Huang Xiu, oh Huang Xiu…
As the primary orchestrator of this ‘confession,’ Yue Zhengyang had already devised several approaches the day before. From the subtle to the direct, the overtly obvious to the piercingly blunt—now, in this precise moment, he merely pondered which strategy would prove most effective. His thoughts darted like lightning, and at last, his decision was made.
“Huang Xiu, she has, in fact, returned,” Yue Zhengyang said seriously.
“Returned?” Zhuang Wenli’s brow furrowed in initial confusion. Yet, as her gaze fell upon the beautiful girl seated on the sofa, head bowed and eyes demurely lowered, as she noticed the slippers on her feet, and as the initial words and those strikingly familiar features resurfaced in her mind, a daring realization abruptly dawned upon her.
“Masaka—Could it be?!” Zhuang Wenli’s eyes snapped open, widening fractionally. She was hardly a traditional, rigid adult; otherwise, she wouldn’t harbor such enthusiasm for collecting Doraemon figurines. In fact, Huang Xiu’s very fondness for anime was a passion Zhuang Wenli had nurtured in her since childhood. She had even delved into some rather peculiar genres herself.
With this thought, Zhuang Wenli’s eyes twinkled mischievously, and she unleashed a familiar, thunderous roar upon Huang Xiu.
“Xiao Xiu!”
“Eh!” Huang Xiu, who had been hunched over, thoroughly flustered, instinctively responded to the familiar summons—the very tone her mother used when angry—before abruptly springing to her feet.
In that instant, five gazes, each laden with a distinct meaning, converged upon her from every conceivable direction. The implications of these stares were so blatant that she could discern them even through her Awakened individual’s heightened senses.
Yuan Fei buried his face in his hands. “How utterly shameful! To be tricked so easily, and by my own student!”
Yun Ning’s lips curved into a faint smile. “Junior Student Huang… rather transparent, aren’t you?”
Yue Zhengyang chuckled. “I daresay my elaborate preparations were entirely superfluous…”
‘Ah, such a Junior Sister Huang is truly endearing!’
A blush, spreading like ink, crept from Huang Xiu’s delicate, pale neck, staining her cheeks a vibrant crimson.
‘This is utterly mortifying!’ she wailed inwardly, yet her body remained rooted to the spot, as if ensnared by a paralyzing spell, unable to stir even an inch.
Zhuang Wenli’s pupils dilated then contracted, her gaze sweeping Huang Xiu’s face like a radar beam. Now, with a definitive subject for her suspicions, the more she scrutinized the girl’s features, the more they mirrored her own mischievous son’s. This was, quite literally, Huang Xiu’s gender-swapped counterpart.
“Xiao Xiu?” Zhuang Wenli called out again, a tremor of disbelief in her voice.
“Mhm.” Huang Xiu nodded frantically, her eyes squeezed shut.
‘Let it all end! Just let me explode! She couldn’t bear this torment any longer!’ In that moment, the young woman, teetering on the precipice of a mental breakdown, opted for the simplest solution: utter surrender.
“So this young lady is truly my son?”
With the confirmation, Zhuang Wenli felt a genuine wave of panic. Her son, whom she had nurtured for seventeen years, was on the cusp of adulthood, poised to embark on his university journey. Another seven or eight years, and he might well have established his own family and career, allowing her to bask in the joys of doting on grandchildren. But now, a perfectly healthy son, after merely a month’s absence, had transformed into a daughter. Everything, just gone!
Wait, did this count as a gain for her? Zhuang Wenli found herself inexplicably pondering the question. She had been born without the ability to bear children, which was why she and her husband had adopted a child from the orphanage. Knowing that adopted children, in some aspects, required even more unconditional love than biological ones, she had long decided to adopt only one, intending to raise them as her very own. They always spoke of ‘bearing sons and raising daughters,’ yet now, through this one child, she had miraculously experienced both.
“Mom, it’s really me, Xiao Xiu,” Huang Xiu insisted, growing anxious as she saw her mother’s bewildered face, which still held a hint of surprise. She swiftly unclasped the jade pendant from her neck, pressing it into her mother’s hand.
“See? This is the birthday gift you gave me.” Her voice was laced with a fragile sob.
Zhuang Wenli’s eyes briefly confirmed the jade pendant she had chosen, then she averted her gaze. She rose and, with an act of profound tenderness, drew Huang Xiu into her embrace. Her movements were utterly devoid of hesitation, just as they had been countless times before whenever Huang Xiu was overcome with sadness or grief.
“Of course I believe you are my Xiao Xiu,” she murmured, gently patting the young woman’s back. “I already had a feeling, you know, from the moment you called me ‘Mom’ from outside the door!”
“Waaah.”
Those simple words utterly shattered Huang Xiu’s defenses. Her eyes instantly welled, a torrent of tears blurring her vision, finally tracing paths down her cheeks to drip onto her lips and into her mouth. They were salty, yet also sweet. They were tears of excitement, and of joy.
“Waaah, waaah…”
Huang Xiu buried her head fiercely into her mother’s warm embrace, biting her lip tightly as she sobbed and choked. It was as if she sought to unleash all the confusion, sorrow, grief, and longing that had accumulated over many days. They say a man’s tears are not easily shed, save when there’s no one to confide in. The tears, scalding and fervent with genuine emotion, soaked through the fabric over Zhuang Wenli’s chest.
She cast an apologetic glance at Yuan Fei, Yue Zhengyang, and the two others who were observing the scene. Then, she resumed comforting Huang Xiu.
“There, there, my dear,” she murmured, a flicker of heartache in her expression. Huang Xiu had always been this way since childhood, constantly feigning strength and indifference. Yet, beneath that facade, her heart was more sensitive and vulnerable than anyone else’s. She would shoulder every setback alone, and only when she truly could no longer bear the burden would she finally confide in another. To suddenly transition from male to female—what an utterly terrifying and overwhelming ordeal that must be! Yet, she had somehow managed to endure it without a word to her family.
Though the comfort proved effective, an undeniable awkwardness lingered. After only a brief moment, the tears had ceased, and the convulsive sobs had subsided. Still, Huang Xiu kept her face buried in Zhuang Wenli’s chest, unable to summon the courage to look up.
‘To let her emotions burst forth, to cry without restraint, had indeed brought immense relief. She felt an incredible lightness pervade her entire being. Yet, the embarrassment that followed the emotional deluge now pressed down upon Huang Xiu’s heart like an insurmountable mountain. To have cried so unreservedly, like a small child, in front of her teacher, her senior male student, and her senior female student… Surely, her life was utterly ruined! After all, she had once been a strong man! Did Tiandu University happen to have a Mars campus? She desperately needed to flee this place and begin anew!’
“Don’t do this again, alright?” Zhuang Wenli understood that her child was undoubtedly shy, currently embodying an ostrich, intent on avoiding a harsh reality. “But as a mother, how could she allow her child to perpetually evade the truth? Honestly.”
Zhuang Wenli stepped back half a pace, then gently cradled Huang Xiu’s face in her hands, compelling her to meet her gaze directly. She gently brushed away the lingering tears and the bubble of snot that had formed on Huang Xiu’s face.
“We are a family, after all. Did you truly believe we wouldn’t recognize you?”
“But…” Huang Xiu’s voice still held a fragile catch as she finally looked up at her mother’s face. “Didn’t Dad choose me, as a boy, precisely because he wished for me to carry on the family name? Now I… I’ve become a girl!”
Huang Xiu once again lowered her head, asking with a hesitant, almost fearful uncertainty, “Will Dad still… still acknowledge me?”