Of course Gan Lan had a reason for leaving school so early.

Being suddenly reborn was shocking enough. Waking up reborn as a girl had left her completely stunned.

But what was done was done. She had no choice but to accept it.

She’d finally gotten a second chance at life. She couldn’t let the best years of her life go to waste just because of her gender, could she?

She figured that, with her memories of the next eight years, she could make the most of this life and avoid a lot of detours!

“First, I need to buy some stuff for girls.”

Gan Lan counted off the kinds of things she needed on her fingers, then silently added up the prices.

“A pack of ABC, a set of women’s underwear, and then…”

She calculated for a while, and was just about to work it out.

Then someone gave her a hard smack on the back.

Her shoulders jerked in fright. She turned around.

She found herself face-to-face with Ye Yubai’s eyes, gleaming with a sly grin.

“I texted you. Why didn’t you reply?”

Hearing him say that, Gan Lan rummaged through the inner pocket of her backpack and pulled out her phone.

She tried turning it on, but it wouldn’t start.

Gan Lan shrugged. “Maybe the battery’s dead.”

Ye Yubai added, looking puzzled, “Oh, right. I just heard you say something about underwear and ABC. What’s that stuff? Is it a brand of panties?”

Gan Lan: “…”

She lowered her head in silence and clenched her fingers.

Good question, Ye Yubai!

Could she tell him she didn’t know?

When she didn’t answer, Ye Yubai said, “Oh, right. We still haven’t figured out dinner tonight or tomorrow. Wanna go to the supermarket?”

Without waiting to see if Gan Lan agreed, he grabbed her and pulled her through the supermarket entrance.

As they passed the household goods section, a thought crossed Gan Lan’s mind: What would Ye Yubai think if he found out that “ABC” was a brand of sanitary pads?

Ye Yubai handed her the shopping basket.

“I carried it last time, so it’s your turn.”

He was always like this, keeping a meticulous tally of every little thing.

“Oh, right. I bought the toilet paper last time, so it’s your turn this time.”

Gan Lan didn’t mind splitting the expenses, but she did have a problem with Ye Yubai.

Ye Yubai followed behind her like a little punk, hands in his pockets and whistling. Every now and then, he’d deliberately bump her shoulder with his elbow. He was downright annoying.

Gan Lan tried to get away from him, deliberately walking faster.

But no matter how fast she walked, he kept right up, staying exactly one elbow’s length away.

Suddenly, Ye Yubai reached out and grabbed the back of her collar.

Gan Lan jumped. She was about to swear out of habit when she saw an elderly person shuffling past her, unsteadily pushing a cart piled high with groceries.

Ye Yubai tapped her on the head and raised his voice. “Could you watch where you’re going? If you bump into someone, I’m not paying for it!”

Gan Lan patted her chest and let out a sigh.

Her heart was beating a little fast.

It had to be because he’d startled her.

She snapped, a little annoyed, “Ye Yubai, could you stop following me?”

Ye Yubai scratched his head. “But there’s nothing I need to buy.”

Gan Lan: “You could buy some underwear! Get a few pairs! Then you can wear a new pair every day!”

Ye Yubai: “My underwear is new, you know that, don’t you?”

Gan Lan: “…”

Ye Yubai: “I took it from your closet last night. It really is new. Here, I’ll show you if you don’t believe me.”

As he spoke, he actually started pulling out the waistband of his underwear to show her.

Gan Lan looked like she’d seen a ghost.

She gritted her teeth, huffed, and headed straight for the produce section without looking back.

Ye Yubai rubbed his nose and watched her go, smiling faintly.

Not only had his buddy’s voice changed overnight, but even her silhouette had turned sexy. And there was a playful, girlish charm in the way she moved.

He touched his chest.

Then he felt his heartbeat.

“Tch. This is seriously bizarre.”

…

When they left the supermarket, Gan Lan still hadn’t managed to buy the things she needed.

In the end, she was just too shy.

She couldn’t bring herself to stand in line with a pack of sanitary pads and women’s underwear, while Ye Yubai stared at her like she was some kind of curiosity.

She got on her bike and rode toward the apartment building they rented.

Ye Yubai followed at an easy pace, watching her without blinking.

As if she were some fascinating new toy.

Gan Lan stopped her bike in the garage by the entrance and was about to head upstairs when Ye Yubai blocked her way.

“Hey, let’s get little wontons for dinner. Then I won’t have to cook, and you won’t have to do the dishes.”

Gan Lan glanced at him, then silently walked around him.

Ye Yubai had just gotten his allowance, so of course he could afford to be generous.

But Gan Lan had just spent all her living money. She’d have to be frugal for the next half month.

Ye Yubai watched her disappear into the building.

“Then I’ll bring you dinner!”

With that, he turned his bike around and headed for the snack street.

…

Gan Lan went inside and changed her shoes.

The big bag of vegetables and meat in her hand was pretty heavy.

When she set it down, she saw that her hands were badly reddened where the handles had dug in.

She rubbed the marks and sighed.

A girl’s body really was different from a boy’s.

Her strength, stamina, even her bones were all completely different from what she remembered.

Ye Yubai had already noticed the change in her voice.

Maybe it wouldn’t be long before he noticed the changes in her body, too.

“What am I supposed to do?”

With that heavy thought weighing on her, Gan Lan went into the bathroom.

“I’ll take a cold shower first and calm down. Then I’ll figure it out.”

She stepped inside and kicked aside the slippers by the door. Then she spotted the underwear and sweatpants Ye Yubai had left on the rack and clicked her tongue in distaste.

Back in high school, Ye Yubai hadn’t been nearly so neat.

Leaving his stuff lying around was the norm.

Then he went to college, got his heart broken once, and developed a bit of a cleaning obsession.

Maybe that was what people meant by growing up.

Gan Lan, on the other hand, had always been the organized type.

She’d been that way from high school through her working years, and had only grown more particular with time.

Looking at this filthy, chaotic bathroom made her feel like she was about to suffocate.

“The shower will have to wait.”

If she wanted to keep living here, she’d have to pitch in and do more of the work herself.

…

“One bowl of little wontons, please. Extra cilantro and dried shrimp. Thanks.”

Ye Yubai got one order of little wontons and one order of stinky tofu to go, then rode back.

He didn’t even know why he was being so eager.

It was like he’d suddenly become intensely interested in that girly guy at home.

As he passed near the school, a few guys he used to game with called out to him.

“Where’re you off to, Bai?”

“You coming to game? We’re one short!”

“Hey, Bai, what’d you get? Smells great!”

Before they could stop him, Ye Yubai pedaled harder and shot right through their little circle.

“Some other time! I’ve gotta get home early and feed the cat today!”