The hospital room was silent.
Bai Fan’s mind slowly sank into the depths.
After a few seconds, he spoke softly, “Stop hiding. If I did something that upset you earlier, come out and talk about it.”
He paused.
“If I was wrong, I’ll apologize.”
The breeze gently rustled the curtains, but the room remained silent.
Was she… gone?
Bai Fan recalled the battle with Master Mo. His sister had turned into a beam of white light and vanished into the Poison Feather.
The Relic, which had once been incredibly draining for him, suddenly felt light as a feather.
Had she taken on the strain of the Relic… in his place?
He had heard that souls without bodies were fragile. A single gentle breeze could cause them to dissipate.
His vision blurred. Something warm and wet fell onto the bedsheet, leaving a small, dark stain.
“Big Sister…”
Suddenly, a few strands of wine-red hair fell, gently brushing against his shoulder.
“Were you calling me?”
Bai Fan was startled. He turned his head and saw a familiar, smiling face.
Ruan Mingxi was standing by the bed, a sly grin on her face. Who knew how long she had been observing him?
“Missing your sister at home?” she asked, tilting her head. “But as far as I know, Professor Bai and Professor Song only have one child.”
“You… how are you here?”
“Doing a mission, of course.” Ruan Mingxi raised the bag in her hand. “Brought you some milk tea on the way back.”
She glanced down at it. “Mango Sherbet. I guessed you’d like this flavor.”
“Th… thanks.”
Bai Fan took the milk tea but didn’t know what else to say.
She had probably seen him change back.
Although Lin Xincheng had been completely open about it, Bai Fan couldn’t be sure everyone else would be the same.
He was all too familiar with certain looks—curious, surprised, scrutinizing, and even some strange, unidentifiable gazes.
Besides “thank you,” he didn’t know what else to say.
“You’ve been crying non-stop.” Ruan Mingxi put the bag on the bedside table. “Did something sad happen?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Or did Senior Brother say something weird?”
“No, not at all.” Bai Fan quickly shook his head. “Captain Xincheng has been very concerned about me. He didn’t say anything weird.”
Ruan Mingxi reached out and ruffled his hair.
“Then why were you crying? I saw you shedding tears when I came in. I even walked past the window twice, and you didn’t even notice.”
Bai Fan sat there dumbfounded, completely at a loss as she so naturally messed up his hair.
He looked at the slender hand resting on his head.
A thought suddenly popped into his head. Didn’t she feel repulsed by his abnormality?
But Ruan Mingxi had already started laughing.
“Looking at you, such a crybaby. You might as well be a girl.”
“Huh?” Bai Fan froze on the spot.
A crybaby? When did he ever give her that impression?
She had just happened to catch him in a moment of sorrow.
Ruan Mingxi said with a smile, “Boys who cry easily are seen as weak. But a girl with a tear-streaked face, everyone feels sorry for her.”
Bai Fan instantly felt indignant. “Isn’t that a gender stereotype? During the Federation Reconstruction, so many female elders dedicated their lives to the cause. When the Great Human Enterprise needed them, they didn’t hide in the back, sobbing and begging for pity.”
He added in a soft mutter, “Big Sister Mingxi, you’re a woman. How can you support this kind of stereotype?”
Bam! A precise knuckle rap landed on his head.
“Ow!” Bai Fan covered his head.
Ruan Mingxi was still smiling at him, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes.
“When I’m chatting with someone, there are two things I hate most.”
“First, I hate it when people escalate things. I was just teasing you, and you drag it all the way to the Great Human Enterprise.”
“Second, I hate it when people use political correctness to pressure others. You’re talking about current social norms, and you’re calling it pandering to stereotypes.”
She held up two fingers.
“And just now, you did both. This is a warning. If it happens again, I’ll smash your little brain.”
Ruan Mingxi raised her little fist, her smile still cute.
But Bai Fan felt she was serious.
“It… It won’t happen again.”
“Good. That’s a good boy. You should listen to your big sister.”
Even though he got hit, Bai Fan actually felt a lot lighter.
The fact that she could joke around so freely meant she really didn’t mind.
It wasn’t polite avoidance. It wasn’t deliberate pretense. She genuinely didn’t care.
Whether he was a boy or a girl didn’t determine how she treated him.
“So then.”
Ruan Mingxi took a sip of her milk tea and winked at him. “How did it feel to be a girl the other day? The first time I saw you, I was smitten. White hair? That’s my type.”
She cupped her cheeks and smiled. “Why don’t you just be a girl from now on? I’ll take care of you like a little sister.”
The wine-red-haired girl looked at him, her face full of anticipation.
She really seemed to want a sister.
But her question actually stumped Bai Fan. What special feelings did he have during that time?
He seriously thought back.
For the most part, he was just focused on finding Master Mo and getting revenge.
His mind was so full of hatred and plans that he didn’t have time to think about anything else.
The only obvious feeling was that people seemed to be more naturally forgiving of him when he had that face.
Even when he first barged into the hospital asking for help, and Lin Xincheng agreed, Bai Fan had wondered if that pretty, pitiful girl’s face had played a part.
But thinking about it now, he was probably just overthinking things.
Bai Fan said quietly, “Honestly… it wasn’t that great.”
“Huh?”
“Sure, I got a lot of attention that I normally wouldn’t, but more than that, I just felt troubled.”
He looked down at the milk tea in his hand.
“Nothing about me had changed. Not my value, not my ability, not my essence. But just because I had a different face, I suddenly got things I never had before. And not all that attention was kind. Plus…”
He paused.
“I feel like it’s unfair to others. I don’t like that feeling.”
Ruan Mingxi looked at him, her expression gradually shifting into something strange.
It was like she was seeing him for the first time.
Bai Fan continued. “My body changed, sure, but after all these years, I still see myself as a guy. If a girl suddenly got close to me without any reservations because she saw me as another girl, I’d feel guilty, like I was deceiving her.”
“Mmm.” Ruan Mingxi rested her chin on her hand.
She didn’t interrupt.
“And besides.” Bai Fan smiled. “If my parents came back one day and saw I had changed genders, they’d probably be stunned. No parents want to go from having a son to having a daughter.”
He looked seriously at Ruan Mingxi.
“So if I had a choice, I’d still rather be a guy.”
“Ah!” Ruan Mingxi flopped back. “Fishing failed.”
“What fishing?” Bai Fan was completely confused.
Ruan Mingxi’s eyes narrowed, and her smile turned sinister.
She looked just like a villain from an anime for a second.
“That question I just asked was Fishing Law Enforcement. I was checking to see if you used ‘the convenience of being a girl’ to sneak into the women’s bath or something, or if you had any Train Pervert Behavior.”
She let out a creepy laugh.
“If you had, I would have taken you to the station for interrogation right now.”
Bai Fan was completely stunned.
“No… I didn’t!”
“I absolutely never did anything that could be considered harassing a girl!”
“Oh?”
Ruan Mingxi stared at him for a few seconds, then instantly returned to her sunny, cheerful smile.
“Then I believe you.”
“Such an honest, kind little brother like Xiao Fan definitely wouldn’t do something like that.”
Bai Fan let out a huge sigh of relief.
That was close. He even used the men’s restroom that whole time.
He truly had no ulterior motives.
“But…” Ruan Mingxi tilted her head and looked at him. “I wasn’t joking about that earlier.”
She said, “You really should seriously think about it. Do you want to be a boy or a girl?”