Chapter 26: Haunting

Xiong Wei and the others were all quite surprised today.

The “Old Six,” who usually kept to himself shut inside the dorm, suddenly changed his tune and actively asked to go out to the court with them!

Whether it was because of the breakup or some other reason, they were all pretty happy about it…

That’s right, thanks to Chen Ze’s big mouth, the whole dorm had learned about his speculation and actually believed it.

Since Old Six took the initiative to come along, they naturally agreed eagerly, secretly hoping to take the chance to comfort Lin Xinyuan.

But what the others thought, Lin Xinyuan didn’t know.

The main reason he followed was because he didn’t want to see that stinky yellow-haired guy…

He got up unusually early today and checked his reflection in the mirror again.

As expected… he was getting more and more like a girl…

Though the changes were subtle, they were definitely there!

Oh my gosh!

That wasn’t the worst.

What scared Lin Xinyuan even more was that he seemed to be developing…

When he just woke up, he felt a hard lump on his chest, and pressing it hurt, accompanied by swelling.

He went online to check, and sure enough… typical symptoms of female puberty!

That wasn’t all.

When he went to the bathroom, Lin Xinyuan noticed his good buddy seemed to be shrinking and had lost a lot of hair…

Lin Xinyuan was pretty desperate.

Anyone going through this would feel awful!

He shut himself off, confused and at a loss…

Imagining it was one thing, but actually experiencing it was really hard to accept.

That’s why now he was avoiding Qin Nanfeng like the plague, afraid the guy would notice something.

After all, Qin was the only person he knew in this female form…

If he got found out…

He didn’t dare to imagine what would happen!

Qin Nanfeng hadn’t returned to the dorm yesterday.

Usually, he came back only in the morning.

To avoid being alone with him, Lin Xinyuan decided to head to the court to lay low!

Following his roommates, he naturally couldn’t avoid breakfast, since not everyone had his bad habit of skipping it.

Lin Xinyuan just grabbed a youtiao and a cup of soy milk.

Come to think of it, Lin Xinyuan hadn’t eaten breakfast in a long time, probably since his grandmother passed away right before the Zhongkao… gradually forming this habit.

Part of it was because during high school, his school’s schedule was tight, and he didn’t get enough sleep daily, so he skipped breakfast just to get more rest.

More than that, it was because of family reasons.

Those years at home were rough due to debts, and then his grandmother unexpectedly passed away…

His family was fairly traditional, so they spent a lot on the funeral.

To reduce the financial pressure, he voluntarily cut down his expenses and didn’t tell his parents, who never noticed.

Because of his grandmother’s death and other things he still couldn’t forget…

Although he still got into the best high school in the city based on his Zhongkao scores, he lost the scholarship and tuition waiver.

With these sudden expenses, the family’s finances got tighter, leaving him just enough living money for food, so he rarely ate breakfast to save money.

In short, multiple factors led to his skipping breakfast habit.

Even when he later earned some money from writing novels online, he was too lazy to change it.

Lin Xinyuan poked the plastic straw into the soy milk and took a sip, his mind full of question marks.

Is this soy milk?

To be sure, he looked at the packaging again.

Yeah!

Freshly squeezed soy milk!

Although the packaging looked different from what he was used to, it shouldn’t be that different, right?

But this tastes like watered-down juice!

Lin Xinyuan felt totally ripped off, helplessly shaking his head and biting into the youtiao.

The youtiao was actually pretty good — crispy on the outside, fluffy inside, with a light salty taste.

Following everyone toward the court, Chen Ze occasionally dribbled the basketball, munching on a chive bun, making strange noises…

Xiong Wei and the other two tried to take the opportunity to comfort Lin Xinyuan, and even Chen Ze, who was playing around, came over.

Lin Xinyuan finally got their meaning — they had all misunderstood him.

He was a bit amused and explained to them a little.

Of course, he couldn’t tell them what was really happening, only that something happened at home.

Naturally, they didn’t ask what exactly.

In the end, Xiong Wei still wasn’t reassured and said a few cynical words.

Though awkward, Lin Xinyuan still felt touched: “Yeah.”

The cloud in his heart lifted a little, and his mind cleared somewhat.

Still, he didn’t want to say much.

Even though he was somewhat grateful to these brothers and felt a little better, they didn’t know the truth, and he couldn’t tell anyone.

This kind of thing wasn’t something a few comforting words could fix…

“Yo, Shouzhao finally got you all here? So late today, huh?”

They finally arrived at the basketball court by the playground, and a familiar voice reached their ears.

Lin Xinyuan looked up.

The stinky yellow-haired Qin Nanfeng was leaning against the iron fence by the court entrance, a cigarette between his fingers on one hand, the other raised in greeting.

His voice was playful.

His tall figure, sharp features, and the faint curve of his lips gave him a roguish charm that made him stand out.

Qin Nanfeng naturally noticed Lin Xinyuan among the group, paused, and a strange look flashed through his eyes.

Then he raised an eyebrow and gave a wink as a response.

Seeing Qin Nanfeng, Lin Xinyuan was a bit stunned but immediately thought of what happened yesterday and felt guilty.

He nervously lowered his head, afraid of revealing any clue, cursing internally.

Damn it, what a relentless ghost!

Finally got out early in the morning… wanted to avoid seeing that bastard, but fate had other plans!

Stinky yellow hair!

Don’t you usually go straight back to the dorm?

Why the hell did you come here today and even get here early to play basketball?

Doing it on purpose, huh?

Girls not easy to pick up?

Or did the hotel kick you out early?

Lin Xinyuan grumbled in his heart but forced himself to calm down, trying not to arouse suspicion.

Damn it!

Stop pretending already!

He cursed silently, noticing several girls not far off staring their way, obviously looking at the yellow-haired guy, which made him bitter…

Right now, he really couldn’t bring himself to like this guy, harboring a lot of prejudice, especially after he’d stupidly kissed him yesterday — though that probably didn’t count as himself…

But thinking back, he regretted it terribly.

Examining it closely, he realized something was off and felt he’d most likely been played, stupidly falling for it!

Disgusting.

He felt gross about himself back then! No idea what went wrong with his head.

It had to be the female hormones — the culprit was that jade bracelet! No doubt!

But… sigh…

He had to admit that although his looks had improved under the bracelet’s effect, his attractiveness was nowhere near Qin Nanfeng’s.

That’s not to say Qin looked better.

Their facial features were similarly balanced, but looks were judged by many factors.

Compared to Qin Nanfeng’s social butterfly vibe, Lin Xinyuan’s quiet nature clearly made him less likable…

Especially his height — the difference was huge…

Not to mention his current state, all girly and delicate… it made him feel somewhat inferior.

Especially the discomfort of his chest rubbing against his clothes, constantly reminding him his body was developing female traits…

That made him even more miserable, now just hoping to avoid drawing attention.

So, focusing all attention on the stinky yellow-haired guy was the silver lining?

Lin Xinyuan thought this, feeling even more miserable…