Ah… Having a sharp mind and high IQ was really great.
Smart people could always skip past words altogether. A single glance was enough for them to grasp the deeper meaning behind each other’s speech.
But Little Zhibai was different.
She didn’t get it.
Yet everyone assumed she was the first one who did.
You guys are making it really awkward for me to admit I don’t understand!
In the end, Ye Zhibai was forced to play along as if she understood, her mind buzzing with feigned wisdom as she made her way back to her two-story little villa.
Once back in her room, she couldn’t even be bothered to change out of her dress into pajamas. She kicked off her shoes, snatched up an ice cream bar, and flopped straight onto the bed, where she lay motionless.
Yun’er had gone off to take a shower.
She had complained about wearing that big trench coat all day, leaving her covered in sweat from head to toe. The moment they got home, she had eagerly dashed into the bathroom.
If she knew it would end up like this, why bother with the elaborate disguise to tail me in the first place?
Lesson learned. Next time, prepare a summer-weight trench coat.
At that moment, Ye Zhibai desperately wanted to sleep. She was exhausted.
But at the same time, she wanted to wait for Yun’er to finish her shower and come out, so she could figure out how to ask that burning question.
What school are we signing up for tomorrow, exactly?!
She wouldn’t be able to sleep without getting that clarified! Her OCD was kicking in hard!
She couldn’t drift off to dreamland without at least knowing where her future lay. That would be an utter betrayal of all the starry seas awaiting her in her dreams.
Guang Yu was squatting like a duck on the floor, fiddling with the figurine she had just unpacked from its box. When she saw Ye Zhibai return and immediately go as limp as a corpse, the Little Fox naturally had to check in with concern.
“Ye Zhibai, you alive?”
“Alive.”
“Phew… You scared me. I thought you’d suddenly kicked the bucket. What happened? Why’d you go all limp like that?”
As if to prove she was still among the living, Ye Zhibai barely managed to roll over on the bed.
She shifted from lying flat on her back to her side, her long, pale legs sheathed in thin silk stockings pointing toward Guang Yu—before going limp once more.
“Guang Yu… When someone’s not moving, it could mean they’re tired, not just dead. The Comic-Con venue… was way too huge. Didn’t you run around all day too? How come you’re totally fine?”
“I’m a deity! I could run laps around the Earth and not break a sweat!”
“Then go do that.”
“Nope.”
Smart one, aren’t you?
Oh, right… While she had a moment, instead of trading barbs with Guang Yu in a battle of wits, it would be more practical to check if her friends had made it home safely.
Her arms, heavy with fatigue, refused to obey her brain. With every ounce of strength, Ye Zhibai finally extracted the arm pinned beneath her and reached limply for the phone charging on the bedside table.
When she swiped open the messages, she found her friends had checked in long before she had—though not by much, just a few minutes earlier.
“Yezi, I’m home! You made it back okay?”
It was from Su Yuqiu, along with one from Lin Zihan.
“Little Bai’er, don’t worry. I’m home and getting dinner ready~”
Look at that, Little Qiu. Zihan knows how to make it visual.
She had even sent a selfie of herself in an apron, happily cooking in the kitchen.
Pfft… But was the former Eldest Miss Lin really okay with cooking? That elegant blonde hair and smile looked so out of place next to the spatula in her hand.
Oh, she knew exactly what was off about it.
Ye Zhibai tapped out a reply, pointing out the key issue in the photo.
“Don’t put the sunflower in the kitchen while cooking. Not safe.”
“Heehee… Got it~ I’ll move it now. I just wanted Little Bai’er to see the sunflower you gave me, right? It’s blooming so beautifully, isn’t it?”
I know you have the sunflower! You “show it off” every single time. Come to think of it, wasn’t that flower from your own family to begin with?!
There was a brief pause in messages—probably while she relocated the flower to her room.
Soon after, Ye Zhibai’s phone pinged with a two-second voice message from Lin Zihan.
Without a second thought, Ye Zhibai tapped play.
Caught completely off guard, she froze in place at the sound of Lin Eldest Miss’s sultry, winding voice emerging from the speaker.
“Little Bai’er sis~~”
“?!’
Um… Pretty nice voice…?
No!
Is my phone broken?!
It didn’t seem broken… This was a new phone, only a few days old. She couldn’t afford a replacement if it crapped out.
Since it wasn’t broken, what was with Zihan’s weird voice message?!
Guang Yu overheard and grinned crookedly, teasing her.
“Not bad for you, Ye Zhibai. Picking up another little sister out there?”
“No.”
She had no idea what was going on.
Ye Zhibai frowned slightly and fired off a follow-up question.
Before long, she learned the reason behind that message.
“Don’t mind it, don’t mind it~ I’ll delete it if Little Bai’er doesn’t like it. Here’s the thing: Didn’t you just tell me to be safe and not leave the sunflower in the kitchen? Doesn’t that feel just like a big sister looking out for her little sister? Hehe, I was thinking—if it’s not just Zhiyun who gets to have you, and Little Bai’er is my big sister too, wouldn’t that be wonderful~? Ah, gotta go. Oil’s heating up, time to cook. Talk later!”
“……”
Well… No need to delete it.
She couldn’t retract it anyway—two minutes had passed since Ye Zhibai’s reply, so the option was gone.
Ye Zhibai listened to the explanation again and quietly sent back an emoji.
A meowing cat shrugging its paws to say it was fine.
Yeah… She could understand. Zihan’s experiences must have left her pretty lonely. Lonely people craved affection deep down—like being protected or cared for. That was perfectly normal.
But! She didn’t have to direct that at me!
I saw her as a friend, but she wanted to be my little sister!
Ye Zhibai left Zihan to her cooking and returned to the main messages to reply to another friend.
Hey, her circle of friends was really growing these days!
“I’m home too. Get some early rest, Little Qiu. Comic-Con all day must’ve worn you out.”
“Huh?! Me, tired? Young people can’t admit to being tired, hahaha—just kidding~ I am a bit beat. Oh yeah, I hid your doujinshi for you. Tucked under the bed, safe and sound. It’ll be pristine when you come get it.”
Heh, lolis really were bundles of endless energy. No contesting that.
“No rush. Let the doujinshi stay there for now. I probably won’t pick them up anytime soon. Okay, get some rest. I’ll crash soon too. And remember your meds—don’t forget again.”
“Don’t bring up meds between good sisters! I’m out, early to bed, early to rise. Off to the supermarket tomorrow for cat food. Bai!”
Whoa, loli energy high, but bedtime early too.
It was only nine-thirty. That really was a kid’s sleep schedule.
True night owls thrived after midnight.
With her friends’ messages handled, Ye Zhibai suddenly felt a spark of cheer. Ahem, as a wrap-up to the day, she wanted to share her milestone achievement: her first-ever Comic-Con!
Sure, she was beat, but it was still a major step forward!
So, who to tell?
Sister Liang, of course!
Like you all have big sisters and I don’t?
Humming a tuneless little melody under her breath, Ye Zhibai tapped on Sister Liang’s avatar in her messages—a tasteful ink-wash painting of a solitary boat on water.
She had noticed earlier, before getting home, that Chi Yuliang had sent a message. But she’d been too busy wrestling with Guang Yu over the figurine to check it.
Perfect timing now!
Little Zhibai peered closely. Whoa, it was a long one.
“Little Bai, you there? Tomorrow’s the Gaokao application deadline. If you don’t see this, I’ll call you tomorrow—don’t forget. Decided on a school yet? No pressure. With my Little Bai’s talents, she’ll thrive anywhere and have a blast, so just pick what you like. Also.”
The message cut off there, resuming in a follow-up about five minutes later.
“Also, not sure if you have time? I pulled some strings for myself—a chance to invite Little Bai over to my place. Don’t hold back on me: This has always been my dream. As kids, I wanted you to visit all the time, but we never got the chance. You know why. But now that we do, I really hope you’ll come. It’ll fill that regret in my heart. If Little Bai says yes, I’ll cook up a huge feast myself.”
That was the end.
Ye Zhibai blinked her pale purple eyes. After reading the messages again in a daze, wild joy surged in her heart!
Sister Liang! This isn’t just your dream—it’s mine too! I’ve been dying to come eat your family’s rice… ahem, to visit your place!
Seriously, this had to happen.
Maybe… back when they were kids, separated against their will but wishing each other well from afar, only they knew the tangled pain of those unable-to-meet days.
This was fulfilling childhood dreams!
Way to go, Sister Liang!
Answering yes was a no-brainer, but Ye Zhibai decided to hold off a bit.
She still needed to ask Yun’er about the school choice. Once she knew, they could reply together. By now, Yun’er should be almost done with her shower.
Ye Zhibai pondered in her mind how to phrase her question without sounding like a total dimwit. She tossed her phone aside, and it bounced up and down two or three times on the soft bed thanks to its springiness.
Then, she extended her fair, glistening palm toward Guang Yu.
“Guang Yu, hand over the figurine. Let me take a proper look at it.”
“You’re going to confiscate it?! No way! I really like this Plastic Little Person!”
“You don’t even know who the character is… Fake 2D fan. I scoff at you. Sigh… well, you already bought it, and over a thousand bucks can’t be refunded. Consider it a gift from me. Hurry up and bring it over. I just want to check it out.”
“Oh… okay then. No confiscation, and I can keep looking too? Hold on… I just popped its head off earlier. Let me put it back on…”
You wasteful little fox!
Ye Zhibai seriously considered snapping Guang Yu’s head off for a moment, but once the figurine was in her hands, she quelled her murderous impulse.
Oh, no problem—it was one of those detachable types.
Ye Zhibai steadied the figurine’s white base in her palm and examined it from both sides. She honestly couldn’t tell if it was worth a thousand yuan.
She’d never seen one in person before and had always thought these things were a rip-off. No way should it cost four figures.
But up close like this… the craftsmanship was genuinely exquisite!
Ugh, it still wasn’t worth it. In Ye Zhibai’s eyes, dropping a grand on plastic was pure folly—but that was just the general principle.
Eromanga Sensei was dressed in a swimsuit and sunhat, beaming with a radiant smile. The textures on her clothes were crystal clear, and the overall sculpt was lively and dynamic.
Hmm.
As the saying goes, a person’s attention always drifts unconsciously to the most central feature of any object.
One second, Ye Zhibai was admiring the figurine’s craftsmanship… the next, her gaze had locked onto those big, pale legs without her even realizing it.
This had nothing to do with being lewd or the focus of the sculpting.
It was just… human instinct. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be all those short videos online called the “No-Legs Challenge.”
But the legs weren’t the point.
Ye Zhibai was simply curious… about what lay above them, under the hem of the skirt. Did they sculpt the underwear too?
Pure curiosity, that’s all!
Ye Zhibai knew nothing about figurines—this was the first one she’d ever touched in her life. You couldn’t tell her you’d never wondered the same thing the first time you saw one!
If the craftsmanship was this fine, it had to be perfect down to the last detail, right…?
Her curiosity swelling, Ye Zhibai slowly raised the hands cradling the figurine, shifting the weight upward.
Then she lowered them!
Not so fast… this shady business required total privacy. First off, Guang Yu had to be out of the way.
Feigning calm—though her expression was genuinely composed—Ye Zhibai glanced to the side.
The little fox Guang Yu, now bereft of her prized possession, had returned to her spot on the floor, fiddling with the figurine box.
Perfect—Guang Yu wasn’t watching this way.
This was the ideal moment to witness it!
Ye Zhibai had already checked off so many bucket-list items today: Comic-Con, meeting an online friend, and soon heading to Sister Liang’s place.
Adding one more triumph to such a stellar day was perfectly reasonable, wasn’t it?
Finally, after double-checking that Guang Yu still wasn’t looking, Ye Zhibai gritted her teeth—no foot-stomping—and quietly lifted her palm high in a discreet hoist!
From Ye Zhibai’s vantage, those long legs transformed.
Eromanga Sensei’s smile rose out of view.
And the scenery below the skirt hem… well, it was all there for Ye Zhibai to see in full glory.
Whoa… the detail work was seriously impressive!
A thousand yuan might still be a rip-off, but it was worth the trip.
Gazing at that pure white fabric and its sculpted contours, Ye Zhibai could only marvel at the artisan’s dedication—a rare craft indeed.
Another dream fulfilled. Content, Ye Zhibai prepared to lower her hands and end this sacred moment.
But—
“Whoa! You, Ye Zhibai, are such a perv! With a Plastic Little Person this exquisite, you skip straight to peeking under the skirt? And you deny being a massive lech? If there was a ‘Perv God’ title up in heaven, I’d nominate you in a heartbeat!”
“Huh?!”
Ye Zhibai slammed the figurine down onto her lap and pinned it there!
She looked up to find Guang Yu grinning mischievously right in her face, flashing her little tiger teeth. Those twitching ears seemed to be gossiping about the bizarre spectacle she’d just witnessed.
Who said Ye Zhibai never blushed?
She just needed the right trigger!
Guang Yu clearly saw it: Ye Zhibai’s grip tightened fiercely on the Plastic Little Person. Her usually icy features flushed crimson all the way to her earlobes, and she bowed her head in mortified shame!
At the sight, the little fox’s tail started wagging even faster!!
Guang Yu… you… you…
Playing dirty on me, huh?!
