Yun’er was finally fully satisfied. She cherished the lingering wonderful sensation on her cheeks before heading out to prepare lunch.
Of course, she had made a special point of instructing Ye Zhibai: if Lin Zihan tried anything shady, Big Sis should just shout for help at the top of her lungs, and she’d come running!
Ye Zhibai smoothed out the wrinkles on her dress that Yun’er had rubbed into it. She couldn’t help but think that Yun’er was clearly very capable—not in that nighttime sense, of course—yet overly cautious to a fault.
As if Zihan could possibly have any shady intentions.
Look at her out there in the yard, watering and loosening the soil like a happy, innocent little sprite.
She was a joyful little sprite, not some threatening little imp.
Little Zhibai sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her snow-white legs back and forth, in a pretty good mood.
Tomorrow morning, the Gaokao scores would be released… That was a little nerve-wracking; best to set it aside for now.
What really mattered was that in just a few days, the Comic-Con she’d scheduled with Little Qiu would be here.
Then she could finally meet Little Qiu in person offline and officially become friends.
And right now, Zihan was working in the yard.
Ye Zhibai had never felt her friend-making potential quite so abundant!
To think… she was actually about to have two friends at the same time… She was basically a normie now!
Okay, fine, real normies probably wouldn’t be this pathetic about it.
But let’s be real—her future looked bright as hell, Guang Yu! You said I couldn’t make normal friends?
You could still backpedal now. I won’t kick you while you’re down over your bad call.
Guang Yu could only respond: This one’s up to fate. You’re powerless.
“Little Bai’er! Come take a look at these scallions—wouldn’t they look better planted over on the west side of the yard?”
“Coming.”
See? An ordinary friend calling out to her in the most ordinary way!
Ye Zhibai hopped up, pushed open the small door next to the floor-to-ceiling window, and stepped out into the yard.
A natural breeze, worlds apart from the stale air inside the room, swept over her. It awakened every cell in her body, cool and refreshing.
The sheer comfort made Ye Zhibai squint her eyes and stretch lazily, extending her limbs.
Mmm ah…!
She’d barely started the stretch, not even fully extended yet, when Ye Zhibai let out a soft yelp and quickly dropped her arms.
Cough, cough… it’s fine.
Mainly… the spot where Yun’er had rubbed her cheeks earlier still held some lingering sensitivity that hadn’t quite faded.
Stretching like that brought a strange friction from the dress fabric that forced Little Zhibai to rein herself in.
Everyone knew girls only wore half their usual underthings with sleep dresses or nightgowns.
Out of two pieces, one was plenty.
That morning, when Ye Zhibai had swapped her sleep dress for a regular one-piece due to her natural laziness, she’d stuck with the sleep-dress underwear setup.
All things considered…
She’d just gotten a firsthand feel for what stretching did in that configuration.
From Lin Zihan’s perspective, she had no proof, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Little Bai’er had suddenly turned a bit… steamy, just for an instant?
Lin Zihan had been through life’s wild ups and downs, coming to truly appreciate that simple and plain was the real deal.
But even she couldn’t help swallowing hard at Little Bai’er’s little display.
No, no, no.
It was just a tiny waver~ I-it’s… fine, really.
“Zihan? Zihan? The water’s spilling.”
“Hm? Does Little Bai’er want some water? I’ll pour you a glass—warm or cold?”
“No, I mean the sprinkler.”
“Sprinkler…? Sprink—wah!!”
This is killing me with anxiety!!
Ye Zhibai spoke slowly, without much inflection, and could only watch helplessly as the sprinkler drooped in Lin Zihan’s hand, splashing a good half onto her own shoes.
It was already an emergency, and she couldn’t talk fast to boot—even worse!
Zihan, what were you even thinking to get so flustered?!
Lin Zihan hurriedly steadied the sprinkler, then cheekily wiped nonexistent sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Whew~ No biggie. Hey, Little Bai’er, check it out—I wear these waterproof boots for yard work! The Ye Family sure knows how to gear up.”
Earlier, peeking through the leaves, Ye Zhibai hadn’t seen clearly.
It was only when Lin Zihan stepped to the side that she spotted the blue rubber boots—like rain boots—encasing her legs.
The things really could handle any amount of water.
But that wasn’t an excuse for fumbling the sprinkler!
Ye Zhibai shut the small door behind her and descended the two little steps into the yard.
By now, Zihan had thoroughly watered the entire Flower Field with the hose.
Without waterproof boots, Ye Zhibai couldn’t step inside, so she stopped at the edge. She turned and surveyed the Flower Field that Zihan had tended so carefully all morning.
On the surface, it didn’t look much different.
In truth, it was full of subtle wonders.
“The Flower Field somehow feels neater now. No more mess.”
“Little Bai’er spotted it that quick? Here, look—this is the divine artifact!”
“!”
Don’t say “divine artifact”!
It’s creepy—why drop that term?!
Startled, Ye Zhibai narrowed her eyes.
But steeling herself to look at what Lin Zihan held, she realized it wasn’t that kind of divine artifact.
It was a hefty pair of manual pruning shears, the sort you gripped with both hands to trim plants and pots.
Lin Zihan worked the handles, making them snap like lobster claws—click click.
Her naturally expressive blush-colored right eye lit up with pride as she talked about it.
“Ha… It’s a trick I picked up peeking over Mom’s shoulder~ She’s a pro with these; the Flower Shop used to hire out all the trimming, but she handled the whole load solo.”
“Eh… your mom must be incredible. I noticed the shop didn’t have a single employee.”
“Right? She’s boss and staff. I begged her to teach me so I could pitch in, but nope—Mom flat-out refused. So infuriating; won’t even teach her own daughter? The skill would’ve died out~ Good thing I’m a quick study at sneaking peeks.”
“Why not teach you?”
“Said I’m not cut out for rough work.” Lin Zihan spread her palms and shrugged, sighing dramatically with a mischievous glint. “Sigh, as if suitability matters—what counts is if it works. Little Bai’er, see~? Isn’t my trimming pretty decent?”
Lin Zihan left out Mom’s actual words: The Lin Family’s Eldest Miss can’t stoop to such menial tasks!
Ah~ A big part of her summer job hunt had been Mom forbidding her from even shifting flower pots at the shop.
Math and bookkeeping? Sure.
Physical labor? Lin Zihan was completely banned.
She’d tried fighting it, but Mom’s eyes welled up fast. No point reasoning then—she’d had to accept it.
Lost in those frustrating memories, Lin Zihan didn’t notice Ye Zhibai turning her head to closely admire the freshly trimmed Flower Field.
Decent?
This was a masterpiece.
The little Flower Field’s flowers and big scallions had been a total mess before—scattered, crooked, all over the place.
Now? Completely transformed. No matter the angle, everything aligned in perfect, seamless rows: neat and gorgeous.
Ye Zhibai wasn’t any kind of expert, and her gut reaction at first glance had been that universal stunner: holy crap.
She wasn’t exactly cultured; “holy crap” got the job done anywhere.
But these days, she had some status—at minimum, an ID card. Ye Zhibai swapped the crude term for something polite (if not exactly eloquent) and murmured it softly.
“Mm. Very pretty.”
“Really?! Thanks, Little Bai’er—this is the first time anyone’s praised my trimming! Ah… Little Bai’er stole another one of my firsts. You gotta take responsibility, okay~?”
Oh my God, that smile of hers outshone the flowers.
What a cutie—just a shame about the motormouth.
With Lin Zihan’s handiwork approved…
Ye Zhibai had just one more reminder.
“The Flower Field looks great… Just keep a sharp eye out for that one tawny little cat from now on, and you’re golden.”
“Pfft-ha… You mentioned it before, but seriously, Little Bai’er—are you messing with me? I can’t buy a cat wrecking the whole Flower Field. If it’s a joke, though, it’s hilarious~”
“……”
You think that’s a joke?!
Only someone who’s never known the terror of Guang Yu’s dominance could spout something so clueless!
Ye Zhibai’s blood pressure skyrocketed. She whipped around, determined to lay out the ironclad logic to Lin Zihan!
Unfortunately… she turned too hard.
Right underfoot: the thin hose, still trickling water.
Balance lost.
It’s over.
I’m going down!!
“Ah…” (deadpan.)
“Little Bai’er! Careful!”
Splash!!
Mud and petals flew.
The butterflies amid the flowers scattered in panic, wings fluttering as they fled the bumbling pair.
A mere pair of waterproof boots? Useless now.
