Hidden Schemes

Chapter 35

Gou nodded. "I made it myself, you can rest assured knowing some master won't show up calling it his own. I have another version of it, as well, but it is more effective and dangerous. It works better and can change the fabric itself, but it can't be used more than once and won't change in the sun."

"By too dangerous you mean... You don't trust me with it?" Uncle Zhang looked down at Gou.

Gou nodded. He didn't know how this man would treat it.

Uncle Zhang smiled. It was a smile that lit up his whole face, "What are your requirements for how this is used?" The pair continued talking until Xiir began getting bored. He started playing with Gou's hands, fingers, and even hair. Eventually, Gou and Uncle Zhang seemed satisfied with their agreements.

"I need to get Xiir some lunch, but we'll be back to buy some clothes once we're finished." Gou patted Xiir's head, letting him know that he knew he was hungry and bored. "Neither of us have anything more then what's on our backs."

"Really? Where are the two of you coming from?"

"A forest in the North-East. By the way, do you know anywhere that sells and moves furniture?"

"For your dorms? If it's who might deliver to the school then you'll have to get permission from your pedagogue. He should give you a few stores that will give you a discount. That's what He's parents did for her." He seemed to remember something and added on, "By the way... Are you in the same dorm as that rude girl earlier? I could have sworn male and female dorms were separate..." He trailed off. He was sure he wasn't wrong about Gou being a male.

Gou stood, "I won't lie a hand your niece if that's what you're asking. I'm someone who doesn't get aroused easily and I certainly have no intentions towards little girls. I'm only there because I'm too young to be accepted as a male, but as a female, my size for a ten-year-old is much more believable. Besides, I don't care about trivial things like gender." He walked towards the door.

"You mean that you aren't even ten yet?"

"I'd prefer if you didn't spread it around," Gou smiled back at Uncle Zhang, "How else am I going to wear flowery skirts?" With a bright smile and shining eyes, he opened the door and left the room.

Uncle Zhang couldn't help but laugh even though he didn't feel happy. He tidied up his room and grabbed the recipe from Gou before leaving the room and locking it behind him. He walked into the front of the shop and pulled out the fabric Gou had left him with that had been changed. He put it into a ray of sun. Shivers ran down his spine as the color slowly changed just as the boy said it would.

"Owner? What-" One of his employees called out to him, but he had already turned on his heal and was hurrying back down the hall he'd just come from into the back of the shop where the clothes and fabric were all made.

He walked down the hall and entered another room where he then pulled a large man, who was working at a desk, into a secluded part of the large space. Once they were away from prying eyes Uncle Zhang's handsome façade crumbled and he fell against the man's large chest. As tall as he was, he could only hide his face in the crook of the man's neck.

The man sighed, "I've told you, Zhang Qiu Jie, I can't love a man-"

"Humor me!" He tried not to yell. He was crumbling and wouldn't be able to handle being rejected right now. He'd fall apart.

The beautiful, cold man sighed and hugged Zhang Qiu Jie's trembling body. When he felt that his face twitched and he looked down at the man crumpled in his arms, now seeing it for it really was- a cry for help.

"I- I met someone today who said that- that they could make me a woman." His voice trembled. He seemed to be on the brink of tears, just barely holding it together. "He even showed me an oil that can make fabric change color in the sun."

The man jolted. Was such a thing possible? If he says so then it must be true.

"I didn't believe it until I saw it myself." He pulled up the fabric and the man grabbed it, looking at the colors on it curiously. Zhang Qiu Jie shook more violently now, "If he can do this... Can I believe what he said? Can I truly believe that I could be my true self? The self that's always pounding on my chest to be let free?" He grasped his chest his face still hidden between the man's shoulder and neck.

The man pulled Zhang Qiu Jie away. A teary-eyed face was revealed to him. He'd never seen Zhang Qiu Jie looking so fragile. Without a second thought, he pressed his lips roughly to Zhang Qiu Jie's. It was harsh, and honestly, the man felt slightly disgusted, but he wanted to get his feelings across.

"We must go to this man and use any means to get it from him." He said. "Zhang Qui Jie, I know you are everything I could ever want and I've known, for a long time now, that if there was a woman alike to you in every aspect that I would never be able to let her go even chasing her to the ends of the world. I know that you have loved me for an even longer period of time. But the fact remains that I cannot feel love for a man, even you.

"For both of us, we must get that potion!"

Zhang Qiu Jie was no longer able to hold back his tears. His relief and happiness were overflowing and he embraced the man before him, "Li Yu Yahui!" He began crying in earnest, simply accepting the soft caresses of the man that he's loved for so long. Could his love truly come true? Could he believe such a thing? Could he finally have his happy ending?