After dinner, President Wang sent Jiang Chen home.
Before leaving, she gave the other party a deep look.
In the end, she didn’t hear the girl’s reply, and a bit of anger rose in her heart.
It was such a beautiful age—why do these things?
If it was a financial issue, she could offer help.
But since the other party wouldn’t open up, there was nothing she could do.
President Wang suppressed the impulse to investigate the other party thoroughly.
Her fingers slid across the WeChat interface, hovering over the red delete button without confirming immediately.
Forget it… I don’t even know what I’m fussing about.
She locked her phone screen and turned to instruct the driver.
“Back to the company. I’ll be working overtime tonight.”
As soon as Jiang Cheng got home, he reverted to his original form.
Looking at his male appearance, he actually felt a moment of discomfort.
He had spent about a day in female form, and during that time, he hadn’t felt out of place at all.
On the contrary, he felt like he was falling into a terrifying habit.
As if he was born to be a girl, as if he was meant to live as Jiang Chen.
Jiang Cheng looked at the scattered underwear and the two outfits from yesterday and today on the bed.
He lowered his eyes and tossed them into the washing machine.
Just as he was about to press the start button, he remembered something and took out the underwear to hand-wash separately.
While washing the clothes, he took a shower, then went to hang them up.
Mom still had to work overtime tonight.
He wasn’t sure if one night would be enough to dry them.
If Mom saw these women’s clothes, her first reaction probably wouldn’t be that her son had turned into a girl, but that he had become a pervert.
Jiang Cheng glanced at the wristband.
The countdown was still running.
But the original 13 had become 14.
14:06:52
This was the task reward.
After successfully “entertaining” President Wang, his transformation countdown had been extended again.
But this was no different from drinking poison to quench thirst.
One day was far from enough.
He had to keep completing the tasks issued by the wristband.
Jiang Cheng took a deep breath.
He felt that this was probably the true purpose of the mastermind behind it.
A puppet at their mercy.
For a moment, Jiang Cheng thought about giving up entirely and simply living as Jiang Chen.
But reason still prevailed.
Not only his own life, but Mom’s life would also change because of his transformation.
Jiang Xiaoyue was already busy enough.
He couldn’t add to her troubles at a time like this.
After lying on the bed, he checked the wristband again.
No new task had been issued.
The exhaustion from a busy day made Jiang Cheng fall asleep quickly, and he even forgot to switch back to female form.
He slept straight through until morning.
The alarm woke him up.
When he got out of bed, he noticed a figure sitting by the bedside.
He was so startled he nearly fell off the bed.
Jiang Cheng rubbed his eyes and looked at the person.
“Mom?”
He hadn’t expected Jiang Xiaoyue to come into his room so early.
She was dressed in pajamas and looked like she had just taken a shower.
“Little Cheng, you’re awake…”
Jiang Xiaoyue turned around, her face showing an unusually serious expression.
Although Jiang Xiaoyue was usually busy with work, she was especially attentive when it came to her son and mostly spoke to him gently.
This obviously angry expression made Jiang Cheng uneasy.
He tried to think what it could be about, and then—he heard Mom say.
“You… have you been getting close with some classmate lately?”
“…No.”
Jiang Cheng was puzzled, not understanding why Mom was asking this.
Mom knew about his social situation at school.
Although she had mentioned it, she never interfered too much.
She would only occasionally tell him to try integrating with the group, but she never forced him.
“Hm… Mom wants to ask if you’ve been getting close with any female classmate?”
Jiang Cheng frowned.
He felt like Mom was talking to a son who was secretly dating.
But he really didn’t have a girlfriend… wait—
Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened as he suddenly thought of the clothes hanging on the balcony.
Oh no!
Jiang Xiaoyue keenly noticed the change in Jiang Cheng’s expression.
Her heart sank, but she still controlled her emotions.
“Mom just wants to understand. Are you dating someone… and even bringing them home?”
Jiang Cheng’s heart raced.
He tried to come up with a reasonable excuse, but nothing suitable came to mind.
He hadn’t expected that Mom’s first thought upon seeing those clothes would be that he had a girlfriend.
With this preconception, even if he confessed that he was the one wearing them, Mom would think he was just making excuses.
Unidentified women’s clothes, even underwear, had appeared in the house.
Any parent of a teenage boy would be suspicious… Mom wasn’t the type to freak out over such things, but she had always taught him to handle relationships with the opposite sex properly.
Now, Mom’s eyes held not only anger but also disappointment in him.
Jiang Cheng felt like he couldn’t breathe. The pressure piled on one after another, leaving him choosing silence.
Jiang Xiaoyue was indeed disappointed. She knew it was normal for her son to be curious about the opposite sex at this age, but she didn’t want him to actually get physically involved with someone.
That wouldn’t just be a matter between two people; it would involve the girl’s parents as well.
But Jiang Cheng remained silent, and Jiang Xiaoyue didn’t know how to educate him.
“I’ll check with your homeroom teacher.”
“Mom… I’m not dating anyone. It’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it? Little Cheng, are you going to tell Mom those are your clothes?” Jiang Xiaoyue forced a smile onto her lips.
Just as Jiang Cheng had thought, Mom really wouldn’t believe that explanation.
“Sorry… I don’t know how to explain it to you right now.”
Jiang Xiaoyue looked at her son with his head lowered, and doubt began to creep into her heart.
She worried that the situation was definitely more complicated than she had guessed.
Still, I need to check with the homeroom teacher… She thought as she walked out of Jiang Cheng’s room.
Because of this incident, Jiang Cheng arrived at school just as the bell rang.
Wang Yu looked at the panting Jiang Cheng, his face unable to hide his astonishment.
“Damn, Jiang bro, this is a rare sight!”
Jiang Cheng actually had days when he barely made it to school on time.
In Wang Yu’s mind, Jiang bro was like a wound-up clockwork bird.
He had an extremely strong sense of time and arrived at school at almost the exact same time every day.
Jiang Cheng ignored the teasing from the desk behind him.
He took out his textbook, but no matter how he looked at the words, he couldn’t focus.
He glanced at the wristband.
No new task had been issued—only the countdown remained.
13:22:36
“Jiang bro, Jiang bro…”
Wang Yu patted his back from behind. Jiang Cheng turned to look.
The homeroom teacher was standing at the back door without him noticing.
Seeing Jiang Cheng snap out of it, she beckoned to him.
Jiang Cheng could probably guess why she was there.
His heartbeat quickened involuntarily.
Following the homeroom teacher to the office, he stood by the desk waiting to be questioned.
Teacher Ma, the homeroom teacher, was a petite woman who usually spoke softly, but when she was truly angry, she was terrifying.
He had seen her discipline classmates before. He never thought it would be his turn now.
“Jiang Cheng… Teacher Ma called you here to understand the situation.”
Jiang Cheng lowered his head and happened to see the wristband interface change.
【New Task!】
The screen flashed, mirroring his fluctuating emotions.