Ye Zhibai never imagined that just before stepping out of the car, she would receive a cool straw hat identical to the one perched on Zihan’s head.
Little Zhibai clutched the wide, saucer-like brim with both hands. There was no need for light in her eyes.
That dazzling sparkle was shining deep in her heart.
She couldn’t say she loved the straw hat all that much—after all, it wasn’t exactly macho.
But at the very least, it looked like a great sun blocker.
And even better, it was free.
She spun the straw hat around in her hands a couple of times before tilting her head up timidly to gaze at the person who had given it to her.
It was Lin Zihan, who had just climbed out of the car and closed the door, all while shooting expectant glances at Ye Zhibai, clearly hoping she’d pop the hat on right away.
“This hat is really mine now… right, Zihan? Can I actually accept it?”
“Eh? Of course! I deliberately bought two identical ones yesterday—one for me and one for Little Bai’er. If you’re okay with taking it and don’t mind, I’d be burning incense to my ancestors from eight generations back!”
Whoa, come on, it’s just a little thing—no need to bother your ancestors over it!
Since she said it was fine, refusing any more would just make Ye Zhibai look like a bad friend.
She flipped the straw hat right-side up and carefully lifted it onto her little head.
Her caution wasn’t because she feared damaging the new gift.
No, it was her first time trying on a straw hat like this. She had to double-check front from back—or she’d climb right back into the car and head home.
In an instant, cool shade blotted out much of the sunlight.
Her silver hair gleamed undimmed beneath the hat, not a single ray obscured.
Under the shelter of something called friendship, Little Zhibai donned the straw hat and tilted her head just a bit. The motion left Zihan utterly stunned.
Because… it was as if time and space themselves were awestruck by such breathtaking beauty, warping and stuttering to a brief halt.
If time and space could be so amazed, what chance did a mere human have?
Sometimes Zihan wondered if Little Bai’er truly was a little angel banished from the heavens to the mortal world.
She was just too beautiful.
The outfit Ye Zhibai wore matched Yun’er’s style exactly.
The hat on her head was a perfect twin to Zihan’s.
A “complex ensemble,” to be sure.
And it wasn’t just Lin Zihan. As Ye Zhibai tilted her head to confirm the hat wasn’t crooked, Yun’er—who had just finished giving instructions to the Head Maid and was strolling over—caught sight of her and froze in dumbfounded awe.
Yun’er’s automatic praise radar kicked into gear!!
“Woo woo… Praise the sister! What have my eyes beheld right at the amusement park entrance…? Doesn’t matter—photo first! Group selfie for the memories!”
Huh? Hadn’t Yun’er always hated photos when they were out and about?
Now, with the amusement park’s cartoon castle gate looming right behind Ye Zhibai, Yun’er whipped out her phone, holding it horizontally in front of them. She pressed tight against Ye Zhibai’s shoulder, smiled brightly, gave her head a gentle bump against Ye Zhibai’s, shouted “cheese,” and unleashed a barrage of lightning-fast shutter clicks!
The real purpose wasn’t the photo at all—just as the drunkard’s heart lay elsewhere than the wine.
Everyone knew exactly what it was.
“Ei hey… ei heh heh heh! Jackpot! Perfect material for… cough cough!! Got Sister’s beauty shot secured! Wait, where’d this hat come from? Wasn’t there a second ago, but it looks pretty cute!”
“That would be me.” Zihan heard that and couldn’t resist slapping the back of her hand against her chest with a smug grin. “So, what do you think, Zhiyun? My gift to Little Bai’er. Didn’t you just say my fashion sense was stuck at third-century barbarian wasteland levels? Can’t deny it now—she looks amazing in it!”
“Tch! What even is this hat? It’s straight-up ruining Sister’s pure beauty! Take it off, Sister—it looks awful!”
“?”
Could we at least space out the double standards a little?
Ye Zhibai had said it before: Yun’er absolutely had a gift for those lightning-quick face-changes straight out of Sichuan opera.
The Head Maid gave two short honks on the horn before easing the car down the road and out of sight.
Somehow, Guang Yu had magicked a pint-sized straw hat onto her own head.
Except—she had it on backwards.
Hilarious.
Pay attention next time. Even if nobody could see her, she ought to reflect on that.
Hee hee hee. Hey, Guang Yu—if I were you, I’d have hopped back in the car ages ago to go home and bawl my eyes out.
Can’t even wear a hat right. What a klutz!
“Hm…? Sister, your straw hat’s on backwards. Here, let me flip it—mm-hmm, perfect now.”
“!”
This world had no roads to begin with. Hardheaded folks fell enough times, and eventually, they hammered paths into existence with their iron skulls.
A breeze carrying summer’s signature sticky heat swept past, mingled with the thudding footsteps and lively chatter of crowds in the distance.
Ye Zhibai patted the top of her head through the straw hat, her tone utterly nonchalant, as if nothing at all had just transpired.
—Utterly shameless.
“…Come on, let’s head in. Wind’s picking up.”
“Awo…! Sister, wait for me! Why the sudden speed? Careful you don’t trip!”
“Hee hee… Little Bai’er’s embarrassed, so I deliberately didn’t tell her~”
Hiss.
Zihan, that’s seriously not cool of a friend!
Before reaching the ticket scanners, Ye Zhibai glanced back over her shoulder. Her eyes swept along the brim of her straw hat.
Nothing but sun-dazzled leaves and throngs of milling people.
No sign of the one she was hoping to spot.
Sister Liang had said she’d turn up anytime… but maybe she wouldn’t?
Hard to say.
“Sister? What’re you looking at?”
“Nothing… let’s go.”
“Mm!”
The tickets might cost a fortune, but scanning them at the gate was still over in seconds.
The attendant zapped their passes with the machine—beep beep—and poof, thousands of yuan down the drain for those three tickets.
As Ye Zhibai stepped through the gate clutching her All-Area Pass Ticket, she made a silent vow: Today, she was going to play until she dropped!
There was such a thing as eating your money’s worth at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Amusement parks deserved the same payback!
But they hadn’t gone far when an earth-shattering scream rent the air.
“Holy shit! Holy shit!! I wanna go home!! I wanna go ho—! Waaaaaah!!!”
Boom rumble rumble, the screams trailed away on the wind.
In their place came the grinding roar of machinery on tracks.
She looked up at the sound. High above—dozens of meters off the ground—the roller coaster thundered past like a writhing dragon, somersaulting and twisting.
Down below it, visitors clung to trash cans, bent double in exaggerated retching.
They were… puking?!
The determination that had lit Ye Zhibai’s face moments before slowly drained away.
All-you-can-eat… maybe she didn’t need to gorge herself after all?
It wasn’t the truth she feared most, but the killer follow-up from her dear friend Zihan.
“Uwah… brutal. They say this park’s roller coaster is legendary. Word from a certain Mr. Zhang—who shall remain anonymous—is that one ride feels like life’s wildest roller coaster of ups and downs. At any moment—splat—the car’s still rolling, but you’re history.”
“……”
Ye Zhibai knew Zihan was freestyling the horror story on the spot, but it still sent a shiver down her spine.
Good lord… wonder if that unnamed Mr. Zhang was still kicking.
Once inside the park proper, Ye Zhibai drew hardly any stares.
That was Yun’er’s doing—as long as she was there, she always maneuvered to shield her sister in the safest spot.
Call it the love-for-Bai visual defense system: fully automatic.
“What does Sister wanna ride first? That roller coaster… well, it’s not quite as deadly as Lin makes it sound, but you’re an amusement park newbie. Too hardcore to start with. Pick something milder?”
“Mm… yeah, probably not.”
For now, let’s hunt down the carousel—that feels more my speed.
She thought it even as the roller coaster’s sheer spectacle left her reeling. That’s when she noticed something odd.
Yun’er.
Why have you been gripping my hand since back there?
And why’s it so refreshingly cool?
Ye Zhibai glanced down.
Yun’er cradled a bottle of sunscreen and was painstakingly slathering it onto Ye Zhibai’s little hand, rubbing it thoroughly front and back.
Painstakingly—even the soft, boneless gaps between her fingers got the full treatment from Yun’er.
Her technique was masterful.
“Mm… hold still, Sister~ Just a little sunscreen. Sun’s fierce today, and your skin’s so sensitive. Can’t risk a burn.”
“I can do it myself…”
“No no no! Please, let me take care of it!”
“……”
Stay put, and you’d think Yun’er was the picture of sweet attentiveness.
But then came that “gu heh heh” creepy chortle, and suddenly her hand cramped right up!
Hiss… weird tingle between the fingers. She wanted to yank free, but Yun’er latched on tighter.
This Yun’er—was she evolving her fingers on the fly or what?!
Guang Yu! Guang Yu…! Yun’er’s been off since the jump—bail me out!
Trouble? Call Guang Yu. Bored? Punch Guang Yu. That’s her selfless motto.
And true to form, Guang Yu stepped up.
The little fox rose on tiptoe, peering eagerly all around. She tsked dismissively at the roller coaster but lit up at something far more thrilling!
“Look, Ye Zhibai—clouds!! Those people are eating clouds!”
Eating clouds?
What, cloud-gobbling monster?
Ye Zhibai knew right away that wasn’t literal.
She followed Guang Yu’s bouncy gesture to a cluster of stalls near the entrance—and specifically, a rolling cart shop.
The cotton candy stand.
“You mean cotton candy?”
“What’s cotton candy?”
“It’s like clouds.”
“And what flavor are clouds?”
“Sweet.”
“Nyah, we ate clouds before. They had no taste at all. You called us a liar, but you’re the real liar! Nyah nyah nyah!”
!
Oh no, she’d run into a pro this time!
She’d actually eaten clouds before!
No matter. It was perfect, anyway. As the perfect kickoff to their amusement park trip, this was a great idea.
With that excuse, Ye Zhibai successfully stopped Yun’er from trying to slather a third layer of sunscreen onto her hand.
“Cotton candy… Yeah, if Big Sis wants some, I’ll go buy it! It’s not super healthy, but since we’re out playing, having a little once in a while won’t hurt. But before that! Let me put some sunscreen on your face first…!”
“I’ll do it myself. You go buy the cotton candy.”
“But…!”
“I said, I’ll do it myself.”
In this sweltering thirty-plus degree heat, what made Yun’er shiver all over, her breath catch, and her body go ice-cold?
It was Ye Zhibai’s words, so icy and merciless, sounding utterly heartless.
Her expression was chilling to the bone, like a warning.
But after a moment of silence, Yun’er’s tone suddenly brightened!
“Yes… Yes, Big Sis! I’ll go buy the cotton candy right now! Here… take this. Make sure to put sunscreen on your face too, okay? I’ll… I’ll go buy it now!”
“Got it.”
As Yun’er dashed off excitedly to line up for cotton candy, Zihan strolled over with one hand in her pocket. She lightly bumped Ye Zhibai’s shoulder and glanced in the direction Yun’er had run, curiosity lighting up her eyes.
“Little Bai’er, I’m actually kinda curious. How do you have this tigress so wrapped around your finger? In my memory, Zhiyun’s always been the stubborn type—impervious to persuasion and dead set on her own way. Even Uncle and Aunt couldn’t rein her in when she was little. She always acted like the queen of the world. But… every time you get even a little serious, she gets scared out of her wits. Look at her just now—she was trembling! Is this some kinda natural counter?”
“Don’t ask.” Ye Zhibai tilted her head back to gaze at the sky. That was all she said. “What you shouldn’t know, you don’t need to know. After all… the world’s a vast place.”
“Hm?”
Yeah, what you shouldn’t ask, don’t ask.
You think that was her trembling in fear? All I can say is, you’re still so naive.
Wahhh, you think Yun’er was the scared one?
Truth is, the one who’s terrified… is me!!
