Act One

The young man expressed his confusion, "Why is it that when I buy apples, they are all given in cardboard boxes, rather than in baskets?"

As such misunderstandings proliferate, a series of nonsensical jokes soon follow. People begin to question whether Zhuo Yan is truly male or female, or perhaps simply a transgender individual

At that moment, Sun Ying was still seriously contemplating the previous question. Just as she was about to say the name she had thought of, she could only manage to utter a single character before the book, propelled by a fierce gust of wind, unexpectedly struck her in the face. The name was instantly shattered into fragments by her anguished scream, "Xu—ah—Kun can still—hey, why are you throwing things at me! Xiao Yu, can you please aim properly before you throw!"

Fortunately, the time spent in reminiscence was not too long, and eventually she gradually adapted to this communal life

Sun Ying glared at Xiao Yu, mercilessly exposing her secret, "You... I... Xiao Yu, don't think I don't know that you have a crush on Zhang Yidi from the Mechanical Engineering Department, who is particularly eager to act cool and aloof because he can sing, dance, and play basketball!"

Zhuo Yan carefully poked her, "Hey, what are you doing? Are you daydreaming in broad daylight?"

At this moment, someone is shouting the room number of Zhuoyan Dormitory downstairs

Lu Yang replied: "I will try not to. If you don't disgust me, I won't smash it."

In the end, she said resentfully: "Let me freeze to death this night!"

Put away the apple basket, climb down from the windowsill, and upon turning back, Zhuo Yan was almost startled.

Jiang Shan felt that this attention was extremely embarrassing for him, and he turned his face away.

Every time at this moment, Zhuo Yan always feels a sense of wanting to cry without tears

Xiao Yu clutched her stomach and exclaimed: "Sun Ying, oh Sun Ying, it turns out you are also a fierce warrior among the introverted army! You often say that your family doesn't allow you to date during university, yet now that you've been hit, you still can't forget about Xu Kun, haha!"

Zhuo Yan replied loudly, "This basket was brought when buying apples!"

Zhuo Yan lives on the sixth floor. Leaning on the windowsill, she gazes out at the distant landscape. "Class monitor, climbing stairs is so inefficient! How about I send a basket down to you? You can put your books inside, and then I will pull it back up with a rope. What do you think?"

When Lu Yang returned to the dormitory and shared this with everyone, Zhuo Yan had already completely revealed her true nature to her sisters. Therefore, Lu Yang looked down on her extremely, saying, "Where have the eyes of the boys in our class gone? How could they mistake you for a refined young lady? You are clearly just a madwoman!"

Lu Yang threw the entire blanket down from the upper bunk, landing on her head

Everyone is filled with endless curiosity about each other's hometowns and the high schools they once attended, always endlessly inquiring about one another. Was there a boy in your high school who was both studious and handsome? Did you secretly have a crush on someone back then? Did that person secretly like you as well?

Every time she hears such shouts, Zhuo Yan cannot help but feel exasperated, insisting while puffing out her chest: "Hey, hey, hey! Please take a good look before shouting! What ruffian? I am a woman, a woman! Have you ever seen a man with two protruding bumps on his chest?"

Xiao Yu became agitated and exclaimed, "You scoundrel! Shut your mouth! You are simply an ignorant fool! That boy, he is Zhang Yidi, Zhang Yidi!"

This remarkable feat unexpectedly attracted many people to stop and watch, expressing their admiration and astonishment

Zhuo Yan felt that at this moment, Jiang Shan's face must be as red as a monkey's bottom

Zhuo Yan shook her long, disheveled hair that she had been growing out, and shouted with a mischievous grin at Jiang Shan Jun downstairs: "Jiang Shan, oh Jiang Shan, the note, oh the note, Wu Shuang, oh Wu Shuang!"

In the beautiful youth of adolescence, guarding a charming and handsome desk mate of the opposite sex, yet unable to receive the affection of early love for a long time. Such wonderful times were thus wasted, never to return. From then on, Zhuo Yan harbored a deep-seated resentment towards those who questioned her gender.

Zhuo Yan chuckled and said to him, "That's because the apples you bought are too good! You must have bought Fuji apples—they are expensive, so they come in nice packaging, in colorful boxes; but I bought Guoguang apples, the small and sour kind, which are cheap, so they just put them in a shabby basket!"

The class leader Jiang Shan stood downstairs, calling out loudly for Zhuo Yan's name—of course, it is a pseudonym

After laughing, Xiao Yu thought to himself: "Actually, I think the class monitor Jiang Shan is quite good, rather handsome."

Zhuo Yan faced his back, exerting all her strength, and with infinite affection, uttered a single word: "Pah!"

Zhuo Yan Road, Yang He, and Xiao Yu, several girls had already collapsed in laughter on the side

From a height of six stories, Zhuo Yan felt that with her shouting, she could almost see the disdainful expression on Jiang Shan Jun's face, "Zhuo Wen Jing, why have you become so lazy? Are you still a girl?"

After the afternoon nap that day, Zhuo Yan and the other three girls in the dormitory began a discussion. As they talked, they transitioned from reminiscing about high school to discussing their current class.

The housemates are all young girls of similar ages, and the young ladies gather together, chattering every day as if there are endless joyful stories to share

Xiao Yu had a dazed expression as if his soul were wandering outside, staring blankly out of the window

Lu Yang could hardly tolerate it and threw his pillow at her; after throwing it, he wanted it back, but Zhuo Yan refused to give it to him

Every day, everyone calls her "Wen Jing Mei" back and forth, never using her real name. As days go by, the instructor even comes to believe that a new student has joined their class.

Zhuo Yan looked down in response to the voice. The speaker was a male classmate who appeared tall, thin, and refined.

Lu Yang's face was contorted, gritting his teeth and continuously channeling his energy, as if he were making a tremendous effort to persuade himself to compromise, yet no matter what, he could never manage to nod in agreement.

Zhuo Yan shouted at him indignantly: "You are talking nonsense! At such a distance, if I don't speak loudly, how can they hear me!"

Zhuo Yan thought seriously for a moment and replied to her, "Do you think there are any handsome boys in our class?"

Zhuo Yan shook her head, "Well, I can't guarantee that. I won't return the pillow to you; you can just use your backpack as a pillow today!"

In her small half of a life, Zhuo Yan hated it the most when others questioned her gender. During high school, in order to focus entirely on her studies without wasting energy, her hair was kept very short, almost to the point of being buzzed. Whenever she went to the restroom during breaks, there would always be transfer students (Zhuo Yan's high school was a local key institution, and many students from other regions would transfer here midway to prepare for university entrance exams) who would scream in shock: "Ah! There’s a boy behaving inappropriately in the girls' restroom!"

"Even if I don't know you, I can still speak so loudly!" Jiang Shan gritted his teeth

Upon hearing this sensational gossip, Zhuo Yan immediately became interested. She suddenly pounced on Xiao Yu, pushing her down onto the bed and pressing her for answers. However, Xiao Yu grinned and evaded the questions, refusing to give a proper response no matter what.

As soon as she finished speaking, a piercing wail echoed in her ears

Zhuo Yan, having heard this, couldn't help but sigh from the side: "Our dormitory's Xiaoyu is quite promising! Look, she is only in her first year, with three to four years left before entering society, and she already knows how to flatter those in power! A talent! Truly a talent!"

Zhuo Yan was energetically carrying books upstairs when she suddenly heard someone from above asking: "Classmate, may I ask where you got that bamboo basket?"

The boys also gave Zhuo Yan a nickname, calling her "Zhuo Wenjing"

Zhuo Yan asked her: "Do you think what the boys in our class said is correct?" Zhuo Yan thought that if she was willing to answer correctly, she would immediately return her belongings.

While others in high school may experience the stirrings of young love, Zhuo Yan has yet to have the opportunity to feel the flutter of youthful infatuation. In casual conversations, her peers often tease her, saying, "Zhuo Yan, with your strong appearance, I think you should actually find a girlfriend!"

She asked Lu Yang: "Miss, if I give this to you, will you still throw it at me?"

In response to this remark, Lu Yang and Linpu Xiao Yu unexpectedly laughed together in a crooked manner. Zhuo Yan was truly impressed by the low humor threshold of the two.

In the next moment, she felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, and a sense of suffocation suddenly enveloped her nose

Standing there with their heads tilted back shouting were the class monitor and three other male classmates. They had come to deliver textbooks to the girls, but the gatekeeper auntie blocked the entrance and would not allow them to enter. With no other option, they had to call the girls to come downstairs to collect the books themselves

At the age of nineteen, Zhuo Yan went to a university in another city. Having never been away from home before, the sudden absence of her parents left her feeling helpless and lost, as if the sky were about to fall. She felt a constant sense of unease. At the beginning of the semester, she found it impossible to adapt to the campus life away from her parents. Every day, she sat on her small bed, weeping quietly, reminiscing about her hometown and missing her parents, while feeling that life was indeed filled with sorrow.

Shang Pu Lu Yang asked Zhuo Yan: "Who do you think is the most handsome boy in our class?"

Wu Shuang is her fellow townsman, studying civil engineering. One day, Wu came to borrow a book from Zhuo Yan, but unfortunately, Jiang Shan saw them. Upon seeing the gentle and beautiful girl, Jiang couldn't help but develop improper thoughts and wrote a subtle love letter, entrusting Zhuo Yan to deliver it to the fair lady. The two are currently in a stage of ambiguous flirtation, half pushing and half yielding.

Whenever these topics are mentioned, everyone inevitably becomes shy, giggling and waving their hands while repeatedly denying it.

The boy also chuckled in response, tilting his head back and shouting to her, "Thank you!"

Zhuo Yan said to her earnestly: "In the torrent of history, how many martyrs have verified the same truth with their blood and lives—that is, the eyes of the masses are sharp and discerning! Yang Yang, believe what those people say! Be brave and face your own heart!"

He is looking up, waiting for her response

At this time, Zhuo Yan had already become very familiar with the class monitor, Jiang Shan.

It turned out that she managed to dodge it, but unfortunately, Sun Ying, who was sitting behind her, bore the brunt of it for no reason at all.

After she finished speaking, an additional pillow appeared on the bed

The tone of the surroundings suddenly changed, "Zhuo Wenjing, shut your mouth! I will strangle you!"

Finally, amidst the wild laughter of Zhuo Yan, Jiang Shan, filled with resentment, reluctantly placed the book into the bamboo basket that was lowered from the rooftop, which was then pulled up to the sixth floor in four trips by that detestable girl

Faced with the blatant teasing, Xiao Yu surprisingly nodded and said, "Wen Jing, do you know who the boy that just spoke to you was?"

After he left, Jiang Shan stood downstairs, stacked the last pile of books neatly into the basket, then raised his head and asked Zhuo Yan in a resentful tone: "Do you know him?"

Xiao Yu glared at her fiercely, casually picked up a book from the table, aimed it at her face, which was infuriating no matter how one looked at it, and threw it with force.

Zhuo Wenjing - Come down! Collect the book!

Jiang Shan huffed in indignation, "As long as I am with you, there is never a moment of shame!" After saying this, he turned and left, as if delaying for even a second would result in someone coming to take his life.

Later, Zhuo Yan's true nature was finally revealed to the world. From then on, people would occasionally bring up this story to reminisce, deriving immense pleasure from mocking Zhuo Yan. No matter how many times it had been recounted before, they never grew tired of it; each retelling would elicit fresh laughter. Zhuo Yan was infuriated by this, repeatedly pounding the wall and asking: "Is this the only joke you are relying on for the rest of your lives!"

Prior to this, not to mention the class monitor, she was not familiar with any of the boys in the entire class. Most of her earlier time was spent in tears, longing for home, and she had not even had the opportunity to communicate emotionally with her classmates. As a result, the initial impression she left on the boys was reportedly very "quiet"; in fact, many male classmates remarked: "Among all the girls in the class, without exception, Zhuo Yan is the most quiet and graceful, the rest are not composed at all"

Zhuo Yan shook her head and replied: "I don't know her!"

That night, Lu Yang was in a dire situation; she had no pillow and no blanket, crouching by Zhuo Yan's feet and pleading desperately.

Later, this matter spread from the dormitory, and during the process, the narrative gradually became distorted—claiming that Zhuo Yan forcibly confiscated Lu Yang's pillow and quilt, coercing her to say that she was gentle and graceful

Zhuo Yan couldn't help but chuckle mischievously, mocking his attempts to cover up the obvious. Most of the residents in the two nearby buildings were students from the same college; who could possibly not know each other

Hearing the shout, Zhuo Yan temporarily let go of Xiao Yu and rushed to the window, leaning out to look down.

Zhuo Yan swiftly dodged and patted his chest, proudly saying: "Fortunately, this young master is agile!"

Gradually, the teachers of various subjects in the department began to know of a girl named "Zhuo Wenjing," while they had no impression of "Zhuo Yan" at all. During exams, there would always be invigilators who would point to Zhuo Yan's name column and curiously ask: "Why is it Zhuo Yan? Zhuo Wenjing, did you write your name incorrectly?"

Zhuo Yan shrugged her shoulders and said, "You and Jiang both have the same type of roundworm in your stomach, right? Why are all the questions you ask so similar? Who that boy is has nothing to do with me! How would I know!"