Chapter 5: The Pattern of Transformation

In the suburbs, a villa.

A cute young girl, wearing sloth-print pajamas, sat on a large bed, clutching an oversized teddy bear, staring intently at the timer in her hand.

Click, click, click, click.

The meshing gears rotated continuously, producing faint, crisp sounds in the silent room.

The pointer on the counter slowly moved to the one-second mark.

Her cascading long hair rapidly shortened, becoming slightly long, black short hair in a few breaths.

Her baby-fat cheeks became ordinary, and the two ample mounds on her chest returned to their previous flatness.

Xu Yinsheng patted his own chest—hard, flat. Very satisfied.

“Success!”

“I finally found the pattern!”

The adorable young man hugged the teddy bear, rubbing it back and forth, cheering excitedly, venting his joyous mood.

After several days of experimentation, Xu Yinsheng finally found the pattern of his transformation: he gender-bends once a day, and it ends when the time is up.

The earliest transformation only lasted for half an hour, and then it increased by two minutes each time.

This meant that on the first day, his female body existed for 30 minutes, on the second day for 32 minutes, and on the third day for 34 minutes.

“But there’s still no way to solve it.”

Xu Yinsheng sighed, hugging the teddy bear.

With his female form increasing by two minutes each day, it meant that in just 705 days, he would have to say goodbye to his male body completely.

With only two years of male life left, Xu Yinsheng felt as if he had received a critical illness notice, watching his life countdown little by little, yet feeling powerless, only able to feel depressed.

That’s two years from now, so let’s not talk about it. Let’s talk about recent worries.

Since the last time he used the alias Xu Ying to borrow money from Zhao Yicheng and was misunderstood as a prostitute, Zhao Yicheng, under the guise of returning his phone, subtly hinted to him, “Xu Ying is not a good person,” “You can’t outplay bad women,” “Listen to your brother’s advice, you two should break up.”

Honestly, Xu Yinsheng was very touched to have such a good brother, but Zhao Yicheng kept video calling him every few days, and he truly couldn’t handle it.

He gender-bent once a day, and the duration of the transformation increased by two minutes each time, but the starting time of the transformation each day was purely random.

Sometimes it was daytime, sometimes nighttime.

Sometimes he would just put on his men’s pajamas and suddenly become a 1.5-meter tall girl, his robe dragging on the floor. 

Sometimes he would be scrubbing himself in the shower, only to scrub two soft mounds.

Xu Yinsheng was terrified that one day, while they were chatting, he would suddenly transform right in front of his good brother. 

If that really happened, he felt like he would be utterly humiliated for life.

He picked up a mirror and held it in front of him, looking left and right. 

The mirror showed a very pretty young man with fair skin that could be broken by a touch.

“A bit more effeminate.”

Xu Yinsheng pinched himself, wincing in pain: “I’m clearly a handsome man!”

“If I keep getting more effeminate, I’ll really become a cross-dresser.”

Perhaps due to the daily gender-bending, his male body was gradually becoming feminized. 

At first glance, he looked like a tomboy.

It wasn’t just his appearance, but more so his temperament and essence, like a budding flower, with infinite possibilities for the future.

“Mr. Zhao, as your hired private doctor, I must remind you again: while mental illnesses are not physiological diseases, it is still advisable to minimize irritating foods like heavy-flavored spicy food.”

In the villa, a man in a white coat with gold-rimmed glasses flipped to the last page of the psychiatric history in his hand and said to the young man sitting in front of him.

The man appeared somewhat preoccupied.

He wore a very simple casual outfit but was meticulously groomed, not a single hair out of place.

A faint scent of cigar smoke emanated from him, giving him an air of an elite professional.

“It’s fine, I’ve been taking my medication on time recently.”

Zhao Yicheng pressed his throbbing brow.

“This isn’t about medication. Psychological illnesses still rely on oneself,” the man in the white coat put down the medical record.

“Since your return, your emotional awareness has been constantly tense, reaching the Alpha level.”

“May I ask presumptuously, did you suffer an investment loss in the country? Did you lose hundreds of millions?”

Zhao Yicheng shook his head.

“That’s strange then,” the man in the white coat mumbled.

“Could it be a loss in love? Did your ‘white moonlight’ fall in love with someone else?”

Zhao Yicheng’s expression stiffened.

He nodded, then shook his head.

“Mr. Zhao, please cooperate with my work.”

“I am a psychologist. Your affirmations and denials are very misleading to my work.”

The man in the white coat picked up his pen and wrote a sentence in the medical record: The patient is self-deceptive.

For a long, long time.

Zhao Yicheng weighed his words, then paused and said, “I have a friend.”

“Yes, you have a friend,” the man in the white coat affirmed, resting his pen on his chin.

“Really, it’s a friend of mine,” Zhao Yicheng said, raising an eyebrow.

“Indeed, I didn’t say it wasn’t your friend,” the man in the white coat nodded gravely. He continued, “Mr. Zhao, please rest assured, we are professionally trained and will not disclose any patient information.”

The two went back and forth for a while.

Eventually, Zhao Yicheng’s patience wore thin.

He pressed his temples with both hands and rubbed them.

“I have a friend, he got a girlfriend, but that woman is a gold-digger. I want to break them up.”

“Well, he really does have a friend,” the man in the white coat thought to himself.

“Does your friend know?”

He paused, then asked, “I mean, does he know her true colors?”

“I’ve warned him many times, but he… doesn’t seem to believe me.”

Zhao Yicheng recalled the perfunctory expressions on his friend’s face during their video calls over the past few days and couldn’t help but clench his fists.

Between his brother and his girlfriend, his girlfriend was ultimately more important to him.

“Hmm… My suggestion is to let your friend see the gold-digger’s true colors,” the man in the white coat glanced at the patient’s clenched fists and subtly took a step back.

After all, a mentally ill person assaulting someone isn’t a crime.

“For example?”

Zhao Yicheng seemed to realize his emotions were getting too agitated.

He unclenched his fists, took a deep breath, and tried his best to calm down.

“Have a ‘tall, rich, and handsome’ man appear before her, win her over, make her fall for someone else, and then you collect evidence and confront your friend.”

The psychiatric record now included another note: Suspected of violent tendencies, potential domestic violence after marriage.

“You mean, I should take my friend’s girlfriend and then use that evidence to make my friend realize her wicked true colors?”

Zhao Yicheng’s expression was strange.

This must be how a mentally ill person’s mind works.

Truly odd.

The man in the white coat’s mouth twitched as he nodded, “You could say that.”

After all the conversation concluded, the man in the white coat put away the medical record and consultation card.

He also prepared all the medication the patient needed for next time.

He picked up his medical bag and said to Zhao Yicheng, who was sitting in the chair,

“Mr. Zhao, this isn’t the real reason for your mental suppression, is it?”

“Just take more medicine,” Zhao Yicheng replied with a smile.

The man in the white coat adjusted the glasses on his nose.

Some things are always unsaid.

“As a psychologist, I still suggest that if you have time, you could try to vent, perhaps at a boxing gym, or perhaps at certain foot massage parlors.”

“Thank you, I will,” Zhao Yicheng replied with a smile.

The sunlight from the window shone on him, casting a deep, dark shadow, like a fox sitting on a throne, wearing a false mask.