A crate of beer, dozens of skewers of meat and vegetables, stir-fried field snails, and more—almost completely covered a small table.

Guo Zhengde sat across from Shen Hao, looked at him, and said, “You’re paying.”

“I’ll pay, then I’ll pay.” Shen Hao had nothing to argue about. Last time he had said he’d treat, but he got drunk and Guo Zhengde ended up paying. Today, it was naturally no problem for him to foot the bill.

“Come on, drink!” Guo Zhengde opened two bottles of beer, handed one to each of them, said a word, and then started chugging straight from the bottle.

Seeing this, Shen Hao was a bit speechless. He took a sip of beer and set it down.

Although it wasn’t quite midsummer yet, the weather in April was already almost the same.

The ice-cold beer slid down his throat, the bitter, refreshing sensation instantly perking him up.

“So tell me—why did you suddenly quit?” Guo Zhengde didn’t care how much Shen Hao drank. He first drank to his own satisfaction, gulping down nearly half a bottle in one go. After putting the bottle down, he picked up a field snail and used a toothpick to pull out the meat.

“What’s there to say?” Shen Hao picked up a skewer and started eating.

He rarely ate barbecue—not because of health or weight concerns, but simply because he wasn’t in the habit.

Of course, another main reason was that he usually had no one to eat with. He didn’t have many friends, and Guo Zhengde was his only real close buddy. If the other guy asked him out for late-night food, he would never refuse.

“Of course there is,” Guo Zhengde said firmly. “If you stop working, it’s either because you were fired or because you quit on your own. If you were fired, there are lots of reasons—did the boss dislike you? Were you squeezed out? Was the pay too low? If you quit on your own, there are even more reasons… You don’t look like someone who got fired. It should be that you resigned, right?”

“You guessed right.” Shen Hao nodded.

“Ever since you suddenly called me out to drink last time and got totally wasted, I knew something was wrong,” Guo Zhengde said. “I won’t ask why you quit—you already said last time it was something I couldn’t help with. But what I don’t get is this: you were a perfectly good white-collar worker, so why did you suddenly come to work as a waiter in a bar? Don’t tell me you’re actually a hidden rich second generation, trying to experience life?”

“If only I were a hidden rich second generation,” Shen Hao laughed at the remark. “Unfortunately, I’m not.”

“Then tell me—why did you suddenly become a waiter?” After saying that, Guo Zhengde suddenly leaned forward, lowered his voice, and said, “Don’t tell me it’s to pick up girls? If it’s for that, I support you!”

Hearing this, Shen Hao couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. He shook his head repeatedly and said, “There are many reasons, but that’s definitely not one of them. I can’t really explain it clearly—just think of it as me being willful.”

“Fine! You’re young, you’re willful, you’re awesome.”

Guo Zhengde gave Shen Hao a thumbs-up, then put his hand down and continued, “So, our young, willful, awesome classmate Shen—interested in coming to work at my company? Don’t talk about starting from a junior position. I know your abilities. If you came to my place, even a deputy manager position would be beneath you. If it weren’t for the fact that I, the general manager, can’t easily step aside, I’d even want to give you my seat.”

“Better not,” Shen Hao said, amused.

“Hey, I’m serious! Do you really want me to make three visits like Liu Bei?” Guo Zhengde said unhappily. In his agitation, he even flicked a piece of snail meat flying off his toothpick.

“I’m serious too,” Shen Hao said after thinking for a moment. “This waiter job is just temporary—I won’t be doing it for long. As for your company… it doesn’t match my field. I don’t dare go mess things up.”

“What do you mean it doesn’t match your field? Do you think my field matches?” Guo Zhengde said irritably. “Don’t get all awkward and polite with me! I hate it most when people are awkward and polite with me!”

“It’s really not awkwardness or politeness.” Shen Hao had actually thought about coming clean with Guo Zhengde. After all, they’d been best friends since middle school, and he knew Guo Zhengde’s temperament very well. Even if he told him the truth, Guo Zhengde definitely wouldn’t despise him or be disgusted by him. The problem was, he truly didn’t know how to start.

Was he supposed to just directly say that he had changed sex?

Imagining how Guo Zhengde would react if he said that, Shen Hao couldn’t help but drift off in thought.

Seeing Shen Hao suddenly fall silent after speaking, Guo Zhengde couldn’t help but sigh and said, “Old Shen, I don’t mean to criticize you, but don’t you feel like you’ve changed lately? The old you wouldn’t be like this—hesitating, holding things in. Even if you have problems I can’t solve, you could at least tell me and let me share the burden.”

After saying that, he suddenly frowned, rubbed his chin with his right hand, and carefully examined Shen Hao sitting across from him.

Just then, Shen Hao snapped out of his thoughts because of those words. Seeing Guo Zhengde scrutinizing him, he couldn’t help but touch his own face and ask, “What are you looking at?”

“I didn’t feel it earlier, but now that I said you’ve changed, I really do feel like you’re a bit different,” Guo Zhengde said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin.

“How different?” Shen Hao sighed inwardly. Even acquaintances were starting to sense something was off with his appearance. This Sunflower Manual really was terrifying. He had only practiced it for a short time, yet it was already having such an effect. If he kept going, who knew—he might not even need plastic surgery; his body could completely change on its own.

“Your looks seem a bit different… right?” Guo Zhengde carefully examined Shen Hao’s face and said, “Your face shape seems to have changed? It wasn’t this round before—now it’s a bit more rounded. You weren’t as handsome as me before, but you could still be considered good-looking. But now… you seem to have become more delicate.”

Shen Hao said nothing. He just picked up the beer bottle and gulped it down.

“Hey, hey, I only said you look a bit more delicate. There’s no need to give up on life and get yourself drunk, right? Let me tell you—today, you’re definitely paying! Even if you get drunk, I’ll still use your phone to pay!” Guo Zhengde quickly said.

“It’s fine, I can still handle it.” Ever since getting drunk once before, Shen Hao felt that his alcohol tolerance had improved. Two bottles were no longer his limit—at least it had doubled.

“…Did you get plastic surgery?” Guo Zhengde guessed.

“…Why would I get plastic surgery for no reason?” Shen Hao paused slightly, then denied it. He shook his head and said, “Forget it. Let me calm down first and see whether I should tell you.”

“Alright! You calm down.” Guo Zhengde made a “please” gesture and really did stop talking, continuing to eat snails. He skillfully picked out the meat with a toothpick, and after eating it, he would even suck on it once before reluctantly tossing the shell aside.

Shen Hao also said nothing, drinking beer and eating skewers, silent. In truth, he was carefully choosing his words, thinking about how to begin.

The skewers, snails, and beer on the table gradually dwindled away amid their silence.

Guo Zhengde was remarkably patient. If he said he wouldn’t talk, he really wouldn’t. He just kept his head down and ate. When there was no food left, he even got up to order more skewers, making Shen Hao wonder if he was planning to eat back all the meals he had treated him to before in one go.

When the owner brought over the second plate of snails, Shen Hao finally figured out how to explain things and began, “San Dezi, have you ever heard of pseudo-hermaphroditism?”

“Pff!” Guo Zhengde happened to be drinking beer at that moment. As soon as he heard that sentence, he spat the beer out.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly and turned his head in time, so the table wasn’t sprayed with saliva.

Seeing this, Shen Hao was speechless. Judging by that reaction, it was obvious the other guy knew about it.

“You have that condition?!” Guo Zhengde stared at Shen Hao with an expression like he’d seen a ghost, his eyes full of shock.

“…Judging by what you just said, you seem to know quite a bit about it?” Shen Hao raised an eyebrow and asked.

“I used to study it a bit when I was bored…” Guo Zhengde seemed a little embarrassed.

Shen Hao thought to himself: what kind of person would study such a rare condition out of boredom? Definitely not someone who specifically set out to research it. Most people don’t even know this condition exists, or have never heard of it. He must have come across it while researching something else and learned about it incidentally.

Originally, Shen Hao had planned to explain everything carefully if Guo Zhengde didn’t know what it was and asked questions. But now that Guo Zhengde knew so much, the words he had prepared suddenly didn’t know how to come out.

After a moment of silence, it was Guo Zhengde who brought the topic back again, asking, “So… you have this condition?”

“Yes.” Shen Hao nodded and admitted it. “I’m a true hermaphrodite, not a pseudo one.”

“Mm… there is indeed a difference between the two,” Guo Zhengde said calmly, like a researcher, nodding. “So that’s what you’re talking about? You quit your job because of this?”

“Yeah. What else could it be?” Shen Hao gave a bitter smile. “I didn’t want it to become common knowledge.”

“Sigh, alright. Now I finally understand what you meant by ‘something money can’t solve,’” Guo Zhengde said, raising his hands in surrender. Faced with this condition—neither fully an incurable disease nor something easily fixed—he really had no solution. After that, he looked Shen Hao up and down again and asked hesitantly, “Then your current situation…?”

“It’s exactly what you’re thinking.” Since he had already laid everything out, Shen Hao not only felt relieved but also much lighter. “I only had the crucial surgery done. I haven’t done the other cosmetic or reconstructive surgeries… and I don’t plan to.”

Hearing this, Guo Zhengde scratched his head, seemingly at a loss for words.

Naturally, he felt that Shen Hao’s choice wasn’t ideal. By doing this, he was essentially placing an invisible shackle on himself. Maintaining things this way would probably be very hard.

After another moment of silence, Guo Zhengde asked, “Do Uncle and Auntie know about your choice?”

“I’ll find time to tell them,” Shen Hao said. “Actually, I think my current situation is fine… Just look at me now. If I don’t say anything, everyone would still think I’m a man, right?”