Hu Yuying turned her head to look at Li Qingxue: "Qingxue, what were you trying to say earlier?"
Li Qingxue glanced at Lin Wanning, who was covering her lips and giggling while looking at her, then turned back to Hu Yuying: "Her, you... her and Long Aotian—did you already know?"
Seeing Hu Yuying nod in confirmation, $2i Qingxue couldn’t hold back and burst into tears.
Her sudden crying startled Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning, who quickly stepped forward to embrace her and softly comfort her.
Li Qingxue sobbed uncontrollably, $2o matter how much Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning tried to console her.
"Stop crying. I’ll go back right now and deal with Long Aotian for you," Hu Yuying said, gently wiping away Li Qingxue’s tears with her fingertips as if ready to leave immediately.
Li Qingxue grabbed Hu Yuying’s hand, took two deep breaths to suppress her sobs, and stammered, "None of you told me... wuwuwu..."
The pedestrian street was quite crowded, $2nd Li Qingxue’s crying drew the attention of many passersby.
"Maybe we should go back first?" Lin Wanning suggested.
Li Qingxue sniffled: "Let’s go take a bath... let’s go take a bath. I want to take a bath...""Alright then."
Entering the nearest bathhouse, $2hey closed the private room door, and Li Qingxue finally stopped crying. But her trembling body, red-rimmed eyes, and flushed nose still made her look pitiful.
"Okay, okay, no more crying," Hu Yuying soothed.
Faced with Hu Yuying’s comfort, Li Qingxue sniffled hard and said, "I thought you didn’t know..."
"I thought you didn’t know, so I came to stop Long Aotian and Wanning... but then I ended up getting involved myself... Turns out you already knew... what a huge loss..."
From Li Qingxue’s fragmented words, Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning pieced together the story.
Li Qingxue had discovered something but, not wanting to hurt Hu Yuying’s feelings, decided to catch Long Aotian and Lin Wanning in the act and warn them not to betray Hu Yuying anymore.
But by a twist of fate, she ended up entangled in the situation herself.
"Then why didn’t you lock the door?" Lin Wanning asked softly, wondering if she had misjudged the situation. Could it all really have been just a coincidence?
Li Qingxue hiccuped and looked at Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning with teary eyes: "I... I wanted to become a woman too."
Her voice grew quieter: "I saw that Wanning had already... tasted Long Aotian, and I wanted to try too. At the time, I didn’t know you already knew about them, Yuying."
"I thought... after trying Long Aotian, I’d threaten them to stop their mischief, or else I’d tell you."
Hearing this, $2in Wanning’s lips twitched: "What about the room number on the door?"
"That was me too..."
Hu Yuying couldn’t help but facepalm, asking helplessly, "Then why are you crying? Didn’t you already get a taste of Brother Long?"
"But you caught me... I’m so scared you’ll never talk to me again..." In Li Qingxue’s original plan, she would quietly enjoy Long Aotian and set everything right without anyone noticing. She never expected Hu Yuying to catch her red-handed.
This was nothing like what she had planned...
"I’m sorry, Yuying... I’m a terrible friend..."
Seeing Li Qingxue hiccuping from crying, Hu Yuying raised her hand—
Li Qingxue instinctively flinched, thinking Hu Yuying was about to hit her.
Seeing her reaction, Hu Yuying felt both exasperated and amused.
Exasperated by her absurd logic—trying to protect her feelings by secretly fixing things behind her back.
Amused because she had gotten herself tangled up in it all, just because Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning had become women while she hadn’t.
Was her plan clever, or just naive and foolish?
Gently wiping Li Qingxue’s tear-streaked face, Hu Yuying said, "Stop crying now. If you keep crying, I really won’t talk to you anymore."
At this, Li Qingxue sniffled hard and forced herself to stop.
Seeing her like this, Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning hugged her, laughing softly.
"Let’s take a bath first."
"You’ve cried yourself into a mess."
Feeling their concern, Li Qingxue nodded and began undressing.
Under her jeans was a layer of thermal leggings.
Lin Wanning chuckled: "How could you be sure it was Brother Long who entered the room? You must’ve woken up when he started undressing you. Weren’t you afraid it might’ve been someone else?"
Li Qingxue’s tear-stained face flushed even redder as she whispered, "Long Aotian is such a scatterbrain... When he saw the room number I tampered with and that I didn’t lock the door, he wouldn’t think too much about it. And... I recognized his scent."
After speaking, she cautiously glanced at Hu Yuying.
"You two—one takes advantage of Brother Long’s kindness, the other exploits his foolishness. How did I end up with friends like you?" Hu Yuying sighed.
Lin Wanning stepped forward and took Hu Yuying’s hand. "Don’t be angry, sister. My body belongs to you today."
She then shot a meaningful look at Li Qingxue.
Noticing this, Li Qingxue also reached out and grasped Hu Yuying’s other hand. "Sister, punish me. My body is yours today too."
"Let’s take a bath first," Hu Yuying said, then turned to Li Qingxue. "You can’t soak in the tub today—just rinse off with the shower."
After stripping completely, Li Qingxue stood shyly before the other two, her eyes averted and her lips pursed as she whispered, "Do you notice any changes in me?"
She even straightened her posture slightly for emphasis.
Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning swept their gazes over the space between Li Qingxue’s thighs, where mottled plum-blossom bruises showed no real difference. After all, such things didn’t transform noticeably after just one time.
But seeing the hopeful look in Li Qingxue’s eyes, Hu Yuying and Lin Wanning still said, "There’s a tiny change. Let’s just wash up first."
Hearing this, Li Qingxue pressed her lips together, unable to suppress a smile. She had finally become a woman.
And it was with someone she had feelings for.
Though the whole process hadn’t exactly been pleasant...
That bastard Long Aotian—couldn’t he have been gentler?
She should’ve stomped on him a few more times...
......
"I’m such a damn monster!" Long Aotian growled through clenched teeth, his face twisted with guilt and self-loathing.
With his hands bound, he couldn’t even slap himself.
Instead, he slammed his head against the bedframe twice. "I’m a beast—a deranged, heartless bastard who only preys on those closest to him..."
Curled in the corner of the bed, the grown man couldn’t hold back his tears...
(Note: The last line about cross-device bookshelf saving appears to be a technical note unrelated to the story and has been omitted for coherence.)