Chapter 147 : Confession
Confession
When Gu Yanxi said those words, Chen Zixuan knew that everything was ruined.
For the past three days, Chen Zixuan had indeed been deliberately avoiding Gu Yanxi. Not only did he not leave the house, he even chose to ignore all of the girl's WeChat messages, never replying once.
In truth, he felt completely helpless himself. Every day, he was by Gu Yanxi's side, yet he couldn't reveal that he was actually Cecilia.
He was about to face something huge, and on top of that, his Transformation would soon happen—a glamorous, complete change into a silver-haired girl whose looks and gender would match perfectly with his game avatar. Who would believe such a thing if he said it out loud?
So, Chen Zixuan simply chose to give her the cold shoulder. For now, he couldn't think of a better way to handle it.
Originally, from a rational perspective, the best response would've been to leave the city entirely and cut off all contact with everyone he knew.
Otherwise, in a dozen or so days, he would face the worst situation of his life.
Yes, the worst situation.
No ID card, no household registration, not even a birth certificate.
If a high-schooler living alone suddenly disappeared, it would be like he vanished into thin air. The school and, undoubtedly, the landlord's family would report him missing immediately.
Then, the police wouldn't need much effort to find that even though a person named Chen Zixuan had disappeared, a girl—one with no past records—had suddenly appeared in the rented apartment in his place.
At that point, how in the world could he explain it?
"Do you think the people's police would believe your nonsense?"
No matter what he said, that'd probably be the only response.
After all, in people's common sense, the sun doesn't rise in the west, tencent games don't actually exist for happiness, and elementary school students can't slam his head on the keyboard dakljedlkajdoajladl
A healthy man can't just become a delicate, fair-skinned, white-haired beauty overnight.
Let's not even mention Mr. Democracy, but even Mr. Science would be furious.
It was all as fantastical as a fairy tale, completely unreal.
Yet Chen Zixuan just couldn't let go of his bonds, which was why he hadn't chosen to leave without saying goodbye, and had instead stayed.
He hadn't expected that Gu Yanxi's heart would be so sensitive, that in just a few days she would realize she was being shunned.
He'd already been in this city for two years. Gu Yanxi's family treated him well. Even though they asked for rent, he knew that even if he couldn't pay, the landlord's family would never actually kick him out.
He was never a weak person, but now, Chen Zixuan was truly at a loss.
Faced with the girl's questioning, in the end, he didn't turn around; he maintained his silence.
I'm sorry... Please, forget about me from now on.
How could he possibly say such a thing so easily?
"So it's true. You've been avoiding me all along, haven't you?"
Seeing Chen Zixuan respond with silence, Gu Yanxi bit her lip and pressed on.
Chen Zixuan opened his mouth, but hesitated and still could not make a sound.
"Why won't you talk to me?"
Gu Yanxi persisted, her voice trembling as she fought back tears.
Hearing the girl's weeping tone, a powerful sense of guilt welled up in Chen Zixuan's heart. He nearly confessed everything: "Actually, I—"
"I don't want to hear it!"
Before he could finish, a hand suddenly reached out from behind him and covered his mouth.
Gu Yanxi used Physical Silence to great effect, forcibly interrupting Chen Zixuan's 'spellcasting.'
Right after, Chen Zixuan felt a soft body lean against his back. By his ear, the girl's voice sounded—firm, yet trembling:
"I know you must be in a lot of trouble right now. You just don't want to drag me into it. It's my fault for being too willful. It's okay if you don't say anything."
Chen Zixuan stayed silent, the faint laughter of children drifting in from outside the window.
After a brief pause, as if finally sure of something, Gu Yanxi spoke even more firmly: "If there's something you want to do, just go for it. If one day you really can't go on, it's okay to leave me behind."
"No matter what road you choose, I'll always support you unconditionally, wait for you, and do my best never to cause you any trouble."
Every word she said sank deeply into Chen Zixuan's heart, leaving him with indescribable feelings.
He had thought he'd done all he could not to affect anyone else, even during the loneliest, most helpless stretch after learning the truth about the game—fighting through it alone, licking his wounds in silence.
But he still underestimated Gu Yanxi's sensitivity; she had somehow sensed his current difficulty and desperation from all those tiny details.
A woman's sixth sense truly was a wondrous thing.
"... Tha... Thank you..."
Feeling his eyes sting, after a long hesitation, Chen Zixuan finally nodded slightly.
Live or die, he'd leave that for later—after all, this was his home now, and he no longer wanted to leave.
Even if he would become a girl in the future, he would still stay by Gu Yanxi's side.
"So... will you keep avoiding me?"
The girl pressed anxiously, and Chen Zixuan could feel the arms wrapped around his waist tightening.
"I won't avoid you anymore."
This time, Chen Zixuan's answer was firm.
"Turn around."
Gu Yanxi withdrew her arms from around him and placed them on his shoulders, gently turning him.
Chen Zixuan was stunned, not turning around just yet.
At that moment, he truly didn't know what expression to show Gu Yanxi.
"Turn. Around."
Perhaps dissatisfied with his disobedience, the girl's tone became much more urgent, but it wasn't grating at all—rather, there was the subtle coyness unique to lovers.
Is it coming?
Was she about to put a perfect, final ending to their ambiguous relationship in such a wonderful atmosphere?
Is that what Gu Yanxi was thinking?
So, taking a deep breath, Chen Zixuan slowly turned around, gazing blankly at the girl's fair face.
Gu Yanxi didn't shrink back at all, locking her eyes on his and throwing a direct fastball, cutting off Chen Zixuan's last attempt to retreat.
"Chen Zixuan, do you like me?"
Even though saying it made her embarrassingly red and her heartbeat felt like it would burst from her chest—suffocating until it almost hurt—
She still asked.
At this point, what else could Chen Zixuan say?
"I do."
If this was a dream, then he wished he would never wake up.
..................
As usual, a little extra talk.
Since the main text has reached 2000 words, any rambling here won't be charged if it stays under 3000, so don't worry about reading.
It's been over two years since I started writing on Pineapple Bun. Perhaps a few very old readers know that I've never been someone who keeps things 'stable.'
In two years, I've started maybe a dozen novels, from the first school-life one, to the last one's 'fantasy' theme, to this 'game' one, and I've even written cultivation male leads, gender-bender cultivators, Japanese-style gender-bender, system themes—doing my best to become an all-rounder who can handle any style. (Honestly, it's just because I flop a lot.)
The more I wrote, the more I found that gender-bender was fun.
This book is a relatively new experiment for me too.
I read most of your recent feedback. The most common question is: 'Why hasn't the Transformation happened yet?' 'If it doesn't happen soon, I'll drop the book.'
I'm anxious too. If I could, I'd love to skip twenty days and make the next chapter about the Transformation.
But as a writer with at least some baseline responsibility for the story, I can say for certain—there's no way.
If this was just a slice-of-life story, time-skipping would be okay; months or even half a year would be normal.
But this is an online game story, and the early stage of the game is super important. If I just skipped ahead twenty days, all the setup would be wasted, the subsequent plot would collapse, and I may as well end the story right there.
As a gender-bender author for two years and a reader for six years, I know what's enjoyable about these stories. But after reading most gender-bender novels these days, I just feel they're kind of bland.
"What? I actually turned into a girl?!"
The protagonist is shocked.
"No, give me back my G2!"
The protagonist wails.
"Don't worry, I'll live well for you."
The protagonist mumbles to themselves.
Just a few lines and some overused tropes, and they gloss over the part that should have been the most fun! What a shame.
Is that good? Not really.
Isn't the joy of Transformation meant to be savored slowly later on?
Okay, I'll admit I'm lazy. I've never really written this kind of story before, and I get stuck a lot and get called out for filler, so the updates got slower and now it's just one chapter per day.
Word count's almost out, and if I keep going, I'd need to charge more.
Anyway, I hope you can be a little more patient. I promise I'll pick up the pace, and do my best to deliver the kind of story I truly want. Just like you, at this moment, I'm also a gender-bender fan.
Let's end with a Q&A section. If you have any questions about the book, just ask here—as long as it's not too outrageous, I'll answer everyone over the next few days.