Three mornings later.
Knock knock knock!
The sound of knocking echoed through the room.
Su Xinran squirmed uncomfortably in bed, pulling the blanket over her head, unwilling to get up.
Click — the door opened.
A pair of icy hands slipped into the warm blankets and snuck beneath Su Xinran’s nightgown.
“Eeeek!!!”
The sudden cold shocked Su Xinran, who was still dreaming, into sitting up with a jolt.
She glared furiously at the culprit — Wang Ya.
“Time to get up, you lazy kitten.”
“What time is it even…”
Su Xinran grumbled, turning to grab her phone and lighting up the screen.
The sudden brightness in the dim room made her eyes ache.
Squinting hard, she looked at the lock screen.
“It’s only six o’clock!!! I don’t care, I’m going back to sleep. Goodnight…”
With that, she tried to dive back into her warm bed.
“Nope. Today is your first day of school. Up!”
Wang Ya yanked the blanket off without mercy, ignoring Su Xinran’s wails as she dragged her out of bed.
After brushing her teeth, eating breakfast, changing into her school uniform, and putting on white stockings, a now slightly awake Su Xinran was pulled to the large bedroom’s vanity by Wang Ya.
“Do I have to put on makeup…”
Su Xinran looked at the overwhelming assortment of bottles and jars in front of her with a tinge of dread.
“No makeup, just a bit of grooming for a student.”
“Ehh… is that really necessary…”
“It is!”
Wang Ya opened a bottle and dabbed a bit on Su Xinran’s face.
“What is this?”
Su Xinran curiously asked, noticing the milky substance on her face — is this some kind of vintage moisturizer?
“It’s a hydrating lotion. Ever since the vampires turned the sun into a blood moon, the air’s gotten super dry. Without this, your delicate little face will crack.”
“Oh…”
Su Xinran nodded, half-understanding.
“I want big sis to apply it for me~”
“You brat…”
Wang Ya tapped Su Xinran on the head playfully, then began gently applying the lotion for her.
So cold…
Wang Ya’s hands were much colder than a human’s, sending a chill through Su Xinran’s head.
“Mm…”
Even though her hands were cold, the way Wang Ya gently rubbed her face made Su Xinran feel undeniably pampered.
After the lotion was applied, Wang Ya gave Su Xinran’s cheek a light pinch, then pulled out a metal tool from a tin box.
“Eh?!”
Seeing Wang Ya approach her eyes with a metal tool, Su Xinran panicked — was this some kind of torture device?!
“This is an eyelash curler, calm down… don’t move!”
Closing her eyes nervously, Su Xinran let Wang Ya press the curler onto her lashes.
“Phew… all done!”
When Su Xinran opened her eyes again, her usually long, droopy lashes were curled into a beautiful arc.
Every blink now made them flutter charmingly.
Wang Ya then brushed through Su Xinran’s messy hair, separated her bangs and side locks with clips, curled the bangs slightly into soft “air bangs” with a curling iron, applied some lip balm, and tied her hair into a simple ponytail.
“All done~”
Wang Ya stretched lazily, admiring her handiwork.
Su Xinran already had an excellent foundation — with just a bit of care, she now looked like a fresh and radiant schoolgirl who would easily catch anyone’s eye just walking down the academy path.
And with the bright and stylish St. Freya Academy sailor uniform accentuating her features, even Su Xinran couldn’t help but admire herself in the mirror.
She looked like a campus goddess in the making…
No! I absolutely can’t become one of those terrifying “school beauty” types!
Just imagining opening her shoe locker in the morning and finding it stuffed with love letters made Su Xinran’s scalp tingle.
Once she was all done up, the two got in the car — today, Wang Ya was personally driving her to school.
“Ara ara~ Qinyin, have you noticed that the young miss has been smiling a lot more lately? And her smiles seem more genuine too~”
At the front gate, watching the car drive off, Ranzhu leaned on her broom and asked Huang Qinyin, who was tending to the garden beside her.
“Hmm… now that you mention it, yeah, she really has~”
Inside the car.
Looking through the rearview mirror, Su Xinran noticed the tired expression on Wang Ya’s face and felt a twinge of heartache.
She knew Wang Ya was incredibly busy with work.
Ranzhu had mentioned that Wang Ya had set up a special project team.
Lately, she had been coming home very late every day.
Even the delicate bento lunches Ranzhu prepared for her were often left uneaten, replaced with quick-to-finish rice balls upon request.
Despite such a busy schedule, Wang Ya still made time to wake up early and personally drive her to school.
These past few nights, Su Xinran had waited at the door for Wang Ya while playing mobile games, hoping to greet her when she came home.
One night she even fell asleep at the door, and when she woke up, she found herself tucked in bed—Wang Ya must have carried her in.
In these little moments, a true sisterly bond had formed between the two, who hadn’t known each other for long.
Even though Wang Ya always liked to tease her—every time Su Xinran got angry, Wang Ya would burst into hearty laughter.
Though… that one time with the school swimsuit, their sisterly bond almost took a different turn…
Lost in thought, Su Xinran barely noticed that they had arrived at the academy entrance.
“I’m heading in now~!”
Su Xinran waved to Wang Ya before turning to enter the school gate—but was suddenly stopped.
“Wait!”
Wang Ya called her back, got out of the car, walked up, and adjusted the ribbon on Su Xinran’s chest—tightening and straightening it.
“Go on.”
She then patted Su Xinran’s head, messing up her hair slightly, and then helped tidy it again.
“Bye bye~ Don’t overwork yourself!”
Su Xinran waved goodbye and turned to enter the school.
Just then, she was stopped by a boy.
“Hey hey hey, what’s the rush? You’re the new Student Council member in the first-year division, Li Qianqian, right? I’m Wang [Something], I’ll be on duty with you today. Hurry and put on your armband—it’s time for duty.”
“Huh? Duty?”
Su Xinran looked at him, confused.
He was wearing the boys’ uniform of St. Freya Academy, with a red armband on his right arm that read “Disciplinary Committee.”
He tossed her an armband too.
Su Xinran instantly understood what was going on.
Since students didn’t usually arrive this early, this guy must’ve mistaken her for the junior he was assigned to mentor.
She realized it was a misunderstanding, but she didn’t want to correct it.
Being a disciplinary committee member was a great gig—it meant she could use the excuse of maintaining cafeteria order to get in early and grab food.
Back in middle school, Su Xinran had always envied those who could leave class 15 minutes early for lunch.
If you got to the cafeteria late, there’d often be no rice left and the meat dishes would be gone too, replaced with a stir-fried veggie dish as filler.
Since the opportunity had fallen into her lap, she might as well use it to make connections in the Disciplinary Committee.
“Got it! I’m ready!”
Armband on, Su Xinran was now a Disciplinary Committee member!
“I’ll be checking for uniform violations. If I stop someone and have them queue beside the security room, you’ll be in charge of measuring the girls’ skirt lengths. The ruler’s in the security room. Students are about to start arriving—stay sharp!”
Check skirt lengths?
No wonder they needed a girl partner…
But… ehehe…