353. Coincidence?【13/99】
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Lin Qi was actually working in this city.
Although this city wasn’t the provincial capital, it was still the best economic city in the province—if you ignored the big cities up north—making it a pretty solid choice.
After nine years of compulsory education, he dropped out. His grades weren’t terrible, but his gambling addict father couldn’t cough up the cash for school and often disappeared for weeks or months due to debt collectors breathing down his neck.
Being young and rebellious at the time, he was obsessed with online games, and the “studying is useless” trend online didn’t help. So even when relatives offered him money for school, he wasn’t having any of it.
Fast forward eight or nine years, and here he was, now twenty-four. It might have been the pressure of age, or maybe the inability to work during the pandemic that got him thinking. On top of that, being broke really made him ponder his situation, so he decided to put in a bit more effort.
So a month ago, when businesses reopened, he became a delivery person in the city.
He had almost forgotten about Lin Nan since the New Year, but yesterday, while visiting a friend in the hospital back in his hometown, he unexpectedly ran into that girl and it suddenly dawned on him—Lin Nan went to school in the same city where he worked!
That girl looked a lot like Lin Nan and gave him a sense of déjà vu. She was probably Lin Nan’s cousin, someone he played with when they were young.
Lin Qi sighed heavily, as he couldn’t fathom what contradiction could make Lin Nan’s father that cold.
Lin Nan’s old number was unreachable, and her QQ and WeChat accounts had mysteriously vanished.
School was letting out as he stood there.
Students flooded out of the building, the crowd quickly splitting into groups heading to dorms, cafeterias, or just leaving school.
As the crowd swarmed past, Lin Qi watched two girls in front of him with a wry smile, unsure of what to say.
“I told you, crossdressing will help you find Lin Nan,” Lilith insisted confidently. “We’re not short on cash!”
Li Na perked up at Lilith’s suggestion and grinned, “Crossdressing is an option. I could even help you find your cousin!”
Lin Qi was completely bewildered. He was just trying to find someone, why did he have to dress like a girl?
Meanwhile, Lin Nan was strolling through the crowd with her textbooks, while Chen Yao headed to his dorm to grab some stuff for his rental apartment.
“No classes this afternoon again…”
This semester had fewer classes and Lin Nan wasn’t keen on gaming or studying—she had magic for that, for crying out loud! A little cramming in class and she’d surely ace her finals.
As for grad school, she had over a year to prep, no need to rush! What she was anxious about was running out of money.
“I wonder if Li Na’s promise to help me find a tutoring gig is legit…” she muttered. While Li Na had helped her a lot, that girl was a tad unreliable.
With her head down, she fiddled with her phone while drifting out of the school gate, suddenly catching snippets of someone calling her name nearby.
“Aren’t you curious about another Lin Nan? We can help you find her!”
“???” Lin Qi felt more and more that something was seriously off.
Lin Nan turned towards the voice and spotted Li Na and Lilith talking to a familiar guy.
Was that Lin Qi?!
Was he really this persistent?
She was stunned.
She thought Lin Qi had figured out the “truth” the day before and wouldn’t bother her anymore—whatever he had concocted in his mind didn’t seem like it would be a big deal.
Plus, what on Earth was he doing here? Wasn’t he the net cafe manager back home?! And what’s with that Meituan outfit…
Lilith suddenly turned around and spotted Lin Nan in the crowd. Lin Nan dazedly ducked her head and quickened her pace, wanting to bolt.
What kind of nonsense was this from Lilith?!
“Crossdressing? Crossdressing?” Lilith was getting more excited and spun back around to chase after Lin Qi, bombarding him with questions.
“Let’s find someone to help first…”
“That’s exactly it!” She pointed at Lin Nan in the distance.
Lin Qi followed her finger and recognized the hurried figure’s back—it looked way too familiar.
“She knows your cousin’s whereabouts,” Li Na chuckled at Lin Qi.
Upon hearing this, Lin Qi was about to sprint after her, but Lilith grabbed his arm, “No crossdressing, no chasing!”
Lin Nan sensed the commotion and glanced back, her face turning sour as she panicked and switched to a light jog, quickly ducking around a corner until she disappeared from Lin Qi’s view.
Wasn’t that the girl he ran into at the hospital two days ago? And she shared the same name as his cousin? How coincidental was that?
Lin Qi helplessly watched her disappear, then glanced over at the two girls beside him, his expression shifting several times before finally conceding, “Fine, let’s do it.”
That girl who shared a name with his cousin was just too suspicious.
“Let’s go! Time to get you in a dress!”
A few minutes later, Lin Nan bolted back to her rental apartment, slamming the door as she dashed into her bedroom and flopped onto her bed.
Oh no!!!
What if she actually had to tell her cousin that she became a girl?!
How mortifying would that be?!
Back when she informed her cousins and grandparents, her mother was there to back her up, and all she had to do was keep her head down and nod. It was embarrassing, sure, but manageable.
But Lin Qi was different.
She grew up at her grandfather’s house and had practically played with Lin Qi and the other cousins all her life. Compared to those cousins she only saw occasionally, her bond with Lin Qi was way stronger.
In fact, Lin Qi held a higher place in her heart than her parents, who hadn’t taken much care of her.
The closer the relationship, the more intense the shame of explaining her transformation.
Even though she had almost worked up the nerve to explain herself yesterday, today Lin Nan wavered.
She thought she’d resolved this already!
Suddenly sitting up from her bed, she rummaged around until she finally found her medical records. Then, letting out a long sigh, she plopped down at the edge of her bed, staring off into space.
If she just chucked the medical records at Lin Qi, letting him see for himself would take some of the heat off.
She recalled how she had told her mom back then.
Shouldn’t that work?
