Later, the truth dawned on Dongfang Chen like morning light through fog: Sis Kiki, like many at Linluo University, worked her way through school.

Because she loved ramen like steam curling off a winter bowl, Aiqiqi took a kitchen job at a ramen shop.

Each time she passed Moon Post Bookstore, she saw his silhouette in the lamplight, and interest sprouted in her chest like a shy bud.

Aiqiqi’s major was Plant Medicine, a river where magic met science, a craft that listens to leaves the way healers read pulses.

It was a quiet field, a shaded grove off the main road, and as its name said, it treated plants the way doctors tend the sick.

This world held many magical plants, a forest of wonders under strange suns.

There was the Sage Tree that bore golden fruit like coins of sunlight.

There was the Rainbow Sakura, a cascade of seven colors like dawn spilled through rain.

There were chocolate leaves sweet as dusk and rice trees heavy as ripened fields.

Under the push of life force, new beings bloomed like constellations after rain, and Plant Medicine studied how to protect those fragile shoots.

The discipline asked for oceans of reading, waves of pages and tides of notes, so Aiqiqi came often to Moon Post Bookstore.

She leafed through volumes like wind through bamboo, and she bought materials that rustled like fresh paper.

Sometimes, when Dongfang played with his friends, Aiqiqi joined for a moment like a sparrow dipping through a stream.

More often, she helped from the side, quiet as moss under stone, steady as shade in noon heat.

“Tonight’s dinner,” she asked, voice warm as a hearth, “do you want egg fried rice?”

“Huh? Does a ramen shop even sell egg fried rice?” Their surprise popped like rain on hot oil.

“It’s a new item,” she said with a smile soft as moonlight, “and the discount’s only for today.”

“Di–discount…! Then please, Sis!” Excitement flashed like fireflies. “Some friends might come by too. Could you make a few more portions?”

“No problem,” she answered, sure as a well-tied knot, bright as clear water.

Help like that kept coming, pebble after pebble building a path, and Sis Kiki stayed diligent and gentle as spring rain.

The blue-haired girl brought a fresh breeze into the shop, lifting spirits like kites, and she helped the young Yue Liuyi with hands light as feathers.

In time, even Dongfang Chen began calling her Sis Kiki, the way warm tea earns a daily cup.

And Sis Kiki treated Moon Post Bookstore like a haven, a harbor lamp in the night, and she brought something precious as morning dew.

It happened while Dongfang and his friends were playing Monopoly, little houses rising like toy towns on a paper coast.

“Today,” she said, eyes bright as stars, “I brought you something good.”

“Eh? What is it?” Curiosity rustled like grass.

“Is it food? Dashi wants synthetic meat ramen,” someone chimed, hope puffing like a noodle pot.

“Whoa!! What’s that…” Awe fell like a hush of snow.

They crowded close, faces blooming like sunflowers, as the blue-haired girl reached into her satchel.

What she set down was green as a small oasis, spined like a hedgehog, and under the lamp it gleamed with dew-smooth shine.

“Dongfang Chen, what is this?” a friend asked, eyes round as moons.

“I—I don’t know either…” His confusion fluttered like a moth at glass.

“This is a cactus,” Aiqiqi said, voice gentle as a garden path, “a kind of green plant.”

She placed the cactus on the desk like a tiny pillar of desert, plain at first glance, yet tough as a sand-born cliff.

“Even in hard drought,” she said, “it grows well, like a stubborn star in a dry sky.”

“A cactus… what’s that? Can we eat it?” The question skipped like pebbles on a pond.

“Uh! It’s a green plant,” she laughed, bright as chimes, “and our planet sorely lacks green.”

“Oh, a cactus! It looks so pretty!” Admiration spilled like clear rain.

The boys of Dreamwood Star rarely saw living green, so their curiosity swarmed like bees to a single flower.

Seeing their interest, the blue-haired girl smiled, soft as petals opening at dawn.

“This column cactus is for you,” she said, offering it like a lantern. “I believe you can take good care of it.”

“Eh? It’s too precious. How can you give it to me?” His protest trembled like a reed in wind.

“It’s fine,” she said, calm as shade. “It’s one of our institute’s new hybrids, and the professor wants to test how it adapts in normal settings.”

“Giving it to Xiao Dong also makes research easier,” she added, eyes clear as a stream.

“Uh! Is that okay?” His hope blinked like a robin’s heartbeat.

“Don’t hesitate, Dongfang,” a friend laughed, breezy as spring. “Sis Kiki isn’t an outsider!”

“Uh… all right!” His agreement landed like a seed in warm soil.

So that small cactus took its place on the first floor of Moon Post Bookstore, a green candle in a paper sea.

It was tiny, yet its influence spread like dew soaking earth, subtle and sure, drop by quiet drop.

Many locals of Dreamwood Star had never seen living green, so the cactus drew them in like a spring hidden in rock.

Some customers came only to admire it, then left with books cradled like bundles of herbs.

For a while, popular science flew off the shelves like migrating birds, and Dongfang’s income rose like a fresh tide.

Because of it, plants took root in his heart, soft as moss and stubborn as vines.

How should he care for a cactus? The question coiled like a young tendril.

He read about plants, page after page like leaves in wind, and he learned useful things that glittered like dewdrops.

Books and little plants felt perfect together, ink and green, like rain and soil.

So, for Dongfang Chen, the feeling turned steady as a hearth’s glow.

Sis Kiki was… a sister-shaped presence, warm as a shawl and firm as a hand on your shoulder.

Yue Liuyi thought for a breath, thoughts circling like swallows, and finally told the engineer girl her answer.

“Uh! I knew I guessed right!” The engineer girl frowned, a cloud puckering before rain, and shook her head.

“Guessed wrong?” Yue’s heart jumped like a startled fish. “You mean…”

“Since you’re also Sis Kiki’s little sister,” the engineer said, eyes sparking like flint, “we’re competitors now.”

“But don’t worry,” she added, stance straight as a pine, “I’ll beat you fair and square. I won’t use any tricks.”

“Com–competitors…?” Yue froze, blue eyes wide as lakes, not knowing why an enemy had sprouted like a weed at noon.

“Come with me,” the engineer said, voice ringing like steel on anvil. “I’ll take you to Sis Kiki.”

“But remember this,” she declared, fist clenched like a budding shoot. “In the end, the only one who’ll be Sis Kiki’s sister is me!”