Guang Yu finally got it. In the Mortal Realm, there was a force even more powerful than divine power—one called the almighty power of money.
This power of money was seriously no joke. It didn’t even require a perception barrier; all it took was one line—”I’ll cover the tab for the whole place”—and every diner in the restaurant would instantly go blank and start heaping praise on Ye Qinghe!
Incredible. Absolutely incredible.
Lesson learned.
Too bad she was broke and unworthy of wielding it.
With all the commotion, Ye Qinghe had no choice but to slip out of the restaurant ahead of schedule.
His identity was out in the open now. Sticking around would just lead to him being mobbed for an impromptu press conference.
So, shortly after he left, Ye Zhiyun’s phone lit up with a message from Old Dad.
“Yun’er, you and Zhibai keep eating. No rush—no one’s spotted you two. Once you’re stuffed, head to the parking lot. I’ve got the Maid Corps’ car waiting to take you home. Oh, and give my regards to the Lin family’s girl. She’s working at our restaurant, after all; it’d be rude not to say hi. And thank her properly for befriending Zhibai. That’s important.”
Ye Zhibai had already taken off her sunglasses.
Blinking her big eyes, she noticed Yun’er staring at her phone with a slight frown and curiously piped up.
“Yun’er?”
“Hm? It’s nothing, Sis. Old Dad says we should just head home after eating our fill. He’s probably off to the company already.”
Sneaky Yun’er had conveniently ignored the second half of Old Dad’s message.
Sure, sure, saying hi to Lin Zihan was the polite thing to do, etiquette-wise.
But come on—had to consider the situation!
The situation was that Ye Zhiyun was out enjoying a rare sisterly meal. What a perfect two-person world!
Why on earth would she go out of her way to drag Lin Zihan over? That would be downright stupid!
Yun’er weighed the pros and cons in her mind, nodded to herself, satisfied with her flawless logic.
But then came Ye Zhibai’s calm reminder.
“Yun’er, looks like Lin Zihan’s heading this way. She’s probably coming to see us.”
“Pfft-cough…!”
Sloppy.
She’d figured enemy doesn’t move, she wouldn’t move—but who knew the enemy would launch a preemptive strike!
Of course! With Ye Qinghe covering the whole bill, cashier Lin Zihan was suddenly out of a job!
Ringing up a hundred tables one by one versus lumping them into a single tab? Worlds apart in workload.
With downtime on her hands, she’d naturally come check on her little angel first thing!
Ye Zhiyun looked up and spotted Lin Zihan striding over in a simple khaki casual long shirt and pants, her face beaming with a brilliant smile as she waved enthusiastically.
Seeing her friend approach, Ye Zhibai started to raise her arm to wave back.
But just as her arm lifted, Yun’er suddenly grabbed it tight—stopping it dead!
It was pure instinct for Ye Zhiyun.
Just like a cat guarding its food, staking her claim the moment a threat appeared was the way to go!
Claiming her territory was her right, no question.
But poor Guang Yu!
This had nothing to do with the little fox at first, but Ye Zhibai had been caught off guard when her arm got hugged, and her body tilted sideways.
—Right into Guang Yu’s shoulder!
“…!”
Guang Yu’s meticulously built Fishbone Pagoda, crafted from fish bones she’d just finished eating…
It came crashing down!
Tears welled up in the little fox’s eyes as she watched half an hour of hard work go up in smoke.
She wanted to scream her grievances.
Can’t you have some class?!
Can’t you watch your surroundings?!
Can’t you…!
Oh, right—Ye Zhiyun couldn’t see her.
No biggie, then.
Sigh… Better to rebuild from scratch than whine. Time to stay motivated.
This time, she’d make it even taller!
Fired up!
“Ye Zhibai, eat more fish. I need fresh bones for the grand project.”
“Crawl.” Lin Zihan had arrived and took the seat across from the sisters, sitting up straight and proper.
She met Ye Zhiyun’s food-guarding glare without flinching, responding instead with mischievous snark.
“Ahaha… Zhiyun? Look at you, all scowly. Not cute. I hear if women stay mad all the time, their hearts get as narrow as their minds. As your friend, I’m worried.”
“My heart could shrink to a pinhole and still be bigger than your rotten personality.”
“Aiya, thanks for the compliment! High praise.”
“Thick-skinned as you are, you’re invincible.”
“Trees without bark don’t last long either, but here I am. Proof I’m properly skinned~”
“You…!”
Delightful. Truly delightful.
Guang Yu kept building her pagoda while enjoying the show, dying to applaud!
But sorry—Ye Zhibai could no longer stand by.
Did you two have to bicker the second you met?!
Sure, you weren’t throwing punches anymore, but the verbal sparring was as intense as ever!
“Ahem.”
Ye Zhibai cleared her throat lightly—twice—and it worked like a charm.
Spotting the movement from Ye Zhibai, both Ye Zhiyun and Lin Zihan fell silent at once.
Their gazes turned to her in unison.
Oh boy.
Don’t just stop cold turkey when you quarrel! At least ease into it. Now she had no clue what to say!
She stayed quiet, but her good intentions shone through. Both Ye Zhiyun and Lin Zihan got the message loud and clear.
Lin Zihan understood perfectly—the one who suffered most from their spats was Little Bai’er.
So they both dialed it back on their own.
Lin Zihan even placed her hands neatly on her lap and turned to Ye Zhibai with genuine seriousness.
“Little Bai’er, before anything else—mind if I ask what that was all about? I heard Uncle Ye mention some charity performance… But I’ve been working here since yesterday, and no one’s breathed a word about it. So… that wasn’t staged, was it? Something real happened, right?”
“Yeah, Lin Zihan, let me explain…”
“Ah! We agreed last time—no ‘Lin Zihan’! It’s Zihan!”
“……”
Ye Zhibai felt awkward bringing up her own heroics—it was weird to toot her own horn to a friend, even for the friend’s sake.
Naturally, the storytelling fell to Ye Zhiyun.
And Yun’er had the chops—she could deliver a two-hour Gaokao pep talk off the cuff!
She recounted her sister’s heroic tale with overflowing pride, painting it in vivid detail!
“…And that’s how it went. Ah… Sis’s poise—I’ll be reliving it in my dreams tonight. That courage to stand up for a friend? Yun’er admires it!”
Bragging proudly one second.
The next, she shot Lin Zihan a glare.
“But just so we’re clear, Lin Zihan—Sis did stand up for you, sure. Don’t get cocky and misread it. It’s just her stellar character, not ’cause you mean that much to her! Get that straight.”
For once, Lin Zihan didn’t fire back at Ye Zhiyun.
She was too stunned.
She’d imagined every possible angle to the incident.
But never in a million years did she think it started because of her!
And… Little Bai’er stood up for me…
Ah… what to do.
Her heart was pounding wildly, out of control.
After a moment of silence, Lin Zihan stood up.
She turned and patted the spotless sofa.
“Hold on, there’s some dust on the sofa.”
There was no dust—the sofa was pristine. New store, brand-new furniture.
But she had to turn away.
Because…
Wahh, her face was burning up. Of course she had to duck and hide!
