### 214. Late Night Conversation
It was late at night, and Lin Nan, feeling a bit out of place, walked into her bedroom wearing the pajamas her mother had prepared for her.
Or maybe it was a nightgown—one of those flimsy, pastel-colored long dresses that just barely covered her calves.
“Umm… should I change into something else?”
Lin Nan hesitated at the doorway, even though the dress was technically long enough to be considered over-the-top. Still, it felt like wearing nothing beneath it at all.
When she was in shorter skirts before, she at least had safety shorts to wear underneath, but under this nightgown? Just her underwear, thank you very much.
And she had heard that one couldn’t wear a bra to bed at night.
She lowered her head, glancing at the prominent points on her chest, her face reddening with embarrassment.
“It’s okay; you’re a girl now, you have to get used to it,” her mother said, half-reclining on the bed in a similar nightgown while scrolling through her phone.
Lin Nan had never shared a bed with her mother since she could remember, and now she was hesitating—standing nervously at the door, reluctant to step inside.
“I think I’ll just sleep on the floor?”
She had this persistent feeling that it wasn’t quite proper for a girl and her mother to share the same bed… even if technically she was also a girl, and the woman on the bed was her mother.
She had only spent one night sleeping with Li Na before, but that had been more out of necessity, and their big bed had allowed them to avoid any accidental body contact. This single bed, however, was a whole different story.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m too grown up to be sleeping with you…” Lin Nan took a step back, “I think I’ll just change back. I’m not used to this.”
Her mother, seeing Lin Nan’s blushing face, nodded with a sigh of acceptance.
Lin Nan finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned to head for the bathroom to change, but as she lowered her head and took a couple of steps, she collided headfirst with Wu Jiaming.
She stumbled back, dazed, and looked up at her cousin.
“Got something to say?”
“I was just checking if you wanted a late-night snack. I can bike to get some.” Wu Jiaming said, completely unfazed by the collision, leaning casually against the wall, while his eyes wandered over Lin Nan’s form.
Even though the baggy nightgown didn’t exactly show off any curves, the prominent chest undeniably captured his gaze.
Unlike the naïve Wu Guodong, who would be oblivious, Wu Jiaming was anything but unaffected.
Lin Nan almost thought he might be a gentleman—only to realize he was blatantly staring at her chest.
Her face instantly turned as red as a tomato; everything was so visible in this bare state!
Quickly spinning around, Lin Nan attempted to act nonchalant as she said, “Let me check with her; you can go downstairs first. I’ll ping you on QQ later.”
“Sure.”
Hearing that, Lin Nan hastily dashed back into the bedroom, her face burning like she had a fever.
Clearly, I am not cut out for any form of female clothing.
She looked at her mother on the bed, who seemed unfazed, and asked, “Cousin wants to know if you want a late-night snack.”
“Just grab something,” her mother said, looking up and noticing Lin Nan’s flushed face with a hint of confusion. “What’s up with you? You’re red as a cherry!”
“Nothing…” Lin Nan stood at the door, listening to Wu Jiaming’s footsteps going down the stairs, and finally relaxed. She then darted to the bathroom to change back into her usual pajamas while messaging him.
Once she put on her standard men’s sleepwear, the discomfort finally vanished. Lin Nan returned to the bedroom, locked the door, and nervously lay down next to her mother.
Even though she knew it shouldn’t be that weird for a daughter to sleep with her mother, or even with any girl who didn’t lean into girl-girl intrigue, Lin Nan couldn’t shake the unnerving tension.
She tried to distance herself from her mother as much as possible to avoid any contact.
“By the way, did you really not do anything with Chen Yao last night?” Her mother suddenly rolled over, resting on her side to study Lin Nan’s face.
“Absolutely not.”
Lin Nan shook her head, pulling the blanket over half her face, awkwardly staring at the ceiling and unable to meet her mother’s eyes.
“Tomorrow I don’t have work until the afternoon. How about I take you to buy some clothes in the morning?” Her mother brought it up again.
Lin Nan immediately shook her head vigorously. “Let’s wait until I get used to things.”
“Your grandfather saw you wearing that and nearly had a heart attack,” her mother joked lightly. “Your hair is still too short; at least we could get you some clothes that fit better? You look like your cousin.”
Lin Nan’s cousin was a total tomboy, more like the dominant type—she always dressed typically dude-ish with short hair and men’s clothing.
But based on what she’d seen over the year, Lin Nan was pretty sure she looked way better than that cousin.
Feeling a bit awkward, Lin Nan struggled to figure out how to communicate with her mother, after all, they’d only really “talked” for a total of about two months.
Her mother noticed Lin Nan’s discomfort and let out a resigned sigh, knowing Lin Nan still held some reservations toward her.
She had initially wanted to give Lin Nan a bit of a lesson on women’s hygiene, but Lin Nan’s expression made it clear she was not open to that.
Noticing her mother getting up, Lin Nan turned to watch and asked in confusion, “Mom, what’s up?”
“I’ll go grab another blanket from downstairs to spread out on the floor. I can see that you’re a bit tense sleeping next to me,” her mother said with a bittersweet smile, realizing that because she had never really paid attention to Lin Nan before, establishing a normal, harmonious relationship now required a lot more effort.
Lin Nan hesitated for a moment, tempted to stop her mother, but she genuinely didn’t want to share a bed. All she could do was watch her leave the room, feeling a bit guilty.
She found it exhausting being around her mother; used to being “free-range,” she might crave parental attention, yet once she got it, adapting became tough.
It was like a wild animal that had gotten used to freedom suddenly being tossed into a zoo—sure, no more starving, but escape still seemed like the goal.
Feeling a bit down, Lin Nan turned over and decided that occupying the entire bed by herself was way more comfortable than sharing it.
Before long, her mother returned with a pile of blankets. Since they had lots of relatives staying over during the New Year at their grandfather’s house, they had plenty of spare bedding.
Just as her mother laid out the mat and blankets on the floor, Wu Jiaming pushed the door open, walking in with two bags of late-night snacks.
“McDonald’s. I had no clue what you’d like, so I just grabbed some random stuff.” He dumped the bags on the TV stand and then glanced at Lin Nan, “Get to bed early; Grandpa says he’ll take you hiking in the morning.”
“Hiking?!”
Lin Nan’s expression darkened, her head shaking furiously.
“Too bad! He calls the shots. He thinks you’re too skinny and fragile, says you need to eat more and exercise.” Wu Jiaming shrugged. “I’ll be going too, so we’re all suffering together.”
“I’m not that skinny!”
At most, she just had a small bone structure; her legs and behind were quite plump, thank you very much! Her chest was definitely bigger than theirs!
