On Saturday, the monthly exam results were released.
Chen Cheng ranked near the bottom of her class.
Ever since middle school, her grades had been consistently average. Not too high, not too low. Sometimes, she'd even ace a subject and land among the top scorers. But this? This was humiliating!
Thankfully, it was just the bottom of her class, there were still students in the grade who did worse.
Holding a stack of test papers, Chen Cheng walked home with guilt and fear written all over her face. She was terrified that her homeroom teacher might break her promise and call her mom to snitch on her.
"Chengcheng!"
"Huh?"
Her heart skipped a beat, and even her voice trembled a little.
"I'm going on a trip with An Yuan's mom tomorrow morning. We'll be back around Wednesday."
Her mom was in the bathroom, applying skincare products while casually asking, "Did you guys have your monthly exams yet? It's almost November."
"Uh…" Chen Cheng lied smoothly. "Not this month. The school's busy preparing for the sports festival, so there wasn't time."
"You guys are in senior year. You still have to participate?"
"Maybe the teachers who make the test papers are participating? The school's just really busy."
Her mom didn't usually go to the school or chat with teachers. The only classmate she interacted with was An Yuan… so Chen Cheng was safe for now.
Her mom looked into the mirror and noticed Chen Cheng peeking her head into the bathroom.
"Come here for a second."
"What is it…?"
"I bought you skincare products. You better use them!"
She scooped a bit of moisturizer onto her fingertip and smeared it onto Chen Cheng's face.
"You think just because your skin is good now, you can slack off? If you don't take care of it, your skin will be worse than mine in the future!"
Chen Cheng blinked in surprise, then started rubbing the cream evenly on her face.
Flattering her mom, she said, "Mom, your skin is amazing! If I didn't know better, I'd think you were my older sister~"
"Cut it out!" Her mom scolded, but she was clearly pleased, smiling as she asked, "Where did you learn to be so sweet-talking?"
"I'm just telling the truth!"
Her mom rolled her eyes but shifted back to the main topic.
"I left your meal money on the table. Don't waste it."
"Got it, got it."
Chen Cheng was overjoyed. With her mom gone, she'd have the house all to herself. Total freedom! She could do whatever she wanted without anyone nagging her.
"You have the day off tomorrow, right?"
"Yep!"
"Don't waste it running around outside. Stay home and study. And cut down on computer time, you're in your final year…"
Chen Cheng nodded obediently, but her mom still eyed her suspiciously.
"I'm heading to my room to rest now~ I'll shower in a bit."
"And don't forget to wash your hair! You always wait for me to remind you. Going out with greasy hair—do you even care how you look?"
"Okaaay~"
Honestly, when she was younger, she used to wonder how lazy a person had to be to need their mom to remind them to wash their hair.
But now? She got it.
Washing hair was a hassle, and washing it every day? No thanks.
Her hair didn't even feel greasy! Washing it every two or three days seemed perfectly fine!
Back in her room, she closed the door, locked it, and tossed her backpack onto the bed.
Stretching lazily, she plopped down in front of her computer.
Her first week after transmigrating was about to end.
She let out a tired sigh, leaned back against her chair, and stared blankly at the ceiling. The slightly smudged lenses of her glasses made the ceiling light blur softly.
Without even realizing it, she had started getting used to this body.
She didn't feel flustered when showering anymore, her period had already passed, she had learned how to clasp her bra from behind, adjusted to the slightly different center of gravity, and even gotten into the habit of carrying tissues for convenience when using the restroom.
No wonder, back in school, every time she asked a girl for a tissue, they always had one.
Chen Cheng shook her head, opened the glasses case on her desk, sprayed some lens cleaner on her glasses, wiped them clean, and put them back on.
"Seriously… I'm the only one who ended up as a girl."
Although she was gradually getting used to her new daily life, mentally, she was still completely a guy. Twenty-seven years of being a man wasn't something she could just erase in a couple of weeks.
Sitting cross-legged on her chair, Chen Cheng sent a message to An Yuan, who was currently gaming at an internet café with their classmates.
"An Yuan, my mom's leaving for her trip tomorrow morning!"
"..."
An Yuan didn't respond right away, probably in the middle of a game.
Chen Cheng waited for a while, feeling a bit empty inside. She pursed her lips and reached out to turn on the desk lamp.
Might as well just finish my weekend homework first.
Given her current situation, she had to follow An Yuan's advice, just get through the college entrance exam somehow.
She didn't need to get into a top-tier university, but at least she couldn't do worse than her last life. A bachelor's degree was the minimum.
Barely ten minutes into her homework, her phone lit up. She immediately dropped her pen and checked An Yuan's reply.
"Wanna hit the internet café together tomorrow?"
"Sure! I'll sleep over at your place. Since your mom's traveling too."
"Is that really necessary?"
"Then how about you come here? Don't forget to bring your laptop."
Then, silence.
An Yuan stopped replying.
Chen Cheng frowned and checked the chat window, his status had already switched to "Busy."
"Still gaming, huh..."
He didn't even have time to send a quick message before starting another match?
Outside her room, her mom's voice called out.
"Chen Cheng, I'm going to bed. Don't forget to shower."
Her mom was leaving early in the morning, so she was turning in extra early tonight.
"I'll go after I finish my homework!"
"Don't stay up too late. It's bad for your skin."
"Got it~"
Maybe it was this body's natural rhythm, but for the past few days, Chen Cheng had been sleeping earlier than usual. She'd start getting sleepy around midnight, wake up at 7 AM, and still feel full of energy after just six hours of sleep.
But tomorrow was a day off! There was no way she wasn't staying up late. It'd be a waste of her only free day!
She worked on homework, looked up answers online, watched a couple of videos, played a quick game, then went back to writing…
Before she knew it, it was already past midnight.
She let out a big yawn, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and propped her chin up with both hands, struggling to keep her head from drooping as she stared at the computer screen.
An Yuan is still gaming?
Why did he stop replying in the middle of our chat?
She was so tired…
As drowsiness took over, her thoughts started drifting aimlessly, muddled and unfocused.
Did An Yuan get tired of her?
Was he annoyed with her?
Is that why he suddenly stopped responding?
Am I getting too clingy?
Even just a slight delay in his replies made her feel a little empty inside.
But wasn't that normal?
After all, they'd been best bros for over twenty years. Now, they had both gone through this weird time traveller thing. They were practically battle comrades.
An Yuan was the only one who knew she had been a man. He was the only one who still saw her as a guy.
And when she was with him, he was the only person she could completely let her guard down with and just be herself without worrying about anything.
Half-asleep, she slumped onto her desk.
Thud!
Her head hit the computer case, making her jolt awake in pain.
She immediately sat up straight.
"Forget it. I should just go to bed..."
That night, Chen Cheng slept restlessly.
In her dream, her mom discovered she wasn't really her daughter and, furious, threw her out of the house.
She also dreamed that An Yuan got a beautiful girlfriend and never paid attention to her again...
<+>
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Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 57: Breaktime Exercise[2]
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https://www.patreon.com/collection/1362427?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1362427?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/128679946?collection=1362427
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/128679946?collection=1362427
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1362427?view=condensed