031. Another Date!
Ning Chu’s dorm wasn’t dirty, just a complete mess.
Wang Jie’s desk was cluttered with various wires, and the trash can was overflowing with takeout boxes from the weekend. Zhang Shaoqing’s underwear was hanging directly from the bed frame, and Wen Yang’s desk was neat—but that was only because he had fewer belongings.
Ning Chu had a tendency towards intermittent obsessive-compulsive disorder; sometimes her desk would be piled up like a mini mountain of chaos, but periodically, she couldn’t stand the sight of it and would spend an entire afternoon organizing until everything was spick and span.
Outside, the rain was getting heavier, and the howling wind turned the corridor and balcony into high-risk zones.
Clothes hanging on the balcony were thoroughly soaked, which quashed Ning Chu’s hopes of saving them. She plopped down in her chair like a salted fish.
“Time to clean up,” someone yelled.
“I want to take a shower; I feel all sticky,” Ning Chu mumbled while peeling off her training jacket, tugging at her short sleeve shirt in disgust. “I’m drenched!”
Wen Yang was just sitting down when he heard her complain and instinctively looked up.
Thanks to sweat and rain, Ning Chu’s white short sleeve shirt was clinging to her skin, highlighting her petite figure. Side-viewing her almost hinted at some modest pecs—not that they were anything to write home about. Her wet hair dripped droplets along her soft facial contours, pooling at her chin and cascading down to her delicate collarbone.
Ning Chu dried her face with a towel and caught his gaze, her thick eyelashes—still glistening with raindrops—fluttering as she blinked in confusion.
Wen Yang, feeling inexplicably shy, hastily averted his eyes. “We’ll shower later. Let’s clean up first.”
“Get up and start cleaning!”
“Yeah, get moving!”
Hearing the successive urges, Ning Chu glanced back at her roommates, only to find them glued to their chairs. They all mouthed “clean up,” yet their bodies remained utterly immobile.
So, Ning Chu took it upon herself to grab a change of clothes, justifying, “I’ll clean the bathroom while I shower; you guys can handle the rest out here!”
Before anyone could object, she dashed into the bathroom.
Every time she took a shower, her heart sank a little.
Pulling off her shirt and shorts, she expressionlessly felt her softer belly, the unnerving sensation of her red bean-sized pecs making her shiver. Glancing down, she noticed her perpetually lackluster chest…
With a sigh, she looked at the half-length mirror stuck to the wall, examining her fair, tempting self.
Her baby face was still fair and cute—no sign of growing handsome, more like a fragile flower or something.
Thank goodness there wasn’t a “Nantong” plot!
Otherwise, before turning into a woman, her story might’ve taken a premature twist.
She was only sweating and soaked from the rain; calling it a shower was pushing it. In just a few minutes, Ning Chu had changed into dry shorts and a short-sleeve top, even giving the bathroom tiles a little scrub.
Entering the dorm, she found the other three already busy cleaning.
“I’ve finished the bathroom!”
“I’m done over here too,” Wen Yang said just as he set down the broom. “Just sweeping the floor should be enough, right? Do we really need to mop?”
Zhang Shaoqing picked up a bag of trash and headed outside, saying, “It’s not even tiled, what’s the point of mopping?”
Oh, so I’m not the only one slacking off here.
Looking at Wang Jie, he was still busy clearing his chaotic desk, utterly ignoring the dorm’s cleanliness.
Ning Chu casually tidied up her own not-so-messy desk before plopping down at the computer. Just as she was about to order some takeout for lunch, her shorts felt a bit snug.
They were tight…
Especially when bending over or raising her legs, the fabric clung to her backside like it was auditioning for a second skin. It felt like with some more movement, the shorts might just rip apart.
When she first broke her “plot,” extra fluff appeared on her chest, and during the second incident, her rear got wider, which made her once perfectly fitting shorts a bit restrictive.
She had to rush out over the weekend to buy a new set of pajamas, and those should be arriving today.
What about next time?
Her face was a portrait of worry; she felt a bit lost, conflicted between flowing with the plot, which would inevitably cause her to become a girl, and sabotaging it might have her transformed even sooner…
But running away? She feared that without Wen Yang’s protagonist halo shielding her, who knows what kind of trouble she might stumble upon.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
A sudden knock on the door broke her thoughts, accompanied by a ruckus in the hallway.
As the door swung open, the instructor, Han Jingye, and an unfamiliar middle-aged leader stepped inside, with a gaggle of students peeking around, eager for a peek.
Ning Chu quickly sprang up, feeling anxious as she scanned every corner of the dorm.
The quilts were stacked, the trash had been disposed of, and the dorm was freshly tidied…
It should be fine, right?
But why was the counselor back again?!
She could distinctly feel Han Jingye’s eyes on her more than usual, which made her anxious, fearing he might target her rather than wreak havoc on some girl.
Han Jingye shot her a puzzled glance.
Why does this student dislike me so much? Is he even scared of me?
“It’s okay, but you still need to clean the balcony,” the instructor said, wearing a perpetually stern expression, looking awfully unapproachable. “Today’s military training is canceled. If it rains again tomorrow, we’ll meet in the lobby on the first floor of the teaching building.”
“Got it,” Wen Yang replied, following the instructor and counselor out of the dorm.
Once the door shut, the excitement in the room erupted.
“No military training this afternoon! Wen Yang! Let’s duo queue!”
“Sure!”
“Count me in!”
The three rushed to the computer, already opening their game for some squad play. Ning Chu looked left and right and couldn’t help but chime in, “I want to play too!”
“Come on then! Hurry and log in!”
Unlike Zhang Shaoqing’s frantic tone, Wen Yang was more relaxed as he nodded, “Last time I couldn’t carry you on my own; this time the whole dorm will help you out, right?”
“Definitely! I’ve watched plenty of tutorials lately!”
Ning Chu puffed out her chest confidently, a smile creeping onto her lips as she suggested, “Since we have the afternoon free, why not teach me a bit today? I wouldn’t want you to complain when I want to play later.”
“Huh?” Wen Yang looked surprised. “Uh…”
Whoa! Did you already have plans to go on a date with someone else since the instructor just announced no military training for the afternoon?!
“You’re going on a date again?” Zhang Shaoqing swung around to ask Ning Chu, teasingly adding, “Wow, you must have a girl waiting for you whenever you have free time. Share some of that luck with us, will you?”
Well done!
Ning Chu silently gave Zhang Shaoqing a thumbs up in her mind; for the first time, she thought this guy’s cheekiness might actually come in handy.
