I have to say, life at home is quite comfortable.
Even though Qiu Ye’s company was missing, Mother’s care filled the daily routine.
At least I didn’t need to worry about what to eat every day, or clean the place up.
Going downstairs to buy anything I wanted was convenient enough.
The only problem was that Mother nagged and lectured too much.
She often brought outside emotions home, and her face would darken frequently.
Father, on the other hand, was practically invisible.
He left early and came home late on weekdays, and during the New Year he spent every day visiting relatives in the countryside.
On the rare occasions he was home, he stayed silent.
Bai Yao acted as if he didn’t exist in the family either.
Except for eating and using the bathroom, he mostly hid in his own small room.
During the day, he played games with Qiu Ye, eating snacks for lunch, doing pretty much whatever he wanted.
But in the evening, the living room finally stirred.
Bai Yao perked up his ears to listen to the sounds outside.
It seemed like there was someone else besides Mother?
“I’ll play later. My mom’s back.”
If Mother caught her playing games, she’d definitely assume she’d been playing all day and get scolded.
Even though she actually had played all day.
“Alright, alright. It’s almost time to eat.”
“Yeah, yeah… After eating, I have to take a bath.”
Bai Yao let out a soft sigh.
“It’s just your mom, nothing to be embarrassed about?”
“Nonsense. You’d be embarrassed too if your mom bathed you.”
“I wouldn’t. Back in my hometown, I often went to the public bath,” Qiu Ye teased.
“A bunch of people walking around naked in front of you. The bath attendant scrubs your front and back, then lifts your leg to scrub the inner thigh.”
“Ew~ That’s terrifying.”
Bai Yao found the image awkward just thinking about it.
But then again, in places with a bathhouse culture, people are much more tolerant of nudity among the same sex.
Not like Bai Yao—ever since she could bathe herself, she’d never let anyone see her naked.
She rarely even went shirtless.
At most, she’d wear boxers and walk around with her bare legs showing.
“I’m hanging up~ Bye.”
Bai Yao ended the voice call, and the faint smile on her face turned cold.
She gripped the desk and stood up.
“If you’re coming to play, just come—why bring stuff?” she muttered, then went to the door to eavesdrop on the outside.
“Is she… not home right now? Bai Yao? She’s a college freshman now, right? You haven’t seen her in a long time, have you?”
It sounded like an old acquaintance of Mother’s?
Mother clearly didn’t want anyone to know Bai Yao had become a girl.
She was evasive, deliberately saying she wasn’t home.
So Bai Yao instinctively lightened her breathing, as if even the sound of her breath might attract the guest’s attention and reveal that there was a girl in the second bedroom.
She carefully sat back on the bed, afraid the metal frame would make a creaking sound.
But it still let out a faint click from her weight.
She quickly lifted her bottom, too scared to sit down again.
“Have a seat, have a seat. Will you stay for dinner?”
“You know, since we moved up here, I had another daughter.”
‘Another daughter’—as if that’s normal.
“This year… thirteen or fourteen?”
“Your uncertain tone is way too fake! What kind of mother can’t even say her own daughter’s age?”
Besides, Bai Yao was eighteen, almost nineteen.
Pretending to be a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old newly developed girl was a bit of a stretch!
Bai Yao looked down at her flat chest.
Maybe it wasn’t impossible?
She did have a B cup, but with the thick winter dress and an outer coat, it looked utterly average.
Even though she was 165 cm tall, it was reasonable for middle school girls nowadays to be tall and well-nourished, right?
Besides, her face and features still looked quite childish; she was often mistaken for a high schooler.
“You’ve only been living up here for nineteen years, right?”
“Exactly. I was already pregnant back then.”
Mother was lying through her teeth, insisting Bai Yao was only thirteen or fourteen.
If she said she was a year older, it would be harder to explain.
Bai Yao eavesdropped on the conversation, preparing to collude with Mother.
But suddenly, the doorknob twisted with a click but didn’t open.
Mother gently knocked from outside.
Bai Yao quickly unlocked the door.
Mother was visibly nervous—just like Bai Yao, her eyes darted around when she was guilty.
She slipped into the room, quickly closed the door, and leaned close to Bai Yao, whispering, “An old aunt from our hometown came to visit.”
“The one whose house you used to go to play on the computer when you were little?”
“Oh, I think I vaguely remember? There was an older sister, chubby, who was really nice to me. She liked to play Dancing Craze. I used to stand behind her and watch.”
Mother rehearsed the story with Bai Yao: “You’ll say you’re the younger sister, thirteen or fourteen.”
“Mm…”
Bai Yao asked nervously, “Won’t they see through it?”
“Anyway, you don’t look that old.”
Bai Yao’s eyelid twitched.
She felt like Mother was teasing her bust size.
B cup was already average, okay!
It only looked small because she had a small frame and a small underbust circumference!
The actual breast volume wasn’t that much!
Without realizing it, she had started caring about her own bust size too.
Mother glanced at the room with the windows tightly shut and rolled her eyes.
“You’ve turned a girl’s room into a haunted house. Don’t you know to open the windows for air? And the curtains are drawn so tight.”
Here she goes again.
“What did you eat for lunch?” “The Sha County noodles downstairs.”
“Okay. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready. Don’t make me keep yelling.”
With the cover story set, Mother left her daughter’s room to entertain the guests and prepare dinner.
Bai Yao would rather hide, but if she didn’t show up for dinner, wouldn’t that seem too suspicious?
Besides, she had turned into a full-fledged girl now.
There was no way the aunt, who hadn’t seen her in nineteen years, would recognize her, right?
“Time to eat!”
After waiting about an hour, Bai Yao finally heard Mother’s call.
She tidied herself up, tied her hair into childish double pigtails to look younger, and obediently walked out of the room.
Though it had been a long time, Bai Yao recognized the aunt at a glance.
Many years brought huge changes to children, but adults seemed to stay exactly the same.
“Already this tall at fourteen?” the aunt said with a smile, looking at Bai Yao.
“You’re so pretty~ You look a lot like your older brother.”
Do they really look that alike?
Her face had been system-beautified several times.
Bai Yao kept a straight face, sat down at the dining table, and remained silent and restrained.
“She broke her leg in a car accident just before the holiday,” Mother explained casually.
“Not too serious. She won’t even need the crutch after a while.”
A fracture wasn’t serious, but it had turned her son into a daughter.
“Does insurance cover that?”
“I think the driver’s insurance will pay? I’m not sure either.”
Bai Yao pricked up her ears listening to the aunt and Mother’s conversation, holding her bowl and shoveling rice.
“Just like her brother when he was little—doesn’t talk much.”
The aunt looked at Bai Yao and asked with a smile, “How’s her brother now? Has he become more outgoing? Does he have a girlfriend?”
“Her brother…”
Mother sighed in frustration.
“No girlfriend, but he’s got a boyfriend. They’d sneak around right under her nose, all lovey-dovey.”