543. Daily Life
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Lin Nan stepped into the third-floor room and pushed the door open, only to see three familiar faces staring back at her.
Her mother, her little aunt, and her big aunt.
Her face froze for a moment, but before she could make an escape, Liu Xinyi shoved her forward from behind.
Upon entering, Liu Xinyi also went wide-eyed, turning to her big aunt, her earlier cheerful demeanor wiped off her face as she timidly asked, “Mom? Why’s the big aunt here too?”
Lin Nan’s little aunt was her mother, and the big aunt was known for her stern nature. She was not a fan of Liu Xinyi’s neutral-gender wardrobe either. But unlike the indifferent attitude of their grandfather, the big aunt preferred to lecture her.
Every time Liu Xinyi encountered her big aunt, she’d end up in a corner with her face full of exasperation, listening, albeit impatiently, to her lengthy monologues. The problem was that the big aunt was an elder, and what she said made sense—Liu Xinyi just didn’t want to hear it.
This led to Liu Xinyi being more intimidated by her than by her own parents!
Lin Nan felt a bit out of place too, given that her big aunt hadn’t completely accepted her new gender yet. But at least this was a somewhat familiar relative; if it were some distant relatives whom she’d never met, she’d probably be preparing to sleep in the hall on the first floor tonight.
“What’s wrong with me and your big aunt catching up after such a long time?” Her little aunt’s attitude towards Liu Xinyi wasn’t exactly warm, clearly vexed by her daughter’s love for non-traditional fashion and lack of academic motivation.
Even though the cousins knew about Liu Xinyi’s s*xual orientation, their lips were sealed about it, and as of now, her parents had no clue their daughter liked girls.
Seeing that everyone’s attention was focused on her cousin, Lin Nan decided to keep her mouth shut and do her best to blend in with the wallpaper, cautiously making her way to the ready-made floor mat in the room.
But of course, her little aunt shifted her gaze to Lin Nan, eyes wide with surprise, “Nan Nan really is a girl?!”
She scrutinized Lin Nan’s face, struggling to locate any traces of her past.
Then she turned to Lin Nan’s mother and asked, “Did she have plastic surgery?”
“Does my family look rich enough for that?” Her mother chuckled, proudly stating, “Even Lin Nan’s surgery cost was covered by her boyfriend’s family.”
Lin Nan felt utterly embarrassed by this conversation, pretending like she didn’t hear and plopping down on the floor mat, feigning intense focus on her phone. She casually felt in her pocket where a few red bills were stashed, and that brought her a bit of comfort.
“I told you to have the baby at a hospital in the provincial city, but you wouldn’t listen,” the big aunt chimed in, complaining about her mother’s past decisions. “Otherwise, Lin Nan could have had the surgery done when she was little. That would be better than now.”
Well, no matter where she was born, the outcome would’ve been the same!
Lin Nan silently ridiculed, continuing to scroll on her phone while perkily eavesdropping on their conversation.
Her mother sighed dramatically, “I asked the county hospital the other day, but they said they lost Lin Nan’s birth records. The doctor who was there has retired, and no one knows what happened back then.”
“Losing records is the hospital’s responsibility!” The big aunt was very much the assertive type.
To them, this was clearly the hospital’s fault.
However, Lin Nan had once looked into her birth records situation too; usually, hospitals are supposed to keep these indefinitely. Losing them meant hospital negligence, but she preferred to think that Li Na used magic to patch those gaps.
Liu Xinyi plopped down beside Lin Nan, not quite understanding everything that was being said, and quietly asked her cousin, “So that person really is your boyfriend?”
“Yeah, what’s it to you?” Lin Nan muttered, her ears turning red.
“I thought after being a boy for so long, you’d hate the idea of a boyfriend…” Liu Xinyi, always blunt, suddenly asked, “Sis, you didn’t actually like boys before, did you?”
Lin Nan immediately shook her head.
In fact, if it weren’t for the memories of Lilith subtly shifting her perceptions, she probably would have needed to live in her female identity for a few more years before even remotely accepting the idea of having a boyfriend.
The more likely scenario? Lifelong singlehood!
“Geez, sis, your adaptability is off the charts!”
It felt like this girl was teasing me!
Lin Nan shot her a glare while suddenly hearing her mother ask, “Did you guys eat anything when you got back? Want me to have your little aunt cook you a bowl of noodles?”
“Hmm,” Lin Nan nodded; her little aunt’s noodles were pretty good.
“Had barbecue beforehand,” Liu Xinyi replied without hesitation, her eyes widening as she looked at Lin Nan. “Cousin, you stuffed yourself with over a hundred bucks worth of barbecue after the party; how can you eat more?”
Of course, I can!
Though she wasn’t actually hungry, just craving!
Seeing that her mother and two aunts were now staring at her, she tried to justify herself, “I haven’t had my little aunt’s noodles in ages! Just feeling a bit of nostalgia!”
“Oh, I eat it every day; I’m sick of it.”
Her little aunt glanced at her daughter, who had gone quiet and couldn’t defend herself, and noticed Lin Nan seemed sweeter with her words than before.
Or maybe it’s just that whatever came out of Lin Nan’s adorable face sounded sweeter.
“Alright, I’ll go downstairs to make you some noodles,” her little aunt smiled at Lin Nan and got up to leave the room.
Clearly now that she was aware of things, her little aunt seemed to have come to terms with Lin Nan.
That eased Lin Nan’s anxiety a bit; upon reflection, most of the relatives she cared about had accepted her gender change… After all, to them, it was the hospital’s fault, and Lin Nan was the victim here.
“Are you two sharing a bed tonight?” Her mother sounded very gentle as she asked, “Me and your aunts can sleep on the floor just fine.”
“Yeah.” The big aunt agreed but then asked, “Are we going to watch the dragon boat races tomorrow?”
That reminded Lin Nan of Chen Yao mentioning he would take her to see dragon boat racing before she came back. She had readily agreed back then, but now where had Chen Yao scampered off to?
She had messaged him, and he had responded, but his replies were noticeably slower than usual.
She shook her head, declining the big aunt’s offer, “Never mind, I think I want to go back to school tomorrow.”
Her mother frowned. “There’s Wi-Fi here, and Jiaming and Xinyi can keep you company. Why the rush to get back to school?”
“Cousin must be missing her boyfriend~”
Lin Nan promptly kicked her foot up, but Liu Xinyi, still sporting a cheeky grin after being kicked, leaned even closer to Lin Nan, “Sis~ You’ve only been apart from your husband for half a day! Why the rush to go back?”
“You’re going back tomorrow too!” Lin Nan, totally embarrassed from the teasing in front of her mother, kicked a few more times, but when sitting on the floor, she just didn’t have any power. For Liu Xinyi, it felt more like playful fun.
Their mother observed the ruckus between the two on the floor mat and smiled helplessly at the big aunt: “Just how long has it been since she got snatched away?”
The big aunt lowered her head and quietly pointed out the facts, “Who told you to ignore Lin Nan before? When you two were out driving, I suggested bringing Lin Nan to my place, but you wouldn’t let me.”
