SBAB Chapter 1

Everything in the world is constantly changing every moment. Some changes are visible, like the growth of flowers, grass, and trees, while others, like the shifts of the sun, moon, and stars, are harder to notice.

Cell division and differentiation are among the most common changes in humans.

At this moment, a female college student named Lin Xin lay on the bunk bed in her dormitory, experiencing a peculiar cellular change that felt different from anything she had ever felt before.

The dormitory was already unbearably hot in June, and Lin Xin suddenly developed a high fever in her sleep, tossing and turning without any relief, drenched in sweat as if she were lying in a lake.

The sense of wetting the bed in her dream brought a rush of shame to Lin Xin as she slept. She immediately kicked off the blankets wrapped around her but only felt a momentary cool breeze before quickly pulling the blanket back over herself, mumbling, “Guess I’m still dreaming.” She didn’t care about the dampness on her skin, pretending it didn’t exist and drifting back to sleep.

“Turns out it wasn’t a dream.” Lin Xin was truly awake this time, unable to fool herself again. Confused, she lay motionless on the bed, staring at the mysterious bulge beneath her panties.

It was tight!

Lin Xin finally believed that her underwear was genuinely too small, not that her “bridge” exercises over the past few days had caused her bottom to become more filled out.

Although she hesitated to touch the unfamiliar presence, there was nothing to fear about confronting something she already had. Instinctively, Lin Xin raised her right hand and placed it on her overly flat chest.

After feeling it for a moment, a tear of crystalline moisture slipped down from the corner of her eye.

“Flat” didn’t need the word “overly” as a descriptor, did it?!

Lin Xin’s eyes remained fixed on the unfamiliar bulge, grappling with the decision: Did she need to face it?

There didn’t seem to be any other choice. Lin Xin extended a shaky hand, moving cautiously toward the mysterious object.

Hmm?

It was gone?

It was a dream within a dream. Lin Xin let out a relieved sigh, putting her heart back where it belonged.

“Lin Xin, what are you doing? Can’t you let someone sleep in peace on a Saturday morning?” Zhang Yun, Lin Xin’s roommate, groaned. Zhang Yun was the kind of person who would flip out if she didn’t sleep until noon on weekends.

Hearing Zhang Yun’s familiar grousing, Lin Xin decided to let go of her dream-within-a-dream story and admit that she was indeed in reality now.

To avoid another outburst from Zhang Yun, Lin Xin quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, lying motionless. For now, it was better to get through this phase before dealing with her issues later.

After a while, Lin Xin dared to open her eyes slightly and check on Zhang Yun’s situation.

But as soon as Lin Xin’s eyes met Zhang Yun’s body, she suddenly clamped her mouth shut to stifle a scream.

Zhang Yun had a habit of sleeping naked; Lin Xin was aware of that. But this time, her reaction was entirely different—a current she had never felt before coursed straight from her brain down.

Now, there was no need to check herself—the conclusion was already obvious.

She had become a boy overnight.

With the answer confirmed, Lin Xin, possibly due to overthinking, eventually drifted into a deep sleep. One night was all it took for such a drastic change; maybe she’d go back to normal after another sleep, she thought.

To be fair, Lin Xin’s biggest advantage was her easy-going nature.

But the problem wasn’t something that could be solved with just a positive outlook. Waking up, the issue still loomed over Lin Xin, waiting to be dealt with.

“What should I do?” Lin Xin murmured to herself.

“What do you mean ‘what to do’? Are you heartbroken?” Summer, Lin Xin’s other roommate, caught on to Lin Xin’s troubled tone and quickly joined the conversation. “Did you finally confess to the senior? Come on, tell us!”

Tong, another roommate, put down her bag of chips and joined in, her eyes flashing with curiosity.

Even though she was fully awake but still cranky, Zhang Yun had no patience for these sorts of questions, bluntly saying, “Did you get rejected?”

“Oh?” The others got more interested.

“It’s not that. I’m just in love with him, that’s all. Nothing serious,” Lin Xin hurriedly waved off, not wanting them to speculate too much.

“Pfft.”

“Forget it, forget it…”

It wasn’t surprising that Lin Xin’s roommates thought she was a hopeless case. From day one of school, Lin Xin had been head over heels for the student council president, Gu Nian, who spoke at the freshman orientation. But a few days later, she found out that the senior already had a girlfriend, so she switched to pining from a distance. No one knew about it.

But once she got back to the dormitory, Lin Xin couldn’t stop talking about Gu Nian, suggesting she was repressing her feelings outside. Her phone’s memory was filled with photos of Gu Nian, and if the dorm supervisor and other students didn’t regularly check the dorms, her roommates would probably think she’d filled the room with photos like some obsessive fan from an anime.

Of course, no one knew that Lin Xin had now evolved from an obsessed fangirl to a hopeless romantic.

Summer, known for her attentiveness, sensed the superficial but genuine concern in Lin Xin’s tone and quickly shifted the subject. “Lin Xin, you don’t seem to have changed much. Why does your neck look thinner? Is it losing that Adam’s apple?”

“Eh? Really? How did that happen? Let me see!”

Women are always curious about effective weight loss methods. The other two roommates, already distracted, quickly joined Summer, pinning Lin Xin into a corner. They seemed determined to keep asking about the weight loss method until they could use Lin Xin as a wall decoration.

Surrounded by these three ferocious women, Lin Xin couldn’t move. But instead of thinking, “Oh, how do I break out?” or “Oh, I’m about to be exposed,” she was more focused on the fact that after they physically touched her, a tent popped up like a curious “little mushroom cap” wondering what was happening outside—it was so noisy.

In an instant, Lin Xin realized she didn’t have time to daydream. The situation was extremely precarious, already on the verge of exposure.

Whether it was due to a sudden burst of potential in a critical moment or the testosterone surge from becoming a boy, Lin Xin slipped her hands in front and easily threw the three women off, managing to escape.

“Ha, you’re all tired, huh? Too weak to even stand. What do you want? I’ll bring it for you… Haha.” Lin Xin awkwardly laughed, trying to change the subject, but no one responded.

Taking advantage of their distraction, Lin Xin pushed open the dormitory door and ran outside.

“…”

Zhang Yun and Summer exchanged glances. There were so many points to address; that no one knew where to start. The situation quickly became awkward. Only Tong immediately pulled out her phone, her head bent as she typed away.

She showed them what she was typing—six bold words popped up in the dorm group chat: “麻辣过桥米线” (Spicy Bridge Rice Noodles).