"Junior Sister."
"Your mood is pretty good today."
Ye Qingxian watched the young girl walking ahead alone without even holding her hand, kicking a little stone now and then, plucking a leaf every so often, thoroughly enjoying herself. Her gaze settled on the pale blue ribbon trailing behind her. The high ponytail that swayed gently was always the first thing to catch the eye, its ribbon like a lively blue butterfly.
"Of course!"
With my hands behind my back, I stopped walking.
"There are new stories to hear."
"And a whole bunch of people coaxing me to play."
"Coaxing me to be happy."
"How could I not be happy?"
I pressed my lips together, shallow dimples appearing, then seemed to think of something. With my hands still behind my back, I suddenly hopped forward, landing right in front of Ye Qingxian.
"Senior Sister, do you understand what it means to dream?"
"It all feels so dreamlike."
"Clearly, I didn't do anything, yet suddenly a huge group of people popped up and told me—I'm the most revered Princess. They also told me that bad people might have their eyes on me, that everyone had stepped forward to protect me and would surely shelter me until I grew up."
"At first, I really suspected that Senior Sister had found people to make Xiaoyao happy, to play house with me. But after thinking about it carefully, it really didn't seem to be that."
"No matter how capable Senior Sister is, you couldn't find people to put on an act with me and play house."
"Anyway, out of a thousand words, only happiness can describe it."
Ye Qingxian barely spoke throughout, silently listening to her Junior Sister's chattering thoughts. Looking at the smile on my face, as though a hundred flowers had bloomed at