Yesterday’s routine had been utterly monotonous and straightforward for Little Zhibai.
Bath time—laundry—cat washing.
Three points and a straight line. No issues there.
The biggest lesson for Guang Yu came from that ordeal. For the first time, she truly understood the terror of a basin of water.
Yeah, even if you’re just a cat in illusory form and not a real feline, you still can’t escape the ironclad rule that cats hate water!
The moment Guang Yu, in her cat-shaped form, was dunked into the basin by Ye Zhibai and scrubbed clean of all that mud, her frantic meowing and yowling must have made her deeply reflect on the sins of yanking up those big scallions (maybe).
Playing in the mud always comes with a price.
As some famous person once said:
There’s no such thing as a free lunch—or mud you can roll in without needing a bath afterward.
Zhibai Quotes, added once more.
Then came… Ye Zhibai’s own bath.
Bathing itself wasn’t difficult.
Ever since turning into a girl, Ye Zhibai felt a twinge of guilt every time she showered, but that sensation was fading with each rinse, growing fainter as the washes piled up.
After all, it was a daily necessity! Touching yourself wasn’t a crime! If she felt guilty every single day, she might as well turn herself in to the big house and call it quits!
Life had to go on properly, and no matter how embarrassing it felt, the spots that needed cleaning had to be thoroughly scrubbed. That’s how sensible—and increasingly adept—Little Zhibai had become at exploring her own body.
But even this resilient Little Zhibai spent her entire shower yesterday with her brows furrowed tight.
Washing alone? She could overcome the guilt with sheer willpower.
But washing together with Yun’er?!
Forget it.
Might as well put her on trial for her crimes.
Sharing a bath with Yun’er yesterday had been a total last resort for Ye Zhibai.
After crawling out of that mud pit, Ye Zhibai, Ye Zhiyun, and Lin Zihan were all caked in dirt and feeling utterly miserable. They all raced to the shower for some hot-water salvation.
But showers required an order, some sequence.
No surprise there—Yun’er and Zihan both insisted, right off the bat, that Ye Zhibai go first.
Their resolute expressions left Ye Zhibai thinking, This… how could she possibly accept that!
She felt bad about it, but she really did want to wash, so Ye Zhibai offered a token refusal.
That little delay in deciding was all it took.
Yun’er had a sudden flash of inspiration and proposed a brilliantly constructive alternative.
“Sis and I will shower together. That way, we double the speed, and Lin Zihan can use the bathroom sooner too.”
Ye Zhibai’s first reaction was that it was absurd, straight out of a fever dream. She even considered a polite refusal (aka bravely saying no).
But then she glanced at Lin Zihan standing by the fence, quietly patting the mud off her clothes all alone—and that smile Lin Zihan flashed back with her words, “It’s fine, I’ll go last.”
See what she meant?
The world was full of these helpless situations.
Wah, what was she supposed to do?!
And so, through a twist of fate, the final shower lineup became Ye Zhibai and Ye Zhiyun as the first pair. That way, at least Lin Zihan wouldn’t have to wait as long.
But had it really saved any time?
Ye Zhibai doubted it.
Truth be told, showering with Yun’er probably didn’t take less time than going one after the other.
Once a certain little pervert started “helping” with the wash but began groping every which way, Ye Zhibai knew the shower was going to drag on.
Amid the hazy steam, Ye Zhibai could barely recall how the mud on her body was slowly rinsed away by the water.
The only clear memory was Yun’er’s fingers dancing like butterflies among flowers, probing back and forth along the edge between appropriate and way too much.
Squelch, squelch—that was the sound she heard most in the bathroom.
She figured the drips on her back weren’t just water; there was probably some drool from a certain someone who couldn’t hold it in.
Oh, right—courtesy called for reciprocation. Once Little Zhibai was squeaky clean, she returned the favor with shameless thoroughness, scrubbing every nook and cranny of Yun’er.
She’d thought such a counterattack would leave Yun’er blushing with embarrassment. But the way her little sister flung open her arms with an excited grin, welcoming the loofah in Ye Zhibai’s hand? It dealt a massive blow to Ye Zhibai’s confidence!
Damn it.
When the hell would she ever turn the tables?!
Lin Zihan thought: You two should consider getting out of the bathroom soon and sparing this mud-caked girl some feelings. Quit the giggling in there! Good grief—even through the door, she could hear Ye Zhiyun “guh-heh-heh”-ing nonstop. What was so hilarious?!
Who knew.
But someday, if she ever got to shower with Little Bai’er… she’d probably understand the reason.
After waiting nearly an hour for the pair to finally emerge, Lin Zihan took her own quick rinse. Afterward, she reflected a bit on the day’s events.
First day on the job? A truly awful experience… or not.
She’d had a blast playing with Little Bai’er today!
The work experience was indeed terrible.
But life experience?
No doubt about it.
Top-notch!
Tomorrow, the day after, and beyond—she’d come over to play with Little Bai’er often… ahem, to work hard!
In reality,
Lin Zihan didn’t make it to work the next day.
Not because she was slacking, of course.
It was Ye Zhibai, with Yun’er’s silent approval, who granted her a paid day off!
Ahem… how to put it? First off, it was to make up for making her wait an hour for the shower yesterday.
It wasn’t on purpose—those circumstances were pure force majeure! Once Yun’er’s fingers got frisky, there was no saving time!
Humiliating stuff—best not dwell.
But that wasn’t the main reason for the paid leave.
The real core reason was…
Today was Gaokao results day.
As a soon-to-be college freshman who’d been on pins and needles since the exam ended, she shouldn’t be wandering around or working. She ought to hunker down by her screens, refreshing the scores page nonstop until she got her results.
That went for Lin Zihan.
And for Ye Zhibai too.
See? No alarm needed today. At seven-thirty sharp, Ye Zhibai’s eyes snapped open, and she bolted upright in bed like there was a spring under her butt!
That zombie-like move startled the cat-shaped Guang Yu into a shiver!
“?! Ye Zhibai, are you channeling some ancient dynasty or what?!”
“No, I just…
had a dream where I scored a big fat zero. Guang Yu, you don’t think I’m that hopeless, do you? I did plenty of practice problems myself, and you helped me… reference some answers. No way I bombed completely, right?”
“A big fat zero…? Fried egg! Is breakfast fried eggs today? Make it happen! Those fried quail eggs with wasabi last time were delish!”
“……”
Never mind. Talking to a cat was pointless.
Also, Guang Yu, at least skip mentioning fried quail eggs today.
Quail egg sounds bad—homophone for “I’m a dumb egg.”
Bad omen, bad omen. Brush your teeth properly later and swallow those words.
Ye Zhibai took a deep breath, hand on her chest, steadying herself as she waited for the academic portal to open at noon for score checks.
Phew… even after taking the Gaokao two lifetimes in a row, the excitement at a moment like this was impossible to suppress.
Not nervous, not nervous… even if I bomb the Gaokao, it’s fine. Just taking the test and getting the results is a brand-new milestone in my brand-new life!
And what’s there to be nervous about anyway~~? I’m checking my own scores, no one else sees. Even if they’re bad, no immediate embarrassment…
“Sis! You awake?”
“Yeah.”
“Perfect timing. Gaokao scores are coming out soon, right? Dad says we should head over to his place to check them. Ha… I told him not to stress too much, but he insists it’s his duty to witness it. Sigh… whatever. Scores are scores wherever we check. Get ready, sis—we’ll go see.”
“……”
Thanks, I said I’m not nervous.
“Ye Zhibai… what about the fried quail eggs?”
“Zip it, Guang Yu. No quail eggs—just smart eggs. Keep yapping, and I’ll give you another bath today.”
“!”
