Early in the morning, Su Nuannuan woke up in a daze, feeling as if her head was stuffed with paste—dizzy and foggy—and her whole body was sore and weak.
She struggled to sit up, leaning against the headboard, trying hard to recall what had happened last night.
The memories pieced together in fragments… she vaguely remembered getting into a car, but everything after that was a complete blank.
Going further back, she realized with a jolt that she had completely slipped up at such a crucial moment, causing the mission to fail.
Her face instantly flushed crimson as she covered her burning cheeks with her hands, filled with regret: “Waaah, so embarrassing. Lin Wei must hate me to death—always making her lose face…”
She slowly climbed out of bed, her steps unsteady as if floating.
After lingering for a while, she finally left her room.
Downstairs, Chen Li was already setting up breakfast in the Dining Hall.
Seeing Su Nuannuan come down, Chen Li’s face immediately bloomed with a bright smile as she hurried over: “Miss, why are you up so early today? Are you feeling better?” Then, quite naturally, she reached out to pat Su Nuannuan’s head.
Su Nuannuan instinctively dodged but obediently let her touch it, whispering, “Mm… Sister Chen Li, thank you for your hard work.” Her eyes, however, flickered around the room. “Is Sister up yet? Has she gotten up?”
Chen Li’s hand froze mid-air, her smile stiffening, and her tone turning calm: “Elder Miss… she’s probably still sleeping.”
Inwardly, she ground her teeth. That damned wild girl—where on earth did she drag her beloved Miss last night? Miss looked so exhausted. If she messed up Miss’s well-being, Chen Li swore she would never forgive that Lin Wei!
Su Nuannuan gave a soft “oh” and obediently sat at the dining table, still debating whether she should go wake Lin Wei up. If she got up too late, would she be late for school…
Just then, a door opened upstairs.
Lin Wei appeared, looking haggard, with dark circles under her eyes and a weary expression as she descended the stairs.
Their eyes met mid-air.
Seeing Lin Wei’s expressionless face, Su Nuannuan’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly lowered her head, nervously tugging at her shirt’s hem.
It was over, over. So scary… Lin Wei must be mad at me for screwing things up…
Lin Wei walked into the living room, and Su Nuannuan finally mustered courage to greet softly, “Sis… Sister, good morning…”
Lin Wei merely nodded lightly and scanned the Dining Hall.
Not seeing the usual noisy figure, she asked, “Where’s Zhou Qianqian?”
Su Nuannuan blinked, confused. “Qianqian?”
Seeing her reaction, Lin Wei knew she had completely forgotten and didn’t bother explaining.
She came over to Su Nuannuan, touched her forehead, felt her temperature was normal, then turned and walked straight to the Guest Room.
Su Nuannuan froze for a moment. Why did Lin Wei touch me…
At the door, Lin Wei knocked, but there was no response.
She pushed the door open directly.
Inside, Zhou Qianqian was sprawled across the bed, sleeping soundly.
The blanket only covered half her body; one leg hung out, and the edge of her pajama pants revealed the lace of her strawberry-patterned underwear.
She even let out soft, steady little snores.
Lin Wei expressionlessly walked over, took off her slippers, and lightly kicked Zhou Qianqian’s protruding behind twice.
“Mm… who’s there…” Zhou Qianqian mumbled drowsily, struggling to open one eye.
“Get up.” Lin Wei said tersely.
When Zhou Qianqian finally came to the living room, yawning and rubbing her eyes, Su Nuannuan was even more confused seeing her suddenly appear: “Qianqian… you… why are you at my house?”
Zhou Qianqian plopped down on the chair beside her, yawned widely, and gave a confused look: “Huh? Didn’t I say I was sleeping at your place yesterday? Did you totally forget?” She reached out and pinched Su Nuannuan’s soft cheek.
The pinch stirred Su Nuannuan’s blurry memories back into clarity: “I… remember now…”
Lin Wei calmly picked up a sandwich and glanced at them: “Quiet.”
The two immediately fell silent, obediently picking up their breakfast and eating, then all three rode together to school.
On the way, Lin Wei kept her eyes closed, resting.
She had barely slept last night, and when she got hungry around midnight, she sneaked into the kitchen to grab some food.
On impulse… she also glanced by Su Nuannuan’s room door to confirm she was sleeping peacefully before leaving.
Right now, she was both tired and sleepy.
Su Nuannuan stole a glance at Lin Wei, who sat with eyes closed, radiating a “Keep your distance” aura.
She quickly shrank back, obediently sitting upright.
Zhou Qianqian’s phone buzzed.
She pulled it out and saw a message from the Editor urging her to update:
“Why no update yesterday?! You broke your streak!”
“Sorry, something came up yesterday, I forgot…”
“Make sure to catch up before noon today! You’re on the Recommendation Slot! Do you know how much missing updates affects the stats?”
“Okay… I’ll definitely update today…”
Zhou Qianqian sighed and scratched her head.
She’d been too absorbed in gaming yesterday to remember…
Writing novels was so hard, always having to think up new plots.
She glanced at her two sisters sitting nearby—one with a cold expression, asleep, and the other looking down, fiddling with her fingers—and recalled the scenes from last night.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up!
Got it!
She instantly opened her phone’s notes and began typing rapidly, a mischievous and excited smile spreading across her face.
Cold-hearted sister and soft, cute little sister! Sharing a room late at night? The sickly younger sister’s complete vulnerability, the cold elder sister’s inner struggle and hidden desires! … Ahh! This setup was too thrilling!
She felt ideas flooding out, eager to pour last night’s experiences into her new book!
The three arrived at school.
Morning classes went on as usual, each busy with their own things.
Lin Wei was nearly falling asleep.
Taking advantage of the teacher turning around, she propped her head with her hand, pretending to think while secretly resting her eyes.
Even dozing off, her posture stayed perfect—if you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t notice.
Su Nuannuan was restless, sneaking occasional glances at Lin Wei in the back row, growing more certain her sister was upset with her for messing things up.
She thought for a moment and quietly took out her phone, sending Wu Duola a message: “Duola… about last night, sorry… you’re not mad, right?”
Wu Duola quickly replied: “It’s okay! Health comes first! Are you feeling better?” with a cute emoji.
Reading the message warmed Su Nuannuan’s heart but also made her feel a little guilty.
Zhou Qianqian was fully immersed in her writing.
She propped up her textbook as a shield, her fingers flying over her phone screen under the desk.
Her face flashed strange smiles and furrowed brows, completely ignoring the teacher at the podium.
She was racing against time to update her new chapter, blushing and heart pounding.
At lunchtime, the trio became a quartet as Wu Duola joined them.
Zhou Qianqian munched on a chicken drumstick and said, “Do you think the Piano Sprite will show up again tonight?”
Wu Duola’s face fell: “Probably not… We scared it off. It must be hiding now!”
Su Nuannuan lowered her eyes and blinked.
Lin Wei sipped her soup and analyzed coolly in her usual calm tone: “After last night, anyone who isn’t stupid wouldn’t go again so soon.”
Unless… it had some reason it absolutely had to go.
She still felt the piano music wasn’t a prank or a ghost story, but she couldn’t figure it out yet.
Just then, Zhou Qianqian elbowed Su Nuannuan, lowering her voice, excited and gossipy: “Hey, hey, look over there! That girl, so pretty! Is she a transfer student? I don’t think we’ve seen her before.”
The three followed Zhou Qianqian’s finger to look.
Not far away at a dining table sat a girl eating alone.
She wore the same uniform as everyone else, but the ordinary blue and white looked inexplicably fresh and elegant on her.
She sat upright, her neck slender; the way she lowered her head to eat was graceful and quiet.
Her skin was pale, her profile delicate; long lashes drooped, giving off a gentle yet somewhat aloof aura.
Even in the noisy cafeteria, she seemed to have a built-in filter, making people involuntarily take a second look.
Su Nuannuan also stared curiously.
Just as the girl finished eating and looked up, her gaze accidentally met Su Nuannuan’s curious eyes.
Su Nuannuan jumped, as if caught spying, and hurriedly lowered her head, pretending to focus on eating, her ears turning red.
Ning Baiyao sensed the gaze and noticed the girls watching her at the nearby table.
She was used to this kind of scrutiny and paid it no mind.
She calmly withdrew her eyes, wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, then picked up her tray and quietly left—serene and composed.
“Wow… she’s like a fairy…” Zhou Qianqian marveled at Ning Baiyao’s departing figure.
Wu Duola nodded: “Yeah… her aura’s really unique.” Hmph, obviously no magic talent, right?
Lin Wei just glanced over with no reaction, continuing to eat—she wasn’t interested in strangers.
Only after Ning Baiyao left did Su Nuannuan finally breathe a sigh of relief…
When school ended, Zhou Qianqian packed her bag and cheerfully leaned over to Su Nuannuan, joking, “Nuannuan, I want to sleep at your place again tonight~”
Lin Wei froze for a moment and, before Su Nuannuan could reply, reached out and grabbed her little hand, bluntly saying, “Let’s go.”
Without waiting, she dragged Su Nuannuan out of the classroom, completely ignoring Zhou Qianqian.
Zhou Qianqian stomped her foot in anger and made a face at their retreating backs, sticking out her tongue: “Bleh, stingy ghosts, drink cold water!”
Then she grinned mischievously: “Stinky Lin Wei, you’re always so miserable in my novel!”
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