Chapter 207: Mother’s Support
An Han carried her tray of food back to her family and sat down directly across from her mother.
She placed the dishes from her tray onto the table, but before she could say anything, her little sister excitedly leaned closer to her.
“Sister, who was that cool-looking guy just now?”
“Cool-looking guy?”
For a moment, An Han didn’t understand the slang, but then she quickly realized what her sister meant.
“Oh, him? He’s my roommate.”
“He’s so handsome~”
An Han glanced at her sister, her eyelid twitching. Instantly, an unwanted image of her little sister and Long Xing together appeared in her mind.
Without thinking, she smacked her sister lightly on the back of the head. “Are you dumb? What’s handsome about that?”
Her sister pouted, rubbing her head, clearly upset. She was at that rebellious age where girls were especially fond of boys with a bit of a “bad boy” vibe.
Back in middle school, there were plenty of girls like that in An Han’s class too.
But Long Xing wasn’t just a “bit” rebellious, with that tattoo showing, he looked more like a gangster’s bodyguard than a student.
Her sister ignored her sulkily, and their mother chuckled. “Alright, stop teasing her. Let’s eat.”
“The food actually tastes pretty good,” her mother said as she picked up a bite with her chopsticks, glancing around at the bright, clean cafeteria.
This wasn’t her first time visiting the school. She had come once when she sent An Han off for her first year, but that time she had only helped her settle in and stayed for less than an hour. She hadn’t tried the cafeteria food back then.
Her mother’s gaze shifted toward the center of the cafeteria.
“That boy, Su Peng, was it?” she asked casually.
An Han immediately turned her head and saw Su Peng carrying a tray, looking around for an open seat.
“Yeah,” she replied, trying to sound calm.
Her mother smiled softly. “Call him over to eat with us.”
“Uh...”
An Han’s stomach tensed. She glanced at her mother, trying to read her expression, but couldn’t tell what she was thinking. All she could do was silently pray that Su Peng wouldn’t say something that would give them away.
She stood up and waved toward him. “Over here!”
Su Peng heard someone calling and instinctively looked in that direction, only to see An Han sitting with her family.
Why is she calling me over?!
He froze for a second, then glanced down at his clothes. Luckily, he wasn’t dressed too casually today, and he had even washed his hair before leaving.
Even though he knew he and An Han weren’t actually dating, he suddenly felt like he was about to meet his girlfriend’s mother for the first time.
Carrying his tray, he walked over to their table. After a quick glance, he realized there was only one seat left, right beside An Han.
Yep. This definitely felt like meeting the mother-in-law.
“Hello, Auntie,” he greeted politely.
Her mother studied Su Peng’s face carefully. She had only seen him briefly last night at the bus stop, and at that time, she hadn’t paid him much attention.
But she clearly remembered how close An Han and Su Peng had seemed when they got off the bus together.
Looking at An Han’s tense little face now, and Su Peng’s overly polite smile, she started to understand what was going on.
A gentle smile appeared on her lips as she nodded slightly.
The atmosphere at the table was a little strange after that. An Han couldn’t figure out what her mother was thinking, and no one really talked. The only sound came from her little sister fussing about wanting to play with her phone.
Su Peng, on the other hand, was sweating inside. He had never had such an uncomfortable meal in his life.
Finally, her mother broke the silence.
“Su Peng, right?” she said gracefully, setting down her chopsticks. “I heard you and An Han are classmates and get along quite well.”
“Yes,” Su Peng replied quickly. “She takes good care of me.”
—Especially when she’s playing pranks on me, he added silently.
"How would she ever take care of anyone?" Her mother smiled and glanced at An Han, then asked, "She hasn’t caused any trouble at school, right?"
"No, no," Su Peng quickly said. "Not long ago she even helped her roommate find a girlfriend. Everyone in her class gets along with her really well."
He tried his best to praise An Han’s behavior at school, turning her little pranks into something harmless or even kind. But after a few sentences, he started to run out of things to say. After all, it wasn’t like An Han had done many truly good deeds…
Her mother roughly understood An Han’s school life from his words. Even if some parts were clearly polished up, it still sounded like she was doing fine.
She nodded with a smile, then said to An Han, “Let’s go to the hospital this weekend for a health checkup.”
“I already did one!” An Han quickly opened a scanned file on her phone, she had prepared this long ago. “The report is probably still in my dorm closet, but you can take a look on my phone first.”
“Who went with you?” her mother asked in surprise.
“I went by myself.”
An Han answered confidently, then secretly gave Su Peng a quick glance, hinting for him to bring the physical report to class later that day. It was still in his hands.
“The doctor said there’s nothing wrong. I’m healthy.” She definitely didn’t want to go through another gynecology check, it was too embarrassing and awkward. “So… I don’t need to go again, right?”
Her mother didn’t argue. She couldn’t understand most of the numbers on the report anyway. She only nodded, relieved. “Make sure to do a checkup every six months, especially now after what happened.”
“Okay,” An Han answered obediently.
She figured her mom would probably forget about it by then anyway. Or she could just find a way to bluff through it when the time came.
After lunch, An Han parted ways with Su Peng and walked with her mother down a shaded campus path. Her little sister ran around excitedly, staring curiously at the lively female students with eyes full of admiration and longing.
Her mother was still wearing the same dress from yesterday. With her light makeup and elegant look, she didn’t seem much older than thirty. Standing beside An Han, the two looked more like sisters with a big age gap than mother and daughter.
She seemed deep in thought, so An Han didn’t dare to say much. But the nervous feeling she’d had before slowly faded away.
Thankfully, her mother didn’t bring up any awkward or embarrassing topics about her becoming a girl. The most embarrassing moment had already happened yesterday anyway...
“An Han.”
“Yeah?”
“Your ID card hasn’t been changed yet, has it?”
An Han took her ID out of her pocket and handed it to her. “Not yet.”
“You should get it changed to female as soon as possible.”
She hesitated, wanting to refuse, the system had already prepared everything for her. But just as she was about to speak, she suddenly realized that the “female ID” reward from her travel mission might actually be arranged through her mother.
She wanted to ask how her mom planned to do it, but before she could, her mother asked, “At school, you still dress like a boy, right?”
“Well… yeah. They all still think I’m a guy.”
“Let’s go buy a couple of outfits tonight?”
That sentence made An Han feel strangely relieved. It meant her mother really did accept her as a girl.
But she still shook her head a little. “I don’t have many chances to wear them at school. By the time my ID is fixed, it’ll be summer soon, so there’s no need to buy too many clothes, right?”
“Don’t care too much about what others think,” her mother said, turning to look at her. “You’re already a girl. You can wear pretty clothes, you can wear makeup, you can grow your hair long… you can even date a boy if you want.”
“I’d rather not…”
“Mom will support you.”
Looking into her mother’s eyes, An Han suddenly felt like crying for some reason.
“Big brother, you have to dress up really, really pretty~”
Her touching mood vanished in an instant. She smacked her sister’s head away with her palm, pulling her aside in disgust.
“Get lost!”