Chapter 1

"Lin Li, stand up."

Lin Li was jolted awake from her hazy sleep by a sudden tug at the back of her neck, her mind still a little dazed.

"Teacher Liu?"

Her vision gradually cleared, and the woman standing in front of her made her momentarily dazed. Yancheng was too small; after graduating from junior high school, everyone went their separate ways, and she hadn't seen these faces for a long time.

Looking at the boy's confused eyes, Liu Hongli shook her head helplessly, turned around and went back to the podium to continue her lecture.

A gust of wind swept in from outside the window, carrying years of accumulated dust, and billowed the never-washed curtains—which landed squarely on Lin Li's head by the window.

"Pah! Pah!"

Dust choked her nose and mouth, and she instinctively spat it out repeatedly. The noise was particularly jarring in the quiet classroom, drawing the attention of her classmates. Seeing her disheveled and covered in dust, hushed laughter spread through the room.

On the podium, Liu Hongli slammed her English book down.

"Take your books and stand outside!"

...

Outside the classroom door.

Lin Li stared blankly at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings: the old classroom, the mottled black and white walls, and the results and honor roll of the Yancheng Middle School's joint junior high exam posted on the walls. When her gaze finally settled on the familiar photo on the honor roll, her heart clenched, and she snapped back to reality.

I... was reborn?

She habitually raised her hand to touch her head, but what she touched was not the soft, long hair she remembered, but a prickly, gritty texture that was still warm from her body.

Where is my hair?

She asked in confusion, "Eh?" but the sound was hoarse, heavy, and nasal, like the voice of a teenage boy going through puberty.

Something's not right, this is really not right.

She instinctively looked down, and inside her neckline, everything was flat. Her hand instinctively reached down—

The unexpected, unfamiliar sensations exploded in her mind like a thunderclap.

She turned into a man.

Rebirth and time travel are unbelievable, but they're somewhat understandable for someone from the 21st century. But rebirth with a gender swap?! What kind of nonsense is this?!

Just as she was still in shock, she heard soft footsteps behind her.

Lin Li turned around.

The girl was dressed in a red and white school uniform, with her hair in a low ponytail. She had a pretty face and fair skin. Every move she made exuded a quiet and elegant scholarly air. She was the epitome of a well-behaved girl and a good student.

She looked at Lin Li, who was blocking the doorway, pursed her lips slightly, and said calmly, "Lin Li, please move aside."

Looking at the girl in front of him, Lin Li was stunned, and memories sealed deep in his mind surged back.

Yancheng Middle School holds a city-wide joint examination every year in early September, and this year is particularly crucial for the ninth graders as it is a province-wide unified examination. Key high schools in Yucheng, the provincial capital, place great importance on these results; combined with their middle school entrance examination scores, those who meet the standards can directly enter their top classes. Entering Yucheng Experimental Middle School is almost equivalent to having one foot in a top university.

The girl in front of me, Tong Yao, was the top scorer in Yancheng City in this joint entrance examination. But this top scorer, who should have had a bright future, ended up staying in the local area to attend high school.

The reason was unclear to Lin Li at the time. They had already fallen out and were locked in a long cold war. Lin Li had thought they would reconcile someday, but unexpectedly, after graduating from junior high school, the other person deleted all her contact information and disappeared without a trace.

It wasn't until after graduating high school, when she was chatting with an old friend from junior high about Tong Yao, that she learned the heartbreaking news:

"Lin Li, do you know that Tong Yao's father passed away? She almost couldn't finish high school and ended up only attending a regular high school in the local area. I wonder how she is doing now..."

"I haven't been in contact with her since graduating from junior high school, so I don't know..."

"Sigh, to be honest, this is the first time I've had a classmate who has lost both parents. I always felt that this kind of thing was so far removed from my own life, as if I were still that kid in junior high. But when I look back, my parents are no longer young. She lost her father at such a young age. It's so hard for children from single-parent families..."

When she heard this, she felt a mix of emotions, but more than anything, she felt an indescribable heartache.

After making several inquiries, she learned that Tong Yao was already married. She could only comfort herself that as long as the other person was happy, she didn't dare to ask any more questions.

As a fellow woman, she never dared to hope for anything from their relationship. The obstacles between women were too great; why start a relationship with no future, only to add to the troubles? Being able to silently stay by each other's side and witness each other's happiness was perhaps the best thing.

Although she later lost even the right to silently accompany him, it was for the best. At least he no longer had to endure that hopeless torment.

Is she cowardly? Lin Li herself admits it. She doesn't have the courage to fight the whole world for love like in movies and TV dramas.

She once probed Tong Yao, asking her if she would date after high school.

Tong Yao's answer at the time was ambiguous: "Probably, maybe."

This vague response was enough to extinguish the last embers of hope in Lin Li's heart.

She would date, get married, and have children; she liked men… Lin Li told herself this. Afterward, she deliberately distanced herself from Tong Yao. She was selfish, afraid of falling deeper into the relationship. Since they were destined to be just friends, it was better to withdraw sooner rather than later.

Cheng Yu, who appeared later, became the final straw that broke the camel's back of their already fragile friendship. After the joint entrance exam in their third year of junior high, they never spoke a word to each other again.

...

As her thoughts returned, Lin Li gazed at the beautiful young woman before her, her heart surging with emotion.

In this life, I'm a boy. Between us... is there a new possibility?

She clearly remembers that after making inquiries from various sources, she confirmed the time of Tong Yao's father's death—it was during the second semester of her third year of junior high school.

The sudden death of her father dealt a heavy blow to the family. Tong Yao's mother, a supermarket cashier, was simply unable to afford the high tuition and fees of the provincial capital's experimental high school. In the end, the local high school offered Tong Yao a place, waiving all fees and allowing her to stay.

The top score in Yancheng sounds impressive, but in Yancheng, where educational resources are underdeveloped, this achievement would place her outside the top 100 in the entire province. With Tong Yao's intelligence, if she had attended a key high school in the provincial capital, she should have been a student at a prestigious 985 or 211 university. However, she only got into an ordinary first-tier university with a score of just over 500 on the college entrance exam.

Her brilliance was prematurely obscured by the dust of reality.

At this moment, seeing Lin Li's gaze lingering on her for a long time, even staring blankly, and occasionally letting out an ambiguous sigh, Tong Yao frowned slightly.

They hadn't spoken for half a month, each ignoring the other, yet never actually clashing. Was Lin Li deliberately picking a fight now?

Recalling the harsh words Lin Li had uttered half a month ago, Tong Yao couldn't help but glare at him: "You were both at fault in that matter. You don't really want to cause trouble for Cheng Yu again, do you?"

When the conflict erupted, Lin Li, in a fit of anger, said that he would beat Cheng Yu every time he saw her outside of school. Tong Yao initially thought it was just something he said in anger and didn't take it seriously.

Lin Li was taken aback upon hearing this. Cheng Yu was chubby; was he, with his small frame, really going to cause trouble for her?

Oh, right, I'm a boy now...

If he were truly a boy, given his mischievous nature in his youth, he might actually have done it. Fortunately, judging from the remaining memories in this body, although the "Lin Li" of this world was addicted to novels and often slept, he didn't learn bad habits from those hooligans.

Lin Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Tong Yao and his own position, and then realized that he was the one blocking her way.

The classroom doorway wasn't narrow; it was wide enough for two girls to pass side by side. But Lin Li, though only fifteen, was already 178 centimeters tall, almost a head taller than his predecessor. Tong Yao, at 165 centimeters, barely reached his lips.

Lin Li stepped aside and moved outside the door, making way for her.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to class?" he asked instinctively, his tone carrying a hint of familiarity he hadn't felt in a long time.

A hint of surprise flashed in Tong Yao's amber eyes. Her gaze lingered briefly on his face before quickly shifting away. Her voice was calm and even: "Going to the toilet."

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned and walked towards the end of the corridor. The hem of her red and white school uniform drew a clean arc in the air.

While most people swing their arms naturally when walking, Tong Yao is an exception. Her hands always hang neatly at her sides, her back is straight, and her stride is even, making her look like a well-behaved girl straight out of a stereotype.

Lin Li stared at her retreating figure for two seconds, then a sudden urge to urinate jolted him awake. He quickly caught up, his tone casual and unhurried: "What a coincidence, I'm going too, wanna come together?"

Tong Yao's steps did not falter at all; only her fingers, hanging at her sides, curled up almost imperceptibly.

She didn't turn around or answer. In the empty corridor, only the sound of their footsteps echoed, one steady and even, the other slightly hurried.

Just as Lin Li was completely unaware and was about to push open the light-colored wooden door of the women's restroom, Tong Yao finally stopped.

She slowly turned around, her brows slightly furrowed, her eyes carrying a hint of helplessness as if to say, "What nonsense are you talking about?" Her voice remained cold and clear.

"Lin Li, look carefully. This is the women's restroom, not a place for you to go in."

Lin Li hadn't fully adjusted to her new role yet, and casually replied, "It's the women's restroom, I'm not mistaken." As she spoke, she reached her hand forward again.

Tong Yao frowned even more as she watched the hand about to touch the door, and a layer of "incomprehensible" frost instantly formed in her cold eyes.

She didn't gasp, but instead raised her hand and gently grasped the hem of Lin Li's school uniform jacket.

"Lin Li." Her voice was slightly deeper than before, with a hint of urgency and impatience at the end, instantly shattering Lin Li's daze. "Stop playing pranks, this isn't fun at all."

Lin Li then suddenly realized what was happening.

How did I end up here with her?! Yes, I'm a boy now.

Help! How are we going to handle this?

"Ahem!" He cleared his throat awkwardly, his ears burning slightly. "I made a mistake! I... I was still half asleep, my mind wasn't fully awake yet."

"Ring ring—!"

Just then, the school bell rang, and the once quiet school building erupted in a frenzy as teachers announced the end of get out of class.

Lin Li heard a dense chorus of footsteps coming from the end of the corridor, knowing that students were coming to use the restroom. If he were seen standing at the entrance of the girls' restroom, his name would probably be on the school's "confession wall" tomorrow—everyone knows that's a place where people talk about everything except confessions.

Fortunately, Tong Yao didn't pursue the matter further and released her grip on his clothes. If she hadn't let go, Lin Li would probably have had to struggle free.

For Lin Li, saving face is still the most important thing!

As soon as her clothes were loosened, Lin Li felt as if she had been granted a pardon and rushed into the men's restroom next door as if she were escaping.

This was the first time in his life that he had entered a men's restroom, and the sight that greeted him made him pause again—the row of urinals was actually facing away from a huge window!

When I go to the toilet, won't I be completely exposed?

The intense urge to urinate left him no time to think.

However, looking at the urinal so close by, Lin Li was caught in an unprecedented awkwardness and helplessness, frozen in place.

"Da da da! Sizzle—!"

The sound of sneakers scraping the ground rang out, and several boys rushed in, chasing each other and groping the one in the lead, laughing and joking around.

"..."

Lin Li was speechless for a moment, and even found it somewhat offensive.

Ultimately, he couldn't overcome the physical difficulties. He gritted his teeth, thinking... he could probably hold on a little longer.

...

When Lin Li finally made it back to the classroom, Tong Yao was already sitting upright in her seat.

Their homeroom teacher, Liu Hongli, was standing next to Tong Yao's desk, whispering something to her. Tong Yao listened attentively, nodding occasionally.

Just then, Lin Li saw another person, someone who annoyed her—Cheng Yu.

In her past life, she broke off her relationship with Tong Yao, and Cheng Yu played a crucial role in that.

The bad behavior of junior high school students is ultimately limited in scope.

Although Lin Li was mischievous and active in her past life, she would at most sleep or read novels in class and never disturb others. However, Cheng Yu, who was the discipline committee member, seemed to have her eye on her. She would write down her name in every class, which forced her to stay after school every day to clean up. She could only go home after passing Cheng Yu's "inspection".

Once or twice is one thing, but targeting her every time, and only remembering her, is just too much.

However, for Lin Li, who is now an adult, these are just childish squabbles, and the anger she felt back then is long gone.

Cheng Yu rolled her eyes at him without any attempt to hide it.

Lin Li found the other person's appearance somewhat comical.

I'll translate it too!

He immediately grinned and made a face in response, along with an even more exaggerated eye roll.

Just then, the school bell rang, and he ignored the other person and sat back down in his seat. The Chinese teacher was already in position on the platform.