A beautiful young girl in a white nightgown stepped out. Her long hair draped to her waist, her eyes bright and clear, like an autumn lake, yet her whole demeanor carried a hint of shyness. Her small hands tightly clutched the hem of her skirt, and she never dared lift her head to look at everyone.
“Lao Hu, you smell so nice!”
“Let me touch you.”
“Good brother, I never begged you for anything.”
As soon as Hu Li appeared, everyone crowded around her.
They kept praising Hu Li’s youth and beauty, while Hu Li blushed, standing with her head lowered in embarrassment.
“Lao Hu, when did you start crossdressing? Is it a hobby you’ve had since childhood?” Ji Yueniang’s gaze carefully studied this fellow crossdressing enthusiast, curiosity written all over her face as it was her first time meeting someone like herself in real life.
“I started when I was working part-time in high school. At first, I worked as a kitchen helper, but the shop was short-handed, so the manager had me fill in. Afterwards, he even gave me a raise.”
Hu Li’s cheeks turned as red as a ripe apple. “After that, I slowly started to like it.”
Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she frowned slightly and glared fiercely at everyone with her beautiful eyes. “No one is allowed to talk about this in our class, or at our school!”
“If I find out, no matter who it is, I’ll cut ties with them!” she said, shaking her little pink fist threateningly.
Everyone couldn’t help but laugh again.
“Your long hair, is it—?” At this moment, Luo Yikang spoke up, his gaze curiously sweeping over Hu Li’s jet-black, shiny hair that reached her waist.
“Wig,” Hu Li answered.
“Lao Hu, you really are charming when you crossdress.” Liu Yao took a step forward and gently pinched the girl’s cheek, smiling meaningfully. “If you were really a girl, someone in our dorm would have fallen for you by now.”
Hu Li shot him a look. “First, I’m not a girl right now. Second, even if I was, I wouldn’t like men. Third, I’m a real man.”
Pfft!
The previous statements were still fine, but Liu Yao just couldn’t hold back after the last one and burst out laughing. She looked at the shy girl before her with a grin. “When I was in the hospital for those two years, my neighbor in the next bed always said that too—constantly shouting about being a real man.”
“But guess what happened to him now?” Liu Yao leaned close to the girl’s ear, her breath soft as orchids, “Triplets~”
Before she even finished, Hu Li felt herself growing hotter, her cheeks burning to the touch.
As for this strange interaction between the two, Luo Yikang paid no mind, Yao Shiming appeared thoughtful, while Ji Yueniang looked completely lost.
The moon hung bright in the sky, scattered stars as decoration.
The night wind rustled the treetops with a soft shushing sound, carrying a slight chill. While everyone else slept, two figures had already arranged a secret meeting on the balcony as agreed.
“What did you want to see me for?” On the balcony, Hu Li had already changed out of her dress, now wearing men’s pajamas. Her bright eyes looked toward the youth before her—no, not a youth, but an unmasked, short-haired big sister.
The big sister was strikingly heroic, with exquisitely delicate features and a tall, slender figure. Wearing the same white nightgown Hu Li had worn earlier that day, she looked even more alluring, her curves perfectly accentuated.
“Little sister, your nightgown’s chest is so tight, I can hardly breathe.” Rather than get to the point, Liu Yao tugged at her own chest with a frustrated expression.
Hu Li: ……..
“If you’re just here to show off, there’s no need.” She snorted lightly, continuing, “I’m not jealous of women. I’m a real man!”
Hearing this, Liu Yao laughed and shook her head, stopping her movements and placing both hands on the balcony railing. She asked, “What do you think of Yao Shiming?”
“Classmate. Just an ordinary friend.”
“But it seems he doesn’t see you that way.”
“What’s that got to do with me? Right now, I just want to study hard and get into a good university. If he fails the college entrance exam, at worst, he can go home and inherit the family business, then travel the world with some fair-skinned, beautiful big sister. If I fail the college entrance exam…”
“Go home and get married?”
“Wrong, I’ll have to give in to my dad and inherit the family’s Daoist temple.”
“……” Liu Yao fell silent for a moment, then covered her mouth and chuckled, “Looks like there really isn’t a single normal person in our dorm.”
“Birds of a feather flock together.” Hu Li nodded.
She glanced at the big sister in the nightgown beside her, speaking calmly, “And you? Good brother Yikang? This is the first time I’ve heard someone use the word ‘brother’ for a woman.”
“Wasn’t I a ‘brother’ before?” Liu Yao shrugged.
“We’ve been good brothers, best friends since we were kids—rolled in the same mud, fought on the same playground, teased the neighborhood dog, hunted sparrows together.”
“But ever since I was diagnosed with that illness in junior high and went abroad to recover and wait for surgery, taking medicine, getting shots, going through mental changes… Forget it. You’ll experience it for yourself one day.”
“In those dull years, apart from my parents, he was the one who cared most about me—sending me silly videos, playing games with me online, sharing stories from his high school days.”
“Have you read Jiangnan Laogou’s ‘Dragon Clan’? It’s like Lu Mingfei and Erii, or Nono and Lu Mingfei—not meeting the one you love at the best time, but meeting them when you needed them most. That’s how you get your best years.”
“From then on, you never forget.”
“So tell me, what reason do I have not to like, not to love him?” The big sister in the nightgown spoke, her eyes glistening with moisture. But deep within, there was a passionate and somewhat twisted affection.
“But he clearly likes those other women, just not me. How am I worse than them? Why must I force him to stay by my side!!”
Hu Li subconsciously took a step back.
Noticing her movement, Liu Yao regained her composure and smiled apologetically at Hu Li. “Sorry, I picked up some small problems over those two years.”
“It’s fine.” Hu Li shook her head and gazed at the night sky.
After a pause, she asked, “Why are you so eager to match me and Lao Yao?”
“Want the honest answer?” Liu Yao tilted her head, her eyes showing complex emotions. Without waiting for a reply, she began talking to herself:
“I saw a shadow of my old self in Lao Yao. That youthful affection, that naïve anticipation, those careful little tests.”
“Sometimes I wonder, if I hadn’t gone abroad in junior high and could’ve stayed by Kang Kang’s side, slowly getting treatment at home, maybe my feelings for him wouldn’t have twisted into what they are now.”
“Little sister.” The big sister’s eyes grew damp, her voice trembling slightly. “A hundred years of life, time rushes by. Meeting someone you like is fate’s gift; meeting someone who likes you is rare luck; but meeting someone you like who also likes you is as precious and rare as the stars.”
“Yao Shiming has feelings for you. Can you really say, without hesitation, that you have absolutely no feelings for him?”
“Don’t let waiting become regret.”
With that, she gently patted Hu Li’s shoulder, then turned and left with somewhat heavy steps.
Watching her receding figure, Hu Li murmured quietly, “Of course I know he has feelings for me. But someone like me, born to submit, how could I ever be worthy of his love…”
Time flew by, and soon it was Saturday. Today was the day Tang Xueting invited Yao Shiming for dinner, and also the day everyone else volunteered to tag along as light bulbs.
Ji Yueniang even called Jiang Chi for this, basically saying: “I won’t be playing with you today, let’s delay our game night till next week.”
“Lao Ji, let’s go.” Liu Yao’s voice called out from outside the door.
“Coming.” Ji Yueniang hung up the phone and headed out the door.