Suddenly Became a Boy – What Should I Do? - Chapter 76.2

Lin Xin meticulously recounted every single detail of the day, from when he met Cheng Shiyin to the words engraved on the medal he wore, the exact phrases he uttered in front of Cheng Shiyin’s mother, and even the corresponding facial expressions and gestures.

By the time he finished his half-hour reenactment, Lin Xin’s mother looked ready to snap the table in half out of sheer frustration. Just as Lin Xin finally reached the most critical point of his story, he cautiously pulled a slip of paper from behind his phone case, holding it up to the front-facing camera. “When I was leaving, Cheng Shiyin’s mom gave me a check for five million yuan to stay away from her daughter.”

“Mom, how can I return this money and make her bless our relationship at the same time?” Lin Xin asked earnestly.

“Hm?” His mother, finally intrigued, set down the comic she’d been holding and leaned closer to the screen. “Bring the check closer—I want a good look.”

Truthfully, Lin Xin’s mother had never seen this much money in her life. Checks, especially of this value, were entirely foreign to her.

Still, it took her only a second to spot the glaring flaw in the check. It wasn’t even trying to hide. Boldly printed at the top was the name “Children’s Bank of China.”

The kind of check you could buy in bulk for one yuan outside an elementary school.

“Hah.” Lin Xin’s mother covered her mouth, chuckling briefly before regaining her composure. She hadn’t expected her future in-law to be such an entertaining character. But when she noticed the genuine worry on Lin Xin’s face, her amusement evaporated.

“How could her own child be this naive?” she wondered.

Lin Xin’s mother started mentally retracing Lin Xin’s cognitive shortcomings to their genetic roots. Lin Xin’s mother pondered how his XX chromosomes—one from her, one from his father—had transformed into XY. Somehow, the Y chromosome, despite not coming from his father, had still ended up just as clueless. Judging by Lin Xin’s current appearance, while the Y chromosome wasn’t from his father, it somehow managed to be just as clueless. Did this mean it was the unchanged X chromosome that made Lin Xin this way?

“But wasn’t that X hers?” she thought.

Unwilling to accept such a cruel reality, Lin Xin’s mother shook her head vigorously. Nope. It wasn’t her fault, she assured herself.

In an effort to distance herself from any blame for her child’s lack of intelligence, she even entertained the idea that maybe Lin Xin wasn’t biologically hers. “What a reasonable conclusion,” she mused.

After a brief moment of reflection, Lin Xin’s mother decided not to reveal the truth about the check. It was just a harmless joke, and if someone other than the intended recipient exposed it, the humor would be lost. So, she instructed Lin Xin to keep the check hidden. “Our family can’t afford to pay that kind of money,” she warned, casually echoing Lin Xin’s own reasoning.

“Got it.” Lin Xin obediently tucked the check back behind his phone case. Then he asked, “Do you have any ideas?”

“Hmm…” Lin Xin’s mother thought for a moment before saying, “If they’re throwing money at us, we’ll throw money right back at them.”

“Great, hand it over!” Lin Xin eagerly stretched his hand toward the phone.

“Hahaha, as if I have that kind of money!” Lin Xin’s mother burst out laughing. “You’re on your own. Get a job, start a business—figure it out yourself. Just don’t ask me.”

Typical.

Lin Xin pouted. Just when he thought things were going well, talk of money had to ruin the moment. Still, as a regular freshman in college, he couldn’t think of any quick way to make a fortune. He was about to press his mother for advice when he noticed the call had already disconnected—probably the moment he’d reached out for cash.

“Fine. I’ll have to figure it out myself,” he resolved.

Sitting on his dorm bed, Lin Xin racked his brain, but his mind was blank. He knew a month of hard labor might earn him 10,000 yuan. To reach five million, he’d need to work for 500 months—over 40 years. He’d be old and gray by then, let alone ready to marry Cheng Shiyin.

Speaking of Cheng Shiyin, her phone had been turned off ever since her mother handed him the check, so he couldn’t reach her. Still, he figured her mother wouldn’t actually harm her.

With no other ideas, Lin Xin turned to his tried-and-true ancestral skill, venting on his secret Twitter account.

Using his usual alias, he set up a promoted tweet for maximum reach, a 72-hour campaign targeting 50,000 people for a modest 1,000 yuan. The tweet read, “Any tips on making quick money?”

In less than an hour, the replies flooded in. Compared to his previous posts, which were evenly split between dubious miracle creams and adult DVDs, the responses this time were all over the place, with many featuring heart emojis and incomprehensible advice.

Lin Xin squinted at the chaotic flood of replies, trying to make sense of them. Among the gems: “Sell a kidney,” “Marry a billionaire,” and “Join an MLM—unlimited income potential!” After a moment, he muttered, “Wait… does selling DVDs really make money?”

After all, he did have a twenty-yuan classic in his drawer. He stared at it for a moment, then whispered in disbelief, “The Student Council President vs. The Black Stockings Sisters… could this be my golden ticket?”

Author’s Note

This should be close to the finale.

A quick heads-up, the ending will be abrupt and absurd, but I’ve been hinting at it for a while now. I just love the final imagery so much that I won’t change it (even though I haven’t written it yet). Also, I’ve gone back and fixed some typos in earlier chapters. Why do I always find more every time I reread?

Thank you so much for your support! I’ll keep working hard!