"Someone actually asked me to tutor. Unbelievable." The road home lay like a gray ribbon under twilight, and Little Loli kept replaying the scene like flickering film. Without noticing, she drifted home like a leaf on a stream.
"Xiaoxue, you’re finally back. We were waiting to eat." Mom came out of the kitchen with steaming dishes, like mist rising from a lake. Dad sat by the table with a newspaper, rustling like dry bamboo leaves.
"What age is this, and you still read newspapers?" Little Loli shot the line as she passed, like a pebble skipping across water.
"Xiaoxue, you just don’t understand—ah!" Dad puffed up like a kettle about to whistle, but Mom stuffed an apple into his mouth like a cork. "Quit rambling about nothing. Eat."
She dropped her schoolbag like a lump of clay by the floor, changed into pajamas in a few quick motions, and slipped into the bathroom like a night cat. "A whole flock of crows at school is exhausting," she muttered, brows knitting like fine willow leaves. In the mirror, clear as a pond, Little Loli lowered the left fringe like a silk curtain, just enough to cover her left eye.
After dinner, Mom suddenly caught her wrist, and her heart jumped like a startled sparrow. Her hand flew to her left eye, cold fear rippling like winter rain. Is this a joke… did she see it?
"Xiaoxue, Sunday afternoon I’ll take you to a gathering. The aunties will bring their kids too. You might make friends." Mom’s voice flowed like warm tea, not noticing the quick cover of her eye. "What, another party? I refuse." Crowds felt like a pounding tide to Little Loli. First, she became the spotlight like a lonely moon wherever she went. Second, if it ran late, her eye turned into trouble like a thorn in silk.
"Please, sweetheart, come with Mom. My friends can’t wait to see how you’ve grown. My daughter’s the top beauty now." Mom’s eyes went moist like dew on petals, the very expression Little Loli often wielded. Hey, is that look hereditary?
Could a mother who birthed such a little monster have it easy?
She sighed like wind through chimes. "Fine. You win." She also wanted to wriggle free fast, before her eye became an open secret like ink on snow. "Settled!" Mom hummed like a kettle and floated back to the kitchen.
Next morning, eyelids heavy like wet feathers, Little Loli stepped toward the classroom. "Morning!" A greeting rose from beside her like a birdcall. "Morning… oh, Wang Yan." She rubbed her eyes, and her bright golden pupils lifted, glinting like sunlight on coins.
Wang Yan’s fingers pinched her skirt hem, fidgeting like a sparrow with a straw. Her gaze drifted like a dragonfly over water. Why so nervous? The thought bubbled up, and Little Loli almost laughed. Her own golden hair burned under the dawn like a flame.
"Ah, it’s nothing… I just…" Wang Yan’s cheeks flushed like peach blossoms. "It’s late. I’m going in." Little Loli turned and slid into the classroom like a breeze, and Wang Yan followed close, a shadow on her heels.
"Xiaoxue… who was that girl beside you?" No sooner had Little Loli sat than a chill skated down her back like ice. She turned. Joanna stood there, smiling like a crescent blade.
"Oh, that girl? After we left yesterday, she insisted I tutor her. So I agreed." Little Loli acted as if nothing happened, popped on her headphones like shells, and folded over the desk to sleep.
"This girl…" Joanna watched her drift off like a cat in noon sun. She wanted to ask more, but finally sighed like a soft wind and ruffled that golden head like stroking wheat.
By noon, the sun rang like a brass gong. "Xiaoxue, Xiaoxue, lunch!" Joanna bellowed at her ear like a town crier. "Yeah, yeah." Little Loli pushed up from the desk like a rising tide, and saw a note there, pale as a moth wing. "Xiao Qianxue, could we meet at the library after lunch? I have questions."
When did she drop the note? I didn’t even notice. It had to be Wang Yan. Finally, something to do today. She stood and stretched like a cat, arms arcing like bows. Her gaze flicked aside—"Boo-hoo… someone’s stealing my Xiaoxue!" Joanna burst into sudden tears like a summer squall. "Let’s go. Drop the act." Little Loli rolled those big eyes like marbles, then grabbed Joanna’s skirt and hauled her toward the door like tugging a kite string.
"Ah, Xiaoxue, you’re awful!" Joanna yelped, hands fending her skirt like a shield.
After lunch.
"Library… where is it again?" Shaking off her bestie like a leaf shaking off rain, Little Loli set out for the library along paths like pale ribbons. Aside from classrooms and the track, she barely knew the campus. So she followed the signs, arrows pointing like swallows.
She finally reached the library. Few students went in or out, quiet as a temple at noon. Getting middle schoolers to read here was a high mountain to climb. At the doors, Little Loli spotted a braided girl in uniform peering around like a meerkat. With hair this bright and a face this unreal, Little Loli was already a legend on campus. Wang Yan saw her at once and ran over, excitement popping like firecrackers.
"Didn’t wait too long, did you?" Little Loli smoothed the fringe at her brow like silk. "Not at all!" Wang Yan’s reply jumped out, lively as a spring. "Let’s go." Little Loli cut into the library like a blade through water. Wang Yan trailed behind, cradling her book with both hands like a treasure. So decisive. Kind of a boyish vibe, she thought, watching that small figure move like lightning.
"Sit." Little Loli found a corner table, secluded like shade under bamboo, and took a seat. Wang Yan pulled out the chair and sat, motion stiff as a rabbit. "Just call me Xiaoxue. No need to be so tense." Little Loli smiled, warm as lantern light. "Then call me Yanzi. That’s fine."
They dove into tutoring quickly, like fish into clear shallows. "Here, do it like this." Xiao Qianxue flew through a three-variable linear system, pen racing like a swallow, and slid the answer to Wang Yan. "So good!" Wang Yan stared, stunned like a deer in snowfall. For a seventh grader, that system wasn’t simple.
"Yanzi, what rank were you in the last monthly exam?" Little Loli asked, watching her astonishment ripple like wind over a pond. "Fifth… from the bottom." Wang Yan pushed her glasses, embarrassed, like hiding behind a fan. "I see… Did you bring the test? I’ll analyze it." Little Loli tapped her chin, thoughtful as an old scholar. She looks like a top student, yet fifth from the bottom?
"Hmm…" She skimmed the paper, and a sigh slipped out like steam. "These mistakes are basic. You mixed formulas, or used the problem’s info wrong." She flipped through, eyes steady as stars. "Your other operations are fine. Why trip here?" It puzzled Little Loli. If Yanzi nailed the details, top twenty would be easy, like picking peaches.
"Yo, so you two are here!" A voice dropped in like a pebble into a well, sending rings across the quiet.
