Chapter 1: The Life You Yearn For

“This is the life you yearn for.”

Wang Xiaole glanced at the loli in front of him, doubting she even understood the meaning of “yearning.” His gaze swept over the buildings on either side, all of which had a fantastical design; the snowflakes falling relentlessly were something he had never seen before. By this point, Wang Xiaole was certain: just moments ago, he had been forced to cross over to another world.

February 14th, a day that should be cursed! Valentine’s gifts be damned, a student’s duty is to study hard! Because not even a single piece of chocolate had come his way, Wang Xiaole thought this to himself. It should be noted that: his academic performance was far from stellar…

On his way home alone after school, Wang Xiaole’s steps were more hurried than usual. After all, the number of couples roaming the streets was no less than those in school. If he could just cross one more street, he would be home.

Earlier that day, Wang Xiaole would never have guessed that on his inevitable path forward, he would encounter a little girl blocking his way.

“Do you want a gift?”

This was a silver-haired, black-threaded loli with an appearance so adorable that Wang Xiaole felt she wasn’t someone he could casually encounter.

“Big brother, hello! I’m Min.”

His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, but he didn’t see any other men nearby. In other words: this girl, dressed in children’s clothing, was indeed greeting him!

At that moment, two thoughts crossed Wang Xiaole’s mind most strongly:

1. The surname “Mi” is quite rare;

2. There are actually people born with white hair. How strange!

In his memory, Wang Xiaole had no recollection of ever encountering Min. Though, apart from his younger sister, he had never truly remembered any young girls; still, he shouldn’t have completely forgotten her. (Did she mistake him for someone else?)

It was only natural to think this.

With no sign of parents nearby, Wang Xiaole had no choice but to pretend to be a caring adult.

“Where are your mother and father?”

He crouched down in front of the girl, so she wouldn’t have to crane her neck to look up at him, and he made his voice as gentle as possible.

“I don’t have a mother or father.”

Min replied immediately, her expressionless face making the person in front of her feel a mix of emotions.

At this point, Wang Xiaole was thinking about calling the police to have the little girl taken home.

“Big brother, you still haven’t answered my question.”

His phone was already out, and dialing was the next step. For this pitiful little girl, Wang Xiaole, guided by his principle of kindness, tried to respond to her words as best he could.

“What question?”

“Whether you want a gift.”

“What kind of gift?”

“Valentine’s Day gifts, of course! Don’t you want one?”

Min’s words seemed to suggest that besides Santa Claus, there was also a “Valentine’s Loli”! But the timing was off; today was clearly Valentine’s Day…

“Sure, sure, I want one. I’m about to make a call, so don’t make any noise for a moment.”

He had answered and brushed her off.

Like everyone else, Wang Xiaole hoped to receive gifts from others; but following common sense, he couldn’t expect a little girl to give him a gift, especially one who had lost her parents.

“Besides gifts, big brother, you also want to change your current life and hope to become more popular, right?”

“Right, right, right.”

No matter what the girl said, Wang Xiaole would basically respond this way.

1-1-0, the three numbers had been pressed, and it was just a touch away from dialing.

“I see, I’ll fulfill your wish! But you’ll have to pay the price later…”

As soon as the words were spoken, Min raised one of her fair arms; as her right hand clenched into a fist, a wave of energy spread out, causing Wang Xiaole’s vision to warp dramatically.

It was as if someone had poured various colors into a water bucket and vigorously stirred the surface; whatever patterns emerged from such an action would appear in Wang Xiaole’s mind. The dizziness he felt was intense, like staring at a swirling spiral; after some time, he couldn’t tell if it was the world or himself that was spinning.

Driven by instinct, Wang Xiaole closed his eyes tightly.

When he heard a sound, he opened his eyes again, and his wandering gaze caught a astonishing fact.

If he took one more step forward, he would step into thin air and fall from the height!

He backed up a few steps, and his moving gaze led to the conclusion that he was standing on a rooftop.

(Is this some new magic trick?)

With no sign of Min, Wang Xiaole didn’t think the little girl had fallen, but he still had to find her. Fortunately, the door leading from the rooftop to the first floor wasn’t locked, allowing Wang Xiaole to quickly descend.

He exited the building and, not far ahead, saw the little girl’s figure again.

“Okay, I must be having some crazy dream…”

Anyone else would think the same way, but Min was about to tell him:

“Big brother, this isn’t a dream. You just crossed over because of my magic. This is the Empire of Dibires.”

Wang Xiaole rubbed his face, and the sensation of his skin was too real to be a dream. It could be confirmed that he wasn’t dreaming.

After that, by observing the nearby buildings and the snowflakes drifting from above, he confirmed that Min wasn’t lying.

“You’re repaying kindness with enmity!”

Wang Xiaole had only intended to help the poor little girl, but ended up in a strange place. Now, apart from the clothes on his body and his phone, the only thing he possessed was a nearly empty wallet.

“Min, we had no grudges in the past, so why did you have to harm me like this?”

Just because someone is cute doesn’t mean all their actions can be forgiven. At least for Wang Xiaole, the little girl in front of him had to give him a reasonable explanation.

“This is the life you yearn for.”

That didn’t make sense.

“I didn’t yearn for an unknown world that would only increase the difficulty of my survival!”

“But… big brother, you wanted to become more popular, right?”

“How does that relate to you bringing me to this place?”

How Min could read his mind wasn’t something Wang Xiaole needed to ponder. On a special day, walking alone on the street with a sullen face. Someone like this, if you picked out ten, Wang Xiaole believed that seven or eight of them would hope to become more popular.

And he was one of those people.

Just a glance could tell that Wang Xiaole’s expression was full of resentment. Making him unhappy wasn’t Min’s final goal.

Now, this little girl was about to make a “change.”

She made a gesture, indicating that he should lower his head, and her tone sounded sincere:

“Please.”

Internally, he strongly resisted, but Wang Xiaole didn’t want to keep arguing with Min, so after some thought, he chose to cooperate.

In the next moment, the little finger touched his forehead, and a force of change entered his body.

(It’s a bit ticklish.)

Wang Xiaole shook his body, and that was all he felt.

“Now…”

Min stepped back gracefully.

“Big brother, you’ve become a popular person… or more accurately: a popular girl!”

A hint of “scheming success” appeared on that innocent face, making her look a bit mischievous.

Like performing magic, the little girl flicked her raised right hand, and a mirror instantly appeared in her palm.

“Big brother, come see how you look now.”

“Popular girl,” those words were unsettling.

Wang Xiaole had a bad premonition.

At this moment, the hand he extended was a bit hesitant.

When Wang Xiaole took the mirror, an unfamiliar face immediately appeared before his eyes, followed by a “pupil earthquake.”

The small mirror was insufficient to reflect Wang Xiaole’s entire body. But from Min’s perspective, the person standing in front of her was undoubtedly a beauty!

Jet-black hair was loosely tied with a white lace ribbon, and the pure-colored skirt swirled in the snow, as if one could smell a hint of fragrance; at that moment, every dancing snowflake chased and circled the girl, kissing the wind that lifted her cascading hair.

There was a beauty, like a celestial being!

Just then, a winter breeze blew by.

Snowflakes weren’t real flowers, but the fragrance carried by the wind, entering the nostrils, was irresistible.

Everything about the girl was like dewdrops tinged with ink, making the viewer unable to escape the beauty, unable to avoid the intoxication that penetrated to the bone.

In her heart, Min tried to capture that endless charm with shallow words:

Jet-black hair like stars, snow-melted skin with a blush, willow brows like a crescent moon, clear eyes like water droplets in the sky, pale lips exhaling a faint fragrance, lotus tongue turning the world, slender hands like bamboo shoots, powdered feet lightly tapping with grace.

But none of that was what Wang Xiaole cared about.

From this moment on, he had completely become “her”!

Changing from a boy to a girl, Wang Xiaole felt incredibly sad…

Earlier, when she learned she had come to another world, she hadn’t been this upset.

“I hate you!”

Wang Xiaole returned the mirror to Min with trembling hands, hoping she would cheer up a bit.

“Beautiful girls are always popular, so now ‘big sister’ won’t have trouble receiving gifts.”

The word “big sister” was too piercing, causing Wang Xiaole to clutch his heart, his expression only describable as “painful”!

It was supposed to feel this way.

This was exactly what Min wanted.

“No gain, no loss! ‘Big sister’ is now a girl who attracts attention, but the price is your gender swap.”

The standard for “price” was losing something valuable or gaining something detestable.

If Wang Xiaole had always wanted to become a girl, it wouldn’t even count as a “price.”

The clothes on his body were the same.

“‘Big sister’s’ original clothes have been turned into girls’ clothes through my magic… consider it a gift from me.”

As for the price of this gift, it came from Wang Xiaole’s aversion to cross-dressing.

“Who are you…”

His voice was so calm that even Wang Xiaole himself was a bit surprised.

He had never encountered anything that defied common sense before, but even in this first encounter, he could remain calm.

Even if the girl in front of him talked about magic, to Wang Xiaole, she was like a demon.

In other words: only cross-dressing and his new gender could be considered a true threat to Wang Xiaole’s psyche…

“‘Big sister’ has doubts? Then let me introduce myself properly.”

Her fingers pinched an imaginary hem, and the girl curtseyed with the grace of a princess.

“I’m just a merchant. I appear before those with strong desires, fulfilling their wishes while collecting the price…”

“Min” wasn’t a fake name, but it wasn’t commonly used.

In all the countries of the world, there were legends of Min, and people referred to her in different ways.

But if one were to mention the mainstream way of addressing her, Min could clearly tell Wang Xiaole:

“People usually call me ‘Scale of Loss and Gain’! It’s just a nickname, and ‘big sister’ can call me that too if you like.”

The scale represents fairness, with “gain” and “price” placed on either end; when they balance, a deal is struck.

For example, it’s like Wang Xiaole’s case.

“I don’t want to change anymore, it’s better to stay as I was…”

Now, Wang Xiaole was negotiating with Min.

“Can I change back?”

He received a positive answer.

“Don’t change back, being a girl isn’t bad, you’ll get used to it.”

“Then… can I go back? Back to my original world.”

Min’s answer was firm:

“No.”

This made no sense, and Wang Xiaole couldn’t understand:

“My wish was never to go to another world, and this has nothing to do with me becoming more popular!”

Min had anticipated that the girl in front of her would ask this, so she didn’t need to weave a lie, just tell the truth.

“Crossing over is another price you have to pay.”

To balance this price, the girl known as “Scale of Loss and Gain” would return something in the next moment.

Min took a gleaming gemstone from her pocket, held it towards the target, and then crushed it with force.

Crack!

The shattered fragments turned into afterimages, accompanied by a slightly urgent gust of wind, merging into Wang Xiaole’s body.

Soon, a strange light flowed through her entire body; quickly, Wang Xiaole felt a surge of power.

“What did you do to me?”

“That gemstone stored the power that originally belonged to ‘big sister,’ and now I’m returning it to you.”

It had been stored for many years, of course, there was a price.

“‘Big sister’ didn’t want to cross over, but I still brought you to this world! That’s the price for me keeping your power safe.”

“Don’t you get tired of living like this?”

Wang Xiaole patted his own head, not because it hurt.

“It’s strange, my head is filled with a lot of information, and I don’t remember learning any of this…”

“That information is knowledge about this world, consider it a gift from me.”

No wonder Wang Xiaole looked at her suspiciously.

Min herself knew that an unexpected gift would raise doubts.

So she had to explain, starting with a counter-question:

“‘Big sister,’ when you were about to call the police, you were thinking of having them help me, right?”

“That’s right.”

Wang Xiaole regretted this; he felt he shouldn’t have meddled in someone else’s business.

But looking on the bright side: his good intentions would be rewarded.

“I don’t need help, but I still have to thank ‘big sister’! That knowledge is taken from my mind, so consider it a return for your kindness!”

The tasks were almost completed, and Min felt there was no need for her to stay any longer.

Her small feet lightly touched the ground.

Immediately, the scene Wang Xiaole witnessed could be explained by the knowledge in his mind.

He had noticed: he and Min were on the street, but no one around them paid any attention.

This was because Min had cast an obfuscation barrier, making people nearby unable to see them, let alone hear any sounds.

Wang Xiaole was now seeing the spherical barrier surrounding them, bursting like a bubble.

“Goodbye, ‘big sister’…”

“Wait, you can’t leave!”

There was something Wang Xiaole couldn’t ignore:

“If I stay in this world forever, what about my little sister?”

“Hmm~”

No answer was given.

The little girl turned gracefully, and in a blink of an eye, she disappeared without a trace, as if she had never appeared.

“Damn it…”

A casual glance down, and Wang Xiaole saw the dress he was wearing.

Great, his mood worsened.