Chapter 12: A Perilous Discovery

When Gao Meiyou discovered, to her surprise, that the door was unlocked, Xiao Xi was sprawled in a ‘Ge You slouch’ on the sofa. Before he could even marvel at how much more comfortable the volunteer club’s sofa felt than his own at home, he heard the distinct sound of someone opening the door.

Then came Sister Yuan’s voice, a questioning, “Hmm? Did I forget to lock the door?”

Sister Yuan pushed the door open, her gaze immediately meeting Xiao Xi’s, who was frozen on the sofa. For a fleeting moment, she actually wondered if she had entered the wrong room.

She glanced around, bewildered. Something felt off. Yet, the sofa, the table, the banner—this was undeniably her volunteer club activity room!

So, who was this girl sitting on the sofa, lost in a daze?

Setting aside Sister Yuan’s thoughts for a moment, Xiao Xi was utterly dumbfounded. He had been… discovered in his cross-dressing by Sister Meiyou, just like that!

‘What should I do? Will she think I’m a pervert? How will Sister Meiyou react? Will she drag me out for public humiliation?’ He quickly dismissed the last thought. ‘No, public humiliation is definitely a bit much.’

‘But then again… it’s not impossible.’

The two blinked again. Gao Meiyou fell silent. This girl, she looked quite pretty. So young, yet already resorting to theft? What a pity. Should she call the police? Hmm…

Or perhaps she could keep her here, to atone by serving as her errand girl?

Hmm… Gao Meiyou couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d seen this plotline—capturing a girl and blackmailing her into becoming a maid—in some of the ‘unconventional’ novels she’d been reading lately.

‘When did my thoughts become so twisted?’

*Cough, cough*. No, no. Gao Meiyou hesitated, deciding it was better to approach the girl normally and persuade her to turn over a new leaf.

Xiao Xi clearly caught the flicker of hesitation in Sister Yuan’s eyes. ‘What does that mean? Is Sister Yuan going to…’

A series of rather unpleasant scenarios flashed through Xiao Xi’s mind. He had already endured about a quarter of them under his own sister’s threats and inducements. *Cough, cough*. None of that mattered now. The real issue was…

Sister Yuan was slowly advancing towards him!

‘What is she trying to do?’

Xiao Xi instinctively recoiled. Gao Meiyou narrowed her eyes, continuing her slow approach.

‘Slower, a little slower. Don’t let her feel too much pressure, lest she gets agitated and causes irreparable damage.’

Gao Meiyou took a deep breath, employing every tactic she’d ever seen professionals use to approach and subdue dangerous individuals in movies. Xiao Xi, meanwhile, only felt Sister Yuan drawing closer and closer…

‘Help! Why did Sister Yuan come so early today? And why is her behavior so unhinged first thing in the morning?’

‘What’s going on? How did things escalate like this?’

Xiao Xi was utterly bewildered. While being discovered cross-dressing by Sister Yuan was embarrassing, the current situation didn’t feel like he was being scorned at all.

Instead, Sister Yuan now… seemed rather like those perverts he’d imagined who would be overly interested in his cross-dressed self…

‘And a little like my sister…’

The thought of his sister instantly sent Xiao Xi’s mind into disarray. Gao Meiyou seized the opportunity. Their distance was just right. With a swift pounce, she tackled Xiao Xi to the ground.

Xiao Xi, pinned to the floor by the sudden tackle, struggled frantically. Gao Meiyou held him down firmly, refusing to let him escape her grasp.

*Whoosh…*

After a prolonged struggle, Xiao Xi finally ran out of strength, collapsing onto the ground. The thought of being at Sister Yuan’s mercy made him weak-kneed, and he began to sob softly.

‘Waaah—just escaped from my sister’s clutches, only to fall into Sister Yuan’s tiger’s den…’

‘Huh? Why does that description sound a little… suggestive?’

“There, there~” Gao Meiyou patted the head of the little crybaby beneath her, comforting him. “It’s alright. As long as you don’t do this kind of thing again in the future, I promise I won’t do anything to you.”

“Waaah—” Xiao Xi cried even louder. “It wasn’t my idea! It was all Sister… Sister forced me to do it!”

Xiao Xi felt incredibly wronged. Cross-dressing was his sister’s demand, and he had been about to change back! ‘Sister Yuan, you’ve got the wrong person! The big villain who promotes cross-dressing and corrupts social morals is my sister! Not me…’

He had no idea why Sister Yuan detested cross-dressing to such an extent; perhaps there was a reason. But Xiao Xi didn’t want to know. All he wanted was to stand up.

“Forced?!” Gao Meiyou exclaimed, aghast. Had things really escalated to this level? Someone was forcing a minor to commit home invasion and theft? This, this, this… She never imagined this poor girl had such a tragic background.

“Sister? Was it your sister who forced you?” Gao Meiyou immediately asked the person beneath her. Xiao Xi nodded sadly. ‘Yes, damn it all to Sister! If she hadn’t egged me on to cross-dress, would I be caught by Sister Yuan now, about to be paraded through the streets?’

As he imagined himself, still in women’s clothes, tied up like a pretzel by Sister Yuan, then paraded through the campus to be pointed at by his classmates, Xiao Xi felt… felt…

‘It seems… not so bad? There’s even a strange sense of pleasure in it…’

*Cough, cough*. ‘No, no, absolutely not!’

Xiao Xi quickly shook the terrifying thought from his head. ‘How am I turning into such a masochist? This is truly terrifyingly masochistic…’

“Oh, right!” Xiao Xi suddenly remembered something. “Um… actually, she’s my childhood friend. We just grew up together and I got used to calling her ‘sister’.”

Xiao Xi clarified. Gao Meiyou nodded in understanding, then patted him. “Don’t worry, it’s not your fault. Remember, even if your ‘sister’ tells you to do something like this again, you must never do it, understand? It’s against the law! Come on, I’ll take you to report it to the police!”

****

‘Against the law? Call the police?’

Xiao Xi’s eyes widened. ‘When did the law become so strict? Is even cross-dressing illegal now? Or… is Sister Meiyou referring to what my sister did to me before?’

Regardless, calling the police was absolutely out of the question! Xiao Xi didn’t want to blow things up to such a scale.

“No, no!” Xiao Xi immediately shook his head. “This matter can’t get out of hand, and Sister won’t let me off, waaah—”

‘What a poor child,’ Gao Meiyou thought. ‘And what if the criminal syndicate behind her retaliates later?’ Gao Meiyou fell into distress. ‘If all else fails, I’ll ask my dad to wipe out the criminal syndicate!’

“It’s alright, I’ll protect you! No matter how terrifying your sister and the forces behind her are, I will protect you!” Gao Meiyou declared to Xiao Xi with righteous conviction.

Xiao Xi was moved by her just tone. He never expected Sister Meiyou to care so much about his predicament. He was deeply touched, even genuinely considering going to the police with her, until…

He suddenly remembered something. The fact that Shi Yuan and he weren’t actual siblings… hadn’t he already mentioned that yesterday?

‘Uh…’

‘Is Sister Yuan a bit forgetful?’

Just as Xiao Xi was pondering this, Shi Meng suddenly pushed the door open. She stared at the two figures on the floor, and the freshly bought soy milk in her hand *splashed* onto the ground with a thud…

Her mouth hung open, her face a picture of utter confusion. ‘This, this, this… I just rescued my brother from my sister, you guys!’

“Bro, Sister Yuan, what are you two doing?!”