If it were a restaurant, décor signals rank like lacquer and jade; but Moon Post Bookstore plays by a different moonlit rule.

Behind the cash counter, the silver-haired girl watched the shop’s hushed belly with a fox’s smile, like a cat by a warm window.

She felt a small guilt drift like dust motes, then said, "Mm... I’ve never really done décor."

In the past, Yue Liuyi scrubbed like spring rain; the shop stayed clear as a pond.

Yet as a boy, he never touched frills or trim.

He’d felt that, as a boy, pretty lace would paint him too girlish, and make friends stiffen like reeds in a cold wind.

Too delicate, and everyone would sit tight as knots, fun sealed like a lid on a steaming pot.

But now, those worries melted like frost.

She was a girl now, with Kaka and LittleSnow at her side; Moon Post Bookstore wasn’t a lone lantern anymore.

Hope fluttered like a paper kite.

"LittleSnow, got any ideas for décor?"

"How about we start with indoor greens? Bring in potted life like little islands of moss."

Surprise bubbled like a spring.

"That’s great! The canal’s sprouted lots of pretty wildflowers; we can pot them and let them breathe inside."

Since Sis Kiki brought a cactus, Yue Liuyi loved green life, yet Dreamwood Star’s harsh air was a dry well for planting.

If the rooms could swell with green like a small forest, every breath a cool stream, that would be perfect.

And plants sip no power; they smooth the day-night swings like a calm lake at dawn, simple and kind.

Joy sparked like fireflies.

"Then I’ll go hunt for some pots right now!"

"Hey! Wait, Little Yue, don’t rush."

"We can use rice-fruit tree husks as planters later; for now, let’s chart the layout like a river."

Her curiosity rippled like a pebble in water.

"The layout?"

"Mm. If we only sell books, it’s hard to draw a crowd in one gust."

Dixue nodded; her soft silver hair drifted past her shoulders like moonlight on water.

LittleSnow’s serene, fine features, steeped in the shop’s dim first-floor light, held a secret beauty like incense at dusk.

"Oh... are we running a grand-opening discount? Then we’d mark some books as specials and give them a bright stage."

"That’s a good move too."

"But Little Yue’s got no supply now; every sale thins the shelf like leaves in autumn."

"Don’t do discounts—it’ll smell like a clearance."

"True. Moon Post Bookstore’s stock is thin as moonlight now. LittleSnow... got a better idea?"

LittleSnow chuckled, eyes sparking like fire on dew. "Me? I’ll set up a divination desk at the counter. Anyone seeking to turn misfortune to luck can come to me."

Surprise popped like a soap bubble. "Huh!? LittleSnow, you can divine too?"

"I’ve read a few books like that."

"Not a pro, but I can stir a little mist and pass."

Guilt pinched like a thorn. "Ugh... that’d be cheating our customers."

Yue Liuyi lowered her head, blue hair falling like a curtain.

She’d never want to fool the people who loved her shop, warm as a hearth against night.

"It’s not cheating. I just help people find the true thought in their own hearts, like holding up a still pond."

"Finding their true thought... like being a life coach, a lantern for the mind?"

"Nope. It’s my power—seeing through lies, like a blade through fog."

A jolt of awe and teasing fluttered like a startled bird. "Right! I almost forgot—LittleSnow’s got that overpowered skill!"

"It’s not a cheat!"

The silver-haired girl’s left hand drifted down to pat Yue Liuyi’s head, soft as night silk. "For a princess of the Night Clan, this isn’t much. I can’t know truth itself—only whether someone is lying."

"Huh?"

"Meaning, if they believe a false thing as true, I still can’t fish out the real answer."

"So it’s like a lie detector... more or less, with a little needle twitch?"

LittleSnow-brand lie detector?

The phrase jumped in Yue Liuyi’s mind like a cricket, but she kept it behind her teeth.

Otherwise, LittleSnow would tease her until the moon climbed the roof.

"Mm. When someone lies, their life force ripples a hair’s breadth."

"I can feel that ripple, and feel the lie riding it like a leaf on water."

Doubt cooled like shade under bamboo. "But... can that power be used for divination?"

"Mm... Our deep mind already knows right and wrong, but noise covers it like weeds."

"It needs a special path to surface, like admitting an illness before the cure."

"Ugh... that sounds complicated," she said, thoughts tangling like vines.

"Hehe~ My Little Yue doesn’t need the theory."

"Just live happy, like sun on a doorstep."

Her left hand wandered over Little Yue’s head, restless as a breeze, shamelessly ruffling the blue-haired girl again and again.

She puffed, cheeks warm like peaches. "Do that long enough and I’ll turn into a little dummy!"

"Oh? Little Yue, don’t you want to be spoiled by your big sis into a sweet little dummy?"

Her heart kicked like a deer, then she blurted, "N-no! I won’t be a dummy. I’ll spoil LittleSnow into one!"

"Oh... Little Yue, you’re really... really bold."

Cheeks flushing like sunset, Yue Dier tilted her head and cast a misty look toward Yue Liuyi.