Chapter 144: Dark History
“Where did you just run off to?”
As An Han left the teaching building, still looking panicked, she spotted Su Peng. Her mind was still a mess, and as soon as she saw him, her feet moved toward him almost on their own.
“Su Peng!” She rushed up to him, anxious and flustered. “Ren Chi found out! What should I do?”
Su Peng blinked, confused. “Found out?”
“Yeah!”
“That you’re a girl?”
“Yes!”
Su Peng paused, scratched his head, and said, “Well… if he knows, then so what? Now he can at least help you move into the girls’ dorm.”
But my ID card still says male!
Besides, how did I even get exposed in the first place? If I don’t figure that out, Long Xing will find out sooner or later too.
She couldn’t imagine what that “gangster big brother” would be like if he went all-out chasing her after discovering the truth.
Maybe… he’d get all shy like a nervous boy?
Her mind suddenly replayed the scene from the first time she met Long Xing while cross-dressing. It was funny at the time, but one Su Peng was already enough trouble for her.
“So how did you get exposed?” Su Peng asked curiously.
An Han frowned in frustration, trying hard to recall whether she had slipped up in front of Ren Chi. She asked without thinking, “You didn’t tell him, right?”
Why would I be stupid enough to add another rival for myself? Su Peng grumbled inwardly and shook his head. “Don’t overthink it. Let’s just go eat lunch.”
He started walking, and even though An Han wasn’t looking at him, her feet automatically followed along behind. Whether it was intentional or not, the way she trailed him looked like two magnets being pulled together.
It must’ve been sometime between yesterday afternoon and today that he found out I’m female.
An Han lowered her head in thought. If it had been earlier, then Ren Chi wouldn’t have acted the way he did yesterday.
Su Peng heard a voice telling him I’m a girl.
At first, she thought it was just a special reaction when someone’s affection level passed 100, like the system mentioned before. But Ren Chi’s affection level was only around sixty-something…
However, there was one thing both of them had in common!
They had both been targets of her mind-reading ability!
Wait a second… could the side effect of mind-reading be that it reveals my most embarrassing secret?!
Realization struck her.
It made sense, if she read someone’s mind, it was fair that she had to pay some kind of price herself.
But that damn system never gave her any warning!
Because of that, she had misunderstood and thought the only side effect was that she had to make physical contact with a man.
So Ren Chi probably agreed to let her live off-campus because he subconsciously learned she was female through the mind-reading side effect.
Compared to the shame of confessing it out loud or having to explain everything, that outcome wasn’t actually so bad.
That means Ren Chi should agree to my off-campus request now, right?
Just then, the light around her dimmed slightly. She looked up, a bit lost, and realized she’d followed Su Peng right into the cafeteria. She hadn’t even noticed when her feet started moving again.
After buying lunch, the two sat facing each other in a quiet corner. An Han was already daydreaming about her wonderful future living off-campus.
It was winter now, so even if she wore a bra, her classmates wouldn’t notice. She could run and jump freely without worrying about too much bouncing, and she wouldn’t have to deal with the awkward chafing that sometimes made her skin break out.
Then, when her period came, she wouldn’t have to hide like a thief anymore, and she wouldn’t have to worry about side leaks from wearing men’s underwear. She could even wear cute women’s clothes at the rented apartment…
No, cancel that thought! Even if she had become a girl, she would never accept wearing women’s clothes! Dressing up too prettily might make the system arrange some man to flirt with her.
“By the way, about that embarrassing story you mentioned yesterday.” An Han suddenly looked up at Su Peng, who was sitting across from her. “Tell me the details.”
Su Peng looked surprised. “I thought you had already forgotten about that.”
“I was busy with the medical check-up yesterday, so I didn’t have time to ask.”
An Han looked quite eager. She hoped Su Peng’s story would be shameful enough to use as leverage later. Now that Su Peng knew she was a girl, she didn’t dare to refuse some of his not-too-excessive requests.
Su Peng thought for a moment, then sighed helplessly. “It’s actually nothing special. Back in middle school, I fell in with a bad crowd. I didn’t want to study, just hung out in bars and KTVs every day, and often got into fights.”
“Luckily, my family had money, so when I got into trouble, they could clean up after me. Whenever I got hurt, my uncle was the one who treated me.”
In An Han’s mind appeared the thin old doctor she had met yesterday.
Her lips curled up uncontrollably, and she leaned forward with curiosity, gossip written all over her face. “So, since you went to bars every day, you probably weren’t a virgin, right?”
If it were someone else, she wouldn’t have dared to ask like that. But unless Su Peng looked totally different back in middle school, with his looks now, even if he didn’t flirt first, girls would still come to him.
“No way. Back then all I cared about was playing around. Women? What’s that?”
Su Peng looked calm and didn’t show any guilt at all.
“Playing with women,” An Han blurted out without thinking.
“......”
But soon she realized, she was a woman now! Her face instantly turned red.
“No, I wasn’t interested. Back then I only cared about brotherhood, games, and who I was going to fight next.”
There was a trace of a smile between Su Peng’s brows. He actually liked this about An Han, that she was straightforward, open, and thought like a guy, yet had that always-shy expression. The mix of masculine and feminine traits in her gave off a strange kind of charm.
Let’s put it this way, if Su Peng had to choose between living the rest of his life with a brother or a wife, he’d definitely choose the brother.
And this “brother” also happened to have the qualities of a wife.
Perfect!
An Han thought Su Peng’s smile was him laughing at her. She lowered her head to hide her blush and muttered softly to ease the embarrassment, “I just wanted to learn more about the wild private life of rich kids…”
“Let’s just say the rich kids I know are all better than me.” Su Peng shrugged and shook his head helplessly.
“Oh…”
An Han wasn’t sure what kind of “better” he meant. At least from her point of view, Su Peng was almost perfect.
He was handsome, ranked near the top of the class, had a good figure, not as bulky as Long Xing, but more in line with her taste, and had a gentle, polite personality. She had almost never seen him do anything immoral.
Well… except for that forced kiss!
If she hadn’t been too stunned at that time, she might have actually called the police and had him arrested for harassment!
“I’m planning to rent a place and move out,” An Han said while eating, sharing her next plan with Su Peng.
“Moving out sounds good. Do you want me to help?”
“No need.”
If I let you help, wouldn’t that just give you more chances to create situations where we’re alone together?!