This was Su Yuzhe’s fortieth minute standing by the door. Did girls really take this long to get changed?

It’s not like you’re going shopping—it’s school! Are you really going to head straight to lunch? So top students really can do whatever they want.

Man, Su Yuzhe really regretted changing that school rule now. Zixiao had to get up early either way.

But that was just wishful thinking. Once you changed something, you couldn’t just change it back—or his little sister would get upset again.

While Su Yuzhe’s thoughts were wandering, Zixiao opened her bedroom door, walked over obediently, and stopped in front of him.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, brother. I had a lot to get ready, so it took a while...”

Zixiao looked at Yuzhe, who was waiting by the door with practically nothing prepared, wearing a trench coat. His hair, like a galaxy, fell loosely over his clothes. Somehow, he managed to embody both handsomeness and beauty—two qualities that usually seemed to contradict each other—with effortless ease. Zixiao silently lamented that she hadn’t prepared enough after all...

“Oh, no, it’s fine! It hasn’t been long... Hm?!”

He’d thought they could finally leave now that she was ready. But when Yuzhe took a proper look at Zixiao, his breath still caught for a moment.

Fenghai No. 1 High School’s uniform was different from those at the surrounding schools. It was a Japanese-style sailor uniform, with plenty of ribbons decorating the black-and-white skirt, making the whole outfit look light and airy. The big bow at her chest stood out, too. Zixiao’s long, ink-black hair fell naturally around her shoulders. If you didn’t know what she was really like, you’d think she was a cool, aloof school beauty.

Add the black over-the-knee socks Zixiao had picked out herself and her shiny brown shoes, and Yuzhe gave his little sister a thumbs-up in his heart!

But that wasn’t the point!

Why were you wearing light makeup to school?!

“Um... Zixiao.”

“Hmm?”

Don’t tilt your head and try to get out of this by being cute!

“So, um, why are you wearing makeup to school? Is there some kind of event today?”

“There’s no event... I’ll take it off as soon as I get to school.”

“Then why did you put it on?!”

Yuzhe finally couldn’t hold back and blurted out his complaint. He just couldn’t understand it!

At his question, Zixiao’s usually cool-looking face suddenly flushed red. Even so, she answered honestly.

“It’s just... you’re taking me to school today, brother. I thought I couldn’t embarrass you, so on the way here, I... I had to do my very best.”

Her voice grew quieter and quieter.

“But it’s only a twenty-minute walk!”

“Even if it’s only one minute, I still have to do my best.”

Now she sounded completely sure of herself!

“You!”

Looking at Zixiao’s innocent expression, Yuzhe was so exasperated he almost laughed.

Of course, he wasn’t mad that Zixiao had spent so long getting ready. If anything, knowing she’d done it for him made him feel pretty touched.

He was mad about something else.

Just then, her brother’s gentle voice reached Zixiao’s ears.

“Come on, listen to me. Take your makeup off before we go. You hardly ever wear any, and even though it’s light makeup, leaving cosmetics on your skin for a long time can still do some harm.” As he spoke, Yuzhe looked straight into Zixiao’s eyes.

He saw that Zixiao seemed to be listening carefully, so he went on.

“Besides, I think you’re prettiest without makeup. Makeup just covers up your natural charm.”

Actually, the moment she heard Yuzhe’s gentle voice, Zixiao’s brain had already short-circuited. But her clever little head still managed to catch what her brother said.

“Eh? Do you really mean that, brother?”

“Of course. When have I ever lied to you?”

“Mm. You’re always right, brother. I understand.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Zixiao turned and went into the washroom, apparently to take off her makeup.

Hm? Was this going to take another half hour? Yuzhe sucked in a sharp breath.

.............

Fortunately, this time Zixiao came back out quickly. Without makeup, her face looked more natural, and that was the lively charm Yuzhe liked best. Her features were already perfect; she really didn’t need makeup at all.

After all, she was known as Fenghai No. 1 High School’s undisputed school beauty, a once-in-decades kind of girl.

Before they left, Yuzhe draped a big coat over Zixiao. It was long enough to reach her calves. This time, she didn’t care whether it looked good. If it came from her brother, she liked it.

The morning rush was already over, so there weren’t many people on the way. Even so, the two of them drew plenty of looks.

Especially the looks aimed at Su Yuzhe...

Damn it, his little sister was the real school beauty!

Why were you all paying so much attention to him, a manly man?!

Of course, that was partly because Yuzhe made no effort to hide his looks. He wore a black trench coat and carried Zixiao’s schoolbag for her. Even dressed so plainly, he made nearly two hundred percent of passersby turn to look.

The extra hundred percent came from people who turned around twice.

But whatever. Su Yuzhe had never bothered to hide his looks. It wasn’t his fault he looked like this. Was he supposed to go around covering himself up? He didn’t want to live a lie.

Unlike Yuzhe, who stayed calm, Zixiao was getting a little worked up. She kept trying to block passersby from looking at her brother. Damn it... She had to protect him!

But Yuzhe hardly needed this little kitten to protect him. He might not look it, but he’d learned plenty of martial arts and self-defense techniques growing up in the Su Family. His combat skills were basically maxed out. Ahem—the only issue was that he was a little short on strength...

But that was no big deal.

No one bothered them along the way. Everyone thought it was a lovely sight: a cool, black-haired beauty walking alongside a silver-haired “beauty” so stunning she was almost unreal.

If Su Yuzhe had heard that, though, he probably would’ve lost it on the spot.

You’re the beautiful girl! Your whole family’s beautiful girls!

What was wrong with these people? Couldn’t they show a manly man some respect?!

Before long, the not-so-long walk was over, filled with the two of them chatting and laughing. After walking Zixiao to the gate marked “Fenghai No. 1 High School” and explaining things to the guard, Yuzhe set off back the way they’d come. Naturally, he ignored all the messages below the school name thanking the Su Family for its sponsorship...

“All right, Zixiao, head on in. I’ll go back now. I’ll make lunch today. You got up so early, so eat and get some proper rest afterward.”

“Mm... Brother, cooking is my job. You know you’re taking away your little sister’s right to live, right?”

“Okay, okay. I’m not stealing your cooking job. Just let me have a turn once in a while.”

“All right... See you later, then. I’m going to class. See you at lunch, brother!”

“Mm. Just you wait for lunch~”

Zixiao kept looking back as she walked into the school. Su Yuzhe waited until she disappeared from sight before turning around and heading back the way they’d come.

................

What Su Yuzhe didn’t know was that, after entering the school, Zixiao didn’t go to her classroom. Instead, she went straight up to the rooftop of the school building. It was class time, and there wasn’t a soul up there.

Zixiao took out her phone and called someone from her contacts. There were only three people in her phone: her brother, his biological younger sister Yuche, and their father.

The name showing on the screen for the call she was making was Yuche. After two rings, the call connected.

A soft, lazy yet playful and lively voice came through the phone.

“Hello, hello! Zixiao, why aren’t you in class at this hour?”

At that, Zixiao’s eyebrow twitched. The nerve—wasn’t Yuche skipping class too?

“Yuche, let’s skip the pointless stuff. I’m not like you. I have to give it everything I’ve got to rank first in the year, unlike you, who can just pick up a pen, take a test, and get first place.”

“Hmm? I can’t tell if you’re insulting me or complimenting me. You’re such a master of backhanded compliments. But thanks for the praise! Anyway...”

Yuche’s voice on the other end suddenly turned much sharper. Sharp as a blade.

“I’m not interested in that. Zixiao, I just want to know: can you convince my brother to go to school like I asked, or not?”

Hearing that tone made Su Zixiao waver a little. As an adopted child, when it came to her brother, she was facing off against his biological younger sister, Yuche...

But she’d never backed down!

“You need to get one thing straight. I agreed to convince my brother to go to school not because you asked, but because I want him to go too. Yuche, I’ve told you this so many times: you’re not the only one who’s his little sister. I am, too.”

Yuche fell silent for a moment. But soon, her voice turned even colder.

“Ahh... Here we go again. This is exactly why I can’t stand that about you...”

But the chill vanished in an instant, and Yuche’s voice immediately turned carefree and cheerful again.

“Come on, Zixiao, don’t take it so seriously. It doesn’t matter who brought it up first—we want the same thing, right? If we can get brother to come to school, he’ll get to experience more of an ordinary life. That means we’ll have helped him, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it?”

Her playful liveliness was a huge contrast to the sharp, icy edge in her voice just moments ago.

But Zixiao was already used to Yuche’s personality, so all she could do was let out a long sigh.

“Sigh... You’re right. It doesn’t matter who brought it up first... Anyway, I’ve already arranged everything. I expect brother will have to come to school in about an hour. That’ll give us a chance to convince him to attend.”

“Okay, okay! Then I’m counting on you, all right? I’ll talk to brother about it more, too... Oh, right, Zixiao.” Yuche’s voice turned deliberately snarky. “You’d better keep studying hard and not skip class. Wouldn’t want to lose your first-place ranking by the next exam!”

Which one of us is the real master of backhanded compliments here?!

“You...!”

Beep, beep, beep...

Zixiao had just been about to fire back when Yuche quickly hung up.

What could Zixiao do? Nothing. She could only sigh again, leave the rooftop, and return to class.

Wouldn’t want you to lose your first-place ranking, would you!

...............

Meanwhile, dozens of kilometers away, a petite figure stood on the empty rooftop of Qifeng No. 1 High School in East City, holding the phone she’d just finished using.

Her features bore a strong resemblance to Su Yuzhe’s, but what they shared most was their dazzling, galaxy-like silver hair. The difference was that she was almost twenty centimeters shorter than Su Yuzhe, standing only about 150 centimeters tall. That didn’t make her any less breathtakingly beautiful.

This was Su Yuzhe’s biological younger sister, Su Yuche.

Unlike Su Yuzhe, whose beauty came with a masculine handsomeness, Su Yuche was pure girlish charm and cuteness.

But height was a real drawback! Those twenty centimeters meant Su Yuzhe could pass for a “silver-haired beauty,” while Su Yuche could only be a silver-haired little girl!

Looking at the phone in her hand, Su Yuche felt annoyed. What Zixiao had said just now had really gotten under her skin.

The girl clutched her phone tightly and muttered to herself, unmistakable coldness in her voice.

“That was really out of line. Saying that to me, his biological little sister—is that a challenge? Ah... obviously. Su Zixiao... Zixiao, after all these years, why do you still have to fight me for my brother?”

Her beautiful eyes shifted as she collected herself.

She turned to look toward the western part of the city, opened her phone, and pulled up a photo of herself with her brother. She held it up until, from where she stood, it lined up with the sky. The coldness in her eyes was instantly replaced by boundless tenderness.

The irritation on Yuche’s face slowly gave way to a genuine smile.

It seemed that, to her older brother, she would always be that mischievous, lively child.

“Wait for me, big brother. Yuche will definitely help you...”