605. Exposure
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“I’m Chen Yao’s girlfriend, you know?”
Pan Hui was about to blow a fuse, but as soon as she heard that line, her feet paused, and she turned to Lin Nan with disbelief written all over her face.
“Aren’t you Li Ya’s cousin?”
Lin Nan wasted no time flexing her best “run-away-train” skills she picked up from Tu Junhui, and continued, “Yeah, I’m Li Ya’s cousin and Chen Yao’s girlfriend. What’s the issue here?”
“???”
“Otherwise, why would I be sitting across from the food stall sipping milk tea? Waiting for Chen Yao to finish his gathering and go home together, obviously!” Lin Nan even justified her four cups of milk tea like it was some grand mission.
Pan Hui glanced at Chen Yao, who just nodded, “I’ve always said I have a girlfriend.”
The poor girl was frozen in her spot, her mind buzzing as if she had just chugged an energy drink.
Wait, does this mean she’s been flirting with Chen Yao right in front of his real girlfriend?
Flirting on the down-low is one thing, but doing it in front of the official girlfriend? That was next-level embarrassing!
Pan Hui darted her eyes between Lin Nan and Chen Yao, feeling like she just contracted an acute case of cringe.
She was silent for what felt like an eternity, unable to spit out a single word, while Lin Nan and Chen Yao just smiled at her like she was a clueless puppy.
“Take off your mask, let me see…” Pan Hui still wouldn’t give up.
Sure, Lin Nan had only half of her face showing, and it looked pretty enough, but let’s be honest, there are plenty of folks who take off their masks and end up scaring small children.
Lin Nan hesitated for a second, racking her brain to recall her relationship with Pan Hui back in high school. After some intense thinking, she confirmed that Pan Hui and her had zero interactions back then.
So surely, even without the mask, Pan Hui wouldn’t recognize her.
Not lingering too long in thought, she promptly whipped off her mask.
Pan Hui scrutinized Lin Nan’s face and had to admit, she was indeed more attractive than her.
If Pan Hui, having trimmed down and looking decent with makeup, was an upper mid-tier beauty in class, Lin Nan, without makeup and all, was at least the class flower.
With the right makeup and styling, she could probably snag the title of school beauty in some all-girls school.
It’s just that she looked a bit familiar.
Back in high school, Pan Hui had harbored a crush on Chen Yao, who loved playing basketball and had that bad-boy charm that all the good girls swooned over.
Meanwhile, Pan Hui was just a chubby wallflower, keeping to herself with hardly any friends – not even enough confidence to admit liking anyone.
Fast-forward two years, and Pan Hui had slimmed down to a lovely weight of just over ninety pounds, even sporting a bit of a six-pack thanks to her workouts. With her newfound confidence from her looks, she thought she was finally worthy of Chen Yao’s attention.
But here she is, realizing her crush not only has a girlfriend, but one who’s leagues ahead in looks!
Pan Hui’s face drained of color as she blankly stared at Lin Nan, the confidence she’d built on her appearance evaporating faster than bubbles in soda.
She stumbled back two steps, but due to her tipsy state, ended up tripping her own feet and crashing to the ground.
Lin Nan furrowed her brow to speak, but then she heard a familiar shout not too far away: “Lin Nan!”
Her heart skipped a beat at the voice.
Turning around, she spotted Zhu Yong Wen staggering toward her, eyes wide with excitement upon seeing Lin Nan without her mask. “I knew you were Lin Nan! Chen Yao insisted you weren’t!”
“???”
Lin Nan and Chen Yao exchanged a glance, both equally dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, Pan Hui, who was sobbing on the ground just seconds ago, suddenly looked up, her eyes scanning Lin Nan’s face, disbelief plastered all over it.
Zhu Yong Wen stumbled over, having had a little too much to drink. He nearly veered into traffic, prompting Chen Yao to rush over and catch him.
But Zhu Yong Wen was oblivious, too hyped about Lin Nan being at the party. He bounced up to her, “Lin Nan, why didn’t you tell me you were coming to the party? I thought we were hitting up the internet cafe tonight!”
“I…” Lin Nan couldn’t get the words out.
Last time she intersected with Zhu Yong Wen, she had been in boy clothes, trying to hide her femininity. And now, here she was, fully in summer attire, with her hair exposed and no hiding her feminine features.
Panic set in.
However, drunk Zhu Yong Wen was completely unaware, casually throwing an arm around her shoulders, half his weight leaning on Lin Nan while asking, “Chen Yao said you couldn’t make it!”
Being cozy with another guy made Lin Nan’s face flush like she’d set it on fire. She wanted to escape but Zhu Yong Wen was surprisingly strong for his size, and she could only look at Chen Yao with absolute embarrassment.
Chen Yao rushed forward and yanked Zhu Yong Wen’s arm off Lin Nan’s shoulders.
Zhu Yong Wen frowned, confused. “What’s the problem with me and my old desk buddy?!” He shot Chen Yao a quizzical glare.
In the midst of this chaos, Pan Hui finally managed to stand up, and Zhu Yong Wen, surprised, exclaimed, “When did you show up?!”
The guy was a bit out of it after hitting the drinks.
Pan Hui couldn’t care less about him, still sizing up Lin Nan until Lin Nan awkwardly put her mask back on, turning her face away, and suddenly it dawned on her, “Wait, you’re Lin Nan!”
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Li Ya’s crush, Lin Nan, is actually a… no, wait! A cross-dresser?!
And not just any cross-dresser, but one who dresses up like this every day!
Lin Nan could see that Pan Hui’s look descended into confusion, excitement, and a tiny bit of suspicion, realizing that her high school nerdy impression had been completely flipped.
Zhu Yong Wen, blissfully unaware, chimed in, “Of course it’s Lin Nan; she looks way better now!”
He even jumped in to explain, “Lin Nan grew her hair out since she’s studying design, you know, artistic types. Not a weirdo, just a pretty girl who happened to grow her hair long!”
As if on cue, Lin Nan was trying to keep a low profile here!
“Wait, why are you wearing girl clothes?” Zhu Yong Wen finally snapped back to reality.
Just as he was about to pry further, he noticed Lin Nan had already flagged down a passing motorcycle, hopped on, and covered her face in a mad dash to escape.
