A perfect day began with the sunlight gently warming his backside at 8:30 in the morning, accompanied by the chirping of birds outside the window. Of course, the most wonderful part was being woken up by the one he loved, even if it was just by the sound of her knocking on the door.
Cheng Shiyin bent her slender, long index finger and lightly tapped on Lin Xin’s right chest, sending a soft “thud, thud, thud…” sound through the air.
Lin Xin instinctively covered his chest with both hands, trying to grab the dream that had been interrupted, but it was futile. His sweet dream was shattered. He helplessly rubbed his eyes with his right hand, which refused to open, and just as he did, the voice he had been dreaming of reached his ears. The sound came from outside the door, but the first to react was his right chest, still freshly awakened. She said, “Time to get up, let’s go to the supermarket and buy some daily necessities.”
“Okay!” Cheng Shiyin’s words had barely left her mouth when Lin Xin quickly responded, his voice as clear and sharp as if he had just woken up, despite still having the remnants of sleep in his eyes.
At last, Lin Xin opened his eyes voluntarily, looking around to confirm where he was. In front of him was Cheng Shiyin’s bedroom, which, though not entirely unfamiliar, was full of corners he had come to recognize and remember. Lin Xin picked up the pillow he had slept on all night, breathing in the fresh air of the room, which smelled nothing like the usual dorm room with its faint foot odor. He couldn’t help but think, It turns out that beautiful dreams don’t just happen at night, sometimes reality can be just as wonderful.
This reality felt so surreal…
“But I like it,” Lin Xin muttered to himself before getting out of bed, quickly dressing, and slipping his feet into slippers in a smooth series of actions. When he opened the bedroom door, Cheng Shiyin had not yet left.
Cheng Shiyin was about to say something when Lin Xin appeared, smiling even more brightly than the sun. His smile was so dazzling that she was momentarily speechless, finally managing only a barely audible “Morning.” The half-sentence she had been about to speak was quickly forgotten, even by herself.
In response, Lin Xin’s smile grew even wider. “Good morning,” he said, his voice full of warmth.
The scene of the two of them looking at each other might have been even more beautiful than a game cutscene, making anyone who might have been watching wish they could pause the moment and take a screenshot. But in reality, Lin Xin’s breath still had a faint, unpleasant odor. After all, reality is reality, and no sense can simply be paused. This was precisely why Cheng Shiyin had rushed to buy daily necessities for him so early in the morning.
She searched through every corner of the house but couldn’t find the disposable toothbrushes and toothpaste that her parents had supposedly taken from the hotel. Perhaps her parents didn’t have such a frugal habit after all. After all, even when her cousin stayed over, she brought her toiletry bag.
So, Cheng Shiyin handed Lin Xin a piece of watermelon-flavored gum she had managed to find, unwrapping the tin foil as if peeling a banana, revealing the bright red “fruit” inside.
Lin Xin didn’t feel offended or embarrassed, as he hadn’t immediately recognized the deeper meaning behind the gesture. Instead, he smoothly lowered his head and popped the gum into his mouth. Not wanting to make Cheng Shiyin uncomfortable, he quickly withdrew the gum and, without saying anything, headed straight for the door.
As he passed the living room, Lin Xin glanced at the red eco-friendly bag lying on the sofa, marked with the word “Aomiao.” Without hesitation, he knew it was a necessary item for a supermarket trip, one that could be reused multiple times without creating extra plastic waste. What a thoughtful and environmentally-conscious girl Cheng Shiyin was. Lin Xin found another reason to appreciate her beauty from a different angle.
Naturally, Lin Xin threw the Aomiao bag over his shoulder, exuding the same energy as someone rushing to the supermarket at 6 a.m. to buy eggs. He paid no mind to his slightly mismatched outfit and made his way outside to press the elevator button, even though Cheng Shiyin’s apartment was on the second floor.
To Cheng Shiyin, Lin Xin’s outfit had an irresistible charm, almost like it had hit her sweet spot. She had to put in some effort to stifle her laughter. But for the elderly couples who had already finished their egg shopping, Lin Xin radiated an irresistible warmth, and they all cast appreciative glances his way. Lin Xin, already lost in the beauty of the moment, couldn’t help but smile widely, as if the smile was permanently etched on his face, his apple cheeks pushing out with the force of it.
Cheng Shiyin saw the joy on Lin Xin’s face, which he didn’t even try to hide, and then glanced down at the black waist pouch she had been holding tightly in her hand, unable to take it out. She shook her head vigorously and said, “Forget it, let’s just leave it.” Finally, she placed it into her bag and quickly followed Lin Xin, who was already walking ahead.
“How about this blue towel?” The two of them stopped at the section for toiletries, starting with towels, toothpaste, cups, and so on. Then, unexpectedly, they found themselves in the underwear section of the supermarket.
Yes, Lin Xin’s entire wardrobe consisted only of the clothes he was wearing, so he naturally only had one pair of underwear left—the black and blue boxer shorts he was currently wearing. However, under Cheng Shiyin’s watchful eye, Lin Xin could only use his slightly trembling hands to toss a series of women’s panties he hadn’t touched in months into the shopping cart. The styles he picked were simple and in larger sizes, but the result felt as though they came straight from his mother’s closet.
Blue, purple, green.
When Lin Xin was picking out these daily necessities, he had only one criterion: cool colors. This was because he suddenly came up with a rather odd idea: instead of directly telling Cheng Shiyin that he was a man, which might cause a bigger shock, why not start subtly changing his image now? If he could make Cheng Shiyin’s impression of him shift from the feminine labels of a ballet villainess or his ex-girlfriend’s younger sister to a more neutral, girlish image and then gradually transition into a boyish one, wouldn’t it be a little easier for her to accept? It would be perfect if she could eventually say something like, “No wonder he doesn’t like feminine things at all.”
However, in reality, Lin Xin’s roundabout method was so convoluted that even someone with telepathic powers or a detective might struggle to understand it. Let alone Cheng Shiyin, who was completely unaware of his intentions.
By the time Cheng Shiyin and Lin Xin returned from the supermarket, it was already past 10 a.m. Both of their stomachs were growling louder than the birds outside the window.
Cheng Shiyin headed straight to the kitchen, tying an apron around her waist, and began preparing an early lunch for both of them. Lin Xin, in perfect sync, placed all the daily necessities in their designated spots and then began to wash up in earnest.
As Lin Xin wiped his face with a towel, he heard the clattering of pots and pans from the kitchen, which triggered an uncontrollable fantasy in his mind: he had gotten up a bit late, and Cheng Shiyin had already started preparing breakfast for him. With no time to help since he hadn’t finished washing up, he could only say, “You cook the food, and I’ll shave.” Hearing this, Cheng Shiyin, laughing, gently tapped his chest with her soft little fist, making him feel strangely comfortable.
Lin Xin was snapped out of his daydream when he felt a few uneven bumps on his chin as he wiped with the towel. Muttering to himself, he said, “I’ve been using all my nutrition to grow taller and gain weight these past few months; how could there be any leftovers to form pimples?” Still, he pressed his face closer to the mirror and began squeezing his face with both hands, performing the classic pimple-popping action. But when his face was close enough to the mirror, Lin Xin suddenly realized there were no pimples on his chin. Instead, there were two small black dots.
Whether they were pimples or blackheads didn’t matter—any foreign object on his smooth chin shouldn’t be there. He felt it was his duty and right to remove them. But no matter how hard Lin Xin tried, even washing with facial cleanser several times, the two little black dots stubbornly remained. His skin around them turned red from the effort, but they still stood their ground, as if the area was now theirs.
Stopping his useless actions, Lin Xin carefully touched the two black spots and wondered what they could possibly be.
“When in doubt, use the process of elimination,” Lin Xin thought to himself, a common problem-solving technique from his dormitory days. It helped solve problems, but not so much for other situations—just like what happened in Chapter 20.
Running his fingertip over the black dots, Lin Xin muttered, “If they won’t wash off, they’re not dirt, and they’re not magical pills from a doctor. Since they’re on my chin, they can’t be blackheads. So what else could be black on the face?” After thinking it over and realizing he hadn’t encountered this situation before, he leaned closer to the mirror to examine his face carefully.
“Black, black…” Lin Xin repeated as he searched his face for other black spots. From top to bottom, he noticed his hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, eyes, and even the tiny hairs on his nose. After eliminating the eyes, the only thing left was his beard. He suddenly slammed his head into the mirror, cursing himself for being so foolish. “What else could be on my chin? Of course, it’s just a beard!”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152