The third of the five laws of witchcraft, the Law of Anomaly.
Any anomalous behavior is witchcraft, and behind any witchcraft hides an anomalous behavior. In other words, as long as one does something bizarre, there is a chance of triggering supernatural phenomena.
For example, kneeling and worshiping a withered large tree, for example dancing for days on end in front of a blind stone statue, for example… being a male high school student yet putting on female clothes, confessing to a boy, and moreover responding as a matter of course when called “female classmate” by others.
“Mom, that’s how it is,” Su Yubai sat in the living room of their home with pursed lips and explained the principles of witchcraft to her mother once more. “From now on you may have to raise a daughter.”
“Great! I’ve long wanted to help my daughter comb her hair and pick clothes—” Su Yunfeng was full of vigor, but only halfway through speaking did she suddenly come back to her senses, very considerately lowering her eyelids and putting on a sad appearance. “How terrible. But daughter… son, there are so many boys in the world who wear female clothes, and I’ve never seen them turn strange, have I?”
Su Yubai clenched fists that were subtly a size smaller than before. This was the paradoxical part of the matter.
She had only worn female clothes and walked around the school for half an hour. By rights it was not some intense anomaly, yet she had thoroughly become a girl, both physiologically and in social relations.
The gal games and card games secretly stored on the phone had all disappeared, replaced by a few niche otome games. The school uniforms and casual clothes in the wardrobe had changed from shirts and long pants to short skirts and long skirts, and the occasional pants outfits were also feminine styles that did not lose softness.
The photos taken in the past and the avatar on the ID card had all become a girl with long flowing hair, and relatives other than Mom also thought the Su family’s child was a daughter.
The traces that could prove she had once been a boy had been cleaned up completely. Su Yubai and Mom had frantically turned around inside and outside the home for several hours, flipping through every nook and cranny, and discovered that it seemed only she and her mom in the whole world still remembered that she had once had a good brother who shared life and death.
“There are still some photos of you at your one-month celebration back in the hometown,” Su Yunfeng said. “Should I make a phone call back and ask Grandma to send them over to take a look?”
“No, let’s leave it like this for now. Thanks for the help.”
Su Yubai shook her head.
Tomorrow Mom still had to go to work, and she still had to go deal with Red Lips. The inexplicable sex change matter could only be postponed for now. After all, having a bit more chest armor wouldn’t kill anyone. Moreover her social circle was frighteningly small. Aside from Mom, probably no one else—
No, wait, it was not that there was no one.
The president had personally witnessed the process of her transforming from Su Yubai (male) to Su Yubai (female), and moreover thought she usually crossdressed as male… perhaps he still remembered a bit of a clue?
* * *
Ning Wang sat down on a long bench in the residential complex, took out two small bags of instant noodles from his backpack, placed one bag on the empty seat beside him, and placed the other on his knee to tear open. He almost never ate snacks. The last time he opened spicy strips was a year ago, for the same purpose as now, to commemorate his departed older sister.
His older sister’s grades were outstanding, yet she did not care about school discipline at all. Being late and skipping class were common occurrences. Every evening self-study she would bring some snacks to enjoy, and if others came to ask she would generously treat everyone, giving the head teacher and Mom and Dad endless headaches.
When Ning Wang was in sixth grade of elementary school, he couldn’t resist his craving and secretly opened a pack of instant noodles to eat as a snack. As a result he didn’t handle the packaging bag properly and was discovered by his parents.
His parents believed this kind of junk food would affect children’s intellectual development and had always strictly forbidden the children from secretly eating it. Mother immediately began to cry, while Father put on a stern face and flew into a rage. Ning Wang could only apologize while crying. At that time his older sister returned home and instantly figured out the whole story.
She stood in front of their parents and grinned, saying sorry it was me who ate it, I just wanted to play a joke, and so placed the bag into her little brother’s desk drawer.
His older sister thus played away two months of pocket money, and the trip she had arranged with friends was also forced to be canceled.
Ning Wang had originally thought she would distance herself from him because of this, but this person instead became even more intense. Every weekend she would slip into her younger brother’s room under the name of tutoring, chatting about gossip while secretly bringing him some snacks. It was only until the night she went missing that the snacks abruptly stopped.
Now he was also in high school and had obtained outstanding grades the same as his older sister. He could finally buy instant noodles himself.
The apartment windows shone with dim yellow light. Ning Wang looked up at the windows and ate the instant noodles in small bites like eating mooncakes.
Around ten o’clock he slowly stood up, wiped his mouth clean, threw away the packaging bag, and slowly walked up the stairs, stopping in front of his own apartment door. As soon as he gripped the door handle the door opened, and a sweet meat fragrance and a bright smile rushed out the door together.
“The gold medalist is home!” Mother welcomed Ning Wang with a smile, still wearing an apron. “How was today’s make-up class? Why are you back so late? How many other people got gold medals?”
Ning Wang slightly raised his eyes, his gaze passing over Mother’s shoulder. A large plate of steaming hot steak was placed on the coffee table, paired with bright broccoli and corn, and beside it was also a paper trophy folded by Mother, with his name written on it, as if celebrating a birthday.
After his older sister entered high school she became obsessed with losing weight and slimmed down a lot. Mother began to worry she lacked nutrition and made a sumptuous late-night meal every day to reward her, and after she obtained good grades would also attach a homemade trophy.
His older sister ate and got a lot fatter, always wanting to loudly refute Mother, but every time she saw her proud and expectant expression, she would always obediently stuff the late-night meal into her stomach.
After his older sister went missing, Ning Wang once thought he would never see late-night meals again. But Mother still made late-night meals as usual, as if everything was as before, only the name on the trophy had changed from “Ning Huaiyue” to “Ning Wang.”
“The autumn competition is when medals are given. What I got is only first prize,” Ning Wang said slowly. “The make-up class went smoothly. I just discussed the problems with classmates a bit longer.”
“You’ve worked hard, you’ve worked hard. You’ve truly never made us worry,” Mother was radiant. “Quickly change your shoes and eat the late-night meal while it’s hot—”
“Not at all. I often made you worry before,” Ning Wang said as if nothing was wrong. “For example that time with the instant noodles.”
Mother’s smile froze. Ning Wang waited quietly for a while and saw her furrow her brows in confusion.
“Instant noodles…?”
“Nothing, I was just saying it casually,” Ning Wang smiled and walked into the entryway, steadily placing his backpack on the sofa. “By the way Mom, tonight I want to go to the guest room to do some homework.”
His older sister had her own bedroom, which had become a nominal guest room after she went missing.
However, whenever his parents really wanted to use that room to receive guests, Ning Wang would clean his own bedroom thoroughly and invite the guests to rest in his room instead. In two years, only Ning Wang occasionally went there to stay for a while.
After all, his older sister was a bit particular about beds. If she suddenly came back some night, she would still need a familiar bed to sleep soundly.
“Ah… that won’t do. Tonight your aunt came, and I let her sleep there first,” Mother shook her head apologetically. “I know you like that room, but a perfectly good room can’t always stay idle… right?”
Ning Wang was stunned for a moment. His eyes instantly became dim and lightless, but the next moment they returned to normal.
“It’s fine. I understand.”
Ning Wang ate the steak, took a bath, did some homework, searched some materials on Su Chuanshan, then turned off the light and went to bed.
He stared at the ceiling for thirty minutes in the dark, without the slightest bit of sleepiness. After that there was movement in the living room. He got out of bed and opened the bedroom door a thin crack.
He saw Father push the door open wearily, saw Mother smile and go to greet him. He saw the two of them sit down on the sofa, chatting happily about the award their son had received today, about how worry-free their son had always been, about how bright and promising their son’s future was.
He silently listened for fifteen minutes and did not hear a single word about his older sister.
His older sister had gone missing a long time ago. He had long known she had disappeared without a trace, as if she had never come to this world. But now he suddenly felt strange and uncomfortable again, as if he had returned to that night two years ago.
“Buzz—”
The phone vibrated dully. Someone had sent a message from QQ.
Playing with the phone in the middle of the night was also one of the taboos at home. Ning Wang was startled, hurriedly closed the room door tightly and picked up the phone, about to cleanly shut it down, when he discovered the person who sent the message was named “Su Yubai.” She had found him from the class group.
He was stunned for a moment and silently clicked open the message.
【Good evening, sorry for disturbing you late at night. I encountered something else I’m concerned about. Could you describe again what I usually look like?】
Ning Wang thought nothing of it and immediately answered: 【Sits in the corner of the classroom, wears a male-style school uniform, a girl who likes reading old books. What’s wrong?】
【Thank you very much! I’ll tell you the specific situation when we meet tomorrow.】
Ning Wang smiled lightly. The girl’s face flashed before his eyes. He was just about to turn off the phone when he heard the vibration sound of a message again.
The girl sent another photo. The background was the school corridor. Two bouquets of butterfly orchids were placed in the corner of the corridor.
Ning Wang recognized this place. It was where he had mourned his older sister a few hours ago. Why had Su Yubai gone back to the school again?
【By the way, I wanted to confirm the paper figures and corpses Red Lips moved, so I went back to the school for a look, but only encountered the flowers you left. Butterfly orchids are good, but one, three, five, and nine are yang numbers. When reminiscing about others it’s best to use these numbers, not even numbers.
【Do you need me to adjust it?】
Ning Wang stared blankly at the screen until Su Yubai poked him before coming back to his senses.
【Please. Please take one bouquet away.】
【OK. Good night.】
After the brief farewell, Su Yubai sent another photo. This time only one pure white butterfly orchid remained in the corridor, its petals just beginning to bloom, lightly brushed by the bright moonlight. The girl’s shadow was reflected beside the bouquet, her skirt hem hanging down on the bright tiles.
Ning Wang gazed at the photo for five minutes, then suddenly realized that the girl’s figure under the moonlight kept surging out of his mind like a little fish. He hurriedly saved the photo, shook his head, returned to bed, and unknowingly entered dreamland.
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