Chapter 208 205. Intelligence
The morning sunlight spilled in through the window, falling on the curtains and turning into a hazy pale-yellow glow.
Dust motes drifted in the light as the room, dark throughout the night, was gradually filled with sunshine.
An Han woke up very early, but she didn’t get up. Instead, she greedily rested her forehead against her mother’s shoulder, feeling the warmth coming from her body.
She had never imagined that her mother would trust her like this.
The mother in her memories was gentle but strong-willed, with a fairly strong desire to control her child, not someone easy to communicate with. Under those circumstances, when An Han encountered the system, when her body began feminizing, and even when she eventually became a woman, she had never once thought of telling her mother about it. Facing the approaching winter vacation, she had only planned to muddle through as best she could.
Yet her mother chose to believe her.
A son raised for twenty years becoming a daughter—such an unbelievable thing…
Last night, An Han had cried her heart out, venting all the grievances she had suffered from being pushed around by the system during this period. She cried until she was choking on sobs, until she had no strength left, and only then fell into a deep sleep.
In fact, she had always leaned toward option two—“admitting to a cross-dressing fetish.” But thinking about it now, lying in front of a mother she lived with day in and day out was indeed harder than simply telling the truth, and it would only mean continuing to endure the torment in her heart.
She still felt a little weak. Gently, she pulled away the hand resting on her waist and sat up—only to see that her movement had woken her younger sister as well.
“B-brother…”
“I’m going to class,” An Han said, her eyes still swollen and red as she smiled at her sister. “Keep your voice down, don’t wake Mom.”
“Mm.”
Only then did An Han quietly head toward the bathroom. But just as she turned on the tap, she noticed that her sister had also gotten out of bed and followed her to the bathroom door.
“Need to use the toilet?”
“No.”
She turned her head to look at her sister and saw curiosity in her eyes, along with an anxious desire to help but no idea how.
“Shouldn’t you be studying at this time?” An Han lowered her head, using the towel and cold water to wash away the traces of tears on her face.
“I was sick before and took a week off.”
“Are you better now?”
“Mm.”
Her sister was nearly ten years younger than An Han, and they weren’t actually related by blood—she had been adopted by their mother. At the time, their mother felt that with only one child at home, if she died someday, An Han wouldn’t even have anyone to discuss things with. By a twist of fate, she adopted her sister, hoping the two children could look after each other in the future.
Even now, An Han still didn’t understand how her mother had legally adopted her sister back then—after all, An Han herself had only been about ten years old at the time.
After washing her face, the tear marks were easy enough to wipe away, but the swelling around her eyes was still very obvious, and the exhaustion on her face hadn’t disappeared.
Finishing up, An Han walked out of the bathroom and stretched lazily. “I’m heading out. When Mom wakes up, remember to tell her I went to class.”
“I know.”
Her sister was a bit introverted and quiet today—probably frightened by what had happened yesterday, or maybe she just hadn’t figured out her brother’s situation yet.
An Han reached out and rubbed her little head, then took a jacket from the wardrobe and put it on.
“Can I go too?”
As An Han searched through a stack of books for her textbooks, her sister came up again and asked.
“I’ll ask my counselor this morning. If the counselor agrees, I’ll take you to class this afternoon.”
An Han really had never seen a student bring a family member to class before.
“Then I… should I call you brother or sister?”
Her steps toward the door stopped. The gentleness on her face vanished almost instantly, replaced by a blush spreading across her cheeks as a surge of shame rose sharply within her.
The embarrassment she felt now was even stronger than when facing her mother.
My image in my sister’s eyes has completely collapsed…
The persona she had painstakingly built over more than ten years was utterly destroyed.
She didn’t dare turn her head, afraid her increasingly flushed face would be seen, and murmured softly, “If Mom allows it… then s-sister.”
“Sister~”
She bolted out the door, flustered, gently closing it behind her before finally letting out a breath.
“She did that on purpose! Little devil!”
Since childhood, her sister had always been the mischievous type, often dumping blame on her. Just now, she must have noticed An Han’s embarrassment and deliberately called her “sister” again.
Even if it was a small thing—revenge was still necessary!
She couldn’t help but smile a little. Standing on her toes, she bounced lightly once. After just a few steps, she bounced again.
Months of pent-up worries had been completely resolved overnight! It felt amazing! Mom was really the best~
“Click—”
The door to the neighboring apartment suddenly opened, and An Han’s smile and joy vanished almost instantly.
“Morning.” Su Peng came out into the hallway holding two books, his gaze toward An Han a bit complicated.
He had thought that after An Han cried so miserably last night, now would be his chance to step in. Instead, the first thing he saw was her smiling.
“You didn’t go back last night?” An Han immediately turned her head away, avoiding his gaze.
The apartment’s soundproofing was terrible, and she had cried loudly last night… If other tenants heard it, that was one thing—but if Su Peng heard it, she felt a bit embarrassed.
Too humiliating.
“No, I came back behind you,” Su Peng said with a warm, shallow smile. “Looks like things got resolved pretty well?”
“More or less…”
Hugging her textbooks, An Han hurried past him.
“I was worried something might happen to you. Looks like I overthought it.”
“I was with my family—what could happen?”
“If things got heated, I could at least help mediate, right?” Su Peng followed alongside her. “Good thing it didn’t turn into an argument, or I really wouldn’t have known how to step in.”
An Han felt that if Su Peng had shown up last night, her mother probably wouldn’t have been so easy to talk to.
What if her mother misunderstood and thought Su Peng was her boyfriend…
A son wearing a short skirt was already stimulating enough for her mother’s nerves—if the son also brought home a boyfriend, she’d probably collapse on the spot.
“You seem pretty different today.”
“Really?” An Han was in such a good mood that she unconsciously walked on her toes.
Su Peng studied her curiously, then smiled and nodded. “You’re brighter, more energetic.”
This wasn’t because of the random attribute gained after completing the task—it was simply because a major burden had been lifted from her heart.
“I’ve been wanting to ask—why do you bring so many books to class?”
An Han looked down at the thick stack of textbooks in her arms and explained with a smile, “Today I’m going to memorize all the key points. Then over the next few days, I’ll take my family out to have fun~”
The attributes she had been eagerly hoping for ever since getting the system had finally been randomly assigned.
Intelligence!
One of the classic Strength–Agility–Intelligence trio. She had thought the system’s attributes would follow those old standards, but it turned out the system didn’t play by the rules.
From now on, memorizing and attending classes would be much easier~
———
That’s it for today’s update. Time to disperse~
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