221. Movie
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Lin Nan certainly wasn’t planning on becoming a yuri enthusiast; she was still quite rational enough to know that yuri was basically a guaranteed way to ruin some girl’s youth.
Besides, after losing a hefty amount of testosterone and a certain body part, her body had long since lost the ability to get any excitement from girls.
Her brain, too, had been subtly influenced by Lilith; thanks to Li Na, the extreme dislike of yuri girls had rubbed off on her, making her feel a bit of repulsion towards it.
But when it came to men…
There’s no denying that Lin Nan had discovered her body’s reactions to men a long time ago.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to move out from the boys’ dormitory to live alone.
Yet, her rationality and years of shaped worldview told her that liking men was an unacceptable and even slightly gross behavior… she couldn’t help but equate her attraction to men with “being gay.”
When it came to her s*xual orientation, Lin Nan felt quite conflicted.
“I’m single; not interested in either gender,” Lin Nan pondered for a long time before answering.
Every time she confronted questions like this, she would reflexively think it through, only to find that she couldn’t like anyone of any gender.
“Oh really?” Liu Xinyi asked curiously, “Then why did Uncle say you have a boyfriend?”
Lin Nan forced a smile and explained, “That was my college roommate from back in the day. He helped me save up enough for my surgery, and everyone thinks that’s like a dowry or something…”
“But isn’t that basically a dowry?”
“I told you it’s not! It’s bro love! I owe him big time!”
Though it was just a lie, Lin Nan noticed that everyone around her misinterpreted it. She meant to clarify that she had legally and reasonably funded her surgery to become female, not that she had snagged a boyfriend.
But Liu Xinyi seemed to misunderstand and pressed on, “Is he handsome?”
“Um, he’s okay?” Lin Nan involuntarily recalled Chen Yao’s face, “Not exactly a heartthrob, but better-looking than Jiaming, and he’s got a better body.”
“Jiaming is basically a train wreck, okay? Uncle too! They’ve all aged like fine milk. Jiaming was actually handsome in middle school, though.”
“True.”
Once upon a time, Wu Jiaming was indeed a heartthrob; he looked a bit like Leslie Cheung back then, but as time went on, he ballooned up, his face got rounder, and he dealt with all those teenage skin issues… ended up just as awkward as Lin Nan in her youth.
But even with his less-than-great looks now, Jiaming still retained some charm and had a sunny disposition. By high school, he was already bragging about being in love for the first time and had a constant stream of girlfriends, partying at bars and nightclubs… Not to mention, his parents were living abroad, crying about how their job didn’t pay, yet they had money spilling everywhere.
He was probably the textbook definition of a scumbag.
“Cousin, you…” Liu Xinyi hesitated, “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“Cousin, have you done anything with girls?”
Lin Nan’s mouth twitched. What kind of question was that?
“Just curious~”
Lin Nan sighed deeply; when she turned eighteen, she hadn’t even held a girl’s hand. Later, while she did sleep with a girl, shortly after, she became the girl!
She didn’t even have the chance to experience what it was like to be a man.
Lin Nan could only shake her head.
Liu Xinyi clicked her tongue in surprise, “Tsk, you used to be pretty cute; how come you’re worse off than me now? I at least have a girlfriend!”
She didn’t think she looked all that cute back in the day and just pretended she didn’t hear it.
Once Liu Xinyi’s curiosity was satisfied, she finally shut up and sat quietly at the bedside, playing on her phone and scrolling through Douyin. Lin Nan had been glued to her phone and computer for days, losing interest in all that, and pondered what to do to fill the dull life at her grandfather’s house.
She couldn’t just follow her grandfather to the fields, could she?
Or go clubbing like Jiaming?
Or maybe gather a table for mahjong? Luckily, there were just enough people for a game.
At dinner, her grandfather barely reacted to Liu Xinyi’s arrival; he frowned with slight disgust and asked, “Why are you still dressed like that? Neither male nor female, and your hair is shorter than your cousin’s.”
“Like it,” Liu Xinyi boldly replied, completely uncaring of her grandfather’s disdain.
Lin Nan glanced at her grandmother standing beside her grandfather. Over the past few days, she had hardly seen her grandmother.
Her grandmother probably just couldn’t accept that her most beloved grandson had become a granddaughter, could she?
Watching her grandmother serving food into her bowl before heading off to the nearby mahjong parlor, Lin Nan sighed, feeling a bit desolate.
Even though she could do magic, she couldn’t change other people’s minds. Even that charm magic only made people love-struck for a short time, making them brainless.
Lin Nan had never quite gotten used to the food at her grandfather’s house; it was usually stews and raw or pickled fish and shrimp. She wasn’t into either, and her grandfather loved to add cooking wine, whether it was fish, meat, or whatever.
Fortunately, her grandfather knew that the food didn’t quite suit Lin Nan’s taste, so occasionally, he would buy some ready-made roast and fried chicken or some braised burgers at the market.
As for Wu Jiaming and Wu Guodong, they had basically grown up eating that stuff; the flavors felt like home to them…
The arrival of her younger cousin meant that the roast chicken, which could have fed them twice, was gone in one go, so now Lin Nan had to fight for the remnants of what was supposed to be hers.
“Are we going to the beach to catch crabs tonight?” halfway through dinner, her grandfather suggested. “Aren’t you kids afraid of going moldy just sitting at home?”
The younger ones almost synchronized and shook their heads.
Sure, it was boring at home, but the beach was even more boring, okay?
After dinner, with nothing to do, they all ended up in Wu Guodong’s bedroom.
Uncle brought over a projector, cleared out the entire TV cabinet, and pointed the projector at the white wall. Soon, a clear image appeared in front of everyone.
“What are we planning to watch tonight?” he asked, sitting in front of the computer, browsed online for movies.
Just like back in the day, the four of them huddled together in the same room, preparing for movie night.
Lin Nan sat on one side of the bed, curled up with her legs, yawning with little interest. Wu Jiaming was on the other side, while only Liu Xinyi at the bed’s foot chimed in, “How about a romantic action movie?”
This girl really had no boundaries.
“Get lost,” Wu Guodong shot back without missing a beat and ultimately settled on a horror film that had come out a few years ago and had decent reviews.
Back when they hung out together, they liked watching horror films; but Lin Nan always ended up being the one hiding under the covers.
The lights went out, and the only illumination in the room came from the operating projector. The eerie sound effects blended with the movie’s opening logo immediately put Lin Nan on edge.
“I paid a few thousand for this projector; not bad, huh?”
“Money wasted,” Lin Nan mumbled, instinctively pulling the blanket over herself, leaving only half her face visible, her eyes showing signs of anxiety.
She was afraid tonight was going to be another nightmare.
“Cousin! I’m scared!” Liu Xinyi suddenly leaned over, calling out about her fear while excitedly trying to burrow under the covers.
Lin Nan kicked her out with a foot, “Get away from me!”
