Song Nanyin had no idea that Liu Zhaoran stood at the entrance watching her for a long time. After stepping into the company, she walked into the elevator without looking back, not even sparing a response for the girl at the front desk who greeted her.

Taking advantage of the empty office, Song Nanyin rushed headlong into her own and sat down to steady her breathing. By now, she was more and more convinced that she was in the worst Mercury retrograde of her life. Why else would she keep running into that jinx Liu Zhaoran so often?

She had stayed home for three days, and for all three of them she had been tormented. She couldn’t eat, she couldn’t sleep, and when she finally drifted off from sheer exhaustion, she would startle awake in the middle of the night.

Because her leave hadn’t been long enough, she’d had no choice but to report back to work today. She had deliberately picked the midday break, when the fewest people would be around, and she’d still managed to run into Liu Zhaoran at the entrance.

Damn White Lotus. So annoying.

Song Nanyin cursed Liu Zhaoran inwardly, but before long, she grew restless again. She shifted her legs, stood up to stamp her feet, and every time she sat back down, her face contorted with discomfort, as if she had hemorrhoids.

Except right now, Song Nanyin genuinely wished she did have hemorrhoids, rather than some indescribable part that had mysteriously appeared on her body…

In all her twenty-eight years, Song Nanyin had been perfectly satisfied with her body. She had never imagined that one day she would grow… that.

She might never have eaten pork, but she’d seen a pig run. Of course, she understood what the thing that had grown on her was. It wasn’t quite the same, but there were subtle similarities.

Her phone’s browsing history was filled with searches about intersex people. She had even accidentally tapped a pop-up ad and caught a virus, forcing her to reflash the phone just to avoid compromising her accounts.

If she had to describe how she’d felt these past three days in a single word, only one came to mind: torment. The changes in her body and the persistent low-grade fever made her uncomfortable all over, and mentally, she still hadn’t accepted that she’d inexplicably gained a new part.

Especially since she couldn’t tell anyone about her situation. If she went to a doctor about the part that had appeared between her legs overnight, she’d probably end up on the news. Song Nanyin let out a wail and slumped forward, knocking her head against the documents on her desk.

Just then, the phone on the edge of her desk lit up. Glancing at the caller ID, Song Nanyin listlessly pressed answer.

“Hello…”

“What’s with you? Answering my call all listless like that?”

The caller was Chai Yue, Song Nanyin’s college roommate and one of her few close friends. After graduation, Chai Yue had gone abroad for work, but the two had never lost touch.

“Nothing. Say what you need to say, or I’m hanging up.” Song Nanyin was in no mood to trade quips with Chai Yue. Holding the phone in one hand, she tugged at the hem of her skirt with the other and looked down between her legs.

This was something she’d done often lately. Since it had grown in, her greatest fear was having someone notice something off about her. She didn’t even dare wear slightly fitted skirts anymore, afraid someone would see and take her for some kind of pervert.

“Hey, don’t hang up! It’s your lunch break over there, isn’t it? Let me tell you, your granny here is coming back for a month of rest over New Year’s. Wash up and get ready to welcome me in style.”

Hearing that Chai Yue was coming back finally lifted Song Nanyin’s spirits a little. She’d never had many friends, and those as close as Chai Yue were few and far between. The two of them had raised plenty of hell together in college, and now her friend was coming home. It was about the only good thing to happen lately.

“Great, I’ll pick you up when you get here. Mmm…” Song Nanyin rose abruptly, felt a twinge of discomfort, and let out a low groan with a frown. She looked down. Her skirt showed no bump, but the discomfort between her legs was growing more pronounced.

This had been a regular occurrence over the past three days. The thing’s inexplicable appearance was, for Song Nanyin, an absolutely devastating shock and blow. Aside from the few glances she’d taken on the first day to confirm it was there, she hadn’t dared look at it these past days, even while bathing. She only washed with her eyes squeezed shut.

It was a hindrance when she walked, and the foreign-body sensation was even stronger when she sat down. Like having several sanitary pads stuck there, and extra-thick ones at that…

Song Nanyin squirmed in her seat, unable to get comfortable no matter how she sat. It hurt a little, too. The pain came out of nowhere, making her feel even more frustrated.

“What’s the matter? You’ve seemed unhappy ever since just a moment ago.”

“Nothing, really. It’s just… some things at work haven’t been going my way. Speaking of which, there’s something I want to ask you. Do you… do you know of any private hospital in Jiahai City that’s highly discreet and takes confidentiality seriously?”

Song Nanyin had casually made up a lie, then asked with feigned nonchalance. As the saying goes, a desperate patient grasps at any doctor. She was probably in the same situation now.

Over these past few days, Song Nanyin had looked through a lot of information online. Intersex people weren’t a rare case around the world, but no one had developed genitalia overnight the way she had. And her body seemed to have undergone subtle changes from before as well. That was why she didn’t dare rush into a checkup, afraid of inviting unnecessary trouble.

Being asked this and that by a doctor would be tolerable, but if she really ended up on the news, wouldn’t everyone know? And to resolve this, she’d surely need surgery… That kind of surgery… she had no idea if it could even be done.

Countless worries had Song Nanyin tied in knots. All she wanted now was someone to confide in. Who would have thought that the moment she finished speaking, Chai Yue on the other end would shriek as if she’d heard a clap of thunder.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you sick? Do you need to go to a private hospital?”

“Scram, scram, scram. Stop prying like that. It’s just a friend of mine. She… she’s not feeling well, but because of her special status, she wants to find a safer hospital.”

Speechless at Chai Yue’s reaction, Song Nanyin hastily hung up. She got up, intending to head to the restroom, only to see that someone was already standing at the door, and had been for who knew how long.

Seeing Liu Zhaoran standing there with a smile, Song Nanyin hastily tugged at her skirt and sat back down, afraid the other woman might notice something. At her repeated getting up and sitting down, Liu Zhaoran raised an eyebrow and walked over with a smile.

“Team Leader Song, you left too quickly at the entrance just now. I didn’t even get a chance to talk to you. Are you feeling any better?”

“Has no one ever told you that barging into someone else’s office is very rude?”

Faced with Liu Zhaoran’s smiling face, Song Nanyin wasn’t about to give her a pleasant look. She had no idea when the woman had come in or how long she’d been eavesdropping.

“Sorry, I did knock. But you were so busy talking about private hospitals that you didn’t hear me.” Liu Zhaoran blinked innocently as she spoke. At the words “private hospital,” Song Nanyin choked on her saliva and began coughing violently.

Seeing her reaction, Liu Zhaoran found it extremely amusing. A person pushing thirty, still choking on her own spit. Even a child wouldn’t be that dumb, right?

“Team Leader Song, are you all right? Should I pour you a glass of water?” Liu Zhaoran suddenly leaned in, closing to a distance that could hardly be called safe. Song Nanyin could see her face magnified before her and catch the faint fragrance that drifted over as she drew closer.

Song Nanyin felt something at the nape of her neck pulsing for no reason. And what’s more, she actually found herself thinking that this White Lotus… smelled… good?

That instant of distraction cost Song Nanyin her best chance to dodge, and her nostrils were soon steeped in Liu Zhaoran’s scent.

The scent was very unusual, unlike any spice or perfume. It was like a light, thin smoky fragrance that, after being steeped in smoke, had settled into her body and lingered, slow to fade.

Song Nanyin was drawn to it, even struck by the urge to lean closer and take a careful sniff. Fortunately, she came back to her senses before acting on the impulse. Realizing what she’d been thinking, she recoiled like a startled rabbit with its fur bristling and pressed back against her chair.

“Why are you getting so close? I’m fine. You can leave now.” Liu Zhaoran took in Song Nanyin’s flustered retreat. She was quite sure there was no strange odor on herself. She had even gotten rid of the smell after smoking earlier.

Liu Zhaoran gave Song Nanyin, whose face was flushed red, a thoughtful look. Her gaze rested on her for a moment before she smiled and stepped back.

“Since Team Leader Song has things to do, I won’t disturb you any longer. These past few days, with you absent from the company, I felt the whole office atmosphere became a bit dull.”

Liu Zhaoran wasn’t being insincere. Every word was true. These past few days, with that foolish woman not coming in, she really had been bored. The feeling was like a fun toy suddenly vanishing, a dull and tedious life losing its most important seasoning.

Having finally driven Liu Zhaoran away, Song Nanyin felt as if she’d fought a whole battle, and she collapsed over her desk, completely drained. The moment her mind relaxed, the physical misery came crawling back. Feeling that awful squeezed sensation between her legs, she frowned, hesitated for a moment, and finally got up and headed for the changing room.

To make it convenient for employees to change, WCRR had installed a changing room on every floor. The one on Song Nanyin’s floor wasn’t far away. She stepped into one of the small stalls and immediately undid her skirt.

The thin straps sat at her hips. Most of Song Nanyin’s underwear was of the sexy variety, with thongs as her first choice. She was already wearing one of her slightly larger thongs today, but even so… it was still very tight and uncomfortable.

Song Nanyin knew her current posture was hardly elegant, but she was so miserable that she had no choice. She sat, gently pressing her thighs together, her high-heeled feet turned inward.

She slipped her hand into her underwear, tugged at something soft, and pulled it upward, finally settling it somewhere that didn’t hurt as much…

But once she put her underwear back on, the friction was still intense. Unfortunately, Song Nanyin had no other, more suitable underwear at all.

“Maybe I should… go buy new ones.” Walking back to the office, Song Nanyin touched her burning face with her hand and muttered to herself.