(1)
Saturday, April 17, 2010.
A whole week had passed since the last parent-teacher meeting.
This also meant that the High School Entrance Exam was drawing closer.
Anjing clicked on the calendar in the bottom right corner of her computer screen. Propping her chin on her hand, she counted the remaining days.
This year, the exam for their small city was scheduled to start on June 15. Rumor had it that the testing center would be right here at her own school, meaning they wouldn’t have to go elsewhere.
That was a good thing. After all, it was easier to perform well in a familiar environment.
‘I hope it comes fast, yet I hope it stays away…’ After she finished counting the days, Anjing sighed. She stared blankly at the photo on her desktop of Zhu Ying wearing a graffiti-print t-shirt. It was taken last Saturday at home. It had been raining that day, and a breeze carrying the scent of rain had drifted in through the window…
Looking at the photo, Anjing could almost recall the scent of that day. Even though the lighting hadn’t been great, Zhu Ying’s thighs were still blindingly white. Lately, every time she turned on her computer, she couldn’t help but steal a few extra glances.
Anjing felt like she had been thinking about “bad things” a lot recently. Once she opened that box of imagination, things became impossible to control. The scenes, the movements, and even the sounds and smells became exceptionally vivid.
“I should just stay home and study hard today… I can’t keep being this lazy,” Anjing muttered, taking a sip of milk. “Well… it’s still early anyway. Maybe I’ll play a couple of rounds first…”
Just as she was about to move her “sinful” hand to hover the mouse over the game shortcut, the QQ icon in the bottom right corner suddenly flashed. It was accompanied by a series of *tuk-tuk* message notifications.
The avatar was familiar, as was the nickname — it was Zhou Chao.
[Anjing, you there?]
[Yeah, what’s up?]
[Instant reply, huh?]
[I just happened to be at my computer. What’s wrong? Need help with something?]
[Do you remember what my name is?]
[What kind of crazy shit are you on?] Anjing sent a surprised emoji. In reality, her eyes widened slightly as well. ‘Today isn’t even April Fool’s Day.’
[No, I’m serious. Just answer. What is my name?]
[Zhou Chao. What else would it be? You idiot…]
[Something huge happened.]
[What happened?] Anjing’s heart skipped a beat. She wanted to press for more details, but her hands hovered over the keyboard without typing.
[Meet me at the school basketball court. We’ll talk there.]
[Now?]
[Yeah. Be there in thirty minutes.]
[What the hell is going on, exactly?]
[I’ll tell you when I see you.]
After that, Zhou Chao’s avatar went dark. Even though Anjing sent several emojis in a row, she received no response.
It looked like he really had just headed out.
“What could be so urgent?” Anjing scratched her head. The next thirty minutes suddenly felt like they were going to be agonizing.
Thirty minutes wasn’t long, but it wasn’t enough time to feel satisfied by a game, and it felt impossible to focus on homework. She tried to do other things, but her mind kept drifting back to what could possibly be wrong…
After tossing and turning for about ten minutes, Anjing finally jumped off her bed. “I might as well just leave now.”
(2)
On Saturdays, the small city was much livelier than on weekdays. Many people who worked in T-City would take advantage of the weekend to rush back home.
The road in front of the Big Shed Shopping Street was congested again. Various car horns blared and intertwined, playing a symphony rich with the flavor of everyday life. To be honest, if those noisy sounds were missing during a holiday, it would actually feel a bit strange.
When she reached the intersection where she usually met Zhu Ying, Anjing instinctively stopped. It took her a few seconds to realize it wasn’t a school day and she hadn’t made plans to go out with her.
They didn’t need to be stuck to each other’s sides every single holiday. After all, they both had their own schedules.
Passing the Big Shed Shopping Street and arriving at the gates of the Second High School, the atmosphere became noticeably deserted. Even cars rarely drove down this road.
The retractable electric gate was tightly shut, but the small side door was slightly ajar. Anjing tried pushing it gently and instinctively glanced toward the security booth.
A newspaper was spread across the table and steam was still rising from a water cup, but the security guard was nowhere to be seen.
The school was exceptionally quiet, as if not a single person was there.
The shrubs in the flower beds swayed with the wind, and a few butterflies that she rarely saw at school were fluttering up and down.
The post-rain sunlight filtered through the gaps between the buildings and trees, feeling incredibly soft against her skin.
Anjing glanced toward the school’s basketball court — it was empty.
Clearly, Zhou Chao hadn’t arrived yet.
So, she bought a bottle of ice-cold Coke from the vending machine by the field. After twisting the cap, she couldn’t wait to put her mouth to it, and her cheeks immediately puffed out — she had shaken it too much when it dropped, causing the Coke inside to come surging out.
“Mmph!” She recoiled, hurriedly pulling the Coke away from her mouth, but some of it still inevitably splashed onto her clothes. She began to cough violently. “Cough, cough… cough!”
You aren’t supposed to open a Coke from a vending machine and drink it immediately. She just hadn’t had one in a while, so she had forgotten. However, looking back on it, that sensation of carbonation rushing to her head was actually somewhat refreshing.
“Phew.” She let out a long breath, wiped the Coke from her hands, and hurried toward the restroom. If she didn’t wash this stuff off immediately, it would become sticky and make her feel uncomfortable all over.
She carefully scrubbed her small hands at the sink. Looking at herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help but scoop up some cool water and splash her face a couple of times — either to wash her face or to cool down.
The girl in the mirror had a few sparkling droplets hanging from her wet cheeks, looking cute and refreshed. Her uncombed hair was slightly messy, but it added a touch of playful beauty to her look.
‘Why do I feel like I’m especially good-looking today…? Ahem!’ Anjing muttered to herself and gave an embarrassed cough. She nervously glanced around to make sure no one had seen her “narcissism,” then breathed a slight sigh of relief.
“I’ll go wait for him at the court. When is that kid Zhou Chao going to get here? He didn’t call me out here just to play basketball, did he?”
(3)
The Second High School had several basketball courts surrounded by wire fences, but only one of them had a set of wooden bleachers inside. Usually, they sat in the corner like a pile of junk, and people even complained they took up too much space. But if someone’s girlfriend showed up, it became the best spot to watch the game. Those boys would then use every trick in the book, acting like gorillas to show off in front of the girls.
Aside from that, it was used for graduation photos, even if several of the wooden beams in the back were nearly rotten…
Anjing sat on the wooden bleachers, letting the sunlight caress her neck while she looked through the text messages she had received today.
Her favorites were the jokes, though there were usually only one or two, which was never enough.
“What’s taking Zhou Chao so long…” Just as she was about to give him a call, a slender, jade-white finger suddenly appeared before her eyes and flicked her forehead gently.
“Whoa — ! Who is it?!” She clutched her forehead and snapped her head up, only to see a tall girl standing in front of her.
The girl had a fair, oval face and a pleasant expression with a faint smile on her lips. She was wearing a short-sleeved athletic outfit. Her thighs and arms looked firm and well-proportioned — like she was from the Sports Training Team.
Anjing blinked blankly. She felt like the person in front of her looked familiar, especially her eyes. It was a look she seemed to see often.
But she was also certain that she had absolutely — never — seen this person before.
“Who are you…?”
“Don’t recognize your bro anymore?”
“…Huh?”
“It’s Zhou Chao.”
“Stop bullshitting me.”
“Why would I lie to you?” The girl crossed her arms and looked down at Anjing. “I’m not that bored, am I?”
“Holy crap — !!” Anjing jumped up with a start. “For real? Are you Zhou Chao’s girlfriend? Is this a prank?”
“Look, whose phone is this?”
“Zhou Chao’s…”
“I’ll send you a text right now.”
“Wait a minute, did you and Zhou Chao plan this together?”
The girl was exasperated and let out a laugh. “I told you, I am fucking Zhou Chao himself! Fine, let’s talk about the time you pooped your pants in primary school…”
“Crap, shut up, shut up!” Anjing waved her hands frantically. “No way… are you really Zhou Chao?”
“The one and only.”
“…How… how did you turn into a girl too?”
“That’s why you were the first person I looked for. Do you have any clues?”
“Did you see the Meteorite, too?”
“No.”
“Then what the hell happened to you?” Anjing took a deep breath. “Don’t panic. Tell me everything, bit by bit.”
“Turning into a girl… it probably happened last night.”
“What exactly happened?” Anjing sat back down and patted the empty spot beside her, signaling Zhou Chao to sit as well.
“Yesterday I called A-Qiang to go for a motorcycle ride again…” Zhou Chao cleared her throat. “Damn, hearing myself make this kind of sound is so fucking weird.”
“How should I put it… it’s a bit… charming… like a fox spirit.”
“I’m not fucking trying to talk in a high voice on purpose.”
“That’s just a matter of physiological structure…”
“Forget it.” Zhou Chao sat down next to Anjing, grabbed her Coke, and took a large swig without an ounce of politeness. “Like I was saying, after school yesterday I called A-Qiang to go for a ride. To make it more fun, we stuck to roads where there aren’t many people. We didn’t split up until evening.”
“He went home?”
“Yeah, he went home, and I went to pick up my current girlfriend — we were planning to go to the top of Mt. Jiangxing to have a round.”
“You really are something…”
“Wild sex is a real rush. You’d know if you tried it.” Zhou Chao smirked slightly, but then his expression turned serious again. “Anyway, I rode my motorcycle to the top of Mt. Jiangxing with her, did what needed to be done, and then took her home. Once I dropped her off and was riding back alone, I started feeling like something was wrong. So, I pulled over…”
“You didn’t… feel yourself up all over, did you?”
“I did. And after feeling everywhere, I came to the conclusion: I’ve turned into a girl.”