A Sacred and Mysterious Territory

To most men, the female restroom and bathhouse have always been territories imbued with a sense of both sacredness and mystery. Throughout their lives, the vast majority of them would likely never truly set foot in such places.

In this regard, my roommate Yang Laoer and I were far ahead of the curve.

Yang Laoer’s foray into these forbidden zones happened so long ago it was impossible to pinpoint. As one of the earliest to undergo such ‘sexual enlightenment,’ this historic event could have occurred anywhere from the moment he learned to walk until he started university. I vividly recall him boasting at the start of the semester that he was a man who had ‘been through’ the female restroom and bathhouse!

For me, however, that memorable moment was right here, right now.

Due to its age, Tianwu University’s undergraduate dormitory water room featured a standard old-fashioned structure. It was a large room, roughly one and a half *zhang* square, divided into two halves.

The section near the entrance served as a washroom and laundry room, equipped with two rows of faucets and two or three washing machines. The inner section was split, with one half functioning as a public cold-water shower for staff, and the other half containing three or four squatting toilets.

Upon entering this combined female restroom and bathhouse for the first time, I felt somewhat disappointed. Compared to the adjacent men’s dormitory building, 322, the only real differences were a propaganda slogan reading, ‘A small step forward, a giant leap for civilization,’ and the unique facilities in the men’s restroom that slogan referenced.

****

With a flushed face, I entered the shower room alone. One by one, I peeled off the hastily assembled women’s clothes, hanging them all over the not-so-tall partition wall. Then, I took a deep breath.

Like someone who had made a difficult decision, I said in a trembling voice towards the shower door, “Sister Xiao Ru, um, I… I’m ready. You, you can come in…”

After speaking, the blush on my cheeks nearly reached my earlobes. Beneath my breath, I cursed myself for being so useless. After spending so long with those rascals in the dorm, especially Yang Laoer, the generational talent of perverts, I was now as shy as a bride on her wedding day, utterly mortified. I truly felt I had let down Yang Laoer’s constant ‘education.’

Then, a thought struck me: ‘I *am* a girl now, aren’t I?’ But even that didn’t feel right. If I was a girl and Sister Xiao Ru was also a girl, with the same gender, what was there to be shy about?

However, when Sister Xiao Ru hesitantly stepped into the shower room, I realized I wasn’t the only one feeling shy. This heroine, known as ‘Dragon-Subduing,’ who had dominated Tianwu University’s campus with her firm and fierce hands, now had them covering her eyes.

From the sliver of skin peeking out from the edge of her palms, it was clear her face was also beet red, overcome with embarrassment and timidity.

Perhaps it was her appearance that suddenly awakened the rogue spirit within me—whether a male or female rogue, it no longer mattered. Suddenly, my earlier apprehension vanished. I even adopted a nonchalant tone and said to her, “Um, Sister, if you cover your eyes, you won’t be able to see anything.”

“I, I know!” she retorted, her voice trembling, yet her hands remained firmly over her eyes.

“Well, you yourself said we might be living under the same roof in the future,” I rattled off, as if I’d taken a stimulating tonic, seeing her still so shy and fragile. “If we don’t clearly check this gender issue, how can we get along? We won’t even be able to decide if we should ask Principal Dugu to transfer me out, right?”

Presumably, that last sentence finally swayed her. Her slender, fair fingers slowly parted, inch by inch, revealing a pair of bright eyes, slightly tinged with curiosity. Her eyelids blinked rapidly, as if ready to snap shut at any moment if they caught sight of something indescribable.

Despite her extreme vigilance, the blush on Sister’s cheeks had not yet faded. Her beautiful eyes scanned my naked body, from top to bottom, completely unclad. The initial timidity gradually transformed into a sigh of relief.

“So, you… you really are a girl… How is that possible! Could it be that everything you said before was just a trick?” Sister Xiao Ru said, slowly lowering her hands after her sigh.

I spread my hands, forcing a helpless, bitter smile. “Would I joke about something this crucial? If word got out, who knows how many martial artists would come looking for trouble? Even setting that aside, I’m the one standing here completely naked because of this claim. Unless I’d practiced the *Nine Yin Manual* in reverse, causing me to lose my mind and go insane, I wouldn’t do something so thoughtless, would I?”

This movement was perhaps a little too broad, causing my partially concealed body to be further exposed. Sister Xiao Ru’s face, which had slowly begun to return to normal, flushed crimson once more. Then, she spat at me, “Pfft, who cares to see you like this? Alright, hurry up and put your clothes on, or you’ll catch a cold!” With that, she turned and gracefully exited the shower room.

“I believe what you said! And I won’t spread this matter outside, don’t worry. Just like I said before, I’ve got your back, Sister!” Her voice, low and imbued with an inexplicable certainty, drifted in from outside.

I gazed at the partially closed sliding door, savoring her words. For some reason, I suddenly thought of Guo Hao, who always looked after the other three in our dorm. A wave of longing welled up in my heart, making me want to go back and see them.

Besides, Yang Laoer had just been struck by Sister Kang Qiao’s shoe sole; I wondered how badly he was injured. And what about Linghu Ruoxu, the shy brother I had teased with a ‘loli trick’ this morning to sneak into Tianwu University? Would I have left him with some emotional trauma?

This feeling intensified after I visited Sister Xiao Ru’s dorm. After all, the supposedly inviolable female dorms weren’t much to behold, other than having less sock odor and more cosmetic fragrance than the men’s side! After a quick greeting to my two future roommates, I quietly said to Sister Xiao Ru, “Sister Xiao Ru, Principal Dugu also wants me to find someone in logistics for something. Time is a bit tight, so I’ll head over first. Could you please help me take care of things here?”