218. Where’s the Cola?
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Lin Nan’s aversion to cross-dressing wasn’t as intense as she thought.
After all, her aesthetic senses had been twisted by Lilith, leaving her defenseless against the allure of pretty outfits. But defeating the shame of being seen in women’s clothing was a different battle altogether.
If she really liked it enough to override the embarrassment, she would’ve snagged something to wear while shopping with Wu Guodong ages ago.
But those women’s clothes were undeniably beautiful…
There were dapper suits and trench coats, and then there were sweet, nauseatingly cute princess dresses. They had more variety and flair than the monotonous men’s clothing…
Lin Nan lay on her bed, playing dead, leaving her mother with no choice but to leave the room.
She wouldn’t see her mother for a while now.
As soon as she heard the door shut, Lin Nan’s eyes shot open. She glanced over to the neatly rolled bamboo mat in the corner and couldn’t resist sneaking a peek at the bags filled with women’s clothes.
Her mother probably wasn’t sure of her style, so she ended up buying everything cute, Japanese-inspired, and even some stylish pieces.
But what’s the last bag got inside?
Lin Nan picked up the final bag and discovered it contained a student-style outfit.
A white hoodie paired with light blue jeans—if you glanced quickly, it was practically indistinguishable from men’s wear. But girls’ jeans usually fit skinny and tapered, accentuating their shapes and legs.
This one was somewhat acceptable…
With a sigh, Lin Nan tossed the outfit aside, rolling onto her side on the bed.
The shame of wearing regular women’s clothes wasn’t as bad as she imagined; rather, it gave her a delightful illusion, making her question if she was slowly becoming a weirdo.
Waking up way too early, she was starting to feel sleepy, and with her face buried in the bed, she drifted off.
Just half an hour later, she was jolted awake by a knock on the door, instantly alert. She quickly threw on the dapper suit and jumped up to open the door.
Standing outside was Wu Guodong.
“Hey, look who’s in a dress! You’re looking sharp; ready to pick up some girls?” he teased.
“Shut it.” Lin Nan’s face turned slightly red from the teasing, rolling her eyes at him with all the flair of a drama queen. Unbeknownst to her, she turned to fill Cola’s food bowl.
Wu Guodong froze up—her eye-roll was practically a seduction technique! But then he noticed Lin Nan’s reaction…
“Where’s my Cola?!”
The sudden shout pulled him back to reality. He stepped back, slightly panicked. “You mean the cola? I can go get you some!”
“NO! My cat!” Lin Nan frantically rummaged through the corners of her room, practically bouncing on her feet in distress. “My cat is missing!”
“Did she jump out through that hole in the window?” Wu Guodong pointed at the torn-up screen.
Lin Nan glanced up, sprinting to the balcony, peering down below. Thankfully, there was no sign of Cola’s little kitty corpse.
That’s not a s*icide, right?
She sighed with relief, and Wu Guodong strolled up beside her, trying to reassure her, “Maybe she just went out to play? Cats in heat often run outside.”
“Is she really in heat?”
Lin Nan leaned against the balcony railing, gazing at the busy street below, worrying that Cola might break traffic rules and get flattened, or that she might not get along with the alley cats and get bullied.
Who knows if cats can take birth control? What if she returns pregnant…?
“If she dares come back, I’ll take her straight for a spay-neuter!“
Turning back, she sighed in defeat. “Let’s just go grab a bite…”
That little furball had grown up and developed her own ideas, and the little kitten that once followed Lin Nan everywhere was now just a memory.
At the dinner table, Lin Nan’s mood was still down in the dumps, her lips hanging like an unripe fruit as she distractedly poked at her food.
Her grandfather found Lin Nan’s dapper suit a tad too mature for her youthful face, creating a strange mismatch.
But hey, at least she was dressed like a girl.
He casually tossed a piece of beef brisket into Lin Nan’s bowl, sternly asking, “What’s with the long face?”
“My cat’s lost…”
“Cat?” Her grandfather paused, remembering the black cat he saw when he knocked on her door earlier. “No problem! I’ll just go buy you another one from the street.”
“Forget it.”
Although Lin Nan hadn’t always pampered Cola with every ounce of her energy, she had gotten used to the presence of that black cat by her side. Even if Cola had recently turned naughty and noisy, she was irreplaceable.
With her mood diminished, her grandfather tried to console her with a few words, but seeing no effect, he returned to drinking liquor and eating, occasionally checking on her without any real concern.
Wu Jiaming had temporarily gone to his grandmother’s house. He had a bunch of friends there, and that was obviously more fun than just hanging out with an uncle and a cousin here.
As for Wu Guodong, he was occasionally checking on Lin Nan, but what he really wondered was what she’d look like in a skirt.
She’d probably look fantastic; Lin Nan had slender calves, well-proportioned thighs, and could rock any outfit that showed off her legs.
“In ten days, it’ll be New Year! Guodong, make sure you grab some fireworks.”
“Got it! I’ll pick up whatever else you need too.”
“When the kids come, we should get some drinks.” Her grandfather’s appetite wasn’t large, and after a small glass of liquor and a tiny bowl of rice, he put down his chopsticks and turned his attention to the TV. “Will that game console of yours mess up my television?”
Wu Guodong paused, laughing in disbelief, “Nah, it’s not one of those old toys anymore!”
He had a history of destroying TVs, which was why her grandfather was being so cautious.
Dinner at her grandfather’s house didn’t quite suit Lin Nan’s taste, and coupled with her worries about Cola, she could barely finish half a bowl of rice.
She put down her bowl and chopsticks, just about to get up, when suddenly, she remembered the old rule of not wasting a single grain of rice at her grandfather’s house. Instantly nervous, she looked up at him.
In the past, every meal at her grandfather’s had her being scolded for not cleaning her plate, and she’d have meticulously picked out every last grain.
But her grandfather surprisingly had no objections and waved her away, telling her to hurry and scram.
Maybe this was one of the perks of being a girl?
She stood up and stepped out of the room, making her way to the concrete patch in front of her grandfather’s house.
There was Wu Guodong’s car parked in the open space, surrounded by a few trees for greenery, and a couple of stone benches—her grandfather loved using those benches to chat about life with the younger generation.
She plopped down on one of the stone benches under a tree, resting her chin on her hands, anxiously gazing at the street, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cola.
“No need to panic. She went out to play; she knows how to come back,” Wu Guodong said as he finished his meal and sat down next to Lin Nan, noticing her gloomy expression. “Even if she doesn’t come back, finding an identical cat isn’t going to be hard.”
“No, I’m worried she’ll come back pregnant…” Lin Nan sighed heavily. “Then I’ll be a grandpa at this young age!”
“??? ”
So many ways to mock each of them, where to even begin?
