“No… no problems now, right, Little Bai? Anywhere still hurting? If your head’s still dizzy, you have to tell Sis, okay? Wuu… I’m sorry. I was such an airhead today… How could I be so careless!”
“My advice? Let’s do it one more time… I mean, don’t worry—I’m totally fine now.”
Ye Zhibai herself had no idea what had happened.
Just moments ago, her consciousness had seemed to blank out for a bit?
She had felt herself plunging into soft, fluffy clouds, rolling around however she wanted, wild and free.
But then, as she rolled, her awareness had rolled right away with it.
When she opened her eyes again shortly after, she was lying flat on Sister Liang’s bed.
Looking up, she saw Sister Liang’s flustered, panicked face, completely at a loss—along with Guang Yu shaking her head back and forth at high speed, looking almost gleeful.
See? When it came to big principles, the difference in warmth between humans and gods was glaringly obvious.
Some people were the epitome of kindness.
While some gods… well, she really wasn’t human.
Supported by Chi Yuliang, Ye Zhibai sat up, shaking her still-foggy head.
She rubbed the back of her skull and finally pieced together the whole tragic sequence of events.
With her usual cool expression fixed in place, she stared down at her two little feet planted on the bedsheet, making their toes lightly bump together.
At last, Ye Zhibai steadied her jumbled emotions and sorted out the words she truly wanted to say.
“Look, Sister Liang… I might not be great with words, and I don’t know how to put it to ease your mind. But even if you’re worried, try to let it go, okay? You know me—I’m not ungrateful. You know better than anyone how we made it through before, and so do I. I really treasure Yun’er, but that doesn’t mean we have to drift further apart… And besides, if things really went that way…”
“If things really went that way…?”
“Um…” Ye Zhibai narrowed her eyes and buried her head in the space between her knees and her silver hair. Her voice dropped sharply. “If it really happened like that… I think… I’d feel lonely myself…”
“!”
Often, it was a tiny flicker of emotion or an utterly unexpected remark that plucked the deepest heartstrings.
Chi Yuliang’s breathing grew noticeably heavier for an instant. She swallowed hard, barely reining in the strange restlessness bubbling inside her.
“Little Bai… you dummy. How could Sis ever let you feel lonely? I’ve already reflected on it—I get it now. No matter where you go to college, you can’t escape the palm of Sis’s hand!”
“Woohoo!”
Another embrace, soft as drifting into the clouds!
This time, though, no risk of suffocation. Once bitten, twice shy—Chi Yuliang approached for a proper face-to-face hug, leaving Ye Zhibai plenty of breathing room.
Guang Yu shook her now-empty wasabi bottle and plopped down cross-legged on the floor.
Today she sported a black casual baseball shirt, so sprawling out like that didn’t risk any skirt-related embarrassments.
The little fox swayed her thick brown tail rhythmically from side to side, propping up her cheek with the back of her hand.
She watched the sisters’ embrace before her with keen interest—a picture of peaceful bliss.
~~~
Won’t let you feel lonely… ah.
Sigh… She really didn’t get it. How long was Mother Goddess planning to keep her exiled in the mortal world?
She had said that once Ye Zhibai started getting all cuddly, Guang Yu could head back to the Heavenly Realm. But Guang Yu was starting to think that condition was total nonsense.
Mother Goddess had spelled it out clearly: as long as Ye Zhibai happily snuggled with the girls she liked, Guang Yu’s divine power would recover along with the fulfillment of her soul.
Once she learned the warmth of human affection and banished her own loneliness, she could soar back to the Heavenly Realm, reclaim her godhood, and become a truly worthy, proper great deity.
But the whole thing was self-contradictory from the start.
Because… every time Guang Yu watched Ye Zhibai get cuddly like this, she felt lonely herself!
Watch the cuddles → no more loneliness → divine power recovers → return to Heavenly Realm.
That was the plan.
But somehow, the second step had gone completely off the rails!
Mother Goddess… was this trial of yours meant to temper my heart and soul?!
No, wait—bottom line, why did Ye Zhibai’s cuddling (or not) make Guang Yu’s own heart feel so icy cold?!
She grabbed the bottle for another swig of wasabi, but it was empty!
No wonder her heart felt so freezing!
While Guang Yu wrestled with grand existential questions about heaven, earth, and all humanity, Ye Zhibai and Chi Yuliang had finished up their mutual pampering session.
Chi Yuliang smiled and gently stroked Little Bai’s cheek, her words meltingly soft.
“There’s still a while before school starts… Come visit anytime you feel like it. Sis gets lonely way easier than you~ Uh… hold on.”
“What is it?”
“I gotta check the time. We were having so much fun chatting, I totally spaced.”
Even before standing to check her phone, Chi Yuliang patted Ye Zhibai’s head!
She had nearly forgotten—Miss Zhiyun had set a strict deadline.
Overrun that, and Chi Yuliang wouldn’t put it past her to smash the living room doorframe with a battering ram!
But all was well.
A quick glance showed it was thirty-five minutes past the agreed pickup time with Miss Zhiyun for sending Little Bai home.
No overrun.
But it was time to say a temporary goodbye.
Chi Yuliang’s original plan had been to claim some urgent errand when the clock hit and hustle Little Bai home early.
After all, she wanted to cover for Ye Zhiyun and keep quiet about her sneaky reconnaissance visit.
Miss Zhiyun had seemed pretty anxious about Little Bai finding out. Haha… makes sense—who wants their outings micromanaged? Little Bai especially loved her freedom, and Miss Zhiyun knew it.
So, for the sake of their sisterly harmony, Chi Yuliang had been ready to play the selfless courier.
But that was then. This was now!
Now that she was thoroughly enlightened, why torture herself?
Time to keep it real.
Sorry, Miss Zhiyun.
Chi Yuliang promptly spilled the whole “courier incident” to Ye Zhibai, who was perched on the bed’s edge slipping into her slippers.
“…So that’s the deal, Little Bai. Your sister’s calling you home—head on back. But heads up: don’t breathe a word of this at home. Get along with family, no arguments, don’t put her in a tough spot. Miss Zhiyun’s just looking out for you by sticking close, right?”
“…Yun’er did it again… Sigh, fine. You’re right, Sister Liang. I get the reasoning—I’ll go. But one thing you said is off.”
“Yeah?”
“‘My sister calls me home, so I gotta go’—wrong. Truth is, my standing at home’s pretty solid. It’s not like Yun’er snaps her fingers and I come running. Me going back? That’s my choice, active, not forced. Clear on that, Sister Liang?”
“……”
People had a knack for clamming up at the absolute worst moments, landing the most brutal psychological haymakers.
Don’t… don’t doubt it!
Ye Zhibai, face lost, shook out her silver hair and hopped to her feet. She clamped her mouth shut, opting out of further self-sabotage.
The more she tried to explain this mess, the worse it looked—like she couldn’t keep Yun’er in check at home.
Every slip came from words. No words? Bulletproof.
“Hey, Little Bai! Hold up—take these snacks for the road.”
“This… nah, I couldn’t.”
“Why be shy with Sis? Just say: you want ’em or not?”
“I do.”
“Take ’em, then. Mom nailed it—your fancy District 11 might be posh, but good luck finding treats like these. Finish ’em and crave more? Text me. I’ll hook you up.”
“Delivery girl again?”
“Bingo~”
Guess she should take them, then.
Even if they weren’t her fave… she might claim she wanted seconds?
Ye Zhibai took the snack bag and fished out a piece to sample right away.
But as it neared her lips, something made her pause and lower it slowly.
She let out a helpless sigh, her peripheral vision catching Guang Yu rolling the empty wasabi bottle across the floor.
“Come here, Guang Yu. Got a treat for you.”
“Treat?!”
Guang Yu sprang up in a perfect kip-up!
Her little fox tail spun like a propeller as she scampered over—and yep, there was the snack pinched in Ye Zhibai’s fingers!
Guang Yu’s eyes sparkled, but what surprised Ye Zhibai was that the glow in those starry blue depths wasn’t mirroring the treat.
No—the brilliance bursting in Guang Yu’s gaze was locked straight on Ye Zhibai’s own eyes.
“A miracle, Ye Zhibai! You’re voluntarily feeding me rations! Turned over a new leaf, have you?”
“Don’t act like I was some villain trying to starve you to death before… I just held back on the osmanthus cakes. Figured… you’ve been tagging along all day. Gotta be wiped, right? No big wins, but plenty of effort—not giving you anything felt a tad… yeah, overkill.”
“Wuu… thanks, Ye Zhibai! Knew you were a softie deep down! Gimme… mmph! So sweet!! Delicious!”
“Tasty, huh? Good… Hey! Said just that one—and now you’re swiping more?! These aren’t yours!”
“So what? One more! You don’t feed a deity just a single bite! Even tossing scraps to foxes at a tourist spot, who’d stop at one?!”
Only now do you own up to being a fox?!
However… Ye Zhibai couldn’t shake the feeling that Guang Yu wasn’t grabbing for the plastic bag with her usual gluttonous zeal.
Her snatching movements seemed more like she was just playing around.
And not truly desperate to devour the snacks inside?
No,
she was going at it for real!!
Amid the fierce tussle, Ye Zhibai finally managed to rescue a few pieces of pastry. She wolfed them down to ensure they wouldn’t fall into Guang Yu’s bottomless little mouth.
Chi Yuliang stood off to the side, her arms spread wide in exasperation as she smiled wryly and mediated the everyday scuffle between the girl and the god.
“Okay, okay… Before we head out, I’ll buy you two some more. It’s not like it’s some priceless treasure—look at you fighting over it. Uh… Little Bai? Turn your head for a sec.”
“Burp… Huh? What’s up, Sister Liang?”
“Don’t move, now.”
“What’s goi— Mmph?!”
The soft, glutinous pastry that Ye Zhibai had only half-swallowed froze right in her throat!
Because Chi Yuliang had suddenly leaned in close, cupped Ye Zhibai’s face in her hands, and pressed her own lips to the side of hers at a slight angle!
If Ye Zhibai wasn’t imagining things,
Sister Liang had even given her lips a light flick of the tongue!!
It lasted only a moment before Chi Yuliang pulled her head back.
All while Ye Zhibai stood there in horrified shock (deep in her heart).
Chi Yuliang then subtly licked around her own lips, crossing one arm over her chest as she tilted her head and smiled.
“You’re being too careless, Little Bai. You got sesame paste all over your lips just now. You can’t go out like that—you’re the Eldest Miss now, so you have to watch your image~ Got it?”
“……”
I wasn’t paying attention.
So you just went right in for the kiss, huh, Sister Liang?!
Your earnest teachings… this time, they’ve truly been etched into my heart!
