After the students of Tai Chi Class Two finished lining up, the shiny-headed Teacher Li picked up the roster and began calling names.
“Xiao Henhuo.”
“Here!”
“Tang San.”
“Here!”
“Li Sanguang.”
“Here.”
“……”
“Qin Nanfeng.”
The young man lazily raised his hand, covering his mouth to yawn, sounding utterly exhausted: “Here…”
Teacher Li was used to this by now. Others might not remember, but this elder was so famous it was hard not to.
Still, he gave Qin Nanfeng a dissatisfied glare, shook his head, checked him off on the roster, then continued to the next name.
“Lin Xinyuan.”
“Here…” Lin Xinyuan’s voice was a little nervous. Because of class requirements, he had to remove his hood, fully exposing his delicate face. He tried to make his voice sound deeper, as if afraid his real voice would be recognized.
People nearby were looking at him…
“Lin Xinyuan!”
Teacher Li raised his voice, perhaps because Lin Xinyuan’s voice was too low to hear, and repeated the call.
Lin Xinyuan had no choice but to respond again, this time trembling as he raised his hand. The nervousness made his speech stutter, and the soft, almost childish tone was impossible to hide: “…He…here…”
He felt many pairs of eyes fixed on him, his hands clenched tightly, embarrassment coloring his face.
Especially those closest to him—due to prior proximity—they had some interaction with Lin Xinyuan and thus remembered him.
Now suddenly replaced by such a pretty girl, it was no wonder their curiosity was piqued…
Feeling those varied gazes—confused, puzzled, curious, even jealous—
Lin Xinyuan’s body trembled slightly. He wanted nothing more than to escape this place as soon as possible…
The middle-aged man above frowned, looking at Lin Xinyuan. He had intended to scold him, but upon seeing this rather androgynous young girl, who was actually quite beautiful, he hesitated.
But this name—he remembered it belonging to a boy…
Is this a boy?
Had he misremembered?
Teacher Li couldn’t figure it out, and without overthinking, seeing Lin Xinyuan shrinking back, he didn’t have the heart to get angry. He sighed.
He walked over and stood beside Lin Xinyuan. Seeing how nervous he was, Teacher Li compared his height to those nearby and spoke with a tone that wasn’t very kind: “Lin Xinyuan, move up to the front! How did you line up here… Next time, speak up louder, I don’t want to call your name twice, got it?”
“Oh… okay… Teacher…”
Lin Xinyuan obediently moved as Teacher Li instructed, taking a spot further forward. In a corner of the crowd, Qin Nanfeng quietly observed everything…
After the matter with Lin Xinyuan was settled, Teacher Li quickly finished roll call. He then clapped his hands, signaling everyone’s attention: “Alright, roll call’s done! Listen up before warm-ups!”
He scanned the group, waiting until most eyes were on him before continuing: “After warm-ups, everyone will be split into groups of eight. Each group will run either 800 or 1000 meters.”
“Ah!”
An uproar broke out, as if the students had become zombies overnight.
“Quiet!” Teacher Li’s face turned stern. He then explained: “There aren’t many requirements this time. Just finish within five minutes. Think of it as training. The real test will be mid-December. From now on, every PE class will have a run, understood?”
“Understood…” Many replied weakly, as if all their energy had drained away. Lin Xinyuan was among them, cursing the bald-headed Teacher Li in his mind.
Running again for no reason, training? More like torment!
Of course, despite the curses growing nastier in his mind, he had no choice but to comply with Teacher Li… According to the seniors on the forum, this bald guy was always like this…
He was assigned by the Education Bureau; it was best to obey or risk failing!
If it had been the old Lin Xinyuan, he wouldn’t have minded so much. After all, he used to go night running daily and was in decent shape.
But ever since his body had become increasingly feminine, he noticed his physical condition worsening. On top of that, with all the recent troubles, he hadn’t been in the mood to go night running, and it had been a while since he last went.
The result was that now he was the kind of person who’d be out of breath just climbing three flights of stairs…
Would he collapse halfway through the run?
Lin Xinyuan was speechless and no longer listened to Teacher Li’s lecture. As before, his gaze instinctively flicked toward Qin Nanfeng, but unexpectedly, their eyes met directly.
Seeing the young man shrug, as if indifferent, Lin Xinyuan gritted his teeth and snorted, quickly averting his gaze.
Not far away, Qin Nanfeng watched Lin Xinyuan’s slightly annoyed retreat and smirked.
He had already imagined that little face puffed up like a blowfish…
But it was just a thought. Obviously, the Lin Xinyuan before him wasn’t capable of making that expression yet—after all, he was still considered a boy for now…
Thinking of this, Qin Nanfeng grew even more curious about what Lin Xinyuan might look like once he completely became a girl.
Would he ever make such a face one day?
Thinking about it was actually quite amusing…
Afterward, Teacher Li didn’t say much more, leading the warm-up exercises before starting the long-distance run groups one by one.
Because the teams were arranged according to the roster order, naturally Lin Xinyuan and Qin Nanfeng, with their adjacent names, ended up in the same group.
They were in the last group and had to wait.
Sitting together on a set of stone steps, waiting, the others who hadn’t gone yet were also nearby, but the two sat a bit apart from the rest.
This was deliberate on Lin Xinyuan’s part, though even so, some people still sneaked glances at him, especially some boys…
About the length of a forearm separated them, and they didn’t speak, quietly watching the clouds in the distance.
Lin Xinyuan closed his eyes. Not long ago, when the groups were being arranged, he had originally been placed in the girls’ team.
But after explaining that he was a boy, the strange looks from others, including the teacher, made his heart ache and feel uneasy.
Yet, somehow, just being beside Qin Nanfeng now made him feel much more at ease…
Maybe it was because of what happened at noon…
Right now, maybe only Qin Nanfeng truly understood him. Not his parents, who he might not see for a whole year…
Actually, there was one more person, but she had been gone for many years…
Thinking this, Lin Xinyuan opened his eyes, mood slightly heavier. He dropped his gaze, idly playing with his pale hands—both unfamiliar and familiar at once…
So frustrating…
Lin Xinyuan tugged at the corner of his mouth and chuckled quietly.
Beside him, Qin Nanfeng glanced over. That tender white face was reddened from the cold air, but the drooping, vacant eyes betrayed that he had slipped into his usual self-isolation.
Sensing the faint fragrance near his nose, Qin Nanfeng thought for a moment, then suddenly reached out and placed a hand on the back of Lin Xinyuan’s neck, startling him awake.
“You’re Qin, you damn idiot!”