Chapter 46: The Sooner You Die, the Sooner You Reincarnate
In the bathroom.
Yi Ning sat on the little plastic stool, holding her breath and straining her ears to catch any sounds from outside.
Knock knock.
Lu Zheng knocked on the bathroom door.
Yi Ning held her breath, trying to make as little sound as possible.
Lu Zheng looked at the dusty clothes baskets and sighed helplessly.
He brushed off some of the dust from the laundry basket and placed the clothes he had brought into it.
“I’ve left the clothes in the basket,” he said briefly to Yi Ning inside the bathroom before turning and heading back to the living room.
To avoid making Yi Ning feel awkward, he didn’t say anything more.
It was obvious Yi Ning probably didn’t have the habit of preparing clean clothes before bathing—maybe she just ran around naked after showering.
She clearly didn’t see him as a member of the opposite sex.
Lu Zheng sighed.
But then again, just a few days ago she was still male—if she could naturally treat him as the opposite sex already, that would be more concerning.
He forced himself to focus on thoughts like these to keep his mind from drifting into the bathroom.
Back on the couch, Lu Zheng picked up the remote and turned on the TV, trying to distract himself.
Yi Ning pressed her forehead against the bathroom door and listened for a long time. Only after confirming Lu Zheng’s footsteps had faded away did she cautiously open the door a crack, peeking out with one eye.
Once sure Lu Zheng wasn’t lurking outside, she stepped out of the bathroom with lingering apprehension.
She couldn’t help it.
While she trusted Lu Zheng’s character, she also understood the desires of teenage boys.
What if he had a moment of weakness?
They used to be the same gender—Yi Ning figured she had a pretty good grasp of it.
It hadn’t even been a full week since her transformation—she wasn’t ready to face a hormone-charged teenage boy while stark naked.
Yi Ning picked up the clothes Lu Zheng had left in the laundry basket, and two white items slipped from between the layers and landed on the floor.
She bent down and picked them up.
Her camisole and panties.
“?”
Yi Ning’s expression turned complicated.
She wasn’t sure whether to praise Lu Zheng for his thoughtfulness or call the police.
Considering the awkwardness of going commando…
She sighed.
She’d let it slide.
She felt proud of her own magnanimity.
Yi Ning gripped both sides of the panties, bent down, pulled them on, and let go once they were up at her waist.
A crisp snap echoed as the fabric met skin.
Perfect.
Hands on her hips, Yi Ning smugly admired herself in the mirror.
She was now fully accustomed to wearing panties. Not only did she no longer feel ashamed, she could even take pride in it in front of the mirror.
However
Yi Ning glanced at the camisole beside her and hesitated for a few seconds before choosing to avert her gaze and start with the pants.
She still couldn’t quite get past that part.
Though she had long accepted this article of clothing as an unavoidable hurdle, knowing didn’t make doing any easier.
She had tried several times, but always put it off.
After living as a man for over twenty years, putting on a camisole always filled her with a hard-to-describe sense of shame. Even knowing she was now a girl, she couldn’t ignore that feeling.
Yi Ning picked up the little fabric that filled her with melancholy.
With the help of the mirror, she fitted the garment over herself.
As an evil scientist, she knew her own invention inside and out, and had confidence in it.
There was no going back now. Her life, from here on, would only ever be as a woman.
That made passing this hurdle inevitable.
Yi Ning took a deep breath. The camisole’s hem crinkled between her fingers, and a strange energy surged through her.
Put it on!
She resolved herself.
Waiting until she got used to being a woman would be too late.
The sooner she died, the sooner she could reincarnate.
Seizing the moment, Yi Ning didn’t give herself a chance to back out. She raised the camisole overhead and slipped it on in one motion.
It felt a little strange.
She touched the fabric over her chest, and a wave of embarrassment surged.
No big deal—she was a girl now. Wearing this was completely normal.
Yi Ning mentally chanted, trying to ignore the odd sense of pressure across her chest. She grabbed the outer shirt beside her and pulled it on.
Still, she tugged at the bottom of the undergarment again.
Wearing it made her feel entirely ill at ease.
Now fully dressed, Yi Ning pursed her lips and walked into the living room.
“Yo.”
Lu Zheng sat on the sofa, elbows on knees, supporting his upper body. After a long pause, he finally managed to say a single word.
After such an incredibly awkward situation, he thoughtfully chose to avoid the topic and spare Yi Ning further embarrassment.
If she got flustered, he feared the entire world would soon share the same fate as Ji Ping and Xia An.
Unfortunately, he was overthinking things—Yi Ning’s mind wasn’t even on what happened earlier.
“Oh.”
Her tone was equally awkward.
She hunched lower than usual, hands held awkwardly in front of her chest, trying to cover… something.
She still felt guilty about wearing underwear.
And so, the air between them froze.
“Um… yeah… you just sit and play here. I’m going to cook.”
Yi Ning pointed vaguely toward the kitchen, eyes darting away. Without waiting for a response, she quickly retreated into the kitchen.
Being alone helped ease her shame, at least a little.
The kitchen, thankfully, was in better shape than her bedroom.
At least it wasn’t as dusty.
The place was packed with cooking utensils, spices, and even a decent-sized fridge by the wall.
Despite the abundance of gear, Yi Ning had barely used any of it.
As a single person living alone, she had indeed invested points into cooking, but most weekdays she spent in her evil lab—cooking at home wasn’t common.
These tools had long been neglected.
What should she make?
Yi Ning scratched her head and opened the fridge.
Besides drinks, snacks, and leftovers, there were only a few semi-prepared items.
She had forgotten that the fridge only ever held fresh ingredients briefly on weekends.
She’d boasted about letting Lu Zheng taste her cooking, but now all she had were semi-prepped dishes.
Yi Ning’s expression turned sheepish.
“Is there anything I can help with?”
At that moment, Lu Zheng walked into the kitchen while asking.
He didn’t feel comfortable just sitting outside waiting to be served, so he figured he’d come in and see if he could lend a hand.