“Food, food—let’s go! I’m starving, like a hollow drum thumping in my belly!”

“Mmph… Tangxue, don’t shove me like a kite in a gust…”

The academy has a cafeteria, its meals set to royal standards, like palace steam wafting under blue eaves. At that news, Qingsheng Tangxue couldn’t sit still, like a sparrow eyeing ripe grain. Tasting every dish under heaven was her wish, bright as a lantern in night rain, so at noon she rushed Snow Orchid toward the dining hall like a brook pulling leaves along.

“Here we are…” Qianya looked up at the lakeside villa, her gaze still as a pond at dawn. “Let’s return this to her now, since fate let us cross paths again like driftwood meeting on a river.”

“Come on, food—food—oof! Who—”

Great, I was just stepping out, and I smashed into someone at the corner like a moth into a paper screen. My luck sank like a pebble in a well… Wait—this is—

“It’s Miss Passerby!”

“I’m Qianya! What do you mean, ‘Miss Passerby’?!” The pink‑haired girl glared up at me, her eyes sharp as twin blades catching noon sun.

“Ah, that—I forgot before, haha… Um, Miss Qianya, what happened to your eyes?” I remembered they’d been red, like embers under ash.

“Due to some uncontrollable reasons, they’re gold for now, that’s all,” Qianya said, rising like a reed after wind. “How’s this color?”

“Pre… pretty…” Heat flared in my face like sunrise, and I jerked my gaze away like a bird spooked from a branch.

Pink hair and golden eyes, a shapely maiden in her prime (?) like peach blossoms after snow—too good! Keeping her at home would be bliss, like incense in a quiet room!

“And compared to my original look?”

“It’s… it’s the same, really. Only your eye color changed. Miss Qianya, you’re already stunning, like moonlight on still water!”

“Smooth tongue. But I like it. Here—this is what you dropped, right?”

“!!! My spatial wristband?”

“When I first came in, I met a strange old guy,” she said, voice flat as a calm lake. “I saw him holding a wristband just like yours, so I ‘borrowed’ it to check, and then I felt it had to be yours.”

“Thanks!” I lunged and hugged Qianya, my relief pouring out like spring thaw. “Really, thank you, Qianya. If I couldn’t find this, I wouldn’t know what to do…” If I went back without it, that woman would use it as a chain, like iron on my ankle, and never let me out again!

“You’re hugging too tight…”

“Ah! Sorry (0 x 0)!” My hands flew open like startled sparrows.

“No need to apologize. It’s actually pretty comfortable, like sunshine on a cold day…”

“… Right. Qianya, this villa has room for one more. Let’s live here together, okay?” My voice bounced like a pebble across water.

Qianya smiled, the curve soft as willow shade. “…In that case, it’s better to obey than decline.”

“Then we’ll help—uh, let’s drop our stuff here first. Let’s go eat!”

“…Honestly, Tangxue, you’re such a foodie, like a squirrel after pine nuts.”

‘Qingsheng Tangxue, what kind of person are you? Is that guileless airhead look a mask, or is it your true spring breeze? I can’t wait to see…’

“Hoho—this lakeside villa is the best, like a pavilion set over jade water!” Yanfengle’s eyes sparkled like tiny stars as he stared at the near‑distant villa.

“This dorm—I’m claiming it!”

“What, this is a senior’s dorm? Sorry to disturb—”

“Oof—Senior, I didn’t mean to—ow—”

“…We’re disturbing you, seniors. Please continue…” Yanfengle went wide‑eyed, slammed the door, and ran like wind in tall grass.

‘Argh, what is this? Why do the good things always get snatched first, like fish slipping the net?!’

“Wait, there’s another one there… That should be for freshmen, right? It has to be, right?! The rest are for upperclassmen—hahaha…”

“My beautiful villa life, here I co—”

“Sorry. We’re full.” Qianya stepped out first, face calm as frost.

Then came Snow Orchid with her dangling accessory, Qingsheng Tangxue, gold hair and bright laugh like sun through leaves. “Ah, another newcomer? So sorry, we’ve filled all the beds…”

Three girls appeared in a row, each ten times prettier than any campus goddess Yanfengle had seen, like three lotuses blooming on the same lake. The sight dealt a critical strike to his brain and a massive IQ debuff, and he stood dumb as a wooden post.

[Don’t be surprised. This world has less pollution and fewer impurities, like clear spring water, and the food’s miles better than your old plane. High average beauty is normal. But kid, do you know how embarrassing you look now? Like a country bumpkin first seeing city lights.]

“Tangxue, Tangxue, what’s wrong with him?”

“No idea, like a rabbit caught in moonlight…”

“Don’t mind him. We said our piece. Let’s go eat. We came first, so first come, first served, like stones laid before the bridge.”

With that, Qianya took Snow Orchid’s hand and left, along with the pendant clinging to her like dew on a leaf.

Only after a long beat did Yanfengle snap back, like a bell rung awake.

“Sis System, did I just lose all my face back there, like a hat blown into the river?”

[Nonsense… Want me to replay it so you can watch yourself drown again?]

“No, I get it. I think… coming to this academy was the right choice, like choosing a road where the wind’s at my back.”

[…]

“Honestly, those three are insanely beautiful, like constellations after rain. But… that’s just the shock talking. I still prefer someone whose temperament matches mine, like matching tune to flute… so, I think…”

[If you want to date, just say it! But warning: at least two of those three aren’t easy to mess with, like tigers under silk. If you go court death and provoke them, even your ashes will be scattered to the wind!]

“How could I be that kind of guy? I’ll at least get to know them first before thinking romance, like planting before harvest…”

“Heh. Single for fifteen years, and still thinking with your lower body, like a dog chasing a bone…”

“Tch, say what you want!”

…

“Ah—so this is royal‑noble fare? It’s amazing, like fireworks on the tongue! This donut—so good, like sugar snow melting warm. Though it’s a bit below Aunt Yuqiu’s…”

“Aunt Yuqiu…” Qianya’s mouth twitched, a ripple across a calm lake.

“Qianya, what’s wrong?” I turned with a donut between my teeth like a fox with a bun, and a slice of cream cake in my left hand like a pale moon.

“Nothing… I just remembered something happy, like a plum blossom opening in frost…”

“Oh… By the way, Qianya, can you eat sweets?” I remembered she told me she’s Blood Clan, like a night lily under stars.

“I can. My staple food’s like everyone else’s on normal days, like rice and bread. I just need blood to keep my body running, like humans need salt.”

“Salt? What are you and Tangxue talking about…” Snow Orchid tilted her head like a finch.

“It’s nothing. Lan’er, try this cream cake. It’s great, like a cloud on your tongue!”

“I can feed myself…” She said it with her lips, but her heart warmed like tea in poured sunlight.

‘Being fed by Tangxue feels unexpectedly nice, like a soft breeze through bamboo…’