Chapter 192: Yu Fan’s House
Around 10 o'clock the next morning, Yu Fan happily ran over to Li Mu's place.
His family had gone on a trip and invited him to go too. But even though he was cheerful and outgoing outside, at home he was a total homebody. He could stay inside all day if there was nothing important to do. So, he wasn’t interested in traveling.
After Li Mu finished washing up and getting ready, she came back to the living room and saw Yu Fan squatting next to the foam box, playing with the crabs.
“Why did you get so many crabs?”
“The neighbor gave them to me.”
“Oh, from that Ren Tianyou guy?”
“Yeah.”
Yu Fan didn’t really like Ren Tianyou. That guy always treated him like he was a scumbag. But since Li Mu clearly thought Ren Tianyou was someone important, Yu Fan didn’t say anything more.
He tossed the crab back into the box and turned to look at the sofa. Li Mu was helping Xiao Jing with her makeup.
“I’ll cook two crabs for lunch. Do you want them steamed, or some other way?”
“Can you make that kind with glass noodles like at banquets?”
“I can check online, should be easy enough.”
Yu Fan stood up and sat next to Li Mu, glancing at her. She was only wearing a big loose jacket.
The T-shirt she had on underneath was probably one of her old guy clothes. Since her body was smaller now, the shirt looked extra loose. The collar had slipped down, showing her smooth shoulder. She was also wearing green shorts, and her pale legs looked like lotus roots, soft and white. She leaned forward a little while focusing on Xiao Jing’s makeup, not noticing Yu Fan staring at her.
After her body changed, Li Mu had bought new clothes online, but didn’t want to waste the old ones. So she just used them as pajamas now.
“Sister! Yu Fan is staring at your chest!”
“I am not!” Yu Fan quickly said. “The shirt’s so big, I can’t see anything!”
“He’s just saying your chest is too small!”
Li Mu flicked her finger against Xiao Jing’s forehead. “Don’t move around.”
Yu Fan grinned proudly at Xiao Jing like he had won some sort of game.
“Yu Fan, go wait in the kitchen.”
“Why?”
“I’ll come out after I change clothes.” Li Mu tugged at her loose collar, clearly a little annoyed.
“It’s not like I haven’t seen before...”
Li Mu took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. Whenever Xiao Jing and Yu Fan were together, they always found ways to make her upset.
After finishing Xiao Jing’s makeup, Li Mu went back to the bedroom to change into going-out clothes.
She opened the closet and looked inside. Her eyes landed on a few sets of girls' clothes she had bought earlier.
Since she had already bought them, not wearing them would be a waste.
And they weren’t dresses or anything, just jeans and casual pants. Compared to guys’ clothes, they were just more fitted and had cuter patterns and brighter colors.
So, without thinking much, she changed into the girl’s clothes.
“Yu Fan, let’s go.”
“Coming!”
Yu Fan picked up the foam box and happily followed behind Li Mu. As he walked, he said, “I think you look good in anything.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! If your hair was longer, it’d be even better.”
Li Mu brushed her hair with her hand. Even though her face looked pretty now, sometimes when she looked in the mirror, her short hair still made her feel like she looked like a guy.
She held Xiao Jing’s hand and asked Yu Fan behind her, “Did you drive here today?”
“No, the electric scooter isn’t big enough for all three of us. Anyway, our houses aren’t far apart. It’ll only take about 10 or 20 minutes to walk. Not too long, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I even went to the market this morning to buy some fresh food. I’ll make you a nice lunch.”
Li Mu felt a little awkward. She had never gone to a classmate’s house to hang out, ever since she was a kid. Luckily, Yu Fan’s parents weren’t home. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn’t have agreed to go.
The three of them walked out of the neighborhood and slowly headed toward Yu Fan’s house. This area was on the edge of town. There were a lot of cars around, but not many people walking.
“By the way, your childhood friend…”
Li Mu suddenly remembered that Yu Fan had a neighbor girl who used to cling to him a lot.
“What childhood friend? She’s in her last year of high school. She’s busy studying every day, no time to come see me.”
“Oh.”
Seeing Li Mu’s blank face, Yu Fan quickly explained, “I only see her like a little sister, okay? She’s not my childhood sweetheart or anything like that.”
“I see…”
“You know I like video games. The most she plays is that dress-up game Miracle Nikki. She doesn’t even play Honor of Kings. Really, it’s just like how you are with Ren Tianyou, get it?”
“Why are you explaining all this to me?”
“I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea…”
Yu Fan mumbled under his breath. Even though Li Mu never really said anything about it, he was always worried she might misunderstand.
His house was in a slightly better location than Li Mu’s. It had a couple of bus lines passing by, more than Li Mu’s area.
“Aren’t we taking the elevator?”
When they arrived at his apartment building’s entrance hall, Li Mu saw Yu Fan heading straight for the stairs.
“I live on the second floor. Waiting for the elevator actually takes longer.”
Li Mu nodded without asking more and quietly followed him upstairs.
Yu Fan unlocked the door and stepped inside, a little nervous.
“I cleaned up everything. Tonight, we’ll sleep in the living room on floor mats. I already got the mats and blankets ready.”
“You’re not sleeping in your bedroom?”
“It’s fine. I even moved my computer out here.”
Li Mu then noticed that the computer was sitting on the TV stand, not a TV. The TV itself had been moved to a corner and looked kind of sad sitting there.
The truth was, Yu Fan was just worried Li Mu might go into his room and see his drawings.
To be honest, guys who are into drawing usually have a bit of a pervy side.
For example, he had drawn Li Mu in a swimsuit, even though he had never actually seen her wear one. He just imagined it and drew it. Now the drawing was hidden in his closet. If she ever found it… he was pretty sure she’d beat him up for it.
Li Mu looked around Yu Fan’s house. The decoration wasn’t really better than hers, and the apartment was actually smaller.
“Didn’t you say your family has a lot of money?”
“Where’d you get that from?” Yu Fan flopped onto his single-seat sofa and started explaining, “My dad invested in a factory. He gets about 100,000 yuan a year from it. Add some money from stocks, and the total is about 150,000 yuan a year. But sometimes he loses money too, so really, it’s just over 10,000 yuan a month.”
“My little brother goes to three tutoring classes. Just those cost a few thousand every month. My dad also spends money like crazy. In the end, there’s not much left.”
“He probably won’t even be able to buy me a house for when I get married. I’ll have to rely on myself.”
Li Mu nodded. Yu Fan was actually pretty good. At least he knew how much his family earned. Back then, she didn’t even know what her parents did for work.
“A house for marriage, huh? Good thing I turned into a woman, so I don’t need one…”
Besides, no one even knew if her parents were still alive. Even if she were still a man, the house in her hometown could’ve worked as a wedding house.
“Wait, does that mean you plan to get married to someone?”
She was taken aback for a second and looked up at Yu Fan. Yu Fan looked at her with hope on his face.
“No, I don’t plan to.”