“Ah… I…”
Ye Xingmian opened her mouth, but for a moment, she couldn’t find the words.
“What’s going on with you? You’re soaking wet?”
Her little face instantly turned bright red, and she stammered, trying to explain, but her impatient foster mother didn’t give her a chance.
“It’s windy outside, come in quickly. I have something to ask you.”
“…Mm.”
Though her tone was cold, for once, it was actually a caring sentence, and the girl felt a sliver of warmth. She followed her foster mother inside, entering the house in silence.
“Eh? Why are you back?”
Having just placed his Phone on the Dining Table, her foster father, Lin Cheng, looked over at Ye Xingmian and frowned.
“I… I came back to change clothes…”
Still wearing her hat, the girl stammered, nervous.
“Change clothes? What’s going on? Take off your hat and let me see.”
The tone was suspicious. Hearing this, Ye Xingmian, despite her worry, removed her hat, revealing her now much longer, soaking wet hair compared to yesterday.
She lowered her head, keeping her full face out of view.
Her foster parents didn’t pay much attention to her. Although they’d always lived under the same Ceiling, the chance of her being discovered as a girl was very low. They’d always seen her as a somewhat weak, soft-spoken, delicate boy.
As she expected, Lin Cheng only stared at her for a moment and didn’t notice any change.
However, his face darkened.
“How did you end up like this? What if you catch a cold? Are you going to pay for the medicine?”
He spoke angrily, then continued.
“Hurry up and take a bath and change clothes!”
He didn’t ask how the girl had ended up like this, just ordered her to go clean up so she wouldn’t catch a cold. His stern tone made the girl’s body tremble. She quickly nodded and went up the stairs to her Bedroom in the Attic.
“Okay… okay…”
Glancing at the untouched Breakfast on the Dining Table, Lin Cheng seemed to remember something and suddenly shouted at the girl, who was stepping upstairs with wet shoes, “Hurry up, after you’re done, your Aunt and I need to ask you something.”
Her body tensed slightly. She didn’t reply but answered with a nasal hum and quietly went upstairs.
The Attic—said to be the girl’s Bedroom—was more like a storage room. Other than the small area near the window cleared for a bed and Wardrobe, everywhere else was piled with various junk. Old clothes, old shoes, broken wooden furniture covered in dust, most of it completely unusable. The girl walked to her bed. From here, she could see the gray-white sunlight outside the window; the atmosphere was unusually quiet.
“…”
The girl liked this spot. Whenever she spaced out looking out the window, she always felt her heart quieting, able to recall those faintly beautiful memories from long ago.
But the noise downstairs and the chill on her body didn’t allow her to dwell on such things. She bit her pale lips, opened her old Wardrobe, and found a few pieces of clothing inside.
But…
Lifting her half-soaked top, she could see her soft chest wrapped with White Cloth strips. She had noticed at dawn that if she didn’t do something about that sensitive tip, she simply couldn’t move around. After thinking it over, she finally found a strip of White Cloth at the bottom of her Wardrobe, bound her chest, and that’s how she’d managed to attend School today.
But now, the White Cloth was soaked through as well. She’d have to take it off and hang it up to dry while showering.
It might be dry by evening, but there wasn’t any more cloth left. What was she going to do for afternoon classes…
Worried, she hugged her change of clothes and went downstairs to the Bathroom.
Here, everything was clean and tidy, the tiles on the walls spotless—a world apart from her Bedroom in the Attic.
She took off her soaking clothes and threw them on the Marble Floor Tiles, left only in her chest-wrapping White Cloth and boxers. After a moment’s hesitation, she placed the White Cloth on the washing machine, piling her underwear with the rest of her clothes on the floor.
Then she turned on the shower. Thankfully, the house had both a Solar Heater and a Hot Water Heater, so she didn’t need to wait for water to heat. The girl waited a while until steam billowed, then stepped under the shower, letting the warm water soak her body.
There’s really… nothing left…
She lowered her head, looking at her body, eyes filled with complex emotion.
She’d already confirmed it upon waking, but seeing it now with her own eyes was still unbelievable. There really was nothing left, everything had vanished completely. Her skin was white and smooth, not a trace of hair, just a soft mound with a tight little seam in the middle—it looked incredibly cute.
Only now did she truly feel like she’d become a girl.
Her mood soured a bit.
Silently scrubbing her body clean, the girl rinsed her clothes under the cold tap, planning to finish her laundry before the sun disappeared.
Once she was done, she dried herself and her clothes with a towel, waiting until she was completely dry before putting on her clothes and hiding her face under her hat. She stepped out of the Bathroom.
“Why did you take so long?”
Her foster parents had apparently already eaten. They sat on the Sofa in the Living Room, scrolling on their Phones. Seeing her come out, they asked.
“I… I was also doing some laundry…”
Hearing this, the girl lowered her head, her voice timid.
“Don’t take so long next time. The water bill isn’t cheap.”
“Oh…” she replied, wanting to escape back upstairs.
“Don’t go, come here.”
It was coming, just as she expected.
Silently, the girl glanced up at them. The one calling her was her foster father, while her foster mother sat on the Sofa beside him, frowning at her Phone.
“Alright…”
Quietly, Ye Xingmian walked over and stood before her foster father. Even sitting down, this middle-aged man exerted an overwhelming pressure on her.
“Didn’t I tell you last night to make sure Zi Yan ate Breakfast this morning? Did she?”
His harsh questioning sent chills through the girl’s heart.
“She… she ate…”
“Liar!”
A sudden pain hit her right cheek, and the world spun. When Ye Xingmian regained her senses, she had collapsed weakly onto the floor, the cold Marble Floor Tiles chilling her even through her pants.
Her right cheek burned as if on fire. The blow had stunned her, and she couldn’t react.
“There was barely a bite taken from that bowl—how could she have eaten? I only asked you to watch her eat Breakfast, was it that hard? And you still call yourself an older brother!”
Trembling, the girl shook her head, trying to explain.
“No… it’s not… she wanted to buy cake herself… I couldn’t stop her…”
Hot tears streamed down her cheeks. She couldn’t see her face, but she knew it must be swollen and burning.
“How can you, a grown man, not handle her? If she skips Breakfast every day and eats random junk, how can that be nutritious? Looks to me like you wanted a beating! Was it you who wanted to eat out and encouraged her to skip Breakfast?”
“I didn’t…”
She feebly defended herself, knowing he wouldn’t listen.
“Didn’t you? I think you did!”
The man seemed furious, reaching for his belt to beat her. At that moment, Xu Ming hurried over to smooth things over.
“Hey, that’s enough, that’s enough. He said he didn’t, so he didn’t. Look at you—getting so worked up. Calm down, calm down.”
Only then did Lin Cheng back off.
“And you, Xiaomian, get up—what are you sniveling for?”
The girl didn’t want to get up. Her arms and legs were weak, and she had no strength at all. But she didn’t dare defy them, so she shakily grabbed the Sofa for support and stood up.
“If this happens again tomorrow, you’ll be sorry!”
Lin Cheng snarled viciously.
Ye Xingmian dared not speak, standing off to the side, her whole body trembling with fear.
“Go buy him some cold medicine. If he gets a fever tomorrow, an injection costs a few hundred.”
Now that he’d calmed down, Lin Cheng spoke to Xu Ming.
“Forget it, that’s not necessary. Cold medicine is dozens of yuan, too. He’s a young guy, full of energy, a fever will pass soon enough—no need for medicine.”
Xu Ming waved her hand from the side.
“True!”
Lin Cheng agreed with her and shot the girl a glare.
“Don’t go to class this afternoon. Prevent a cold. I’ll ask for leave for you—stay home and do the chores.”
“Mm…” That almost sounded like good news—at least she didn’t have to worry about the chest wrap today. But she still had a request, so she looked up at Xu Ming. Her foster mother seemed a bit easier to talk to.
“Um… Aunt…”
“What is it?” Sensing the timidity in her words, Xu Ming frowned, a bit suspicious.
“Can… can I have fifty yuan?”
“What do you need money for? Didn’t I just give you fifty yesterday?”
“Meal… meal money…” Her voice got quieter and quieter.
“What, fifty isn’t enough? You wasteful brat! No way. If you ask for money again, you can get out!”
“Ugh…”
Why…
Just this morning, Mother had transferred them two hundred yuan…
After noon, her foster parents left for work, and Ye Xingmian was left alone at home to do chores.
She washed the dishes, mopped the floor, did laundry, but seemed to forget one thing.
That White Cloth, carrying the scent of a young girl, was still left openly on the washing machine in the Bathroom, not put away.