Whether it was a greeting gift or just the uncle's sudden whim, Lin Nan happily received a five hundred yuan red envelope through WeChat. The uncle who he'd only found somewhat pleasant before now looked agreeable no matter how he looked at him.
Though the uncle had money, his mother didn't seem to have any intention of borrowing from him. Lin Nan didn't know what she was thinking - maybe because this was a family matter?
After getting the red envelope, he looked inside the tent. It was fairly spacious - two people sleeping should be no problem, and in the height of summer they'd only need to cover themselves with a thin blanket.
"Pretty good," he said, bending to exit the tent and giving his assessment.
The uncle nodded without saying much, taking mosquito repellent spray and spraying it inside the tent. The spray had a pungent smell - they probably couldn't go in for about an hour.
Night gradually deepened, and basically only the camping people were still moving around on the beach. Lin Nan sat in front of the tent, idly grabbing a handful of sand grains and slightly opening his five fingers to watch the sand flow through.
When he'd come to the beach as a child, it wasn't this commercialized, but back then Lin Nan had found the seaside incredibly interesting and fun.
Now visiting the beach again, he found it boring as hell.
According to the plan, they'd stay here until tomorrow noon. After watching the sunrise in the morning and when the temperature gradually rose, they could go in the water to play for a while. But Lin Nan had thought his mother would find a deserted beach where wearing a swimsuit wouldn't be seen by many people. Now he realized this plan would probably have to be abandoned.
"Hey, Nan Nan." His mother crouched on the sand rummaging through her backpack while calling to Lin Nan. "Do you want to try on the swimsuit? The size should be about right."
Lin Nan's face immediately flushed red. Looking around, while it wasn't exactly crowded, there were at least a dozen tourists, plus his mother and that uncle were standing right there.
"Should I go try it on in the changing room myself?" Lin Nan hesitantly stepped forward, asking weakly.
"Where else would you try it?" His mother rummaged for a long time before finally pulling Lin Nan's swimsuit from the backpack.
Seeing the swimsuit, Lin Nan felt somewhat relieved.
The swimsuit wasn't a three-piece bikini-style like underwear, but rather similar to the Japanese-style school swimsuit one-piece.
While this type of swimsuit was form-fitting and showed off the figure, at least it covered enough areas. The main exposed parts were the thighs and arms, and there was even elaborate lace trim around the hip area that could barely cover the upper thighs.
It seemed his mother had put thought into this and considered Lin Nan's acceptance level. Otherwise, if she'd brought a three-piece bikini, Lin Nan would probably have fainted from embarrassment on the spot.
It's just that while people could be seen wearing swimsuits on this beach, he hadn't seen anyone wearing this style yet.
And this blue swimsuit was way too feminine... Though he was secretly pleased deep inside, Lin Nan subjectively felt strongly resistant.
"It's a bit too girly..." Lin Nan suddenly remembered the uncle nearby. His face turned as red as if it would drip water. He carefully glanced at the uncle who was still spraying mosquito repellent at the tent, then rushed forward and stuffed the swimsuit his mother was displaying back into the backpack.
He said to his mother in a low voice: "Forget it, I won't go in the water."
"Uncle knows about your situation."
His mother smiled and tried to pat Lin Nan's head, but this time Lin Nan quickly dodged: "Forget it! There are too many people, it's embarrassing!"
"What's there to be shy about? Once you're in the water, who knows what swimsuit you're wearing?"
"But many people will see on the way to the water!"
His mother couldn't argue with Lin Nan. Putting herself in his shoes, she felt Lin Nan probably hadn't completely transformed his mindset yet.
But clearly being a girl, yet due to her negligence being raised as a boy for eighteen years - of course he'd reject such feminine clothing now.
Thinking of this, his mother sighed deeply.
Lin Nan immediately panicked, thinking his mother was disappointed because he wouldn't wear the swimsuit.
After all, it was also a swimsuit his mother had carefully prepared...
"Then... then should I wear it and go play in the water for a bit now?" Lin Nan lowered his head and stammered a compromise.
"A-anyway, the tide isn't in now and the waves aren't very big..."
Actually, there were still some people on the beach taking advantage of low tide to collect shells and crabs by the seaside, but that area was too far away. The searchlight only occasionally swept over once, so it seemed rather dark. As long as those people didn't shine their flashlights on Lin Nan, they shouldn't notice him wearing a swimsuit.
The problem was the distance from the changing room to the beach.
And his mother's and the uncle's gazes...
"You really want to wear it?" His mother was stunned, not knowing how Lin Nan had suddenly changed his mind. She quickly pulled out a bath towel. "Should I go with you? Draping the towel on the way would be better - don't catch cold."
You could have said there was a towel to drape earlier! Then I wouldn't have had to struggle for so long, right?
Maybe because he'd already resigned himself to his fate, hearing there was a towel that could provide some coverage, Lin Nan was immediately overjoyed. He didn't think about how just a few minutes ago he'd been completely unwilling to wear this school swimsuit.
"Big Liu! I'm going to the changing room with him!" his mother called to the uncle.
Only then did Lin Nan learn the uncle's nickname was Big Liu - probably his surname or name contained the character Liu.
Looked like he could call him Uncle Liu from now on.
His mother took out all the temporarily unused items from the backpack, then stuffed Lin Nan's and her swimsuits and towels back in to bring along.
His mother's swimsuit was also quite conservative - basically a small tank top with shorts, though it exposed the waist, abdomen and a lot of leg. Lin Nan compared a bit and felt he could probably accept the school swimsuit more - at least it exposed less.
Uncle Liu responded, and Lin Nan followed his mother to the changing room, planning to take advantage of the darkness to quickly get in the water and play for a bit, while also unlocking the magic.
The ocean happened to be at low tide now, so there basically wouldn't be much risk if they went in the water. The main issue was that it was already evening and the seawater at night was too cold.
But Lin Nan wasn't concerned about this small risk. No matter how cold the seawater was, he wasn't afraid. The darkness was only compared to daytime - under the illumination of the distant searchlights, things could basically still be seen clearly.
Arriving at the changing room, Lin Nan started feeling nervous again. But seeing his mother had already taken her swimsuit and entered the women's changing room, he hugged the backpack and looked up at the label on the door, completely confused.
Which changing room should I go to?
Is there one for androgynous use?
It was already this late - there probably wouldn't be anyone going in the water at this time, right?
Thinking this, Lin Nan barely convinced himself and turned to enter the men's changing room. However, as soon as he pushed open the door, he was dumbfounded to discover there was a man inside who had finished changing and was about to come out.
This scene seemed somewhat familiar...
The man was startled by Lin Nan, but then thought that at least he wasn't the one at a disadvantage.
He looked Lin Nan up and down with a "questioning life" expression, then stepped aside to walk out the door, looked back at the characters on the door again.
No mistake, it was the men's changing room. A crossdressing boss?