Chapter 5: Before School

Chapter 5: Before School

Monday morning. The sky was just starting to lighten.

The air conditioner had been blasting at sixteen degrees all night, and the “chicken roll” on the bed was wrapped so tightly that only a tuft of hair poked out from the cocoon of blankets.

Suddenly, the alarm blared.

The girl jolted awake with a shiver, groaning as she stretched out her arm, blindly fumbling at her phone until the noise finally stopped. With bleary eyes, she let out a lazy yawn.

The May Day holiday was over.

Ever since that morning she’d left Shen Yan’s house, Chen Shiyu hadn’t seen him again.

She didn’t dare face him. In her heart, she was convinced Shen Yan had already seen through her disguise—discovered her secret. But at the same time, she couldn’t help wondering if maybe she was just overthinking it, if she was only making herself look guilty by acting this way.

And yet… Shen Yan hadn’t come to her either. Not a single message.

That definitely meant he’d noticed something!

So these past few days, Chen Shiyu had used “homework” as an excuse to hole up at home. Without a computer to kill time, being a shut-in was much harder than she imagined. Worse, she had to deal with her mother at home. Only when she shut herself inside her bedroom could she finally relax and be herself, even if just for a moment.

Five more minutes of lazing around passed before Chen Shiyu finally poked her head out of the blankets. Her eyes were still hazy, lashes damp with faint traces of tears.

Rubbing at the corners of her eyes, she yawned again, still feeling heavy and sluggish. Even though her mind was awake, her body refused to move, like her arms were weighed down with lead.

“Why do I feel more tired the more I sleep...?”

Shivering from the cold, she grumbled under her breath, reached for the remote, and switched off the air conditioner. Only then did she force herself to crawl out of bed.

She was only wearing a loose t-shirt and panties. The hem of the shirt hung low enough to cover half her hips, her full thighs pale and dazzling as they caught the light. Her legs were long, straight, and smooth—skin so soft and white it looked like fresh tofu.

Dragging herself over to the wardrobe, Chen Shiyu carelessly pulled on her blue-and-white school uniform jacket, grabbed a pair of pants, and clipped the school badge onto her chest.

At her desk, she anxiously stuffed books into her bag.

“School already, huh...”

“Ahhh, what do I do~ So many familiar teachers and classmates~”

“Why’d you have to be so popular? Couldn’t you be like me, with just one or two friends? That would be so much easier.”

“Ugh, even after dying you leave me with this mess...”

Collapsing onto her schoolbag, Chen Shiyu let out a dramatic sigh. With her downward-curved eyes and pitiful pout, she looked like a picture of helplessness—frustrated and miserable, but strangely endearing.

She shut her eyes in resignation and muttered, “Well, whatever. Last life I was a man, this life I’ve been both a fox and a woman. No matter how you look at it, I’ve experienced plenty.”

“Except... I’m still a virgin...”

Just then, a voice rang out from downstairs.

“Shishi? You awake? Time for school!”

It was Shen Yan!

Chen Shiyu’s body jolted to life. She slapped both hands against her cheeks, forcing herself to look energetic, shaking off the lazy salted-fish act. Taking a deep breath, she shouted back in the liveliest voice she could muster:

“Coming! I just need to brush my teeth!”

She hastily finished packing her bag and was about to head for the bathroom when she suddenly stopped, turned back, and quickly straightened the messy blankets on her bed.

Perfection. Every detail had to be perfect!

Schoolbag in hand, she stepped out of her room and leaned over the railing of the third-floor hallway. The house’s square-shaped staircase opened all the way down to the first floor, giving her a clear view of Shen Yan waiting below.

Right then, Shen Yan looked up.

For a brief moment, their gazes met.

Chen Shiyu panicked and quickly turned her head away, feigning indignation as she asked, “Why didn’t you come find me the past two days?”

She was testing him—testing whether he had noticed anything, what kind of attitude he would show.

“I went to my grandpa’s place. He insisted I stay the night.”

“But we’d agreed to hang out together...”

“Next time for sure!”

His tone didn’t carry anything unusual. Hearing that, Chen Shiyu’s heart eased just a little.

“Wait for me, okay~”

Chen Shiyu slipped into the bathroom, hurried through her wash-up, and came back down in less than five minutes with her schoolbag in hand.

On the dining table, breakfast was already set: a small pot of pork rib and corn soup that had been simmering all night, a plate of pickled mustard, and a few braised chicken feet.

Her mother worked at the wet market as a deli clerk in a braised food stall. Every morning she left home at four or five after preparing breakfast, returned around noon, and still managed to cook lunch for her daughter before school let out.

“Here, you can have the chicken feet.”

Dropping her bag onto the chair, Chen Shiyu scooped herself a bowl of porridge and sat down, passing the plate of chicken feet over to Shen Yan.

According to “her setting,” she was supposed to hate braised food. But since her mother worked in that shop, there was always some braised dish on the table at home.

In truth, though, she actually liked them quite a lot. Braised chicken feet with beer? That’s living the dream!

“I already ate before coming over,” Shen Yan said.

“Then put them in the fridge for me.”

“Got it.”

He slipped the plate into the refrigerator, then turned back, his gaze falling on Chen Shiyu from behind, sharp and thoughtful.

Her hair wasn’t combed. Her fingers kept brushing against the bridge of her nose—like she was pushing up glasses that weren’t there. She devoured the ribs first, barely touching the porridge.

But the Chen Shiyu he knew didn’t like meat. She was meticulous about her image, never touching her face so casually for fear of acne.

To others, these little quirks might seem insignificant, nothing more than the small changes people naturally pick up. But to Shen Yan—who already knew the truth—they were glaring cracks in the disguise.

What he needed was hard proof. A piece of undeniable evidence he could take to the police, to everyone, to prove the girl before him was no ordinary girl at all—but a fox spirit in disguise.

Interrogation under pressure... maybe even torture.

But one look at that familiar, endearing face, and Shen Yan couldn’t bring himself to imagine doing something so cruel.

Besides, when dealing with something this fantastical... brute force probably wasn’t the best idea anyway.

“Shen Yan, help me with my hair? There’s a comb on top of the fridge.” Chen Shiyu tilted her head, peeking at him over her shoulder. “It’s your fault for rushing me.”

“Uh... fine.”

“My nose’s been itchy lately. Do you think I’m gonna break out?”

Head bowed over her porridge, Chen Shiyu forced out a bitter little sigh—but her back prickled with cold sweat. That sharp, needling gaze on her… even without looking, she could feel it stabbing right through her.

Ahh, crap, crap, crap!

Shen Yan picked up the comb and came over. His hands were surprisingly practiced as he began running it through her hair.

Her hair had just barely grown to her shoulders, but without conditioner it was dry and split at the ends. The comb snagged often, and whenever he tugged too hard she flinched and wriggled in pain.

“You—!” Chen Shiyu bit back a curse, settling instead for an annoyed little elbow jab to his side. “Be gentle!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Shen Yan chuckled and eased his movements. “Got a hair tie? I’ll put it up for you.”

“On the fridge too! Just do a ponytail.”

The school wasn’t strict about hairstyles—anything shoulder-length or longer just had to be tied back neatly. Chen Shiyu’s hair fell right at the line, so she usually wore it up to avoid being stopped at the gate.

Morning sunlight spilled in through the windows, chasing away the night’s shadows. It touched her hair and half her face, gilding her in a warm, radiant glow.

“You want some corn too?”

“Wow, so I get all the stuff you don’t like?”

“What are you talking about? I’m sharing because it’s good, okay?”

The scent of her shampoo drifted past as Shen Yan’s fingers brushed against her hair. He glanced at her lowered lashes, trembling ever so slightly, and despite himself he smiled. Their banter came so easily, so naturally—it was like old times. His sharp gaze softened without him even realizing it.

‘This fox… she probably has all of Chen Shiyu’s memories.’

Chen Shiyu caught the subtle change in his expression. Her heart eased, a quiet sigh of relief echoing inside.

‘No matter what happens, until I find a way out of this body—I have to keep playing the role of “Chen Shiyu” perfectly.’