Once upon a time, Ye Zhibai had harbored a simple yet grand dream.
One day, she wanted to rest her head on a beautiful girl’s lap and experience for herself what a lap pillow really felt like.
Comics had hyped it to the heavens, claiming it was the most wonderful pillow in the world.
She had gotten a taste of it from Sister Liang before, and after trying it out, Ye Zhibai had reached a firm conclusion.
Indeed, it was.
And today…
She had realized this grand dream once more—in a completely different way!
At this very moment.
Beautiful girl: check.
Lap pillow: check.
The only thing a little off was that Ye Zhibai had gone from being the one giving the lap pillow…
To the one receiving it!
She glanced down at the blonde girl lying on her thighs, still unconscious.
Ye Zhibai tried shifting her crossed legs in their kneeling position, only to be met with a muscle cramp of stinging soreness shooting through her body.
Hiss…
Her legs had gone numb. It was agonizing!
As expected, even the good things in life came at a cost. She was grateful that Sister Liang hadn’t kicked her out after half an hour back then.
Even though her legs were numb, Ye Zhibai didn’t dare move recklessly.
Zihan had just taken a divine headbutt from Guang Yu and passed out on the spot. Based on Ye Zhibai’s limited medical knowledge, she judged there was no serious injury—just let her lie there a bit and she’d probably wake up.
Letting her lie there meant Ye Zhibai couldn’t just drag her around willy-nilly, lest she bump her head again. So the closest option was to let her rest on her lap like this, which also made it easy to watch for signs of her waking.
“Not bad for me—my headbutting skills haven’t dulled a bit! You know, back in the heavens, Ye Zhibai, one headbutt from me sent my colleagues scattering in all directions! Even the Mother Goddess praised me, saying she ought to twist my head right off!”
“Are you proud of that?”
“You bet I am!”
As expected of a deity— even her sense of pride was so uniquely her own.
And no need to keep hinting about me buying you wasabi as a reward. With that headbutt of yours, any chance of wasabi went up in smoke.
Poor Zihan was on the clock right now. That hit had to count as a workplace injury at minimum!
Whew… If not for the fact that Zihan and I are good friends, you’d be on the hook for compensation, Guang Yu. Forget wasabi—you’d probably have to fork over that osmanthus cake too.
No payout needed now, so count your lucky stars.
This was the first time in two lifetimes that Ye Zhibai felt like she had a grasp on the ways of the world.
Look at me, making something of myself.
But seriously, why hasn’t she woken up yet?
She looked down at the profile framed by gold hair—beautiful as a painting, her cheek pressed snugly against Ye Zhibai’s thigh. Her face had regained its healthy flush, yet she showed no signs of stirring.
She should be waking up by now…
Zihan.
I trust we’re friends and all.
But don’t go trying to stick me with your injury claim!
Just as Ye Zhibai was about to check on Zihan again, the room’s tightly shut door was pushed open from outside.
“Sis~ It’s lunchtime! I made your favorite braised… Eek!!”
Eek?!
Yun’er, what was that bitter squeak—like you’d just crushed a sea urchin barehanded?!
Ye Zhibai jolted in fright and whipped her head around.
There stood Yun’er in her heart-patterned apron, face drained of color, eyes wide as she stared at her.
Without a word, Ye Zhiyun hurried over in panicked little steps to the front side of the bed.
From this angle, she saw…
Lin Zihan really was lying on her big sister’s lovely thighs!
Her already pale face turned utterly bloodless.
“S-Sis! What are you doing?! Why are you giving her that kind of blessing… Why let this Lin girl lie on your lap?!”
“It’s… a long story?”
Ye Zhibai realized she always seemed to spark bursts of creative thinking in crises.
Creative thinking, put another way, was the knack for bullshitting on the fly.
And sure enough, chilled by the icy aura radiating from Yun’er, Ye Zhibai already had her survival strategy ready.
“It’s a long story… but you deserve an explanation, Yun’er! Otherwise, how are we supposed to eat lunch?!”
“Don’t rush it. Man cannot live by bread alone—or rather, iron needs rice, steel needs meals. Lunch must be had.” Ye Zhibai rattled it off like plain fact, smooth as silk. “Zihan was out tending the fields earlier when she slipped on the ground, lost her footing, and fell backward into the edge of the hoe. See? She’s got this big red bump on her forehead.”
“Fell backward… and hit her forehead?”
“Maybe not backward—I didn’t see it clearly. Who knows how she fell, anyway. Point is, she passed out, so I brought her in here. No major injuries that I can tell, so I’m just keeping an eye on her.”
“…”
Phew… Good thing I played it smart and dodged the details.
Discussing her exact falling pose would’ve blown my cover!
Luckily, Ye Zhiyun had no interest in dissecting exactly how Lin Zihan had fallen right now.
Her eyes were full of lemons—pure sourness. She couldn’t see reality at all!
Her trembling little hands, amid her darkening expression, slowly reached for Lin Zihan’s collar, brimming with the dark urge to strangle her.
“Don’t worry, Sis… I’ll drag her out to the yard… Ahem, take her to the Maid Corps for treatment. You don’t know medicine anyway, so leaving her here isn’t a solution, right?”
“Right…?”
“So the top priority is getting her off your lap first! Nothing wrong with that, yeah?”
No, Yun’er, that’s not right!
The top priority is figuring out why she hasn’t woken up yet—saving a life here!
Just as Yun’er’s fingers, laced with some vengeful grudge, were about to touch Lin Zihan’s collar…
The blonde girl snapped her eyes open!
She shot upright like there was a spring under her!
Blinking the eyes peeking from beneath her golden bangs, Lin Zihan rubbed her right eye sleepily and looked around in confusion.
She started to stretch her arms, but spotting Ye Zhiyun’s ghostly glare, she dropped them back down.
“A- huh…? Wasn’t I just working? How’d I end up here? Oh, Little Bai’er! Do you know what happened?!”
“……”
“……”
How do you know you were just working?
That was the excuse I came up with while you were out cold!
Ye Zhibai was convinced she’d been awake the whole time, just playing dead—and the evidence was ironclad!
Yun’er grabbed at empty air, her face turning even colder.
“Lin Zihan, you shameless…!”
“Ahaha!! I gotta get back to work! Gotta soldier on through the pain, right? Duty calls with diligence! You guys carry on, Little Bai’er—I’m off to tend the flowers!”
Miss Lin Zihan: not letting a minor injury keep her from the front lines.
Her light-speed dash off the bed—shoes forgotten in her rush to the yard for refuge—that proactive spirit was truly worth emulating.
Yun’er was fuming inside.
But with the girl gone, she could hardly stoop to chasing her down for a beating.
Besides, she had no proof that Lin Zihan had deliberately taken advantage of her sister. That dazed look earlier suggested she’d really blacked out.
Yun’er turned back with a resentful glance at Ye Zhibai, who sat on the bed like a duck, expression still cool.
“Sis? Why not walk around a bit? Staying put on the bed like that isn’t good for you.”
“Legs numb. Gotta let ’em recover.”
“W-What?! Numb?! How long did you let her use your lap?!”
“Less than… less than ten minutes.”
“Then can I have a hundred minutes sometime? We can do installments! I’m not greedy!”
Looks like you two just think my legs are too intact!
Yun’er in this state was impossible to soothe, so Ye Zhibai simply nodded in silent assent.
Securing such a privilege, Yun’er’s deep blue eyes finally sparkled with joy. She even hopped a little in place from excitement!
That hop nearly landed on Guang Yu’s cat tail!
Landing steadily, Yun’er ogled her sister’s creamy thighs for a good while, thrilled…
Then her movements froze.
The look on her face—like she’d suddenly remembered something crucial.
“Yun’er?”
“Yeah… Sorry, Sis. Things got chaotic earlier, and I forgot for a sec. I came not just to call you for lunch, but to tell you about this thing—not huge, but not small either.”
“…What is it?”
Heh, I can guess. Whatever you’re on about probably isn’t that important.
You’ve spent all this time circling my thighs—if it were a real big deal, you wouldn’t have messed around like that.
Yun’er gathered her thoughts and sat on the edge of the bed.
She gently laid her little hand on her sister’s thigh, bold as brass, acting like it was the most natural thing.
Then she got to the point, speaking slowly.
“Here’s the thing—I can’t confirm it yet, but if the news is true… it looks like our missing mom… might have sent a signal back home.”
“……”
So, this is your “not huge, not small” matter?
Yeah.
Truly earth-shattering.
And not just the event itself.
But you, casually stroking my thigh with that grin, all nonchalant.
Mom’s coming back?!
