“Mm… don’t pinch. It hurts…”

“…” Pinch. Pinch. Her fingers nipped like crab claws in cold tide.

‘What a shameless little thing—hugging me wasn’t enough, now she squirms like a cat, and she won’t even let me pinch!’ Xuewei’s thought flared like a spark under frost.

‘I’m taking my advantage back.’ The resolve snapped taut like a bowstring in winter air.

“Ah… huh? Why is Xuewei… Teacher here!” The poker face I feared most slid into view, her hand frozen by my cheek like a halted blade.

“You woke up… what a coincidence.” Xuewei’s voice dropped like frost on stone, and awkward heat flickered under it.

“Mm‑hm.” Honestly, for me—Shengsheng—it’s worse, getting caught with my own little sister suddenly trying to mess with me; my heart drummed like a guilty sparrow.

But if I don’t bring it up first, she’s the one who’ll squirm; the silence stretched like thin ice.

“…” I looked at her, breath a white thread. She stared back, eyes still as a winter lake.

“…” Two gazes tangled like drifting snowflakes, neither of us willing to land first.

“Teacher, I—”

“Before we talk, can you get off me?” Her tone was calm as a sheathed knife, cool and steady.

“Oh, oh…” Cheeks flushed like sunset, Qingsheng Tangxue hopped off Ling Xuewei in a flurry of sleeves.

“I asked earlier. That person you mentioned doesn’t share blood with you, right?” Her words tapped like sleet on a window.

Of course not… she’s Blood Clan and I’m a mermaid; it’s a miracle there’s no species barrier, like two rivers running side by side.

“I told you, Aunt Yuqiu’s someone I met on the road. She thought I was cute and gave me this academy pass~” My smile floated like a paper boat.

“The necklace.” Her correction cut clean, a thread pulled tight.

You turncoat! Damn old auntie—next time, you’re paying me double! No, triple! My curse fluttered like a black flag in my chest.

“What, cat got your tongue?” Her eyebrow lifted like a drawn bow.

“The necklace… what about it, Teacher Xuewei?” My voice trembled like a reed in wind.

“Your mom gave it to you, right?” Her gaze pressed, steady as falling snow.

“Yeah.” But what does that have to do with me not having Dreamsound’s contact? Confusion pooled like mist.

“Then—” Xuewei paused, thoughts circling like crows; asking straight would just dump us back at the start.

“Then if there’s nothing else, I’ll go. Bye, Teacher…” I rose, trying to drift away like smoke.

“No. You’re not leaving.” Xuewei stepped in and caught my collar, a hawk’s grip on soft cloth.

“Uh—Teacher, what are you doing?” My pulse jolted like a fish in a net.

“Until I meet your guardian, you don’t leave.” Her words clicked shut like a lock.

“…”

“Now, come with me.” Her back was a cold moon, already turning.

“Where? I still have to eat with friends. Hey—don’t pull, even good fabric tears if you yank like that!” Panic prickled like icy rain; if this rips on the road… no way.

Xuewei hesitated, then said, “My place.” The decision fell like a stone in a well.

I writhed, and in the tug‑of‑war she simply scooped me up, cradling me whole; her arms closed like iron hoops.

“Hey, hey, hey! Teacher, this is kidnapping! Even teachers can’t do that!” My protest fluttered like a trapped moth.

“Then what identity would work?” Her question slid in, soft as silk, sharp as a needle.

“Uh…” Words scattered like startled sparrows.

When I choked, Ling Xuewei quickened, her stride a winter wind; she ignored coworkers’ stares like sleet and aimed for her brother’s old place.

“Help! Child trafficking! Anybody? Does this academy even have staff?” My voice rang like a bell in fog.

“Save it. They don’t have the guts.” Xuewei’s cold smile flashed, a thin blade in snowlight.

“…”

“At least until your mom comes for you, you’re staying with me.” Her verdict landed like a seal on wax.

“…”

“Hey, why so quiet?” She glanced down, eyes cool as moonwater.

“If I talk, will you let me go? qwq” My plea clung like dew.

“If you fall asleep, maybe.” Her tone was a knife stroked flat.

“Really? qwq” Hope flickered like a candle in draft.

“Yeah. If you keep thinking about it before bed, you’ll dream it.” The cold smile doubled, twin crescents in night ice.

“Wow, Teacher, you sound practiced.” I winced, a leaf in wind.

“I am. I think of him even in my dreams.” Her confession was a hidden thorn, pricking through silk.

“…” No more knives, please; my heart felt like paper, cut and cut again.

“Then who are you waiting for, Teacher?” I asked, small as a drizzle.

“The owner of this house. We’re here.” Her voice settled like snow on a doorstep.

We returned to the place I bought and barely lived in a year, and she carried me in this weird pose; my ears burned like embers.

Kinda… indecent. The thought steamed like a kettle.

Too bad no one will see; Xuewei wouldn’t allow it. Right now we were skimming close to a thousand meters up, the world a cold blue sea.

If I weren’t immune to cold, I’d be shivering already, especially when Xuewei dove; the wind bit like needles.

Xuewei suddenly turned to my dazed face. “This place—doesn’t it feel familiar?” Her question hovered like fog.

“Familiar… my ass. It’s my first time here, Teacher.” I shot back, words a pebble skipping water.

“…It’s not your first time, is it? We’ve met here before.” Her gaze pressed in, a tide.

“Mm… maybe. It does feel a bit familiar…” My certainty frayed like old silk.

Xuewei fixed her eyes on me. “You really are—” Her words rose like thunder behind cloud.

“…!” My breath snagged, a bird caught mid‑flight.