“I already had my suspicions back at the bookstore. You do know who I am, don’t you… Div·ine Emi·ssa·ry?”

With a sharp snap, Fei closed her book using the hand adorned with a beaded bracelet, and cut straight to the chase with an uncharacteristically long sentence—for someone like Old Feng, anything over ten words is counted as wordy.

Sitting right across from her face to face was intimidating, even though she now looked like a seventeen-year-old girl, the air of authority gave off from the previous years she lived hadn’t changed at all.

I felt like invisible centipedes were crawling all over my body. Goosebumps. Neither sitting nor standing felt comfortable at this point.

“Yeah… I figured, Uncle Feng.” I couldn’t meet her icy gaze, so I turned my head toward the window, pretending to watch the pedestrians go by. “But I swear I’m not the Divine Emissary.”

“Pfft. Kai-chan, you’re still playing dumb.”

Guided by a staff member, Rinka had folded up the wheelchair and tucked it away neatly in a corner. Just in time to overhear me, she let out an amused snort, pointed dramatically at my nose, and made a bold declaration.

“Sis Fei and I talked it over. We came to the conclusion that the Divine Emissary she met… was you, after you turned into a girl. Right?”

“Huh?”

What the hell is she talking about? I’m… Xiao Lei?

“Think about it. You’ve never transformed in front of me. And I’ve never met the Divine Emissary either. Isn’t the most obvious reason that you and she can’t appear at the same time because you’re literally the same person?”

Rinka looked incredibly pleased with her deduction. She plopped down beside Fei, resting her chin on her hand and giving me that smug, “we already know everything” kind of grin.

It's kind of hilarious when clever people start saying dumb things.

Honestly, based on what they know, it’s not a totally unreasonable guess. Still, there are some things I should probably stop hiding. That period when Old Feng disappeared made me miserable enough. I decided to tell them part of the truth.

“Okay, I’m not the Divine Emissary. But… I was the one who told her about Old Feng. We really didn’t mean any harm.”

I glanced toward Fei, but I couldn’t read a thing from her expression.

Her lips moved slightly as she spoke in a low voice: “The food cart. The one I left under the bridge… you were the one cleaning it, weren’t you?”

Ah. Yeah, I probably did do that. And I guess she must’ve gone back there to check.

“Uh… yeah. There was a while I went looking for you under that bridge every day—”

“See, Sis Fei? I told you Kai-chan’s just a big softie.”

Before I could finish, Rinka cut in. She slipped around the table with surprising agility and plopped down beside me, one arm over my shoulder while the other started poking my cheek.

"You really did give Sis Fei the divine stone just for her happiness, didn’t you? Spreading your blessings like a proper Divine Emissary, huh?"

“For the last time, I’m not the Divine Emissary!”

Annoyed, I pretended to bite her finger, and she quickly yanked her hand back.

“Okay, I sorta had my guesses, but I need to ask… what’s the deal between you two exactly?” I switched the topic and asked.

Fei glanced at Rinka in silence. Rinka caught the cue and nodded, then began explaining in a calm, almost storytelling tone.

“I told you my aunt moved back home after the divorce, right? Well, Sis Fei is her ex. And I’ve got a little cousin named Huangfu Jing—Sis Fei’s daughter.”

“…So, Uncle Feng, the moment you turned into a girl, you went straight to your ex-wife’s place?”

“It wasn’t like I had a lot of options, given the circumstances.”

Though the words sounded resigned, there wasn’t a trace of complaint in her voice. She took a delicate sip of her coffee—looking nothing like the scruffy street food vendor she used to be.

“Even if you didn’t mean any harm… you really should’ve told me first. Do you have any idea how much pressure I was under, having suddenly transformed into a young girl?”

She’d said more in the past five minutes than she usually did in a whole day. Did turning into a girl make her more talkative?

“Sorry… Honestly, I meant to come find you the next day. But something came up during the day, and by the time I went that night, you were already gone.”

“I meant before I transformed…”

She trailed off halfway through her sentence, then casually started twirling a strand of hair around her finger like nothing happened. Her eyes drifted past Rinka’s head—ah, so it was because the waiter had arrived.

“Your iced Americano and mocha.”

I looked at Rinka in confusion, and she explained, “I ordered them when I folded up the chair just now.”

She slid the iced Americano over to me without hesitation—it matched the one Sis Fei was drinking—and started sipping her own mocha delicately.

“Uncle—”

Before I could get the word out, Huangfu Fei raised a hand to stop me.

“Don’t call me Uncle Feng. It feels weird now. Just stick with Sis Fei… otherwise it’s kinda unsettling.”

Judging by her speech, actions, and even the way she dressed, it seems like she’s been affected by this more than it seems.

“Okay, Sis Fei… you’re not still thinking of turning back, are you?”

I took a sip of the iced Americano. The first thing I noticed was its deep aroma—but before I could savor it, the super-concentrated bitterness slammed into my tongue like a bomb.

“Rueeegh—!”

Bitter! Ridiculously bitter!

And because it’s cold, the bitterness hits even harder. No wonder Fei sips it so daintily—there’s no way you can gulp this stuff.

“Pfft.” Rinka burst out laughing behind her hand. She definitely ordered that just to mess with me.

“No, I’m not planning on turning back. I’ve already started a new life, and Huaying accepts who I am now. Asking for anything more would be greedy.”

Back in school, restarting life from scratch—she really has decided to live as a woman from here on out.

Rinka leaned in to add quietly, “Huangfu Huaying’s my aunt—she’s Sis Fei’s mother now.”

“Pfft!” I couldn’t help laughing. I suddenly wanted to grab a mic and interview that woman: “So how does it feel to adopt your ex-husband as your teenage daughter?”

Sis Fei shot me a silent glare that instantly wiped the smile off my face.

“But little Jing still doesn’t know I’m her dad. She follows me around calling me ‘Sis Fei’ every day. If it’s possible… I’d like to turn back, just once. Just to hear her call me Dad again.”

She could tell her ex-wife, but not her own daughter?

“You just need to switch back temporarily, right? That should be doable, shouldn’t it… Divine Emissary?”

Rinka draped her arm over my shoulder again, leaning in close. The scent of mocha on her breath hit my nose, and suddenly my heart was racing for no good reason.

“I’m telling you—I’m not the Divine Emissary!”

“Whether or not you are, you’re clearly close to them. That’s why we asked you here—to see if you could help grant Sis Fei’s wish.” She ignored my protests, then leaned in and whispered in my ear, “She might not show it, but she’s truly grateful for the chance to start over.”

So basically… if I can help her wrap this up, she’ll be able to move forward without regrets.

And hey, that means I’ll have fulfilled one of my quotas.

Looks like the September quota isn’t as tough as I thought. Even if I can’t convince senior Li Jianlian, it’s no big deal.

“Got it. Just let me know when she wants to switch back—I’ll have to relay it to the Divine Emissary first.”

Even if only for a moment, I caught a flicker of hope in Sis Fei’s eyes.

“Eh? Then what about me? Can I change back too?” Rinka piped up next to me.

“Nope. Your transformation can’t be reversed. It’s complicated, but basically, you’re permanently a girl at this stage now.”

“There are stages to this?!”

“I understand. I’ll let you know in advance,”Sis Fei said, agreeing softly.

After that, she didn’t say much. She went back to silently flipping through her book. When Rinka asked about how my broken bones were healing, she paused to listen, then resumed reading. When Rinka started sharing about her life at the girls’ school, she seemed disinterested and kept reading.

When I finally finished the brutal iced Americano, she stood up and left the café with us.

…Now that I’d gotten through the whole thing, I could sort of see the appeal.

Still, not something I’d ever order again.

“Okay, Sis Fei, I’m walking Kai-chan home. You go on ahead!”

“Alright. I’ll go make dinner first.”

She turned and left, her long black hair swaying behind her.

“You two live together now?”

“Yup!” Rinka nodded proudly. “My grandma’s the principal, but her place is far from school. So Sis Fei’s gonna be staying with me at my apartment from now on.”

Wait… that apartment’s a studio, right? They’re sleeping in the same bed?

I couldn’t help smirking as I pictured Old Feng standing over a sizzling wok.

“You lucky girl. She’s a five-star chef, you know.”