“I think, compared to my tongue, your face seems even smoother—more suited for scrubbing the floor, my dear Big Sister.”
Upon hearing Su Wanli’s obviously improvised lines, laced with nine parts genuine anger, Meng Wange raised an eyebrow and the corner of her mouth curled into a playful smile.
“Oh? What do you mean by that? Are you trying to defy me, my poor Cinderella?”
“…Heh, heheh, not to hide it from you, I’ve been annoyed with you for a long time. Just because you’re a few years older than me, you think you’re someone worthy of respect?”
Encouraged by that sudden surge of anger, Su Wanli mustered her courage and poured out the lines that had formed in her mind.
…But was this really okay?
At least Meng Wange’s performance had matched the role of a wicked stepsister, but what she herself had just said completely exceeded Cinderella’s original image.
Fortunately, even with such abrupt lines, the quick-witted Meng Wange was able to continue playing along.
“Oh? You’ve only been in our house for a few days, and you dare speak to me like this…”
The brown-haired girl before Su Wanli slowly rose from her chair. Her tall figure cast an oppressive shadow across the dim classroom.
“It seems it’s time to remind you of the authority of your older sister. In this house, your status hardly counts.”
“Hmph, I think you’re all talk. Right now, the weapon is in my hands. If I beat you into a pig’s head, don’t go crying to Mother!”
Facing the deeply immersed Meng Wange, Su Wanli did not back down. She raised the broom in her hand, assuming a standard confrontational stance, and glared hatefully at Meng Wange as she slowly approached.
Time slipped away—one second, five seconds, ten seconds…
The tense atmosphere fermented in the air. Dust danced nervously between them, as if a war of the century was about to erupt at any moment.
Yet, looking at the deliberately mocking expression on Meng Wange’s face—one she had never shown before—the anger and resentment that had been building inside Su Wanli suddenly deflated like a balloon pricked by a needle, turning into a soft puff of smoke with a pop.
“…Pfff, pfft haha, hahahahahahaha!”
She laughed so hard she nearly doubled over, unable to hold the broom steady. She propped it on the ground and used her other hand to clutch her aching stomach.
“…Meng, Meng Wange, what kind of expression is that on your face? I never knew you could look so punchable. It makes me want to throw a shoe at you.”
“Oh? That would be quite a loss. I didn’t offer to swap roles just to get my face ruined.”
Seeing that Su Wanli had stepped out of her drama character, Meng Wange also relaxed. She gently rubbed her stiff cheeks, letting her expression return to its elegant and composed state—
“I just thought that this version of the stepsister felt pretty good too—it could flesh out the original character more. But looking at it overall, this modification might steer our story in a strange direction. That would mean rewriting the script. Perhaps I can give you a second draft to look at tomorrow.”
“…Cough, cough, cough… Are you serious?”
After thumping her chest several times, Su Wanli finally stopped laughing. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stared wide-eyed at Meng Wange beside her.
“I think this level of art is still too avant-garde. Better to give up on it. At least this version of the script is understandable to the old fossils.”
“Oh? Are you saying our script still needs to be adjusted to a level those old fossils can grasp?”
Meng Wange tilted her head at Su Wanli and blinked lightly.
“A… pastime between the two of us?”
Su Wanli unconsciously repeated the word Meng Wange had just uttered.
“Yes, exactly.”
Meng Wange nimbly stepped forward, bent slightly before Su Wanli, and opened the script lying on the table.
“Miss Su, this is just entertainment—a stage where we can do whatever we want. If inspiration strikes, you can add anything at any time; if something feels off, you can delete it freely.”
As she spoke, Meng Wange pulled a pen from her pocket and began to edit the first act Su Wanli had been looking at.
She crossed out the stepsister’s line—“If I see a speck of dust again, you won’t get dinner tonight”—and replaced it with Su Wanli’s earlier spontaneous line: “Believe it or not, I’ll make sure you have no dinner tonight.”
“—See? The script is just a script. I wrote it in just two or three hours casually, so of course it can be changed at will. There’s no right answer to performing a drama, and even less so for the lines.”
Meng Wange smiled and capped the pen, placing the end of it against her lips, showing Su Wanli a slightly puzzled expression—
“So, Miss Su, you don’t need to be nervous, and you certainly don’t need to follow the script exactly. Even if we end up doing a so-called official performance at the school festival, it’s just an excuse for us to play in front of more people.”
“Or do you think your authority is no longer enough to do whatever you want at Baiying Academy?”
…So that was it.
From the very beginning, Meng Wange had seen that she was nervous. That was why she had sent Xiao Fen and the others out of the classroom and played along with her in this ridiculous, indescribable skit.
“…Alright, Meng Wange, you win. I was still a little nervous, but now, thanks to your clowning, it’s all blown away.”
But even if her intentions were good, she couldn’t just let her off so easily!
“Hmph, I told you before—I just don’t want to embarrass myself in front of a crowd. But you have a point; I really don’t need to care about their opinions.”
Su Wanli glanced at Meng Wange’s slightly narrowed, cunning eyes, then let out a deep sigh and folded her arms across her chest—
“…But, ‘my poor Cinderella,’ listen up.”
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“When we get home, you’re going to call me ‘Big Sister’ ten times in front of Zhang Ma. Otherwise, you’re not getting dinner tonight!”
Hearing this, the smile on Meng Wange’s face grew even warmer. She gracefully folded her hands in front of her and bowed to Su Wanli in a standard formal gesture—