Chapter Seventeen: The Transformation Plan (Part Two)

Zhou Miao slumped on the sofa, clutching his head in utter despair. Milk Candy, his little pet, cocked her head at him, occasionally reaching out a tiny paw to nudge him, perplexed as to why her human was so downcast today.

His phone, lying on the coffee table, chimed incessantly with new WeChat notifications. By now, his social media was in chaos. A girl who used to have a crush on him had just posted: “Holy crap! My idol is on ‘Transfiguration’!” In the class group, screenshots from the show featuring him were flooding the chat, and the school forum was breaking all its previous traffic records.

Zhou Miao had always been somewhat popular at school thanks to his good looks, but this time, he was truly famous. The sensation he caused among his peers was akin to publicly pinning the principal to the ground and giving him a beating during an assembly.

“Can you call the school and ask for leave for me? I feel a little dizzy,” Zhou Miao tossed this line to his parents before trudging upstairs in a daze.

Hong Xue watched him go, worry etched all over her face. She grabbed Zhou Ye, “You don’t think Xiao Miao would do anything stupid, do you? Boys his age care so much about saving face.”

Zhou Ye scratched his head, troubled. He was starting to regret letting Zhou Miao participate in ‘Transfiguration’—the impact was far greater than he’d anticipated.

“It’ll be fine. He’s always been strong. Tell Xueqin, let’s not have him go to school for a while. Let him stay home and read,” he replied.

“Alright… if you say so.”

On the television, Zhou Miao came across as the resident expert, saying, “When you’re faced with a country mongrel like this, never show fear. The more scared you are, the fiercer it’ll be.” Then, with a dramatic swing of his backpack, he shouted, “Get lost!”

“Holy crap! Run!” The self-proclaimed dog-taming expert turned tail and bolted, scrambling up a tree with the agility of a monkey as the dog chased after him.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!” Hu San laughed so hard her stomach hurt, pounding her mother’s thigh with glee.

Mrs. Hu gave her a disdainful shove. Was her child losing her mind?

It took ages for Hu San to catch her breath. She’d laughed herself silly, sweat beading on her brow.

On TV, the first episode of ‘Transfiguration’ was nearly over. Just as Wang Jiang slammed the table and stood up to fight Zhou Miao, the screen froze, leaving the audience with a huge cliffhanger.

“That’s it? Are they really going to fight next episode?” Hu San grumbled, annoyed at being left hanging. Curse these program editors!

She picked up her phone and sent Zhou Miao a message: “So what happened next? Did you and that chubby kid really fight? Who won?”

But there was no reply, even after several attempts. Why wasn’t Zhou Miao answering? Did he really shut himself off?

She checked the class group chat and social media. It was all about Zhou Miao being on ‘Transfiguration’, with plenty of people mocking him. Suddenly, laughter didn’t come so easily to her.

She hurried back to her chat with Zhou Miao, wishing she could retract her message, but it was too late. She tried calling him, but no one picked up.

Now genuinely worried, she got up, put on her shoes, and called out, “I’m going out for a bit. I’ll be back later.”

Her father frowned, “Where are you going at this hour?”

“Oh, just out for a walk. Don’t wait up.” Without waiting for a response, she slipped out the door.

Her parents exchanged a glance. No need to ask—they knew exactly what was going on.

Hu San took a taxi straight to Zhou Miao’s house. She’d been there once for his birthday and still remembered the address. It wasn’t far—just a twenty-minute ride.

The security guard at the gate, seeing a young girl, let her in after a quick registration.

She found Zhou Miao’s house by memory, hesitated, and instead of ringing the bell, circled around to his window and whispered, “Zhou Miao… Zhou Miao…”

After a while, his window stayed shut, but another window slid open. Hong Xue called out, “Young lady, come in through the front door. Zhou Miao’s window is soundproofed; he can’t hear you.”

Well… Hu San wished she could disappear into the ground. “Okay, Auntie,” she stammered.

After knocking for ages, Zhou Miao finally opened the door, looking drained. “What is it?”

He spotted his mother behind her, and, to his surprise, a flustered Hu San. “Why are you here?” he asked.

“Um… I… I have a math problem I can’t solve and wanted to ask you for help…”

Zhou Miao rolled his eyes. What a terrible excuse. His mother knew her level—what could someone who scored 28 in math possibly teach anyone?

“Come in and talk. I’ll get you some fruit,” Hong Xue said kindly, ushering Hu San inside and winking at Zhou Miao as she left.

Zhou Miao sighed and closed the door. “Why’d you come here so late? Here to mock me in person?”

Hu San stood awkwardly—her first time in his room. “No, am I that kind of person?” she blurted. “You suddenly stopped replying and I got worried…”

“Worried about me?” Zhou Miao frowned, stepping closer.

Hu San grew nervous, retreating until her back hit the wall. She crouched in the corner, clutching her shirt like a frightened mouse as Zhou Miao approached.

Up close, Zhou Miao noticed her delicate, pretty face, tense and shy, and his mood improved. “Hu San, don’t tell me you like me?”

Boom—Hu San’s brain crashed, her face blazing red, feeling as if steam might erupt from her forehead.

A thousand denials tumbled to her lips, but not a single word made it out.

Looking at him, she thought her heart might leap right out of her chest.

“Mm,” she whispered.

Zhou Miao was stunned. He’d suspected she liked him, but never thought she’d admit it!

For a moment, the air in the room froze. The two of them crouched in the corner, wide eyes locked, unable to say a word.

Click.

Hong Xue entered with a plate of fruit. “I bought a watermelon today—so sweet…”

She opened the door to find the two youngsters blushing furiously in the corner.

“Sorry, carry on,” she said, retreating and closing the door.

Well, this was even more awkward…

After a long pause, Zhou Miao broke the silence. “It’s getting late. I’ll walk you home.”

“Okay.”

As Zhou Miao opened the door, Hong Xue, who’d been eavesdropping, nearly toppled in, only to be caught by her son.

Brushing her hair behind her ear, she stammered, “Oh, I was just coming in to see if you wanted some water.”

Hu San was so embarrassed she could have scratched a hole in the floor with her toes. Zhou Miao gently nudged his mother back to her room. “It’s late, you should get some sleep.”

Head down, Hu San followed Zhou Miao out of the house. Glancing back, she saw his parents peeking through the window, full of curiosity. She quickly looked away.

Did this count as meeting the parents? The thought popped into her head out of nowhere.