A little past nine the next morning, the city already throbbed like a beehive, yet Ye Yiyi’s villa rested still as a moonlit pond. In two bedrooms, the girls slept on, curled like kittens in shade.

Tang Coco surfaced groggy, mind fogged like mist on a lake. She tried to roll, but her arm was pinned, trapped under a weight like a warm sandbag.

She frowned and eased her eyes open. A cascade of black hair, scented like tea leaves, filled her view. Ye Yiyi was nestled in Coco’s arms, clutching Coco’s arm and sleeping on. As for their clothes—whatever.

Huff.

Coco let out a small breath and tried to slide her arm free, needles-and-pins marching like ant columns under her skin. She shifted twice, and Ye Yiyi, stirred by the movement, drifted awake like a petal riding a ripple.

“Mm… Coco, what time is it?” Ye Yiyi rubbed one eye, the other half-lidded like a sleepy moon.

“Not early. The sun’s already roasting our butts,” Coco said, glancing at sun-streaks leaking through the curtains like brushstrokes of gold.

“Oh… the sun’s… roasting our butts… butts… butts!!” Ye Yiyi echoed, mind clearing like a window wiped clean, and then she froze. Sudden alarm flashed, and she let go, grabbed the blanket, and wrapped herself up like a cocoon, leaving only a face red as a ripe cherry.

“Uh…” Coco was stunned by the cute ambush, heart fluttering like a sparrow.

“What are you even shy about? Who was so brave last night?” Coco pinched her tiny nose, voice teasing like a fingertip flicking water.

“Mm…” Ye Yiyi puffed her cheeks, red and hot like steamed buns, gaze fleeing like a startled deer.

“Ha, you’re too cute,” Coco laughed, warmth rising like steam.

“Coco…” Ye Yiyi suddenly fixed her eyes on her, gaze sharp as a needle.

“Hm?” Coco blinked, clueless as a stone.

“Why are you so… practiced?” Ye Yiyi asked, words dropping like pebbles into a still pond.

“Uh…” The joy snapped like a string. Coco couldn’t exactly say she’d had two girlfriends before and her flirting was maxed out.

“I’ll… go check on Marilyn. See if she’s up.” She slipped on a nightdress, bare feet skimming the floor like a breeze, and bolted.

Watching Coco scramble away, Ye Yiyi smiled, amusement fluttering like a paper fan; she’d only meant to tease—some truths she already understood.

Coco padded to her room, toes cold as pebbles. The door hadn’t been locked last night. She pushed it open and found Marilyn hugging another pillow like a koala, sleeping with soft breaths like tide-waves.

Coco stared at the sleeping Marilyn, and her mood crumpled like a paper crane. A system, sleeping in?

“Hey! Do you know what time it is? Why are you still asleep?” Coco pinched Marilyn’s nose, voice snapping like a twig.

“Mm—who is it?” Marilyn startled, a small fish breaking the surface. She swatted Coco’s hand away.

“You little rascal, you don’t even recognize your master?” Coco’s brows rose like drawn bows.

“Ugh, can you not? You enjoyed yourself all night. Let other people rest,” Marilyn said, words blunt as a pebble toss, and buried her head under the pillow like a turtle.

“Uh…” Coco died a second time inside, pride wrinkling like a wilted leaf. This one wasn’t easy to bully.

“J-just get up. I’m going to wash up,” she muttered, turning tail like a fox.

“Annoying…” Marilyn grumbled and sank back into lazy sleep like a settling feather.

After Coco washed, Ye Yiyi got up and washed too. Then Coco sent Ye Yiyi to drag Marilyn out. By the time all three had brushed and combed, it was past ten thirty; breakfast had sailed like a boat over the horizon. The little loli sat on the sofa, cheeks puffed like steamed buns, watching TV and rubbing her flat belly like a drum, looking utterly miserable.

Coco kept her company, eyes on the screen but mind drifting like clouds. Ye Yiyi stayed in the bedroom, thoughts circling the cake shop like swallows around eaves.

“Hey… are you really hungry?” Coco asked, voice cautious as a toe at river’s edge; Marilyn looked too pitiful for words.

“Of course. Stop treating me like a system, okay? I’m a real human now,” Marilyn said, grievance pooling like dew.

“Uh…” Coco sighed and softened like melting sugar. “Alright. Hold on, I’ll talk to Yiyi.”

She headed upstairs. The bedroom door was ajar, light spilling like milk. Ye Yiyi sat at the desk, chin in hands, thinking hard, mind gears turning like windmills.

“Ahh…” Coco let out a sigh like wind through bamboo and stepped in.

“Yiyi.”

“Ah!” Ye Yiyi flinched like a bird, clearly hadn’t heard Coco enter.

“…” Coco fell speechless, silence hanging like a thin thread.

“What are you zoning out about?”

“I’m… thinking how to set up that cake shop,” Ye Yiyi said, worry budding like a shy flower.

“Hey, don’t chew on it all day. Give it a bit, Mu Yan and I will help you figure it out,” Coco said, voice steady like a hand on a rudder.

“It’s fine,” Ye Yiyi smiled, light as spring rain.

“Forget it. Let’s eat out for lunch,” Coco said, the idea popping like a spark. Ye Yiyi blinked in surprise.

“Huh? Coco, you want to go out? Looking like this…”

“Relax. Worst case, I’ll get stared at. To help you forget those things, I’ll risk it,” Coco declared, patting her chest with bravado like a drum—only to touch soft clouds and drop her hand, cheeks warming.

Pfft.

Ye Yiyi couldn’t help laughing, a silver bell ringing. “Better not. It’ll be inconvenient for you.”

She cared for Coco like shade cares for a sapling.

“It’s fine. Let’s go, let’s go. I’m bored to death, and that little one downstairs needs some fun,” Coco said, unleashing her ultimate move—soft pleading like silk.

“…” Ye Yiyi held out as long as a snowflake in sun.

“Alright,” she relented, nodding like a willow branch.

“Great. I’ll change,” Coco said, smile bright as a dawn.

“Wow, Coco, you’ve really changed. You’re starting to dress up,” Ye Yiyi said, eyes widening like lanterns.

“Of course. Can’t embarrass my Yiyi, right?” Coco grinned, words rolling smooth as river stones.

“…” Ye Yiyi shot her a white-eyed look like a feather flick and said, “Okay, go. I’ll change too.”

“Ha!” Coco laughed and headed for her room. At the door, she paused and called back, “Oh, and please help the little one downstairs change.”

“Got it,” Ye Yiyi said, nodding like a bright bird.

Coco opened her wardrobe, thoughts sifting like sieve-sand. She finally chose a long hoodie in soft pink-and-white, paired with ultrashort shorts; the hoodie covered past the shorts, leaving legs long as white birch trunks. With little white sneakers, a fresh beauty stepped out like spring.

Bang!

Just as Coco finished, the bedroom door slammed open like a thunderclap. Marilyn burst in, eyes wide as plates.

“What are you doing? Are you crazy?” Coco asked, pulse jumping like a fish.

“Wow, for real? What’s wrong with you? Why the sudden urge to face the public?” Marilyn stared, curiosity flaring like sparks.

“…” Coco’s face went dark, lines dropping like rain.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? Going out equals a death wish now?” Coco snapped, words crisp as ice.

“Hmph. Be careful. You’re like an ordinary girl now—no, even softer than an ordinary girl. Don’t get snatched by bad guys,” Marilyn said, arms folded like crossed branches.

“Uh… you’re here, aren’t you? Your job is to protect me,” Coco said, ruffling Marilyn’s hair like a breeze on wheat.

To Coco’s surprise, Marilyn didn’t dodge; she even seemed to enjoy it, eyes half-closed like a cat. So lolis really do love head pats.

“I’ll go play with Yiyi,” Marilyn chirped, and darted off like a sparrow.

“…” Coco chuckled helplessly, then pulled a baseball cap from the wardrobe, shade in her hand like a leaf.

Ten minutes later, Ye Yiyi drove, and the three headed for the commercial district in Ninghai City. Ye Yiyi wore a black off-shoulder dress, paired with white sneakers, elegance gliding like a swan. Marilyn had on a brand-new princess dress Ye Yiyi picked, frills bouncing like clouds. Coco, under a cap and sunglasses, hid her face, but her aura flowed like a cool spring unchanged.

Meanwhile, at the Imperial Walk Club, Minister Zhao from headquarters sat in his room, smoke coiling like vines. Beside him was a young man, sharp as a pen, clearly his aide.

“Well? Has Ningxin still not come to see me?” the middle-aged man asked, voice flat as a blade.

“No,” the young man said, nodding like a hinge.

“Hmph. Looks like she plans to lie low. In that case, we move,” the man said, anger flicking like a snake’s tongue.

“But… headquarters didn’t grant us self-action privileges,” the aide reminded, caution fluttering like a moth.

“Relax. I have a plan. I can’t act, but others can,” the man said, eyes glinting like steel. “Tell them to go out more. If they stumble into something interesting, grab it.”

“Yes.” The young man turned and left, footsteps quiet as rain.

“Ningxin… I know exactly which opponent you fear,” Minister Zhao murmured, drawing on his cigarette, smoke sighing like mist.

By noon, the three arrived downtown. Coco set her sunglasses just so, and with Ye Yiyi on one side and Marilyn on the other, they walked hand-in-hand like a small constellation. In the bustling district, they became a strange and beautiful sight, because Coco’s and Marilyn’s white hair shone like frost in sunlight, bright against the crowd.

“Figures,” Coco said, helplessness rippling like a tide.

“I told you it’d be like this,” Ye Yiyi muttered, a smile twitching like a cat’s whisker.

“Whatever. We play our way,” Coco said, a sudden urge to have fun sparking like fireworks.

“Okay,” Ye Yiyi answered, warmth blooming like apricot flowers.

“If anything happens, I’ve got it. Yiyi, take me somewhere fun!” Marilyn swung Ye Yiyi’s arm, pleading sweet as honey, and the move stunned the nearby pedestrians like a flock of doves taking off.

“So… so cute,” a bespectacled girl blurted, voice trembling like a violin string.

“Waaah! Too cute! I want a photo with her!” she cried, and rushed over like a gust. One led to another, and the trio were quickly surrounded like stones in a stream; most were girls begging for pictures with Marilyn, while the boys stayed back, snapping from afar like cautious sparrows.

Coco tugged her cap brim and adjusted her sunglasses, retreating to the side like a shadow, trying to thin her presence into air.