At that moment, Little Loli shoved her bestie away like pushing a warm pillow.

“Class is starting, quit messing around...”

Even as she scolded, her milk-white cheeks flushed like peach petals, intoxicating.

The subject teacher reached the battlefield right on cue.

She set her books on the desk with a soft thud.

She said, “Class, next week is our monthly exam.”

“Review hard and aim for scores you’ll be proud of.”

“Alright, let’s begin.”

One nap later, noon rolled in like a bright coin.

“Slept so well...”

Little Loli stretched like a lazy cat, then eyed the sun outside.

“High noon already?”

She scanned the classroom; only a few desks had owners, like islands in fog.

“So hungry...”

Her belly protested like a drum, and she puffed her lips in a pout.

“Xiaoxue, you’re awake?”

Joanna, fiddling with her phone, heard movement like wind in reeds.

She turned and saw Xiao Qianxue stirring.

Golden hair spilled over her like scattered sunlight, messy yet artful.

The beauty pulled Joanna under like a tide.

“Nana... hey... Nana, you okay?”

Little Loli watched her bestie zone out like a statue, helpless.

Joanna blinked back to herself, then stepped behind her like entering a studio.

She set her palms on those golden threads and quietly combed, sculpting a masterpiece.

Mmm~ Little Loli seemed to melt like sugar in warm tea.

After almost five minutes, she couldn’t help it.

She spun around and grabbed Joanna’s hand.

She pleaded like a spoiled kitten, “Nana, take me to get food, pleaaase~”

“You little imp.”

Joanna ruffled her small head like fluff on a dandelion.

“Let’s go.”

They slipped into the cafeteria, swift as swallows.

Cai Wenbin sat dead center like a flag on a hill, two extra trays steaming.

They took their old spot like returning to a well-worn cushion.

Little Loli stole a bite; steam kissed her lips like mist.

“Huh, it’s hot.

Cai Wenbin, did you just get here?”

She frowned in puzzlement like a puzzled sparrow.

“Actually, I was the first,” he said, easy as a breeze.

“Been waiting, and to keep the food hot, I bought several rounds.”

“Hmph, at least you know your place.”

The memory of the dance flickered up like a spark.

Little Loli’s temper flared like dry tinder.

Joanna ate unhurriedly, chopsticks moving like falling rain.

“So, tell me the fun parts of the dance.”

“Hmph! Make this jerk say it!”

Little Loli’s bun-cheeks puffed like steamed bao.

Cai Wenbin scratched his head, sheepish as a scolded pup.

“It wasn’t much.

Xiaoxue was too dazzling; she wasn’t used to it, that’s all.”

“And in the end, you left me to ‘go to the restroom’?”

Her words cut like a thin blade.

At that, Cai Wenbin nearly dropped to his knees like a sinner at a shrine.

“My fault.

Xiaoxue, please forgive me!”

“Hmph.

I’ll forgive you this once, since you did fine today.”

Her voice cooled like snow on bamboo.

“Oh, you’ve got guts, Cai Wenbin—daring to ditch my Xiaoxue?”

“Some people dream and don’t even get to try!”

Joanna’s eyes sparked like flint, heat almost visible.

“Let it go, Nana.

We’ll spare him this time.”

Little Loli waved a small hand like shooing a fly.

Then she returned to dueling her lunch like a tiny warrior.

Just like that, a week slipped by like a page turned by the wind.

“Class, today’s our first monthly exam of the term.

I hope you all get the results you want.

Ten minutes till we start, so get ready.”

The homeroom teacher braced both hands on the podium like setting anchors.

Her gaze swept the room like a searchlight.

The golden-haired Little Loli still slept like a winter dormouse.

Joanna played on her phone like a cat batting string.

“I hope certain students don’t drag the whole class down.”

She shot a glance at their seats, sharp as a pin, then left like a door closing.

A few students traded whispers like buzzing flies:

“Those two in the back do nothing but look pretty.

They only weigh us down.”

“Yeah, can’t stand people like that.”

“Always up to something shady instead of studying.”

Their voices swelled with a cheap superiority, hollow as a drum.

Little Loli finally crawled up, bleary as a misty dawn.

All that sleep had polished her skin like jade; someone was getting a bargain.

“Up, you little slacker!”

Joanna pinched her cheeks and roared like a lion cub.

“Ow ow~ fine...”

Little Loli covered her pinking face and retreated like a startled rabbit.

“It’s just a test, ugh... such a pain, ruining my nap.”

Her pout bloomed like a cherry bud.

Right then, Joanna struck like lightning, stealing a kiss on those lips, quick as a meteoric spark.

“Good luck on the exam! We’re splitting rooms, so I’m off first!”

She slung her bag and bolted like a gust.

Classmates trickled out in twos and threes, replaced by strangers like a turning tide.

Many had never seen such a face; they froze, bags still on shoulders like statues mid-step.

Little Loli ignored the stares like brushing off snow.

She tidied her bag with a few neat motions and headed for the door.

The doorway clogged with bodies like a jammed gate, stunned by one person’s aura.

“Move.”

The word fell cold as frost, and the crowd parted like water cut by a blade.

Little Loli walked the corridor alone, a single crane amid flocks.

Threes and fives clustered nearby like sparrows on wires.

Her back held a quiet chill, lone and bright as the moon over water.

Eyes still followed that alluring, lightly distant silhouette until it slid into the vanishing point.

The exam began quickly.

The questions looked simple, like pebbles in clear shallows.

Little Loli almost drifted off again like a boat in still water.

She finished in half an hour and turned in her paper like dropping a leaf.

Then she dozed off again, soft as a cat in sun.

Before she knew it, the day of exams was over.

“Today wasn’t easy...”

Little Loli walked after school as the sunset threaded her hair with molten gold.

Every strand blazed like a lit fuse.

A mischievous hand broke the picture like a stone in a pond.

Joanna, by habit, let her palm roam those locks, fingers fishing for silk.

“Xiaoxue, I’m so jealous of your hair!”

It wasn’t the first time; the line fit her like an old scarf.

“Then keep being jealous~”

Little Loli snickered, sweet as stolen candy.

“Oh, I’ll show you, you little minx!”

Joanna went full power, both hands teasing Xiao Qianxue’s golden threads like wind raking wheat.

“Nooo— mercy~”

Laughter spilled under the golden light as the two besties chased and tangled like swallows skimming dusk.