Beneath the Imperial Walk Club, the underground base held their training and special jobs, like roots threading dark soil under a bright pavilion.

By day they blended in as regular staff, moving through the club like fish in still water, each minding their own task.

On the fourth floor, a deluxe room held Tang Coco sprawled on a soft bed, phone in hand like a glowworm in night.

She wore a loose white sleepshirt, not very modest, baring a pale neck and long sculpted legs, smooth as river stone.

With time, she’d learned to face her body; delight flickered like sunlight on water as she admired that near-perfect shape.

The door eased open; Ningxin stepped in wearing an office look, sharp as a blade sliding from its sheath.

“Ugh, I’m dead tired,” she said, her voice dragging like a rain-soaked branch.

“No way... you actually came?” Tang Coco blurted, surprise bursting like a popped seed pod.

She’d thought Ningxin was joking earlier; there were so many rooms, like hive cells stacked to the ceiling.

“Duh, this is my room,” she said, tone flat as tile. “If I don’t come, where am I supposed to go?”

She rolled her eyes, cool as moonlight on tile, and headed for the bath.

A shameless ripple rose. Sharing a bed didn’t sound bad at all, like stealing a sip of sweet spring.

Deep down she was still a guy; a beauty lit sparks like flint, no way around it.

She sat on the bed to wait, time dripping like wax to a slow beat.

Half an hour later, Ningxin came out in a deep-purple nightdress.

Her lean legs cut the cool air, step by step, like oars on dusk water.

“So? Look good?” Her smile lifted like a playful breeze as she caught the way Coco stared.

“It’s okay.” Tang Coco answered with a haughty tilt, cool as a cat under sun.

“Tsk-tsk, fair point. How could I compare to you, little perv?” She sat on the bed, her laugh curving like a crescent.

“Uh... who are you calling a perv?” Her voice wobbled like a startled sparrow.

“You, obviously. Don’t think I didn’t notice—your eyes on Ye Yiyi were something else, like a torch on snow.”

Truth stung like pepper; Coco swallowed words.

Fluster churned like hot tea; I just take Yiyi as family, she told herself.

“Tsk, boring. Let’s sleep.” Her words fell like a curtain.

Tang Coco found Ningxin too sharp; she swerved the topic like a boat, hiding the flutter inside.

She drew the quilt like a shield, lay down, and turned her back to her.

“Hey, you think you can sleep that easy? You held a blade to my neck today.”

Her tone purred like velvet, but the memory glittered like frost.

“Huh?... I didn’t mean it, and you didn’t get hurt.” Her words plopped like pebbles in a pond.

“Nope—you scared me; I need to even the score, like balancing scales in the dusk.”

As she spoke, Ningxin tugged the quilt and edged closer, like a tide creeping over sand.

Tang Coco clamped the covers tight, like a crab on its shell.

“Hey, what are you doing? I... I’m warning you...”

Nerves scattered like sparrows; I might lose control.

“Heh-heh, you’re not escaping today.” Her grin spread like a net.

“Hey—hey? What are you doing! Don’t touch me! Ah—!”

Her cry rang like a cracked bell.

A sharp scream rippled through the Imperial Walk Club; the old hands understood and just shook their heads like willows in wind.

At dawn, sunlight couldn’t pierce the heavy curtains; only a faint gold pooled like tea on the floor.

Tang Coco dragged her tired body, struggling up, like a swimmer hauling out of cold river water.

Now she knew: a lady rogue is scarier than a man, the lesson carved like knife marks.

“Awake? Go wash up, grab a bite, time for class,” Ningxin said, her voice bright as a morning bell.

“Don’t need you to say it!”

She snapped, anger flaring like a struck match.

She rose to dress. When she picked up the clothes, she realized it was the dress Ningxin gave her yesterday.

Its white fabric trailed like a vine.

“Hey! Any other clothes?” Her impatience fluttered like a small storm.

“Huh? Isn’t this pretty?” Her brow lifted like a leaf.

“I’m heading to campus; this isn’t appropriate.” Her tone was flat as slate.

“How’s it not? Don’t college kids love skirts to show off?” Her words twined like vines.

“Got anything else—pants or something?” She turned away, cheeks puffed like little clouds.

The look made Ningxin find her even cuter, her heart melting like candy.

“Nope, little sister—only this one. Figure it out.” Her smile glinted like dew.

Ningxin smiled, her lips curving like petals.

Tang Coco stayed silent, eyes locked on her like twin stars.

Ten long seconds stretched like pulled sugar; Ningxin finally relented.

“Okay, I put clothes on the sofa,” she said, words drifting light as a breeze.

“Go put them on,” she waved, gesture light as willow.

“Good, at least you can do one decent thing.” Her relief eased like cool water.

“No long pants?” she asked, hope thin as thread.

She eyed the sofa—tight jean shorts and a white tee—light as summer wind.

“No, that’s all I managed to find.”

“You dress too conservative; you should show that figure like willow lines in spring.”

“Fine, whatever, I’ll take this.” Her surrender fell like a sigh.

In someone else’s home, having clothes at all was a blessing, like a roof in rain.

She dressed, found the car keys, and headed out like a swift bird from a nest.

“Huh? You haven’t eaten,” she called, words bobbing like corks.

“I’ll skip it; I’ll be late,” she said, time like sand slipping.

Watching Tang Coco’s back as she left, Ningxin thought, her mind curling like smoke.

“You’re really leaving like that? Heh, showtime ahead,” her grin sly as a fox.

Tang Coco reached the entrance of the Imperial Walk Club, steps quick as rain.

Guided by staff like lanterns in fog, she found Ye Yiyi’s sports car, slid in, and drove for campus.

Sure enough, the Anomalous Energy in her body stirred a little, like a ripple across a moonlit pond.

In the car, Tang Coco muttered to herself, voice soft as moss.

Yesterday she hadn’t told Ningxin the whole truth; it wasn’t exactly a lie.

She could feel a trace, like smoke under glass, but she couldn’t catch it.

She’d woken late today, mind hazy like morning mist.

At Ninghai University, only a few were still heading to class, scattered like leaves on a path.

Tang Coco parked, hopped out, and jogged for the teaching building, feet light as sparrows.

“Huh? What’s going on—why are these people watching me?”

A prickle rose like nettles under skin.

“Is it because I didn’t wash my face this morning? Something stuck there, like soot?”

The idea flashed like lightning.

Passing a glass door, she used its mirror sheen, like a still pond, to check her face.

In a heartbeat she understood why so many were staring, realization blooming like a sudden flower.

“Damn, I forgot to put on makeup. Heaven, how did I forget this?”

“It’s that damn Ningxin; she got me riled and didn’t even remind me—she did it on purpose.”

Anger smoked like charcoal under her ribs.

“What now...” Panic swelled like a wave; she whispered to herself.

She knew she was fully exposed, like a moon hung bare in a clear sky.

“Forget it. Quiet days are gone; whatever comes, let it come.”

Resolve settled like a stone in deep water.

Disappointed, she covered her face and hurried for her classroom, moving like wind through reeds.

“Hey, look, that girl is gorgeous—what department is she in?”

Their voices bubbled like a spring.

“Finance, I think—check the direction she’s running.”

Fingers pointed like reeds.

“Wow, a goddess—she’s easily on par with the Four Campus Flowers...”

Awe spread like ripples across a lake.

The students’ chatter rose around her like a tide; Tang Coco just ran faster, wind skimming river water.