Ling'an Academy, girls' dormitory.
A cartoon played on the living room TV, its sound effects rising and falling. Zhang Suannai sat a meter from the screen, eyes closed as she cultivated with deep concentration, seemingly undisturbed.
A few beeps sounded.
The dorm room door opened.
Zhang Suannai's eyes snapped open, and she turned toward it.
Before she saw anyone, she heard them.
The one patting the snow off herself one stroke at a time had to be the older sister. The one hopping in place twice to shake it off was the younger.
Zhang Suannai was gradually getting a handle on the sisters' different personalities—
The older sister was quieter, not just on the surface but at heart. She cared less about worldly affairs and was closer to Zhang Suannai's idea of a Celestial. The younger sister was much livelier, with more hobbies and little amusements, more fidgeting and little schemes. And she lied. She loved to lie.
That was how Zhang Suannai saw them.
Two figures, one tall and one short, walked in one after the other.
Still sitting cross-legged on her cushion, Zhang Suannai tilted her head and watched them with her clear black-and-white eyes.
The older sister said nothing and didn't look at her. She went straight back to her room through the passage beside the living room. The younger sister came into the living room, set Peach down, and looked at Zhang Suannai with earnest curiosity while brushing snow from Peach's fur.
"Suannai, what are you doing?"
"Cultivating!"
"You've been working really hard at cultivation this semester."
"I've got my act together!"
"?"
"I'm not the lazy old Suannai I used to be." Sitting on the floor, Zhang Suannai had to tip her head up a little to speak to the girl on the higher sofa.