“Song Classmate, you were a girl all along? That’s wonderful!”
Sang Tian said happily with a smile.
“og?”
Song Qiuyu was stunned.
This was a reaction she had never expected.
“In that case, it will be much easier for you and Jiang Xiao to be together. But it still seems tough—you have to wait until summer vacation to actually start dating.”
Sang Tian let go of Song Qiuyu’s little hand and sighed.
‘Sang Tian is indeed a super good girl!’
Song Qiuyu stared blankly at Sang Tian.
After her mind raced, she had already reached some conclusions—that Sang Tian only wanted her friend and Jiang Xiao to be happy, so there was never any possibility of disillusionment from the start.
Sang Tian would support them being together.
Even if she said she was actually a little monster and Jiang Xiao was Ultraman’s human form, completely opposed enemies.
Thinking of this, a touched smile couldn’t help but appear on her beautiful cheeks.
But then, she timidly glanced at everyone in the room and said tentatively, “Sang Tian, you guys don’t think I’m… strange, do you?”
This had always been her worry.
She was always afraid that in others’ eyes, she was neither male nor female, just a fake person wrapped in a woman’s shell.
After deciding to be a girl, she had been trying hard to get rid of this weird self-perception.
Even though Jiang Xiao always encouraged her, that wasn’t enough. She truly needed her lover’s approval and encouragement, but she also needed more recognition.
“Where is it strange? Song Classmate, you are a girl. No different from me or from Xia Qi.”
Sang Tian gently touched the head of the self-doubting, unconfident girl in front of her and said softly.
Song Qiuyu’s eyes grew moist.
“Yeah, no matter the process, you’re a girl now. And a girl who can have kids~”
Xia Qi winked at her.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu’s heart jumped. She lowered her head shyly, lightly scratching the back of her neck with her little hand.
On her originally snow-white skin, a pink flush spread, and a few fine beads of sweat appeared.
Her breathing lost its rhythm, her heart raced. She felt everything was unreal, like a dream.
‘I haven’t accidentally fallen asleep, have I?’
Hearing the two girls’ approval of his girlfriend, a smile appeared on Jiang Xiao’s face. He gazed deeply at her, happy for her.
“Xi’er, you heard that, right? So you don’t need to be so anxious anymore. You are a girl now, just like any other girl.”
Having said that, Jiang Xiao paused, then shook his head and denied his own words with some emotion:
“No, that’s not right either. Xi’er, you’re not completely the same as other girls. You have a different past and experiences, and those experiences have made you more perfect.”
Song Qiuyu was moved. Jiang Xiao’s words actually matched her original thoughts, but because so much had happened afterward, she had almost forgotten.
She had become fixated on pursuing being more like a girl, and if she kept going like this, she might end up like someone learning to walk in Handan—losing everything.
She lowered her eyes, reflecting on her state.
“Hey, Jiang Xiao, are you saying that Sang Tian and I are lacking because we weren’t boys in the past?”
Xia Qi deliberately put on a straight face and said.
Jiang Xiao just smiled and shook his head, calmly denying her words, which sounded like a joke no matter how you heard them.
It really was a joke. Xia Qi just laughed it off, but she gained a new insight about perfection.
After all, she was always teased by Lin An for not being girly at all.
“Anyway, Song Qiuyu, you chose to come clean now instead of waiting until summer vacation and dumping everything at once.”
Xia Qi said with a teasing tone. “At least you have some decency.”
Hearing this, both Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao coughed twice, smiling awkwardly but politely.
“So, you’re really not mad?”
Song Qiuyu bit her lip. It still didn’t feel real; things were going too smoothly. It felt like…
As tears shimmered in Song Qiuyu’s eyes, Sang Tian’s smile deepened. Then, she suddenly stopped smiling and changed her tone:
“But Song Classmate, you kept this from us for so long. We’re definitely not going to forgive you easily!”
As soon as Sang Tian said that, Song Qiuyu’s heart tightened. Almost instinctively, she became alert. ‘So that’s it—they understand, but they don’t forgive the deception…’
That was a possibility she had considered.
Her hands trembled slightly.
Her left hand subconsciously grasped her right hand at her side, and she held her breath.
Then, as if sensing her nervousness and fear, Jiang Xiao spoke up first: “Since Xi’er and I are ready to confess, we’re prepared. Bring it on!”
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu was startled. Those inner fears seemed like pages turned quickly in a breeze—one by one flipped away—and she quickly regained her courage.
She wasn’t alone anymore. She had someone with her now.
This person cared about her very much.
Song Qiuyu wouldn’t let Jiang Xiao down.
So, she took a deep breath, straightened her back, and said loudly, “That’s right, bring it on!”
Then, Sang Tian pulled Xia Qi and Lin An aside to discuss.
The three left behind sat on the sofa, feeling anxious.
“What do we do? They seem really serious about settling scores with you two.”
Xie Zhuran frowned. At some point, he had put on a pair of purely decorative black-rimmed glasses with no prescription.
“It’s only right they take it seriously. No one likes being lied to by their most trusted friends. We were in the wrong this time.”
Song Qiuyu didn’t feel like complaining about her roommate. She just picked up the hot water on the table and took a sip.
“But I suddenly thought of a very terrifying possibility.”
Xie Zhuran’s tone grew heavy.
Song Qiuyu was taken aback, and some part of her heart seemed to grow heavy as well.
She first tried to guess a few possibilities, then looked at Jiang Xiao, then at Xie Zhuran, took a deep breath, and suddenly lowered her voice like a thief: “So, Lao Xie, what is this possibility?”
Xie Zhuran frowned even more tightly and said gravely, “It’s already summer now. There are some things you can only do in summer!”
Things you can only do in summer?
Song Qiuyu’s eyes widened. Her thoughts were briefly scattered; she couldn’t figure out what he meant.
She had to look at him more urgently and pressed for an answer.
Jiang Xiao pondered for a moment, pinched his chin, glanced at the three still discussing, and whispered, “Lao Xie, this isn’t the time to be cryptic. Just say it.”
Hearing this, Xie Zhuran sighed heavily. He picked up his iced mineral water from the table, unscrewed the cap, and wanted to take a sip first.
With a smack, Jiang Xiao snatched his water.
“Spit it out.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll say it. But you two, prepare yourselves mentally.”
Xie Zhuran clenched his fists.
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao both took a breath, turned to look at each other.
Their eyes were full of determination.
The two roommates’ expressions were like a heavy lock pressing on Xie Zhuran’s heart, making it hard for him to speak.
But he had to say it: “Alright, I’m really saying it now.”
“Spit it out.”
The two said in unison.
“That is—” Xie Zhuran’s brows were tightly knit.
“They want you to sign up for ‘Boys and Girls Rush Forward’ after your condition is made public. Are you scared?”
“Uh…”
Song Qiuyu was slightly stunned.
“‘Boys and Girls Rush Forward’? What’s that?”
Jiang Xiao was confused.
“Lao Jiang, do you really not watch any TV or entertainment shows at all?”
Xie Zhuran suddenly felt exhausted.
Why would a good student who doesn’t listen to anything outside the window and only reads sage books end up in their Nanfeng Drama Academy?
He glared at the culprit Song Qiuyu, using his eyes to imply that she should explain since she brought him in.
Song Qiuyu didn’t shirk responsibility.
She quickly picked up her phone, searched for past event videos, and even prepared earphones for Jiang Xiao.
“Here, watch a bit and you’ll get it.”
“Okay, let me see.”
Jiang Xiao took the phone and earphones.
Song Qiuyu clenched her hands.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the participants’ clumsy looks on the phone screen, and her heart skipped a beat.
If Sang Tian and the others really intended this, then she would do whatever it took to salvage the situation.
These challenges wouldn’t be a problem for Jiang Xiao, but for her… there would be plenty of issues.
Although participating in such an event might even gain her more fans.
“Xi’er, maybe we could take part in this activity.”
Jiang Xiao, who had watched halfway, suddenly turned to her with great interest and said with a light laugh, “We’ve always only been active on short videos. If we step out properly and do something else, we might get unexpected gains. Like this kind of event, or live streaming, even direct product promotion.”
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu’s beautiful brows furrowed. Because the argument was too reasonable to deny, she felt quite annoyed.
This half-semester, they had gotten three business orders in a row.
Two of them were for cups—apparently because the previous Tender Catgirl merchandise sold extremely well, so other merchants approached them.
The last one was normal, just a massager order. Because of it, each of them got a free massager.
Her mom and dad, her grandparents—they no longer had to worry about neck and back pain.
It was a huge profit.
But they had never gone live; they always only recorded short videos.
Their fans had urged them to go live more than once.
However, live streaming was still too unfamiliar and strange for them. They dared not try it lightly for now.
After all, anything could happen during a live stream. A member of the swimming club in nothing but trunks might even jump out from a corner.
“Lao Jiang.”
Xie Zhuran patted Jiang Xiao on the shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.
“You’re a man. If you really dare to take Lao Song, when you two get married, I’ll definitely give you a unique red envelope.”
“Already recorded. Don’t let me down.”
Jiang Xiao picked up his phone and showed Xie Zhuran the screen displaying that the recording had ended.
“…”
Xie Zhuran was choked.
“Come on, Lao Jiang, how are you so practiced at this?”
Song Qiuyu was also choked. After being choked for a long while, she managed to squeeze out half a sentence through gritted teeth: “Jiang Xiao… you really want me to go that badly?”
“Because it does look pretty good! And it’s a chance to exercise!”
Jiang Xiao said with a bright smile.
“Hmm… Is that really it? Not because you want to see me fall into the water and embarrass myself?”
Song Qiuyu pictured herself falling in all sorts of clumsy ways and felt wronged.
Making short videos made people laugh, and falling into water also made people laugh, but the two were completely different concepts.
More importantly, if the goal was just to increase exposure, participating in such an event was an option, not a necessity.
She sniffled. What Jiang Xiao thought no longer mattered. The important thing now was to make him give up the idea.
She absolutely would not go on “Boys and Girls Rush Forward”!!
“Xi’er…”
Seeing that his girlfriend seemed about to cry from grievance, Jiang Xiao was stunned.
Then, Song Qiuyu suddenly stood up from her seat without a word, turned, and ran toward her own room.
She opened the door and rushed in.
With a bang, the door closed.
Jiang Xiao was stunned again. He had never seen Xi’er slam the door on him before…
Watching the back of that sad figure depart, some part of his heart seemed to gently break, aching in waves.
‘Xi’er is really angry this time?’
‘And crying?’
“What happened?”
Three pairs of eyes were drawn by the slam.
Without much explanation, Jiang Xiao immediately got up from the sofa, walked to Song Qiuyu’s room, stood outside the door, and raised one hand.
“Xi’er!”
“I was wrong!”
Song Qiuyu didn’t reply.
“We’re not going to ‘Boys and Girls Rush Forward’! Not this year, not ever!”
Jiang Xiao clenched his hands.
Hearing this, three people had many question marks popping up in their minds.
Then, the room door creaked open. Song Qiuyu stood at the doorway, biting her lip, tears in her eyes as she looked at Jiang Xiao.
She sniffled, wiped a teardrop from the corner of her eye with her little hand, and said, “Are you serious?”
“Mm-hmm!”
Jiang Xiao nodded hurriedly.
Then he added, “I didn’t mean to make you look bad, Xi’er. Really, every word is true.”
“Alright then.”
Song Qiuyu turned her head away, somewhat shyly tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Her two fair little hands moved behind her back.
Her left hand gently held her slender right wrist, leaving a faint mark on that delicate skin.
“I’ll trust you this once.”
With that, she let go of her hands, lifted her eyes to look at Jiang Xiao again, and saw him nod firmly. She breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Good. Got him.’
Seeing this, Jiang Xiao smiled, extended a big hand to her, and successfully took her soft little hand. He led her out of the room and back to the sofa to sit down.
Xie Zhuran’s gaze at his two roommates became complicated.
‘Lao Song’s move just now was so girly. A man who was once pretty macho has been tamed into a little girl.’
‘This disease is really scary. It has almost completely broken Lao Song down from the inside out, turning him into another Song Qiuyu.’
Three people had the same thought. The current Song Qiuyu had indeed changed a lot from the one they first met.
Not only was she more beautiful and feminine on the outside, but even her heart seemed to have truly become a girl’s.
Yet, she still retained some traces of the past.
Even if she tried to think that the past was gone and there was no need to dwell on it, the marks left by those days couldn’t be erased overnight.
Thinking this, they walked back and looked at the girl who had been pretty much soothed by Jiang Xiao.
“Song Qiuyu, Jiang Xiao, we’ve decided.”
Xia Qi stood with her hands on her hips, speaking in a very manly way.
“As punishment for deceiving us for so long, we’ve decided to—”
Song Qiuyu held her breath.