Annoyance prickled like nettles. “LittleSnow is so shameless, always trying to flirt with me!”

Yue Liuyi puffed her cheeks, like a sparrow sulking, and left the study. Just now, LittleSnow had scooped her up, ruffled her hair, and even flipped her skirt—too much, like a mischievous wind.

And it’s daytime, sun bright like washed silk. Not rest time. The blue‑haired girl had just come back from the mall, errands stacked like bricks waiting.

Thanks to Principal Wang’s seed money, the shopping haul gleamed like shells on shore. She’d bought pretty home things, small and soft as dew.

Flower pots for fresh blooms, wind chimes for the door singing like silver rain, delicate stickers like petals, and brand‑new curtains flowing like river light.

The Moon Post Bookstore never had such adornment before, a space plain as a boy’s room. Now it was a girls’ haven, it needed gentler grace, like spring mist.

At least let it look warm as lamplight, so every day moods rise like morning birds.

“Woof! Sis, what are you doing?” The voice hopped like a pebble on water.

“Renovating… Oh, right. I got Kaka a folding spring bed. Kaka, see if you like it.”

Yue Liuyi pulled a folding bed from the pile, cardboard mountains rustling. She assembled it, each click like sparrows tapping a branch. Kaka might sleep downstairs, so the girls had bought a small bed too.

“Woof! Is this for Kaka? Thank you, Master! Kaka will treasure it!” Her words sparkled like confetti.

The blonde little girl pounced, tail wagging like a metronome in sunlight.

“No need to thank me. Mm… right! Bedding too. What color do you like?”

“Yellow! Kaka loves yellow best! Does Master have yellow sheets?” Her eyes bright as marigolds.

“Uh… y‑yellow, of course… mm.” The stammer fluttered like a moth.

She spread a yellow sheet over the spring bed, sunlight caught like honey. Then she set a bookcase and a potted plant as a neat fence, cozy as a garden nook.

“Woof, Kaka loves it!” Joy bubbled like soda.

The blonde girl bounced onto the bed. The springs turned into a trampoline, and Kaka rolled, giggling like windbells.

“By the way… Kaka, don’t you want your own room? We still have one open upstairs.”

“No need! Kaka’s a pro watchdog. If I go upstairs, Bernadette’s defense rig will be harder to handle.” Pride stood like a thin flag.

“Mm… then be careful, like a candle in night water. Don’t be brave alone. If anything happens, call me.”

“Woof! Kaka knows!” Her promise sat sure as a stone.

“Hehe…” Her laugh was a breeze.

Yue Liuyi stroked the fluffy ears, soft as ferns, then lifted the remaining sheets like folded clouds.

“Master Sis, where are those going?”

“Upstairs.”

“Then Kaka will help!”

“Mm… thanks.”

Because the Moon Post Bookstore’s second floor, aside from the changing room and bathroom, had only three rooms, space sat like chess squares.

So Yue Liuyi gathered everyone, voices circling like swallows, to discuss room assignments.

“For now, Yin Mu and Little Rose share. Teng Ying and Dashi share, okay?”

“I’m fine with anything!” Little Rose’s cheer flitted like a ribbon.

“Huh? Sharing with the Witch? Yes!” Yin Mu’s excitement sparked like flint.

“Whatever.” Teng Ying’s hand flicked, cool as shade.

“Mm… if Sis is fine, Dashi’s fine.” Dashi’s gaze swept the walls, searching like a tide for old memories.

“Then let’s grab sheets together. Pick freely. All the hygiene supplies are new. Treat this as home, and don’t be shy.” Her warmth spread like tea fragrance.

With so many friends under one roof, Yue Liuyi’s joy glowed like lanterns.

The bookstore had been shorthanded at first, empty as a winter field. Now hands were ample: LittleSnow had recovered, and everyone pulled together, gears meshing like clockwork.

Yin Mu helped Yue Liuyi make the beds, sheets billowing like sails. Little Rose commanded her magic broom, which swept the hallway like a brisk wind. Kaka and Dashi hauled the room’s clutter downstairs to the warehouse, footsteps steady as drumbeats.

Face cool as a boy’s mask, Teng Ying leaned out the window after a moment’s thought. Her eyes scanned the street, hawk‑sharp.

“Hmph… an electro‑ion deterrent rig? A bit crude, but thoughtful.” Her voice cut like frost.

She faced the defense device Bernadette had set by the window, metal peeking like a watchful eye.

“Rest easy,” Bernadette said, tone calm as rain. “Ordinary people can’t enter without tripping the alarm.”

“I know. I’m satisfied with this place. I’ll pay extra rent.” Her certainty clicked like a lock.

“You don’t need to pay rent…”

“You think I eat for free?” The words rose like a blade.

Teng Ying lifted her chin at Yue Liuyi, temper flaring like pine resin. Her dark green eyes held no warmth, no soft snow of compromise.

“Huh? That’s not what I meant.”

“Then take it. I hate unearned favors.” The disdain fell like a hard pebble.

She tossed a gold earring into Yue Liuyi’s hands, flashing like a falling star, and walked out without looking back.

“Uh! Master, this newcomer’s rich and rude, and she doesn’t respect you! It’s awful!” Yin Mu bristled like a cat.

“Mm… Yin Mu, it’s not like that. In some sense, Teng Ying’s a good person.” Yue Liuyi’s smile was wry, a leaf caught in current.

Linelor City, Xinke District, Longming Road.

This was the headquarters of Teng Holdings. The once‑prosperous plaza bristled with tension, stormy as a sky before rain.

“People inside, listen up! Drop your resistance!” The shout cracked like thunder. “Your leader, Teng Feiyang, has been taken by Rangers Lodge for violating the Civilized Contact Law! Be smart—drop your weapons and surrender!”

The attackers crowded the square, a tide of bodies and steel. They had armored cars like beetles, infantry rocket pods like stingers, magitech sniper rifles gleaming, and gunships lurking like hawks.

On the other side, the defenders were fewer, gear thinner as paper. Yet fear didn’t show; their calm sat like stone. They answered the taunts with the simplest reply.

Whoosh—splash! A great basin of filth flew from a window, wind whipping it like a dirty wave. It drenched the shouting man head on.

“You! Dead set on dying with Teng Feiyang, huh? Fine, fine, fine! Kill them all! I’ll claim credit from Lord Fu!” Rage burned like pitch.

The caller couldn’t swallow the insult. He scraped muck from his hair in one rough sweep, then bellowed, voice a horn. “Use biochemical weapons! Kill them all! Don’t damage the equipment—starting now, it belongs to Lord Fu!”

“Copy!” The answer snapped like triggers.

“Roar! Kill them!” Their chant grew, black as a murder of crows, surging toward Teng Holdings’ doors like a storm front.