Chapter 209: As Long As I Like It
“Zhihao! Zhihao! Do you know what I saw today?”
On the way back to school with Yang Ye, Zhao Pan looked especially excited and mysterious as he spoke to his roommate next to him.
“What did you see?” Chen Zhihao glanced at him and pushed up his glasses.
Wang Chen also came over, curious. “What’s got you so worked up? Did your medical check show you have some infectious disease?”
“Don’t talk nonsense, Wang Tan!”
Zhao Pan glared at him. Then he noticed that Xu Ze and a few other classmates he usually hung out with had also come closer, trying to listen in. Suddenly, all his excitement disappeared.
Wait… would it be bad to talk about Li Mu’s situation?
If she hadn’t said anything herself, maybe it was something she wanted to keep private?
He hesitated, looking at the curious faces of his friends, but couldn’t help feeling like showing off this secret.
Just then, Wu Lei gave him a warning look, then came up and whispered in his ear, “Are you crazy? Why are you talking about Li Mu’s personal business?”
“Yeah… true.” Zhao Pan scratched his head awkwardly, realizing it really wasn’t right of him.
But the hot-tempered Wang Chen started cursing. “Are you gonna tell us or not, damn it?!”
Zhao Pan was stunned for a moment, then stood tall and said boldly, “Nope! Stay curious!”
“You’re doing this on purpose! And who even says stuff halfway like that?! So annoying!” Wang Chen got even more annoyed. “Also, my name is Wang Chen! How many times do I have to say it!”
He always felt like his name had become some kind of joke in class. Now everyone was calling him "Wang Tan."
“Yeah! I’m doing it on purpose!” Zhao Pan nodded proudly, and then got smacked on the back of the head by Wang Chen.
He held his aching head, feeling bitter inside.
Li Mu, oh Li Mu, I gave up a lot to protect your secret. You better treat me to dinner tonight.
Why did I have to open my big mouth in the first place…
Chen Zhihao just watched them mess around. But after seeing how Zhao Pan changed his attitude right after talking with Wu Lei, he suddenly got a feeling.
“What you saw… does it have something to do with Li Mu?” he asked, scratching his head.
Zhao Pan turned to look at him. “You saw it too?”
There weren’t many gender-separated parts in the medical check, and besides their class, students from the class next door and other schools were there too. It was crowded, so not many people probably noticed Li Mu lining up with the girls.
“What did I see?” Chen Zhihao was genuinely confused and stared at Zhao Pan.
He suspected Zhao Pan might have found out Li Mu was actually a girl, but he didn’t dare say it out loud.
The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds, then finally looked away.
“You guys talking in riddles or what?” Wang Chen looked annoyed, hands in his pockets. “And Li Mu and Yu Fan, no one knows where they went. Those two are definitely a couple by now.”
Zhao Pan nodded in agreement but quickly realized he needed to cover for Li Mu. “Li Mu’s a guy, alright? They probably just went to the internet café.”
“Yeah, maybe…”
………………………………………
At the internet café.
Because of the health check earlier, both Li Mu and Yu Fan had brought their ID cards. Now they had opened a gaming account and were sitting in a private booth in the internet café.
Li Mu felt a bit helpless. She really didn’t expect that the rare time she could enjoy being alone with Yu Fan… would be spent at an internet café.
She didn’t hate it, but it just made her feel like this guy seriously didn’t know how to date properly.
“Here, your milk tea.”
Yu Fan took out the milk tea he had been carrying from the bag.
“It’s warm. The weather’s cold, so don’t drink something cold.”
“Okay.”
This internet café was actually pretty nice. The whole place had a no-smoking rule, and the mouse and keyboard were wiped clean. None of the usual greasy stains you often see.
Since it was only 10 a.m., the people who stayed up all night had already left, and students from nearby schools hadn’t arrived yet because classes weren’t over. The place felt empty and quiet.
Li Mu actually preferred a livelier atmosphere when gaming, but the quiet wasn’t bad either. At least… it felt right for a date.
“What do you want to play?” Yu Fan took a sip of his iced milk tea and casually clicked around the screen, adjusting the mouse speed.
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hungry? Should I order food delivery?”
“Sure.”
Originally, the two of them planned to eat first and then come to the internet café, but after walking for a while without finding a restaurant, they ended up spotting the internet café first.
While waiting for the food delivery, neither of them really planned to play games. They were just doing their own thing quietly. But after a while, Li Mu suddenly looked up and asked,
“After today, most of the classmates will probably know I’m a girl.”
“Yeah. I’m not too worried about the others.”
Even though it was a class for spring entrance exams, and most students aimed for college, a few slackers had joined the class just to avoid getting a job too early.
Take Liu Menglong from Li Mu’s old dorm room, for example. He was always out, usually hanging around internet cafés, and once made a deal with Yu Fan so he could live off-campus for a month.
That guy had already gotten into trouble for fighting in his first year of vocational school. Although he quieted down a bit after that, people still said he often got into arguments off-campus. It was also rumored he had a big brother with a lot of power in Fengcheng County.
When Li Mu still lived in the boys’ dorm, she often heard Liu Menglong brag about his “heroic big brother.” Though honestly, Li Mu couldn’t understand what kind of powerful guy would spend all day playing games online.
“Anyway, I don’t really talk to them,” Li Mu muttered. Then she sneaked a glance at Yu Fan, who was focused on the screen, and carefully leaned her shoulder against him.
Yu Fan didn’t react much. He just yawned. “Didn’t sleep well last night. My family kept talking about wanting to meet you.”
“What did you tell them?”
“I figured you wouldn’t be comfortable, so I said no.” Yu Fan looked down at Li Mu resting on his shoulder and smiled. “You don't usually take the initiative like this.”
Li Mu’s cheeks turned slightly red. She didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt shy and embarrassed. She straightened up a little and stopped leaning on Yu Fan.
“My voice still sounds kind of like a guy’s… Meeting your parents... maybe later.”
“Where does it sound like a guy?”
“To me, it just sounds a bit… neutral.”
She glanced toward the window nervously. The truth was, she was just scared to face Yu Fan’s family.
She was afraid that small flaws in her would seem like big problems to his parents, and that they might not approve of her and Yu Fan.
And besides, she used to be male...
Yu Fan smiled and explained, “The voice you hear when you speak is different from what others hear, you know? Anyway, I think your voice is… kind of sexy.”
What kind of word was sexy supposed to be?
Li Mu really couldn’t picture what a “sexy voice” was supposed to sound like.
Maybe because she looked confused, Yu Fan added more, “I mean, very feminine? Like that confident older-sister kind of voice. You know, the ‘cool girl’ type?”
“Forget it. Why are you overthinking it? As long as I like it, that’s what matters.”