Chapter 143: Awkward
“Wait, wait, wait! You know her?!” Huo Ningning was stunned, completely caught off guard. This beautiful older woman knew the little boy she had just met?
“Um, miss, even if you two are… involved… isn’t he a bit young…?”
“Hey, what are you thinking?”
Huo Ningning, true to her introverted nature, always jumped to the most outlandish conclusions.
Tang Yumeng wanted to smack her upside the head to knock some sense into her.
Yu Linna, hiding her face in her hands, wished she could disappear. She knew Huo Ningning had a wild imagination, but this was ridiculous. She wanted to pretend she didn’t know her.
“Anyway, why are you dressed like this? And all bundled up?”
Tang Yumeng sighed, looking at Yu Linna, her face mostly hidden by the hoodie. Why would a perfectly normal girl dress up as a boy? What was the point? Was it just to pick up girls?
She studied Huo Ningning, the bespectacled girl. She was quite attractive, her blushing cheeks adding to her charm. Aside from her introverted personality, there wasn’t much to fault.
Could Yu Linna be playing with her feelings…?
Tang Yumeng’s eyes widened in surprise.
“No!” Yu Linna exclaimed, her face flushing, sensing Tang Yumeng’s thoughts.
Tang Yumeng sat down next to her, studying her closely. Yu Linna, in her disguise, looked surprisingly convincing. Though still somewhat… androgynous… if you didn’t look too closely, you wouldn’t think she was a girl. The outfit, a decent brand, certainly helped. Clothes make the man, as they say.
Yu Linna’s usual attire was incredibly frumpy: either a black tracksuit or faded jeans paired with clothes she had worn since she was eleven or twelve. She was presentable only in her school uniform.
“Actually, you look quite good. You have good taste.”
“Really?”
“Well, the clothes are nice, but they don’t suit you. This style… it would look better on your younger brother.”
Her implication was clear: Yu Linna looked better in women’s clothing.
Yu Linna, though a girl, felt a pang of disappointment. She still had memories of being a boy, albeit only until the age of ten.
“Miss, who are you? How do you know Ye Lin? And stop ignoring me!”
Huo Ningning, blushing, finally spoke up, demanding attention, though her voice was still soft.
“I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Tang Yumeng, an older… acquaintance of… this little guy.”
“I’m Huo Ningning, a senior at First Municipal High School. I’ll be a university student next semester.”
Tang Yumeng observed Huo Ningning, the introverted yet attractive girl. She would have an advantage in the entertainment industry. And what had she called Yu Linna? Ye Lin? This girl was really committed to her deception…
“Lin… never mind. What are you doing? She doesn’t know, does she?”
Tang Yumeng sighed, placing her hand on Yu Linna’s flat chest. Though small, it was still a girl’s chest, the soft feeling undeniable.
Yu Linna’s face instantly turned crimson.
“Senior Yumeng, what… what are you doing…?”
“If you were truly flat-chested, it would be one thing, but you’re clearly…”
“Stop touching me!”
Being groped, even by a girl, was embarrassing.
“Nice… though a bit small.”
“Don’t call me small!”
Damn it! Why comment on her chest size?! And call her small?!
As a girl, being judged like this was humiliating!
It was like telling a boy he was… small.
Huo Ningning, watching in stunned silence, her face burning, as Tang Yumeng fondled Yu Linna’s chest, Yu Linna’s flustered reaction…
“Well, Miss Huo, enjoying the show?”
“Eh… what… what are you doing?! Why are you touching her there?!”
“I mean, are you blind? This little guy is clearly a girl.”
“What?!”
Huo Ningning was even more confused now.
She looked at Yu Linna, her face flushed, her head bowed, her figure indeed too slender for a boy, her delicate hands and rosy lips…
“A girl?”
“Yes.”
Tang Yumeng sighed. If she hadn’t said anything, Huo Ningning would have remained clueless.
“I… I didn’t mean to…”
Yu Linna, her disguise exposed, couldn’t keep up the act any longer. This outing had taken an unexpected turn. In Tang Yumeng’s eyes, she was now a deceiver, preying on innocent girls.
Huo Ningning’s mind raced. The little boy she had spent the afternoon with… was a girl? She shouldn’t have called him “little shota”; she should have called her “little loli.” This was getting confusing.
And that voice… it had sounded familiar.
Where had she heard it before?
…
Huo Ningning suddenly realized something.
“Could it be… Linna?”
She blurted out the name, a sudden realization. That voice… she had only ever heard it from one person: Yu Linna!
Yu Linna wanted to cry.
“I… I really didn’t mean to…” she repeated, taking off her hoodie, revealing her hair, the beautiful blonde locks tied back, framing her delicate features, her bright blue eyes captivating.
As she removed the hoodie, everyone in the restaurant turned to look, the cute boy transforming into a beautiful girl. All eyes were on her, captivated by her beauty. Such a lovely girl, so adorable, they wanted to hug her, to protect her.
Huo Ningning, looking at the familiar face, despite the men’s clothing, knew it was Yu Linna.
“Linna, apologize.”
Tang Yumeng nudged her head, prompting her to apologize.
Deceiving someone was wrong, and having been caught red-handed by Tang Yumeng, who clearly believed she was playing with Huo Ningning’s feelings, she had to apologize.
“Ning… Ningning… I’m sorry…”
Apologizing to someone she disliked was painful, but she had been the one to deceive her.
“No, it’s okay, Linna… though I’m quite surprised…”
Huo Ningning was indeed surprised. The boy she had spent the afternoon with was actually her classmate, Yu Linna. The revelation was a bit much to process. But she was also secretly delighted. She had never been able to ask Yu Linna out before, and now, she had spent an entire afternoon with her. She wasn’t angry; she was happy.
“Besides, spending time with you today… it felt like when we were younger. I’m happy. You don’t have to apologize.”
The afternoon with Yu Linna had felt like a return to her carefree childhood, a time when she had a best friend, a time of pure joy.
“Hmm?”
Yu Linna was taken aback. What did she mean?
Fragments of memories surfaced, fleeting images of playing with someone when she was very young.
Had she… had friends before?
She rarely dwelled on her past, often suppressing those memories. Her childhood wasn’t a pleasant one; she preferred not to remember.
But Huo Ningning’s words had triggered something.
“Ah, sorry, forget what I said.”
Huo Ningning, realizing her slip-up, quickly backtracked, but Yu Linna couldn’t ignore it.
“Ningning, what did you mean?”
“…”
“Did I know you when I was younger?”
Huo Ningning clenched her hands, gripping her clothes, biting her lip to stifle a sound, desperate to maintain her composure.
Tang Yumeng hadn’t expected this turn of events. Seeing Yu Linna’s surprise, her gaze towards Huo Ningning shifted. She had initially assumed Yu Linna was deceiving Huo Ningning, but it seemed they had known each other before?
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“…”
“Have I met you before?”
Huo Ningning remained silent, pushing her chair back and running out of the restaurant, disappearing into the crowd. Yu Linna stared after her, a familiar figure overlapping with Huo Ningning in her memory, yet she couldn’t quite grasp it.
Huo Ningning had always been eager to get close to her. If they had known each other before, it would explain her persistence, a connection Yu Linna had simply forgotten.
After all, she couldn’t remember much of her past, unlike Huo Ningning, who seemed to have a remarkable memory. Having moved from city to city throughout her childhood, it was impossible for Yu Linna to remember everyone.
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