“I’ve heard from the system that there would be a ‘serious illness’ in about half a year.”
For this reason, Bai Yao had even saved up money to get a checkup.
As a result, they discovered she had a uterus… and finally learned that the ‘serious illness’ was actually a traffic accident, meant to ‘uninstall’ her original identity.
Uninstalling ‘QQ,’ losing the ability to bear children—even by the strictest standards, that counts as severe injury.
Then she just shoved that matter to the back of her mind, happily dating Qiu Ye, occasionally living together off campus, having the time of her life.
The traffic accident arrived on schedule, unchanged by the fact she had become a woman.
Bai Yao felt the pain in her body, staring blankly at the hospital ceiling, weak.
The rims of her eyes were red, mostly from the pain making her cry, but she still tried to keep a straight face, her pale lips tightly pressed together, trembling slightly, not wanting Qiu Ye to worry.
This guy was more fragile than she imagined.
Earlier he was crying so hard his nose and tears were everywhere.
A Northeast big guy over 6 feet tall—the contrast was heartbreaking.
Qiu Ye stayed by her side, holding the girl’s hand, his voice soft and deep.
“The doctor said they can give you a certificate later, right? Then we can skip the surgery? Gender change.”
Bai Yao’s mood perked up a little.
‘It must be the system’s doing,’ she figured, ‘making the doctor overlook the unreasonable details and mistakenly think she was always a girl.’
“Yeah, they said you can be discharged in ten or so days.”
“I thought I’d have to lie in bed for nine months…”
Qiu Ye rubbed Bai Yao’s head, trying to soothe her.
“No matter how long you’re in bed, I’ll be here.”
“What if I accidentally ended up in a vegetative state?” Bai Yao argued.
“Don’t say such unlucky things.”
Qiu Ye rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“Uh… could you cut my nails?”
Bai Yao suddenly brought up something completely unrelated.
She looked at her nails, which looked like a dog had chewed them, and muttered, “Otherwise my mom will definitely scold me when she comes. I need to cut my hair too…”
“The doctor said you’re a girl, why cut your hair?”
Qiu Ye turned to look around the hospital bed.
It was completely empty—they really did need to prepare for Bai Yao’s stay.
“What should we get? Daily necessities? Though this is my first time too… Should I bring your laptop? Otherwise it’ll be boring. How about I take a taxi back? Get you two sets of pajamas or something.”
Qiu Ye picked up the remote and turned on the TV in the room, finding a variety show to play.
“Watch this show to pass the time. I’ll probably be back in half an hour.”
“Okay.”
As Qiu Ye was about to leave, Bai Yao suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
Qiu Ye turned back.
“What else do you need?”
Bai Yao’s gaze drifted to the TV, her face flushing red at a visible speed.
She stammered and couldn’t speak.
Qiu Ye stared at her, confused.
“I… I need to pee.”
“Well… I’ll go ask the nurse.”
In the end, it was done with the help of Qiu Ye and the nurse.
But Bai Yao was so embarrassed she felt dizzy, her face red enough to drip blood, her eyes shyly drifting to the ceiling.
That area she had never explored herself was now seen clearly by Qiu Ye.
He was surprised to find that Bai Yao was as undeveloped as a little girl.
“Phew—”
Only after Qiu Ye and the nurse left the room did Bai Yao’s continuously swelling embarrassment finally ease.
She lay there feeling utterly hopeless, suddenly realizing she could still accept the physical pain, but she really didn’t want to go through such humiliation again.
‘I’ll have to get used to it eventually… At least for the first few days, I’ll definitely need help.’
Bai Yao’s arms weren’t seriously injured—just a little scraped skin.
She picked up her phone from the pillow.
Even though the screen was cracked, it still worked.
WeChat was full of messages from her parents, plus a few greetings from classmates.
She typed replies one by one, playing with her phone to pass the time.
Not long after, a noisy commotion came from outside the room.
Bai Yao looked up expressionlessly and saw her mother’s anxious face through the observation window.
The next moment, the door was pushed open.
Her mother rushed into the room, stopped by the bed, looked at her weak ‘son’ lying there, and her worried expression softened a little.
“You don’t watch the road when crossing the street! You’re so old! And your hair is so long, like a woman’s!”
Bai Yao turned her head away in annoyance.
But then she heard her mother’s voice, choked with tears: “It’s fine as long as you’re fine. A narrow escape from death brings good fortune.”
Bai Yao pursed her lips.
Without thinking, she raised a hand and touched her mother’s hand.
“It’s okay,” she muttered.
“It’s just that… I might become a girl.”
“A girl?”
Her mother froze, then turned to look at the corridor outside.
In the corridor, her father was talking to the doctor about her ‘son’s’ condition.
Bai Yao followed her gaze but didn’t hear any excitement in her father’s tone.
Soon, her father also entered the room.
He stood to the side with a blank expression, lost in thought.
In fact, Bai Yao’s cold expression was learned from her father.
Bai Yao couldn’t read her father’s attitude, so she glanced at her mother again.
“As long as the person is fine, that’s what matters.”
Her mother clearly didn’t care much whether the child was a daughter or son, but she still sighed in aggravation.
“What do we do now? Is there enough money for the hospital stay? Want me to go pay more?”
Her father frowned.
“What about the driver who caused the accident? Did they pay a deposit?”
“Did they pay a deposit…”
Bai Yao mumbled.
It was her first car accident, so she wasn’t clear on the normal compensation procedures.
“Why worry about them? Let’s pay the bill first. In case we don’t have enough later…”
Her father clearly hesitated.
“Then I’ll go borrow some.”
“Every time I ask you for money, you say you have to borrow it. Where’s your money?”
Her mother questioned indignantly.
“Wasn’t I running a shop a couple years ago…”
“That was six or seven years ago! What about the money from these past few years? Even if you owed money back then, haven’t you paid it off after all these years?” Her mother’s tone was particularly forceful. “Did you give it all to your brothers and sisters again? How many years haven’t you brought any money home?”
“No, why would I give them money…”
Listening to her mother interrogate her father about money, money, money, Bai Yao irritably turned her head and played on her phone.
She didn’t know who was right or wrong, but her father always claimed to be broke.
Even when she asked him for living expenses, he said he had to borrow.
Meanwhile, her mother went out to work, earning three or four thousand a month, and still had to give one thousand five hundred to her for living expenses.
But these past few months, she had been milking the system’s benefits, so she didn’t need to ask her mother for money.
While they were arguing, a nurse’s reminder came from outside.
“Keep it down! If you want to argue, do it outside!”
The room finally quieted down.
Her father silently left the room, probably to call and borrow money.
Her mother sat down and whispered to Bai Yao:
“At a time like this, your dad still hides his money and won’t take it out. Either he gave it to his brothers, or he’s fooling around outside.”
“You should ask him for money more often. If he says he’ll borrow it, let him borrow it. You’re his child—asking for money is only natural. You…”
Bai Yao interrupted her even more irritably, “Mom, I know. Let me lie down for a bit. My body hurts.”
This made her anxious for a long time.
She had thought her parents would be more concerned about her turning into a girl and her injuries, but in the end, it was still the same old crap about money.