Sleeping with his mother wasn't a very good experience—rather, he didn't like sleeping in the same bed with anyone.
As a child, he would pester to sleep with his uncle, but that was only because he coveted his uncle's phone. When he last stayed at his uncle's house, aside from his increasingly feminine wariness, it was more because he was unwilling to sleep with others.
However, this time in the two-person tent, there really was no other choice.
The tent rental came with thin summer blankets. The thin sheets his mother brought were spread underneath. When Lin Nan crawled into the tent, his mother had already organized everything inside and was sitting at the very back, head down looking at her phone.
Uncle Liu's tent on the other side was already emanating steady snoring sounds. Lin Nan and his mother being together in the cramped tent made him somewhat anxious, never feeling at ease since entering.
He was actually already tired, but being with his mother made him feel constrained and uneasy, not knowing what to do.
"It's about time to sleep." His mother had brought a small night light, plugging it into a power bank as a temporary light source. She looked up to see Lin Nan hiding far away at the tent entrance, and her previously excited mood couldn't help but drop somewhat.
She had thought that after their earlier playful interaction, Lin Nan would be closer to her, but Lin Nan was still the same as before.
"You don't seem too willing to have the surgery?" his mother suddenly asked.
Lin Nan was startled and didn't look at her, just silently nodded.
"Are you a bit worried?"
"I guess." Lin Nan pressed his lips together. Although the charm magic was already available for use, he wasn't too willing to use it on his own mother.
His mother didn't quite understand Lin Nan's thoughts, but the doctor had said that Lin Nan being physically healthy now was already lucky. His physical development was rather delayed, only recently reaching the level of a normal thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl. Otherwise, if menstruation came and couldn't be expelled from the body, there would definitely be problems.
However, his mother didn't know that Lin Nan had already experienced menstruation before.
"The doctor says you're in danger now..." his mother gently tried to get Lin Nan to accept surgery. "And the surgery isn't very complex. One hundred thousand yuan isn't that much—your father and I spent hundreds of thousands on a down payment for a house just two months ago...
"Should I request leave for you? What's your homeroom teacher's phone number? Let's request a month off first. In this month we'll hurry and get the surgery done. If we delay too long, I'm afraid your body won't be able to handle it."
She didn't know that universities didn't have homeroom teachers, only academic advisors.
Lin Nan found his mother's nagging somewhat grating. He didn't want surgery, didn't want to take a month off, and didn't want to complicate what should be simple matters.
He sighed with resignation and decided to try using charm magic.
This magic only made people frantically like him for one hour, thus obeying his every word. But from Lilith's practical experience, most people who had been charmed still held strong favorable feelings toward Lilith afterward, and most promises made during that hour wouldn't be taken back.
But this was his mother...
He felt like he might have chosen the wrong magic.
Magic that simply changed others' perceptions or controlled others' thoughts had unlocking conditions that were too extreme—basically impossible for him to achieve. Only this magic had similar effects.
The magic took effect.
His mother's eyes gradually became confused. She found the Lin Nan in front of her increasingly unfamiliar... then it seemed like a thin mist arose before her eyes, making everything appear hazy. She covered her head and slowly lay down, feeling her mind completely muddled.
"Nan Nan." She lay there asking in confusion, "Why do I suddenly feel unwell?"
Lin Nan was startled. He found that the effect on his mother after being hit by the magic seemed quite different from Lilith's memories.
"So sleepy..." His mother rubbed her eyes, pulled the blanket over herself, found a comfortable position and lay down directly.
When Lin Nan turned to carefully observe his mother's condition, he saw her head tilt to one side, her breathing gradually becoming steady and heavy. In less than a minute, she had already fallen into deep sleep.
"???"
Did Lilith trick me again?
Lin Nan stared blankly at his sleeping mother, brows furrowed, not knowing what had gone wrong.
After carefully examining Lilith's memories for a long time, Lin Nan finally had a thoughtful realization of where the problem lay.
Uh, Lilith was heterosexual... so she had never used this magic on women. The magic's effects had only been verified on the opposite sex. And seeing that this magic had extremely strong effects on the opposite sex, Lin Nan had naturally assumed the magic would also work on the same sex.
But I'm male!
Lin Nan looked down and saw his protruding chest.
Well, half... and in his mother's perception, although he hadn't yet had surgery to completely become female, she already treated him as a daughter.
Or maybe this magic only worked on males to begin with?
Meaning that he had endured moral guilt and condemnation, endured the boundary-breaking swimsuit, endured the shame of being stared at by passersby, and in the end he accomplished nothing—the biggest winners were those passersby who got an eyeful?!
Damn! He felt like he'd been played.
Just thinking about wearing the swimsuit earlier and the looks from passersby along the way made Lin Nan's face flush red. That intense shame surged up uncontrollably. Looking at the magic that now only made people fall asleep, he couldn't help but have the urge to gouge out the eyeballs of all those people who had seen him in the swimsuit.
So what now? Really take a month off first, then watch his mother scramble to raise money for his surgery?
Lin Nan's face darkened. This feeling of working hard but getting no positive feedback was like working hard for a month only to end up losing a thousand yuan.
I'm so angry!!!
He wrapped the blanket around himself and lay down directly beside his mother, closing his eyes and trying as much as possible not to think about these infuriating things. But his mind kept replaying the emotional journey he'd experienced over these two days for the sake of magic, and those looks from passersby.
Even angrier!!!
He was so angry his chest rose and fell irregularly, but no matter how angry he was, he still had to find a way to solve the problem.
Maybe he should just run away tomorrow after seeing his father?
According to his mother, his father definitely wouldn't like him as he was now. If he explained the situation, his father might directly kick him out. Then he could put on a heartbroken act and run away—that would be quite reasonable, right?
Although he thought this way, Lin Nan still wanted a method that could solve things head-on rather than escaping. Escaping never solved problems, only delayed time.
Maybe he could ask Chen Yao for help, or... use charm magic to charm some doctor and have the doctor tell his mother that he actually didn't need surgery so urgently? This would be an indirect approach, yeah.
After a tiring day, Lin Nan's mind was full of thoughts, but he still couldn't control his increasingly heavy eyelids.
Eventually, he also fell into deep sleep.