Today’s negotiation with Yun’er was a resounding victory!
Woo woo… it wasn’t for nothing that I lost all that fluid last night. It was all bargaining chips for today’s progress!
At the very least, she’d upheld her promise to Sister Liang from yesterday.
Now she could openly set up a dinner, invite Sister Liang over alone, and the two of them could sit as ordinary friends, sip some tea, catch up, and share thoughts on recent events.
Perfect!
With a flash of light, Guang Yu shifted back to her Little Fox Maiden form.
The Little Fox Maiden sat on the bed’s edge, swinging her snowy little feet, quite impressed by Ye Zhibai’s maneuvering.
“Nice one, Ye Zhibai. You actually convinced your stubborn little sis! I’ve got new respect for you!”
“Don’t even mention the word ‘convince’ anymore… I think I’ve become allergic to it over the past couple of days.”
“Allergic? What do you mean?”
“It’s like when you scoot over to the side a little, and it’s all covered in fox fur. Come on, let me hug that tail.” “……”
I scooted aside to make room.
Then you want to cuddle my tail?
You only like my tail,
but you despise me?!
How scummy are you, human?!
Ye Zhibai hugged the fluffy fox tail and instantly felt a wave of healing comfort wash over her.
Oh, right—no time to waste. Since she’d successfully negotiated the freedom to arrange her own meals and outings, it was time to let Sister Liang know so the woman could relax.
Ye Zhibai snatched her phone from Guang Yu’s hands.
No need to ask why it was always with her.
This scummy fox had used her divine power to snoop on Ye Zhibai’s lock screen password and was constantly searching for bizarre things online.
For example—
The origins of wasabi paste.
Why dipping pancakes in wasabi isn’t mainstream. Chilling.
How to yank green onions without getting caught.
What the hell are you even searching for?!
Especially that last one.
Didn’t I catch you the moment you looked it up?!
Ye Zhibai shot her a deadpan glance before opening her QQ chat window.
Ah… my account, the familiar chill of emptiness. No new messages.
—Or so you’d think.
This barren account had been her shield against Yun’er’s random inspections.
But Ye Zhibai had recently realized there wasn’t much to guard against anyway.
Yun’er had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She talked a big game about checking up, but she’d never actually invade Ye Zhibai’s privacy.
That was her bottom line.
During yesterday’s Gaokao celebration banquet, Ye Zhibai had already re-added Yun’er using a new account.
When Yun’er asked why the sudden change, Ye Zhibai’s reply had been:
I just don’t like my old QQ number!
All those zeros in a row make it look weak and unlucky!
With that, the pointless decoy account was left friendless and promptly deleted.
Mission accomplished!
Now, her phone only held her main account.
She tapped the Little Tea Cat avatar to dive in.
The chat list lit up with activity.
Well, “lit up” might be a stretch. It wasn’t exactly bustling.
After all, Ye Zhibai only had a handful of friends on this account.
Plus one group chat.
At the top, as always, sat the ever-rowdy “2D Anime Exchange Group.”
Ye Zhibai ignored it per usual. They could chat about anything under the sun beyond legit anime discussions.
Just below it—
Hm?
Messages from Lin Zihan?
Three in total.
Curiosity piqued, Ye Zhibai tapped to open them.
All sent by Lin Zihan this morning.
The earliest one was from just past five a.m.
“Little Bai’er, good morning!”
Heh, good morning?
At that hour, I was still wide awake and grinding away!
Ridiculous.
Right after came two photos.
Both bursting with flowers.
Ye Zhibai enlarged them and saw it was the interior of a shop.
All those colorful blooms…
Must be a flower shop?
She remembered Zhiyun mentioning that Lin Zihan and her mom were scraping by on a flower shop these days.
Timestamps put them around six a.m.
“Guang Yu… see this? Diligent folks kick off their day at six sharp.”
“Pfft, that’s it? I was lounging in the moonlight till five yesterday—no sleep, scarfed eight pieces of osmanthus cake. Beat that for diligence?”
“……”
Classic you.
Nothing much to reply to Lin Zihan—it had been a solid six hours ago, after all.
But ghosting her felt wrong, so Ye Zhibai fired off three simple words.
“Good noon.”
You said good morning? I’ll one-up you with good noon.
Logical, reasonable, perfect.
But Ye Zhibai hadn’t forgotten her real goal in opening QQ.
She quickly scrolled down to Chi Yuliang’s chat.
A closer look—
Eh?
Sister Liang had messaged last night?
Right around when Zhiyun had been… tormenting her. Pfft, no—when they’d been sharing some mutual affection!
The message read:
“I gave it some thought, Little Bai. Maybe don’t bother asking your sister about this. It’ll just put you both in an awkward spot… It’s fine, really. Your big sis is happy just catching glimpses of you from afar sometimes? No need to push it. Peace is key.”
Followed by a heart gesture emoji.
Sister Liang!! Are you seriously an angel?!
No way could she let this sit unanswered after half a day. Ye Zhibai hammered out a reply with record speed—her fingers still nimble from last night’s exertions!
“No worries, I’ve sorted it out with Yun’er. She gets me, I get her. We talked it through smoothly. Relax, Sister Liang—we can set something up today. No more hassle for meetups in the future.”
She tacked on a goofy doge emoji.
Man, Sister Liang’s replies were lightning-fast.
Ye Zhibai’s message had barely sent when one pinged back.
“Awesome, Little Bai! Sis is waiting on your update, hehe… I was starting to think you weren’t replying ’cause Miss Zhiyun confiscated your phone. Was even plotting a rescue mission. Guess not needed—as expected of my Little Bai.”
Yup… as expected of you, Sister Liang.
With that squared away, Ye Zhibai finally had time to lurk in the group.
As the esteemed lurking admin of the noble 2D Anime Exchange Group, going too long without popping in would leave everyone dormant.
The responsibility weighed heavy.
Yet when she opened the group—two days without a peep from her—the unread count had only ballooned.
Not even a shred of face left, huh!
Fine, let’s see what you lurkers are yapping about!
Clear Breeze Awaiting Cute Girl: “Comic-Con, wanna hit it up, but it’s way too far. High-speed rail ticket’s gotta be a grand at least.”
Ice Cold Night: “+1, but that lineup sounds killer. Nothing on this scale around here for sure. Can’t swing the travel though—have to pass~~”
“+2”
What were they on about?
Comic-Con?
Ye Zhibai scrolled up.
The topic had kicked off with group owner Little Qiu forwarding an ad-like image.
—Qi City’s Biggest Comic-Con in a Decade! Summer Blockbuster Alert! Fuel All Your 2D Fantasies! Tickets 80% Off, Duo Packs 50% Off! Join the Fun!
Oh ho, Comic-Con?
Sorry, but even if it was the biggest in a century, Ye Zhibai had zero interest.
Sure, some folks loved anime.
But not when it meant swarms of social terrorists at a Comic-Con!
That scene wasn’t for true shut-ins.
Normies owned that turf!
Still… the label said “Qi City”?
Never heard of it.
Just as Ye Zhibai went to scroll past—
She spotted the fine print at the image’s bottom.
—July 15th, Qihai City Central Business District, Building B, 2nd Floor. Don’t miss out!
“……”
Where did I live again?
Yup, memory served.
Ye Zhibai was a born-and-bred Qihai City girl.
So Qi City was just shorthand for Qihai!
Her online buddy Little Qiu, with whom she’d chatted for years—was she a local after all?!
Wait… maybe not. If it was the decade’s biggest, Little Qiu might’ve just shared for the hype, not being from around here.
Brimming with questions, Ye Zhibai dragged the chat to the bottom.
Right then, Little Qiu—flashing her shiny group owner badge—dropped a fresh message.
“Ah? I just thought the scale looked legit and shared it with you guys. Didn’t say I’d go. Never been to one myself—no anime buds nearby to drag along, solo’s no fun. Anyway, no way anyone in our group lives in Qihai City. Country’s massive—fat chance.”
Kaguya-hime Eats the Moon: “Exactly! We’re all big talk online. IRL meetups? No budget for that.”
Ice Cold Night: “Yeah, scatter.”
Clear Breeze Awaiting Cute Girl: “Hahaha, that’s just weak otaku power. Lurking admin around? Someone @ Yezi! If Yezi’s here, she’ll trek a million miles to meet the group owner IRL for some yaoi action. That’s the CP strength I stan!”
—Clear Breeze Awaiting Cute Girl has been muted for 10 days.
“……”
Ye Zhibai was beyond poking fun at Clear Breeze the perennial mute warrior.
Right now, she just felt… a strange wonder.
Staring at her phone screen, at Little Qiu’s avatar—Eromanga Sensei—the one she’d vented to through countless troubled nights.
Ye Zhibai could only think:
What a small world.
