“Xiao Zhu-jie, head out early today—I’ve got to leave early too.”
Zhu Niao paused her drama mid-episode on her phone.
The shop manager’s words made her blink in surprise.
She looked over to see the manager busy packing up.
“Ah, I’ve got some things to do tonight. A dinner party. I need time to prep.”
Zhu Niao had a dinner too—Liu Xie’s family was hosting a back-to-school banquet.
But she didn’t feel like she needed to prepare much.
Just bring her mouth and an empty stomach, and she’d be good to go.
“Should I come in tomorrow instead?”
“Tomorrow’s the night shift. Don’t come too early.”
Zhu Niao nodded, tossed her things into her bag in a few quick moves, and headed for the shop entrance.
She turned back for a glance at the manager rushing about, feeling a twinge of guilt.
Wasn’t it kind of bad for the employee to leave earlier than the boss?
But then the manager looked up and gave her a cheerful smile.
“If you want to tag along with me and mooch a free meal, you’re totally welcome.”
And so, Zhu Niao stepped out.
She had this odd feeling that her life had somehow changed.
A lot of the caution and second-guessing she used to carry around now felt unnecessary.
Since becoming a girl, life seemed to be offering more forgiveness, more moments of warmth.
Compared to before, the difference was stark.
She no longer had to think so much about terrible “what-ifs,” or face a world that always felt hostile.
Then again—maybe that was an illusion.
Maybe the shop manager was just a good person.
She was still a minor, after all.
Five or six years down the line, who knew?
Maybe she’d end up hanging from a lamppost like everyone else.
Zhu Niao didn’t quite believe in getting love for free.
She wasn’t convinced she could give up her cautious way of life either.
Still… it would be nice if someone came along who made her feel safe enough to relax—even just a little.
Too bad she was a man among men.
Even if someone like that did show up, she wouldn’t get all soft or anything.
Obviously.
She opened up the dorm group chat.
Aside from the dorm leader who’d gone off to dine with Xu Nian, the other two were apparently still lazing around in the dorm.
“Oi?”
“Did you two forget something?”
Ye Qingchang, wiping her glasses, froze at the voice message.
Then she spun toward the bunk. Liu Xie was still passed out, her mop of messy blonde hair spilling in all directions.
“Get up! You’ve got a banquet to attend!”
Liu Xie sat up in a daze, irritation flashing in her eyes.
“Who the hell’s trash-talking me again?”
Then she blinked. “…Oh right. It really is my banquet.”
“I’m waiting at the campus gate. If you two don’t show up soon, I’ll tell the guards you went missing and get them to call your names over the loudspeaker.”
“Zhu Niao, you evil little gremlin!”
The late-summer evening air still carried the tail-end of warmth, like a last love letter from a passionate lover.
After the sticky sweetness, a cool breeze whispered in with sobering clarity.
Zhu Niao didn’t have to wait long before she saw her two dormmates approaching.
Liu Xie wore a blue dress that looked a little formal—at least by her standards—but it wasn’t flashy like an evening gown.
She had a focused expression on her face.
Ye Qingchang was dressed casually, like Zhu Niao herself, and she was supporting Liu Xie with one hand.
“Did she break her leg?”
“She’s wearing high heels.”
Ah, that explained why Liu Xie was walking like a newborn deer.
“What made you suddenly decide to wear heels?”
Zhu Niao glanced down at her own black sneakers as she stepped up to support Liu Xie from the other side.
“Well, the banquet doesn’t have much to do with me personally, but I’ll definitely be showing my face. Might as well dress decently so I don’t embarrass my parents.”
Zhu Niao figured the only non-upper-class folks at this banquet were probably the three of them.
“You rich people and your endless problems,” she muttered.
Zhu Niao soon realized that even with both of them helping, she and Ye Qingchang could barely manage to support Liu Xie, who was already taller than them before putting on heels.
At best, they were just her human hiking poles.
“The driver’s over there.”
Liu Xie pointed, directing her two ‘hiking poles’ toward the waiting car.
“I’ll cover the cab next time,” Zhu Niao said with a nod, a little surprised that Liu Xie had gone ahead and called a car.
“That’s not a cab. He’s our private driver.”
“Tch…” Zhu Niao scrunched her nose like she’d just spotted something vile.
“Then you’re paying for the cab next time.”
The two of them shoved Liu Xie into the front passenger seat, then silently slipped into the back.
“Milady,” the middle-aged driver greeted.
Liu Xie gave a slight nod.
She wasn’t surprised—she didn’t expect the household staff to remember that she used to be a guy.
“Is he your butler or something?”
Zhu Niao asked from the backseat, sitting up and leaning over to press a hand to Liu Xie’s shoulder.
“No.”
“Then do you at least have a head maid or something?”
Zhu Niao continued, chasing the fantasy.
“You need to stop watching those trashy romance dramas,” Liu Xie replied flatly.
Disappointed, Zhu Niao flopped back into her seat, covering her nose.
From the rearview mirror, Liu Xie saw the gesture and sniffed the air herself.
“Does something smell weird?”
“There’s a stench of money in here,” Zhu Niao said with an exaggerated grimace.
Liu Xie held up two fingers. “I brought you two takeout boxes.
I’ll pack some food for you later.”
“Smells amazing already.”
Their driver was a professional private chauffeur.
Apart from addressing her as Milady when they first got in, he didn’t say a word the whole ride, driving smoothly and silently.
The same couldn’t be said for the three girls in the back.
They barely sat still for a minute before they were chattering away and even managed to squeeze in two rounds of mobile games.
“We’re here.”
Liu Xie was the first to put her phone away and step out of the car.
Zhu Niao spent a moment figuring out the door mechanism and was a half-beat slower getting out.
And then both she and Ye Qingchang saw Liu Xie sprawled on the ground.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a bad fall—Liu Xie reacted quickly enough to avoid landing face-first.
“What are you two doing?” the noble lady demanded, holding a hand up dramatically toward the sky, as her two dormmates just stood there and made no move to help her up.
“Taking a picture. The meme’s going to be glorious,” Zhu Niao said.
Only after getting a shot they were satisfied with did they finally help pull Liu Xie up—just before she fully lost her temper.
“There’s a dirty spot here,” Ye Qingchang pointed out, squatting slightly and brushing at a stubborn grey smudge on her dress.
“It’s… fine. No one’s going to stare at me that closely.”
Freed from her ‘hiking poles,’ Liu Xie took a few unsteady steps toward the banquet hall, still getting used to the high heels.
She could manage not to fall now, but her gait still wobbled a bit.
She cast a glance at the staff member standing at the door with a name list in hand, then spoke calmly: “Liu Xie.”
The moment her name left her lips, it was like some trap had been sprung—or perhaps someone had simply been waiting for this.
“Well, well, a rare sight indeed. Guess it takes an event like this to catch a glimpse of you.”
“Maybe you’re hiding out because you can’t face anyone? Oh wait, maybe you’re off handling some major business empire out there.”
“What’s wrong? After all this time, you’re not even going to speak to your own brother—not that we’re blood-related, of course. You probably still see me as an outsider, right?”
“Bringing home some poor girl from God knows where… That useless brother of mine—”
A boy dressed in a luxurious suit approached, his expression tinged with sarcasm and malice.
Then he got a good look at Liu Xie’s familiar, almost weary expression.
“Wait—who the hell are you? Where’s my brother?”