“Hello, Auntie and Uncle. I’m Xiaoxi’s classmate, and I was hoping to ask her to hang out…”

“No, no, that’d be lying, wouldn’t it? She’ll only just be starting high school after summer break, and I’m already a sophomore.”

“Then… Hello, Auntie and Uncle. I’m Xiaoxi’s friend, and since it’s Qixi today, I wanted to…”

“Ah, no, that won’t work! Going to see a girl on Qixi would make her parents suspicious, right? But what other excuse can I use? Hmm… I’ll just say we’re going out to have fun…”

Outside Ruo Xiaoxi’s front door, a young woman in a dignified, deep-blue dress cinched at the waist held one small fist to her mouth. She kept rubbing her fingers together, anxiously rehearsing what to say.

She knew where Ruo Xiaoxi lived, but she’d never been there before and didn’t know what to expect. It was her first time visiting Ruo Xiaoxi’s home, and the thought of adults being there made Xia Zhibai’s heart flutter with nerves.

“Knock, knock, knock… Knock, knock, knock…”

“Hm? Someone’s knocking. At my door?” Ruo Xiaoxi was in her bedroom, just about to turn on her computer and play a game, when she heard what sounded like a knock.

Who would come to her place? Could it be the little girl upstairs who sometimes brought her green jujubes to eat?

Ah, green jujubes were delicious, but sadly, they didn’t fill her up.

It’d be even better if the girl brought her fresh blood. But she was only in seventh grade—far too young. Ruo Xiaoxi… just couldn’t bring herself to prey on her, in every sense of the word.

A girl that young might not even need to be dating her for Ruo Xiaoxi to get close to her. But could her body handle having its blood drained? Until she knew the answer, Ruo Xiaoxi wouldn’t consider feeding on her.

“Excuse me, is this Ruo Xiaoxi’s house? Is anyone home?”

After knocking at the door for a while and hearing no response from inside, Xia Zhibai began to wonder if she had the wrong place.

Ruo Xiaoxi had just come out of her bedroom when she recognized Xia Zhibai’s voice. Startled, she hurried back into her room. She had to put on a skirt first! What was this girl doing here!?

Oh no. Was she going to be stuck with this big sister pestering her forever? Couldn’t they break up? (Delivered in a completely deadpan voice.)

Anyway, she wasn’t the one suffering. She only loved her freedom~

“Um… Sister Xia.” Ruo Xiaoxi opened the door from inside, looking perfectly well-behaved in a pair of little slippers.

“I knew I had the right place. Huh? Xiaoxi, it’s so quiet in your house. Where are your mom and dad?” Xia Zhibai didn’t know that Ruo Xiaoxi lived alone, so she naturally assumed her parents were home too.

Ruo Xiaoxi froze for a moment, then hurriedly replied, “Ah, they—they went out early this morning to celebrate Qixi.”

“Pfft! They went out to celebrate Qixi first thing in the morning? What a loving couple.”

Mm-hmm, exactly. Ruo Xiaoxi nodded over and over.

If Xia Zhibai found out she lived alone, things would get bad. She’d probably come over every day and wear Ruo Xiaoxi out. At this rate, Ruo Xiaoxi might not be able to walk for the rest of summer.

Better to tell a little lie. Everyone knew that one lie took a hundred more to cover it up, and once you started, there was no taking it back. But Ruo Xiaoxi was different from other people.

She lied as easily as she breathed. She was a little scammer.

She told big sisters every day that she liked them, that she loved them, without so much as blushing. Every single one was her favorite. Hmph, she didn’t think she was lying. “Favorite” didn’t have to mean there could only be one.

Didn’t people always say things like “one of the hottest topics” or “one of the most talented people”? One of!

Flawless logic, a story that told itself. If she was going to be a Little Green Tea, she’d be a fresh and unconventional one.

“Sister Xia, what brings you to my place?”

“It’s Qixi today. I was planning to ask you out. Are you free?”

“Huh? Sister Xia wants to ask me out for Qixi!? Me? Is that really okay?”

Ruo Xiaoxi spoke timidly, looking so sweet and pitiful that anyone would want to protect her. She seemed impossibly well-behaved—not at all like a bad girl.

That was exactly how Xia Zhibai had been fooled the first time.

What are you pretending for, Little Green Tea? You really want me to ask you out! Xia Zhibai had gotten a little wiser by now. When Ruo Xiaoxi said no, she meant yes. And if she said yes, well, that meant yes too.

And Xia Zhibai had been even more unreasonable before. She hated seeing Ruo Xiaoxi acting all sweet with other girls, but when she really thought about it, Ruo Xiaoxi had never actually agreed to be her girlfriend.

Ruo Xiaoxi was free to do whatever she wanted. Xia Zhibai couldn’t actually control her.

To borrow a line from that little senior sister of the Green Tea Sect: “What’s it to you~?”

Of course, Xia Zhibai had come with a little plan of her own today. She wanted to take Ruo Xiaoxi out for Qixi, then, at the end of the day, maybe confess to her and ask her to be her girlfriend. Make them an official couple, locked in for good!

Ruo Xiaoxi understood at once.

Heh heh~ Looks like Sister Xia wants to use Qixi as her chance to make me hers.

But she was the great little white colt of Jiangnan. How could she let herself be held by the reins? She still had to gallop across the endless grasslands, all the way to the sea, and live a wonderful life with no worries about food or drink.

Then today, I’ll find a way to make you realize you’re not a good big sister at all. I’ll help you see your shortcomings and understand that you’re not my type. Then we can break up peacefully!

Your D-cup chest really is huge, but at life’s crossroads, you have to make choices!

As she thought this, Ruo Xiaoxi couldn’t help sneaking another glance at Xia Zhibai’s full, upright chest. Reluctantly, she tore her eyes away. No, Ruo Xiaoxi. You can’t stop here.

The cooldown after drinking blood is at least two months, and one feeding only keeps you going for ten days—fifteen at most. Do you want to spend the remaining month and a half starving? No, you’d be dead by then!

Could even the purest, deepest love withstand the pressure of everyday expenses? Cue the tears.

It was only an opened door. They’d exchanged just three or four lines.

And yet, in that moment, both of them seemed to be caught up in a complicated battle of wills.

One was thinking about how to avoid getting tied down so she could keep flirting with big sisters and support herself…

The other was thinking about how to lock her down today and make her a woman who belonged only to her…