Chapter 2: I Don’t Want That to Happen

“You… you’re hugging so tight, Xixi—I can hardly breathe…”

For a moment, Xia Jinnian was completely stunned.
She had no idea why her best friend would walk out of an exam acting like this.

“It’s only been, what, two hours since we last saw each other? How did you get this sappy all of a sudden, you silly Xixi?”

Xia Jinnian wriggled free from Lin Xiyue’s embrace, then reached out to pinch her friend’s delicate cheeks in retaliation.

Lin Xiyue stayed silent, just staring at her blankly.

Two hours?
Was that all it had been?

If she hadn’t jumped that day… wouldn’t this have been forever?

Under that unwavering gaze, Xia Jinnian started to feel uneasy.
Half flustered, half annoyed, she puffed up her cheeks.

“You keep looking at me like that, and I’ll really get mad, you know!”

“Ah? Oh! No, it’s nothing, really! I just—uh—was too nervous during the exam. Too much pressure. Needed to let off some steam, hahaha—”

Seeing the faint pout on Xia Jinnian’s face finally snapped Lin Xiyue back to herself.
Right—she was acting way out of character.

Come to think of it, if one day your best friend suddenly ran up and hugged you tight, crying things like ‘I missed you so much!’ and ‘Don’t ever leave me again!’—
Well, anyone would be freaked out, wouldn’t they?

“Nervous? Really? Since when was our grand school belle ever afraid of an exam?”

Xia Jinnian still looked doubtful, but she let it slide.
Lin Xiyue quietly sighed in relief.

Whatever the case, to see Jinnian again—to feel hope again after all that despair—was already more than she could ask for.

Only…
Being with her “wife” again, but this time as girlfriends—felt downright bizarre.

Especially when Jinnian pinched her cheeks just now.
Wasn’t she the one who used to do that?

And this “Xixi” nickname…
Was that really how girls talked to each other? So… sweet it almost hurt?

“What’s wrong? Still staring at me?”

Jinnian waved a hand in front of her face, snapping her back to reality.
Xiyue shook her head quickly.

“Uh—right. Jinnian, I’m heading home first, okay? Call me if anything comes up!”

Before Jinnian could even respond, Lin Xiyue stumbled off in a hurry.
Her unsteady gait made it look like she might trip any second.

“This silly Xixi… what’s gotten into her today? Acting like a maniac.”

Jinnian scratched her head, bemused.

Oh well—no point overthinking it.
Maybe the end of exams just made the girl a little too giddy.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiyue was already dashing toward the school gates, where she flagged down a taxi.

“Where to, student?”

“To the Eastside Villa District, please!”

This body was delicate—far too delicate.
Even after running just a few steps, Lin Xiyue was already panting, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

If she remembered correctly, her father had passed away when she was in her third year of middle school, sending Lin Entertainment into a steep decline.
But as a B-tier company, the foundation had been strong, and her mother’s management had kept it afloat.
The Lin family was still wealthy by any ordinary measure—living in the villa district wasn’t a problem.

The taxi sped through the city.
Lin Xiyue sat quietly, replaying her earlier encounter with Jinnian, warmth blooming in her chest.

The chocolate in her hand had already melted—probably from their shared body heat during that hug.
She unwrapped it carefully and licked the sweet liquid bit by bit.
The taste eased her tension and fatigue all at once.

Rummaging through her purse, she found several more pieces of candy and chocolate.

So it was true—
This version of her really did have low blood sugar.
That… could be troublesome.

“Screech—”

The car braked to a stop in front of the Eastside villas.

The moment she saw the familiar gate, Lin Xiyue’s heart leapt.
She threw open the door, tossed a red banknote onto the seat, and bolted out.

“Keep the change, driver!”

“Tch, must be nice being a rich young lady—throwing money around like that,” the driver muttered, pulling away.

Lin Xiyue fished her keys from her purse, opened the yard gate, and rushed inside.

Through the doorway, she spotted a woman in a crisp business suit, clearly just home from work—her mother, Xu Wei.

“Mom!”

She flung herself into her mother’s arms.
This time, remembering her earlier blunder, she held back—
But no amount of restraint could stop the trembling that wracked her body.

“What’s this, you little rascal? Flunked your last exam?”

Her mother’s teasing tone filled Lin Xiyue’s chest with a flood of warmth.

Yes.
This—this was Mom.

But that question did make her a little guilty.
After all, in her previous life, Young Master Lin had been anything but studious.

Wait—
Didn’t Jinnian just say she’d been good at studying this time?

Quickly, Lin Xiyue searched the new memories in her mind.
Relief washed over her.

This life’s Lin Xiyue was completely different.
Maybe her temperament had changed with her gender—
Because this version of her excelled in everything, from academics to the arts.

“No way! Flunk? Those questions were child’s play. I nearly fell asleep halfway through!”

Hands on hips, she grinned smugly.

Well, it made sense—
If she’d had time to nap mid-exam, she clearly wasn’t struggling.

“Alright, alright, enough bragging. You’re drenched in sweat already. The exams are over, and you’re still acting like a wild child. Go shower before you melt.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Lin Xiyue saluted playfully, then hummed a tune as she skipped back to her room to grab clothes.

But the moment she stepped inside, she froze.

The room felt… familiar, yet strange.

The layout was exactly the same as what she remembered—
But the décor and color palette were completely different.

Everything was pastel pink.
Soft, girly, overwhelmingly so.

A shiver crawled up her spine.

Only then did she realize—
She’d been so desperate to see Jinnian and her mother again that she’d completely overlooked one crucial fact:

She was a girl now.

Twenty years of habits weren’t going to vanish overnight.
And that brought with it a far more troubling consequence—

If she was now a girl…

Then how was she supposed to marry Xia Jinnian?!

Would she be doomed to stay her “best friend” forever?
Always at her side, yet never able to cross that line?
Forced to watch as she married someone else?

‘No…’

No way.

That kind of thing—I don’t want it to happen!