The wind was calm, and the sky was clear for ten thousand miles.
Ji Yuenian lay on the slope of the river embankment, a foxtail grass dangling from her mouth and her legs crossed. She wore an exquisite and elegant long dress, yet she carried the aura of a delinquent girl.
Just then, a group of cyclists rode past on the nearby path. They stopped by the riverbank, and the young leader of the group spotted Ji Yuenian lying on the slope. His eyes immediately lit up, and he waved in her direction.
“Hey there, beautiful, want to come have a drink?”
Ji Yuenian curled her lips into a smile, revealing two small canine teeth at the youth. “Buddy, you’re too late. Someone has already fallen for me.”
“Ahahaha!” The rejected youth didn’t mind at all. Instead, he burst into loud laughter. “Looks like I really am late. But miss, sitting cross-legged like that makes it easy to flash people. You should be careful.”
Having said his piece, the cyclist pedaled off, leading his group away.
Ji Yuenian spat out the foxtail grass, shrugged her shoulders indifferently, and continued to squint her eyes while enjoying the fresh air. she looked up at the blue clouds in the sky and murmured to herself: “Do I really want to be a girl?”
To be honest, Ji Yuenian never expected things to come to this point. Initially, she only viewed the gender swap as a skill she could actively control, something to use to tease or conquer a certain someone. She had simply wanted to see that person burst into tears just to vent her frustration.
But she had accidentally become that person’s “white moonlight,” the person he loved, and a little liar who had deceived his feelings. What’s more, she didn’t even know how it happened, but she had ended up completely gender-swapped.
Everything was developing toward the unknown.
She rolled over on the slope of the river embankment and stretched her limbs. Although many things were tangling and swirling in her mind at this moment, her heart was very peaceful, like a sky without a single cloud.
It seemed as though she had “seen” this sort of thing a long time ago. When exactly was it? Oh, those prophetic dreams. Although those dreams presented the future as a tragedy, the “self” in the dreams had faced similar troubles.
Either she was imprisoned, broken, or fell into femininity as “Ji Qingchan.” The slightly better scenarios involved Jiang Chi committing suicide or her brain being split to turn her into two different people.
Ugh… Thinking carefully, compared to those observed tragic futures, the choice of identity she faced now didn’t seem like a big problem. At least there was no danger to her life.
So… should she choose to be a girl?
As things stood now, Jiang Chi falling in love with her was already a settled matter, and her gender swap was also a settled matter. From a business perspective, marrying Jiang Chi was Ji Yuenian’s current optimal solution.
Not only would it super-strengthen the business alliance between the Ji and Jiang families, but Ji Yuenian would also find a good place for herself in the future. If nothing else, this point alone—this win-win situation—was an extremely rare opportunity.
Yet, for Ji Yuenian, it was a source of incomparable conflict and hesitation.
Jiang Chi loved her, but did she love Jiang Chi?
She admitted she did have a bit of a crush on Jiang Chi, but did a crush equal love?
If before, Ji Yuenian viewed dating Jiang Chi as a game where she could run away at any time, then now she was taking it seriously.
And it was precisely because she was taking it seriously that she didn’t dare to nod her head easily.
Previously, the obstacles standing between Ji Yuenian and Jiang Chi were the eyes of the secular world and the pride that Ji Yuenian cared about; now, it was Ji Yuenian’s own doubt and uncertainty. She doubted whether she loved Jiang Chi and was uncertain if she could respond to his love.
Love requires a response.
It also requires two people to manage and develop it.
Of course, Ji Yuenian didn’t deny that other forms of love actually existed, like the girl calling herself “Xu Yinsheng” whom she met a few days ago, and the distorted, obsessive love described by her.
Having understood all of this, Ji Yuenian stood up. Looking at the shimmering riverbank, she gripped the railing with both hands and gazed into the distance, her eyes growing brighter and brighter.
At this point, was there still a need to be so wishy-washy?
No, did Ji Yuenian need to be wishy-washy?
Even if she became a girl, Ji Yuenian was still Ji Yuenian.
Even if she couldn’t respond to Jiang Chi, Ji Yuenian was still Ji Yuenian.
Even if she and Jiang Chi didn’t end up together in the future, Ji Yuenian was still Ji Yuenian.
The current Ji Yuenian was going to step into a new chapter.
Therefore…
“It’s decided! From now on, I! Ji Yuenian! Am going to be a girl !! “
The mature beauty placed her hands by her mouth and announced loudly. Her firm words were carried far away by the river breeze, as if she were declaring her determination to the world.
Her voice was like a clear trumpet call, breaking through the clouds and echoing over the vast surface of the river. That shout was full of determination and courage, as if she were saying goodbye to her past self and waving toward her future self.
A burning light flickered in her eyes, and her cheeks flushed slightly from excitement. Passersby on the riverbank heard the noise and looked over, only to see the excited figure of a long-haired, mature beauty in a long dress.
Ji Yuenian shouted several times in a row, letting it all out, and then she burst into loud laughter. Her laughter was bright and unrestrained, as if she were venting something.
***
Having figured everything out, Ji Yuenian returned home. Huang Qingchuan looked at her daughter, who had made her long dress filthy but was in exceptionally high spirits, and couldn’t help but ask out of concern: “Yueyue, are you okay? What happened to your clothes?”
“I’m fine, Mom. I’m great.”
Ji Yuenian hopped around on the spot and then rubbed her small head against Huang Qingchuan’s chest a few times. Only then did she look up at her mother, a strange light shining in her beautiful eyes.
“Mom, do you prefer me calling you Mom or Mommy?”
Huang Qingchuan was stunned.
“Yueyue?”
“Mom.”
“Yueyue?”
“Mommy.”
After the mature beauty obediently called her Mommy, she naturally took her mother’s arm and rested her small head against it submissively: “If you like being called that, then I’ll call you that from now on. But Mommy, you won’t have a second son anymore; you’ll only have a second daughter, okay.”
After speaking, Ji Yuenian turned her head with a giggle, looking like a mischievous troublemaker.
Looking at her daughter’s face which was as beautiful as a flower, Huang Qingchuan couldn’t help but laugh: “What second daughter, what second son? To me, you will always be my Yueyue, my precious little darling.”
“Hmph! Anyway, I’m not a second son now, just a second daughter.” Ji Yuenian pouted and grumbled: “I want privileges! I want love from the Great Mother! I want lots and lots of things!”
“Then what does Yueyue want?”
Huang Qingchuan dotingly rubbed Ji Yuenian’s head.
“I want to wear girl’s clothes, I want to wear high heels, I want to go shopping, I want to buy, buy, buy! I want to experience all the girl life experiences that I missed out on for the first eighteen years !! “
“I also want…”
The girl’s heart that was eighteen years late was now thumping loudly inside the mature beauty’s chest. Ji Yuenian leaned into Huang Qingchuan’s embrace and hugged her neck coquettishly, her beautiful eyes shimmering with longing and budding excitement.
“…Mommy, you have to teach me how to do makeup and dress up. I want to go and try the taste of love.”