Zhao Zhao was on fire during the game—darting left and right, faking out defenders like they were training dummies, then charging the basket solo to slam it home. Meanwhile, Lu Fenglai—less nimble but towering in height—anchored the defense. (And let’s be honest—his vaguely African-looking features gave him some serious intimidation points.)

That’s what Zhao Zhao meant by “there’s no way we’re losing.”

If the ball landed in his hands, it was a guaranteed score. And if the enemy tried to retaliate, they had to get past Mount Fenglai. A sharp spear paired with an immovable shield—no way that was ending in defeat.

Most crucially… the other actors—I mean, the rest of Yanyuan High’s team—were riding some kind of inexplicable high.

I even heard Lu Fenglai yelling from the court:

“Sis Lingmeng is watching! Play like your life depends on it!”

“RAHHHH!!”

I facepalmed. Fantastic. I’ve officially been typecast as the cheerleader… I’m going home. Seriously.

Unsurprisingly, they won. The game only got close when Zhao Zhao ran out of stamina, but by that point, the score gap was a canyon. No way they were catching up.

I checked the time—just past 3. One game took ages. Factoring in halftime, we’d been here almost two hours.

Despite his build, Lu Fenglai wasn’t exactly oozing presence. Around Zhao Zhao, he acted like a junior intern desperate to impress. He came over, rubbing his hands nervously.

“Zhao-ge! Wanna grab some BBQ?”

cough cough cough COUGH

“Oh? OHH!” Fenglai, in all his tall-dark-and-brooding glory, made a knowing “ahhh~” noise and said:

“Sorry, sis-in-law, didn’t mean to kill the mood… I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. Don’t forget to invite me to the wedding!”

SIS-IN-LAW YOUR A̲S̲S̲! YOU MORON!

Did he think my coughing was me giving Zhao Zhao a "Darling~ let’s get some alone time" kind of signal?! I’m just sick!!

I’m sick, okay?! Just a regular, miserable cold!

And of course Zhao Zhao didn’t bother correcting him. All he said was:
“Yeah, we’ve got… stuff to do.”

Which was technically true—he had to head back to my house, switch over into Xiao Lei mode, then hustle to the manga café in Tianping to learn the ropes. No time to waste.

Back at home, we had to climb through the window again. My outfit—a wheat-colored silk blouse with a light skirt—was the kind that screamed, “Do not touch cement walls.” One brush with dirt or a snag on the ledge, and it was game over. Honestly, I would’ve preferred not to go full Spider-Man, but with Dad still home, I had no choice.

And this wasn’t like sneaking around at night either—it was broad daylight. Even if Qianxia and Dad weren’t looking, anyone familiar catching me would spell disaster.

So after confirming Qianxia wasn’t in her yard, I made the climb of my life and tumbled back through my bedroom window.

Once I returned to my real body, I dumped the dirty girl clothes into the washer. I didn’t even make it out of the bathroom before Zhao Zhao—now transformed into Xiao Lei—burst in.

“Eh? You’re showering now? Shouldn’t you be heading to work?”
“Zhao Zhao’s body is soaked in sweat! You want me to sit there marinating in it? Get out! Unless you want to shower together?”

“…Oh.” I slipped out immediately.

Even though we’ve got two bodies, the sweat doesn’t magically disappear with a transformation. Gross is gross.

While Xiao Lei was in the shower, I hobbled downstairs with my crutch to grab some food and say hi to Dad—just in case he thought I’d died up there or something.

Not that it mattered. I hadn’t left my room all day, and he didn’t even blink.

By the time I got back upstairs, Xiao Lei was toweling off.

“Hm? Commander, you’re not coming with me this afternoon?”

I collapsed onto my bed and mumbled, “I wasn’t planning to. I don’t work there, so what’s the point?”

“Don’t you want to see senior in action? She was super popular today!”

She even had the nerve to lie down beside me and added.

“The cafe’s official Weibo said so.”

I immediately scooted to the edge of the bed to get away from her.

“Pretty sure that café doesn’t serve female customers, right? You planning to push me there in the wheelchair or something?”

She crept closer again, the scent of shampoo and damp hair creeping into my nose—

“Hey! You didn’t dry your hair?! Get off my bed!”

“Aw, Commander, don’t hit a poor, defenseless girl~!”

I knocked her lightly on the head and sat her up, then grabbed the hair dryer.

“I’ll dry it for you.”

As I worked on her hair, she casually asked:

“You sure you don’t want to try working as a maid? With your looks, the owner would sign you up in a second.”

“Nope.”

I only wore girl clothes out of necessity. My breasts are too large in that form—can’t exactly pull off guy’s clothes. But working as a maid? That’s a line I’m not crossing. I still have some pride left as a man.

“They pay 100 yuan an hour, though. Don’t you want to buy something nice?”

“……”

Okay. Maybe a little dignity can be sacrificed.

Temptation struck hard. Greed climbed into the driver’s seat, shoved my pride under the floorboards, and took the wheel.

I grabbed the notebook, locked myself in the bathroom, and signed my name while sitting on the toilet. It felt like I was signing a humiliating treaty that sold out my country.

“I’ll shower too, then.”

Outside the door, I heard Xiao Lei sigh dramatically:

“Ughhh, if I’d known you were going in, I wouldn’t have showered earlier!”

She actually wanted to shower together?! Like hell that’s happening. If she were a real girl, maybe I’d consider it. But I am not letting Zhao Zhao keep a mental image of me in my birthday suit.

My main body is slumped back onto the toilet, avoiding the bed—because if I moved it back outside, Xiao Lei might use me as her personal body pillow again… or worse. I’ve lost all faith in her self-control. Or Zhao Zhao’s. Or both.

After my shower, we grabbed our shoes and crept down the stairs. Luckily, Dad was working in his room, so we ninja-ran straight out the front door.

We’d burned through too much time with all the bathing. By the time we walked to the Tianping commercial district and entered the underground shopping street, it was already past five.

And that’s when I got a text—from senior Li… from Li Changpu.

【Help! My sister’s trying to take me home!】

…That was it. No explanation. No context.

But for her, that really was a crisis. She didn’t even officially exist. Where the hell was “home” supposed to be—under that bridge in the dressing room again?

“What’s going on?” I exchanged a baffled look with Xiao Lei.

“No clue. I’m checking Weibo.” She fished out her phone and started scrolling.

I was about to call Senpai when I looked up and spotted the Li “sisters” walking down the corridor—straight toward us.

From far away, I couldn’t tell if it was Sis Qiuluo, but senior Changpu’s hair gave her away instantly. It looked like a walking barcode. No one else in the world has hair like that.

I yanked Xiao Lei behind a vending machine.

“They closed for the day,” she whispered after checking her phone. “Something about unexpected maintenance, but some customers are saying a gang of thugs stormed the café. The owner and Xiao Jiu beat them off, but the cops are involved now and they are handling the scene. Everyone got sent home early.”

That reminded me of when we got into trouble with Lei Meow Meow. And when Scarlet-chan almost got mugged. The Tianping district really is a cesspool.

“The owner is probably worried that those thugs will retaliate,” I said. “That’s why she had Qiuluo escort senior. But if she really gets taken home, she’s screwed. No way to explain that away.”

“So what do we do, Commander?”

“What else? Go intercept them. Best-case scenario, we talk Qiuluo into handing off escort duty. Worst-case, we just come clean. I was planning to tell her about senior’s situation anyway. This just bumps up the schedule.”

Like I said before—if someone from home’s on board, senior’s study plans have a fighting chance.

“Commander, look behind them… I think they’re being followed.”

We were still crouched behind the vending machine. Xiao Lei peered carefully, then whispered with a serious look.

I scanned the crowd but didn’t see anything suspicious.

“Where?”

“Those two guys in floral shirts. They keep sneaking glances at them.”

“You sure they’re not just creeps? Not actual stalkers?”

“Trust my expert instincts. Look—they’re closing in now.”

…What kind of “expert” instincts?

So focused on the two “stalkers,” we completely let our guard down—until suddenly, a hand clamped down on my shoulder.

“What are you two ladies looking at?”