On the way back to the mansion, the Ye Sisters chatted, with Ye Zhibai beating around the bush in a rather subtle way to figure out just what Yun’er had misunderstood on her own back in the reception hall.
Hadn’t Yun’er’s eyes lit up back then?
And then she’d suddenly blurted out to Ye Zhibai—”So that’s what it was!”
Clearly, Ye Zhibai had no idea what that “it” even referred to.
Yun’er had answered like this.
“Oh ho, I get it. Big Sis is testing me again? You think I can’t figure out what’s on your mind—that I was just pretending to know back there, right?”
Here you go again!
It wasn’t that you didn’t get my thoughts—it was that I didn’t get them!
Come on, spill it for me!
Yun’er held up an index finger and twirled it in a circle, proudly laying out her theory to Ye Zhibai.
“Big Sis isn’t kicking Chi Yuliang out and is letting her stay in the reception hall? You must have your reasons. From what I know, this Chi Yuliang is a fresh graduate from Capital University.”
“And then?”
“Then it’s obviously your far-sighted planning! You want to keep her there, hear what she needs, and if you can help, do her a solid as a favor. We’re heading to university soon too. With that favor in the bank, if we need help with school stuff later or have questions, we’ve got a top student right there to consult anytime! As expected from Big Sis—you think of everything! Building connections whenever and wherever, way better than me. You’ll definitely be perfect for running the Ye Family someday! I can’t compare!”
“？！”
I never thought that far ahead!
And don’t say stuff like that!
You’re the pure-blooded eldest miss of the Ye Family, and you’re talking about handing the clan to a picked-up kid like me?!
No way that’s happening!
Even if you agreed, the rest of the family never would!
Ye Qinghe: So yeah, you two, go wild.
What was even scarier was that Yun’er didn’t sound like she was joking.
Ye Zhibai slapped her forehead with her palm.
She had a premonition that her future path would be full of twists and turns.
Of course, just before Ye Zhibai headed back to her room to rest, Yun’er added one more thing.
“Oh right, Big Sis, building connections is great and all, but please don’t push yourself. Our family has more than enough of those. Take the Gaokao, for example—if you need advice, we’ve got our own Gaokao consulting firm under us. Not saying it’s the most professional, but it’s pretty famous in Qihai City at least.”
“Impressive.”
She had to keep things polite on the surface.
“Impressive,” she said aloud.
Deep down, Ye Zhibai had just two words for it.
Badass.
Our family is straight-up badass.
“Ye Zhibai~~ I’m beat. Time to crash. Today I chugged two sodas, caught three butterflies, and yanked five green onions from the yard. Such a hectic day.”
“Guang Yu… you don’t need to report your daily conquests to me. Go to sleep if you’re tired—I won’t whack you. Just replant those onions you yanked tomorrow, and water the flowers too.”
“Got it. Yawn… so sleepy. Where’s the light switch… oh, here. Lights out.”
Click.
Hiss!!
You turned off my lights?!
Ye Zhibai was still sitting at her desk, studying!
Plunged into darkness where she couldn’t make out the words on the page, her blood pressure spiked. She flipped on the backup light switch by the desk. Once the room lit up again, she whipped around and
caught Guang Yu red-handed, diving into the bedcovers!
Ye Zhibai grabbed her tail and yanked the little fox right out of the bed!
Before Guang Yu could start yowling, Ye Zhibai seized her collagen-packed cheeks with both hands and gave them a good merciless kneading.
“You stinky fox… spiking my drinks with wasabi and leaving them in the sun to ‘heat up’ was bad enough… Can’t you see I’m still cramming? You slept like a dead pig last night with the lights on for ten seconds straight… turning off lights, turning off my lights!”
“Mmph…! Stop rubbing my face! It’ll turn into a bun!”
Incredibly, Guang Yu’s big fox ears even flapped and smacked against Ye Zhibai’s hands in protest!
Ear-waggling kung fu, huh!
Guang Yu rolled lightly to the side.
She rubbed her cheeks, now red from Ye Zhibai’s pinching, and grumbled pitifully.
“Mmph… How was I supposed to know you couldn’t see? Can’t study without the lights? Don’t you have night vision? No living thing lacks night vision! Impossible!”
“Normal people don’t have night vision. Stop measuring everyone else by your freakish self.”
“Oh… I overestimated you. Sorry.”
Guang Yu… your apologies hurt worse than no apology at all. Also, Ye Zhibai learned a fun fact: Guang Yu could see at night. She had night vision.
Made sense—cats and foxes both did.
Ye Zhibai couldn’t be bothered with her anymore.
After warning her not to touch the light switch with her little paws again, she turned back to the desk, racing against the clock to keep scribbling away at her studies.
Guang Yu perked up now, no longer sleepy.
She sprawled on the bed, her short little legs kicking one after the other against the mattress, chin propped on her hands, her starry eyes swirling as she watched Ye Zhibai’s diligent back at work.
Even a deity got curious sometimes.
“Ye Zhibai.”
“What… drinks tomorrow. It’s half past eleven—the soda shop’s closed.”
“Not that. I just wanna ask, didn’t you already decide to let me cheat for you on the exam? So why are you studying yourself? Don’t you trust me?”
“Oh yeah, that’s part of it.”
There really was?!
Did she know how crushing those few words were to the little fox’s fragile heart?!
Even her kicking legs went still.
Ye Zhibai didn’t turn around, just kept writing out the detailed solution to that function problem she’d botched that morning but now nailed again.
Her calm tone gave no hint of inner turmoil.
“It’s nothing… just sometimes I feel like the shortcuts are easy but don’t feel solid. I’m used to grinding hard… if I don’t study till dawn before the exam, something feels missing inside. Got no time tomorrow once we head out. For my own exam… if I can do it myself by then, I won’t need you to step in.”
“Awoo… but I don’t get it.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
Don’t get it?
Guang Yu pondered those words.
The beautiful deep blue in her eyes truly flowed like a galaxy, counting the countless splendors of the mortal world.
Back in the Heavenly Realm, she was certain humans were greedy by nature.
If there was a shortcut, humans would never take the long way around.
But this fragile yet resolute back before her
was indeed reflected in Guang Yu’s eyes.
Ye Zhibai… she really was fascinating, complex, one-of-a-kind.
This time, Guang Yu quietly settled down.
She closed her eyes with a shimmer, shifting into cat form, curling up into a cat ball at the head of the bed to rest.
Her cat ears twitched now and then to the scratch-scratch-scratch of the pen tip on paper. That sound… wasn’t half bad.
No telling how much time passed.
Ye Zhibai was lost in an ocean of math problems when suddenly a chill touched her cheek! Her pencil slipped from her fingers in fright!
She looked up.
It was Yun’er, holding an iced yogurt in one hand and a fruit platter in the other, her expression shifting from mischief to worry.
“Ah… sorry, Big Sis, did I scare you… sorry. I saw your room light still on, so I… Study break time. Yogurt and fruit—eat up and hit the sack.”
“Thanks…”
Ye Zhibai’s mind was still tangled in math problems.
She really felt like she’d gotten way smarter this life than last!
Those killer finale problems she couldn’t crack before? Now that she sussed out the trick behind them, she could actually solve them.
Taking the yogurt, Ye Zhibai felt a surge of confidence for the Gaokao.
“No worries… I can study a bit longer.”
“No can do.” Ye Zhiyun brushed her long black hair behind her ears.
She leaned in, gently warming Ye Zhibai’s cheek—the spot chilled by the iced yogurt—with her palm.
Like she wanted to chase away the cold with her own body heat.
“Health comes first, Big Sis. The Gaokao—we do our best. It’s not like we have to get top scores. Even if we don’t make a good uni, no biggie. If you wanna experience campus life, we can fake high school transcripts for you. I’ll just repeat a year, and we’ll be at the same school~”
No!!
Dear class topper, please stop casually declaring you’ll repeat a year!
Your school admins would freak!
Deep down, Ye Zhibai steeled her resolve once more to get into university.
Forget everything else.
At least so her little sister wouldn’t have to repeat—no slacking! Grind time! Waaah!
