The Wish and the Madwoman

The knocking on the door grew increasingly frantic, prompting Xiang Qing to press tightly against the door, too terrified to even breathe.

“Darling, I know you’re in there!”

From beyond the door, Gu Wei’s voice reached him, laced with a deranged frenzy that suggested she intended to smash the door to splinters.

‘A thousand curses,’ Xiang Qing fumed inwardly.

‘How on earth did that madwoman find my home?’

As a streamer who cross-dressed, Xiang Qing’s greatest dread was having his true identity exposed to his fans.

Gu Wei was the top donor in his livestream channel, having lavished nearly eight hundred thousand in gifts, and incessantly proclaimed her desire to be with “her” in the chat.

At the time, Xiang Qing had merely dismissed it as the caprice of a wealthy individual, never imagining the woman was truly unhinged.

“Qingqing, stop hiding! I can see the lights on in your house!”

Gu Wei’s voice escalated in excitement.

“I spent a hundred thousand yuan hiring a hacker to find your address, and today, no matter what, I will have you!”

Xiang Qing’s legs turned to jelly from fright.

He had only ever wanted to earn some money, never once contemplating a romantic relationship with any of his female fans.

‘What man wouldn’t want money?’

‘But romance, that was simply too much trouble.’

‘Especially dating a love-obsessed lunatic like Gu Wei; it would be an utter catastrophe.’

Xiang Qing quietly slipped into the bathroom, intending to hide until Gu Wei finally left.

Just as he pulled down his trousers, preparing to relieve himself, Xiang Qing suddenly froze.

‘What… what was happening?’

She lowered her gaze to her own body, utterly dumbfounded.

Her formerly flat chest had become plump, her waist slender, and her skin glowed with a luminous pallor.

‘Most critically, below…’

“Holy hell!”

Xiang Qing nearly cried out.

‘When had she transformed into an actual woman?’

Xiang Qing rushed to the mirror, gazing at the reflection of herself.

A melon-seed face, peach blossom eyes, and cherry-red lips — her features were impossibly delicate.

Her wig, which she had been wearing, had transformed into real hair, soft and flowing like silk.

‘This… this was even more stunning than when he painstakingly applied his makeup.’

“It’s over, it’s all over!”

Xiang Qing clutched her head, on the verge of a complete breakdown.

Although becoming a woman would prevent Gu Wei from discovering her cross-dressing, she truly didn’t want a relationship!

She certainly didn’t want to date a lunatic like Gu Wei!

“Qingqing, I know you’re in there! If you don’t open the door, I’ll smash it down!”

The voice from outside grew increasingly deranged.

Xiang Qing gritted her teeth, hastily dressed, and burst out of the bathroom.

‘No, I have to run.’

Living on the first floor, she could simply leap out the window.

Xiang Qing darted through the living room, covering ground in a few swift strides, heading directly for the window.

Just as she prepared to scramble through the window, a face suddenly pressed against the pane.

“Hahahaha! I finally found you!”

Gu Wei’s face was plastered against the glass, her laughter chillingly grotesque.

Her hair was disheveled, her eyes bloodshot, and a twisted smile stretched across her lips.

“My darling, where do you think you’re going to run?”

Staring at the terrifying face beyond the window, Xiang Qing’s vision swam, and she collapsed to the floor.

As she fell, she could only hear Gu Wei’s maniacal laughter from outside the window, proclaiming:

“You can’t escape, you’ll never escape!”

Xiang Qing’s eyelids fluttered, then snapped open.

She hadn’t truly fainted; her mind had simply short-circuited from the shock, now automatically rebooting itself.

Scrambling to her feet, she fumbled for her phone and dialed the emergency number.

“Hello, is this 110? There’s a madwoman at my door and outside my window!”

“Hello, could you please describe the situation?”

“She’s threatening me, saying she’ll break down the door! Please, hurry and save me!” Xiang Qing whispered, terrified Gu Wei might overhear.

After relaying her address, Xiang Qing immediately dashed to pull the curtains shut, not daring to glance outside the entire time.

That face plastered against the glass had been utterly horrifying; even recalling it now sent shivers down her spine.

Xiang Qing paced frantically back and forth in the room, consumed by anxiety.

‘When would the police arrive?’

She halted, suddenly remembering something, and quickly looked down to examine her body.

Still as voluptuous, her waist still as slender, and below, indeed…

‘When exactly did I become a woman?’

Xiang Qing lifted her clothes, meticulously scrutinizing her own body.

Her skin was luminescent, and the touch felt undeniably real, not like any prop.

She touched herself, and the soft sensation brought a blush to her cheeks.

‘When did this begin? How did I not notice a single thing?’

Xiang Qing racked her brain, trying to recall.

Last night, after ending his stream, he had still been a man; he hadn’t looked in the mirror upon waking this morning, not until just now in the bathroom…

‘Wait!’

She remembered now: last night, she had made a wish!

“What did I say back then?” Xiang Qing tapped her head. “I said… I said it would be great if I could become a real woman, that way I wouldn’t have to worry about being exposed for cross-dressing…”

‘No way, right?’

Xiang Qing’s eyes widened. ‘How could something like this be possible?’

Suddenly, Gu Wei’s voice boomed from outside the door: “Qingqing, I hear you talking in there! Who are you talking to?”

Xiang Qing flinched violently, quickly clamping a hand over her mouth.

Gu Wei’s expression grew increasingly feral.

She had already surmised that Xiang Qing had called the police.

“Since you won’t open the door, then don’t blame me!”

Gu Wei raised the brick in her hand and savagely hurled it at the window.

“CRACK!”

The glass shattered instantly.

Xiang Qing froze, utterly paralyzed by terror.

She wanted to intervene but feared injury, countless solutions flashing through her mind, yet her body remained immobile.

It wasn’t until Gu Wei had completely smashed the window that Xiang Qing finally reacted.

‘Run!’

She spun around and bolted towards the main door, fumbling frantically with the lock.

“CLICK!”

The door sprang open.

Xiang Qing burst out, immediately pounding on her next-door neighbor’s door.

“Sister Lanzhi! Sister Lanzhi!”

The door swiftly opened.

Shen Lanzhi, clad in a bathrobe, held a bowl of freshly brewed traditional Chinese medicine, her face notably pale.

“Qingqing? What in the world are you doing at this hour…”

“There’s a madwoman chasing me!” Xiang Qing blurted out, completely foregoing pleasantries. “She smashed my window!”

Shen Lanzhi’s expression shifted, and she immediately stepped aside.

“Quickly, come in!”

Xiang Qing rushed inside, and Shen Lanzhi quickly shut and locked the door.

“What exactly happened?”

“A female fan has been stalking me, and now she’s causing a commotion at my door and window!” Xiang Qing gasped, still breathless. “I’ve already called the police, but she’s actively smashing up my house!”

“Heavens!” Shen Lanzhi exclaimed, astonished. “Please sit down, I’ll pour you some water.”

Xiang Qing sank onto the sofa, her heart still hammering wildly.

The bizarre transformation into a woman was utterly perplexing, but this was not the moment to dwell on it.

Gu Wei, that madwoman, posed the most immediate threat.

Just then, a sudden, searing pain flared in Xiang Qing’s chest.

“Ah!”

She clutched her heart, her face instantly turning ashen.

“Qingqing! What’s wrong?” Shen Lanzhi quickly set down the water glass.

Xiang Qing tried to speak, but the excruciating pain in her heart overwhelmed her, causing her to collapse onto the sofa.

In her final moments of consciousness, the frantic pounding of Gu Wei against the door echoed from outside.

“Qingqing! Are you in there? Qingqing!”

“BANG BANG BANG!”

The door was being battered with deafening force.

‘That woman truly is a persistent specter…’

In a haze, she heard voices arguing.

“Officer, it’s this woman! She smashed my neighbor’s window and forced her way in!”

“You’re lying! I’m her friend! We were just having an argument!”

“Friend? I don’t even know you!”

“Why should you know me?”

The voices faded into the distance, followed by the sound of a police car driving away.

Xiang Qing knew nothing more.

She began to dream.

****

In his dream, he was back in a sixth-grade classroom, sunlight streaming through the window, illuminating his overly delicate face.

“Oh my, how is Xiang Qing even prettier than us girls?”

“Right? Such long eyelashes, such fair skin.”

“Do you think he’s actually a girl?”

The female classmates whispered amongst themselves.

The male classmates were far more direct.

“Sissy!”

“Eunuch!”

“Freak!”

Xiang Qing lay slumped on his desk, letting their words pierce his ears.

At lunchtime, he carried his lunchbox, searching for a place to sit.

“Don’t sit here!”

“We don’t want to eat with you!”

“Just looking at you is disgusting!”

Xiang Qing stood in the middle of the cafeteria, holding his lunchbox, surrounded by gazes of disdain.

Ultimately, he could only crouch in a corner, silently finishing his now stone-cold meal alone.

That night, he spoke to his reflection in the mirror: “Nobody likes me, but it doesn’t matter. Once I have money, I’ll never have to endure anyone’s scorn again.”

“With money, you have everything.”

“I don’t need friends, I don’t need love, I don’t need family.”

“I only need money.”

****

The dream shifted, transitioning to his high school years.

Xiang Qing was cornered in the restroom by a group of boys.

“Are you really a boy or a girl?”

“Let us check!”

“Don’t run!”

He struggled desperately, his clothes tearing, his knees scraping against the floor, leaving a trail of blood.

“Hahahaha! He really is a boy after all!”

“He dresses like a girl, but he’s actually a man!”

“Freak!”

Xiang Qing covered his face and wept for a long time.

From that day forward, he grew to despise humanity even more profoundly.