322. Work
Looking back, Ning Chu was quite popular in kindergarten and elementary school.
Her classmates stuffed a little box full of toys for her, and to this day, it’s still sitting in the corner of the storage room. But every time she brought toys home, her mother would lecture her.
As for Black Bean, she wasn’t really that interested in snacks; she just enjoyed being pampered. Most of the snacks were given away to her classmates… she preferred meat.
Those breads, candies, and puffed snacks just didn’t catch her interest.
Standing outside the tutoring class, peering through the window at Black Bean’s antics, Ning Chu felt quite concerned about her mother’s parenting methods.
What’s going on here?!
And Black Bean just munching on food given by strangers? She could easily get abducted!
Ning Chu anxiously pondered how to solve the immediate problem when suddenly an idea popped into her head.
By the time Black Bean turned fifteen or sixteen, all those little boys around her would be hitting puberty—according to her popularity, she’d probably have a line of suitors!
The thought of Black Bean possibly ending up with some guy who just emerged from the shadows made her possessiveness surge. She just wanted to knock out every guy who dared to come near Black Bean.
“Is that how my brother feels about me and Wen Yang?”
“Maybe he feels a bit less intense? After all, I’ve only recently turned into a girl.”
Ning Chu mused this over as she left the tutoring class and flagged down a passing taxi to take her to Wen Yang’s urban village rental apartment.
About half an hour later, she arrived at Wen Yang’s door.
Hoping to surprise him, she quietly took out the spare key to his apartment and carefully unlocked the door.
Peeking inside, she found it was empty.
“Tsk!”
He left early in the morning without even letting her know!
Not even a simple ‘good morning’! Gosh, she thought he was still asleep!
Feeling right at home, Ning Chu kicked off her shoes and socks on the rug, shut the door, and comfortably flopped onto the bed while sending a message to Wen Yang asking where he was.
“What time is it? You off gallivanting already?”
Just a moment later, Wen Yang replied.
“Having breakfast, looking for a job. Be back soon.”
Ning Chu sent him a “bite you” emoji, then picked up the clothing bag she had brought and stuffed its contents into the bedside drawer.
Two sets of light pajamas and two sets of underwear—a precaution in case she needed to sleep over at Wen Yang’s one day.
Plus, when they hung out together, taking a shower and changing into pajamas beforehand could prevent her from getting his clothes dirty, leaving evidence that her mother might discover.
After waiting around twenty minutes in the rental apartment, the door swung open.
Ning Chu looked up to see a cheerful expression on Wen Yang’s face, bursting to share his excitement: “I got a job!”
“That was quick?”
“Yep.” Wen Yang smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Guess it’s because I look good and handsome.”
Ning Chu rolled her eyes. She had to admit he was good-looking, but her instinct made her scoff: “Pfft~ give me a break.”
“What kind of job? What’s the salary?”
“A waiter at a high-end hotel, can start tomorrow. Salary is 4,500 a month, but no holidays during the New Year.”
Though this was the provincial capital, the average salary for a waiter is around 3,000, so Wen Yang’s pay was quite decent.
At least higher than that of some freshly graduated college students… Before crossing over, Ning Chu’s internship interviews usually offered only around 3,500.
“What are the working hours?”
“Rotational, the evening shift is from 3 PM to 11 PM.”
“Well, that’s not too bad~”
Now that Wen Yang found a job, this winter break seemed to be settling into a routine.
But Ning Chu was a bit worried that working in the service industry meant encountering too many strange people, leading to some awkward situations.
But those situations were unavoidable; they were bound to happen at some point.
With a hint of concern, she advised, “Just don’t go flirting with girls at work, okay?”
“Do I look like that kind of person?”
“Well, you better be careful. If any girl shows interest, you gotta nip that in the bud!”
Wen Yang was already used to Ning Chu’s worried demeanor, and he couldn’t help but tease her: “Do you not trust me that much?”
“Not really…”
Mainly, she worried that some situations might be too much for Wen Yang to handle.
Even more so, she dreaded any embarrassing moments in front of her family if situations went awry.
After thinking for a moment, she suggested, “When you go to work, I’ll come over to your apartment and write, okay?”
Hiding away in Wen Yang’s rental, even if she faced punishment, she could handle it herself—and besides, there were some cute toys hidden there that Wen Yang had sneakily brought along. The only issue was the poor sound insulation; she had to keep it down.
“Black Bean’s a handful, and my mom keeps yelling at me to do this and that… I can’t concentrate on writing at home, which is why my updates have been sparse lately.”
Wen Yang had been faithfully following Ning Chu’s novel, and it was true he had been slacking on his reading the last couple of days.
Every time he read about the protagonist’s descent into femininity, the mixed feelings portrayed always thrilled him.
This novel was basically Ning Chu’s autobiography, with the psychological descriptions of femininity mirroring her own thoughts during her transformation.
This only excited him more, making him want to pull some pranks on Ning Chu.
“Are you still reading my book?!”
Seeing his eyes flicker, filled with a fiery intensity, Ning Chu instantly became alert.
“No, of course not!”
“Hand me your phone, I’m gonna check!”
Playfully, Ning Chu quickly reached into Wen Yang’s pocket, pulled something out, then froze, her face turning beet red.
Oops! Wrong pocket!
Why is this pocket so big?!
Oh my! So big!
Wen Yang pulled out his phone from another pocket, looking bemused. “I think you might be doing this on purpose.”
“No way!”
“You’ve touched before; just yesterday you were quite…”
“Shut it!”
Ning Chu snatched Wen Yang’s phone and darted to the other side of the bed.
This guy seemed to enjoy teasing her more and more!
He was never like this before!
“Wait, let’s head out to shop; you handle your… situation.” She mumbled with a pink face, starting to check Wen Yang’s phone.
Wen Yang reluctantly changed his jacket for a trench coat to hide any embarrassing reactions and opened the window to disperse the seductive scent lingering in the room.
A moment later, Ning Chu set Wen Yang’s phone aside. “You really haven’t been reading my novel at all.”
“I just didn’t read it because you said not to.” Wen Yang defended boldly, “I’m a person of my word.”
Ning Chu raised an eyebrow, somewhat doubtful, but couldn’t find any evidence to argue further.
She stood up from the bed, put on her shoes and socks, ready to head out. “Alright, let’s go. We should get out while we can; once you start working, you’ll have less free time.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll drop by to tell my mom; I’ll come back later tonight.”
