Chapter 240: Going Shopping
Life had finally started to get back on track.
No more worrying about her father finding out her true gender. No more worrying about upsetting him. And no more feeling embarrassed about showing feminine traits.
The redness in her face gradually faded, and An Han no longer felt stressed about the whole ordeal.
She put on a high-neck cotton coat and low-rise slim jeans. Standing in front of the bedroom mirror, she gave herself a quick look, then wrapped a scarf around her neck twice.
Her fingers felt warm and itchy. After hesitating for a moment, she finally put on the gloves Su Peng had knitted for her.
The temperature had dropped to around five degrees Celsius. These past few days, even playing on the computer at home made her fingers feel stiff and cold. She didn’t know when it started, but her fingers were beginning to show signs of frostbite.
Even at home, she always wore thick socks. But now, her feet also itched and felt red and swollen.
A few days ago, she hadn’t had time to deal with it because of her father. Now that she was relaxed, she started worrying about how to fix her frostbite problem.
“Every year… frostbite…” she muttered.
After putting on her warm earmuffs, An Han opened the door and saw her little sister waiting outside.
“Brother! Why aren’t you wearing a little dress?”
“You’re not wearing one either,” An Han replied as she closed the door. “You can call me ‘sister’ now. Dad already knows I’m a girl.”
“Got it, brother!”
An Han slapped the back of her sister’s head lightly and gave her a sharp look.
“You better not blame me for your bad grades…” her sister ran downstairs, whining. A couple of minutes later, An Han heard her sister shouting to their father, “Dad! Sister hit me again!”
Downstairs, their father froze for a moment at the word “sister” and didn’t react right away. Soon, he realized that “sister” meant An Han and had a complicated expression.
A few seconds later, An Han, now wearing a full outfit of girl’s clothes, dashed down the stairs. She grabbed her sister by the ear.
“You still dare to tattle?”
“Dad! Dad!” her sister twisted her head to ask for help, only to see their father standing there, completely unreactive.
An Han felt her father’s gaze sweep over her face, linger slightly on her chest, and then move down to her hips and legs.
It wasn’t a perverted gaze, but having just revealed her gender at noon and now standing in front of him in figure-flattering clothes was still very embarrassing.
She instinctively turned her head toward her father at the dining table and smiled awkwardly.
“Dad, can you go upstairs and remind Mom? She’s taking forever to finish her makeup.”
An Han had thought her father hadn’t answered her sister because he wasn’t in the room. She had planned to quickly drag her sister upstairs for a lesson, only to realize he was sitting right there. She also thought she should have worn an extra coat.
Luckily, her father didn’t stare at her body. He stood up and called upstairs.
“Are you ready yet? The kids are about to leave!”
“Coming, coming!”
Her mother was still wearing a long dress. She especially liked these elegant skirts. In summer, she sometimes wore long cheongsams.
This was the first time the family was going out together since her father returned.
But he seemed a little awkward this time.
He now understood the rumors from the neighbors, and whenever they went out, he felt embarrassed and avoided making eye contact with others.
An Han was also a bit reserved, staying close to her mother and occasionally glancing at her father’s reaction.
After half a day, it seemed her father was slowly becoming more accepting of her.
Though his smile was still a little forced…
She finally breathed a full sigh of relief. After spending a few more days with her father, he would surely get used to having an extra daughter.
Her mother had already bought the usual chickens, ducks, and fish for the New Year. This time, she planned to buy some New Year couplets, small decorations to add a festive feeling, and snack gift packs like the “Wangzai” sets.
Stepping out of the small alley, her father’s expression was noticeably more relaxed. On the busy main street, no one would point fingers or whisper about their family anymore.
“Sister! I want stinky tofu!”
Her little sister immediately got excited when she saw a street food stall. She tried to grab An Han’s hand, but An Han had already gone up to a teppanyaki stall.
So her sister grabbed their father’s hand instead and pulled him along. “Dad, buy me stinky tofu!”
“Eat less street food,” their mother reminded from behind, a little annoyed.
“Did you hear that? Eat less,” their father added in agreement.
Because of their mother’s usual authority, the little sister naturally felt closer to their father at this moment.
As the New Year approached, the street was filled with a festive atmosphere: banners stretched across the night market, Spring Festival decorations hung high, and private tricycles and motorcycles were twice as expensive. Thankfully, the food prices hadn’t gone up much.
After walking around the food stalls, An Han returned to her mother, her hands full of fried skewers and other snacks.
“Mom, do you want some?”
“Too dirty,” her mother replied, rolling her eyes. “If you want to eat, make it at home.”
“Sounds like you’ve never eaten them before,” An Han muttered.
She knew her mother often bought street food herself. She looked proper, but secretly had a big sweet tooth.
Her mouth already full of snacks, An Han turned her head to look at her father, who was being dragged along by her sister. A small smile appeared on her face. “It’s really nice.”
Although her father was still a little distant with her, it was much better than a few days ago.
“Why are you wearing those gloves again?” her mother asked, looking down at her hands with a frown.
“I got a bit of frostbite!” An Han replied confidently.
Her mother knew the gloves were knitted by Su Peng. They looked too ugly to be bought.
“I’ll buy you another pair. These are too ugly.”
“I think they’re fine…” An Han muttered quietly. She still couldn’t understand why her mother disliked Su Peng so much.
While they were talking, a gaze suddenly landed on her from far away.
An Han looked up and saw Lin Yue in the crowd, her eyes wide, staring at her in shock.
Ah… this was too much.
The last time they met, An Han was male, even had a blind date with Lin Yue. Now, she was dressed as a girl.
“What’s wrong?” her mother followed her gaze and saw Lin Yue too. “Your classmate? She’s a very pretty girl.”
“I—I’m her blind date…” An Han stammered.
“Too bad.”
“Not bad at all!” Maybe because she was wearing girls’ clothes, the last traces of her male mindset didn’t even surface.
Then she saw Lin Yue run over, slightly out of breath.
“An Han! I thought I had the wrong person!”
“You actually…” Lin Yue looked at An Han’s mother with curiosity and surprise. “She looks so pretty in girls’ clothes!”
And she’s wearing girls’ clothes and going shopping with her family?
This guy… has a lot of guts.