Noon the next day, at the cafeteria.

The three of them shared one table, three shadows under the white canteen lights—Xiao Qianxue, Cai Wenbin, and Joanna. Joanna’s voice came fast, like a sparrow startled from a branch. “Xiaoxue, I heard about yesterday. What happened?” She was usually all poise at meals; today her manners were scattered like chopsticks in a storm.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Just Ou Xiangyang pulling strings. I’m fine...” The words were light as feathers, but Little Loli lay on the table like a wilted leaf, listless and gray. Her favorite dishes sat untouched, her chopsticks only stirring them like oars dragging in still water. Joanna’s heart tightened, a bruise under silk. The Xiao Qianxue she knew and the girl now were a world apart.

“Ou Xiangyang, huh. The vice mayor’s son?” Cai Wenbin’s gaze sharpened like a blade catching frost. He and Ou Xiangyang had been rivals since childhood—one the city chamber head’s son, one the vice mayor’s son. In a city this small, their paths tangled like roots.

“Xiao Qianxue, you know there’s a business ball this weekend, right?” Cai Wenbin looked at Little Loli. She answered without lift in her voice, like a bell struck with a glove. “Yeah. What, he’s going too?” She stopped tormenting the food and turned, interest flickering like a spark in wind. “Of course. City-level ball. With his status, he’d never skip it.” He shook his head and smiled, a curl of smoke hiding fire.

“So? You planning to do something at the ball?” At last a topic with teeth. Expectation lit her eyes like stars rising over a dark lake. “He dared pull that on you, so he deserves a lesson.” Cai Wenbin laced his fingers before his face, counting schemes like beads.

“Then I’ll look forward to your plan a little, edgelord.” Little Loli’s smile was a spring breeze over thawing snow. It stunned him like sunlight straight to the eyes. “Sorry, sorry, I lost my cool. I’ve got an idea, but I’ll need you to play along that day.” He smiled, but his smile had shadows, like a moon with a bite taken out of it. “Whatever. Suit yourself.”

Little Loli turned to the bestie she’d left hanging on the line. “Nana, are you going?” Joanna shook her head, a slow willow sway. “We’re a military family. Showing up there’s not ideal.” Disappointment rippled across Little Loli’s fine features like rain across a pond.

“It’s just a ball. What’s the big deal?” Joanna hooked a finger under her chin, lifting it like a petal on a breeze. “Mmm~” The touch brushed a sensitive spot; a blush bloomed like peach on snow.

Cai Wenbin got dazzled again, like a moth to a candle. He drew a deep breath and clenched his fist, a pebble hardening in a stream. Resolve settled in his eyes. “Alright, I’ll head out. Have a pleasant noon.” He felt the deal set like cooling steel and slipped away, leaving the scene as cleanly as exiting a chatroom.

Back in class, Little Loli grew quieter, winter settling after a brief thaw. She’d still chat or help before; now she met everyone with a cool gaze, like frost on glass, except for her bestie and the class monitor. The day passed without fuss, the sun sliding down like an egg yolk, and finally the bell released her.

“So boring, Nana.” She pressed a palm to her head, voice like a cat’s late-afternoon yawn. “Be good. Try finding your own fun.” Not sure how to comfort her, Joanna set a hand on her hair, soothing her like you’d calm a skittish fawn. “So comfy~~” Little Loli breathed, pleasure a purr in her throat.

“Glad you like it...” Joanna pinched her smooth cheek, two dimples like thumbprints on dough. “Hey—Nana, you can’t bully me like that...” Little Loli rubbed her face and pouted, lips like a cherry’s curve. “Alright, alright. My Xiaoxue’s the sweetest.” She stole a quick peck from Little Loli’s lips, a dragonfly skimming water, then laughed and ran off with her backpack bouncing.

“Rude—Even Nana bullies me.” Little Loli huffed, shouldered her bag, and ran too. At the school gate, Joanna had already vanished like smoke. “Hey, not even waiting for me?” Her mood puckered like sour fruit. “I’ll go see Granny and Xiaohua.” She bought some fruit from a nearby stall and slipped into the alleyways, a maze of stone veins.

Knock, knock, knock. She tapped gently at the door when she reached it. “Come in.” The voice inside wasn’t loud but rang clear, like a small bell.

“Granny, I’m here again—” Little Loli stepped in and saw the old woman in the courtyard, sunlight netting her silver hair. She waved, bright as a flag. “Oh my, little girl, what brings you to this old bag of bones today?” Granny’s face opened like a flower. Even Xiaohua, the cat lounging aside, sprang up and leaped onto Little Loli’s shoulder, meowing like chimes.

“I brought you fruit. See if you like it.” After teasing Xiaohua for a bit, Little Loli set the fruit on the side table, a small offering on a wooden altar. “I like anything,” Granny said, eyes crinkling to slits, the moon bent in laughter. “By the way, what’s your name?” “I’m Xiao Qianxue. You can call me Xiaoxue.” “What a fine name. And such a pretty girl.” Praise flowed from her like warm tea.

“I’ll wash some for you.” Before Granny could answer, Little Loli hugged the bag and dashed inside, a swallow through a door. “This child...” Granny shook her head, her tone all honeyed fondness.

“Coming, coming.” Little Loli flew back with a plate of washed fruit. “Granny, try this. It’s the newest dragon fruit. I just bought it.” “Oh, Xiaoxue, you’re so sweet. A hundred times better than those ungrateful brats I raised.” Granny didn’t refuse, and under Little Loli’s careful serving, the plate emptied like a tide going out.

“It’s been so long since anyone treated me like this...” Tears welled and spilled, tiny pearls breaking their string. “Don’t cry, Granny...” Little Loli flustered, hands hovering like sparrows. Maybe comfort her the way Joanna comforts me? No—just picturing it burns the eyes.

“It’s alright. At my age, I don’t need anyone to fuss.” Granny wiped her eyes and smiled again, a lantern relit. “Xiaoxue, did something sour your day?” Little Loli kept smiling, but an elder’s eyes cut mist like a prow. “It’s nothing, just a tiff with a classmate...” Caught out, she blushed, a sunset on snow.

“Getting along isn’t that hard. Let me tell you what I was like when I was young...” Granny’s voice drifted, a river uncoiling through reeds. Little Loli hugged Xiaohua and listened, eyes bright as dew. When a funny bit came, she laughed till she folded, shoulders shaking, and the cat on her knees protested in high meows. Meow, meow meow meow! Translation: Cats have rights too—you can’t treat me like furniture!

Soon, dusk pooled like ink at the eaves. “Oh dear, time’s late. Talking with you made me forget the sun,” Granny said, her tone soft as wool. Little Loli still floated in the story’s glow. “Huh? It’s already this late...”

Snapping back, she finally caught the hour like a falling leaf. “What a pity. Granny, I’ll come again for more stories. Bye-bye!” She set Xiaohua down, then waved, her hand a fluttering fan.

“Come often,” Granny waved back, a willow branch in breeze. “Mm, I will!” Little Loli closed the gate. The clouds in her chest blew apart like fog in a sudden wind, leaving clean blue behind. “Meeting Granny is such luck...” She looked at the sky burning red, a sea of embers, and sighed from the heart.

“The weekend’s almost here. Kind of excited...”