The breeze on campus wasn’t any sweeter than the one on the streets.
Ye Zhibai wasn’t actually experiencing the atmosphere of a school for the first time. In her previous life, she’d gone through elementary school, middle school, high school, and university in that exact order.
She’d ultimately perished in her sophomore year.
Cough!
It was just that in her previous life, she hadn’t attended a school as good as this one.
The schools she’d gone to were all ordinary middle schools, whereas Qihai No.1 Middle School was the most renowned high school in the city—not to mention the entire province.
The students there were all top-tier talents, to say nothing of the children from prominent families who gathered at the school.
They were smart and rich! The school itself couldn’t help but become famous!
Ye Zhibai shifted her gaze, taking in her surroundings.
The roads were broad. Though it was a high school, the scale of the buildings rivaled a university. The main asphalt road—aside from the strips of greenery—was even wider than the ring road outside.
By the way, the maids were all lurking nearby right now, safeguarding their Eldest Miss’s safety.
They wouldn’t be traveling alongside Ye Zhibai. The Head Maid had said they should let the Eldest Miss properly enjoy the campus life she’d never experienced before. If they all walked together with her, it would only add unnecessary pressure.
So, silently protecting her from the shadows would do.
Ye Zhibai pressed down her long silver hair, which the gentle breeze kept trying to lift. She looked left and right.
From the surrounding school buildings came the clear sounds of students reading aloud, as if transporting her back to those green days of youth—the purest time of her life.
Ye Zhibai was deeply moved.
In her otherwise emotionless eyes were written two simple characters.
Not “nostalgia.”
But—
—So hot!
Damn! Wasn’t the temperature pushing past thirty-five degrees today?!
Even with the parasol propped up, it did absolutely nothing!
Had she only walked a hundred meters since getting out of the car? Already, Ye Zhibai was missing the air conditioning inside.
Guang Yu was clearly a fox girl, but when she got hot, she didn’t stick out her tongue like a fox. Oh… foxes didn’t do that much anyway. That was dogs.
“Ye Zhibai! Quick, look—a dog!”
“You’re the dog.”
“No, no, I mean, there’s a pooch over there.”
“Oh, oh, say it clearly then.”
Don’t mention dogs when I’m thinking about dogs.
It’s easy to friendly fire.
Sure enough, a classic mongrel dog up ahead bounded into the bushes. It must have hated the heat too and gone to cool off.
As everyone knew, the wild cats and dogs on campus were the real veteran students—the most qualified old-timers.
As she strolled onward, Ye Zhibai gradually began to feel a bit nostalgic for her own high school days. They hadn’t been particularly exciting; if anything, they’d been mired in poverty and hardship.
Without a word, she shifted the parasol slightly toward Guang Yu, letting her stand in the shade too.
“Guang Yu, did you… go to school in the Heavenly Realm?”
“Nope.”
“You’re so uncultured.”
“I never went to school, but I’ve read all the masterpieces of the Mortal Realm from ancient times to now. Read countless books and travel countless miles—eh heh, and… thanks for the umbrella~”
“Figured you might keel over from the heat.”
“……”
Ye Zhibai had a real knack for killing the mood.
I meant sunstroke!
Guang Yu rolled her eyes at her, ignoring one of Ye Zhibai’s occasional pearl-clutching zingers.
She’d long wanted to see what schools in the Mortal Realm looked like. Back in the heavens, she could only look down on them from above.
But… beyond the thrill of her wish coming true, she shared Ye Zhibai’s exact sentiment right now.
—So hot!
This girl actually did stick out her tongue for a moment.
Then she waved her hand in front of her face to fan herself and shot Ye Zhibai a helpless look.
“Listen… without divine power to shield me, I really can’t handle this heat wave. Should’ve known better than to wear such thick clothes… Can we go blow some of that AC stuff right now? No, wait—aren’t you here to find your sister? Why are you wandering around aimlessly all of a sudden?!”
“Ha… I just wanted to see what a rich kid’s school looks like. Never had the chance before.”
“Then at least pick a crisp autumn day next time, okay…?”
Fine, I get it—you’re super well-read. No need to keep flexing your vocabulary on the sly.
Ye Zhibai was sweltering too, let alone Guang Yu in her princess dress. It looked hot just watching.
Ye Zhibai made up her mind.
No more sightseeing for now. Straight to wherever Yun’er was.
Check on her condition… and along the way, find a suitable excuse to head to East City, to her old apartment, and retrieve her things.
What was a “suitable excuse”?
Same as always: play it by ear!
With that major policy settled in her mind, Ye Zhibai suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“What is it?” Guang Yu naturally stopped too.
“I just realized a serious problem…”
“Spit it out.”
“I don’t know the way… No clue where Yun’er is.”
“……”
You’re brutally honest.
Guang Yu closed her eyes, as if sensing something. In just a few seconds, she opened them again and offered Ye Zhibai a solution.
“There’s one of your family maids lurking in the bushes at ten o’clock. Another behind the trash can at nine o’clock. If you don’t know where to go, I’d suggest asking them.”
“Guang Yu, impressive.”
“Don’t butter me up yet. Waaah, let’s hurry! Mortal Realm summer heat could kill a god! Plus, the bit of divine power I just stored up is gone again!”
She had a point.
Ye Zhibai sprang into action, turning toward the bushes at ten o’clock.
But when she got there… nothing.
She turned back to Guang Yu, who was standing there nodding and shaking her head expectantly, and asked flatly, “Where’s the person?”
“Over there! You went the wrong way! You’re hopeless!”
Guang Yu pointed to the bushes in the opposite direction.
“Oh…”
Ye Zhibai stood up expressionlessly and headed that way, where she finally found the Head Maid.
Ye Zhibai really didn’t want to argue with this stinky fox.
But she had to clarify: just now, it wasn’t that she’d gone the wrong way.
No, it was that damn fox who couldn’t give directions at all!
That wasn’t ten o’clock. It was four o’clock!!
Believe you next time, and I’m a dog!
The weather was brutally hot, but the Head Maid wasn’t even holding an umbrella. She patiently pointed out the way and led Ye Zhibai along.
“I figured the Eldest Miss would want to look around the school more, but you’re clearly eager to see the Second Miss… Sigh, you really are a wonderful big sister.”
Say what you need to say—don’t choke up!
I’m really not that touching!
I’m just dying of heat!
The Head Maid led Ye Zhibai east about two hundred meters from their earlier spot, to a building that stood out from the school structures. It was sharply angular and impressively massive.
“This is the school gymnasium. All the major events are held here.”
After explaining to Ye Zhibai, the Head Maid went to inform the old gatekeeper at the entrance.
No one knew which part of the explanation did it, but the old man nearly tumbled off his chair!
Looks like she got through to him.
When the Head Maid returned, she handed Ye Zhibai a baseball cap and helped her put it on.
“Eldest Miss, to avoid causing a commotion, please keep your head down once you’re inside. Ah… Your beauty is truly the pride of the Ye Family. To outsiders, it might be a bit too overwhelming.”
Yeah, yeah, I get it. The first time I saw myself, I nearly fainted from the shock.
—Specifically, from the blood pressure spike of suddenly turning into a girl.
The gatekeeper didn’t stop them at all as the Head Maid led Ye Zhibai—with the invisible Guang Yu in tow—into the gymnasium.
Far from stopping them, he stood ramrod straight, as if suddenly reminded of his glory days!
They didn’t enter through the main doors.
The Head Maid had the gatekeeper open a side door that no one normally used.
This let them bypass the assembled senior-year crowd and emerge from nearly empty spectator seats on the side.
This way… the Eldest Miss could watch the Second Miss’s speech undisturbed in peace.
As they stepped through the gymnasium’s third-floor entrance, Ye Zhibai and Guang Yu both blissfully squinted their eyes.
It was… the air conditioning! Cool air was back!
Right up until they passed through the final small door, Ye Zhibai heard a very familiar voice coming from the microphone.
Calm and composed.
Neither servile nor overbearing, full of dignity.
Was that… Yun’er?
They passed through that last door.
Ye Zhibai emerged onto the second floor of the gymnasium, in the most inconspicuous spectator seats.
And then… the scene before her eyes delivered a massive shock.
Over a thousand seniors stood in orderly ranks, forming a grand square formation.
They filled half the gymnasium.
—All of them listening intently to the speech blaring from the speakers. They held their breath, utterly silent, not a single whisper of chatter. Some were even taking diligent notes.
The entire other half of the gymnasium held just one person.
She sat at the front of a makeshift podium, gripping the microphone. Every word she spoke rang out clear and forceful, echoing into every corner of the vast space.
She was as commanding as a general directing thousands of troops.
Yet at the same time, seated there with calm poise, her sky-blue eyes—like a snow lotus frozen atop a glacier three feet thick—were breathtakingly beautiful.
Ye Zhibai had no real sense of it… but she couldn’t help thinking to herself.
A person this impressive… was really her little sister?
The Head Maid’s words, delivered with a smile, not only confirmed Ye Zhibai’s seemingly ridiculous notion once again but also betrayed her own eager anticipation.
“In a moment, when the Second Miss learns that the Eldest Miss has come to visit her, she’ll be absolutely delighted.”
“!”
Oh no!
It was fine when you didn’t say anything.
But now that you have, I’ve suddenly gotten all nervous!
