Chapter 22: What Nonsense!
‘As long as I don’t feel embarrassed, the embarrassed one will be someone else. As long as I don’t feel embarrassed, the embarrassed one will be someone else. As long as…’
On the street, Lin Muxi kept repeating this in her head to comfort herself.
But the red cheeks and that awkward expression on her face made it clear. Her embarrassment level was already at maximum.
This was way too exciting! But… it actually felt kind of nice.
Still, she was a big boy. How could she do something like this?!
It was obviously too late to regret it now. Even Lin Muxi herself wondered what on earth she was thinking this morning, to somehow end up sticking Band-Aids on her two “beans.”
Wait! Hold on! She was a boy!
Why would a big boy feel embarrassed about this? If not wearing anything wasn’t a problem, then why care about this at all?
Hmm… that kind of made sense. Lin Muxi kept convincing herself.
As long as she didn’t think of herself as a girl, she was still a tough man!
Thinking like that, her earlier worry, that she might develop strange hobbies after becoming more girlish, vanished.
Sure enough, once you accept your own weak spots, you become unbeatable.
Just like now, without any more worries, Lin Muxi’s mood returned to normal, and she began thinking about what to eat for lunch.
After walking around for a while, she still ended up in front of the noodle stand she used to visit a lot…
Why? Well, after checking out other restaurants, she realized the prices were just too high, forty or fifty yuan for a single meal!
Used to living frugally, Lin Muxi shook her head. Even though she had some savings now, one meal like that could equal four or five of her regular meals.
She just couldn’t bring herself to spend that kind of money, and she silently cursed these greedy business owners. Selling something so simple for such a high price was outrageous!
“Auntie, one bowl of beef noodles, please.”
At the familiar stand, Lin Muxi quickly ordered, paid, and picked a quiet corner seat before pulling out her phone.
But before she could look at it for long, her phone suddenly rang—
♪ “My love is in the vast horizon…” ♪
Waaah! What the heck?!
The sudden ringtone almost made her throw her phone. And when she saw who was calling, she got even more annoyed, it was Mo Ziyang.
“Hello! What are you doing, Mo Ziyang?! You nearly scared me to death!”
She had only been startled at first, but after seeing his name, her anger boiled over. Why was he calling again? Was this on purpose?
“Scare you? If you’d just change that ridiculously tacky ringtone, you wouldn’t get startled in the first place.”
“Uh…”
The “tough guy” went silent… because Mo Ziyang had a point.
To make things worse, that very “beautiful” ringtone had caught the attention of everyone eating nearby, forcing her to lower her head to make herself less noticeable.
Ugh… pure social death. Holding the phone, Lin Muxi felt like she didn’t even have the face to keep eating.
And then, Mo Ziyang hit her with even worse news.
“I’m almost downstairs at your place. Make sure to open the door.”
“What? Didn’t you say in the afternoon? I’m still eating lunch!”
“No problem, then I’ll eat with you.”
??? Lin Muxi was stunned.
If Mo Ziyang saw her like this, she’d be finished! First of all, how was she even supposed to explain this hair?
She hung up the phone just as the old lady brought over her beef noodles. Lin Muxi immediately picked up her chopsticks and started eating like crazy.
Time was short and the task was urgent. She had to finish before her bro arrived. Mo Ziyang had already seen her with long hair before, so this time she couldn’t count on it “saving her” again.
While eating, she kept secretly lifting her hair to glance around. Even the sound of a car passing by made her heart beat faster.
Like this, eating lunch felt like sneaking around after stealing something, very unpleasant.
“No… wait! Why am I so nervous? It takes at least 20 minutes for him to get here. What am I being scared of?”
“What are you being scared of?”
A calm but very unexpected voice suddenly came from behind her.
“Of course I’m scared of Mo Ziyang… that…”
She froze mid-sentence. When she realized the person behind her was actually Mo Ziyang, her body shook, and she slowly turned her head to meet his deep, soul-piercing gaze.
“That what? Lin Muxi, I’m curious.”
Mo Ziyang narrowed his eyes slightly, smiling kindly at her.
Who could tell her why he had suddenly appeared right behind her?!
Facing her best friend, Lin Muxi stammered for a long time without managing a single complete sentence. She wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and hide in it.
“Uh… handsome… handsome guy?”
She shrank her head a little, blinked her eyes, and her earlier confidence was gone. Her voice turned soft and flattering.
“You brat… why are you wearing a wig?”
Mo Ziyang had been about to flick her on the head, but when he saw her in the wig looking pitiful and pleading, his heart softened. Instead, he gently turned her head back around.
Oof… straight to the point. Lin Muxi froze at the table.
What to do? She hadn’t even thought of an excuse yet, and Mo Ziyang had already shown up.
Was her lifelong reputation really about to be ruined here today? Would her bro drag her back home for some “punishment”…?
No way! She didn’t want that!
“You… haven’t fallen in love with crossdressing, have you?”
Lin Muxi frowned slightly, her nervous expression making her look like she was hiding something on purpose.
“Huh… what?”
She had been lost in thought, so when she heard him say that, she didn’t react right away.
“I said… maybe you…”
When she turned her head again, she saw Mo Ziyang looking at her with a strange expression… as if he was looking at a pervert?
“It’s not what you think… no, wait—it is what you think…”
She had been about to deny it, but suddenly realized, wasn’t he basically giving her an excuse? For a moment she couldn’t tell if he was being serious or just playing dumb.
“Look, they say crossdressing happens either zero times or countless times, right? Don’t you think I look cute right now?”
While saying this, she widened her eyes and looked at Mo Ziyang expectantly.
But inside, Lin Muxi was screaming, ‘Damn it! Why am I lowering myself this much just to please Mo Ziyang?! I’m doomed… how did I fall so far so fast?’
She kept her smile on the outside, but inside she was begging for some kind of reaction. Otherwise she’d just look stupid!
Mo Ziyang wasn’t doing much better. His face looked calm, but in his heart, a thought kept repeating.
When did my best bro Lin Muxi become this cute?
And so, the two of them sat there, faces calm, but inside… one’s embarrassment level was exploding, while the other was dangerously close to thinking, “Maybe my bro isn’t so bad after all.”