Release that Man

The issue of her future occupation not only bothered Ye Shuang but also the whole Ye family; they also worried about her. Before Ye Shuang had her sex stabilized, even though her money-earning skills had been optimized, there were also plenty of problems that came with it. To prevent the dual identity from being exposed, Ye Shuang was definitely barred from entering a normal career, so in conclusion, the only viable options left were freelancing or starting her own business.

The latter would have a larger income but would require constant attention, and that got in the way of her man-hunting mission. The former had few restrictions and could preserve Ye Shuang’s privacy the most, but the income would be inconsistent and required good networking skills. To put it simply, it was a luck-based career, and if one was unlucky, even with the best talent, one could still starve to death.

Father Ye’s hair had practically whitened overnight from worrying about his daughter’s future career. Mother Ye, on the other hand, was worried about something else. As a woman, she was more concerned about the type of candidate her daughter would select to fix her gender.

“Your friend, Xiao Fang, has a point, but we shouldn’t rush into it. Yes, freelancing or part-timing is a good choice, but what kind of freelancing? Maybe you can ask Xiao Fang for more advice when you return to your male form?” Father Ye suggested after he heard what Ye Shuang had to say. He sighed with some frustration. “It’s rather obvious that Xiao Fang is closer to ‘Xiao Ye’, and that means he sees you as his friend’s girlfriend; that makes his relationship with you rather awkward. However, since he has already given you some advice, I think it should be okay to approach him for more suggestions.”

Perhaps these were habits of the elites, even if the problem had nothing to do with them and might not involve them in any way, but as long as they approached it, there was a compulsion to give their opinion on it. This had nothing to do with them being busybodies, mainly, it was how their mind worked. Plus, this was often not unwelcomed because the elites knew more about this kind of thing and had access to more information and thus solutions.

Mother Ye was still lamenting the loss of a potential son-in-law. “Xiao Shuang, are you sure there’s no chance between you and that Xiao Fang? Maybe you can sneak in a comment that you’ve broken up with your boyfriend?”

“Mom, don’t even think about it,” Little Brother Ye chimed in, living up to his role as the thorn in Ye Shuang’s side. He picked up a piece of green apple to bite on it before commenting with a wicked and sly smiled, “Brother Fang is clearly closer to my ‘brother’ than my sister. If Sis tells him about the break-up, the chance of them ending up together is smaller than him shacking up directly with my Brother Ye.”

The moment he finished, Little Brother Ye jumped away from the dining table and escaped from Mother Ye’s swipe that was coming for his head. Instantly, the house was filled with Mother Ye’s scolding and Little Brother Ye’s howling laughs.

Ye Shuang was speechless. Is this… thing really my biological brother‽

Father Ye was also silent for quite some time before he coughed to continue, ignoring the chaos around him. “I also think your mother’s suggestion is a bit out there. Xiao Fang became your friend when you were in your male form. If you mention a break-up, your ties with him might be cut off forever. I’d be better focus on your work issue for now; we can worry about other things after that.”

Ye Shuang nodded with a sigh. In the whole family, only Father Ye had some semblance of sanity. Even though Mother Ye was no longer a young girl, her way of thinking often had the naiveté of one. Little Brother Ye was even worse; there was simply no saving that lost child.

Standing amid the chaos created by Mother Ye and Little Brother Ye, Ye Shuang suddenly felt very sorry for herself.

After the discussion, Ye Shuang returned to her bedroom to sleep. She realized she had mastered the technique of jumping into bed and finding the most comfortable position instantly. Then again, how could she not? She had been forced to practice that almost daily, having to sneak in every minute’s sleep she could. When she had been a he, she’d had to deal with the advertisement shooting and all those women in her life—namely, Miss Fang and her very own grandmother!

Her schedule over the past few days had been jam-packed; there had literally been no time for to sleep. She had thought she could finally reduce the sleep debt when she changed back into a woman, but who would have thought that incident with Mrs. An would appear?

Just as Ye Shuang was about to fall asleep, her phone rang, and a single tear rolled out of Ye Shuang’s closed eyes.

When she saw the unfamiliar phone number, Ye Shuang decided to end the call directly, believing it was a phone scam. Those were rather common these days. As she was about to close her eyes once more, the phone rang again. She picked it up, and after noting it was the same number, she once more ended it. When it happened a third time, Ye Shuang finally surrendered and decided to face this insistent scammer.

Or maybe one of my friends has recently changed her number?

Ye Shuang moved the phone to her ear without even opening her eyes. As the call was connected, the giggling and laughter of girls drifted from the other side. From the sound of it, it was quite possible that it was a friend of hers who had recently changed number.

Therefore, Ye Shuang answered, “Hello?”

She was about to ask for the caller’s identity when the other end of the phone became completely silent.

What is it this time‽ Ye Shuang frowned. She glanced at the phone, which showed that the call was still connected, and sat up in bed to ask with greater vehemence, “Who’s calling? Say something!”

The only answer was silence. Half a minute later, there was the sound of clothes rustling before it sounded like someone had grabbed the phone to cut it off.

Was it a crazy‽

…

On the other end of the phone, Miss Fang Fei was sitting awkwardly among a bunch of girls, gripping the phone in her hands. Through her elder brother, Fang Fei had managed to sneak Ye Shuang’s number into her phone, but instead of putting his name, she had recorded the number mysteriously as “That Man”.

Today, she had attended a party organized by a close relative. They were playing truth-or-dare, and Fang Fei had spaced out when she lost and was forced to answer questions regarding her romantic situation. When she recovered, she realized with a start that her group of friends had already stolen her phone and were happily going through her contact details and inboxes. They eventually zeroed in on the suspicious record of Ye Shuang’s number, and everyone could imagine what happened next.

The group of girls looked at one another, and after an awkward half a minute of silence, the braver among them said, “…An owned man‽”