"Submitting it under my sister's name made it easier with the publisher. Plus, 'teen female author' is a good selling point for the book."

The whole "Miyanaga Kohime is a debuting teen girl author" story... had been a giant lie from the start.

Once Mai-chan started talking, she couldn’t stop. Head bowed, she mumbled the full truth.

"I wasn’t a first-time writer. I’d submitted stuff before under different pen names, but those novels either disappeared into oblivion or barely made a ripple. At that rate, forget about success—I'd barely be able to keep the lights on at home."

She glanced at Cangyu, who was sitting obediently beside her, trying to look as well-behaved as possible, and gave a helpless but tender smile.

"So, thinking I had nothing to lose, I wrote a mid-length novel targeted at women and submitted it under my sister Feng Cangyu’s name. And then... well, you saw what happened. Honestly, I didn’t even expect it to blow up like this. It’s gotten way out of hand."

Even though I couldn't exactly agree with Brother Feng Wu's methods, if the truth got out online, the consequences would be much worse—not just for him, but for the publisher too. Sayocho would also be in huge trouble. I couldn’t just sit this out.

"I don’t think it’s just the 'teen female author' narrative that made it a success... Your novel must have genuinely resonated with people. Even without the 'Miyanaga Kohime' mask, you would’ve become a recognized author eventually."

Yan Liuzhuan and Rinka both rated the novel highly for its writing, there’s no way that was a fluke.

But Mai-chan just shook her head.

"There are too many talented people out there. And good wine, they say, fears being hidden in deep alleys."

She affectionately patted Cangyu's head, earning a contented hum from her, like a purring cat.

"To be honest, our parents died in a car accident four years ago. Cangyu was in the car too…"

Cangyu shrank into herself, and Mai-chan trailed off, choosing not to continue.

"Since then, she’s been like this. The trauma was just too great… She shut herself off from the world, and couldn't even take care of herself. She's come a long way to get to where she is now. It’s all thanks to her good friends."

She was referring to Haitang and Yang Qi, probably?

Knowing Haitang, there's no way she would leave someone like Cangyu alone.

"Even with the compensation money, our savings wouldn’t last forever. And with this little handful needing care, I gave up on university to stay home and look after her."

Siblings leaning on each other—overprotectiveness was probably a natural outcome.

"And that’s when you thought of writing novels? Pretty confident in your writing, huh?"

Mai-chan didn’t deny it. She scratched her head and let out an awkward laugh.

"Back in school, I used to submit short stories and essays to magazines. A few even got published. I thought I had some talent... but reality hit hard."

Rejections, disappointing sales—she kept running into walls until Dreamlike Fragrance, the novel submitted under her sister’s name, finally turned things around.

"But seriously, about your 'superpower'... it’s way too unbelievable. I keep thinking I’m dreaming."

Completely ignoring Cangyu and me, Mai-chan, curious about her new body, cupped her chest and gave it a light squeeze. Her face immediately turned red.

"Umm... so this is how it feels? I could use this for reference…"

Considering she writes for a female audience, her curiosity made sense.

Only when two mysterious bumps showed through her T-shirt did Mai-chan realize she might’ve crossed a line. She tried pressing them down, but not only did it not work—she shivered a little... How dense could she be?

"Wahhh! Big bro!!"

Finally realizing the situation, Cangyu scrambled to cover my eyes with both hands—not so shy anymore.

Worried she’d knock my glasses off, I turned my head away.

"Relax, I’m not looking."

Satisfied, Cangyu sat back down.

"How do you even turn a man into a woman? Are there really people with superpowers out there?"

"Please don’t ask any more about that."

"Right, right—superpowers must be top-secret stuff. Chang Kai must be part of some secret government agency. If we pry too much, we'll probably get 'cleaned up' too…"

Mai-chan seemed way too excited, probably already plotting out her next superpower-themed novel in her head.

"Nope. No agency. No assassinations. Not even a superpower."

【Big bro, stop asking. It's Brother Kai's secret.】

The chat window pinged again. Cangyu was sitting beside Mai-chan, head down, typing quickly on her phone.

"You can type face-to-face but not talk?"

【Yes.】

She sneaked a glance at me, accidentally meeting my eyes, then quickly looked back down at her screen.

【How long will my brother’s transformation last?】

"The transformation... is permanent—"

"Eh?!" ×2

Both sisters froze for a second, then instantly fell into panic.

Cangyu was too shocked to type. Mai-chan’s face turned paper-white, her eyes losing focus like a broken doll.

I let them stew for a moment before continuing.

"—unless I cancel it."

"Can you not say it in one go?! You scared me to death!"

Mai-chan gasped for breath, thumping her chest.

"You scared me to death!"

Cangyu, still too stunned to type, echoed her half-heartedly, like a glitchy parrot.

"Anyway, just stay like this until tomorrow’s signing event, okay?"

I drained my tea, slung my bag over my shoulder, and got ready to leave.

"It’s already so late, aren’t you going to eat before you go?"

"Nah, I’ve still got stuff to do."

"I'll drive you—oh, wait, with me like this, if a cop stops us, it counts as driving without a valid license."

"I'll walk. No worries. Just remember to get a proper outfit—you can't show up to a signing looking like that."

Although, honestly, she might draw a weird crowd in that plain T-shirt with no underwear on ...

"It’s just for a day. I’ll borrow some of my sister’s clothes."

The moment she said that, Cangyu’s fingers flew across her phone.

【No way!】

【You'll stretch them out!】

【And you need a bra too!】

【Why is it that after turning into a girl, my brother’s chest ended up bigger than mine?!】

There's definitely some resentment hidden in there... Looks like even Cangyu cares about bust size after all.

"A b-bra... right, I should probably run out and grab one. I’ll walk you to the metro station too."

Mai-chan went back into her room and changed into some loose men's shorts and a baggy hoodie—not exactly a perfect fit, but better than before.

Her face was still red though—she'd probably been doing some "research" back in her room.

"Just eat the salad I made for lunch, okay?"

Standing at the entrance, Mai-chan reminded Cangyu, who nodded... then ran over to me instead.

"Brother Kai, thanks for today."

It was the first time she looked straight at me to speak, her face blushing with shy determination. As soon as she said it, she bolted back into her room and didn't come out again.

My phone buzzed with a new text from an unknown number:

【I’ll delete the recordings.】

【Here’s my number.】

I chuckled. Turns out, once you break through her walls, Cangyu’s pretty adorable.

Yep. Little sisters are just the cutest. Heheheh.

"Hey, could you not grin so creepily?"

Mai-chan shot me a disgusted side-eye.

For some reason, her affection points for me seemed to have dropped.