“I know we haven’t met in a while, but how... have you become so much prettier?"
At the school gate, Wu Guodong's car had already left, and Liu Xuefei immediately couldn't contain her curiosity as she moved closer to observe Lin Nan. She even wiped Lin Nan's cheek with her finger, but still said in confusion, "You're not even wearing makeup, are you?"
Lin Nan didn't like being so close to people and stepped back a few paces to avoid Liu Xuefei, saying dismissively, "Natural beauty, I guess?"
"You don't even need makeup now. Put on a wig, wear women's clothing, and go out—no one would possibly still think you're a boy, right?" she marveled. "Last time you crossdressed, I was thinking your legs were enviably beautiful, but now even your face is going to make people jealous!"
Lin Nan stepped back two more paces, looking embarrassed. "It's not that pretty... I'm far from the celebrities who do that."
That was true enough. Lin Nan was fundamentally male after all, so even with Lilith's facial features added, he definitely couldn't be called a goddess. But at least he was a cute, fresh little beauty with slightly enchanting eyes and brows.
"You sure have lofty goals, wanting to compare yourself to celebrities..." Liu Xuefei complained helplessly. "Besides, except for celebrities in their teens and twenties, older female stars all rely on makeup to maintain their looks, okay? And those actresses in dramas are all skinnier than the next—they look fine in movies and TV shows, but in real life they're just skin and bones."
Is that so?
Lin Nan had always thought that since they were stars, they should all be goddess-level even without makeup.
But...
"Aren't you standing a bit too close to me?" Lin Nan leaned back slightly at the waist, his face taking on some redness. "Everyone's looking at us."
He really couldn't step back any further—behind him was the circle of low flower beds outside the school wall.
"Who cares about them!" Liu Xuefei stepped back excitedly, then looked at Lin Nan with amazement. "If you were a girl, the line of people chasing you could stretch down the street."
You might not care about them, but I do...
The sidewalk at the school entrance wasn't wide, and the discussions of passing students reached Lin Nan's ears without reservation.
"Isn't that the trap from the forum who played in the competition?"
"He actually likes girls..."
"I think he's called Nan Nan, right?"
Although the discussions didn't contain any personal attacks, just being the center of attention was something Lin Nan couldn't accept.
Liu Xuefei had grown up unloved at home and basically lived in a state of walking on eggshells around her parents, so she was quite skilled at reading expressions. She quickly noticed Lin Nan's slightly twisted posture and somewhat nervous, uneasy expression.
"Should we walk and talk?"
Lin Nan refused weakly, "What's there to talk about..."
"Of course it's what skincare products you use to maintain such good skin! How you maintain your figure normally! What nutritional supplements you take to get prettier and prettier!"
I really don't know what's going through your head.
"And!" Her voice suddenly dropped a few levels as she asked quietly, "Why do you, a man, have a bigger chest than me?"
"..."
Lin Nan couldn't explain this. Before, he could have said it was fat, but now his chest had taken proper shape and was completely different from Tu Junhui's type of sagging fat. As a girl, Liu Xuefei could definitely tell the difference.
He felt this topic was truly shameful and turned to leave, but Liu Xuefei followed closely, continuously asking, "Did you awaken something after crossdressing last time and buy fake ones?
"Or are you actually a girl? Just for various reasons you can't reveal your identity?
"It can't be from eating too much junk food, right?"
Lin Nan admitted without hesitation, "Right! I love hamburgers and soy products!"
He'd heard that eating too many hamburgers and fried chicken could cause breast growth, as well as soy products. Although Lin Nan didn't really understand the principle, he'd seen similar news before.
But Liu Xuefei wasn't stupid either. She looked at Lin Nan with eyes full of doubt. Lin Nan didn't dare say more and kept his head down, walking steadily toward the dormitory building.
Originally, it was at most a ten-minute walk from the school gate to the dormitory building, but under Liu Xuefei's gaze, this journey became torture for him.
Finally reaching the dormitory entrance, Lin Nan hadn't yet caught his breath from Liu Xuefei's stare when he suddenly noticed the dorm supervisor sitting on a wooden stool, smoking while eyeing him with suspicion.
This old man still thought Lin Nan was a girl to this day, but could never catch him in the act.
Lin Nan smiled awkwardly and nodded to the supervisor before hurrying upstairs.
Back in the dorm, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, but looking up, he saw Tu Junhui hurriedly pulling a t-shirt over his head.
This guy... why is he hiding from me? Acting like he's never been seen before—it's just rolls of fat.
Looking at Chen Yao again, this guy quickly closed some media player on his computer, while Xiong Da returned to his seat with a nonchalant expression.
He felt like his roommates were hiding something from him.
Lin Nan didn't like this feeling of being kept in the dark about everything, but before he could ask, Chen Yao smiled and said, "Nan Nan, how come you're back so early?"
"What? Don't want me back?"
"Of course not."
Distracted by this, Lin Nan immediately forgot his previous thoughts and went to his wardrobe to hang up the clothes he'd washed at Uncle's house but hadn't dried yet, putting them on hangers and taking them to the balcony.
After organizing everything, Lin Nan stretched and yawned, preparing to take an afternoon nap.
"Tu Tu, I'm taking a nap. Don't disturb me for two hours."
Tu Junhui made an OK gesture but suddenly noticed the shoes Lin Nan was taking off: "Oh! Nan Nan's started wearing women's shoes?"
"These are men's shoes!" Lin Nan emphasized. "Unisex! Not women's shoes!"
"This won't do—pretty soon you'll probably get used to wearing women's clothing too." Tu Junhui teased Lin Nan as usual. "With feet as small as yours, where can you buy men's shoes? You'll probably have to buy children's shoes, right?"
As his words fell, Lin Nan uncharacteristically didn't retort and suddenly fell silent.
He looked somewhat lost. Although Tu Junhui didn't know which comment had hit Lin Nan's sore spot, his survival instincts kicked in as he quickly apologized: "My bad! My bad! Go sleep quickly. When you wake up, we still need to prepare for five-man queue—Tuesday's the finals, that's a thousand yuan!"
Sure enough, just mentioning money to Lin Nan could basically solve any problem. His expression immediately brightened considerably as he nodded vigorously: "We must win the championship! Anyone who drags me down better not blame me for turning into Ma Jiajue at night!" (TN: He murdered his roommates. Do the research yourself.)
"Paying respects to the master." Chen Yao handed over a cup of milk tea. "Xiong Da accidentally ordered an extra cup."
"Hmph! This small token isn't enough to make up for my championship! Hurry up and practice solo queue while I nap to improve your skills!"
Lin Nan held his head high, took the milk tea, and climbed onto his bed, then carefully placed it on Chen Yao's bed space, afraid of spilling it.
That way, even if it spilled, it wouldn't be his problem.