Just one look…

Easier said than done.

If she still had her old male body, she could’ve let him look all he wanted.

But she couldn’t now.

Men and women were different, and a chest like hers was hard to hide.

Putting on women’s clothes felt like admitting she was a woman!

Gan Lan agonized over it for a while, but in the end, she solemnly set the outfit aside.

Her gaze shifted to the filthy, sodden clothes nearby.

She’d been standing naked in front of the mirror for so long that she was starting to show signs of catching a cold.

She had to put an end to this stalemate as soon as possible.

Just as she picked up the dirty clothes and was about to put them on,

she heard another knock at the door.

“Gan Lan, if you really don’t want to wear it, just leave it. I brought you another outfit.”

Ye Yubai sounded pretty unsure of himself.

Around other people, they were always the ones who caved.

But around Gan Lan, he was the only one who caved.

He knew she had him completely wrapped around her finger.

More important than satisfying his curiosity was seeing her happy.

…

With complicated feelings, Gan Lan unlocked the door and took the clothes he handed her.

Their fingers brushed lightly as they passed the clothes between them.

With the door between them, neither could see the other’s expression or know how the other was feeling.

After taking the clothes inside,

Gan Lan began to hesitate.

“I was the one who suggested the bet, and I’m the one trying to back out. Doing this is just…”

…just plain unfair.

Ye Yubai was still just a boy. He hadn’t seen how cruel people could be yet. How could she trick him like this?

Especially when she thought of how wounded his voice had sounded. She felt guilty.

After thinking it over for a moment,

her gaze fell on the women’s outfit once more.

…

Ye Yubai stood by the door, holding a freshly made cup of milk tea.

Instant milk tea wasn’t as good as the stuff from the specialty shops outside the school, but it was enough to pass the time.

He gulped down the cup in a few swallows and let out a small burp.

He was about to get some hot water and make another when the bathroom door finally opened.

“Ye Yubai.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t laugh at me.”

“Why would I… laugh at you?”

Ye Yubai had been standing with his back to her.

When he heard her say that, he turned to look.

One glance was all it took to leave him frozen.

Gan Lan was wearing the outfit!

She still had her tracksuit jacket on, but below that, she wore only the black skirt trimmed with gold.

The skirt barely reached her knees.

Below it were her long, fair legs.

She was still wearing his oversized slippers, too.

In the dim light, he could just make out the blush on her face—and the red tips of her ears, half-hidden by her messy hair.

Gan Lan clutched her collar tightly.

Head down, she hurried toward the room.

She’d only managed to show him her outfit for a moment.

She’d barely even shown him a full outfit—just a little skirt and her legs.

It was nothing like the sexy scene Ye Yubai had imagined.

And yet, this modest, fully covered look was exactly what left Ye Yubai stunned.

That expression, that voice… It was hard to believe she was a boy!

Was this short-skirted girl really the same Gan Lan he knew?

“Gan Lan, you…”

Ye Yubai stared straight at her.

His mouth went dry.

His mind went blank, too.

The words he wanted to say tangled together like a ball of yarn, blocking his thoughts.

He couldn’t get a word out.

“Good night!”

Gan Lan shut the door without hesitation.

Afraid he’d try to pick the lock with a piece of wire again, she dragged a chair and a table over to barricade the door.

Only after everything was in place did she dive under the covers as if escaping a disaster.

…

Night fell.

Cold wind and rain swept outside.

Each in a separate room, Gan Lan and Ye Yubai both lay awake for a long time.

Whenever Ye Yubai closed his eyes, he saw Gan Lan saying, “Don’t laugh at me,” her bashful expression half-hidden in the shadows, and those fair legs.

He felt like he was going to lose his mind.

He knew perfectly well that Gan Lan was his childhood friend!

He knew perfectly well that she was a boy, just like him!

And yet he was still having strange thoughts.

Ye Yubai sat up in frustration and raked both hands through his hair.

“Ye Yubai, what are you thinking? You’ve got feelings for Gan Lan? Are you even human? She’s like a little brother to you! She’s family!”

He slapped his cheeks.

Smack, smack.

“Stop thinking about it. If you turn your bro gay, you’ll spend the rest of your life in a wheelchair.”

The thought of his strict mom and dad made Ye Yubai shudder.

Sigh.

So this was forbidden after all.

From now on, he’d better stay away from Gan Lan. They had to keep their distance!

…

At that very moment, Gan Lan had pulled the covers over her head.

She was frantically reciting a passage from memory.

“When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on someone, it first hardens their resolve, works their body to the bone, starves them, strips them of everything, and throws their plans into chaos. In this way… in this way, it steels their mind and strengthens their character, making up for what they lack…”

The more she recited, the less she could sleep.

And the faster her heart raced.

“This is so annoying!”

She threw off the covers, got out of bed, shoved the table and chairs aside, and opened the door.

She jogged over to Ye Yubai’s door.

She raised an arm and clenched her fist, ready to knock.

But her hand stopped in midair.

She sighed softly.

Then she turned and headed back toward her room.

She closed the door, feeling strangely dejected.

She’d wanted to tell Ye Yubai that, starting tonight, they needed to keep their distance.

The words had been right on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them.

“If I really say that, it’ll only make it obvious there’s something going on. He’ll just read even more into it.”

Gan Lan was, after all, a twenty-five-year-old adult. She tended to think things through more carefully.

At work, she could handle both clients and contractors with ease, securing the best possible deal for herself and her company in negotiations of every size.

But whether in her previous life or this one, she was always at a loss when it came to Ye Yubai.

Whenever she competed with Ye Yubai, she always lost.

“Why does this annoying guy always have me wrapped around his finger?”

Gan Lan sighed helplessly.

She blamed it all on his superior intelligence and the unfairness of fate.

She flopped back onto the bed like a salted fish.

Then she fished her phone out from under the covers.

She opened some random comedy video and listened to a bunch of people fooling around.

Ding-dong~

A text message alert chimed.

Gan Lan’s heart tightened, and she instinctively closed the video.

She thought Ye Yubai had texted her.

But when she checked her messages, it was just some ordinary promotional ad.

Gan Lan angrily tossed her phone aside and pulled the covers over her head again.

“Gan Lan, get a grip. Stop overthinking and go to sleep!”

She angrily rubbed at her head.

“If you don’t sleep now, you’ll ruin your whole day tomorrow!”