The race was about to start, so by all logic, Huo Jueyue wouldn’t be coming back now.
Either way, he’d have to wear the dress better to get it over with quickly than drag out the pain.
But making himself put on women’s clothing with any enthusiasm was still a tall order.
Wen Ying’s hand reluctantly touched his own sleeve as he mentally prepared himself while slowly peeling off his clothes.
To wear the long skirt, he’d need to take off the short-sleeved shirt underneath as well.
[Your Highness, try to look on the bright side.]
“Gentleman” kept trying to comfort him, seeing how pale his face had gone.
[As far as I know, plenty of girls wear men’s clothing, so you wearing a dress every now and then isn’t exactly unheard of.]
That actually made some sense.
Gritting his teeth, Wen Ying carefully slipped the dress over himself.
Last time he’d woken up with it already on this was his first time putting it on himself, and he was terribly clumsy at it.
The long dress fit his figure perfectly, but just like in the book, the zipper in the back was a nightmare to pull up.
Moreover, there were differences between male and female body types the dress’s shoulder width was narrower than his, which meant the zipper that Yuan Yingying could barely manage in the original story was completely impossible for him to close, exposing the smooth lines near his shoulder blades.
Wen Ying couldn’t possibly ask Bai Wanqing for help, so he could only struggle to tug it up on his own.
The jewel-encrusted little daisies trembled, as if mocking his helplessness.
When it rains, it pours from outside came Butler Wang’s slightly anxious voice.
“Young Master, what are you.”
The fitting room’s soundproofing was far too good; Wen Ying could only catch fragments of words.
The moment he heard “Young Master,” his nerves snapped taut.
There was only one Young Master in the Huo family Huo Jueyue.
At this hour, Huo Jueyue should be racing. Why would he suddenly come home?
Afraid his nerves were playing tricks on him, Wen Ying stopped what he was doing, grabbed his discarded hoodie, and padded barefoot to the door, holding his breath to listen for any movement outside.
Catching an accidental glimpse of the stranger in the mirror, Wen Ying’s ears burned red.
His struggle with the dress had left his hair in disarray, with only a clip holding back his bangs.
The oversized long dress surprisingly didn’t look too out of place on him, though it was a bit snug around the chest and couldn’t cover his collarbones at all.
He snapped out of his wandering thoughts and jerked his gaze away like he’d been shocked.
Never again!
He swore once more.
“Xiao Jue’s back?” Bai Wanqing sounded genuinely surprised.
Her tone wasn’t as gentle as when she spoke to Wen Ying: “Didn’t you insist on going racing this morning?”
“I came back to get my racing suit.”
Huo Jueyue’s voice was grumpy, but at least it lacked its usual arrogance: “I’ll grab it and leave.”
The instant she heard his voice, Wen Ying started changing back into his own clothes.
Too many coincidences existed to serve the main plot he was already used to it.
At least Huo Jueyue had come back now, not after he’d walked out in the dress.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart, Wen Ying began removing the dress with its fussy embellishments.
The beautiful embroidery, pearls, and gems were now nothing but burdens. To avoid damaging the gown, his movements grew even more cautious.
The sharp edges of the gems scraped his fingertips, and the sting made him curl his hand slightly.
The more flustered he got, the more mistakes he made. The already-tight shoulder strap caught on his shoulder, digging shallowly into his skin.
The conversation outside continued.
“You ungrateful brat.”
Before Bai Wanqing could speak, Huo Ting’s furious voice rang out: “Is that how you talk to your mother!”
Good scolding.
Wen Ying struggled to untangle the knotted daisy vines, silently giving his father a thumbs up.
“What did I do?”
Huo Jueyue’s voice shot up as if someone had touched a raw nerve: “So I’m an eyesore at home and an eyesore outside too, is that it?”
Rapid footsteps approached. Wen Ying pressed one hand against the golden-nanmu door handle, his heart in his throat.
No one could barge in.
“Young Master, you can’t go in there.”
Butler Wang dutifully blocked Huo Jueyue’s path to the fitting room: “The fitting room on the east side is available. You can use that one.”
“It takes ten minutes to walk to the far east side of the villa. The race starts in forty minutes I don’t have time.”
Huo Jueyue was growing impatient.
It had already taken him twenty minutes just to sprint through his family’s sprawling maze of a house. Time was tight.
Wen Ying:
Indeed, having too big a house was a bad thing.
“Jueyue, go back to your room.”
Bai Wanqing’s voice carried disappointment: “Someone’s in there.”
“No. I’ll grab my clothes and leave.”
Toward his mother, Huo Jueyue could still barely suppress his temper.
He glared at the closed fitting room door: “Who could possibly be changing clothes in our house? You’re definitely lying to me you just don’t want me to go racing!”
Well, now he absolutely had to get in!
“Jueyue, be reasonable.”
Huo Ting’s tone turned cold: “Don’t make me ground you.”
Huo Jueyue’s face grew redder and redder.
Without a word, he strode forward, dodging Butler Wang’s attempts to stop him, and before his father could react, reached out to grab the door handle.
“I’ll just see who’s in there not making a single sound.”
The door had a fingerprint lock, meaning that once Huo Jueyue touched it, it would unlock.
At the critical moment, the door was pushed open from inside.
Huo Jueyue, who had been charging forward, lost his balance and nearly stumbled into the changing room.
Wen Ying was wearing a loose, baggy gray hoodie, arms crossed as he stepped to the side, making no move to catch him.
The hairpin that had been in his hair was now clutched tightly in his hand, though his disheveled hair hadn’t been tidied yet, and the overly loose hoodie exposed a small patch of skin near his collarbone.
His gaze landed on Wen Ying’s collarbone slightly red from being rubbed by gauze.
Huo Jueyue, gripping the door in panic, was momentarily stunned.
“Wen Ying?!”
He was utterly bewildered.
Why was Wen Ying in his house?
Meeting his gaze, Wen Ying also looked surprised: “Aren’t you off racing?”
As he spoke, he casually slipped one hand into his pocket, secretly transferring the hairpin without a trace.
“I, ”
Huo Jueyue stammered, lowering his head, not daring to look at him: “The racing suit from before was too small, I had to come back to change.”
Wen Ying stepped aside to let him through, being very understanding: “Then hurry along.”
Afterward, he politely looked toward Bai Wanqing’s direction, a hint of lingering shock in his eyes.
“Uncle Huo, Aunt Bai, thank you for the gifts.”
His voice carried a note of fluster: “It’s just that something urgent came up at home, so I might need to leave first.”
The way he stumbled over his words and scrambled for flimsy excuses looked to Bai Wanqing like nothing more than a poor thing who’d been startled while changing clothes, still shaken.
“Alright.”
Bai Wanqing’s heart softened even more, and she looked at her own son with even less patience: “I’m sorry for the poor hospitality today. You head on home first.”
Huo Ting shot a look of disappointment at the guilt-ridden Huo Jueyue, then turned to instruct Butler Wang to escort Wen Ying out.
“Make sure to see Young Master Wen Ying safely home. Not a single misstep.”
Wen Ying followed behind Butler Wang in silence, stealing a glance at Huo Jueyue.
Thank goodness he’d reacted fast enough he’d undone the shoulder strap just a minute before Huo Jueyue was about to burst through the door, and the hoodie and pants he’d brought were easy enough to slip into.
Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
“Wen Ying!”
Huo Jueyue snapped back to reality and called out urgently: “Are you avoiding me?”
Why would he come to his house without saying a word?
Wen Ying looked utterly confused: “Why would Young Master Huo think that?”
“Shut up. Is that how you treat a guest?”
Huo Ting’s brows knitted into a deep frown as he barked at Huo Jueyue.
“I’m the one who invited Wen Ying. Don’t cause him trouble.”
The previously furious Huo Jueyue went quiet, reluctantly pressing his lips together and saying nothing.
He deserved the scolding anyway.
Wen Ying turned away coldly, heading toward the villa’s front door.
Thank goodness he was a guy if he’d actually been a girl, this would have left some serious psychological scars.
At the entrance to the changing room, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.
On any normal day, Huo Ting would have flown into a rage.
But today, the rebellious Huo Jueyue was too quiet. He stared blankly in the direction of the changing room, looking so lost and dejected that even Huo Ting couldn’t bring himself to confine him.
Huo Jueyue had seen it.
On the sofa in the changing room lay an elegant long dress, its sheer fabric trailing on the floor, half-draped and about to slip off.
The dress had been worn, and it was too long his mother was only around five-foot-three, so there was no way she could have worn it.
So who was the tall woman who had worn the dress?
If it was Wen Ying wearing it, that didn’t seem so bad after all.
Huo Jueyue was startled by his own thought.
But men didn’t usually wear dresses, unless Wen Ying was.
“Jueyue.”
Huo Ting thought he’d scolded the boy senseless and softened his tone: “You’re not young anymore, and you’re still so reckless. Do you realize your mistake today?”
“I do.”
Huo Jueyue’s mind was elsewhere; he just answered mechanically.
What’s wrong with this kid?
Huo Ting and Bai Wanqing exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness and confusion on each other’s faces.
“Go to your room and reflect on it.” Huo Ting cleared his throat.
“Thank goodness you didn’t go in.”
Thank goodness he hadn’t but what would have happened if he had?
Huo Jueyue’s face grew redder and redder. He lowered his head and fled under his parents’ bewildered gaze.
Click the bedroom door locked behind him.
Huo Ting said uneasily: “What’s gotten into him?”
“Who knows?”
Bai Wanqing was still fuming: “He’s a grown man now. We can’t control him.”
“Xiaoqing’s right.”
Huo Ting reacted quickly, dropping his CEO demeanor and forcing a smile: “Calm down, just calm down.”
“Achoo!”
In another extended Lincoln, Wen Ying rubbed his nose.
The scenery outside the window receded as they drove farther and farther from the Margaret Flower Fields.
He hadn’t been exposed today, had he?
He couldn’t shake a nagging sense of unease.
[Your Highness, as autumn sets in, you should take care of your health. Your resistance may have weakened.]
“Gentleman” offered kind advice, like a nagging cyber-monk.
[For instance, just now, you shouldn’t have stepped barefoot on the floor. As the Chinese saying goes, illness enters through the soles of the feet.]
“Don’t bring up what just happened.” Wen Ying was mortified and irritated.
He’d barely managed to forget the embarrassment of the dress strap getting stuck!
【Sorry, my dear little Highness.】
The “Gentleman” scrambled to make amends.
【But actually, even if you wore a dress, you would still be very.】
This reminded it of the little Your Highness from when they were young.
Actually, back when the little Highness was too young to remember, the Second Highness had carried them off to make them wear a cute puffy dress.
Back then, the little Highness smiled at everyone they met, eyes curving into crescents, letting anyone hold them. They weren’t afraid of wearing a dress either, their cheeks flushed pink.
But the little Highness has forgotten all that now.
So unfortunately, this wasn’t the little Highness’s second time wearing women’s clothing.
But the “Gentleman” would never dare bring that up at a moment like this. It could only secretly replay the memory in its own neural processor.
“Gentleman, shut up.”
Wen Ying’s eyes gradually lost their light.
What a terrible day.
Wen Ying desperately looked forward to Monday.
Even if he tripped the moment he stepped outside, Monday couldn’t possibly be worse than this magical Sunday.
Lying in a bathtub filled with hot water, he continued staring at that wobbling little yellow rubber duck, holding his breath to vent his frustration.
It definitely wouldn’t be.
The new day began as usual. Wen Ying, a light sleeper who went to bed early, enjoyed a beautiful morning.
No messages from Huo Jueyue on GooseGoose, no flashy red sports car outside his door, and no posts about him on the forum.
Everything was just right perfectly so.
“Morning.”
Walking into the classroom, he greeted Gu Xiche, who was organizing test papers at the podium.
“Morning.” Gu Xiche smiled warmly, picking up the grade report in his hand.
“Congratulations, Wen Ying.”
It went without saying what he was congratulating him for. Wen Ying gave him a slight smile. “You probably did well too. Congratulations.”
Wen Ying had estimated his score, so even if Gu Xiche hadn’t said anything, he already knew roughly how many points he’d gotten.
But the number on the distributed grade report was far too impressive well beyond Wen Ying’s expectations.
Out of a perfect score of 800, he had scored 777.
“Although classmate Wen Ying transferred from abroad, he’s adapted to the curriculum very quickly.”
At the podium, the homeroom teacher, holding an enamel mug in one hand, smiled warmly at the overall grade report. “He and classmate Gu Xiche are tied for first in the class and first in the entire school.”
“Let’s give classmate Wen Ying a round of applause!”
The classroom erupted in murmurs, with envious and even jealous glances occasionally directed at Wen Ying.
“Seriously no one’s ever beaten Gu’s score before, right?”
“No wonder he gets along so well with Gu. Geniuses really do stick together.”
“Wen Ying and Gu Xiche sit a whole classroom apart. He couldn’t have copied Gu’s answers, and copying anyone else wouldn’t get him this high.”
“So he’s really a genius?”
There’s no such thing as a pure genius.
Thunderous applause rang out. Gu Xiche turned to look at Wen Ying and clapped for him sincerely as well.
He had seen Wen Ying’s hard work. The excellent grades were well deserved.
Huo Jueyue clapped a few times half-heartedly, then sat at his desk, lost in troubled thought.
He was still thinking about that long dress.
After the grade report was distributed, Huo Jueyue’s subconscious panic grew heavier and heavier.
Wen Ying never looked him in the eye, and he realized he could no longer keep up with Wen Ying.
Bitterness welled up in his heart. He clutched his chest.
Is this, what heartache feels like?
“We should also encourage classmate Huo Jueyue.”
The homeroom teacher took a sip of tea and chuckled. “He’s the student who improved the most in the class gaining over two hundred points.”
The moment those words left his mouth, the expressions on the classmates’ faces were a spectacle.
Everyone knew that Huo Jueyue used to score only a dozen or so points because he couldn’t be bothered to fill out the test. This time, he actually took the exam seriously and went from a dozen points to two hundred and change, which still wasn’t exactly something to brag about.
After all, even an average first-year student could score four to five hundred on their second-year exams.
The other students wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. Wen Ying, however, didn’t give Huo Jueyue any face and couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
Seeing him smile, Huo Jueyue’s heart grew even more chaotic.
Wen Ying smiled because of him.
“This time was just a fluke.”
With a look of defiant melancholy in his eyes, he made excuses for himself in a voice only he could hear, as if that would make Wen Ying see him differently.
Whether Wen Ying was male or female, he couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he racked his brain.
But even so, he still damned well had feelings for Wen Ying.
Scattered applause faded, and the somewhat tedious class began.
Noon.
“Congratulations.” Qu Huo handed him the lunchbox.
“First place.”
“Lucky me. The business questions were easy.” Wen Ying remained modest.
“You didn’t do badly either, right?”
Before Wen Ying had arrived, Qu Huo despite taking leave every day had always been in the top five of the class.
“A bit better than before. 773.”
“That’s great.”
773 Gu Xiche and Wen Ying were probably right above him, followed by Qu Huo.
And that was with Qu Huo skipping class almost every day.
Qu Huo let out a low chuckle, neither confirming nor denying.
Wen Ying opened the lunchbox.
Sure enough, there was his old friend inside: tomato scrambled eggs.
“Do you really like tomato scrambled eggs?”
After taking a few bites, he finally couldn’t help asking Qu Huo.
Qu Huo, sitting beside him, was reaching for a spoon. He looked up at the question. “It’s alright.”
What did “alright” even mean?
Wen Ying had hoped for a definite yes from Qu Huo, so he could eat the same dish every day with a clear conscience.
But things didn’t go as he wished.
So Qu Huo didn’t actually love tomato scrambled eggs that much.
Wen Ying’s face unconsciously grew a little warm.
“Oh.”
He wouldn’t press further, and Qu Huo seemed to lack curiosity.
So this matter, rather pathetically, just fizzled out.
“I won’t be at school this afternoon. I might have to trouble you to save me some notes.”
After washing their lunchboxes together, Qu Huo dried the two spotless containers and stacked them neatly.
“Not here again?” Wen Ying was surprised and kindly advised, “I’ll save notes for you, but some classes you really should attend yourself.”
“Something came up at home.”
Qu Huo said it airily, long since accustomed to this.
“Your grandmother is sick again?”
“No.”
Qu Huo didn’t hide it: “She didn’t reply to my message this morning. I’m worried her rheumatism flared up and she might have fallen somewhere.”
Especially since it had rained last night.
Wen Ying’s heart was a jumble of emotions.
Speaking of Qu Huo’s home, his thoughts drifted to the Huo family.
The estate spanning continuous mountain ranges, the endless flower fields, the parents of extremely high social standing, the deferential butler…
All of this was originally meant to be shared by Qu Huo and Huo Jueyue.
But now Huo Jueyue burned through money like water, while Qu Huo squeezed into a cramped little room, so strapped for cash that he compared prices at three different stalls before buying anything at the market.
“Your grandmother she’s very important to you, isn’t she?”
He looked at Qu Huo seriously.
“Yes.”
Qu Huo still spoke little, but his answer came calmly.
“I don’t have parents. She found me and raised me.”
Wen Ying was momentarily stunned.
Actually, without the spoilers, he wouldn’t have known about Qu Huo’s family situation.
He hadn’t expected Qu Huo to so directly tell him about his origins this was clearly the deepest secret buried in Qu Huo’s heart in the book.
So in Qu Huo’s eyes, he was worthy of that trust.
Wen Ying felt an inexplicable unease rise in his chest.
“If your original family is well-off, would you go back?”
The question was somewhat cruel, but things had come to this, and he had to ask.
And Wen Ying knew that Qu Huo would definitely give him an answer.
An answer he had anticipated.
Qu Huo didn’t hesitate.
“I won’t acknowledge them.”
That was the anticipated answer.
What responded to Qu Huo was a stretch of silence.
Wen Ying hated these moments when he had to rewrite someone else’s fate.
Fate always worked like this presenting two seemingly obvious forks in the road, but the choice behind them was never so easy.
He was afraid that if he chose the wrong path, told Qu Huo the wrong piece of news, he’d send Qu Huo into a dilemma, regret, or even an irredeemable abyss.
Just like in the book, where the synopsis said Qu Huo returned to the Huo family but ended up badly.
He became a foil a foil to Huo Jueyue’s love story.
Qu Huo looked seriously at the distracted Wen Ying.
“Wen Ying, you know something.”
The moment those words left his mouth, a thin layer of sweat broke out on Wen Ying’s back.
Qu Huo was far too perceptive he could guess the ending from just a beginning.
He had an almost beastly intuition, paired with the judgment of a smart man.
The next second, Qu Huo’s words put Wen Ying at ease.
He said softly, “But you don’t have to tell me.”
“Okay.”
Wen Ying sometimes felt Qu Huo was hard to read, and other times found him easy to understand.
Because he was both clever and stubbornly principled.
Like certain canines.
He thought to himself privately.
Before leaving, Qu Huo “on the way” fetched a cup of hot water for Wen Ying, whose throat was dry and hoarse.
“Take care of yourself.” Qu Huo picked up his schoolbag.
“You don’t need to overthink things. Relax a bit.”
In the end, Wen Ying said nothing about the obscenely wealthy Huo family, the marguerite flower fields covering the mountains, or the parents who were actually still alive.
He figured Qu Huo didn’t need that yet.
The next day, he received good news from Qu Huo that his grandmother was in no danger.
And in Qu Huo’s lunchbox, tomato scrambled eggs were conspicuously absent.
Staring at the new dish in the container, Wen Ying’s heart was a tangled mess.
It felt like something was getting more and more chaotic.
Both he and Qu Huo knew it, but he couldn’t articulate it.
Because he’d taken first place in the whole school, posts about Wen Ying on the forum had multiplied again.
Students always admired top scholars, and most posts were simply curious about the mysterious pretty boy, with no malicious intent.
As for comments like “Begging for info on whether the transfer student has a boyfriend, I can be bottom or top,” “The transfer student and the school bully look good together, and also match well with the top scholar,” “The transfer student standing next to Richard looks like a Chinchilla cat next to a Golden Retriever” Wen Ying just pretended not to see them.
Dating? He had no such worldly desires.
Definitely not.
Huo Jueyue rarely pestered him anymore, but Richard and Si Haoxing were transferring into his class more and more often.
Whether it was Wen Ying’s imagination or not, Si Haoxing slipped up and called him “Princess” more frequently than before.
But each time, Wen Ying glared him into silence.
Fortunately, Richard never made a joke of the term.
“Princess is a very good title.” The little foreigner was completely earnest.
“Everyone liking you means you’re very cute, and you deserve to be liked!”
If anyone else said that, it might carry other implications, but Richard’s expression was always clear and guileless.
Wen Ying put on a stern face and said a few words, and the matter was lightly brushed aside.
Another week passed without any major incidents.