Chapter 72: The Road Trip to the Amusement Park

Dragon Brother and I hadn’t been sitting in the park for long.

After about five minutes, a Volkswagen slowly pulled up to the park’s entrance.

The car door opened, and a quiet yet dashing girl stepped out. She casually slipped the car keys into her pocket, looking incredibly cool.

She wore a grey-white hooded sweatshirt over a flashy T-shirt, paired with denim shorts and canvas shoes. Had she been chewing bubblegum, she would have perfectly embodied a rebellious high school student.

As she stepped out, her silver-grey eyes swept across her surroundings.

Under the streetlights, I stood up and waved.

Old Shen finally noticed us. She walked over leisurely, first glancing at Dragon Brother, then asking me, “I heard something happened. You weren’t badly hurt, were you?”

“I’ll still be in a wheelchair for another month,” I replied.

Old Shen clearly frowned, letting out a ‘tsk’ before saying coldly, “That person should be dragged out and shot, damn it!”

Dragon Brother, however, waved a hand dismissively and sighed. “It’s fine, it wasn’t a serious collision,” she said softly. “By the way, you have a car? How come I’ve never heard about it?”

Old Shen sighed again and plopped down on the bench beside me. “It’s my dad’s,” she explained.

I hadn’t known Old Shen owned a car before this, but thankfully, she was quite active on social media. Though usually reserved, her WeChat Moments were always lively.

She had recently posted a picture of her driver’s license with the caption: ‘This damn thing was so hard to get.’

One day, when we were at an internet cafe, playing games and drinking coffee, I had overheard her mentioning that her family was planning to buy her a car and that she was about to start her driving lessons. At the time, I had sincerely wished for her to fail the test.

But since she had just gotten her license, an expensive car would be wasted on her. So, she used her dad’s old Volkswagen to practice; at least it was roadworthy.

Old Shen’s Volkswagen was parked right in front of the park.

Old Shen clasped her hands behind her head and crossed her legs, gazing idly at the park. The park was quiet at night; even the women who enjoyed late-night dog walks had gone home. Only the three of us remained.

Dragon Brother took a sip of her iced red tea and yawned. I, too, idly drank my iced red tea. The drinks weren’t finished yet, and leaving now would feel abrupt, so we planned to sit for a while longer. Fortunately, they seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Old Shen languidly swung her leg, a smile playing on her lips. “Lu Ren just messaged me, asking for a ride. He said it was urgent. I saw it while playing a game, so I drove right over. Where are you two off to?”

“Dragon Brother just got discharged from the hospital. We’re planning to take her out to have some fun,” I said softly, rubbing the condensation off my iced red tea.

Old Shen glanced at me, pursed her lips, and, still with crossed legs, tilted her head back to gaze at the stars.

“But there’s not much to do around here, so we talked about going to an amusement park,” I explained. “Neither of us has ever been, so we might as well take this chance.”

Old Shen stared at me for a moment, then lowered her eyes. “How romantic,” she said, “going to an amusement park.”

There was a hint of loneliness in Old Shen’s eyes. She usually spent her time at home, playing games or streaming. She probably rarely went out with friends.

This time, I had only called Dragon Brother. Old Shen was only called because she had a car and could give us a ride.

I vaguely felt I had done something wrong. A sudden pang of selfishness struck me.

I didn’t know how to respond to Old Shen’s comment, so I simply took another sip of my iced red tea.

Old Shen pondered for a moment, looking between us. A smile returned to her eyes. “Have you two eaten yet? How about we grab a meal somewhere first, then head over? It’s an hour’s drive, so going back and forth would be a hassle.”

That sounded like too much trouble. I waved my hand. “Never mind. We can eat once we get there.”

Old Shen said nothing more, simply nodding.

It was already evening, precisely seven o’clock.

We would probably arrive around eight, just in time for a late dinner.

And Old Shen could drive us back at night, saving us from having to stay in a hotel. As for gas money, I could treat her to a good meal the next time we went online together.

With our plan set, we prepared to depart.

Getting Dragon Brother into the car proved tricky. I first pushed her wheelchair to Old Shen’s car. Dragon Brother’s IV drip wasn’t finished, so I couldn’t just shove her and the wheelchair into the car. Besides, the wheelchair was bulky; it needed to be folded and placed in the trunk.

I carefully lifted Dragon Brother from her wheelchair, struggling to hold the IV bag with one hand. Old Shen silently opened the car’s trunk. I suddenly felt like Old Shen and I were a married couple, taking our sick child on a long journey. As the thought crossed my mind, I accidentally chuckled aloud.

“What the hell are you laughing about?” Dragon Brother whispered.

Dragon Brother’s arms were wrapped around my neck, so I couldn’t see her face. She grumbled with a hint of dissatisfaction, likely intuiting that I was laughing at her.

I smiled, remaining silent, yet I could smell her warm fragrance once more. Ever since Dragon Brother had become a woman, her body had grown soft and warm. She curled up in my arms like a large cat, quiet and content.

Old Shen crouched on the ground, struggling. She resembled a quiet delinquent. After pondering for a moment, she finally found a long, thin lever beneath the wheelchair. She tentatively pressed it down, and the wheelchair frame loosened.

With a sigh, she folded the wheelchair, then stood up and laboriously lifted it into the trunk.

Holding Dragon Brother, I slid into the car. Dragon Brother wiggled in my embrace, finding a comfortable position.

Old Shen slammed the car door shut, then casually strolled to the front and got into the driver’s seat. She elegantly turned the key, and the car’s radio illuminated. Pushing her flaxen curls behind her ear, she asked indifferently, “Which amusement park are we going to?”

“The one in D City, the one in H City is too far,” I said, smiling softly in the dim car interior, where the headlights cast bright beams onto the trees outside, their faint light barely reaching us. “You look really cool today, like a fairy.”

Old Shen had been smiling, looking quite pleased.

But as soon as I compared her to a fairy, she spat out a laugh. “Go to hell!”

Dragon Brother rested her head on my arm, chuckling softly in my embrace.

I smiled, tightening my grip on the IV bag.

Old Shen glanced in the rearview mirror, then laughed to Dragon Brother. “You’re still laughing? At least I still show some trace of a man. With you, I truly can’t see it at all.”

I burst out laughing at that.

“Get lost!”

Dragon Brother, annoyed, furiously kicked the driver’s seat.

Old Shen laughed too. She tapped a few buttons on the navigation system, started the car, and continued, “I think you look more like a fairy than I do.”

Dragon Brother kicked the seat twice more, then rolled her eyes.

She leaned closer to me, found a comfortable position, and said contentedly, “Go to your grandma’s!”

The car gradually picked up speed.

The atmosphere in the car was relaxed. Old Shen would occasionally banter with Dragon Brother, punctuated by laughter. I sat in the back, holding Dragon Brother, listening to their chatter.

They sounded like two close girlfriends, rather than the drinking buddies they used to be.

I gazed out the car window at the endless stream of vehicles on the main road.

I had always wanted something like this.

To arrange with my brothers to drive to a nearby city together, not for some dreadful social obligation or anything else, but simply because there was a particularly delicious restaurant in the next city.

And now, that dream had essentially come true. Old Shen was driving in front, joking with Dragon Brother, while Dragon Brother sat beside me, her arms linked around my neck. Aside from the gender change, everything else felt perfect.

I tend to overthink everything. Dragon Brother probably hadn’t delved into how our relationship would continue after she became a woman.

But I felt as if I was utterly stuck in this predicament.

I wasn’t sure when it started.

Perhaps it was even earlier, maybe the afternoon Dragon Brother came to my house, that I realized our friendship had become mixed with something else.

And that something, I found difficult to articulate.

The car gradually entered the highway. Old Shen’s chatter subsided as she focused on driving.

Dragon Brother, meanwhile, was starting to get drowsy, her small head nodding off.

I turned my head to look, noticing Dragon Brother’s pale neck.

After a moment’s thought, I gently guided her head back, resting it against my chest.

Dragon Brother sleepily glanced at me. I whispered, “Go ahead and sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

Dragon Brother remained silent, lowering her head and resting quietly against my chest.

Using the light reflected from the headlights, I glanced at Dragon Brother’s IV bag. Thankfully, there was still plenty left, so we wouldn’t have to remove the needle in the car.

Removing a needle in the car always felt a bit dangerous. It should last until we reached our destination.

Old Shen looked at me in the rearview mirror.

The car continued its journey late into the night. Few people left the city at this hour, so the toll booths were usually very strict. After about twenty minutes, we finally reached the toll booth at the city’s edge.

Old Shen stopped the car and rolled down the window.

The person outside the car stared at Old Shen for a while, then said in a deep voice, “Please show your driver’s license.”

Old Shen certainly didn’t look her age; she appeared more like a high school girl.

Old Shen lowered her head, retrieved her wallet, and handed over her opened documents.

Fortunately, Old Shen had obtained her driver’s license *after* she had transitioned into a woman, so the photo and gender should be correct.

The person repeatedly scrutinized the photo and Old Shen, confirming several times before hesitantly waving us through.

The car slowly started moving again, and the checkpoint outside the window gradually receded.

Old Shen cursed under her breath, “Damn it, even changing gender means a hassle at the checkpoint.”

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