Strictly speaking, Duanmu Huai's presence in this world is rather misleading.
If he doesn't speak and just sits there, he appears to be the standard sickly beauty, looking frail and as if a breeze could knock him over. If he adds a Lin Daiyu-like wistful expression, he'd be quite an endearing character.
It's hard to imagine he could lift a road roller as a terrifying monster.
Of course, as for feminine growth, there's almost none, but for Duanmu Huai, that's a relief—it saves him the trouble of worrying about which cup size to buy.
As for playing male roles, Duanmu Huai... well, he's done that quite a few times.
In movies, there's rarely cross-dressing males, but quite often females cross-dressing as males. Duanmu Huai's build isn't really tall, but not short either. You could say he has a youthful physique. With a change of hairstyle, some makeup, a different outfit, and some colored contacts, he indeed can play a handsome young man.
