220. Cousin
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The girl sat awkwardly on the sofa, legs crossed, hands resting on her knees, head down, face flushed, and eyes wandering around as if searching for escape routes.
Beside her sat the exasperated Wu Guodong, shrugging his shoulders, feeling a tad guilty for not stopping the two from colliding into this awkward situation.
Wu Jiaming was completely lost, a victim of circumstances, still trying to wrap his brain around what was happening.
Liu Xinyi leaned against the wall with arms crossed, her small head brimming with question marks.
On the sofa directly opposite Lin Nan, Aunt sipped her tea gracefully, sizing up her niece like a hawk surveilling its prey.
You could barely see the remnants of the girl she used to be; her haircut was reminiscent of Liu Xinyi’s—very boyish—but her outfit screamed ‘girl!’ and it was a complete transformation.
She looked a tad uncomfortable in her clothes; it was probably her mother’s latest attempt to play dress-up, forced upon her.
Though she was donned in a baggy white sweatshirt that didn’t do much for her curves, that pair of jeans surely boasted some serious shape. And she had a strikingly delicate face; if you didn’t know better, you’d think she had makeup on when in fact, she’d opted for the no-makeup look.
Aunt’s poker face was enough to throw Lin Nan into a panic. With Wu Guodong’s mouth doing all the talking, she had spilled everything, including how her boyfriend had chipped in for her surgery.
Lin Nan wanted to protest, but with the tension in the air, all she could do was swallow her retorts.
This is so hard…
With her head hung low, she sneaked a peek at Aunt’s expression, but couldn’t decipher anything, just felt the eyes scanning her up and down.
She didn’t care about acceptance from Aunt, but the fear of Aunt blurting something hurtful made her anxious.
Suddenly, Aunt stood up, her brow furrowed, mumbling a sigh before exiting the room.
Wu Guodong hurriedly followed suit, and Lin Nan felt a weight drop beside her as someone plopped onto the sofa.
“Are we calling you Nan Nan now, Cousin?” Liu Xinyi leaned in, studying her with innocent curiosity. “Cousin, your skin is amazing! I honestly thought you were wearing makeup just now!”
“Don’t call me Nan Nan…”
Lin Nan was keen to put some distance between them, but that hand shot out, and suddenly her cheek was being pinched.
The unexpected sting left Lin Nan blank for a moment, and before she could fully process the assault, Liu Xinyi escalated things, grabbing her face with both hands.
Nearby, Wu Jiaming looked away, pretending to be engrossed on his phone, his lips twitching in silent laughter.
“The texture is fantastic!”
What are you, my grandma?
With a panic-fueled shove, Lin Nan freed herself and dashed away to Wu Jiaming’s side.
Wu Guodong returned, shaking his head in defeat. “Looks like Aunt isn’t very welcoming; she just went home.”
“Uh-huh.”
He didn’t pick up on the weird vibe in the room. He noticed Liu Xinyi seemed overly excited but didn’t dwell on it, continuing, “Lin Nan, why don’t you sleep with Xinyi tonight? You two have shared a bed before, and now that you’re a girl, it’s even more acceptable, right?”
“Absolutely not! Let her sleep on the couch in her brother’s room!”
“What’s up with that?” Wu Guodong asked, confused.
She definitely couldn’t voice her suspicions about her cousin’s intentions. So, she kept shaking her head, ready to make a break for it.
But after a few steps, she saw Liu Xinyi trailing her like a lost puppy with her suitcase.
“Hey, sis! Wanna catch a movie together?”
“Nope.”
“Then let’s hit the internet cafe for some duos?”
“No way! I already have my computer.”
“Then just let me use your computer!”
At seventeen, Liu Xinyi was a high school senior, but her wild personality resembled that of a carefree child, not someone close to adulthood.
Lin Nan figured lending her computer might just get her out of her hair.
Once in Wu Guodong’s room on the second floor, Lin Nan pointed at the bedside desk where the computer sat: “Here you go! The Wi-Fi on this floor is way better, so you can only play games here from now on.”
Liu Xinyi immediately forgot Lin Nan, tossing her suitcase onto the bed before scrambling to grab the computer, plopping onto the bed to power it on for gaming.
“Just don’t mess with my computer! All the games are on the desktop, but you might need to update League.” Lin Nan warned. After getting a nod from her, she sighed and asked, “Tonight, you take the bed, and I’ll crash on the floor, okay?”
After all, they weren’t kids anymore. Back in elementary school, the three cousins and Wu Guodong could barely fit in the same room, but now, everyone except Liu Xinyi was already grown up. It felt inappropriate for her to share a room with any of the guys.
Though sharing a bed with me might be awkward too, right?
Lin Nan rubbed her sore cheek; it hadn’t been pinched that hard, but it still hurt like a bee sting.
“What’s the problem with sleeping together?” she asked, glancing up. “You don’t want to sleep with me, Cousin?”
“I was a guy just a while ago…”
“No biggie, I don’t mind!”
Despite Liu Xinyi’s overly boisterous demeanor, it somehow broke the ice, and the awkwardness of not seeing each other for a year melted away like ice cream on a summer day.
“I mind…” Lin Nan trudged upstairs helplessly, remembering how she once found her cousin endearing.
Back in her own room, Lin Nan rolled out the bamboo mat her mother had prepared, then sat cross-legged, feeling gloomy.
Even if my cousin is into girls, she wouldn’t do anything strange, would she?
And that girl…
Lin Nan couldn’t help but chuckle. That girl was probably shorter than one-sixty—she’d have to stretch up just to reach Lin Nan’s shoulders! If she got up to anything, it’d totally tarnish the eighteen years she’d spent being a guy.
The new window screens in her bedroom had been installed. Lin Nan had braced herself for some scolding from Grandpa, but to her surprise, he merely gave her a teensy bit of consolation. It wasn’t much, but she felt like she had climbed to the top of the cousin hierarchy.
Maybe he’s just being extra patient because I just became a girl?
The quiet in the room didn’t last long before Liu Xinyi barged in, looking disgruntled, carrying her computer and belongings. She immediately burst out: “Uncle wouldn’t even let me game in his room!”
Though Liu Xinyi was tiny and not bad looking, her get-up was completely masculine. She had a penchant for crude language, but Lin Nan had grown used to it.
In fact, she found Liu Xinyi to be easier to get along with than other girls.
“Upstairs is so laggy…”
Liu Xinyi plopped onto the bed, eyeing the game that had disconnected, casually tossing her computer aside. She then leaned on her hands, chin in her palm, staring at Lin Nan.
“What’s up?” Lin Nan turned her head to look at her cousin.
“Cousin turned into a girl and you don’t want me to look at you more?”
“Go ahead…”
“By the way, Cousin, are you planning to date girls now?”
Why does everyone keep grilling me about my s*xual orientation?
