Perhaps the glucose they gave him after he fainted the first time, along with the bread he ate, did the trick. Once military training started again, Ning Chu didn't pass out a second time.

Come to think of it, it was ridiculous. How could a grown man like him be in worse shape than a delicate girl?

He barely made it to noon. At the instructor's command, Ning Chu immediately relaxed. His legs gave way, and he dropped straight onto his butt.

“I'm exhausted.” He yanked off his hat and fanned himself with it, tugging at his collar. His breathing came fast and heavy. “I'm drenched in sweat.”

It was the height of summer, but their training uniforms had long sleeves and long pants, and they still had to wear hats. Sweat had soaked his body and hair.

“Ning Chu!”

He hadn't even had a minute to rest alone before Zhang Shaoqing came trotting over. He was just about to speak when his nose twitched a few times, sharp as a bloodhound's.

“What's that smell? It actually smells pretty good.”

Alarm bells rang in Ning Chu's head. He narrowed his eyes and quickly changed the subject. “What do you want?”

“We said we'd go be Wen Yang's third wheel at noon. Come on, it's time.”

“Didn't you say you didn't want to squeeze into the cafeteria, so you weren't going?”

Zhang Shaoqing scratched his head. After asking around, he'd finally learned that Wen Yang's girlfriend, Lingling, was none other than the girl next door he'd grown up with.

After hesitating for a moment, he leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. “Actually, Wen Yang's girlfriend and I grew up together. I...”

“Isn't that a good thing?”

“I like Lingling.”

So that was it! The root of Zhang Shaoqing's descent into darkness was Lingling throwing herself at Wen Yang!

Ning Chu stared straight into Zhang Shaoqing's eyes. Deep in them, he could clearly see the possessiveness he felt toward his childhood friend.

“Don't worry. They've only been together for a few days. At most, they've held hands.”

Zhang Shaoqing visibly relaxed at those words of comfort.

“If you like her, why don't you tell her?”

He gave a helpless, bitter smile. “She sees me as a big brother. Besides, people say you shouldn't date someone from your own backyard. I...”

“You're such an idiot. Why let good things go to outsiders?”

After resting for a few minutes and catching his breath, Ning Chu pushed himself up on his sore legs. He scanned the distance, looking for Wen Yang.

The goal: completely sabotage Wen Yang and Lingling's relationship!

Though honestly, there wasn't much of a relationship to sabotage. They'd only known each other for a few days. Calling it love was a stretch—they were more like two people who just wanted each other's bodies.

After thinking it over, he turned to Zhang Shaoqing and asked, “If you tell Wen Yang about this yourself, do you think he'll break up with Lingling?”

“Might as well try.”

“Hey! Over there! Wen Yang and Lingling are about to leave the field!” Ning Chu's eyes lit up as he finally spotted them in the distance. He shoved Zhang Shaoqing's shoulder and urged him on. “Go! Be their third wheel, so they don't start making out in public and offend everyone's sensibilities.”

The moment Zhang Shaoqing heard the words “making out,” his eyes went red. He sprang into action and sprinted toward the edge of the field.

Ning Chu let out a satisfied sigh of relief.

Use the characters in the story to defeat the story! He didn't even have to get involved himself!

Now he could stop worrying about this part of the plot. With Zhang Shaoqing's personality, there was no way he'd let the novel's storyline—where Lingling makes the first move on Wen Yang—come true.

Military training had left him drenched in sweat. Feeling sticky all over, Ning Chu frowned in disgust. He had no intention of joining the crowd at the cafeteria, so he hurried toward the dorm.

He'd take a shower and change, but he'd have to wait until tonight to wash his training uniform. Otherwise, he wouldn't have anything to wear that afternoon.

On the way from the field to the dorms, he had to pass through a huge garden plaza. As soon as he stepped inside, the rows of booths caught his eye.

“Club recruitment?”

Ning Chu muttered as he looked around. Clubs at this school seemed much more open and bold than in his world. Just look at the swimming club: a few beauties in bikinis stood at their booth, drawing countless glances.

In fact, the women here dressed more revealingly, too.

In the sweltering heat, most of the female students wore shorts or short skirts. Everywhere he looked, there were long, pale legs.

Ning Chu was in a pretty good mood. His lower abdomen still ached faintly, but he stopped to look at the club booths—or so it seemed. In reality, his gaze kept drifting over the girls and their legs.

“The quality here is way too high~”

“Back in my old world, you'd only see this kind of lineup at a talent show.”

After spending a happy ten minutes admiring the beauties in the plaza, Ning Chu finally hummed a tune and headed back to the dorm, feeling thoroughly pleased with himself.

There were some upsides to coming to this world.

As long as he kept the novel's plot from playing out in real life, he'd have plenty of wives to choose from in the future.

When he pushed open the dorm-room door, Wang Jie was already sitting at his computer with a takeout container in hand. He glanced over at Ning Chu, then went back to watching a game stream while he ate.

Ning Chu glanced at his screen and walked straight over to the mirror on the wall. As he enjoyed the cool air from the AC and fan, he studied his reflection.

The training uniform was especially baggy, and he was so small that the sleeves hung a good few inches past his arms. The top covered his butt, and the loose pant legs dangled so low he could easily step on them.

He looked like a kid who'd snuck into his father's clothes—cute, but a little sloppy.

Somewhat dissatisfied, Ning Chu rolled up his sleeves and pant legs, then tucked his shirt into his pants.

That looked a lot neater, but once he tightened his belt, it accentuated his slender waist. His figure looked like a little girl's.

Looking thoroughly displeased, he went back to his desk and sat down. He left his shirt open and slouched back in his chair.

“It's so damn hot.”

“And it hurts, too...”

It wasn't his lower abdomen that hurt. The strenuous activity during training, combined with the rough material of his T-shirt, had rubbed his chest raw and left him uncomfortable.

Ning Chu looked down at the fabric stretched over his chest. His brows furrowed, and a growing sense of unease crept through him.

Fortunately, the training uniform had helped conceal it during drills.

It seemed like he was going from little red beans to soup dumplings...

The good mood he'd gotten from admiring the beauties earlier was starting to sour.

Ning Chu pressed his lips together, thinking through every possibility behind his transformation into a woman. With his head bowed and both hands around his phone, he distractedly picked out something to order.

If he was playing a woman in the novel's plot, then how exactly was he going to turn into a girl?

His hand unconsciously moved to his lower abdomen, which was still cramping.

Could he be intersex?

Taking today's stomach pain, his unusually short stature, and the pain in his chest that seemed like it might be developing into something more into account... that was the only explanation Ning Chu could come up with.

But if that was really the case, then no matter what he did in the future, he was bound to become a girl. You could even say he was already a woman.

That was terrifying!

“Ning Chu! I've got good news!”

The door suddenly flew open with a kick. Ning Chu jolted, and his phone went flying. He stared in a daze as it landed on his thigh, bounced, then spun off toward the floor.

“Tch—Zhang Shaoqing!”

“Why are you glaring at me?”