An ordinary morning at the entrance of Taogu High School.
The new disciplinary committee member with the armband on her arm stood at the school gate, scanning the crowd with a touch of excitement.
This was only natural.
As a first-year freshman who had always longed to join the disciplinary committee, she of course wanted to put on a good performance.
Before long, her hawk-sharp gaze locked onto a target violating the rules among the crowd.
“Hey! That girl over there!”
“Ah?”
The student being pointed at hesitated, unsure whether she was the one being called.
“Stop looking around. It’s you. School regulations say hair cannot go past the eyebrows.” Her voice sounded a little off.
“…………..”
The student who had been pointed out helplessly closed their eyes, then silently lifted their chin.
An Adam’s apple suddenly appeared in the disciplinary committee girl’s line of sight.
“I’m a guy,” the boy who had been mistaken for a girl replied in a slightly hoarse voice.
“So… sorry! Excuse me! I… I mistook you.”
The disciplinary committee girl flushed bright red. With that height and that neat short hair, who would have thought it was a boy?
The boy opposite merely waved his hand, showing no intention of saying anything more, and vanished into the crowd almost at once.
Only the disciplinary committee girl was left standing there in a daze.
After a long moment she finally reacted.
“Boys’ hair isn’t allowed past the eyebrows either!”
***
First thing in the morning, and my heart is already so tired.
Zhong Siji casually tossed his schoolbag onto his desk and sprawled into his seat without any regard for image.
The originally lively classroom seemed to pause for an instant, then immediately returned to its usual noise.
Beside the desk in front of Zhong Siji, several boys were clustered together discussing yesterday’s variety show.
“Did you watch I’m a Big Singer yesterday? You Shiya’s flirtatious glance was so cool! It made me…”
“I get it, I get it. Who could resist being winked at by those eyes? Me too…”
“By the way, did you guys hear? A new dessert shop opened on Tide Street. Let’s go together after school~~”
“And I heard another upperclassman confessed to classmate Yan Yan and got rejected.”
“Hmph~~ Of course. Big Sister isn’t that kind of casual person.”
“She’s everyone’s Big Sister~~ right?”
“Hahahahahahahaha~~~”
On the other side, several girls were excitedly chatting about the looks and figures of photogenic male stars.
“Listen carefully. Beauty also has angles. If someone’s side profile is beautiful but their front face doesn’t reach the level of beauty, then they can’t be called beautiful. Got it?”
“But his figure is really good. Look at those faintly visible collarbones. Can you still say something so superficial?!”
“Stupid! Figure is only an accessory to appearance. If the face isn’t good-looking, can you even use it?”
“What do you mean can’t use it? You’re the one stubbornly clinging to those outdated theories!”
How nice. How nice. Really nice. Only a few weeks into the school year and everyone can already get along so well. It’s truly wonderful.
Zhong Siji closed his eyes in pain. If it were the other way around, it would be even better.
Dong-dong-dong-dong, dong-dong-dong-dong
“Class is starting, class is starting. Everyone get back to your seats.”
The middle-aged female teacher with a large belly walked into the classroom along with the bell, scattering the lively atmosphere.
The interruption also brought Zhong Siji a slight sense of relief.
“Open your textbooks to page 15. Today we’ll talk about…”
It’s already been a few weeks. The world has become like this.
Looking at the white clouds outside the window, Zhong Siji’s thoughts drifted back to a few weeks earlier.
That day, he had been bare-chested as usual, charging into the fridge like a wild pig while picking out the ice cream he wanted.
“Siji!”
A stern voice rang out behind his swaying backside.
“What’s up, Grandpa?”
Zhong Siji paid it no mind, but a moment later pain shot through his ear.
“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! Grandpa, what are you doing?”
“I should be the one asking you what you’re doing. Siji, you’re about to become a high school student. You can’t stay as rough as before. These days, girls like boys who are a bit more proper and refined.”
“Huh?”
“What ‘huh’? Get back to your room and put some clothes on!”
From that day on, the world had completely changed in his eyes. Apart from himself, countless things had shifted.
The most obvious change was in the concepts of male and female.
It did not seem like a simple swap, yet in many respects the two sides had been exchanged, and that alone had turned him into an oddity in everyone’s eyes.
Although he had once performed a few strange rituals in the hope of reversing the world, the worried looks from his grandparents and little sister Xinya made him give up.
Even so, simply getting used to it was still impossible.
The morning passed quickly amid Zhong Siji’s tangled thoughts, and soon it was lunchtime.
Time to head to his pilgrimage site for lunch.
Zhong Siji waited until the classroom had mostly emptied before slowly taking out his bento.
“Um, Classmate Siji?”
A slender boy with long hair called out to him.
“What’s up?”
“We’re going to the new dessert shop on Tide Street later. Do you want to come with us? Or should we bring something back for you?”
“…No need.”
“Is that so? Alright then.”
The boy nodded with a touch of regret and ran back to his companions.
Zhong Siji vaguely caught words like “I told you so.”
…Better just eat first.
On the other side, several girls had taken in the entire scene.
“Runhui, the Classmate Siji you care about seems to have rejected going out with other boys again?”
“Wh… what do you mean I care! Do… do I care about Classmate Siji?”
The girl called Runhui stammered in denial.
“Come on. Didn’t you actively move your desk over so you could share a book with him?”
“That’s because Classmate Siji looked troubled!”
“Just kidding. Why so anxious? Even Classmate Siji couldn’t like someone with a big chest like yours.”
“Hey, that’s going too far.”
“What? It’s also a joke.”
“It… it’s fine.” Xu Runhui pulled her friends who were about to argue and glanced down at her own chest.
“Who told it to be this big…”
***
The so-called pilgrimage site was actually the rooftop of the abandoned school building.
Almost no other students came here, so it had become one of the few places where Zhong Siji could relax without caring about other people’s gazes.
Besides coming here to eat his bento, he sometimes came simply to zone out.
Of course, there were also certain actions meant only for the eyes of the gods.
He set the bento box aside, stood by the railing, looked up at the sky, and raised both hands as if embracing the heavens.
“Jesus, Buddha, Virgin Mary, Jade Emperor, and Guanyin Bodhisattva, although I don’t believe in you, please still save me~~~”
“Phew, that feels better.”
It looked stupid, and it actually was stupid, but what if? What if it worked?
He never expected what came next.
“Um… Si… Classmate Siji?”
Whether the gods had seen it or not remained unknown, but someone definitely had.
Looks like it’s over.