Chapter 52: How Can They Tell Whether I’m a Boy or a Girl?
As soon as An Ran'er's mother finished speaking, everyone in the living room looked toward the balcony.
It was a pair of striped boxer briefs. Although they were small, it was still obvious that they were men's underwear.
Li Nuo recognized them immediately. They were the underwear he had hung out to dry on the balcony. He never expected An Ran'er's mother to find them.
Holding the hanger with the underwear still attached, An Ran'er's mother marched into the living room, determined to get an answer.
"Ran'er, tell your mother the truth. Is there a man living in this apartment too? Otherwise, how could a men's underwear appear in an apartment shared by two girls?"
"Uh..."
An Ran'er was speechless and had no idea how to explain it.
Meanwhile, An Ran'er's father slowly put down his teacup. His serious expression suddenly twisted. He grabbed his head with both hands and said in a trembling voice,
"This isn't real... This can't be real... My precious daughter actually... actually..."
Then he let out a dramatic cry toward the ceiling.
"Noooooo—!"
His reaction was so sudden and dramatic that it startled Li Nuo. He quickly stood up and looked at An Ran'er in fear.
Seeing her father like this, An Ran'er suddenly remembered something.
Although her father looked like a serious person on the surface, he was actually a complete daughter-lover.
Because he was a web novel writer, he usually worked from home and had plenty of time to spend with his family.
Ever since An Ran'er could remember, her father had never refused any of her requests. If she wanted to eat something, he bought it. If she wanted something, he bought it. If she wanted to go somewhere, he took her there immediately.
Because of that, young An Ran'er was very attached to her father.
Back then, she felt that her father was the best person in the world. She liked him very, very much and often said that she wanted to marry a man just like him when she grew up.
But everything changed one day after she entered elementary school.
She had brought home a boy from her class to do homework together.
Her father reacted exactly like he was reacting now. He started talking to himself hysterically and looked so frightening that the little boy was scared into tears on the spot.
Because of that incident, young An Ran'er realized that her father seemed to dislike seeing her play with other boys.
After entering middle school, he even arranged for her to attend Winster Girls' School, where she barely had any chance to interact with boys.
Later, because her father usually acted normally and because he and her mother were always very loving toward each other, often traveling together, she had gradually forgotten that her father was such an extreme daughter-lover.
As for her older sister, he was not nearly this protective. It seemed to be because her sister had once told him during middle school that she hated him.
In any case, An Ran'er had a terrible headache right now.
On one side was her mother holding a pair of men's boxer briefs.
On the other side was her father having another one of his dramatic breakdowns.
She truly had no idea what to do.
Just as she was rubbing her temples in frustration, Li Nuo suddenly spoke.
"Um... those are my underwear."
The moment he said that, An Ran'er and her parents all froze. The three of them immediately turned to look at him.
An Ran'er recovered first. She quickly pulled Li Nuo aside and whispered angrily,
"Are you stupid? Why would you admit they're yours? Won't that reveal that you're actually a boy?"
Seeing how nervous she looked, Li Nuo replied,
"Don't worry. I've already thought of a way to cover it up."
"Really?"
An Ran'er sounded doubtful.
"Yeah."
Li Nuo gave her a confident look.
At that moment, An Ran'er's mother finally recovered from her shock.
"Xiao Nuo... did you just say those... those are your underwear?"
"Yes. They're mine."
"But that's a man's underwear. Does that mean you're...?"
Sweat appeared on her forehead as she spoke with a trembling voice.
"Auntie, what are you thinking? Of course I'm not a boy."
Li Nuo showed an innocent smile. His flawless face did not show a single masculine feature.
The truth was that, judging by appearance alone, Li Nuo looked completely like a beautiful girl at this point, except for having a somewhat flat chest.
"If you're a girl, then why do you have men's underwear?" An Ran'er's mother asked in confusion.
"There's a reason for that. Let me explain."
………………………
After listening to Li Nuo's explanation, An Ran'er's parents finally relaxed. When they looked at him afterward, there was even a hint of sympathy in their eyes.
The reason was the story Li Nuo had told them.
According to his explanation, his parents held old-fashioned beliefs that favored boys over girls. Because of that, they had raised him as a boy ever since he was little.
Since he had been raised as a boy, he had always worn boys' clothes, including men's underwear.
When they asked why he was wearing girls' clothes now, he simply said that he wanted to slowly return to being himself as a girl, so he had started dressing like one.
To make the story more believable, Li Nuo even went back to his room and brought out some of his old men's clothes for them to see.
After seeing the clothes, An Ran'er's parents completely believed his explanation and deeply sympathized with his situation.
Only after successfully fooling them did Li Nuo finally breathe a sigh of relief.
However, he felt a little guilty toward his late parents.
After all, he had made them look bad.
He silently decided that he would have to apologize to them properly later.
Seeing that the issue had been resolved, An Ran'er checked the time on her phone.
It was already 5:30 PM.
"We didn't prepare anything at home, so how about we go eat dinner outside?"
"Of course!" her mother replied happily. "But Ran'er, you're paying!"
"Why?"
The corner of An Ran'er's mouth twitched.
"And what kind of parents make their underage daughter pay for dinner?"
Hearing that, her parents exchanged a look. Her father awkwardly laughed.
"Well... Dad already spent all of his writing income during this trip. Next month's payment hasn't arrived yet, so... hahaha..."
Her mother quickly added,
"Doesn't Ran'er have a band? What's it called again? The something..."
"It's The Girls," An Ran'er replied helplessly.
"Oh right, right, The Girls! Mom really loves your songs."
She slapped her fist into her palm and gave an obviously fake smile.
"Oh, really?"
An Ran'er clearly did not believe her.
"Well, our Ran'er is a little idol now. Surely you're not short on money, right? Husband, don't you agree?"
Her mother looked toward her husband.
"Huh? Yes, yes, absolutely."
He quickly nodded.
Seeing that An Ran'er was still not convinced, her mother suddenly threw herself onto her husband's shoulder and pretended to cry.
"Ran'er, don't keep making that unhappy face. Mommy will be sad. Boo hoo..."
Her father immediately joined the act.
"Dear, don't be too sad. I'm sure Ran'er wouldn't have the heart to let her poor parents go hungry..."
"Husband..."
"Wife..."
Watching the two of them start their lovey-dovey performance again, An Ran'er felt her headache getting worse.
She quickly interrupted them.
"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll pay, okay?"
The couple immediately looked at each other and high-fived.
"Yay!!"
Looking at her unreliable parents, An Ran'er felt another headache coming on.
Fortunately, they were only staying for one day. If they stayed any longer, she might actually go crazy.
As for Li Nuo, watching An Ran'er's playful parents, he found them surprisingly interesting.
They were completely different from what he had imagined.