… huh!?”
Sister Yu had the same reaction as Ye Ziming. At first, she was surprised by how cute Lin Muqing looked in that outfit.
But when her eyes fell on the shoes, her expression changed immediately. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her face clearly showed displeasure, even a bit of disgust.
If possible, Sister Yu would’ve thrown those shoes out on the spot. Honestly, Lin Muqing would’ve looked better barefoot.
Unfortunately, Lin Muqing didn’t notice the look she was getting and just walked into the changing room like normal.
Sister Yu crossed her arms and rested a hand on her chin, thinking—
“Wait… what was I going to say again?”