"Coco, how'd it go? Your classmates doing okay?" On the way home, Ye Yiyi asked, worry pooling like dusk across the windshield.
"Mm, they're all fine." Tang Coco answered vaguely, her thoughts drifting like a kite in weak wind.
Ye Yiyi caught the heaviness under her lashes, a cloud skimming the sun, and asked again.
"Coco, did something happen?" Her voice fell like soft rain. "If there is, tell us, we'll help."
"Ah? No... nothing, all good, haha." Tang Coco wore a smile like a paper mask, stiff and bright.
Seeing Coco didn't want to talk, Ye Yiyi let the question sink like a stone into a quiet pond.
After rolling the thought like a pebble in her palm, Coco asked, "Uh... do you know a girl named Meng Xiaoxiao?"
"Meng Xiaoxiao?" At the wheel, Li Muyan frowned, his hands steady like a metronome. "Short, pretty, that one?"
"Yeah, that's her." Coco nodded, her heartbeat tapping like a sparrow on glass.
"Her? She's the second daughter of the Meng Trade Group in Yanjing," Li Muyan said, the rumor unfurling like a banner. "A supposed genius. Why ask?"
"She's in our class." Coco exhaled, the words landing like feathers. "Today she sat right next to me."
"Huh? She came to Ninghai University too?" Surprise flickered, his brows lifting like startled birds. "Isn't she under college age?"
"I've heard of her too," Ye Yiyi chimed in, her tone smooth as a river stone. "Smart, kind of famous back in Yanjing."
"What is it, Coco?" Ye Yiyi glanced back, her eyes sharp like a needle of light. "Did something happen with her?"
"I... she seemed to see through my disguise." The admission fell like a mask slipping in a draft.
"Oh? Exposed that fast?" Li Muyan chuckled, carefree as wind in an open field. "I thought it was big; that's small stuff."
"Yeah, Coco," Ye Yiyi said, her comfort warm as tea steam. "With time you'll draw eyes; we never thought you needed a disguise. Even if they find out, it's nothing."
"Ugh..." The sigh curled out of Coco like mist from cold lips.
You can't feel my mood, she thought, her heart a lone boat on gray water.
After lunch, Li Muyan and Ye Yiyi rested a beat, then headed to school, their backs receding like kites on a breeze.
Coco had no classes today. She planned to curl up at home and train, to feel out her Anomalous Energy like fingers on a taut string.
But wishes were silk, and reality was a blade. She'd barely sunk into the soft bed when her phone rang, a pebble splashing into still water.
She eyed the unfamiliar number, curiosity pricking like a thorn. "Hello, hi, who is this?"
"Coco, it's me." The voice came sweet and crisp, like a bell behind curtains.
"..."
What the—how did she get my number? The thought shot up like a startled fish.
"How did you even get my number?" Coco asked, suspicion coiling like smoke.
"Easy." The reply was light as a toss of hair. "I just asked the homeroom teacher."
What kind of homeroom teacher does that? Coco fumed, anger flaring like a match. That's a total privacy leak.
"Hey? Why so quiet?" The girl tsked, playful as a cat's paw. "Coco, come to my place. I'm home alone and bored."
"Uh... Xiaoxiao, I, uh, have..." Her excuse stumbled like a foal on ice.
"Don't make excuses." Her tone tapped the line like a finger on glass. "What could you be doing? Your Yiyi went to class, right? What else is there?"
Damn, how does she know everything? Coco's heart sank like a stone into deep water.
"Didn't we agree to meet tomorrow..." Her protest thinned like fog in sun.
"Coming or not?" Her voice smiled, knives sheathed in silk. "If not, I'll tell the class there's a hidden beauty. You might be famous school-wide tomorrow."
Hearing the threat, Coco's temper sparked like flint. For a second she pictured pinning Meng Xiaoxiao to the bed and teaching her a lesson like a storm.
"Fine, you win." The words tasted like bitter tea. "Where do you live?"
"Hehe, Coco, you're the best." Her laughter scattered like beads. "I'll pick you up. You're at Jinxiu Garden, right?"
"...Yeah." Coco sagged, resignation washing over her like a small tide. She felt the girl knew everything worth knowing.
"Great. Ten minutes." The promise clicked like a watch. "Come to the villa gate. I'm on my way."
"Okay." She hung up and fell back on the bed, her energy leaking like air from a balloon.
Wait, what am I afraid of? The thought rose like a spark in dry grass. Since becoming a girl, why'd my courage shrink?
She's just a little miss. Worst case, I'll shove her, see if she still dares to threaten me, she told herself, grinning foolishly like a dazed fox.
But... something still feels off, a burr under silk.
Ten minutes later, Coco waited by the villa gate, the sunlight baking the tiles like a kiln.
Soon, a red Ferrari slid in, a streak like a comet, and stopped before her.
The window hummed down. Behind sunglasses, a pretty girl smiled like spring peach blossoms. "Come on, hop in."
Looking at Meng Xiaoxiao's bright face, Coco finally pinned what felt wrong, like spotting a loose thread on silk.
"Hey, aren't you underage?" Her worry clinked like ice in a glass. "Driving by yourself, and a sports car? Is that safe? I won't die getting in, right..."
Seeing Coco still on the curb, Meng Xiaoxiao asked again, patience smooth as lacquer. "Relax. Driving's no big deal. I've got a license."
It didn't calm Coco, whose doubt buzzed like a trapped fly. After a tangle of hesitation, she climbed in.
Meng Xiaoxiao pulled away, the engine's purr like a big cat's breath.
All the way, Coco sat taut, nerves strung like a bow, scared this "underage" driver might spin fate off the road.
Meng Xiaoxiao saw it all from the corner of her eye, the awareness cool as moonlight, yet she said nothing and focused, hands steady as stone.
A little over ten minutes later, the Ferrari slipped into the courtyard of a luxury apartment building, red flame settling into a hearth.
"We're here," she said, pointing up like a guide. "I live on the eleventh floor. Come, I'll take you up."
"Oh." Safe at last, Coco's chest loosened like a knot undone.
Meng Xiaoxiao parked and led Coco into the elevator, the doors closing like quiet wings as they rose to the eleventh floor.
