Liu Xuefei looked very pretty today, wearing a white sleeveless dress and light makeup that concealed all the flaws on her face. Standing beside her brother, she seemed to have a delicate, bird-like charm.
However, this was the pervert who encouraged people to crossdress and go out in public!
Lin Nan pressed his lips together. Seeing Wu Guodong step forward, he quickly followed behind.
He and Liu Xuefei hadn't seen each other for a while. Although they occasionally attended large lectures together, those classes were always crowded, and sometimes it was hard to spot Liu Xuefei in the crowd—though of course, he had never specifically looked for her either.
Clearly Liu Xuefei felt the same way. Upon seeing Lin Nan, her face showed no reaction at all—just a cool nod. She probably subconsciously assumed the person following behind the blind date partner was a girl, never thinking in the direction that this might be Lin Nan.
Lin Nan felt somewhat puzzled, not knowing why Liu Xuefei was being so cold to him, when previously she would practically hang on him trying to convince him to crossdress.
"Old Chen!" Wu Guodong stepped forward with a smile. "What do you want to eat today? My treat."
Although he was putting on a generous act, his expression became stiff whenever his gaze fell on Liu Xuefei beside him.
The man called Old Chen noticed Lin Nan behind him and joked, "What, are you planning to introduce me to a girl too?"
"This is my nephew..." Wu Guodong paused. "Niece."
Lin Nan's face darkened. Seeing Liu Xuefei looking at him curiously, he quickly hid behind Wu Guodong.
If Liu Xuefei recognized him, wouldn't he be teased about this at school every day?
So he lowered his head, putting on a quiet, shy appearance and using Uncle's figure to block his face. He didn't dare speak either, afraid of being recognized by his voice.
"I'm just dropping her off at school. I'm not like you, so eager to push your sister into the fire pit." Wu Guodong chatted happily with Old Chen, exchanging jokes. They seemed to have a pretty good relationship, except whenever his gaze accidentally caught Liu Xuefei, he became inexplicably nervous.
This girl looked even better than in the photos.
He unconsciously thought of Lin Nan behind him.
But even with makeup, she'd only be on par with Lin Nan's natural look, and besides, that chest was even flatter than Lin Nan's...
Could this really not be a trap?
"This is my sister, nineteen this year. The family's pushing hard, so I had to bring her out for blind dates." Old Chen looked helpless. "My parents are pretty old-fashioned—they think girls should marry early. No matter how I try to reason with them, they won't listen. But I think you're a decent person usually, and she found your photo pretty agreeable too... right, sis?"
"Mm, not bad I guess." Liu Xuefei showed none of the enthusiasm she'd had when doing Lin Nan's makeup last time, nodding with little interest.
Wu Guodong was obviously embarrassed by Liu Xuefei's attitude, but still bit the bullet and found a restaurant to treat the siblings to a meal.
He had originally thought having Lin Nan along might give him more courage, but unexpectedly Lin Nan was also scared to death, refusing to say a word the whole way and always hiding behind him. What happened to them being classmates?
All along the way, Old Chen complained to Wu Guodong about his parents' old-fashioned thinking, while Liu Xuefei beside him looked equally indignant.
"You don't know—when my sister got into university, my parents didn't even want to let her go to school. I had just joined the company then and barely managed to save up tuition for her, but they didn't even want to give her living expenses." Old Chen smiled bitterly.
"My sister is a girl—she needs to buy makeup and skincare products and such. Her expenses are already much less than other girls, and since university, she hasn't spent a penny of the family's money. She even works part-time as a makeup artist to earn money, but my parents still want her to get married, saying they want to earn some betrothal money back."
Wu Guodong couldn't help asking, "Aren’t they just selling their daughter?"
"They can sell their daughter if they want—my sister hates them anyway. We're just afraid that after marriage, they'll want to leech off her blood too."
Who the hell would dare marry this girl?
Wu Guodong's mouth twitched as he realized his colleague had dumped a huge problem on him. Originally he'd had some thoughts of getting out of singlehood through this blind date, but now he just wanted to quickly finish the meal and escape.
He wasn't an idiot. Spending money on Lin Nan, his nephew, was fine. Spending money on a future wife was also fine. But having troublesome in-laws who would constantly demand money and leech off them—he couldn't handle that.
Lin Nan beside them finally learned about Liu Xuefei's family situation. Last time during the crossdressing incident, he had thought this girl was wealthy since she bought a bunch of makeup products, but it turned out to be this kind of situation?
He really envied people with makeup skills who could earn money with their talent.
But if it weren't for having a responsible older brother, Liu Xuefei would probably already be working in some factory as a factory girl, ready to get married at any time, let alone working part-time as a makeup artist.
Because of his own father's situation, Lin Nan suddenly felt that Liu Xuefei was in the same boat as him.
The group of four came to a nearby Zhou Granny's Restaurant and found a table for four.
At this point, Lin Nan could no longer continue hiding behind Wu Guodong and could only try to keep his head down and avoid speaking as much as possible.
"Why do I feel... you look familiar?" Liu Xuefei observed Lin Nan for a long time before speaking for the first time. "Do we know each other?"
Lin Nan frantically shook his head in embarrassment.
She suddenly remembered the scene when she had tried to take the crossdressed Lin Nan to the cafeteria to eat—Lin Nan had shaken his head frantically just like this.
This sense of déjà vu immediately made her suspicious, and she asked tentatively:
"Lin Nan?"
Upon hearing Liu Xuefei call out his name, Lin Nan's face immediately froze.
"It really is you! You didn't learn how to do makeup, did you? You weren't this good-looking last time I saw you! Why did your uncle say you were his niece?"
Lin Nan's already frozen face was now only filled with embarrassment, his voice as tiny as a mosquito's: "How would I know what's going through his head?"
Wu Guodong looked at Lin Nan, then at Liu Xuefei, and laughed awkwardly: "I saw you two meet without greeting each other and thought you'd mistaken him from the photo... I was afraid they'd think you were weird, so I just said you were my niece."
"???" Liu Xuefei's brother was completely confused. "He's a guy? Isn't this you returning the favor by bringing someone for me to go on a blind date with?"
Liu Xuefei unceremoniously stepped on her brother with her high heel, making the programmer's face turn pale with pain.
"I already have a sister-in-law! What are you going on blind dates for!"
The atmosphere among the four had been somewhat awkward before, but after this commotion, it unexpectedly became more lively. Wu Guodong gradually relaxed, chatting and complaining with his colleague while occasionally making conversation with Liu Xuefei. He seemed quite satisfied with Liu Xuefei.
Only Lin Nan remained somewhat gloomy. He felt that being mistaken for a girl as a man was shameful, especially at this juncture when he was about to become female. Just like when he first encountered Lilith, he was particularly sensitive about such things.
Wu Guodong and Liu Xuefei chatted well. After the meal, they even exchanged contact information, and then he drove them both to school. Meanwhile, Lin Nan barely spoke except while eating, thinking about how he could avoid being mistaken for female during this period.
But it seemed like there was absolutely no way?