Jiutiao’s mother walked back into the living room from the garden, handing the pruning shears to a servant.
"Mother?" Jiutiao Meijie came down the stairs, dressed neatly.
"How rare to see you up so early," Jiutiao’s mother said with a smile.
Jiutiao Meijie walked down the stairs and sat at the dining table, where a servant brought breakfast.
"I heard there was some unpleasantness yesterday?" Jiutiao’s mother sat beside her daughter, resting her chin on her hands.
Her demeanor, expression, and appearance were like that of a beautiful woman in her early twenties.
"It was nothing," Jiutiao Meijie sipped her milk and quickly ate her breakfast.
"Nothing, and yet you stayed in the hospital all day? The people at Shizuru, I heard they were seriously injured?"
Jiutiao Meijie put down her knife and fork, drank the rest of her milk in one gulp, and wiped her mouth, "I’m finished."
She got up from her seat and walked outside.
Jiutiao’s mother watched her daughter’s retreating figure.
"I underestimated you, Dubian," she muttered to herself.
Jiutiao Meijie hurried to the hospital and found that Dubian Che had already gotten up.
She saw him standing by the window, hands in his pockets, overlooking early morning Tokyo.
His relaxed demeanor and firmly planted feet indicated that he was completely recovered.
"Meiji?" he turned around and slowly started smiling.
The morning sun fell on his radiant, handsome face, causing Jiutiao Meijie to gaze at him involuntarily, lost in thought for a moment.
"Are you feeling better?" she walked over.
Dubian Che naturally extended his hand and pulled his Meiji into his embrace.
Her clothes carried a hint of the outside chill.
"Meiji, my Meiji, may I kiss you?" Dubian Che asked.
Jiutiao Meijie wrapped her arms around his neck and offered her lips.
The two kissed in front of the window as the sun rose.
The towering buildings of Tokyo were gradually illuminated by the morning light, one by one, their glass windows reflecting blinding rays.
They continued kissing until all the high-rises were drenched in morning light.
"You’re so sweet, sister," Dubian Che said with lingering affection.
"You aren’t so bad yourself, little brother," Jiutiao Meijie replied contentedly, resting in his embrace.
After a while, Dubian Che gently pushed her away.
Jiutiao Meijie looked at him with her always beautiful eyes, asking why.
"She’s here," Dubian Che explained.
Jiutiao Meijie frowned, but in the next second, her expression relaxed, and simultaneously, her face adopted a look of scorn, indifference, and arrogance.
As Dubian Cat appeared on Jiutiao Meijie’s shoulder, "Xiaoquan Aonai" crossed a decade of time to arrive in this sun-drenched, happy hospital room.
"Good morning, Mr. Xiaoquan," Dubian Cat greeted him.
"Good morning." After finishing the greeting, "Xiaoquan Aonai" looked at Jiutiao Meijie.
Jiutiao Meijie took Dubian Cat off her shoulder and examined the cat as a doctor would during an examination, checking every part of it.
Eyes, ears, teeth, tongue, claws...
"Uh," "Xiaoquan Aonai" hesitated before speaking, then suddenly bowed deeply, "I’m sorry!"
Dubian Cat turned his head to look at "Xiaoquan Aonai".
"Xiaoquan Aonai" looked up and came over.
"About yesterday, and for taking over Dubian’s body, I’m sorry!" she bowed again.
"How—hmm!" Dubian Cat was pressed back down again.
Jiutiao Meijie groomed Dubian Cat’s fur, completely ignoring "Xiaoquan Aonai".
"Xiaoquan Aonai" maintained her bow and said:
"I’ve spent the entire day yesterday imagining what it would be like if my boyfriend’s body was taken over by another woman. No matter how hard I tried to forgive, I couldn’t control myself. I fully understand how you feel, Jiutiao, and I’m truly very sorry!"
Jiutiao Meijie caressed Dubian Che, not looking up and coldly replied:
"This month has passed, leave early."
After finishing this, "Xiaoquan Aonai" lifted her head, relief apparent in her bright smile.
"You actually made a concession," Kiyono Lin walked in.
On Saturday, she was dressed in a blue dress with a shirt-like style, a belt cinching her soft waist, exuding a spring vibe.
"Kill Xiaoquan Aonai to take your opportunity?" Jiutiao Meijie sneered, "She’ll forget this month’s memories when she goes back, for Dubian’s sake, I’m grudgingly making this concession."
"Meiji..." Dubian Cat’s eyes, like glass beads, looked up at her from Jiutiao Meijie’s arms.
"If there’s a next time, just go die," Jiutiao Meijie said sternly, rubbing the cat’s little head vigorously.
"I’m truly very sorry!" "Xiaoquan Aonai" bowed again.
Jiutiao Meijie glanced at her and said nothing more.
Kiyono Lin rested her chin on her hand, watching Jiutiao Meijie.
Her lack of a strong reaction to "Xiaoquan Aonai" taking over Dubian Che’s body was simply because Dubian Che wasn’t her boyfriend.
Could she achieve what Jiutiao Meijie did if their positions were swapped?
Hypotheticals remain hypotheticals; without facing it for real, one can never know what they would do.
But one thing is certain, after this event, Dubian Che’s staying by Jiutiao Meijie’s side is likely not just out of obligation.
’More difficult to deal with than I imagined, Meijie.’
For a moment, Kiyono Lin found herself nostalgic for the childhood days with the two of them.
That little girl who used to cry a lot had become the ruthless Princess Jiutiao; now, what kind of Jiutiao Meijie was she?
She had become so complex that Kiyono could no longer see clearly, from absolute victory to extremely challenging.
But that was all there was to it.
Victory would eventually be hers; no one could resist her charm.
Kiyono Lin withdrew her gaze and looked at "Xiaoquan Aonai".