Xiaobai Is Also Troubled Today

Fortunately, she didn't hear the words she had expected, and Bai Tingzhi breathed a sigh of relief.

 
“Of course.”
 

There was a brief silence between the two, as neither seemed to know what to say next.
 
Ding ding ding ding!!!

 
The bell suddenly rang, and Bai Tingzhi hurriedly said goodbye to Gu Junzhu and turned to run back to the classroom.
 

“See you later, Gu Junzhu. Don’t be late!”
 
Bai Tingzhi’s figure disappeared around the corner, but Gu Junzhu remained standing on the wooden path, not leaving immediately.

 
“Does this mean we’re friends now......?”
 

Bai Tingzhi didn’t pay much attention to the morning classes, and time flew by. Fortunately, the courses weren’t difficult and didn’t require much of her time.
 
Her mind was in disarray, unsure whether she was thinking about Gu Junzhu seeking her out earlier or the events of yesterday.

 
Once she calmed down, Bai Tingzhi quickly realized it, but she refused to consider it. If everything Lao Lin said was true, then it just means that she, the unlucky one, had hit the jackpot[1]. But......
 
After all these years of friendship, Bai Tingzhi didn’t want to question whether Lin Yunian was telling the truth. Since he said it, she was willing to believe him. But what if it was a lie? Did that mean Lin Yunian was holding the five-hundred-million-yuan prize?

 
Was he going to keep it all for himself?
 

“He wouldn’t go that far......” Bai Tingzhi muttered to herself.
 
A voice suddenly sounded beside her. “What are you talking about? Have you finished writing? You go up and solve this problem.”

 
Without her noticing, the geography teacher had silently appeared beside her, watching her and the draft paper on her desk with a subtle expression.
 

“Oh, okay.” Bai Tingzhi glanced at the problem for a few seconds and hurriedly went up to the podium. She felt a bit nervous since she had just been zoning out. However, the problem wasn’t difficult, and she wasn’t a bad student, so she solved it after some time.
 
She walked down from the podium and saw Lin Yunian looking at her. When he noticed her gaze, he even smiled at her.

 
“Everyone, take a look at this problem. Bai Tingzhi did a good job on the first step. The key point here is......”
 

The teacher walked around the classroom and returned to the front, beginning to comment on Bai Tingzhi's answer. But the student in question had already stopped paying attention, deep in thought as she slowly walked back to her seat.
 
It’s unlikely...... Should I just ask him directly?

 
The problem was, Lin Yunian wasn't stupid. If he didn't want to tell her, he might not, even if she asked him now. On the contrary, her asking would easily make him suspicious.
 

The bell for the end of class rang, not as urgent as the one before, but it made Bai Tingzhi consider something she hadn't thought of before.
 
Maybe he didn't redeem the prize?

 
Thinking this, Bai Tingzhi stood up and walked toward the door, only to see that someone else had already called Lin Yunian away. She paused for a moment, then headed toward the restroom. Halfway there, she suddenly stopped and turned in the opposite direction.
 

The quiet corridor was empty, exactly as Bai Tingzhi had hoped. The first and second floors of this building were laboratories, rarely used for high school classes, so there were few people around.
 
Now, no one would disturb her when she went to the restroom here.

 
She hesitated at the door for a moment but eventually entered the men’s restroom.
 

Others didn’t know about her “second brother’s” current condition. Going to the women’s restroom would be troublesome if someone discovered her, and on the other hand, she couldn’t accept it herself. Considering how quiet it was here, she decided it was unlikely anything would happen, so Bai Tingzhi chose her usual spot.
 
The standing spot was no longer an option, so she thought for a moment before pulling open the door to a stall on the side and quickly closing it.

 
She suddenly wondered how she had even used the restroom in the morning and hesitantly pulled down her pants. Bai Tingzhi looked at her own naked lower body as if it belonged to a stranger, even though it was now her own body......
 

It still made her feel inexplicably embarrassed, and her legs rubbed against each other unintentionally, causing an unusual emotion to rise in her heart.
 
It took her a while to calm down, but the urge to urinate was already beyond her control, no matter how much she tried to suppress it.

 
Splash—
 

Bai Tingzhi exhaled deeply, her face filled with a relaxed and joyful expression.
 
Before she could fully relax, the sound of hurried footsteps grew closer. A few boys entered the restroom and scattered around the urinals.

 
“Did you hear? The sports meet is in three weeks.”
 

“Three weeks...... That’s still a while away, right?”
 
“The problem is that there’s no break next week, and we have school for half a month straight before the sports meet!”

 
The sound of running water was faint, easily drowned out by their voices. Bai Tingzhi felt inexplicably tense, not even daring to breathe.
 

“I’m really fed up. I still have to write a report on the farmers’ market when I get home......”
 
“And there’s that girl from Class 6......” The voice suddenly grew lower. “It’s so tragic. Her ex-boyfriend was cheating on her, and apparently with an older student!”

 
“I heard he even used his ex-girlfriend's camera to take photos of the senior!”
 

“Right!”
 
“Tsk tsk tsk......”

 
For some reason, the two left halfway through the conversation. Although Bai Tingzhi was curious about the rest of the ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) story, she sighed in relief when she heard the boys leave.
 

Previously, even if she was mistaken for a girl, it was still easy to explain. But now, if someone tried to verify the truth, there would be no room for concealment. She carefully opened the door, peeked through the crack, then hurried out to wash her hands before rushing back to the classroom.
 
She had planned to talk to Lin Yunian about after-school plans during the break, but he wasn't in the classroom when she returned.

 
“Never mind......” It wasn't even noon yet, so she'd have time to find him later.
 

“Xiaobai—”
 
“Hm?” Bai Tingzhi turned her head at the sound, her shoulder-length hair swaying gently. “What’s wrong?”

 
The girl had one hand in her hair and was pointing at a hair tie on the ground with the other.
 

Bai Tingzhi helped pick it up. As she stood, she noticed a red, starfish-shaped ballpoint pen on the girl’s desk. She remembered that this was something Lin Yunian had bought at a bookstore two days ago after school, and he had also bought her a bright yellow, sponge-covered one. But why was it here now......?
 
He has a girlfriend now? Why didn’t he tell me?

 
Not knowing what Bai Tingzhi was thinking, Sang Rong quietly thanked her, took the hair tie, and tied her hair into a ponytail.
 

Bai Tingzhi, who usually had an empty mind, didn't understand why she was having such strange thoughts today. She returned to her seat, glanced at Lin Yunian's empty desk, and the urgent bell for class rang again.
 
She waited for half the day. The warm yellow twilight brought an indescribable warmth, and there were only a few people left in the empty classroom. The lights were off, and most people had gone to eat, leaving only her, waiting for Lin Yunian, who had disappeared for some unknown reason until the afternoon dismissal.

 
Bai Tingzhi rested her head on her shoulder, staring blankly out the window. The curtain, pulled to one side, let the evening glow in unabashedly, falling gently on her jet-black hair.
 

She kept twirling the ballpoint pen, lost in thought, unsure of what she was pondering.
 
“Xiaobai, we're going to eat first. You should go home early, okay?”

 
“Got it!” Bai Tingzhi snapped out of her trance, stood up from her desk, and waved toward the classroom door.
 

Only the twilight and her remained in the empty classroom. “Where the heck did that guy go......?”
 
TL Notes:

 
[1]"hit the jackpot": The original Chinese is 中奖 (zhòngjiǎng), which literally means "to win a prize" or "to win the lottery." In this context, Bai Tingzhi is being sarcastic. She is using winning a prize to refer to the terrible fate of being genderbended.