Because Sister Liang had already met Guang Yu yesterday.
Ye Zhibai finally had a chance to voice some things she’d held back before, pouring them out to Sister Liang without a care.
“Sister Liang, actually, about those osmanthus cakes—I grabbed a bunch from the cemetery back then. I tried a few, and sure enough, they tasted just like they did when I was a kid. Delicious.”
She finished speaking.
There was a long silence from Sister Liang’s end.
Ye Zhibai thought her gigabit connection must be lagging!
She shook her phone, hunting for a better signal.
Only then did Sister Liang speak up, her voice full of heartfelt pity. “Little Bai… We’re frugal and all, but we don’t need to take stuff from a cemetery to eat! We didn’t back when we were kids, and we sure don’t now! I had no idea you loved osmanthus cakes this much… Say no more. If that’s the case, three boxes definitely won’t cut it. I’ll call the shop right now and order three more!”
“Let me explain. I can explain.”
Sister Liang, I really wasn’t as pitiful as you imagined.
There was a reason for it!
Sneaking bites of her own offerings wasn’t going too far.
Even if those offerings were meant for the gods, Guang Yu chowing down on them was perfectly fine!
After all, Ye Zhibai and Guang Yu—one person, one deity—worked in perfect sync, devouring those cakes with zero guilt.
Explaining that logic to Sister Liang was just the warm-up.
What Ye Zhibai really wanted to get to was the punchline.
“The osmanthus cakes I brought home? Guang Yu ate almost all of them.”
She’d hauled back about thirty pieces in total, and Guang Yu had scarfed down twenty-eight.
Hey!
The cat-shaped Guang Yu trembled with rage.
Sure, it was the truth—but you didn’t have to say it like that!
Eating wasn’t “foraging.”
Foraging had been the ironclad law of the universe since the ancient era, long before humans even existed—survival of the fittest!
Could she blame her for eating faster? No way!
It was like forgetting to bring in the laundry before a rainstorm and then getting mad at the rain for soaking your clothes!
Blame yourself for not hustling to grab them!
Guang Yu’s rebuttal was passionate, logical, and airtight.
Ye Zhibai nodded along vigorously, with Sister Liang witnessing it all on the screen.
She waited patiently for Guang Yu to finish laying out her case.
Cough… Though the sight of the little tea cat in the bedcovers all fired up and talking like that was pretty heart-stirring.
Once she’d aired every last bit.
Ye Zhibai replied calmly, without a hint of backing down. “Guang Yu, you’re right about everything. But the times have changed. Survival of the fittest these days comes with a moral dimension.”
“Ack? You saying we’re immoral? Nonsense! Back in the Heavenly Realm, everyone called us the Dao De Jing Master!”
I bet… your fellow deities were just messing with you, right?
Wah, Heavenly Realm had workplace bullying too!
Ye Zhibai felt a pang of sympathy—and kept right on needling the scummy fox.
“Fine, Dao De Jing Master. All I want to know is, we agreed on a fifty-fifty split for the osmanthus cakes. So how come I ended up with just two?”
“Probably… because our stomach had ideas of its own.”
“Oh, Dao De Jing Master. Name checks out.”
“……”
Was this the sting of moral condemnation?
Yes.
Survival of the fittest was one thing, but you had to get this straight.
Those who stuck strictly to that principle and ignored every other rule?
We generally called them—
scumbag.
Sensing another legendary debate brewing between the two goofballs, Sister Liang hurriedly waved her hands with a wry smile, playing referee. “Alright, alright… You two need to get along—no fighting. Looks like little sister Guang Yu has quite the appetite. This batch should be plenty for you both~ A little give-and-take, some mutual tolerance, and the sky’s the limit!”
Ye Zhibai nodded repeatedly.
She admired Sister Liang’s boundless tolerance, her ocean-like capacity to embrace it all.
Even as she nodded her approval, Ye Zhibai crossed her legs in the bedcovers and clamped down on the cat-shaped Guang Yu with a brutal leg lock!
That’ll teach you to steal!
Dare to do it again?
Guang Yu frantically patted Ye Zhibai’s little feet with her paws.
You people! With Aunt Flo crashing your place, you still got the strength to fight us?
How come you’re not this feisty when your little sister has you pinned down?
Total bully—picking on the soft ones!
Ye Zhibai, you really should take a page from Chi Yuliang’s book. She’s so objective about everything.
That thought had just flickered into Guang Yu’s mind when—
Sister Liang chimed in from the other end. “Eh… little sister Guang Yu? You still there? Can you hear me?”
“We hear you. What’s up? And quit calling us ‘little sister.’ Add up your age and Ye Zhibai’s, multiply by a few hundred, and you still wouldn’t match ours.”
“Mm-hmm, well then… Guang Yu, I figure since you’re such an ancient deity, you’ve seen it all! You won’t sweat the small stuff like a bit of food. Little Bai’s loved osmanthus cakes since she was little. This time, I hope you’ll let her eat her fill first before you two share? If she doesn’t get enough, that’ll be a real headache…”
“……”
See? Even the biggest-hearted folks had their biases!
All part of the game!
Damn it—with the osmanthus cakes on the way, she really couldn’t bring herself to dig in first now!
Morals were no joke.
Chatting with Sister Liang was always such a blast.
She could hear the clatter of pots and pans seeping under the door from the kitchen—Yun’er hard at work in there.
Thanks a ton, Yun’er. Whatever you’re whipping up, I’ll polish it off.
But please…
Don’t burn through the pot this time!
It was a brand-new one!
Remembering that poor pot brought another wave of cramps crashing over Ye Zhibai.
She’d planned to set her phone aside, close her eyes, and nap until mealtime.
But just as she picked it up to do so—
Ye Zhibai spotted something at the very bottom of the messaging screen.
Had Little Qiu sent a message too?
Cough, cough… Sorry about that. Lately, she’d been passing out left and right, dehydrated as hell, and sometimes she just didn’t have the energy to check her notifications.
The ever-busy Ye Zhibai tapped open the chat.
She peered closely.
And felt utterly baffled.
Little Qiu hadn’t sent some random nonsense. No, it was an Excel spreadsheet attachment.
Curiosity piqued—and a touch puzzled—Ye Zhibai opened the file.
Uh… let’s see here.
8:15—Meet at West City Square. (Or a bit early.)
8:30—Buy two drinks to sip on the way. (If Yezi doesn’t like drinks, just stroll around nearby.)
8:45—Line up early at the entrance. (If it’s packed—
It took Ye Zhibai a moment to process it.
This was the action plan for Comic-Con!
Talk about impressive.
She scrolled through carefully. Little Qiu had put real effort into this—scheduling out every ten or fifteen minutes, complete with contingency plans for hiccups.
Ye Zhibai’s first thought: Little Qiu must be one of those super-organized girls in real life!
Her second thought?
Exhausting!!
They hadn’t even hit Comic-Con yet, and filling out a schedule like this would wear anyone out!
No plan survives contact with reality, Little Qiu.
I say we wing it on the day!
Even so…
As Ye Zhibai held up her phone, she felt a spark of novelty and excitement bubbling up.
This was the first time anyone had ever made such a detailed itinerary just for her.
No matter what, with Little Qiu taking this Comic-Con outing so seriously, Ye Zhibai had to show some appreciation.
Her fingers danced across the screen as she typed.
“Impressive work, my Qiu. Alright, we’ll stick to your plan.”
Little Qiu’s replies were always lightning-fast!
This one? Even quicker.
“? Yezi, you! Who’s ‘your Qiu’?! (fuming) Finally got back to me? I thought you were gonna ditch me!”
“No way that’s happening. Ye Someone here always keeps her word—never flakes on anyone.”
“Good to hear. Take a look—anything to add to the plan? Need more details? Is it still not thorough enough?”
More details my foot!
Precise down to every ten minutes? That’s already bonkers!
Ugh, once Aunt Flo packs up and leaves, we’re gonna have the time of our lives.
And heal this ache in my heart!
