In the morning, Lin Shiyu tossed the empty bowl of hot dry noodles into the trash can and drank soy milk while walking to school.

Yesterday, he went shopping with his mother and younger sister, Lin Wanyue. The little girl had her eyes set on a white dress and insisted on buying it for her older brother. Mother and son had to persuade her tirelessly to prevent this little one from going overboard. Afterward, Lin Wanyue’s mood was a bit low until she spotted a cute girl’s top. It was light blue with a round collar and a row of delicate buttons, with small white flowers embroidered just below the chest.

Lin Shiyu looked at this light and delicate piece of clothing expressionlessly. Lin Hui glanced at him nervously and then took Lin Wanyue’s hand, speaking gently, “Xiaoyue, today, we’ll buy clothes only for you. Big brother doesn’t need new clothes.”

“Okay.” Lin Wanyue pulled away from Lin Hui’s hand, then pulled Lin Shiyu over and pointed at the clothing. “Big brother.”

Then she stared at him with a silly smile, showing her happy expression.

Lin Shiyu had already refused Lin Wanyue once, so it was difficult to refuse a second time.

Lin Shiyu and his mother once specially asked the school principal about the situation at Puzhi School. The principal was a scholar who had studied children with down syndrome for many years. He was aware of their family’s situation and, after searching for information and consulting experts in psychology, provided an answer.

“This is not a typical symptom of the syndrome. We speculate that when Xiaoyue buys these girls’ clothes for her brother, on one hand, she might like these clothes and find them beautiful, wanting to share things she likes with someone close to her. On the other hand, she might be doing it for ‘remodeling’ purposes, wanting to cover up her brother’s masculine image. This way, she would feel more comfortable getting closer to her brother and not be afraid of him.” 

The principal explained, “Your ex-husband subjected her to violence, and while Xiaoyue may not understand the exact meaning of violence, she has developed a fear of this image in her heart. Her inner feelings due to fear are difficult to eliminate, and are only increasing, even extending from her father to all male figures. Xiaoyue’s behavior leans more toward the self-protection mechanism of her brain when facing adverse external stimuli, thus urgently seeking ‘remodeling.'”

Lin Shiyu was puzzled. “But even if I wear those clothes, I’ll still look like a boy.”

“This is a complex psychological issue, and I’m not a professional psychologist, so I can’t give you a definite answer,” the principal said kindly. “The degree of ‘fear’ varies, and it can decrease or increase over time. Perhaps for Xiaoyue, an image of a ‘sister’ feels safer and warmer than a ‘brother.’ But personally, I speculate that if she compromises with you and doesn’t excessively ‘remodel’ you, doesn’t it also mean she loves you very much and cares about you?”

If this little girl, who clearly didn’t understand anything, endured anxiety and fear, and learned to compromise and adapt to her older brother’s rejection and frustration, then Lin Shiyu had to let her have her way with that little bit of stubbornness.

Approaching the school gate, Lin Shiyu tossed the empty soy milk cup into the trash can.

He was wearing that light blue round-necked shirt, made of thin, pure cotton material that swayed slightly in the wind. This time, the clothing was more exaggerated than usual because it was so dainty and gentle. Although it didn’t look out of place on Lin Shiyu, the pink rabbit backpack on his back made him stand out too much. Parents of passing students turned to look at this boy, not knowing whether to say he looked strangely unique or exceptionally beautiful.

Lin Shiyu was annoyed by all the attention. Then, he remembered his younger sister’s happy expression when she touched his clothes this morning, and he thought it was okay, he will get used to it.

“Hello there, young man.”

Lin Shiyu inexplicably turned around, and there was a guy standing behind him, smiling somewhat nervously. He looked like he was in his early twenties, dressed very stylishly, with a bag slung over his shoulder, like a college student from the neighboring university.

“Hello, I’m Zhao Bin, a photographer from Erliu Wan Photography Studio.” The young man took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Lin Shiyu. He swept his gaze over Lin Shiyu, revealing a slightly embarrassed smile.

Lin Shiyu stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at him expressionlessly.

“Don’t be afraid, I don’t mean anything else.” The young man awkwardly put away his business card and explained, “You see, our photography studio is currently shooting a series of print advertisements targeting teenagers like you. However, we haven’t been able to find a suitable model–”

Lin Shiyu turned and started walking away.

“Wait a moment, I’m sorry!” The young man hurriedly stopped Lin Shiyu. “We’re a legitimate photography studio, and we’re located near Wenzhong University.”

Lin Shiyu, impatiently said, “Find someone else.”

The young man earnestly replied, “I’ve been to several schools these past few days. My legs are almost worn out, and I still haven’t found anyone who seems suitable. Just now, when I saw you on the street, honestly, at first sight, I thought you were perfect to be our model. Has anyone ever told you that you could easily become a star?”

Lin Shiyu walked towards school, but the young man still refused to give up and chased after him for a few steps, saying, “The salary is negotiable, and we just shoot on weekends. The minimum is 200 a day, and the environment is good. You just stand there and change clothes.” “

Lin Shiyu paused his steps.

200 RMB a day, 400 RMB for a weekend, 1600 RMB a month. Lin Shiyu calculated quickly, it wasn’t bad at all.

He wasn’t in need of money, nor was he trying to take advantage of the situation. Lin Hui worked hard to earn money and tried her best to ensure that he and his sister didn’t appear to be children from a poor family in front of others. She made sure to buy them whatever they needed.

The only reason that Lin Shiyu sometimes felt very uncomfortable was when he saw his mother’s empty neck.

That necklace was the only remaining dowry that Lin Hui had, as everything else had been sold to raise money for moving and buying a house. Even this necklace was eventually taken away by that man, and Lin Shiyu had no mood to speculate about the reasons behind that man’s actions. The necklace was gone, and he couldn’t just go confront the person.

Still, sometimes he really wanted to buy his mother a new necklace.

Lin Shiyu turned his head and looked at the guy. “200 RMB a day?”

“Yes, yes! We’ve been doing fashion photography for many years, and our prices are very reasonable. You can check online if you don’t believe it.” The guy saw a glimmer of hope and once again moved closer to hand over his business card. “Moreover, we work under legitimate agreements, and there won’t be any issues. If you’re interested, you can contact me; this card has my phone number and WeChat ID.”

Lin Shiyu glanced at the business card and reached out to take it.

The guy smiled at him. “Alright, you should be heading to class now, right? I won’t take up any more of your time. If you’re interested, you can give me a call or add me on WeChat. Even if you just want to visit our studio, that’s fine too.”

Lin Shiyu silently put the business card into his pocket and turned to enter the school.

There was still some time before the bell rang for assembly, and Lin Shiyu climbed the stairs. In the hallway, he bumped into Mao Silu and Ruan Zhikai, who had just come out of the restroom. Ruan Zhikai showed a rare surprised expression, and Mao Silu nearly slipped upon seeing Lin Shiyu but was caught in time by Ruan Zhikai.

“Shi… Shiyu.” Mao Silu almost bit his tongue. “Why are you dressed like this?”

Lin Shiyu had already attracted a lot of attention on his way here, so he was quite numb to the stares. Hearing Mao Silu’s question, he cast a cold glance at him. “Like what?”

Mao Silu immediately snapped back to reality: “It looks… good.”

Lin Shiyu didn’t respond to him and simply went through the back door into the classroom.

Mao Silu stretched his neck to look inside through the back door, muttering softly, “Did he wear his mother’s clothes by mistake?”

Ruan Zhikai said, “It’s not like you can make a mistake with this thing. Doesn’t he usually dress like this?”

“But today it’s just too, too…,” Mao Silu struggled to find the right words and ended up scratching his head, saying hesitantly, “too good-looking?”

Ruan Zhikai tilted his chin up and took a step back.

As soon as Lin Shiyu walked into the classroom, a very peculiar atmosphere emerged. Everyone stopped what they were doing and cautiously looked at him. The noisy chatter collectively quieted down, creating a strange atmosphere.

Edited by: Jaisland

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