However, the moment she entered the classroom, she found something on her desk.
A can of coffee—and not the cheap kind she usually drank. Under the coffee was a sticky note. The handwriting was messy, but there was a deliberate elegance to the strokes. It was clearly a note hastily written by some young lady in a state of frustration.
“I bought too much this morning. It’s for you. Don’t get the wrong idea.”
Ling Ling stared at the note, the corners of her mouth twitching upward by a few pixels. ‘Lady Ye’s textbook tsundere is really cute.’
Then, expressionlessly, she folded the note and carefully placed it into a little notebook she hadn’t taken out in a long time.
Hua Jianxi poked her head out from behind her, immediately spotting the thick stack of similar notes already collected in the notebook. The corner of her mouth twitched.
“Ling, are you collecting Lady Ye’s tsundere quotes?”
“Mm.”
Ling Ling’s reply was straightforward, without a hint of hesitation. Hua Jianxi froze instead. She had expected Ling Ling to change the subject as usual, but this time she admitted it openly. That frankness caught her off guard, leaving her unsure what to say.
“…Ling, why are you so straightforward today?”
“Because it’s true.”
Ling Ling slid the note into the page corresponding to the date, her movements practiced. If Hua Jianxi leaned in closer, she would have noticed that next to each note, small characters marked the date and scene. It was practically an observation diary of Lady Ye.
“…You even made bookmarks?”
“Easier to find.”
“What are you looking for?”
Ling Ling closed the notebook, stuffed it back into her bag, then looked up. Her crimson eyes calmly met Hua Jianxi’s. “Once I’ve collected enough, I’ll find the right time and show them all to her. Her expression should be pretty interesting then.”
Hua Jianxi almost dropped the lollipop in her mouth. She stared at Ling Ling’s still expressionless face, trying to find a trace of a joke in those crimson eyes. There was none. Not a single bit. This person was serious. She really planned to pull out that tsundere quotes collection at a critical moment and publicly execute Lady Ye, just to see her blush.
“…Ling, you’re terrifying.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I mean.” Hua Jianxi put the lollipop back in her mouth and shook her head. “Ling, if Lady Ye finds out you’ve collected so many of her embarrassing moments, she might freeze you into an ice sculpture on the spot and tear you apart…”
“Then I’ll trouble you to thaw me out.”
“No way I’m helping you.” Hua Jianxi said that, but the smile on her face grew wider. She sat down at her own desk, chin resting on her hand, watching Ling Ling pull textbooks out of her bag. Then a thought struck her.
“Hey, Ling Ling, what are your plans for lunch? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of going to the rooftop alone for some peace.”
“Mm, that’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“Hey hey, you actually admitted it.”
“The cafeteria is too noisy.” Ling Ling neatly arranged the textbooks on her desk. “And every time we go to the cafeteria, too many people stare at us. I don’t really like that feeling…”
“Hehe, that’s because Ling Ling is too cute.”
Hua Jianxi twirled the lollipop in her mouth once more, then leaned in close to Ling Ling’s ear, speaking in a voice only the two of them could hear. “How about I cover for you? I’ll pretend you went to the library, and with your skills, slipping up to the rooftop unnoticed should be no problem. In exchange, just treat me to a meal next time. What do you think? A good deal?”
Ling Ling turned to look at her. “…Since when were you so kind?”
“I’ve always been this kind.” Hua Jianxi blinked, putting on an innocent expression. “I’ve always been kind-hearted. You just never noticed, Ling Ling.”
Ling Ling ignored Hua Jianxi’s feigned pitiful act, then fell silent for a moment. “Fine, deal.”
When the lunch bell rang, Ling Ling immediately activated Aura Concealment to hide her presence and figure. Then she silently slipped out of the window at the end of the hallway, quickly climbed up the drainage pipe on the outer wall, and reached the rooftop of the teaching building. Her movements were fluid, and with the cover of her supernatural ability, she didn’t alert anyone.
The rooftop was empty, and the autumn sun was pleasantly warm. She walked to a shaded corner by the railing, sat down against the wall, and pulled out the lunch Lin Jiu had stuffed into her bag that morning. The rice ball and seaweed were carefully packed separately. On the outside of the packaging was another sticky note, the handwriting very neat.
“Sis, make sure to eat well at noon, no drinking only coffee. —Xiao Jiu”
Ling Ling stared at the note for a moment, then expressionlessly folded it and placed it into another little notebook dedicated to Lin Jiu. That notebook was thicker than Lady Ye’s “tsundere quotes collection.” The cover was a bit worn, clearly flipped through many times. She took a bite of the rice ball. The sourness of the plum spread in her mouth.
The rooftop was so quiet that only the occasional gust of wind could be heard. This tranquility finally let the tension that had been coiling inside her for days ease slightly. She closed her eyes, savoring this moment of solitude. Then a familiar set of footsteps came from the rooftop entrance. Ling Ling didn’t open her eyes, but she already knew who it was. Only two people in the entire school could find her on the rooftop at this hour. One was her little sister, and the other was—
“Sneaking off to the rooftop during lunch break isn’t exactly model student behavior.”
Chiyotsuki’s gentle voice came from above. Ling Ling opened her eyes to see Chiyotsuki smiling at her, her smile as elegant and composed as always.
“…How did you find me?”
“Intuition.”
“It’s experience.”
Chiyotsuki sat down next to Ling Ling and turned to look at her. “The little cat I keep at home always sneaks up to high places whenever it wants to hide.”
“…I’m not a cat.”
“Mm, not a cat.”
Chiyotsuki reached out, gently placing her hand on Ling Ling’s head, her fingertips slowly combing through her white hair. “A stray cat that doesn’t know how to act spoiled.”
Ling Ling didn’t dodge. There was a strange warmth in Chiyotsuki’s fingertips. Chiyotsuki’s gentle touch felt very comforting to Ling Ling. She didn’t dislike this feeling. In fact, she enjoyed it like a cute little cat.
“Have you been working hard lately?”
Chiyotsuki didn’t ask what she’d been busy with, only whether she was tired. Ling Ling took another bite of the rice ball and chewed slowly. “…It’s okay.”
“Is that so.”
Chiyotsuki withdrew her hand. Her golden eyes looked especially soft in the afternoon sunlight, her gaze falling on Ling Ling’s profile as if checking something. “Your dark circles are a bit worse than last week. Haven’t you been sleeping well?”
“…It’s fine.”
“Did you go out again last night?”
Ling Ling didn’t answer, but her silence itself was an answer.