Chapter 234: I’m Her Boyfriend
Li Mu and Yu Fan stood nervously outside the hospital room.
Li Mu was nervous because of her changed gender. Yu Fan was worried that Li Mu’s parents might not accept their relationship.
After all, even if they could accept that their son had become a daughter, they might not be okay with her dating a man.
Even if they eventually did accept it, it probably wouldn’t happen right away.
The two hesitated for a while before Li Mu finally got up the courage to hold onto the door and peek inside.
But right at that moment, her mother looked up and made eye contact with her. Li Mu quickly pulled her head back, heart pounding hard.
“What should I do? I’m still scared…” she said, pacing back and forth in the hallway, unable to make up her mind.
Yu Fan swallowed hard. “How about I go in first and explain everything?”
“Uncle Chen Yi must have already told them about me, right? I just don’t know how they reacted.”
Li Mu didn’t know how to face her parents. It wasn’t just about her gender, she also felt anger from being left behind for so many years, mixed with excitement and joy now that her parents were back.
But the anger made her unwilling to lower her guard, and she didn’t know what kind of expression to wear.
After a moment, she calmed down, walked back to the door, took a deep breath, and forced her face to stay blank.
It’s your fault for leaving without saying goodbye, she thought. That’s why I act cold now, why I became quiet and closed-off…
Even though she was no longer so quiet after spending time with Yu Fan, she still wanted to show her parents that they had hurt her.
She felt childish, like a teenager rebelling against her parents.
“When they’ve accepted me, then you can go in and give them another surprise,” she told Yu Fan.
Before Yu Fan could say anything, they suddenly noticed someone standing right in front of them. Li Mu looked up and saw her father, staring at her with a confused expression.
It seemed like he didn’t recognize her. He then turned to look at Yu Fan.
“You two are…?” He looked left and right, then back at Li Mu.
This tall, beautiful girl with a cold face looked strangely familiar.
Li Mu didn’t say a word. She just looked him in the eyes, waiting to see when he would realize who she was.
And then, her father suddenly blurted out, “Xiao Mu?”
He remembered that Chen Yi had said their son had become a girl. Looking at the girl in front of him, she gave him a strong sense of familiarity, so the answer was clear.
Li Mu bit her lip, and her eyes started to fill with tears. She tried hard not to let them fall.
“It’s really you?” Her father became emotional. He turned his head and shouted into the room, “Dear! Xiao Mu is here! She looks exactly like you when you were young!”
He grabbed Li Mu by the wrist and pulled her into the room, saying over and over again, “You’ve had a hard time these years. It must’ve been so tough for you…”
Li Mu didn’t fight back. She let him pull her into the hospital room and looked toward her mother, who was lying in bed.
As soon as her mother saw her, tears started falling down her face.
Seeing this, Chen Yi looked helplessly at Yu Fan, who was peeking through the window into the room. Chen Yi put his hands into his jacket pockets and slowly walked toward the door.
He put his arm around Yu Fan’s shoulders and gently led him away from the room, closing the door behind them.
“Let them have a quiet moment together.”
Chen Yi looked down at Yu Fan. “Why are you so nervous too?”
“What if her parents don’t like me…” Yu Fan mumbled. This was his first time meeting a girlfriend’s parents.
He didn’t usually show this kind of emotion, but now he couldn’t help it. He was also worried that Li Mu might argue with them, so he leaned against the window again, trying to see inside.
“How about going downstairs to buy some cigarettes and wine?” Chen Yi asked with a relaxed smile as he sat in a chair.
“Would that be okay?” Yu Fan turned his head to ask.
“Li Mu’s dad likes to smoke. As for her mom, she likes flowers.”
“I’ll go buy them right now!” Yu Fan said quickly.
Even if buying things didn’t really help, at least it could make Yu Fan feel a bit less nervous.
He rushed toward the stairs, but just as he reached the stairwell, he saw Xiao Jing looking up at him with wide eyes.
“How are my mom and dad?” she asked, grabbing the corner of Yu Fan’s shirt.
“They can move around. They look pretty healthy.”
Yu Fan suddenly calmed down. He stopped walking and held Xiao Jing’s hand. He squatted down so he was at her eye level and asked, “Do you really not want to go see them?”
“I’m scared… scared that I’ll disappear…” Xiao Jing said quietly, unsure of herself. “If that happens, my sister will be very sad.”
“But not seeing them for your whole life isn’t a good choice either.”
“I don’t know what to do.” She paused, then suddenly spoke in her usual cheerful tone. “But my reason for staying in this world probably isn’t Mom and Dad! If it were, I would’ve already rushed in without thinking! There’s no way I’d still be standing here outside the room, hesitating!”
“That kind of makes sense.”
“Then I’m going now!” Xiao Jing stood up straight and happily ran toward the hospital room. But after just a few steps, she suddenly stopped, turned around, and ran back to Yu Fan.
“If I really do disappear, you and my sister shouldn’t be sad, okay?”
“Okay, I understand.”
“And every year on Tomb-Sweeping Day, you have to come visit me.”
Yu Fan smiled and gently patted her head.
“If you two have a baby, the name has to include the word ‘Jing’! Or else, after a while, you’ll forget all about me.”
“And also…” She couldn’t think of anything else to say, so she turned around and ran off again.
Inside the hospital room, Li Mu sat a little awkwardly on the bed, leaning against her mother, who was gently explaining what had happened over the years.
“Okay, I understand,” Li Mu nodded.
All these years, the only person she had been close to was Yu Fan. Now that she was this close to her mom, it actually made her feel a little uncomfortable.
“How are you feeling now? Is it strange being a girl?”
“You used to be so much more cheerful a few years ago. It’s our fault…”
“You’ve gotten so skinny.”
As she listened to her parents’ gentle words, her stiff body slowly relaxed.
It wasn’t as bad as she had imagined. They didn’t hate her.
“By the way, have you seen your little sister?” her dad suddenly asked about Xiao Jing.
“She goes by Xiao Jing now. Long Zihan helped fix her body, and she can live like a normal person.”
“Where is she?” her dad looked toward the door.
“She said her biggest attachment is to you and Mom… so she’s scared to come in.”
Just as she said that, the door suddenly opened and Xiao Jing ran in.
She looked up at the three people in the room, and her body froze.
The room went quiet.
After a long pause, Xiao Jing looked down at her hands and said, “I didn’t disappear?”
“Of course you wouldn’t,” her father said with a smile as he squatted down. “Li—”
“It’s Xiao Jing!” she interrupted him. “I don’t remember anything from before.”
Her father paused, but didn’t look too surprised.
For a child who had been in a car accident at a young age, whether she had chosen to forget or had truly lost her memories, it was understandable.
“When we get out of the hospital and go home, I’ll make a nice meal for both of you,” their mother said with a pale face but a warm smile as she held Li Mu’s hand.
“......”
Li Mu didn’t say anything. She looked toward Yu Fan at the hospital room door.
Only then did her mom and dad realize someone else was there.
“And this is…?”
Yu Fan was holding a box of milk and a bag with a pack of cigarettes in it.
He shyly put the things down and looked at Li Mu’s parents. Scratching the back of his head, he said, “Hello, Uncle, Auntie. I’m… Li Mu’s boyfriend.”
“???”