Liu Yao joining Dorm 802 finally came to a close, and what followed was a peaceful yet entertaining stretch of campus life.
During this time, Ji Yuannian vaguely sensed that two small groups seemed to have formed within her dorm.
Liu Yao and Luo Yikang were often inseparable, like conjoined twins, while Yao Shiming stuck to Hu Li every day, clinging like a piece of chewing gum.
This left Ji Yuannian, as the “dorm leader,” in an awkward, neither-here-nor-there position.
Still, people naturally have their own close and distant circles—Ji Yuannian felt she could understand.
She began enjoying a simple three-point routine: playing on her phone, eating, sleeping. Occasionally, she’d drop by the maid café to support her seniors and juniors.
Every Saturday, she’d go knock on Jiang Chi’s apartment door, indulge herself thoroughly, and drift into blissful sleep.
After yet another experience with the Dragon King of Water—so ethereal it felt like ascending to the heavens—she, the long-haired girl with silver bells in her hair, lay curled up on the double bed, her delicate face full of satisfaction, sinking into a deep sleep.
She had a dream.
A strange, even bizarre dream.
She dreamed of herself—or rather, the “self” in the dream—trusting Jiang Chi, trusting him completely, trusting that man.
At first, in the dream, she simply treated him as a tree hollow, a trash can, a ruin where she could dump all the secrets and dark histories that had long pressed on her heart.
But slowly, the “tree hollow” was no longer a silent listener; instead, he started to give her feedback. She followed the “tree hollow’s” advice, gradually achieving her goals.
She played the piano, she chased fame, she accepted the praise of her fans—she had almost everything she ever wanted. In this process, her view of him changed, and she saw him as the only mentor in her life, a friend and brother who supported her every step of the way.
Gradually, her feelings for him changed. She seemed to fall in love with him—the man who quietly supported her from behind and offered her strategies, the man who accompanied her for more than ten years, never changing his original intention.
She knew he liked women, but she was not a pure woman. So, she began to learn how to become a woman, become a wife, become a mother.
In the eighth year since they met, she confessed her love to him. Everything in the dream was so thrilling, so real it was hard to believe—her anticipation, her nervousness, her shyness, her desire… Even separated by the dream, Ji Yuannian seemed to feel it all vividly.
She confessed; the man agreed. Then, they walked hand in hand into the wedding hall.
But later, she discovered the man had changed.
Not a playboy, not a scumbag, but the nature of his love had changed. If before his love was like a boundless ocean that embraced her entirely, now his love was a whirlpool, wanting to possess her in a pathological way.
At the end of the dream, she couldn’t bear it anymore. Surrounded by that nearly suffocating love, she chose to take sleeping pills and bid farewell to the world.
The man knelt on the ground, holding her gradually cooling body, sobbing uncontrollably.
*****
“Winter break just ended~ I’m still a little dazed…..”
A pleasant chime suddenly rang out, pulling the sleeping Ji Yuannian back from her dream to reality.
Opening her eyes, she found herself lying on the bed in her pajamas. The phone on the bedside table glowed, and even through the fabric, the coin in her pocket felt scorching hot.
She reached out and pressed the phone to silence the call, then closed her eyes again.
But the ringtone was relentless, ringing over and over, agitating her heart.
“Hello, who is it?” Ji Yuannian frowned, opened her eyes, finally sat up, and answered the call.
Having just woken up, and having been thoroughly “satisfied” by Jiang Chi earlier, her voice was soft and weak, with a hint of laziness, making it sound irresistibly alluring—enough to make one want to scoop her up and squeeze her in their arms.
On the other end, Ji Haotong felt an itch in his ear, his heart seeming to melt into a puddle; his tone unconsciously became gentle: “Miss, may I ask your name?”
Hearing this familiar voice, the drowsiness in Ji Yuannian’s mind vanished instantly. Seeing the three big characters of his contact name, she narrowed her eyes slightly before slowly speaking.
“Um… I’m Yuannian’s girlfriend. Looking for Yuannian, right? I’ll give him the phone right away.”
“Hey, bro, what’s up.”
She shifted the phone from her left hand to her right, pinched her throat a little, and, skill at voice acting maxed out, kept her voice just as it had been.
“You brat…” Ji Haotong helplessly rubbed his forehead, wanting to say something, but whatever he could say seemed inappropriate. In the end, all his words turned into a single phrase.
“Don’t overdo it.”
Ji Yuannian: ……
“Uh… Bro, why’d you call?”
“Here’s the thing. You’re eighteen now, right? Tomorrow, take a day off. Dad will take you for a physical exam. Don’t ask why—you’ll understand when you’re older.”
“Can I not go? Bro, you know I’m the PE department head—fit as can be…”
“Tell that to Dad. I’m just relaying the message. Of course, you can try calling him to see if he’ll change his mind.”
In the end, the call ended, leaving Ji Yuannian with a lifeless face, battered by the wind.
Physical examination…
With modern science and machinery, hiding your gender was impossible.
Right now, she seemed to have only two choices. One, do nothing and wait until the checkup, get exposed by the doctor, go from macho man to delicate girl, and lose all face in front of her shocked father, unable to lift her head at home.
Two, while there was still time before tomorrow, go home and confess everything strange that had happened to her to her dad, mom, and bro. Then get taken to the hospital for a full-body checkup, still go from macho man to delicate girl, and still be unable to lift her head at home.
Both choices were a dead end.
“Ji Yuannian, are you hungry?” The door opened, and Jiang Chi came in carrying a bowl of red sugar bird’s nest porridge, only to find the girl on the bed looking completely devastated.
“I’m done for, I’m done for.”
“This time I’m really finished.”
“Ji Yuannian?” Jiang Chi called out tentatively.
At his words, the girl, eyes dull, instinctively lifted her head. Seeing who it was, she seemed to think of something, her eyes suddenly bursting with light. She jumped up from the bed, grabbing the man’s strong arm with both hands, clutching it like a drowning person seizing a lifeline!!
“Jiang Chi, you have to help me!”
“Quick, use that world-shaking intelligence of yours!!”
Very quickly, Ji Yuannian explained in a rush about her upcoming physical examination.
Her lively eyes were full of hope, looking up at the man expectantly, just waiting for his answer.
“I see…” Jiang Chi frowned deeply, falling into thought. A long moment passed, and he still hadn’t said a word.
Seeing Jiang Chi silent, Ji Yuannian’s heart leapt into her throat, thinking he was going to give up on helping her. She gripped his arm tighter in panic, “Jiang Chi, you have to help me! If Dad and the others find out I’m a girl, how will I survive!”
“If my gender swap gets discovered, never mind changing my name, at the very least I’d have to switch schools! I’ve worked so hard all these years to become the school boss—if I have to change schools, gender, even my name, wasn’t all my effort for nothing?”
“And I’ve heard that the girls’ dorms are full of drama. Four girls and there’ll be sixteen group chats! If they find out about my gender swap, I’ll have to deal with girls all the time!!”
“Ahhh! I can’t even imagine moving into the girls’ dorm!!”
She wailed while swinging his arm back and forth, making Jiang Chi so dizzy he couldn’t focus on coming up with a plan.
“Stop shaking, let me think.”
At Jiang Chi’s words, Ji Yuannian finally stopped, her face full of hopeful expectation, starry eyes fixed on the man.
It wasn’t that Ji Yuannian was pretending to act girlish—she’d once learned from her senior while hauling luggage that this kind of attitude was a “critical hit” for men! Even if it didn’t work, the other party would grit his teeth and make it work!