Chapter 38: She is perfect when something happens! Three thousand words
Lin Zihan widened her eyes, staring blankly upward at Ye Zhibai’s outstretched pale arm.
Ye Zhibai’s small hand had already landed on her head, and without hesitation, began gently stroking.
Her hand moved like a swimming fish or a flying dragon, an incredible skill, almost divine.
This referred to Ye Zhibai’s head-patting technique!
Ye Zhibai didn’t understand why her head-patting technique was so skilled.
It felt like her body had memorized the motion, doing it with complete ease.
The answer to this question was simple.
Since childhood, Ye Zhijun and Ye Zhibai had a pact: whenever they felt tired in the morning, they would pat each other’s heads to show care, so they could start a new day refreshed!
Even though Ye Zhibai had no soul back then, by mimicking Yun’er’s head-patting every day, she mastered it purely by reflex!
Her soulless body had long memorized the key points of head-patting.
To sum it up in one phrase.
Nothing else — only skill from practice!【9†source】
At first, Lin Zihan wanted to say, “That’s enough,” but as Ye Zhibai’s technique grew more refined, the words at the tip of her tongue were swallowed back!
If… if she patted my head a little more.
It feels like it might get addictive.
It’s terrible, but… I can’t resist this feeling at all.
Without realizing it, Lin Zihan had closed her eyes.
Like a golden cat, she enjoyed the gentle motions on her head, even unconsciously letting out a soft “purring” sound from her throat.
Her beautifully shaped legs, which had been tense, slowly relaxed and rested flat on the ground.
Although she was lying on the cold, hard floor, Lin Zihan felt as if she were resting on soft, fluffy clouds.
For a moment.
Ye Zhibai didn’t know whether to continue patting or pull her hand back!
She… she’s purring!
This doesn’t feel right, and it seems rude to keep patting a girl I’ve only just met.
Ye Zhibai tried to move her hand away from Lin Zihan’s head.
But Lin Zihan grabbed it back!
Firmly pressing it back onto her head!
Ye Zhibai spoke, “You’re pushy?!”
Lin Zihan replied, “Not pushy at all.”
When Lin Zihan opened her right eye, the almost pleading look stunned Ye Zhibai.
“Ye Zhibai… just a little longer… just for a bit more…”
“…”
Ye Zhibai was never a stingy person.
Besides, head-patting doesn’t cost anything.
Guang Yu sat cross-legged nearby, watching the strange scene unfold, and instinctively kept silent, not wanting to disturb them.
Ye Zhibai maintained the action for a long time.
Until her hand started to go numb!
Lin Zihan was completely lost in the sensation, oblivious to everything.
Who knows how many minutes passed?
Suddenly.
Lin Zihan, without warning, gently parted her cherry lips.
She even forgot to lower her voice.
In a soft, childish tone, half-dazed, she softly murmured,
“Mommy…”
The pleading tone was so tender it could melt one to their core.
!
Who are you calling?
Don’t talk nonsense! I’m not your mom!
Don’t start messing with our hierarchy now!
That single utterance made Ye Zhibai immediately lift her hand.
Realizing she had been speaking nonsense, Lin Zihan’s eyes shot open, and her face flushed red!
Oh no, it reminded her of those wonderful memories when her mom used to pat her head as a child!
It’s all Ye Zhibai’s fault for being so gentle, making her relax too much!!
“Sorry, Ye Zhibai, I didn’t mean it just now…”
“Zihan?”
!
This “Zihan.”
Wasn’t said by Ye Zhibai.
Naturally, it wasn’t Guang Yu either.
The voice came from downstairs.
It traveled through the gap between the lifted tiles.
It seemed that Elsa had heard Lin Zihan calling
her just now.
Lin Zihan quickly moved and half-covered the floor with the tile again!
However… Elsa, from downstairs, looked around and finally tilted her head upward, fixing her gaze on the ceiling.
Her somewhat aged face furrowed into a frown, deepening the wrinkles etched by time.
Her voice pierced through the loosely covered floor tiles, reaching Lin Zihan’s ears.
“Zihan? Are you upstairs? Zihan?”
“……”
Ye Zhibai was a bit confused.
It was the first time she had seen this kind of reaction on Lin Zihan’s face.
—Fear, worry, anxiety.
These emotions were rarely seen on the face of Lin Zihan, who could always bring out a smile.
But now, that’s exactly what she was feeling.
She panicked.
“Ye… Ye Zhibai, hide! But there’s no place to hide… no wait… Mom might not come up. If we stay quiet… things won’t get worse…”
“Zihan, are you upstairs? Why aren’t you answering? If you’re back, say something.”
!
Things are getting worse!
Elsa’s footsteps landed on the first step leading to the second floor, making the sound of someone about to come up.
There was only one staircase between the first and second floors.
If she came upstairs, it meant the people on the second floor wouldn’t have a chance to escape.
Lin Zihan’s mind was racing; she was very clever and began rehearsing possible solutions in her head.
“It’s fine… it’s going to be fine.”
If I can’t run… then I’ll just tell the truth. Tell my mom, that Ye Zhibai is my friend, and she won’t pose any danger to our family or disrupt our peaceful lives.
If I explain things clearly, and if Ye Zhibai can just nod along, then my mom will surely understand.
She definitely will.
No, she won’t. She stopped being the mom who would listen to my explanations, smile warmly, and nod a long time ago.
She’s long since stopped listening to me.
Through the years, Lin Zihan came to understand that the worst thing to do in front of her mom was to tell the truth.
The truth brought pain.
Elsa’s heart-wrenching cries and her image smashing things flashed through Lin Zihan’s mind.
She thought This is how Mom will act tonight.
No, not like this.
I don’t want this.
On any other day, fine. But today, I was so happy—I even got to see Ye Zhibai. My mood was so great today!
Why? Why does this have to happen now?
Ye Zhibai didn’t fully understand Lin Zihan’s struggles.
Even if she didn’t understand, she knew that the eyes never lie.
The eyes are the windows to the soul; no matter how many expressions one has, the light in their eyes reveals their true thoughts.
At this moment, the helplessness and panic in Lin Zihan’s eyes were all clearly seen by Ye Zhibai.
Though she didn’t know the exact reason for her fear. She asked simply, “You don’t want your mom to see me here, right?”
“No need to ask anything further.”
Elsa’s slow, deliberate footsteps climbing the stairs were still audible.
In about ten seconds, the second-floor door would be pushed open.
Something had to be done before that.
Ye Zhibai quickly scanned her surroundings.
After carefully examining everything, she confirmed it: this flower shop storage on the second floor was too spacious. There was nowhere to hide.
Hiding behind the flowers wasn’t realistic either; although they were dense, they were far too sparse to conceal someone.
As she ruled out all possible hiding places, her gaze finally landed on the adorably dumb-looking Guang Yu.
Their eyes met, and in that instant, nothing more needed to be said.
Over the past few days, Guang Yu and Ye Zhibai, these bickering companions, had developed a rare understanding through their constant back-and-forth.
Guang Yu put her hands on her hips and gave a confident smile.
Alright, say no more! Just watch me!
I know exactly what you’re thinking!
Ye Zhibai nodded firmly, responding with a resolute look.
That’s right, I’m thinking about that move!
Ye Zhibai was thinking about using Guang Yu’s teleportation ability,* which she had demonstrated before, to escape unnoticed while Lin Zihan was distracted!
[*” Teleportation (瞬间移动, shùnjiān yídòng): A typical power in fantasy or xianxia stories where a character can instantly move from one place to another.]
As long as they could evade her mother’s search, whether by jumping out of a window or sneaking down the stairs when they weren’t looking, they could explain things later.
As long as they got away, they had the right to explain!
Guang Yu understood perfectly, utterly reliable.
She gathered her strength, as if she had eaten ten pieces of osmanthus cake, and focused her power, her eyes gleaming with starlight.
In the blink of an eye, she used her teleportation technique!
Teleportation—activated successfully, without a doubt.
But Ye Zhibai looked around, confused.
Lin Zihan was still standing right beside her, the flowers remained in their serene place by the trickling water. Everything was unchanged.
“…”
Why am I still standing here?!
And Guang Yu—you vanished?!
What good is it for you to teleport yourself?!
You’re not the one they’re looking for!
But oddly enough…
A few seconds after Guang Yu disappeared, Elsa, who had been climbing the stairs, suddenly stopped.
Not only did she stop, but she quickly turned around and rushed back down, her steps much more urgent than when she had been coming up!
The change in footsteps was accompanied by a loud clanging noise from downstairs.
And then, Guang Yu’s high-pitched cry of pain echoed out, miserable as if she had crashed headfirst into a tree.
“Owwwww!!!”
“Little girl?! Are you alright?!” Elsa’s startled voice came from below, filled with concern.
Lin Zihan, too, was shocked. She regained some composure and quickly removed the cover blocking her view, looking downstairs.
She was surprised, and so was Ye Zhibai!
The two of them squeezed together to take a peek.
What they saw made Ye Zhibai feel deeply moved.
Guang Yu had hidden her ears and tail and made herself visible again, wearing the backpack from earlier when they went to buy drinks.
From the direction of the flower shop’s entrance, she had charged forward, diving headlong into a decorative stone vase, and slid right into it!
The loud crash they heard earlier was the sound of her head smashing against the stone!
In fact… Guang Yu’s strength was only enough to teleport herself.
She couldn’t teleport Ye Zhibai.
To break the deadlock and ensure Elsa’s attention would shift immediately,
Guang Yu could only sacrifice her head and crash into something!
If she had just entered the shop normally to buy flowers—there wouldn’t have been enough impact.
Elsa likely would have told her to wait downstairs while she checked upstairs.
So that wasn’t a safe option.
Since the impact wasn’t strong enough, she chose to go with the more extreme approach!
She threw her head in, literally!
This way, who wouldn’t rush to check if she was dead or injured?!
Ye Zhibai moved to tears and thought to herself: Even though Guang Yu was usually unreliable… When something happened, she’d rise to the occasion!!
