Release that Man

Ye Shuang soon discovered the core of the problem. In her male and female form, the angle of sight was completely different. So, when she stood up from the sofa and noticed that the surrounding furniture had gotten smaller, the truth immediately dawned on her. Then came a series of panicked analysis.

“Why would the body transform so suddenly?” Han Chu tried his best to suppress the urge to yell and asked for an explanation calmly.

“I have no idea. Wait a minute, let me try to think about it.” Brother Shuang, who was changing into the spare male pajamas, appeared rather flustered and tried to retrace all her steps that day. “Before we left, I remember sucking on a lollipop, so it can’t be because there hasn’t been a chance to exchange saliva with member of the opposite sex.

“Then, everything was normal… I didn’t suffer any injury during combat. Even if there was, all the opponents were male, and there hasn’t been a situation where the DNA in the blood would prove more effective than the ones in saliva… Jennifer kissed me on my cheeks, but it was on the skin, so that should be fine, right? Medication… No, genetic instability… Doesn’t look like it! Er, even I cannot figure out why.”

After going through his schedule for the day and coming up with nothing, Brother Shuang finally gave up. He lifted his sad eyes toward Han Chu. “What do you think the problem is?”

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s not going to work.” Han Chu began with a snide comment before calming down to help Ye Shuang with her analysis. “Based on what you’ve told me, there shouldn’t be any event that should have caused your gender to change, but the reality is that it has changed… Other than the possibility that we cannot prove, if your gender transformation has a logical element to it, then the problem must reside with this element.”

“I did eat a lollipop today.” Ye Shuang raised her hand to admit that she had not forgotten about that. The only ‘element’ that might trigger a gender swap was an exchange of bodily fluids, and the ‘element’ that she had been using to maintain her current gender was the lollipops.

“Then there has to be a problem with the lollipops.” Han Chu pinched the bridge of his nose. “Give me the rest of your lollipops.”

Ye Shuang surrendered them honestly. Han Chu looked at them. They looked fine, but when he opened one… there came the problem.

“Have you taken the wrong medicine… I mean, the wrong candy?” Han Chu looked at Ye Shuang with a complicated emotion. He lifted one lollipop and showed it to her. “To maintain your gender, you should have eaten the ones that you have licked when you were a man. But take a look at these—the wrappers look untouched, and the candy itself has no signs of being eaten before.”

Ye Shuang was shocked. “That’s impossible. I kept those I’ve licked inside an isolated corner of the fridge. I brought them with me because we’re supposed to leave home today. So, how could… Wait a minute.”

Han Chu thought back to the people staying at their apartment and sighed. “I think I know what the problem is.”

After a moment’s silence, Ye Shuang sighed. “I understand it now.”

The two shared a look, and they were both thinking about the newcomer who had a penchant for snacking. After accidentally eating Han Chu’s snacks and being warned by Ye Shuang, he still had not corrected his habit. He still stole from other people’s stock, but afraid of being discovered, whenever he stole from others, he would buy the same packages and replace them…

There could only be one truth!

Ye Shuang hissed through his teeth, “Since he went through the trouble of replacing the snacks that he ate every time, wouldn’t it be easier for him to buy extra and keep his paws to himself?”

“He probably did, but he didn’t buy enough, or he was in the mood to try a new flavor… This is not an issue of storage but an issue of personality.” Han Chu had a headache. “But that is not the point. The point is… how do we explain this?”

After Ray was captured, that night should be the four-party negotiation between Jennifer and them. However, there was probably a problem because there was no sign that Ray had been captured. So, the plan for the night had been ruined just like that, and in a stroke of good luck, Ye Shuang’s transformation had not happened before everyone else.

Even so, this could only be covered until the following morning. When the sun came up, even if Ray was still not captured, Jennifer would still come back to visit them to check up on them. What would they do then?

The two did not need to worry about that problem for long.

It was about 3 am, and it was the time of day when people would put their guard down. Initially, Ye Shuang and Han Chu were discussing how to survive the next day when Ye Shuang moved silently to make a shush gesture to make Han Chu stop talking. Then Brother Shuang stood up and removed the slippers from his feet. With Han Chu watching quickly, he slunk to the door, lowered his body, and stuck his ear to the door.

Since the room had suddenly become so quiet, with extra focus, even Han Chu noticed the minor sound of movement that came from the door. It was the sound of small metallic objects rubbing against each other. It was not that conspicuous, but at that moment, it could have been as loud as thunder.

With a creak of the lock being opened, Ye Shuang jumped lightly to hide behind the door. When the door was silently pushed open and the light from corridor leaked into the room, a head that appeared like it did not wish to let its presence known poked into the room.

Ye Shuang went from alertness to helplessness. “…Edward?”

The person who was trying to sneak into the room was frightened. He immediately turned his neck around and widened his eyes to look at the voice that came from behind the door. After seeing that it was just Brother Shuang, he was about to sigh in relief when something hit him. “Why are you here?”

“Good question, that is the same question I have in my mind for you.” After seeing that it was an ally, Ye Shuang sighed in relief. After pulling in Edward, who had disguised as who knew what this time, he looked out the door and noted with some surprise that the bodyguards outside were not there. But even if there were no bodyguards in the corridor, it was probably not a time to run.

Unless everyone at the place was asleep, if there was even one person awake, the barren environment meant that Ye Shuang and Han Chu were not going to escape successfully. With how careful Edward was, this was obviously impossible.

“How did you get in here?” After closing the door, Brother Shuang led Edward to the sofa where he was confusedly regarded by both Han Chu and Brother Shuang.

Edward touched his new face and grumbled with some annoyance. “How do you manage to recognize me every time? This is such a heavy blow to my disguising ability.”

“I remember explaining this to you already, it’s cranial comparison.” Brother Shuang gave this unscientific reason matter-of-factly.

“…Fine, keep the secret to yourself. After all, other than you and your partner, no one is able to stop my plan.” Edward sat on the couch, and his body sunk into the fluffy cushion like his spine had been pulled out. “Hey, relax, look at you two being so tense… I thought it would be your female partner who is locked in here with him, how come that’s changed?”

Brother Shuang and Han Chu shared a look. “That is our business secret, or do you want to tell us how you got in here? Are you playing the role of one of Miss Jennifer’s bodyguards?”

“Sorry, but I have my own secrets to keep, too.” Edward rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’m just here to check on the two of you. Since you two appear like you’re enjoying your stay and even have the ability to move in and out of here as you please, I’ll be going. After all, the guards will be coming back soon, and I don’t think Jennifer will be glad to find an extra person in the room.”

“Wait.” Han Chu called after the man. “Mr. Edward, do you mind first telling us what has happened outside?”

“What?” Edward acted dumb. “China is going strong, and the country is peaceful; nothing has changed since you went missing.”

Han Chu looked at him with forced patience. “I mean, what happened to make the guards that were supposed to watch over us leave their posts?”

“Oh, that? I know a thing or two about that.” Edward nodded with severity and then shrugged with the intention to annoy. “But why should I tell you?”