Chapter 206: Lunch
With light steps, An Han walked into the classroom, holding a big pile of textbooks in her arms. She dropped them onto the desk beside Wang Sheng with a loud “thud” before sitting down.
Wang Sheng was startled by the noise. He looked up quickly, only to freeze when he saw her face.
“What’s wrong with you... are you crazy or something?”
“Studying,” An Han answered casually, flipping open her textbook. “Isn’t the exam coming soon?”
“I mean, you... look kind of weird today.”
She blinked and tilted her head slightly, puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
“You seem... really happy?”
“Hmm, maybe a little~” she replied cheerfully, her voice carrying a cute, rising tone.
She really did look happy. Her beautiful face couldn’t seem to hide the joy inside her, the corners of her mouth slightly curved up, and she was softly humming some tune while swaying her body with the rhythm.
Normally, if An Han acted this cheerful, it usually meant someone was either about to suffer or had already suffered.
Or maybe something else happened? It had only been one night since they last met.
“Look at you smiling like that, did you get a girlfriend?” Chen Junjie dropped into the seat next to Wang Sheng and teased, “Or maybe it’s a boyfriend?”
Long Xing, who came in with him, winced at the joke. But he was also curious, so he glanced toward An Han. First, his attention went to the thick stack of books in her arms, then to her face, so much brighter than usual, as if all her pressure and worries had melted away overnight.
“My mom came to visit me,” An Han explained simply. “Of course I’m happy.”
Realizing that her cheerful mood was a little too obvious, she tried to calm down and lowered her head to continue studying.
The system’s stat points usually affected her body, but this time, it had randomly increased her intelligence.
She couldn’t help but feel like the system was calling her dumb...
Based on the name, intelligence should improve things like IQ, memory, and logic, right?
But she didn’t feel any sudden transformation in her brain. It just seemed a bit easier to remember key points when studying, easier to control the feminine habits that came with her body, and her mind felt clearer overall...
Still, the effect was limited. Her studying speed only improved a little, not the dramatic “read once, remember everything” kind of improvement she had imagined.
“What a pity.”
Judging from the morning’s four classes, being able to memorize the key points of even two subjects would already be pretty good.
Too bad she had carried so many books for nothing.
——————————————
At noon, when the bell rang for lunch, An Han didn’t wait for her roommates or Su Peng. She quickly gathered her textbooks, already neatly stacked, and ran out of the classroom.
But after only a few steps, she slowed down, feeling a little nervous.
“I wonder what Mom will think after last night.”
Even though An Han knew her mother had already accepted the fact that her son had become a daughter, she still felt uneasy, worried that her mom might act strange because of it.
Su Peng jogged up behind her. “Why are you running so fast?”
“My mom and sister are probably waiting for me outside the campus.”
“Ah, I see...” He slowed down and walked behind her. “Then I... shouldn’t meet your mom, right?”
“It’s better if you don’t,” An Han said quickly.
If her mother got too shocked again... who knew what might happen.
About ten minutes later, An Han finally arrived at the school gate.
From a distance, she saw her mother’s thin figure standing behind the automatic gate.
She sped up, half-running until she reached her mother, stopping only when she was out of breath. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at her.
“You’ve become a girl now, but you’re still so restless,” her mother said softly, gently fixing the messy strands of hair on An Han’s head. Her tone was as kind as ever. “Let’s go have lunch first. Later, you can show us around the school?”
“Then let’s just eat in the school cafeteria!” An Han suggested cheerfully.
Her mother nodded lightly and took her younger daughter’s hand, following behind An Han.
As they walked, she looked around curiously at the campus. Once they entered the school, she suddenly asked, “Where’s that boy from last night?”
“......”
An Han’s smile instantly froze.
But she quickly recovered and forced a calm smile. “Last night? You mean Su Peng? He’s my classmate.”
“He seems to be quite close to you, right?”
“It’s not like that,” An Han quickly said, not daring to let her mother suspect anything romantic. She explained, “He was on a blind date last night and just happened to run into me, so we went home together.”
Right, Su Peng had a blind date. He and I are definitely not boyfriend and girlfriend.
“Is that so?”
“Hey, sister, is Su Peng that handsome guy?” her little sister suddenly asked.
An Han’s cheeks turned red instantly. Just hearing her sister call her “sister” made her feel both embarrassed and awkward.
This was school. Even though many people already treated her like a girl, deep down, most probably still thought she was just a very feminine-looking boy.
And hearing the word “sister” come from the sister who had watched her grow up... the embarrassment was indescribable.
“‘Sister’?”
“Don’t call me that at school...” An Han whispered nervously.
“Sister!” her sister said even louder.
An Han quickly grabbed her, wrapping an arm around her neck and covering her mouth. “Say it again and I’ll make you sleep in the bathroom tonight!” she hissed threateningly.
Her sister struggled and made muffled sounds, while their mother turned to look at them with a mix of amusement and faint concern in her eyes.
“Alright, enough playing around!” An Han finally let go of her sister and pointed toward a three-story building nearby. “That’s the cafeteria. Since class just ended, it’ll probably be crowded, we’ll have to line up.”
She led her family inside and found a corner table. “You two save the seats, I’ll go get the food.”
But when she reached the serving area, her courage disappeared immediately.
There wasn’t a proper line at all. Just a crowd of students pushing and squeezing forward like hungry ghosts.
In front of her mom and sister, she always wanted to act mature, like a responsible adult—or even like a dependable man of the house.
She wanted to take care of them. But now, she was hesitating again.
And honestly, pushing through like that in front of her family just felt... too unladylike.
As she looked around for a less crowded spot, she suddenly saw a tall figure walking out from the small shop connected to the cafeteria.
Their eyes met for a second, and An Han quickly walked over.
“I already ordered takeout,” Long Xing said, taking a half-step back when he saw her bright, toothy smile.
“Brother Long~” she called sweetly.
“...Fine,” he sighed helplessly.
With a heavy sigh, Long Xing rolled up his sleeves to his biceps, revealing the fierce-looking tattoo on his arm. Straightening his back, his face expressionless, he carried an air of quiet intimidation.
Wherever he walked, the noisy crowd parted naturally, like butter being sliced open, forming a straight path to the food counter.
An Han proudly followed behind him, enjoying the moment like a fox walking behind a tiger.
She could practically feel her little sister’s admiring gaze from behind, which made her even happier.
“This might make people angry, you know...” Long Xing muttered under his breath.
“It’s fine,” An Han whispered back. “You didn’t back down when the fitness club recruited new members, why be scared of getting lunch?”
Long Xing’s already stiff face became even stiffer.