358. Too Much Information
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After a bit of chaos, Li Na and Lilith finally left Lin Nan’s rental apartment.
Lin Qi managed to switch back to his usual attire, shedding his plain-looking cross-dressing outfit like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, back to his slacker self.
He looked a bit mopey, planted on the couch and stuck in a silence that would make a statue proud.
Meanwhile, Chen Yao was hustling away at video editing. Though Lin Qi’s cross-dressing looked just ordinary in real life, somehow, through the low-resolution webcam, it had a surprising charm.
d*mn that sweetness.
Lin Nan nervously sat on the other end of the couch, eyeing the takeout he had ordered for Lin Qi.
The apartment fell into a strange quiet, except for Chen Yao’s mouse clicks and keyboard taps that sounded like music for the awkwardness.
After a while, Lin Qi shook off the shadow of his female getup and glanced over at his cousin, who was busying herself with her phone, still dressed like a girl.
Now he understood why Lin Nan was so into cross-dressing; with a bunch of odd friends like this, it’s tough being her cousin.
Cross-dressing was one thing, but a boyfriend?
“Why do you even have a boyfriend?” Lin Qi whispered, eyebrows raised.
For a girl, isn’t it normal to have a boyfriend?
Lin Nan was reluctant to explain what was, in her view, a hassle and slightly embarrassing, so she presented her pathology report to Lin Qi instead.
“What’s this?” Lin Qi frowned, noticing her silence. Stepping into his role as the concerned cousin, he began to lecture, “You can’t be serious about a boyfriend! That’s just not done here. Even I can’t wrap my head around that!”
He picked up the medical report, scanning it while continuing his rant, “You’re only eighteen, your youth has just begun, and you probably haven’t even dated a girl yet, so how could you…”
But Lin Qi suddenly stumbled over his words, staring at terms on the report with a puzzled expression.
Lin Nan bit her lip, patiently waiting as Lin Qi tried to process the medical jargon.
He took out his phone and quickly googled the terms.
Moments later, he raised his head, staring at Lin Nan’s face which lacked any male characteristics whatsoever.
Not just her face; Lin Nan’s figure was even more voluptuous than the average woman.
He had thought Lin Nan’s curves were just fake, her feminine voice a ruse. He assumed she liked men because, well, she liked men. But now…
“So, does this mean you were actually born a girl?” He barely pieced it together with the help of the internet.
“Mm-hmm.”
Lin Nan looked down, her hair framing her face, concealing her expression. But her neck was slightly reddening and her body trembled a bit.
That’s when Chen Yao finally sensed something was off. He stood up from the computer, plopped himself between the cousins without a care in the world.
“What are you two chatting about?” he asked, glancing back and forth between Lin Nan and Lin Qi. Noticing their expressions and the report in Lin Qi’s hand, he quickly caught on to the gist of the situation.
Chen Yao patted Lin Nan’s thigh gently, giving her a reassuring look. “How about you go hang out in the bedroom for a bit? I’ll chat with your cousin.”
He could definitely feel Lin Nan’s anxiety.
“Okay!” Lin Nan blurted out, practically sprinting to the bedroom.
With her gone, Chen Yao cut straight to the chase, “You’re not gonna turn into her dad, right?”
“What’s wrong with her dad?”
“Basically, when he found out, he practically disowned Lin Nan,” Chen Yao propped his leg up casually. “If you want to know anything, just ask. I know pretty much the whole story.”
Lin Qi frowned, unable to imagine that childhood boy who hated bathing and ran around the village n*ked because of grandpa was now actually a girl.
Not hearing a question, Chen Yao continued, “Lin Nan only started developing after last summer, and it wasn’t until her physical exam during the National Day holiday that they found out.”
“Then her parents got divorced. Her aunt loaned Lin Nan money for surgery, and her dad went berserk, refusing to give her a dime, even hitting and scolding her…”
Though he hadn’t seen Lin Nan getting hit, Chen Yao didn’t hesitate to make her story sound even worse.
“I met her in middle school; we were best buds originally…”
“She considered you a friend, and you…” Lin Qi interrupted with a scoff.
But Chen Yao, thick-skinned as ever, ignored him and went on about Lin Nan’s father’s misdeeds, painting him as the embodiment of villainy while casting Lin Nan as the pitiable damsel in distress, and himself as the heroic savior.
Never mind that this so-called hero had just gotten his b*tt kicked for three days in a row the previous week.
Within earshot, Lin Nan had been feeling low, but Chen Yao’s melodrama nearly made her burst into laughter.
“Now Lin Nan and I are living it up! My mom loves her and is ready to talk about engagement!” Chen Yao beamed.
All he did was stand up to some punks bullying classmates and ended up with a beautiful fiancée.
Sure, his family had lost some money, and he got scolded to no end, but when you think about it, what a deal!
Lin Qi couldn’t quite process everything. After pondering for a while, it finally dawned on him that Lin Nan’s dad was the type to react poorly.
The upside was that he spent a lot of time online, which, while making his education only marginally higher than middle school, at least opened his mind to such bizarre situations.
He finally pieced together the puzzle, and Lin Nan’s image evolved in his mind.
First, she was the shy, short cousin; then a dress-wearing man-lover; and now, she had transformed into a tragic beauty.
“So, do I have to start calling her cousin now?” Lin Qi’s expression was an odd mix of surprised and bemused. “Why has no one mentioned this?”
“Her dad was embarrassed about it, I guess.”
Men from the countryside tend to prioritize face over everything else.
Lin Qi nodded but then heard Chen Yao add, “And don’t go spilling the beans to her uncles—it would only make things messy.”
“Got it.”
“Mainly because Lin Nan also recorded your cross-dressing video, and I may have filmed a little too.”
“……”
Just then, the takeout arrived. Chen Yao jumped up to grab it while Lin Qi sat there silently, feeling like he was being blackmailed.
However, after a couple of bites, Lin Qi suddenly processed everything and raised his voice, “You and Lin Nan are getting engaged?!”
“What of it? My mom and her mom are already talking about it. If Lin Nan were old enough, they’d probably have tied the knot already,” Chen Yao clapped Lin Qi on the shoulder. “When the time comes, you better give a red envelope for both engagement and wedding—two envelopes minimum; otherwise, Lin Nan’s gonna be upset. You know how much she loves money.”
“You’ll be representing Lin Nan’s side of the family. So if the red envelope’s three hundred, just make it a nice round number—three thousand should do.”
Lin Qi was completely taken aback. This was a lot to process in one day.
How did the cousin he’d seen just last year suddenly transform into a cousin with plans for marriage this year?
