I Don’t Want to Be Turned into a Girl by Magic

Chapter 239 : Balcony Barbecue

"Sorry to interrupt."

The aunt excitedly closed the door and left. Faintly, they could hear her and Uncle discussing outside, "I never expected that girl Nan Nan to be so proactive. Could it be our Chen Yao is actually impotent?"

Her face darkened as she looked down at Chen Yao beneath her.

"Aren't you getting up? Do you know how heavy you are!" Chen Yao had been dazed by Lin Nan's impact and couldn't recover from the pain for quite a while.

Lin Nan frantically tried to get up from Chen Yao, but when she pushed with her hand, she somehow pressed down on Chen Yao's "gun barrel," scaring her into scrambling to the side in panic.

So hot...

Chen Yao pretended to calmly sit back up, trying to push what just happened to the back of his mind, but his body's reaction was very honest, so he could only turn his back, not daring to let Lin Nan notice anything amiss.

The atmosphere in the room was so awkward that neither of them dared to breathe. After a long while, the aunt pushed open the door again, looking inside with a confused expression.

Why can't I hear any sound at all?

She looked at the two sitting on the floor playing with their phones, fully dressed, and frowned.

Looks like I really need to take Chen Yao to the hospital for a checkup.

Or maybe his dad and I being at home is affecting his performance.

"How about we do a barbecue on the balcony later?" The aunt smiled gently. "Uncle is still skewering meat right now. We can probably start grilling around ten tonight."

"I'll go help!" Lin Nan immediately stood up and left the room.

Although the aunt repeatedly insisted Lin Nan didn't need to help, the awkward atmosphere in the bedroom was really unbearable, so she shamelessly sat down at the dining table and picked up a metal skewer to start threading meat.

The meat chunks had already been marinated, and there were two small pieces of steak on the side thawing. Although dinner had been quite good, Uncle and Aunt still always liked to make some late-night snacks for Lin Nan.

"Tomorrow we're going to volunteer. We'll leave in the morning and won't be back until very late at night. For lunch and dinner..."

"It's fine, I can cook." Lin Nan skillfully threaded the meat. She had worked part-time at a barbecue restaurant during summer and winter breaks before, so she was quite familiar with this.

Afraid the aunt would worry, she quickly explained, "I often bought groceries and cooked for myself in middle and high school. My skills are a bit lacking but it won't be inedible."

"As long as you can cook, that's good." The aunt smiled kindly and warmly. "Girls who can cook are rare these days."

"Well, nobody was cooking for me..."

If her parents hadn't always been away from home, and if eating out all the time wasn't too expensive, Lin Nan wouldn't want to cook for herself either. After all, chopping, washing dishes, and cleaning the stove were all terribly troublesome.

She vaguely remembered the first time she cooked noodles and almost made herself sick from eating them.

"There's lots of food in the freezer. You should be able to find basically anything you want to eat. If it's not enough, call me." The aunt instructed Lin Nan, "The seasonings are all in the cabinet. The dishwasher is over there, so you don't need to wash dishes yourself. When you do wash dishes, wear gloves. Dish soap is harsh on hands..."

Lin Nan kept nodding her little head, then suddenly had a question. "Auntie, is your family very wealthy?"

The two paused. The aunt smiled bitterly and asked, "You didn't know?"

"Running a restaurant should mean you have money, right? Plus you can afford diamonds and eat bird's nest every day..." Lin Nan muttered.

"And I see Chen Yao's living expenses are quite high. When he runs out, it seems like he can still ask you for more."

"We're not particularly wealthy. Middle class, I guess."

Lin Nan didn't understand what level "middle class" was, but seeing them eat lobster, steak, and abalone at every meal, plus a bowl of bird's nest soup every day, they didn't look like people short on money.

She used to think Chen Yao's parents just ran a small restaurant. She knew Chen Yao's family was fairly well-off. After all, the restaurant industry does make money once it's stable.

But she never imagined they could eat bird's nest every day. She'd never even seen the stuff before.

Although she knew the food at Chen Yao's house had gone up a level since her arrival, Uncle and Aunt didn't seem to mind at all. Instead, they kept trying different ways to make the best food for her.

The aunt subtly probed about Lin Nan's family situation, and Lin Nan, being someone without much cunning, honestly answered whatever was asked. In less than half an hour, she'd basically told them everything she knew.

"Your dad really isn't human." Uncle commented sharply.

Although Lin Nan thought the same thing, hearing it still made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

The meat skewers were finally all prepared. They called Chen Yao from inside the room, brought out the household barbecue grill and smokeless charcoal, and the group of them went to the balcony.

Chen Yao's balcony was quite large, with clothes hanging to dry and flowers and plants being grown, but the balcony still seemed extremely spacious.

The four of them moved small stools to sit around the barbecue grill, with Uncle as head chef sitting in the center to grill the meat.

The aunt helped at the side, but when she looked up and saw Chen Yao carelessly playing with his phone, she couldn't help but say, "Chen Yao, if you're sick you should go to the hospital quickly."

"Mom, why are you scolding me when you have nothing better to do?" Chen Yao looked at her in confusion, then paused and moved his stool closer, thinking she was complaining that he only knew how to eat and didn't help. "Come on, let me grill a couple skewers too."

"Who's talking about that!"

"...???" Chen Yao was completely confused. After a moment he suddenly understood and glared at his mother in dissatisfaction.

Don't you see Lin Nan is right here?

"You can't let down a girl as good as Nan Nan." Lin Nan was also confused, not knowing how the topic had shifted to her.

"If you don't hurry up, I'm going to adopt Lin Nan as my daughter." The aunt threatened. "When the time comes, you won't get any family assets! It'll all be Nan Nan's!"

Chen Yao's face turned ashen. Too lazy to deal with it, he simply lowered his head to play with his phone again, while Lin Nan almost wanted to raise both hands in agreement.

She teasingly kicked Chen Yao with her toe. When his gaze turned to her, she immediately grabbed the aunt's arm and proudly lifted her little head, her eyes full of smug satisfaction.

The aunt's palm covered her head and gently rubbed a few times. "Go play with your phone over there. You'll get your share when it's grilled."

Look at me! After just two days your parents want to adopt me as their daughter. You really were picked up off the street, weren't you!

Chen Yao seemed to see the above mockery in those fox-like enchanting eyes. However, he was helpless and could only look at his mother's gentle, tender demeanor.

I've never seen my mom have such a gentle side before!

Thinking of the past mixed doubles beatings, and looking at how she now seemed to have become someone else's mom, Chen Yao felt life had no meaning and moved even further away.

I probably really was picked up...

Lin Nan also came over and asked in a low voice, "You returned the meeting gift your mom gave me last time, right?"

"No, I spent it on games."

"I told you to give it back to her! If you spent it on games, she'll think I took the money."

"Otherwise what? If I return it, I'll get..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw with horror that Lin Nan had turned to call out, "Auntie! Chen Yao spent all the meeting gift you gave me on games!"

"I was just joking!" Chen Yao quickly went inside.

Translator’s Corner

Mixed doubles beating is the best thing I’ve read this year.

-Ruminas