Perhaps because he had cried hard and vented the emotions he'd suppressed for so long, Lin Nan finally returned to his usual appearance the next day.
However, he still had a stern face and looked troubled. The redness, swelling, and tear stains from last night's crying were still visible on his face.
Standing in front of the mirror, he examined his appearance. Although he had unlocked another magic, his feminization wasn't very obvious this time. At most, his skin tone had become slightly brighter, his eyebrows more gentle, and the flaws on his skin had completely disappeared.
His bone structure seemed smaller, his wrists and fingers appeared slightly thinner, and his shoes felt somewhat loose.
Originally, his shoe size was 37, which was already almost the lower limit for men, but now it seemed to have shrunk by two sizes, causing him to nearly trip on flat ground several times yesterday.
His mood was still poor, but at least he no longer looked like yesterday's pitiful state where he was about to cry at any moment. He just looked bitter and resentful, with a stern face, as if he had a grudge against everyone.
"Meow~"
Cola at his feet raised her head and kept rubbing against his legs. Lin Nan was startled, remembering how Cola had been frightened and cowering in the corner last night. Feeling somewhat guilty, he crouched down and gently stroked the little kitten's head.
If possible, he'd wait until winter break to become a girl.
Now that his family knew about his physical condition, if he had already become a girl when he returned home, his mother could return the borrowed money untouched. He wouldn't need surgery, and his parents would at most be surprised that he had somehow gotten surgery at some unknown small clinic... right? Perhaps they'd even be happy that Lin Nan had saved the family money?
Then there was the issue of changing his ID card. If he could use the before-and-after medical reports from completely becoming female to get a gender change certificate from the hospital, that would be quite manageable. If not, he now had charm magic—charming a doctor and requesting they write a certificate shouldn't be difficult.
The problem was whether his mother would come directly to school and drag him to surgery. But even so, Lin Nan didn't plan to continue resisting, as that would only make his mother sad.
It seemed this magic he'd gone to great lengths to obtain was somewhat useful after all.
Lin Nan sighed deeply. He didn't know how many more magics he needed to unlock before becoming female, but at least he no longer held hope of returning to being a normal person.
"Up so early?" Chen Yao also got up from bed.
"Yeah." Lin Nan glanced up at him, then continued pondering his own matters.
But Chen Yao saw the tear stains all over his face and asked with some heartache, "Are you okay now?"
"Yeah, I've figured things out." Lin Nan poured some cat food for Cola's breakfast, then used the unfinished mineral water from the typhoon to fill Cola's water bowl before getting up to wash on the balcony.
But Chen Yao became even more worried.
What did he mean by "figured things out"? Was Lin Nan becoming suicidal?
Chen Yao, who had just been sleepily confused, suddenly became alert. He hurriedly climbed down from bed and chased to the balcony, urgently pushing open the door, only to see Lin Nan standing at the wash basin looking at him in bewilderment.
"What are you doing?"
"What did you figure out?!"
"Huh?"
Chen Yao clearly remembered what Lin Nan had said yesterday. He looked nervously at the confused Lin Nan and demanded, "You're not thinking of suicide, are you?! This is such a small matter!"
Lin Nan was stunned, never figuring out how Chen Yao's thought process led him to think he would commit suicide.
Forcing a smile on his face, Lin Nan asked helplessly, "Do I look like that kind of idiot? I don't even have a girlfriend yet, haven't reached Challenger in League yet, haven't finished all those games you bought—there are so many things I haven't done. Why would I commit suicide?"
"That makes sense..." Chen Yao relaxed somewhat, but still uneasily advised, "If something's wrong, tell me. Don't bottle it up—you'll develop problems."
"I know."
Lin Nan had experienced this. These past two days at home had been too depressing, with various emotions piling up together. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been ignited by his father's single comment and fled that city almost irrationally.
Looking back now, yesterday's behavior was indeed somewhat childish and emotional, but thinking of his father's words still made him furious.
How could anyone be a husband and father like that? Even if they were divorcing, he and his mother could be considered an amicable divorce, yet he planned to give his mother not a single penny.
If he had been able to appropriately relieve pressure during those two days, then instead of fleeing in panic from the hospital room, he probably would have faced off with his father directly.
Today was Monday. He had gotten up early—it was just past seven o'clock, with an hour of free time before going to class.
After washing, Lin Nan organized the luggage he'd brought back yesterday, then sat in front of his computer, staring blankly at the Windows 10 interface.
Lin Nan felt somewhat guilty toward his mother and wanted to send a heartfelt text message like his mother had, but he felt too embarrassed to lower himself. He looked at that text message, hesitating for a long time, finally sending three words: "Sorry, winter break."
He immediately felt much more comfortable, finally showing a genuine smile from the heart.
Although his mother hadn't treated him very well before, after spending these two days together, Lin Nan clearly felt that his mother cared about him deeply and loved him dearly.
This feeling of being cared for and valued was wonderful. At one point, he had even wondered if he was really picked up from a trash can.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, his eyes smiled, and two small dimples faintly appeared on his face. This smile was incredibly bright, causing Chen Yao, who was already watching him from outside the balcony, to freeze in place, unable to look away for a long time.
"What are you looking at?" Lin Nan noticed his gaze.
"When did you get dimples?" Chen Yao awkwardly lowered his head, pretending to brush his teeth earnestly while praising, "Smile more—it looks much better than yesterday's appearance."
"Really?"
"Yeah, yesterday you looked like Lin Daiyu with your red eyes. It was scary to look at." (TN: Character from the 18th-century Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber, prone to melancholy.)
But it had a unique charm that made my protective instincts explode.
Chen Yao added this thought to himself.
"I'll try not to do that anymore." Lin Nan also felt his dejected appearance wasn't attractive.
Yesterday he had only eaten one bowl of fish balls, and after vomiting at night, his stomach was completely empty. After sitting for a moment, he quickly noticed his stomach's protests.
"Want to go eat breakfast?" he asked Chen Yao on the balcony.
"Wait a moment, need to use the bathroom." Chen Yao finished washing and walked toward the bathroom, but then backed up a few steps, asking Lin Nan in confusion, "You're not some fairy who doesn't eat mortal food, are you?"
"Huh?" Lin Nan initially thought this was a compliment.
"I don't think I've seen you use the bathroom in a long time... You're not actually constipated, are you?"
"Get lost!"