Another crisp day! The alarm chimed like silver bells, and Xiaoxue uncurled from her quilt like a small cat leaving a sun‑warmed nest.

Her fingers found her phone; the screen held a lake‑clear reflection of a cute, dazzling girl, and her lips tipped up like a new moon.

Suddenly the phone rang again, sharp as a bird’s cry, and she almost flung it like a startled sparrow.

“Nana! What are you doing so early? You scared me!” Her voice fluttered like leaves in a gust.

“Getting scared by a call?” Joanna’s laugh rippled like sunlight on water. “Guess I should train that courage.”

“Let’s not. Just tell me—what’s up?” Her tone steadied like a rock in a stream.

“Checking if you’re awake.”

“You care that much about the sports meet?”

“Not really. I just want to see you in your game gear—cute and fierce, like a tiger cub on the track.”

“Ahhh! Don’t say that!” She yelped like a sparrow startled from a branch.

“I’ll swing by and pick you up. We’ll go to school together.”

“Okay.” Her answer fell soft as cloud‑light.

She hung up and drifted into the bathroom, steam blooming like morning mist. “I’m getting used to this life,” the thought rose like a warm tide. “Better to say—it fits me.” The toothbrush moved like a metronome, and her mind filled with drifting scenes like kites in spring wind.

She stepped out. “Xiaoxue, up early today?” Her mom’s voice came like a gentle bell. “Your favorite—fresh pancakes.”

“Morning, sweetheart!” Her dad folded his newspaper, his smile opening like sun through clouds. “Mm... morning.” Their smiles lit her chest like lanterns, and her own mouth lifted without thinking.

“Finally got you, Xiaoxue!” As soon as she slid into the Bentley, Joanna pounced like a playful puppy, pinning her to the seat.

“Morning, Mister Driver!” Through Joanna’s brown hair like a willow curtain, Xiaoxue saw the familiar driver.

“Good morning, Miss Xiao! About that last trip to sea—I’m still sorry...” His voice carried a lingering shadow like a late wave.

“It’s fine—see, I’m back safe and sound.” Xiaoxue stuck out her tongue like a teasing sprite, and the driver’s cheeks flushed like peach blossoms.

“You little rascal.” Joanna clicked her tongue, a spark in her eyes like flint. “Thirteen and already trying to charm people? What’ll you do later?” She poked Xiaoxue’s side like a feather, and laughter spilled like beads.

“Don’t—hey—that tickles!” Her protest scattered like dandelion fluff.

Brown and gold hair crossed like braids in the wind. Joanna leaned in with a grin like a fox at dawn.

“Nope.” Xiaoxue turned her face away like a sunflower refusing the cloud, and the two tumbled into a harmless scuffle, all breath and giggles like a summer rain.

A few noisy minutes passed like wind chasing leaves.

“Seriously—do that again and I’ll explode.” Xiaoxue tugged her black stockings back into place, her voice as straight as a drawn bow.

“Yeah, yeah, got it.” Joanna’s tone went light and airy, her fingers flipping her phone like a coin in sunlight.

They finally reached school, and Xiaoxue darted from the car like a bird released from a cage.

“Why’s Xiaoxue running so fast?” Joanna frowned, curiosity pricking like a pine needle. (Hey, with thoughts like pushing someone into a corner, of course she runs—)

Thud. Running too hard, the blonde girl bumped a figure ahead and stumbled to the ground like a dropped leaf.

“Hm?” Just entering the campus, Cai Wenbin’s mind was still replaying Xiaoxue’s smile like a film reel. A knock on his back snapped him out of it like a pebble on glass. He turned—and there she was, the girl he’d been thinking about.

“Xiao... xue.” His gaze fell, and he saw her half‑sitting, skirts ruffled by motion like a startled plum blossom. His eyes burned with surprise like coals in ash.

“Sorry...” Xiaoxue rubbed the spot she’d hit, her heart thumping like a drum, and looked up to find Cai Wenbin staring too hard—not at her face, but downward, where his gaze shouldn’t stray.

Following that gaze, heat flared in her cheeks like sunrise. “Cai Wenbin, you creep!” She covered her skirt and sprang up, and her palm cracked the air with a sharp smack like lightning.

“Sorry, sorry!” The slap snapped him clear like cold water, and he bowed his head.

“Hmph.” She brushed dust from her clothes like snow off a sleeve and walked off without another word.

Joanna arrived a beat late, her steps light like bells. “Cai Wenbin, what happened? Why’s your face so red?”

“It’s nothing. Guess today’s too hot.” He wiped imaginary sweat like rain from a brow, hiding the sting on his cheek.

“Oh? Did you see where Xiaoxue ran?” Joanna’s voice was cool as shade.

“Looked like she headed into the teaching building.” He pointed back like an arrow.

“Thanks.” Joanna gave him a rare smile like a spring thaw—she was one of the school blossoms after all—and Cai Wenbin flushed again like a maple leaf. “Don’t often see you smile that seriously,” he said, honest as stone.

“Tch. Learn a few better lines before you try flirting.” With that tossed like a pebble, Joanna jogged toward the building like a swift.

“Learn better lines...?” His whisper faded like smoke.

In class, Joanna found Xiaoxue just setting down her bag, the motion neat as folding a sail. “Xiaoxue, let’s get ready for the arena.”

“Do we really have to wear that?” The blonde girl’s voice trembled like a reed, her head lifting a fraction like a dawn lily.

“Of course not.” Relief slid in like cool water.

“We just need tight athletic pants that stop a bit above the knee,” Joanna said, her palm smoothing Xiaoxue’s golden hair like a hand over wheat. “But you’ll need a ponytail later.”

“Okay... that’s better than the other thing.” Her breath settled like dust after rain.

Just then, Zhu Jinhan walked in, her steps steady as a metronome. “You two are early.”

“Morning, class monitor!” Xiaoxue stuck out her tongue like a playful cat, cute on purpose.

“Yoshi, yoshi.” The monitor hugged her in a quick squeeze like a warm quilt—secret technique: cuddle‑in‑arms strike.