Chapter Eight
By the time Lin Feng woke up, it was already nine o’clock in the morning. She rubbed her eyes and slowly slid down from the large bed, running her fingers through her hair, which was as smooth as silk and as white as snow. She reached below and found nothing there.
Once her muddled mind regained clarity, she furrowed her brow and withdrew her hand. Even if she had turned back into a man, would that man named Lin Jianye still recognize her? It was truly absurd.
Thinking this, Lin Feng went to the bathroom to wash up at a leisurely pace. On the dining table, an upside-down bowl concealed a fried egg; lifting the bowl revealed a note that read, “Mom, I’ve gone to school. (^_^)”
Today was a school day. Lin Ji, as always, had woken up by herself, made breakfast, and prepared a portion for Lin Feng as well.
Lin Feng sat down, lifted the bowl, and began to eat the fried egg with chopsticks. However, her mind was not on the egg but rather on the many short videos she had scrolled through yesterday. Ever since a year ago, she had seen these videos, glorifying the demoness, Ji Ma, as if she were a savior.
Lin Feng felt that this might be a signal from the past regarding the witch-hunting atmosphere… perhaps she should be bolder?
While absentmindedly eating the egg cooked by Lin Ji, which was neither too salty nor bland, its golden color was perfect without being burnt, she suddenly noticed that the lights went out.
Lin Feng stood up, walked to the door, flipped the switch on and off to confirm that there was a power outage. Checking her phone, she saw a bill of over two hundred for unpaid charges. Looking around her dimly lit home, she opened her contacts and clicked on the group chat named “Dog Lovers.”
Many people had sent her DMs, all of them infatuated admirers, sending long messages with greetings like “Good morning.” Habitually, she marked them all as read, and quickly skimmed through to find someone threatening to send out information about her being hungry or something to everyone around her.
Lin Feng felt no waves of emotion. Instead, she began to take screenshots, preparing to use them as material for a sob story. Her golden eyes lazily scanned the screen as her mind whirled, contemplating how to compose a tear-jerking little essay.
The last photo of her bruised knee from hitting the bed might also come in handy; she could just say that the other party was a scumbag who pursued her unsuccessfully.
Forget it. That photo of Lin Ji, which looked much like her demoness mother, should appear less frequently on the internet.
After taking the screenshots, Lin Feng continued to check the messages from her admirers. Each was an empty promise or just trying to strike up a conversation with questions like “Where do you work?” or “Where is your hometown?”
“Gifts, gifts, why are there no gifts at all?”
Lin Feng frowned and jotted down a few pitiful lines, preparing to write a little essay for her moments, then switch to a secondary account to post it online.
But when she opened her moments, she saw a photo beneath a post from nine days ago that made her spine chill.
In the background was a neon-lit nightclub, with Lin Feng, black-haired and black-eyed, supporting a drunken man, both laughing and talking together. There were some ambiguous gestures, like the man’s hand being very close to her backside; her youthful smile under the lights seemed so lewd, like a public bus where one could board for just a minimal cost.
“Looks like I’ve been found out.”
Lin Feng’s small eyes, still lazily squinted, widened slightly as she saw the last photo. She was holding her bag, wearing white stockings, returning to her neighborhood, which looked very familiar.
A chill rippled through her back, as if an ice block had been thrown at her, making her shudder.
I must move, I really have to move.
She thought, lifting her head to glance at her dim home.
Now she couldn’t even afford her electricity bill; what would Lin Ji see when she came home? A dark house…
Without a second thought, Lin Feng made a phone call, her bland expression suddenly breaking into a big smile:
“Hello, is this Mr. Hu?”
“Ahaha, it’s unavoidable. I’m so short and small…”
“I still need to trouble Mr. Hu…”
“What do you want to see? Mr. Hu, really, you haven’t lost your childlike heart.”
Lin Feng forced a smile, lifting her nightgown slightly,
holding out a card to her person, sending it over with a beaming grin, “Mr. Hu, how’s my figure? Am I good enough?”
“Ahem, thank you for your guidance, I’ll be on shortly,” Lin Feng said, “I’m in a bit of trouble, can’t even pay my electricity bill, and the child I picked up is also starving.”
A five hundred yuan red envelope arrived.
Lin Feng smiled, saying, “Mr. Hu is generous.”
Afterward, Lin Feng wanted to hang up the phone, but Mr. Hu kept talking, and by the time she finally managed to end the call, the conversation had lasted twenty minutes.
As soon as Lin Feng hung up, she cursed, “Damn it! In the past, I could have squished you with my pinky finger!”
Thinking back, those “madams” used to rack their brains to introduce girls to her. Now…
The more Lin Feng thought about it, the angrier she got. Just as she was about to smash her phone, poverty brought her back to her senses. Taking deep breaths, she said, “Disgusting, so disgusting! &*%￥#@#.”
After muttering a few curse words, Lin Feng took a deep breath, leaned against the wall, and calmed down. She opened her phone, paid the 250 yuan electricity bill, and the moment the payment was successful, lights illuminated the dark house.
Lin Feng then transferred 180 yuan to Lin Ji’s lunch and after-school care accounts, successfully clearing the negative balance, and ordered groceries through an app. She dyed her hair black with hair dye, then stood in front of the mirror, using her index and ring fingers to press down her long eyelashes as she put on black contact lenses.
After heading out to the community center to pick up rice and oil, she took a shower and wrote a note, leaving it on the table. With a made-up appearance, she grabbed the remaining 50 yuan and left, taking the subway towards the unknown…
Yucai Primary School.
As the bell rang, the elementary school students flew out of the transparent classrooms like birds, the transparent classrooms designed to prevent nearsightedness, allowing children to grow healthily in natural light.
Lin Ji ran quickly, finding her friend, Xiaopang, and tapped him on the shoulder, saying, “Hey, do you want to hang out after school tonight?”
School ends at five o’clock, giving the kids at least an hour of playtime before their parents come to pick them up.
Xiaopang jumped in surprise, saying, “I—I’ve got something on tonight.”
“I’ve got something on, too.” Lin Ji mimicked his voice, pulling a funny face, “You’re just like an adult, such a busy person. All our friends are here, you’re the only one missing. Are you coming or not?”
As soon as she finished speaking, a few girls who were playing nearby walked by, waving at Lin Ji: “Lin Ji! Want to go eat with us?”
“No thanks, I want to encourage Xiaopang to exercise.”
The little girls chatted loudly: “Okay, let’s definitely do it next time.”
“Bye!”
“Bye!”
They left, imitating the adult waving gestures they had seen on TV.
“I really have something to do.” Xiaopang fiddled with the cash in his pocket, saying, “How about I treat you to something? We can continue playing tomorrow.”
“Never mind, I finally managed to get a day off from the canteen, so there’s no need for you to treat me. Bye!” Lin Ji waved goodbye as she spoke.
“Hey, I’ll treat you to Zhongshan ice cream!”
But Lin Ji didn’t look back and walked away.
