Chapter 26: Cross-Dressing Chronicles

Even though she’d vaguely seen this coming, when Luo Yan was dragged to the entrance of a women’s clothing boutique by Miss Lu, she still felt a little awkward.

Sure, she was technically a girl now—but her mind still defaulted to thinking like the man she used to be.

Take right now, for example. She had the distinct feeling of an innocent, pure-hearted young man about to get tricked into a trap by a delinquent girl.

Whether in her past life or in this world, there was an urban legend that had always circulated:

“There’s only two kinds of cross-dressing—your first time and your countless times.”

Once you opened Pandora’s box, there was no going back.

Granted, urban legends tended to exaggerate, but the fact that this one persisted no matter how wildly the world changed spoke volumes.

Maybe there really was some strange magic in women’s clothing.

From that angle, Miss Lu trying to awaken Luo Yan’s “maiden soul” like this wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

After all, if it were any ordinary girl, the dazzling lineup of skirts and dresses would’ve been irresistible by now.

Unfortunately, the “ordinary girl” in question had been swapped out for Luo Yan.

That made things… complicated.

Strictly speaking, she couldn’t be considered a normal girl.

Her unique situation made the idea of slipping into a bunch of frilly, girlish outfits feel more like public humiliation than a fun shopping trip.

“I already have plenty of clothes,” Luo Yan tried to explain, her tone helpless. “I haven’t even worn most of the stuff you sent me.”

She was telling the truth.

Over the past few days, Lu Xiao Na had gifted her an entire wardrobe’s worth of clothes. She’d only actually worn one or two pieces.

“Those don’t count, Big Sister Luo Yan!” Lu Xiao Na pouted. “I just grabbed those randomly, they weren’t picked properly. To find something that really suits you, you have to try them on one by one.”

She huffed, cheeks puffed out like a squirrel.

“And besides,” she added, “I know you don’t like the ones you haven’t worn. Don’t lie—I can see right through you.”

Her tone held a touch of grievance.

Clearly, she’d spent a lot of effort choosing those clothes.

Luo Yan softened, trying to reassure her. “I’ll definitely wear them when I get back.”

“Nope. I don’t want to hear any of that next time for sure stuff.”

Lu Xiao Na wasn’t falling for that routine.

She tightened her grip on Luo Yan’s arm and pulled out a sweet little bribe.

“Big Sister Luo Yan, c’mon! I specially came out with you today to buy you a phone. Just wear a skirt for me, okay? Just one. Satisfy me?”

Luo Yan was momentarily at a loss for words.

The saying “one’s mouth is short when eating someone’s food, and one’s hands are soft when taking someone’s things” really did hold true.

Besides, Lu Xiao Na was now her biggest financial sponsor.

After hesitating for a bit, Luo Yan sighed.

The other girl’s request wasn’t exactly unreasonable.

“…Fine. Since you’ve asked, I’ll wear one.”

She emphasized the word one very clearly, even holding up a slender finger and wagging it in front of Lu Xiao Na’s face.

“I knew you were the best, Big Sister Luo Yan!”

Lu Xiao Na grabbed her finger, eyes sparkling like she’d just won the lottery.

Luo Yan and Lu Xiao Na were both, without question, absolute beauties.

The moment the two of them walked into the store together, they immediately became the center of attention.

Now that Lu Xiao Na had convinced her, the sales assistants jumped in like sharks smelling blood, launching into enthusiastic recommendations.

In her previous life, Luo Yan had been a single otaku who’d never set foot in a women’s clothing shop.

Even when she went shopping with her mother, she’d usually park herself on a bench by the entrance and play on her phone until it was over.

This was her first time actually stepping inside.

And how did she feel about it?

Well, it was weird. Strange, even.

But also… kind of amazing.

The sheer variety of women’s clothing was on another level compared to men’s.

Then again, that made sense.

The beautiful curves that women were born with practically demanded beautiful clothes to highlight and enhance them.

A woman’s body naturally came with more possibilities. It was simply better suited to wearing all kinds of outfits that could show off different types of beauty.

“Big Sister Luo Yan, do you want to try this skirt?” Lu Xiao Na came over, holding up a piece of clothing.

She’d noticed Luo Yan staring at it for a while.

Seeing her actually interested in a skirt was rare enough to make her feel both surprised and relieved.

“No,” Luo Yan replied, her eyes thoughtful. “I was just thinking about a peacock spreading its tail.”

“…A peacock spreading its tail?”

“Don’t you know? Only male peacocks spread their tails.”

“Eh? I know that, but what’s that got to do with the skirt?”

“Think about it. Why is it the males who display, not the females? There’s an old saying, ‘A woman adorns herself for the one who pleases her.’ But in the end, it’s still about attracting the opposite s*x. So isn’t dressing up basically a form of tail spreading too? That raises the question: who spreads the tail, and why? I think the answer lies in the framework of the social system—”

“Big Sister Luo Yan, please stop talking!”

Lu Xiao Na instantly regretted starting this conversation.

She never imagined Luo Yan could come up with so many bizarre theories just by standing there for a few minutes.

In her heart, she silently updated the mental label she’d made for Luo Yan.

Originally, it had just said “straight woman.”

Now she added another word in front of it: “steel.”

A steel straight woman.

If an ordinary girl got labeled like that, she’d be guaranteed to end up a leftover woman.

But Luo Yan was no ordinary girl—her looks were so absurdly high-tier that societal rules didn’t really apply.

Still, Lu Xiao Na felt a pang of frustration.

Since gentle persuasion wasn’t working, it was time to escalate.

Correction must be overdone.

If she wanted to awaken the maiden soul buried deep inside this steel straight woman, she needed to bring out the heavy artillery.

“Big Sister Luo Yan, try this one on! It’ll look amazing on you.”

Luo Yan glanced at the outfit—and the corner of her mouth twitched.

It was a black printed dress with an obvious Asian style.

The inside was paired with a light blue strapless semi-transparent lace bra and hollowed-out lace panties of the same color.

The outer layer was a pair of ultra-thin black thigh-high stockings.

Just this fashionable and sexy underwear alone made Luo Yan feel overwhelmed, not to mention that the skirt was the kind that could just barely cover the absolute zone.

Although she hadn’t put it on yet, she could already imagine the amazing chemical reaction it would produce with her heaven-defying figure.

“…It’s too short. I’ll attract trouble if I go out like that.”

Whether she meant bees and butterflies or just creeps, it was hard to tell.

But honestly, the bigger problem was that it was simply too embarrassing.

Lu Xiao Na grinned mischievously.

“It’s fine! Just try it on first. Look around—the whole store is women right now, no men. And if anyone causes trouble, I’ll take care of it.”

Luo Yan rolled her eyes, exasperated.

She hesitated for a moment.

Well… trying it on wouldn’t cost her a piece of flesh.

And she had troubled Lu Xiao Na quite a bit recently.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to wear a little skirt just this once to make her happy.

Also… if she was being honest, she was a little curious.

With her looks and figure, what would the result be?

With that thought, Luo Yan took the clothes from Lu Xiao Na’s hands and headed for the fitting room.

Behind her, the sound of Lu Xiao Na cheering echoed through the store.

“Long live Big Sister Luo Yan!”

Luo Yan just shook her head, sighing helplessly.