Chapter 211: A Little Girl with a Lot of Worries
She returned once again to the old apartment complex.
Lin Yibai asked him if he wanted to come upstairs for a cup of tea. Maybe it was because too much had happened today, or maybe because he realized his outfit made him look like a trendy young guy.
Xia Changyu looked down at himself, white shirt, shorts, work shoes, and black socks. Regretfully, he turned her down politely, “Not this time.”
Lin Yibai said, “Alright, see you then?”
Xia Changyu: “Goodbye.”
Lin Yibai: “Bye.”
After she got home, Lin Yibai slumped into a small stool on her balcony.
Another day gone.
What was she even doing with her life?
Even though she had already made up her mind and accepted the fact that she had turned into a girl...
When she thought back to what she had done to help her so-called "love rival" last night, no matter how she looked at it, it just felt... way too crazy.
“Aaaaahhhhhh~~ So annoying ahhhhhhhh~~~”
Tired. Let the world end already!
But even after all that, life had to go on as usual.
She went and poured out the pot of beef offal soup. Then she started counting on her fingers all the wishes she still hadn’t fulfilled. She wanted a new phone and a new laptop.
She could have saved up money for them. But instead, she spent it on things related to that annoying guy.
“Sigh~”
She didn’t even know why she was sighing. Maybe because things just felt kind of bad lately.
“Sigh, sigh~”
Whatever. Sleep first!
A good sleep can fix anything.
She hoped that when she woke up, her worries would be gone and she could forget everything that happened today.
Lin Yibai believed that her annoying “love rival” was a smart guy. He definitely wouldn’t bring up what happened in the karaoke room. If he kept going on and on about it, that would really be disappointing.
She hoped tomorrow... would be a better day.
The next day, Lin Yibai woke up with sleepy eyes. She totally wasn’t going to admit that she went to bed early to escape reality, only to toss and turn until almost morning!
She grabbed her backpack.
She didn’t feel like washing her hair today, so she wanted to find her comb and tidy it up a little.
But when she opened the backpack, she saw a pair of rolled-up pants.
The next second, Lin Yibai smacked her own face.
“Crap! I forgot to tell him to take these back yesterday!”
There was also... how to describe it?
A smell kind of like... boiled bamboo?
Lin Yibai scratched her messy, sleepy hair and let out a long sigh toward the ceiling, “This life, man... someone save me!”
Carefully, with just two fingers, she picked up the expensive-looking pair of men's boxer briefs and suit pants. She could see that... some parts were already stiff and crusty.
Lin Yibai felt like she could die of embarrassment right then and there.
How was she supposed to use her backpack now?
Did he even know she spent over 200 yuan to buy that Xtep sports backpack? (Xtep is a Chinese sportswear brand)
She still wasn’t used to carrying a handbag like most girls.
She still felt that wearing a small sporty backpack for part-time work looked more efficient, and was more convenient too.
But now what? Throw it away?
No, no, no. If we're going by that logic, when some people wet the bed in their sleep as kids, should they throw out the blanket then too?
Throwing it away was not an option.
The girl sighed deeply and weakly said, “I’ll just wash it. Add more laundry powder… and maybe a little shampoo and conditioner to make it smell nice.”
After all, she was a kind girl.
She tossed the backpack, yesterday’s clothes, and even that annoying guy’s two-piece outfit into the washing machine together.
The machine rumbled and spun for a while.
Then suddenly, Lin Yibai froze, like she had just remembered something, and her face changed in shock.
She quickly paused the washing machine and opened it.
Smack!
She slapped her face again and cried out, “Oh no! Everything’s a mess now!”
All the clothes were tangled together in the washer, soaking in the same tub of water. It was a disaster to look at.
Lin Yibai couldn’t help shouting, “Ugh, how could I be so careless?!”
Could these clothes still be worn after this? She was afraid everything was now covered in that annoying guy’s weird smell, what if they all ended up smelling like boiled bamboo?
Should she just throw everything out?
But no, she had already said she was a frugal person.
She comforted herself. Just wash them a few more times, it’ll be fine.
Don’t be so dramatic.
Muttering to herself, she said quietly, “Sigh… just leave it like this, I guess.”
After hanging the clothes out to dry, Lin Yibai got ready to go out. But as soon as she opened the door, she saw a bright bouquet of red flowers sitting right outside her rental room.
There was a small card attached, with the sender’s name, Xia Changyu.
The girl looked around outside but didn’t see any sign of Xia Changyu.
She did get a message from him on her phone, though. He said he was waiting by the parking lot outside the apartment.
She brought the flowers back inside and placed them on the table where the sunlight came in.
Looking at the bright colors of the flowers and smelling the soft scent in the air…
Lin Yibai finally felt her mood lifting. Suddenly, today didn’t feel so bad after all.
“Alright then… I’ll accept the flowers for now.”
But once she got in Xia Changyu’s car, she still asked him, “Why did you leave the flowers outside my door instead of giving them to me yourself?”
Xia Changyu kept driving and replied, “I was afraid you’d turn them down.”
Lin Yibai: “Afraid I’d reject them? Do I seem that hard to get along with?”
Xia Changyu shrugged and said, “Because I really wanted to give them to you… but I didn't want you to overthink the whole thing. I know you’re super practical and might not even like flowers that much. But I really just wanted to give them to you.”
Just because he wanted to.
So he bought the flowers and gave them, without trying to explain too much.
So simple.
The two of them quietly agreed not to bring up what happened at the KTV yesterday. The only related moment was when Lin Yibai told her love rival that, if he had time, he could come by to pick up his pants.
Xia Changyu looked a little embarrassed and asked, “Did… did you wash them for me?”
Lin Yibai shrugged. “What else would I have done?”
Xia Changyu said, “I thought you might’ve just thrown them away.”
Lin Yibai looked at him and exaggeratedly replied, “Are you kidding? I checked online, your pants cost over 1,400 yuan! And besides…”
Xia Changyu: “Besides what?”
Lin Yibai said, “I used the washing machine. Don’t even dream that I washed them by hand. You have no idea, after leaving them out overnight, they were completely stiff in the morning.”
How embarrassing!
If he weren’t driving, Xia Changyu would’ve wanted to kneel right there and beg. ‘Please… please stop talking.’
But honestly, the two of them seemed to be getting along better now. At least, they didn’t feel the need to avoid certain awkward topics anymore, right?
After dropping Lin Yibai off at her part-time job, Xia Changyu went off to do his own things.
Life went on, simple and steady.
The warm evening breeze in August glowed with red clouds. It felt like the last summer break before college ended was also coming to a close.
Lin Yibai still often switched between acting like a guy or a girl. But now, it didn’t feel all that strange anymore.
Standing in front of the mirror in her rented room…
She picked up a ruler.
She didn’t know when she started doing this bad little habit, using the “lying-to-yourself ruler” to measure herself. And somehow, the results always seemed to be just what she expected.
Lying-to-yourself ruler? ❌
Waiting-to-be-a-girl ruler? ✅
She checked her body status every day, yet kept lying to herself, refusing to admit she was basically becoming someone’s wife already.
Lin Yibai stared at her reflection and thought, “Gone?”
Then she shook her head and corrected herself. “Not gone… it just looks like it’s almost invisible now.”
That time she acted on impulse at the KTV caused her transformation progress to shoot up.
Now the transformation value was already at: 48%.
In terms of appearance, Lin Yibai now looked almost completely like a real girl.
50% was the tipping point.
She looked worried. This time, the system didn’t force her to pick something right away. It gave her options in advance. It asked her to choose one trait she wanted to have as a girl.
But the choices were:
“Tight…”
“Deep…”
“Double the sensitivity of the G-spot.”
Ugh, what a headache! Which one should she even pick first?
And school was about to start soon. Even if the system could rewrite reality to explain things, she would still need a proper reason for why she had turned into a girl.
So as this quiet summer break came to an end…
It didn’t seem so peaceful after all.