Cultural Enrichment: A Traditional Chinese TG Tale

"How the hell did things end up like this?" Jackson thought to himself as he sat waiting for the man who would soon be his, or rather her husband. He was dressed in a formal qipao, his long black hair tied back into a neat bun, and his face was daintily decorated with makeup. If someone had told you such a beautiful Chinese woman had once been a man, you would've probably laughed at them. But this wasn't a laughing matter for Jackson. His entire life had been changed, all because of one girl's stupid mistake...

-------------------------------------TWO DAYS EARLIER-------------------------------------
When Jackson first arrived in China, he completely lacked the dread he'd feel very soon. The country may have been an oppressive Communist dictatorship, but for some reason it still had an innate beauty. The delicate flower gardens, the ornate buildings, and the beautiful people just drew him to the nation. He wasn't in the highly-polluted cities of the country, he was in it's luscious countryside. In fact, the city he was staying in didn't have a single piece of modernized tech (no phones/internet, no cars, no factories, etc.) and was somewhat of a time capsule to an earlier time in the country. If you were looking for some peace and quiet, this small village, known to the locals as "Lánhuā shān" ("Orchid Mountain" in English), was the perfect place to go. Or at least that was what Jackson thought of it when he first arrived.

Soon after his arrival, he met the kind couple who'd he be staying with. Delun was a rather intimidating individual, due to his muscular build and intimidating figure. However, he turned out to be nicer than his appearance suggested. His wife Cuifen had a very different appearance. She was a bit short, with delicate facial features and a modest figure. The two got along very well, and both gave Jackson a warm welcome. The final person living in the house was their daughter Xiuying. She was beautiful and very personable, happily offering Jackson a special candle she had made as a gift. Jackson was surprised to find that all three members of the family could speak English quite well, and they were able to carry on an interesting conversation. The four had a very nice dinner together before heading off to bed.

That night was when things took a strange turn. Xiuying woke up in her sleep and went into the guest room, where Jackson was sleeping peacefully. Much to his surprise, she jolted him awake with a light punch to the groin.

"Jackson..." she began, "I've been wanting to talk to someone about this for a while, but I never worked up the nerves to do it with my parents. They wouldn't understand."

"Xiuying, I'm willing to talk to you about anything you want. What is it?" Jackson's calming tone brought a slight smile to Xiuying's face.

"Well...my parents arranged two months ago for me to be married to a very nice young man. His name is Jianguo, and he's the son of the wealthiest man in our village. It's quite an honor, and it would make me somewhat royalty out here."

"What's the problem with that?" Jackson inquired. "You said he's a nice man, and your family will be able to live carefree if you marry him, so why are you so hesitant?"

"Because there's someone else I love."

Jackson was taken aback by Xiuying's statement. Arranged marriages were a common practice in the village according to Cuifen, so this made things quite a bit complicated.

"His name is Bingwen...he's smart, funny, and loves me more than anyone else in the world. The only problem is, he's from another village. Mother and Father would never let me marry him."

The next words that came out of Jackson's mouth, although he didn't intend them to do so, set an irreversible course to his new destiny.

"Do you have to follow their wishes? I'd feel that if I truly loved someone, I'd find any way to be with them, simple as that."

"Easy for you to say...Father wouldn't let me get out of the village."

"I can sneak you out." Jackson replied.

"Really? Thankyouthankyousooooomuch!"

Though he was glad for Xiuyung, it was when she happily hugged him that Jackson realized she had inherited more of her father's strength than he initially thought.

-------------------------------------THE NEXT DAY-----------------------------------------
"Jackson, have you seen Xiuyung anywhere?"

Jackson was jolted awake by the sound of Cuifen's voice. He knew that after he helped Xiuyung sneak out, her parents would begin to look for her. He just had to make sure they didn't know his role in her leaving.

"No I haven't. I think she may have just ran away from home."

"Oh this is terrible!" Cuifen exclaimed. "With her gone, the marriage plans with Jianguo's family are ruined! Unless...." A smile appeared on Cuifen's face, remembering a way she could fix this situation.

She then beckoned Jackson to follow her to a nearby hot spring. She told him to get undressed, which he did not wanting to upset her. He got in the water and noticed that it was extremely soothing to let himself relax in it. It was so relaxing that he fell into a deep, deep sleep...

When he finally woke up, he noticed that several things about him were quite different. First off, his short brown hair was now long and black, with loose strands of it dangling in front of his eyes. He was much shorter now than he was before, and had lost a lot of his previous muscle tone. His skin was now similar in color to Cuifen's, and his chest now had two lumps of flesh hanging off of it. Most importantly, however, he was lacking something down below....

*What the hell did you do to me!* Jackson screamed out in his new effeminate voice. Much to his surprise, it had come out as Chinese when he was trying to speak English.

*I'm sorry Jackson,* Cuifen said as she handed the newly-created woman a Cheongsam, *But with Xiuyung gone we had no other choice. Me and my husband had been planning this marriage for months, and it would be disastrous for us not to go through with it. As such, we decided that just in case Xiuyung ran away, we told them that we had a second daughter. This hot spring has the ability to transform any man into a young Chinese woman, so we could use it on someone if we needed to. You just happened to be here at the exact time we needed it.*

*So I have to marry this guy just because your daughter didn't want to?!?* Jackson was furious now, but his petite figure prevented his anger from looking anything but adorable.

*I'm afraid there's no other choice, Chao-xing.* She had finished getting Jackson's hair all tied back and his makeup just right, making him look like the essence of feminine beauty. *Besides, you couldn't go home if you wanted to. You can't speak English anymore, and no one would even recognize you! Not to mention the transformation is rather permanent.*

-------------------------------------PRESENT DAY------------------------------------------

Now Jackson, or rather Chao-xing, was waiting for her new husband. With no way to get back home and no one besides Cuifen, Delun, and herself knowing who she was before the transformation. As Janguo's family arrived with escorts, the man himself bowed before Chao-xing and gave her a polite kiss on her right hand. Chao-xing then took his hand and walked back to his carriage, knowing that she'd have to live as a soft-spoken, doting, dignified and ladylike housewife for the rest of her days...