Chapter 1: My Best Friend’s Wish Turned Out To Be…

In the most prestigious cancer hospital in the capital, a gaunt young man lay half-reclined in an ICU bed.

Patient Name: Lin An

Diagnosis: Terminal-stage lung cancer

……

Condition: Removing the oxygen support means immediate death…

Xia Hua flipped through his best friend’s medical records, a calm expression resting faintly on his face.

The ICU, which only allowed visits every few days, opened briefly.

Xia Hua walked in, holding a contract in his hand.

From initial shock and disbelief, to eventual acceptance and composure—perhaps men really are better at coming to terms with things.

Lin An’s body was frail, but his mind was still clear.

“You’re here?” Lin An rasped, his skeletal frame lying still on the bed.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“Also…” Xia Hua took out the contract and said, “We’ve been friends for years, right?”

“Not that many. We met at that party back in sophomore year of high school. It hasn’t even been ten years yet, has it?” Even on the brink of death, Lin An could recall such trivial details with striking clarity.

Xia Hua shook his head. He didn’t want to dwell on the past.

He handed the contract to Lin An.

As he gestured for Lin An to take a look, he said softly, “You’ve helped me so much.”

“Ever since we met, I’ve pretty much always been on the receiving end of your help. This is a company equity transfer agreement. I’m transferring half of my shares to your family. Or if you prefer, I can convert it into cash and wire the money to them right away. This is the least I can do for you.”

Lin An didn’t refuse, nor did he stand on ceremony.

He simply called in his waiting family, gave them a few instructions, and after signing the contract, had them leave again at his insistence—though they did so with evident reluctance.

Now, only the two of them remained in the hospital room.

Lin An kept his eyes on Xia Hua.

Xia Hua had graduated from college less than two years ago.

His face still retained traces of youthful exuberance.

His lips were slightly thin, almost delicate—beautiful, even.

His light-colored glasses framed a pair of luminous, star-like eyes.

There was something warm and comforting about him.

“What are you staring at?” Xia Hua asked.

“It’s just the two of us here, and I’m about to die. Who else should I be looking at?”

“…Sigh.” Xia Hua let out a quiet breath.

“What are you sighing for?!”

“No, it’s just…” Xia Hua hesitated.

“What is it you want to say?”

“Do you have any last wishes?” Xia Hua asked.

“Can you even make them come true?” Lin An glanced sideways at him, forcing a smile.

“I’ll do my best.”

“If only you were a girl,” Lin An said.

“In your dreams.”

“…”

They laughed. And after laughing— They cried.

The monitor’s beeping flattened into a single, unbroken line.

Xia Hua didn’t linger in the hospital.

That place was now better left to Lin An’s family.

In a daze, he wandered into the hospital’s underground parking lot.

The cause of Lin An’s illness: lung cancer.

Looking back— It likely stemmed from the grueling days of their startup. The stress. The exhaustion.

Or maybe it was the work environment. Maybe it was the smoking.

Lost in thought, Xia Hua failed to notice a manual transmission car ahead of him.

At the sloped exit of the underground parking lot, the driver—a rookie, no doubt—struggled with a hill start.

They stalled. Then the car rolled backwards.

All it took was a scream.

And then—nothing. The driver was too scared to react.

“Shit! The brakes! Hit the damn brakes! Brakes!!!” Xia Hua shouted in panic.

“B-B-Brakes… Where are the brakes!?” A panicked female voice echoed faintly from the car.

Bang—— It seemed to have hit someone.

“F*ck (艹皿艹)” Xia Hua: dead.

The sound of crunching bones— “Ka-cha, ka-cha”—was oddly chilling.

“Should’ve known… female driver…” That was Xia Hua’s final thought before everything went black.

Somewhere in a small southern city—

It was the height of summer, with cicadas humming in the background, a lazy afternoon breeze drifting by, and the gentle voice of a girl echoing like the soft chime of wind bells.

It felt like a dream.

The math teacher’s lecture on functions droned on like a hypnotic spell.

Yet in Xia Hua’s ears, the words were becoming clearer and clearer.

“…Now, let’s move on to the derivation and computation of derivatives—” The math teacher hadn’t even finished the sentence—

When suddenly: “Ah!!…” A sharp scream rang out.

Accompanied by the clatter of falling chairs and desks.

A girl wearing a pale, simple school uniform sat up, her forehead beaded with sweat, her face contorted in alarm.

Her elegant brows furrowed together in panic.

Her crimson lips parted as she gasped for air, chest heaving up and down.

Behind her light-colored glasses were star-like eyes, now filled with pure confusion.

She looked like a gentle, beautiful girl— But right now, she was full of unease and bewilderment.

“I… I…” Xia Hua opened his mouth, but the words caught in his throat.

“Xia Hua! What are you doing?!” The teacher’s furious roar cut through the air like a whip.

Wait a second… wasn’t I run over just now?! Xia Hua thought in a daze. But then—hold on…

Why does my voice sound different? It sounded… softer. Weak. Like a girl’s.

Also—he was Xia Hua, with a falling tone (fourth tone), not Xia Hua, with a flat tone (first tone). He could tell the difference.

And even more importantly—

What the hell is this body?!

The math teacher stormed over, looking like he could explode any second. “Did you fall asleep and get crushed by your desk, or were you dreaming about getting run over by a car? Daydreaming this vividly… Honestly, even if your grades are poor, at least stop disturbing the rest of the class!”

“Let’s all try to be considerate, alright? So you’re happy, I’m happy, everyone’s happy. OK??”

In every high school classroom, there were always a few students who had been “given up on.”

As long as they didn’t disrupt others, most teachers just let them drift by.

Xia Hua had been one of those students.

But right now, he was filled with way too many questions.

Books lay scattered across the floor, and the desk that had fallen on him earlier now stood upright again.

So… was I hit by a car? Or was I dreaming that I was hit by a desk?

He looked around, dazed. The classroom felt both unfamiliar and familiar.

My high school classmates… you all look so young!

The boy sitting beside him sat up straight, trying to look proper.

Xia Hua reached out and pinched his face.

“Chen Kailun, didn’t you go off to sea to be a fisherman? You swore you’d become a ‘Sea King’!”

The boy’s face turned beet red.

With Xia Hua’s hands squeezing his cheeks, even his ears looked like they were about to start bleeding from the embarrassment.

“X-X-Xia Hua, please don’t do that,” Chen Kailun stammered.

“Xia Hua!!” The math teacher’s furious bellow returned, clearly at his limit.

“If you’re still not awake, get outside the classroom and stand there until you are!”

“Huh?” Xia Hua tilted his head in confusion.

“I said: Now. Outside. Immediately.”

“…”

With the help of a few classmates, the mess at Xia Hua’s desk was quickly cleaned up.

And he—no, she now??! Stood outside the classroom, leaning against the white wall, math book in hand, completely lost in thought.

I… have gone back to high school… and become a girl named Xia Hua.

How the hell is this even possible?!