Chapter 103: Chapter 99: He Really Considers Her a Female?

Gu Ning was delirious from the fever.

She kept dreaming after she fell asleep. It was like falling into a kaleidoscope; she spun endlessly in this kaleidoscopic world as everything around her was cut apart, magnified, and shrunk.

A wave of nausea, weightlessness, and dizziness washed over her.

After an unknown amount of time, these uncomfortable sensations gradually faded, and her drifting consciousness returned to her heavy body.

Faintly, Gu Ning heard panting by her ear. The sound was sometimes heavy, sometimes slow, as if trying desperately to restrain something.

At the same time, she felt something warm and soft brush across her body.

Gu Ning’s eyes fluttered open.

She couldn’t see anything clearly. Everything around her was dark.

At this moment, she was being held up by a pair of strong, powerful arms, enveloped by a hot, solid body.

A large head was buried in her chest, nuzzling and licking her. It licked its way up to the crook of her neck before taking a deep whiff, like someone huffing a cat.

Gu Ning listlessly raised a hand. First, she felt the head’s warm, slightly damp hair, then a familiar, furry texture.

’Oh, puppy ears.’

She grabbed an ear and rubbed it.

The panting by her ear grew heavier, and something furry repeatedly swept across the back of her hand.

’Oh, a puppy tail.’

’Cook?’ The thought surfaced hazily in Gu Ning’s mind.

She gave the head in front of her a light push and said in a hoarse voice:

"Cook, you’re so hot... I’m hot, too. Stop licking..."

The "puppy" holding her paused for a moment, then hugged her even tighter and continued to lick her skin, not missing a single inch.

Gu Ning felt as if she had fallen into a furnace. She wanted to move, but the hands holding her were like two hot iron clamps, pinning her in place.

"Cook, be good. Loosen up a little, don’t hold me so tight..." Gu Ning’s only free hand—her left—stroked "Cook’s" head. Her fingers expertly combed through his hair, massaged his scalp for a moment, then traced a path down his face to his chin. She hooked her fingers under his chin and gave it a light scratch, soothing the anxious puppy.

The "puppy" holding her stiffened slightly. His grip on her loosened, and his lips exhaled a heavy breath against her skin.

"I’m okay..." Gu Ning’s arm was sore and weak as she patted the "puppy’s" head. She said softly, "I’ll be better soon. Don’t worry."

The "puppy" stopped moving and held her in silence.

Nestled in his arms, Gu Ning couldn’t tell if she was comfortable or uncomfortable. Her head still felt dizzy and heavy.

But soon, she felt a familiar, bloating ache coming from her lower abdomen.

Her stomach throbbed with a cramp-like pain, focusing all her senses on her lower abdomen.

"Cook, help me rub my stomach." Gu Ning curled up, placing "Cook’s" hand on her belly.

The large, warm palm rested on her stomach for a moment before it began to gently rub it for her.

He applied the perfect amount of pressure, and Gu Ning felt the bloating pain in her stomach quickly subside.

She fell asleep again.

In the darkness, a pair of glittering eyes stared at her for a long time before burying the sweaty head in her body once more.

...

...

Gu Ning sat propped up against the headboard, wrapped in a blanket, her eyes fixed on the bedroom door.

After a long while, she slowly turned her head. Her gaze fell on a thick stack of shorts—the smallest size for a Dwarf hybrid—by her pillow. Her eyes filled with shock and confusion.

She was facing an incredibly awkward situation.

Here’s what happened.

She had woken up this morning and first went to the bathroom.

The good news was that, unlike yesterday, she didn’t throw back the covers to find her external fur had been completely stripped off.

The bad news was, her period had started.

Gu Ning looked down at the pair of shorts in her hand.

Sewn inside the shorts was some sort of soft, thick, absorbent material, just like the overnight sanitary panties she had used in the human world.

The last time she got her period, she had sewn simple menstrual pads from cotton and cloth. She hadn’t thought of sewing the material directly into her shorts because she didn’t have that many pairs to spare back then.

Right now, she still hadn’t processed the chain of events: waking up, getting her period, finding herself wearing a pair of handmade sanitary shorts at some unknown point, and then seeing a whole stack of them by her bed.

Gu Ning touched her forehead. The fever was gone. She wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating.

Her gaze swept across the room, and she was shocked all over again. ’I’m at Alex’s place!’

’So, Alex discovered I got my period and then sewed these sanitary shorts for me?’

’So, he really does see me as a female?’

’So, I don’t have to live in constant fear of him discovering my identity anymore?’

The heavy weight that had been suspended in Gu Ning’s heart finally came to rest.

She looked at the sanitary shorts in her hand and realized Alex had even changed her pants for her last night. Her face began to burn, and she embarrassedly buried herself in the blanket, rolling around while her inner self turned into a screaming groundhog.

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

KNOCK KNOCK—

A knock sounded at the bedroom door.

"Are you awake?" Alex’s voice came from behind the door.

Gu "Groundhog" Ning peeked her head out from under the blanket.

"May I come in?"

After Alex asked, the same question popped up on Gu Ning’s terminal from him.

Gu Ning hesitated, internally conflicted for a moment, before sending a sticker of a nodding puppy.

After sending it, she pulled back into the blanket like an ostrich.

Alex pushed the door open and came in.

Seeing the small lump huddled on the bed, he paused for a moment before slowly walking to the bedside.

Gu Ning kept her eyes downcast. At this moment, she didn’t know if she was afraid to look at him or just too shy.

His tall figure sat down on the edge of her bed, and the mattress, covered with a thick comforter, dipped slightly.

Gu Ning subconsciously scooted away.

Some kind of boundary between her and Alex had been broken, leaving her with a sense of nervousness and unease.

Alex placed a small, folding bed table next to Gu Ning and then set an insulated lunch box on it.

"Your fever just broke. You should eat something light for the next few days."

Gu Ning looked up as Alex took out a bowl of fragrant, steaming meat congee, a bowl of steamed egg custard, a plate of meat pies, a pudding cake, and a piece of soft bread slathered with jam.

’...So this is what he calls "light."’

Alex then pulled a bottle of warm milk and two bright red apples from the bag that had held the lunch box.

Gu Ning hadn’t eaten fruit in a long time. In Zone 19, fruit was as expensive as vegetables and just as hard to find. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Now that Zone 19 was sealed for the winter, even the vegetarian shops only sold easily preserved root vegetables like potatoes and radishes.

The only fruit available was canned.

"No appetite?" Alex saw that Gu Ning hadn’t moved and was about to get up and leave when he saw her inch closer to the bed table.

He glimpsed the mask she had placed on the headboard. A thought stirred in him, and he pushed the small table closer to her, readjusting it to a suitable height.

Gu Ning picked up a spoon and began to eat... She glanced at the time. It was twelve o’clock noon; this was lunch.

The meat congee was cooked to a very fine consistency, the crust of the meat pies was crispy and flaky, releasing a rich, meaty aroma with every bite, and the steamed egg custard was even more fragrant and smooth...

After being sick for two days, Gu Ning’s appetite finally returned with a vengeance.

Alex watched her eat in silence. Neither of them spoke.

When Gu Ning was rubbing her belly, too full to eat anymore, he began to clean up, finishing her leftovers.

Gu Ning stared, stunned, as she watched him eat her leftovers.