"B-but, Teacher Liu, it's all girls over there. If I go..." Su Yuan hesitated, worried about making a bad impression. Besides, she was a grown man—what was she doing in a sea of girls? Even though her body had changed, she couldn't bring herself to "mess around" like that.
What about her dignity? If she went along with the flow so easily, how could she face the ** she had lost?
There was no doubt that a harsh environment could have a profoundly negative effect on people. But that didn't mean it affected everyone. As long as you didn't give up on yourself or willingly sink into despair, and held firm to your convictions, you could emerge from the mud unstained. Even when outside forces made humanity's insignificance painfully clear, you couldn't just surrender.
That was the bare minimum. Su Yuan felt that principles were never something you could compromise.
She was locked in an inner struggle. Just as she steeled herself to break through her inhibitions and loudly declare that she wouldn't bow to fate, Teacher Liu gave her a meaningful look. "Come along." She didn't even give Su Yuan a chance to say anything more.
Well, she'd spent too long working up her courage. Teacher Liu's airy little remark was like a flying embroidery needle, effortlessly popping the enormous balloon Su Yuan had inflated with the power of her thoughts.
With the balloon burst, she temporarily gave up on shouting out a rallying cry for the indomitable spirit of the masses.
What was dignity, anyway? Could you eat it?
Teacher Liu walked off. Su Yuan was caught in a dilemma. She looked around, but there was nothing for it. She had to grit her teeth and follow. She couldn't just stand there.
When the girls saw Teacher Liu bring Su Yuan over, they erupted in cheers. Some were surprised to see her, while others were genuinely happy she'd come.
Only Lu Wei curled her lip and gave a disdainful snort. Seeing Su Yuan's soft curves, she muttered enviously, "It's so weird for a guy to look like that."
The boys jogged back around the field and saw Su Yuan doing basic exercises with the girls. She didn't have to "warm up" by running laps, and they looked on with undisguised envy. "That's how it ought to be!!"
She'd made it deep into enemy territory. Impressive.
The boys' and girls' physical education classes were very different, but the semester had only just begun, and the specialized electives hadn't started yet. For now, they were all doing basic exercises.
As a result, the girls' class was clearly much easier than the boys'. They did group warm-ups for about ten minutes, then jogged two laps around the field. After that, Teacher Liu announced that they were free to do as they pleased.
Meanwhile, after Teacher Gao had worked the boys like dogs, he started teaching them boxing techniques. Su Yuan eagerly joined in. Without that soft, weak feeling, her movements looked quite convincing.
Teacher Gao taught them three or four routines. Once he saw that everyone had learned them, he nodded and announced that they were free to go.
Before leaving, he told them, "Students, the school swimming pool is now open. Before mid-October, everyone must complete at least three swimming sessions at the school pool during their free time. Each session must last at least half an hour. Be warned: if you haven't met the requirement before the pool closes, your physical education grade will be docked by twenty percent. Plan accordingly, and don't miss the deadline."
As expected, the "homework" announcement was met with a chorus of groans.
The students who couldn't swim very well were in for a rough time.
Teacher Gao seemed quite pleased with their reaction. Smiling broadly, he twirled his whistle and walked away.
As expected, nothing was more enjoyable than watching other people suffer.
"We're going to the pool! We can openly check out the girls in their swimsuits." Fang Kai came over, looking excited. Seeing Su Yuan distracted, he patted her on the shoulder. "Hey, you just went over to the powder-puff crowd. How was it?"
Su Yuan rolled her eyes and answered calmly, "Want to go over there next time instead?"
Fang Kai looked at her as if she were an idiot. "No way. With my manly image, they'd never let me go over there. If I tried, their Teacher Liu would flatten me with one slap."
"At least you know your place." Gao Jun came over to join in.
"Get lost!" Fang Kai frowned in annoyance. "Anyway, didn't Old Gao just say the pool's open? Why don't we go back to the dorm and change, then make a beeline for the pool?"
"Sounds like a great idea," Gao Jun said. The other boys with Su Yuan also agreed.
Ji Yehao asked, "Su Yuan, coming with us?"
"I'll pass." Su Yuan shook her head. "If you guys go swimming with Fang Kai, could you swipe my card for me while you're at it?"
"What, you're not going?" Fang Kai asked in surprise.
Su Yuan silently nodded. She'd been a proper non-swimmer before, and it was only last year that she'd learned a little at the school pool. She'd been embarrassed, so she'd only gone when it was quiet.
If she practiced again this year, she might finally get the hang of it. But the changes to her body meant she didn't dare openly head for the swimming pool. Boys' swimwear could hardly be called modest: a cap and a pair of trunks, with nothing else to cover them. There was no way to hide her increasingly prominent chest.
And if she pretended to be a girl at the pool, it would be incredibly awkward if someone she knew saw her.
So Su Yuan decided to take advantage of a loophole in the school's rules and have someone else swipe her card!
It was a tried-and-true method: between the showers and the pool, there was a teacher who collected students' cards. You could hand over someone else's card, walk around the pool and back to the showers, then go through the same process again and hand over your own card.
If the teacher didn't look too closely, there was a good chance it would work. Even if you got caught, you'd only get a scolding. When the time came, you could pick your card up at the designated spot—and you were allowed to pick up someone else's card.
Fang Kai was surprised that Su Yuan didn't want to go to the pool and check out the girls. He also thought she was wasting a great opportunity.
Seriously, how could she pass up a chance like this? It was ridiculous!
Appetite and lust were human nature! Even Confucius had said so.
"Sure, no problem!" Fang Kai said carelessly, taking the task on himself.
"Thanks, Fang Kai!"
After they returned to the dorm, Su Yuan watched them gather their things and head for the pool in a big group. With mixed feelings, she rubbed her nose and gazed after them until they disappeared at the end of the corridor. Then she sat down at the computer and started browsing the web.
The room fell quiet, peaceful as a world apart, filled with a beautiful stillness.
Time passed. The noisy group returned, then they all went to eat. After resting for a while, they started their afternoon classes.
Day after day passed, with sunrises and sunsets, full moons and waning moons, year after year.
It was late at night. The bright moon hung overhead like a veil draped over the treetops, breathtakingly beautiful.
Su Yuan watched a video intently, hardly blinking. Suddenly realizing how late it was, she startled and called out without looking up, "Ye Hao, Gao Jun, you two shower first. Hurry up—it's already eleven!"
After some commotion, it was half past eleven before Su Yuan finally took her clothes out of the wardrobe. She turned off the dorm lights as well and went into the bathroom.
Cool water poured from the high showerhead. Droplets pattered against her body, splashing into ripples. Su Yuan's hair had grown quite long over the summer break without a trim. The hair at her temples now covered her ears, and her bangs obscured most of her eyes.
In the mirror, her flawless body grew even more delicate beneath the streams of water. Her skin was smooth and tender, her breasts full. The suggestive, intimate atmosphere gradually thickened in the cramped space.
Su Yuan noticed that her chest seemed to have grown a little more prominent than it had the day before.
When she came out of the bathroom, she put Ji Yehao's and Gao Jun's laundry into the bucket with her own, then carried it to the laundry room on the first floor. She stared blankly at the washing machine as it spun.
It was almost midnight. The corner of the hallway was silent, with only the monotonous hum of the drum to be heard. The dull noise was irritating, adding a hint of commotion to the peaceful surroundings.
Su Yuan leaned against the wall and let out a huge yawn. Then she saw the door of a dorm across from the laundry room open, and a guy came out shirtless, wearing only a pair of shorts.
He smiled at Su Yuan, then went about using the other washing machine.
They lived in the same building, but hadn't crossed paths often, let alone gotten to know each other.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but Su Yuan had the feeling that his gaze kept wandering over her.
It wasn't her imagination!
"Hey, why do you keep looking at me? Is there something on my face?"
The guy shook his head. He seemed to realize he'd been rude and apologized. "Sorry for staring earlier. But has your friend ever told you something?"
"What?"
"You're really pretty..." The guy smiled faintly.
Su Yuan was wearing a loose top, and only a pair of underwear beneath it. The oversized shirt reached down to the middle of her thighs, making it look at first glance as if she had nothing on beneath it but her bare legs. Combined with her delicate features and somewhat long hair, she really did look quite pretty.
"Pretty?" Su Yuan froze, then felt a wave of discomfort well up inside her.
Pretty? When had she, Su, ever been described as pretty? To her, it wasn't a compliment. Who called a "guy" pretty? It was just another way of saying she wasn't manly enough!
"Pretty" was even more cutting than "girly"! She'd tried adjusting her mindset and had made some progress, but changing her outlook wasn't something she could do overnight.
The guy didn't seem to notice Su Yuan was unhappy and kept chatting with her. Su Yuan wasn't in the mood, and gave him halfhearted replies. During their brief conversation, she learned that he was a student in Pharmaceutical Engineering Class Three, named Ling Chendong.
"Ling Chendong? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere."
But whoever he was, she was tired. She yawned and couldn't be bothered to engage. She just wanted the laundry to finish so she could go back to bed.
Seeing that she didn't seem interested in talking, Ling Chendong shrugged, feeling rather bored himself. It was past midnight, so she probably wasn't very alert.
Just then, Su Yuan's laundry finished. She smiled faintly at him. "I'll head back first." She took the clothes from the washing machine, put them in the bucket, and left.
Watching her walk away, Ling Chendong smiled and shook his head. He wasn't usually much of a chatterbox, but for some reason he'd said more than usual tonight. He hadn't expected a guy like that to live in the same building. Now that he'd seen her, she was almost too cute.
It wasn't that Ling Chendong had developed any particular interest in Su Yuan. Most people simply found it hard to resist cute things. They might playfully bother a cute little animal or poke a baby's cheek; it was only human nature.
Or perhaps it was that Su Yuan, dressed as a boy but with her gender only half-concealed, had a certain air about her that came from the ambiguity.
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