Why hadn’t Ye Zhibai wanted to reveal her true identity earlier?
Well, think about it—even she herself could scarcely believe that her desk at home was made entirely of solid wood, let alone that she now possessed her own little courtyard villa.
For someone like her, how could she be confident that sharing her family background with an online friend wouldn’t create a rift in their friendship wider than the diameter of the solar system?
After all, even she was afraid of her own wealth!
But in this case, Ye Zhibai had worried needlessly.
Sure, Little Qiu had reacted just as she’d imagined upon realizing Yezi’s true identity—shivering like a little hamster, utterly speechless for a good while.
But that didn’t last long.
Once Ye Zhibai promised and guaranteed she wouldn’t call her subordinates to beat her up, Little Qiu immediately accepted reality with a sigh of relief.
Phew~ It doesn’t matter if Yezi is the Eldest Miss. As long as she doesn’t have me beaten, we’re still good friends!
Your ability to accept things is ridiculously strong!
A loli might have a small body, but she can still hold up half the sky.
The arrival of Yun’er and Zihan signaled that the Comic-Con adventure belonging to the “Qiu-Ye” duo was drawing to a close.
Happy times always pass so quickly. By the time Ye Zhibai walked out of the Comic-Con Dome Venue to see Little Qiu off, the sunset had already painted the once cloudless sky in shades of red.
A gentle breeze accompanied the petite girl on her way.
Ye Zhiyun and Lin Zihan tactfully stopped at a respectful distance, giving Ye Zhibai plenty of private space to bid farewell to her new friend.
Su Loli’s Bluetooth earbuds had run out of battery.
Facing the golden sunlight, she wanted to stretch her arms, but they wouldn’t budge!
Oh right… these two bags of doujinshi. I’m carrying some serious weight here.
Su Qiu’s shoes, which had a bit of a platform to make her taller, scraped the ground twice as she came to a stop.
She rummaged through the two bags of doujinshi and pulled out the one belonging to Ye Zhibai, holding it out to her.
“Ha…! Feeling refreshed, Yezi. Here you go. Today’s Comic-Con was a total blast! Did you have fun? Uh… or should I call you Eldest Miss Ye instead?”
“I had a great time. As for what to call me, just call me whatever feels right.”
“Oh, got it. Then—Eldest Miss Ye!”
“?”
“Pfft, hahaha… just kidding! I don’t want to put pressure on myself. Yezi, I’ll keep your identity a secret in the group. I don’t really get it, but I know rich kids have their own troubles, right?”
“I’m not exactly from a rich family… okay, fine, I am. Your understanding really helps a ton. Oh, and you don’t need to give me the doujinshi—take it all home with you.”
Ye Zhibai didn’t take the bag Su Yuqiu offered. Instead, she gently pushed it back into Su Yuqiu’s flat chest.
The breeze lifted strands of her cherry-pink long hair.
Those nearly transparent, shimmering locks couldn’t hide the confusion and displeasure on Little Qiu’s face.
The little face reflected in Ye Zhibai’s eyes puffed up in a way that made her want to reach out and pinch it!
“Hey… Yezi, what do you mean by this? We agreed—one bag each, no more, no less. You can’t do this. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever wanted to make a friend so sincerely. I know being too forward isn’t great… but we’re not strangers anymore, right? We’ve known each other online for years, even if we hadn’t met in person until now…
Why do I feel like you’re keeping me at arm’s length? Back in the venue, you were always walking a distance away from me… mm! Yeah, like right now—what are you stepping back for?!”
“……”
You can’t blame me for stepping back.
If I get too close, I want to ruffle your hair!
Try to understand!
Wah, Ye Zhibai really hadn’t encountered such an adorable creature before this!
Well… Guang Yu sort of counted on the looks front, but with all that fox fur flying everywhere, petting her required caution.
Ahem, anyway, Ye Zhibai absolutely wasn’t being distant. She felt a real fondness for Little Qiu, this “long-time” online friend she’d finally met in person.
Ye Zhibai leaned forward slightly to lower her height, drawing close to the pouting Su Loli’s ear, and with a sidelong glance, hinted at Yun’er standing not far behind her.
“No, you’ve got it wrong. These doujinshi aren’t a gift for you—they’re just for you to hold onto for me.”
“Hold onto?”
“Yeah, did you see my little sister? She’s super serious. If I bring doujinshi home, it’s as good as dead. Our family rules are pretty strict.”
“She does seem kinda scary, huh? Uh, but Yezi, aren’t you older than her? You’re the big sister—how come you’re scared of your little sister at home?”
“Family hierarchy isn’t up for discussion right now. I’ll turn the tables eventually, but not today. A true master doesn’t sweat the small stuff or fight petty battles—they bide their time and strike when least expected.”
“Ha… you say some really hard-to-get stuff sometimes, Yezi. Alright, I get it—you want me to hold onto them. No problem. My folks never go through my stuff at home. But… you bought Citrus Saga Part 2 already, and you won’t get to check it out right away. What a shame.”
“Hiss… why aren’t you quicker on the uptake? Take some photos for me once you’re home.”
“Oh, of course…! Leave it to you, Yezi!”
Lolis are great, but their brains don’t always turn as fast!
This time, Su Yuqiu clutched the two full bags of doujinshi tightly, along with the cat plush from one bag that was already spilling its stuffing.
Little Qiu glanced at the message on her phone. With no free hands for a proper goodbye, she waved with a smile instead.
“Heading home! Mom says she’s nearby and coming to pick me up. We’ll chat tonight on QQ about today’s insights! Ah… I mean, if you have time. Darn… now that I know you’re a normie, I feel like I’m the only idle one left?!”
“We’ll chat for sure—as long as you don’t mute me.”
“No way! What kind of relationship do we have now? We bought doujinshi together! From now on, my group is your group!”
“Then hand over the group admin position to me?”
“Dream on.”
Ye Zhibai hurried back to join Yun’er and the others before Little Qiu’s mom arrived.
Polite? Should she greet her mom before leaving?
Absolutely not.
In real life, if you can slip away before your friend’s parents show up, you slip away!
Chatting idly with a friend’s parent is scarier than being socially awkward itself!
After a Black Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan pulled up along the street, the driver’s door opened once the car had come to a stop.
A capable woman in her middle years, dressed in a sleek pantsuit with cherry-pink short hair and a height that wasn’t particularly impressive, hurried out. She took the heavily laden bags from Su Yuqiu’s hands.
“Yuqiu…! You silly girl, that’s so heavy. Why didn’t you set it down and wait for the car?”
“Mom, I can handle it. Whoa…! Don’t look inside the bags!”
“What’s wrong?!”
“N-nothing…”
She’d nearly failed before even succeeding.
Once Su Yuqiu had climbed into the back seat with her short legs, her mom—who’d inherited the same petite stature and stood under 5’3″—lowered the driver’s seat to its minimum.
She started the engine and smoothly merged into the main road. As she drove steadily, she used the rearview mirror to observe her daughter’s antics.
Seeing Yuqiu humming a little tune and bobbing her head in rare delight brought a smile to the woman’s face as well.
“Were you happy today, Yuqiu?”
“Yeah! Couldn’t be happier! Mom, just like I told you, she’s a gentle, thoughtful, cute, and tolerant girl! She’s super pretty too! See, you and Dad were worrying too much~ We’ve been chatting online for years; I can vouch for her character! And get this—she loves cats. She recently picked up a little kitten? Oh, and also…”
The woman listened intently to her daughter’s enthusiastic recounting.
It had been so long—how long since she’d seen Yuqiu smile and laugh like this? Truly ages.
If she weren’t driving, she’d have whipped out her phone to record it.
At the same time, a faint glimmer of tears flickered in her eyes for a moment.
It quickly turned to relief.
Patiently waiting for Su Yuqiu to finish, the woman smiled and picked up the conversation.
“Yes, yes. I even told your dad to trust you. If my Yuqiu thinks someone’s good, they must be. But… did that girl have something urgent? She left in such a hurry. I wanted to meet her properly and thank her.”
“Well… Mom, let’s just drop it. Yezi’s like me—she’s not great with strangers socially… you know.”
“She should work on that. Still, inviting her for a meal is the least we could do. After all… she helped you out of your depression five years ago. Now that you’ve finally met in person, even our whole family turning out to thank her would be appropriate.”
“That’d scare Yezi half to death…”
The mood in the car stayed lively for a while.
Su Yuqiu kept sharing the day’s highlights.
But even the most vibrant atmosphere cools once the stories run out.
When Su Yuqiu’s excited chatter finally tapered off, they were only halfway home.
The woman, who had been nodding along up front, shared an update on their family cat, but even that petered out.
After a stretch of silence that contrasted sharply with the earlier enthusiasm, the woman hesitated before speaking.
She asked a question she hadn’t wanted to, but knew she had to.
“Yuqiu, have you been taking the medicine I brought you on time? One pill every three hours. You need to listen to the doctor.”
“I’ve taken it. It’s just asthma… You don’t need to remind me every day.”
“You can’t take family illnesses lightly. If I don’t remind you, you always forget, don’t you?”
“I don’t always forget… It was just once or twice.”
Grumbling reluctantly that it “wasn’t necessary,” Su Yuqiu pulled the small white medicine bottle out of her bag again. She shook out a pill into her palm and tossed it into her mouth.
Su Yuqiu’s mama handed her a bottle of mineral water from the front seat.
Only after supervising her daughter to swallow the pill did she relax.
Su Yuqiu gulped it down hastily, as if eager to banish the sight of the bottle. She quickly stuffed it back into her bag.
The rest of the ride passed in near-total silence.
But Little Qiu’s heart… wasn’t as calm as it seemed.
After all, the screen on her phone hadn’t gone dark once.
On that screen was a photo she’d just taken with Ye Zhibai.
And in the background behind them…
…stood the impeccably lined-up Ye Family Maid Corps.
Little Qiu gazed left and right at her phone, and without thinking, she started humming a tune in her childish voice.
Her Bluetooth earbuds, long since out of battery, suddenly felt more superfluous than ever.
“Sister, did you send her back?”
“Yeah, she’s gone. Her mom picked her up.”
“I see. I wondered why she refused the car I arranged for her. Turns out her mom was coming to get her—that makes sense.”
Not quite, Yun’er. I don’t think that’s the only reason she didn’t want to ride with the Maid Corps.
At the root of it, she has social anxiety!
That said…
Ye Zhibai glanced at Ye Zhiyun and Lin Zihan.
Her cool tone was most effective in moments like this.
“I didn’t ask earlier… but you two, why are you here? Especially you, Zihan. Didn’t you say you weren’t feeling well and took the day off?”
“!”
Lin Zihan let out a whistle that didn’t quite whistle!
“Heh heh heh… Wonder why~ Haha, I was just picking up medicine for my illness and happened to pass by! Right, Zhiyun?”
“Sister’s asking you. Don’t drag me into it.”
But Ye Zhibai’s questioning was a combo move: “You too, Yun’er.”
“Sister! I object! I absolutely wasn’t trying to tail you!”
“Really?”
“Really…?”
Don’t answer my question with another question. That doesn’t count as an answer.
Ye Zhibai let out a light sigh. She was done interrogating them.
After all… when the stalking stemmed from concern, pressing further was just asking for awkwardness.
Ye Zhibai just wanted to tease them a little in retaliation.
Under their tense gazes, Ye Zhibai finally relented with a suggestion.
“Whatever… Let’s head home. I’m tired.”
“You got it, Sister! Home sounds great!”
“Yeah, yeah, Little Bai’er, home it is~ Ahem, I mean, I’ll go back to my own place. Happy now?”
Lin Zihan had to admit, Ye Zhiyun was a little devil—every glance from her was like staring into the abyss, downright scary!
Look at her—Little Bai’er was the total opposite. They were sisters, but one was a devil and the other an angel.
Angel Ye Zhibai duly made an angelic proposal to Lin Zihan.
“Zihan, it’s still early. Want to come over to my place for dinner?”
“Yes! I’d love to!” Lin Zihan didn’t hesitate for a second.
“Wah, Sister, she doesn’t deserve it.”
“Yun’er, isn’t it a joy to have friends visit from afar?”
“Fine… I get it.”
Good girl, Yun’er.
And with that, the plan was set.
But they’d only exchanged a couple more words when Lin Zihan’s phone rang.
She turned away to take the call. They couldn’t hear the voice on the other end, but her responses were audible.
“Hello? Yeah… Mom, for dinner, I was thinking of eating out… No, it’s fine. I’ll head back right now to eat. Yeah, I know, I know. Huh? I’m not secretly working a job! I’ve just been out these past few days to clear my head, that’s all. You and your wild guesses. Yeah, okay—you go rest after closing up the flower shop. I’ll make dinner when I get home. Alright, talk soon. Bye.”
She hung up.
Lin Zihan turned back, phone in hand, giving a wry smile as she spread her hands and shrugged.
“That’s how it is, Little Bai’er. Sorry~ Not today. Rain check? I’ll definitely come mooch a meal at your place next time—I’ll eat all your rice!”
“Choke on it…” Yun’er shot her a glare, her words venomous.
Ye Zhibai nodded in understanding.
Zihan was as busy as ever. If she had to go home and cook, there was no point making it harder for her.
Now they could finally head home… It should have felt straightforward.
But Ye Zhibai couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she’d forgotten something important.
The thought lingered in her mind.
It wasn’t until the Maid Corps vehicles were nearly at their destination that the string in Ye Zhibai’s head finally snapped into place.
Oh crap!
My fox!
“Yun’er… hold on a sec.”
“Hm? What’s up, Sister?”
“I’m going to buy a bottle of water. Thirsty.”
“Uh… but there’s some in the car…”
“I like the iced kind. Be right back.”
“Okay… sure?”
Hurry up, Guang Yu!
Stop staring at that stupid figurine.
Get a move on and catch up with the group, or you’ll be running home on your own!
