Chapter 206 203. Social Death 【9/17】
The gentle voice on the phone overlapped perfectly with the woman’s voice right beside her.
“……”
An Han stiffly turned her neck, her face deathly pale, staring at her mother and younger sister standing not far away. She swallowed hard. Her heart began pounding wildly. Her lips parted, but she had no idea what to say.
If she had a weak heart, she’d probably drop dead on the spot.
This ambush was way too sudden! Weren’t they supposed to come on Friday? Weren’t she supposed to help book the tickets and hotel?
“Happy? We’re planning to stay near your school for two days first. When you don’t have classes, you can show me and your sister around campus. On the weekend, we’ll go visit some scenic spots.”
“I… guess I’m pretty happy?”
Her voice on the other end of the call suddenly became much weaker, full of guilt and hesitation. Her mother subconsciously looked up—and saw the girl who had just gotten off the bus, phone to her ear, staring in her direction while slowly backing away.
She had to admit, the girl was very pretty. She even looked quite compatible with her son, like a couple.
Her taste in clothes was good too—just that the skirt was a bit short.
“Mom, that sister looks kind of like big brother.”
Hearing that, An Han’s palms and forehead broke out in sweat. Her face heated up and flushed red, her mind falling into complete chaos.
Her mother also looked at her curiously, her gaze shifting between the phone and her face.
She briefly considered whether to introduce herself as An Han’s girlfriend.
That would be way too stupid. Anyone with a normal brain wouldn’t believe such a lie.
But maybe her mother also wouldn’t believe that her son had turned into a daughter? If you thought about it that way, her excuse might actually sound more believable.
This was wrong! Since when did her mother develop such a nasty habit of surprise attacks?!
And the task only required her to go on a trip with her mother while dressed in women’s clothes! So why was Su Peng here too?!
Their interaction just now—would it already be mistaken for a couple?
An Han swallowed hard, quickly lowered her head, turned around, and hurriedly tried to slip away unnoticed.
Wearing a short skirt and bringing Su Peng to meet her family… Even though the system had trained her shame tolerance to the absolute bottom, she still couldn’t do something like this.
“An Han?”
The questioning voice from behind made her heart leap again. Her feet froze in place. For a long moment, she didn’t know whether to turn around or respond.
Had she been recognized?
Or was it just that she’d gone quiet on the phone for too long?
“An Han?”
Her mother’s voice—like a demon’s催促—made cold sweat pour out of her. Her teeth trembled as she stammered into the phone, “Um… this… that…”
Footsteps came from behind. She could feel someone approaching her.
It was over. She’d definitely been recognized.
An Han let out a heavy sigh. The tightly wound psychological defense line inside her completely collapsed.
“Mom,” she called out helplessly as she turned around.
Her mother stopped behind her, tilting her head slightly. The curiosity and confusion in her eyes deepened.
“That’s your aunt?” Su Peng sensed something was wrong with An Han and asked quietly from her side. “Why are you so scared?”
“……”
An Han looked at her mother, now only a few meters away, and as if resigning herself to fate, hung up the phone.
Who knew what she was about to face…
Her mother walked over gracefully, studying the pretty girl in front of her. From those similar facial features, the answer gradually became clear.
Her expression darkened. Her chest rose and fell sharply, her brows knitting tightly together.
“Why… are you wearing girls’ clothes?” her mother demanded, struggling to keep her emotions in check, her voice full of suppressed anger.
If not for that single “Mom,” she would never have believed that her usually obedient and sensible son was standing in front of her in a short skirt and women’s clothing.
She’d never noticed any such tendency before.
Had her education gone wrong?
Had she neglected An Han’s psychological development all these years?
Although her anger churned restlessly like a volcano about to erupt, she still forced herself to consider whether the problem lay with her instead.
“Well… it’s just… fun to wear,” An Han explained guiltily, her voice as thin as a mosquito’s buzz.
Su Peng, standing beside her, was completely dumbfounded.
Her younger sister jogged over as well. Seeing their mother angry, she didn’t dare say anything, only stared at An Han’s face, then looked up at their mother again, utterly confused.
At just over ten years old, she truly couldn’t understand what was happening.
“Hurry up and go back to change your clothes!”
An Han pressed her lips together and nodded obediently.
She’d been mistaken for a cross-dresser…
She didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Or should she strike while the iron was hot and confess her current female identity to her mother?
That wasn’t striking while the iron was hot—she felt like that would just be courting death.
Her mother said nothing more. An Han’s heart was tightly clenched as she kept her head lowered, taking small, hesitant steps into the urban village.
Since they’d already seen her wearing a short skirt, bringing her mother back to the apartment didn’t seem like that big of a deal anymore.
“Mom, is that really big brother? Why is he wearing a skirt?”
“……”
Sis—please don’t talk.
An Han couldn’t lift her head anymore, overwhelmed by shame and wanting to die on the spot.
The scene from her nightmares had actually come true!
Watching An Han walk into the village with her family, Su Peng realized something was seriously off. Restless and anxious, he wanted to do something—but after thinking it over, this was ultimately someone else’s family matter. Interfering might only make things worse.
So he stayed behind with An Han’s shopping bags, sent her a message asking if she needed help, and waited.
Very quickly, An Han replied with a “3.”
That was common gamer slang, meaning retreat, run away.
That left Su Peng with even less reason to step in. He could only consider skipping the school’s evening roll call and staying nearby tonight—just in case something went wrong, he could show up immediately.
Meanwhile, An Han walked stiffly through the urban village with her mother.
Her mother didn’t say a word. Her low heels tapped against the concrete ground—da, da—each step sounding like it was stomping directly on An Han’s fragile heart.
Her sister sensed the strange atmosphere and stared ahead at her brother with eyes full of curiosity.
“Is that really big brother…” she asked softly.
Please stop talking, okay?!
An Han could feel that this was the eerie calm before the storm, but she could only force herself to appear calm, bracing herself for the coming tempest.
She led her family into the apartment building, pushed open the door, and entered the room with her head lowered.
“You rented this place?” her mother asked.
“Mm.” An Han stood in the corner, fidgeting uneasily, rubbing the hem of her skirt between her fingers.
The fabric felt pretty nice…
She tried desperately to distract herself with other thoughts to dilute the shame, but whenever her mother’s gaze landed on her, every small movement of her body stiffened noticeably.
Calm down. At worst, she’d just get beaten once.
She’d been beaten plenty of times as a mischievous kid. Even now at school, she still messed around and courted disaster more often than not.
The fear she felt now was just leftover authority from the past!
“An Han…”
“Mm.”
She secretly lifted her eyes—and saw that her mother had already sat down at the foot of the bed, looking straight at her, as if thinking about something.
Maybe she was deciding where it would hurt the most to hit.
“All of this is my fault… I didn’t manage you properly…”
An Han’s eyelid twitched violently.
She saw her mother lower her head—and wipe away tears.
No—please—
She almost wanted to kneel right there.
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