Then I Couldn't Keep Talking

She pushed open the door.

Chen De tossed her backpack onto the floor.

With just the right force and angle, the backpack slid half a meter before stopping beside the shoe cabinet.

The zipper sprang open, and Qubi rolled out, tumbling twice across the floor before regaining its footing.

"Can't you treat your mode of transportation a little more gently?"

"You're a cat, not a mode of transportation."

"I got jostled around in that backpack all the way home. My spine's practically broken."

"Cats have spines?"

"That question insults the entire class of Mammalia."

Chen De couldn't be bothered with it.

After changing into slippers, she collapsed onto the couch like a pile of mush.

Face down.

Limbs spread wide.

The standard posture of an office drone getting off work.

Even though she was only seventeen.

Qubi hopped onto the coffee table, sat down, and washed its face with a paw.

"How was it?"

"Being a transfer student for the first time."

Chen De's voice was muffled by the couch cushion.

"It was awful."

"Be specific."

"Why had I never noticed they were such chatterboxes before?"

Chen De rolled over and stared up at the ceiling.

"When I was Chen De, I didn't even say fifty sentences in an entire day."

"Today, as Su Xi, I answered the question 'How tall are you?' twenty times alone."

"Maybe because you used to be a guy."

"...That's true."

Chen De closed her eyes.

"Socializing between guys takes three sentences."

"'Going to eat?', 'Want to play games?', and 'Let me copy your homework.'"

"Simple, efficient, no nonsense."

"And socializing between girls?"

"Endless."

Chen De covered her eyes with an arm.

"Today, people asked me about my height, weight, hair color, eye color, skincare products, whether I had a boyfriend, what type I liked, my zodiac sign, and blood type."

"Someone even asked what shampoo I used."

"Shampoo."

"The 28.9-yuan shampoo you bought. I was too embarrassed to say it out loud."

Qubi flicked its tail.

"That shampoo has great value for money."

"Good value and not being embarrassing to mention are two different things."

Chen De sighed.

She was exhausted in both body and mind.

Physically, she was tired because her 1.53-meter legs had to cover the same distance as people with normal strides, doubling her step count.

Mentally, she was tired because every sentence had to go through her head first, making sure it wouldn't reveal traces of Chen De.

Being a person was hard.

Being a woman was even harder.

Being a woman who had become one from a man was harder still.

The phone on the coffee table buzzed twice.

Chen De opened her eyes.

It was her spare phone.

Same SIM card, same number.

It was just that this number had supposedly "gone abroad."

There were only a few contacts on it.

The entire contact list had barely over twenty people.

Five of them were customer service reps from food delivery platforms.

Who would be messaging her now?

Chen De reached over and picked up the phone.

She unlocked it.

Sure enough.

Jiang Ping.

That old bastard was bombarding her with texts.

She scrolled down the message list. There were more than a dozen messages packed together.

"Dezi."

"You there?"

"Are you there?"

"Did you arrive yet?"

"What time is it over there?"

"What's the time difference again?"

"Did you delete me?"

"No, you didn't. I can still see your Moments."

"Even though there's nothing on your Moments."

"Just like when you were here."

"Dezi?"

"Chen De?"

"If you're dead, blink."

"Forget it. You're probably dealing with jet lag."

Chen De stared at the screen for five seconds.

Fourteen messages.

The gaps between them ranged from three minutes to half an hour.

He had been sending them from after school until now.

Back then, at this rate, the most Jiang Ping would send her was one message: "Dezi, cafeteria?" Whether she replied or not was up to her.

Now he had suddenly sent fourteen in a row.

People were just like that.

When someone was around, they took it for granted.

Only after they were gone did they start trying to make their presence felt.

Qubi leaned over and glanced at the screen.

"Fourteen messages. Pretty sincere."

"Shut up."

Chen De typed two words.

"Not there."

She sent it.

Three seconds later.

The phone buzzed.

"Holy shit, you're alive?!"

Chen De typed expressionlessly.

"I went abroad, not died."

"You leaving was barely any different from dying. You didn't even say goodbye."

"I did."

"A sudden message and then disappearing completely counts as saying goodbye?"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"You couldn't tell me in person?"

Chen De stared at that line.

How could she tell him in person?

Changing her appearance had been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Overnight, she had shrunk from 1.6 meters to 1.5.

Was she supposed to show up in front of him with this loli face and tell him she was Chen De?

There had to be a limit to bullshit.

"Not enough time."

Chen De replied with four words.

"What bullshit? You told me a day in advance. The night before yesterday, you were already unreachable."

"My phone died."

"What about your power bank?"

"It died too."

"Did your house lose power?"

"Yeah."

"If you're going to lie, at least do it professionally."

Chen De's mouth twitched.

Talking to someone like this was exhausting.

Every lie had to be more convincing than the last, and she had to patch it up faster each time.

"Anyway, I've arrived. I'm fine. Don't worry."

Chen De decided to end the conversation with that all-purpose line.

The phone buzzed again.

"Who said I was worried? I was just afraid you'd die somewhere and no one would collect your body."

"Thanks for cursing me."

"You're welcome."

Then, a few seconds later.

Another message arrived.

"Oh, right. After you left, a transfer student came to our class."

Chen De's fingers froze.

"Oh?"

"A girl with silver-gray hair. She looks pretty cool."

"Just a little short."

Chen De's temples began to throb.

"How short?"

"I'd say just over 1.5 meters? Maybe 1.53? Anyway, she's pretty tiny."

1.53 meters.

His estimate was rather accurate.

Chen De took a deep breath.

"And?"

"Nothing else. Just telling you."

Chen De stared at the last line.

Why were you telling me this?

Why were you reporting Su Xi's business to Chen De?

Was there a bug somewhere in this plot?

Qubi crouched on the coffee table, its emerald-green eyes fixed on her phone screen.

"He seems pretty interested in Su Xi."

"He's like that with everyone."

"Really? Then did he ever send you fourteen messages before?"

Chen De fell silent.

There really wasn't.

Back when Chen De didn't reply, Jiang Ping would at most follow up with, "Dead?" Then he'd go about his business.

And now?

Fourteen messages.

He'd even asked, "How many hours was the time difference again?"

So people became more valuable once they went abroad, huh?

Chen De tossed his phone to the other end of the sofa.

"I'm done talking."

"You're not replying anymore?" Qubi asked.

"Reply with what? If we keep talking, he'll start asking which school I'm at."

"And then?"

"Then I won't be able to keep talking."

Chen De rolled over and buried his face in a cushion.

"Do you know what my situation is right now?"

"What?"

"During the day, I'm Su Xi sitting beside him. At night, I'm Chen De messaging him."

"My left hand is fighting my right hand, and both sides are me."

"That's not fighting."

Qubi tilted its head.

"That's dissociative identity disorder."

"Thanks for the diagnosis."

Chen De replied in a muffled voice.

The living room fell quiet for a few seconds.

Then the phone vibrated again.

Chen De didn't move.

It vibrated again.

He still didn't move.

A third time.

Irritated, Chen De snatched up the phone.

Two new messages were on the screen.

"By the way, that transfer student"

"She's sitting in the seat beside where you used to sit"

Chen De stared at the words.

His expression turned a little strange.

She slowly typed four words.

"Oh, I know."

Sent.

Then she turned off the screen and set the phone on the coffee table.

Qubi watched her.

"Your expression is very strange."

"I know."

"Do you need psychological counseling?"

"You just need to shut up."

Taking the hint, Qubi jumped off the coffee table and curled up in a corner.

Chen De lay on the sofa, staring at the ceiling.

Outside, the sky had completely darkened.

The phone was quiet.

The living room was quiet too.

Only the clock on the wall kept ticking.

Ticktock. Ticktock.

She suddenly felt that the room was much bigger than before.

Probably because she had become smaller.

Qubi's voice came from the corner.

"Chen De."

"Yeah."

"There's a Lesser Calamity tonight."

"Where?"

"The old district, near an abandoned factory."

Chen De sat up from the sofa.

He casually threw on a coat.

"Let's go."

"Not resting first?"

"No need."

Chen De stood and walked to the door.

He glanced back at the dark phone on the coffee table.

"Not like I have anything better to do."

She pushed open the door.

The night wind rushed in.

Qubi leaped onto her shoulder.

P.S. I wrote this ten days ago. If you're asking why this part looks so much like a gender-bender marriage story, I want to ask too.