A minor dispute broke out at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Office.
The guard on duty did not believe that the soft-featured man before him, with hair long enough to reach past his ears, was actually Clerk Loren Green.
But the man held a clerk’s certificate in his hand and, as usual, had walked over from the street on the left with a loaf of bread in his arms.
In the end, it was his superior—Deputy Director of the Civil Affairs Office, Julia Laguangsi—who came to confirm his identity and allowed him inside.
This female deputy director greatly admired Loren’s talent for official documents and treated him as her direct subordinate.
When the guard argued with him, this not-very-tall, young man became both angry and shocked, his gaze showing even a trace of panic and pleading, as if something most important to him had just been taken away.
Walking through the Civil Affairs Office, Julia glanced at the still somewhat indignant Loren beside her and asked casually, “Why did you buy fruit-candy stuffed bread today?”
“Lady Julia, I tried it yesterday and thought it tasted pretty good, so I bought it again.”
Loren was always very respectful toward his female superior.
Although, due to memories of his previous life, when he first reported for work, he always had the impression—his superiors would be reading the newspaper and drinking tea, and if anything came up, they would just call Little Loren to handle it.
But this superior was very diligent and responsible in her work and never treated her subordinates harshly.
Still, this noble lady, who was nearing thirty yet showed no trace of aging, had never been in a relationship.
They walked to Loren’s desk.
“Have you finished the official document I asked you to write?”
Loren hurriedly put the bread aside on another table and handed an envelope to Julia.
“It’s done. Please review it.”
Most of Loren’s work hours were spent with nothing to do.
He looked out the window by his desk and saw many street vendors selling freshly made food for the workers along this street to fill their stomachs.
Suddenly, he noticed a small stall diagonally across the street selling fried dough balls—even though he had no idea how he could see so clearly from this distance.
Maybe I’m just too greedy, Loren thought to himself.
He wondered if the dough balls were filled with raisins or almonds, and whether the outside was coated in honey.
His thoughts continued, his eyes never leaving the stall.
“What are you staring at, Loren? If you have nothing to do, help me fill out a form.”
A stern female voice called out.
Loren reluctantly tore his gaze away, lazily looking back toward the source of the voice.
Oh no, it’s Lady Julia.
He lowered his eyes to avoid making direct eye contact with his superior.
Julia, meanwhile, was surprised.
When Loren turned his gaze back, that languid, melancholy look had the texture of a young maiden, and even his appearance and demeanor matched perfectly.
Did he perhaps hide his gender and sneak in under a female identity?
Landingset never discriminated against women in employment—otherwise Julia herself wouldn’t be Deputy Director of the Civil Affairs Office.
So there was really no need to hide one’s gender.
However, in the past two years, she’d never thought Loren was a woman.
Sure, he looked gentle and didn’t fit the usual male stereotypes, but that was all.
Noticing that Loren’s downcast gaze was still sneakily peeking at her, Julia stopped her train of thought and cleared her throat, getting to the point: “Your official document is excellent. I uploaded it to the Governor’s Office without making any changes.”
“You understand, whether the budget proposal passes concerns all of Hobrick, not just Landingset City. If the higher-ups want to commend someone, all the credit will go to you.”
“Will this document be shown to the members of the Council?” Loren asked.
“More than that. I heard from the Governor’s secretary that they might post it up across the city for all the citizens to see. Of course, if they’re willing to pay a bit more for transport, people in the outer towns and villages will see it too.”
Julia thought for a moment and replied.
Loren hadn’t expected that something he wrote would end up being seen by the whole country.
For a moment, he felt as if—after I awoke, the world’s official document writing skills dropped by ten thousand times and I alone could hold the fort.
But soon he realized, he wasn’t the only one skilled in official writing.
Still, Deputy Director Julia was the daughter of the Laguangsi family’s head.
This document’s tone represented the Civil Affairs Office, and also the stance of the Laguangsi family.
Loren, who was thoroughly familiar with his boss’s illustrious family background, analyzed thus.
“Oh, by the way, your skin looks so good today—did you do something special for skincare?” Julia changed the topic.
Skincare?
With a monthly salary of 110 Grosso, being able to eat decently and have a place to live was already a blessing—who could afford skincare?
Loren’s eyebrows involuntarily arched.
But then he quickly realized what Julia meant, just as he’d noticed last night—could today’s “symptoms” have gotten worse?
He instinctively touched his face.
It did feel even smoother.
No, even his hands had gotten smoother.
Pressing lightly with his fingertip, he could feel the skin sink a bit and then bounce back.
Julia’s face, which had just relaxed, tensed up again.
This little guy, flaunting his smooth, egg-shaped, white and supple face in front of a woman?
Wait, Julia remembered that Loren, though he shaved diligently, always had a bit of stubble.
But now, there wasn’t a single trace of facial hair around his chin or lips.
Most important were the eyes.
She was surprised to realize that, while she couldn’t recall exactly what Loren’s eyes had looked like before, they definitely weren’t like this.
She did remember the original brown irises, but now they seemed lighter and the color didn’t match at all.
The look in them was lively and agile.
“Your eyes, uh, were they always like this?” Julia wasn’t sure how to phrase it.
“What, my eyes? Oh, I did notice something odd in the mirror last night. I think it’s from staying up late to write. Now even a breeze makes my eyes water. Boss, before the Governor’s Office’s promises—uh, rewards—arrive, you really should give me some extra bonus.”
Loren replied, as if realizing something.
If writing official documents could make my eyes prettier, I’d take care of all the paperwork from now on, Julia thought privately.
But as a superior, her concern for her subordinate’s privacy should be kept within proper bounds.
“All right. I’ll give you 300 Grosso as a reward in the name of the Civil Affairs Office. The paperwork will be done in the next few days and you’ll get it then. Buy whatever you want to eat, don’t live so frugally.”
So Julia had long noticed that I was staring at the fried dough ball stall.
Loren blushed.
Julia, already leaving his office, left one last comment: “Don’t keep your hair so long. It’s hard to maintain.”
She’s right.
He hadn’t had a haircut in ages, but with the weather getting cooler, cutting it too short wouldn’t be good.
Next time, he’d ask at the barber’s.
After work, with two bags of fried dough balls slung over his shoulder, Loren happily walked along the dusk-lit street, his hair tucked behind his ears by the load.
He hadn’t expected there would still be raisin-stuffed honey dough balls and peach preserve dough balls for sale in the evening.
Knowing he was about to get a windfall of 300 Grosso, he didn’t even blink as he splurged on a combo!
The walk home, which usually took thirty minutes, became much more pleasant.
Nearing his door, he saw his neighbor, Susie Auntie, sweeping the entrance.
In high spirits, Loren cheerfully greeted her, “Good day, Aunt Susie.”
Without waiting for her reply, he awkwardly managed both bags in one hand, fished out his key, and went inside.
Susie Auntie was stunned when she heard the greeting—why would a girl’s voice be greeting her?
And it didn’t sound like any of the girls from the neighborhood.
She hurriedly turned to look, only to see a figure with shoulder-length hair wearing a Civil Affairs Office uniform entering the neighbor Loren’s house.
Oh, so Loren has a girlfriend now, how nice.
Back home, Loren happily prepared to taste today’s combo of dough balls.
Carrying two bags all the way, he’d felt the breeze softly caressing his neck through his hair and, unable to free a hand to scratch, wondered—was his hair really this long now?
He could’ve sworn it only reached his ears last night.
Forget it, time to eat.
Taking small, happy bites of each kind, savoring their different flavors, he felt that, compared to his previous life in modern society, the quality of his current life hadn’t fallen at all.
Praise Landingset, for in this city you could buy the best things from around the world.
Even if he were a lord in another country, he might not be able to eat these treats, or would have to pay much more.
But, as he sat down to eat, Loren finally discovered something truly odd about his hair—what kind of joke was this?
With just a glance to the left, he could see his hair had reached his shoulders!
And worst of all, stray locks kept swinging right in front of his eyes.
He stood up immediately and walked to the bathroom.
“Ha?!”
“Ha!?”
The first gasp was for his utterly unrecognizable appearance.
The second was for his completely unbelievable voice.
The blurry bronze mirror reflected a delicate face.
The dark circles from years of overtime remained, lending a touch of realism to the striking visage.
His once deep brown eyes had transformed into a lighter shade, flecked with silver, and he instantly understood why Julia had asked about them earlier in the day.
Even his stubble was gone, replaced by soft, shoulder-length brown hair.
As for the second gasp—it was for his voice, now as soft as cotton candy.
There was no third gasp—he was simply too stunned.
He stared at his bewildered, helplessly delicate reflection for a long time.
Finally, Loren chose to pull down his pants; he needed to confirm something crucial.
Phew, still there.
Wait, but with this face, still being there was even weirder!
Immediately, he thought of something even more terrifying.
Tomorrow—could he, like today, still argue with the guard and wait for Julia to come fetch him?
No way.
He looked nothing like the picture on his clerk’s certificate anymore. Julia wouldn’t recognize him, either.
His 300 Grosso bonus was gone, and he wouldn’t even get his 110 Grosso salary.
Soon, he’d starve in his apartment for lack of identity.
In this world, there was no miracle disguise that could fool Julia and the others.
Even if he returned to his hometown, his parents in this life wouldn’t recognize him.
Lying face down on his desk, he felt as if the ordinary life he had worked hard to enjoy for the past two years—so similar to his previous life—had shattered just like that.
In his previous life, whenever he was upset, he would absentmindedly crumple papers on his desk and toss them in the trash, only to realize too late that they were his study notes.
He would then carefully retrieve them from the bin, smooth out the stains bit by bit, trying his hardest to make out the writing, before copying them into a new notebook.
Just like now.
He picked up a sheet of paper and wrote four words on it: Leave of Absence Request.