Maybe it was the glucose he’d gotten after fainting—or the bread he managed to scarf down—but after resuming the afternoon training, Ning Chu surprisingly didn’t pass out again.
Still, it was ridiculous. He was a grown man, and yet his physical condition couldn’t even compare to these delicate-looking girls.
After what felt like an eternity, the instructor finally gave the noon dismissal order. Ning Chu’s whole body instantly relaxed. His knees buckled, and he plopped straight down onto the ground.
“So tired…”
He ripped off his cap, fanning himself furiously and tugging at his collar as he tried to cool down. His breathing was shallow and ragged.
“I’m completely drenched.”
Under the blazing summer sun, the training uniform—long sleeves, long pants, and a mandatory cap—had completely soaked through with sweat.
“Ning Chu!”
He’d barely had a minute of peace when Zhang Shaoqing came trotting over, grinning as he opened his mouth to speak—only to pause and sniff the air.
“What's that smell? Kinda nice.”Alarms blared in Ning Chu’s head. His eyes narrowed as he quickly diverted the topic: “What do you want?”
“Didn’t we say we’d go crash Wen Yang’s lunch date? Time to go!”
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to squeeze into the cafeteria? That you weren’t going?”
Zhang Shaoqing scratched his head. He had spent a good part of the morning digging for intel and had just confirmed that Wen Yang’s so-called girlfriend, Ling Ling, was none other than his own childhood friend and next-door neighbor.
After a moment’s hesitation, he leaned in, lowered his voice, and whispered, “Actually, Wen Yang’s girlfriend… she grew up with me.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“I like Ling Ling.”
Yep. Called it.
Zhang Shaoqing’s descent into villainy had always started with Ling Ling giving herself away.
Ning Chu stared straight into his eyes, easily spotting the deep possessiveness that smoldered in the other boy’s gaze.
“Don’t worry. They’ve only been together a few days. At most, they’ve just held hands.”
Zhang Shaoqing visibly relaxed at the reassurance.
“If you like her so much, why not confess?”
Zhang Shaoqing gave a bitter smile. “She sees me as a brother. And you know what they say—‘Don’t shit where you eat.’ I—”
“You’re an idiot,” Ning Chu cut him off. “Don’t give away what you could have for yourself.”
After a few minutes of rest, Ning Chu felt a little better. He stretched his sore legs and stood up, scanning the distance for Wen Yang’s figure.
Objective: Sabotage Wen Yang and Ling Ling’s relationship.
Not like there was any real relationship to begin with. They’d only known each other for a couple of days. It was more like mutual lust than anything meaningful.
“Hey! Over there! Wen Yang and Ling Ling are leaving the field!”
Ning Chu’s eyes lit up. Finally, he spotted the target. He gave Zhang Shaoqing a shove.
“Go! Be the third wheel! Don’t let them flirt in public—it’s indecent.”
The second he heard the words flirt in public , Zhang Shaoqing’s eyes turned red with rage. With a burst of speed, he shot off like an arrow, sprinting after them.
Ning Chu let out a satisfied breath.
If he uses plot characters to fight plot developments, there would be no need for him to lift a finger.
Now, he could stop worrying about this particular event. With Zhang Shaoqing’s temperament, there was no way he’d let that “Ling Ling throws herself at Wen Yang” scene from the novel actually play out.
Ning Chu wiped the sweat from his brow. Disgusted by the sticky, clammy feeling clinging to his body, he decided not to bother with the crowded cafeteria and started heading back to the dorms.
Time for a quick shower and a change of clothes.
Unfortunately, his training uniform would have to wait until evening to be washed—he still needed it for the afternoon session.
On the way from the training field to the dormitory, he passed a massive plaza filled with flowers and greenery. As he walked into the square, his gaze was immediately drawn to a row of booths.
“Club recruitment?”
Ning Chu mumbled to himself as he glanced around. Clearly, student clubs in this world were a lot bolder .
Just look at the swim team—several girls in bikinis were standing front and center, drawing stares from all directions.
Honestly, most of the women on campus dressed way more revealingly too.
In the scorching heat, most of the female students were wearing shorts or skirts, and from where Ning Chu stood, it was a sea of long, fair legs.
He was in a pretty good mood. Though his lower abdomen still ached faintly, he stood there pretending to browse the recruitment booths while his eyes shamelessly drifted over the girls' legs.
“The quality here is way too high…”
“Back in my old world, you’d only find girls like this at idol auditions.”
—
In a great mood after ten minutes of people-watching in the plaza, Ning Chu hummed a little tune as he strolled back to the dorms.
‘ Alright, maybe this world isn’t so bad after all.’
As long as he could stop the original novel's plot from manifesting in reality, his future “wife options” were looking very promising.
He pushed open the dorm room door. Wang Jie was already seated at his desk with a takeout box in hand, munching away while watching a livestream.Thɪs novᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet
Ning Chu glanced briefly at the screen, then headed toward the mirror stuck on the wall. He basked in the refreshing coolness of the air conditioning and fan while inspecting himself.
The training uniform was ridiculously oversized. With his petite frame, the sleeves hung several inches past his arms, the shirt fell well below his hips, and the pants sagged so much they almost dragged.
‘I’m like a kid sneaking around in his dad’s clothes—cute, but a mess.’
Irritated, Ning Chu rolled up the sleeves and pants, tucking the shirt into his waistband.
That looked tidier… except now, with the belt cinched tight, his slender waist was completely emphasized, and his figure looked—
Like a girl’s.
Scowling, he slouched into his chair, threw open his jacket, and sprawled across the backrest.
“It’s hot as hell,” he grumbled. “And everything still hurts…”
But it wasn’t the abdominal pain this time. The rubbing from the rough uniform fabric during training had chafed his chest, making it feel sore and tender.
He glanced down at the front of his shirt, which was ever so slightly… lifted.
No way.
Was his chest really undergoing an update?!
The soothing effect of his earlier eye-candy viewing was quickly being undone by mounting anxiety.
Lips pursed, he sat there in silence, arms wrapped around his phone, absentmindedly scrolling through food delivery options.
‘If I’m playing the role of a woman in this world… how exactly is that going to happen?’
His hand instinctively rested against his still-aching abdomen.
Could it be a case of intersex?
When he thought about the pain today, his unusually short height, and now the suspicious tenderness in his chest, there was only one horrifying possibility—
‘No matter what I do, am I destined to become a woman in this world? Or maybe I already am…’
‘That’s too messed up!’
Just then—
“Ning Chu! Great news!”
BANG!
The door was kicked open. Ning Chu flinched so hard that his phone flew out of his hands, bounced off his thigh, and clattered to the floor.
“Ah—Zhang Shaoqing!”
“Um? What are you glaring at me for?”