Different Landscapes

"Hmm?" Just as Ye Shuang and Bai Yuyou were about to continue climbing the mountain, they noticed a familiar figure.

A petite girl and a tall girl, both wearing volunteer armbands, were working. They were holding plastic bags—from the translucent material, it was clear that they had collected quite a few bottles inside.

Is that Taozi?

And the tall girl beside her, Ye Shuang remembered her name was Ducky.

"Taozi and An Shiyaya." Bai Yuyou also noticed the two of them and said, "Volunteers..."

Ye Shuang hadn't expected Taozi to be doing this sort of thing with the new transfer student. Thinking about how Taozi was currently working with Fugui, he wasn't sure if it was a stark contrast or actually quite fitting for her.

"Hey, Taozi," Ye Shuang called out.

Taozi didn't react much, but An Shiyaya turned her head to look. Perhaps finding Ye Shuang and Bai Yuyou familiar, she spoke briefly with Taozi beside her.

Seeing that it was Ye Shuang and Bai Yuyou, Taozi quickly walked over. "Ah, Brother Ye, are you guys here to climb the mountain?"

"Yuyou and I are just hiking."

"Where's Keke?"

"Keke..." He couldn't blame Taozi for asking. After all, wherever Bai Yuyou went to hang out recently, she was almost always with Keke as a best-friend duo. Hearing Taozi's question, Ye Shuang glanced at the time.

"Hmm... she's probably still sleeping in."

Taozi thought for a moment. "Oh, that sounds about right. Keke really likes to slack off."

Meanwhile, in a certain room, a girl was sleeping soundly on her back with her limbs spread wide like a starfish. Perhaps sensing something, she suddenly scratched her chest, then scratched her butt, rolled over, and fell right out of bed.

"Ouch!"

The room immediately echoed with the girl's squawk.

...

"Volunteering. I didn't expect you to bring a classmate along to volunteer," Ye Shuang said, his gaze falling on An Shiyaya next to her. Today, she wasn't wearing that weird latex suit. Perhaps recalling the virtual idol he had seen in the live stream that day, Ye Shuang couldn't help but take an extra look.

An Shiyaya didn't notice anything strange; she just tilted her head. "Hmm?"

"Ducky really likes collecting bottles, so I figured we might as well do it together as volunteers," Taozi said with a smile. It was obvious she enjoyed doing this kind of thing during the winter break.

Likes collecting bottles?

"Yes, because, uh... Ducky." Taozi didn't know how to explain that An Shiyaya's financial situation wasn't good, but thinking that she was similar to how she herself used to be, she said,

"Ducky is a lot like I used to be, so she needs these bottles."

A lot like she used to be?

Ye Shuang was a bit stunned. Did she mean her financial situation?

An Shiyaya was supposed to be a relative of An Shiyu. Given the old man's personality, there was no way he would let An Shiyaya suffer too much at this academy.

No matter what, she shouldn't be picking up bottles around the academy like Taozi used to.

Moreover... Ye Shuang suddenly remembered the number of fans An Shiyaya's virtual idol had. If that really was her, then An Shiyaya should be making a handsome income just from donations alone.

"I like bottle caps!" An Shiyaya chimed in. Whenever she talked about this, the girl's eyes would light up.

Taozi said, "Right? After all, each one can be sold for money."

Ye Shuang: "..."

Is there some kind of misunderstanding between you two?

However, seeing how happy both An Shiyaya and Taozi looked, Ye Shuang decided not to say anything to ruin the mood.

"By the way, Brother Ye, do you guys have any plans for the winter break?"

"Plans? Hmm..." Ye Shuang thought for a moment after hearing this. "Besides the Spring Festival, it's mostly just Yuyou learning how to drive."

"Taozi, do you want to learn how to drive with Yuyou?"

"Learning to drive..." Taozi smiled upon hearing this. "I already have my driver's license."

"When did you learn? Hasn't the winter break just started?" Ye Shuang was a bit surprised. Given Taozi's situation before enrolling, plus her age, she shouldn't have gotten her license yet.

"Yeah, I got it recently. Aside from my daily part-time jobs and studying, I squeezed in some time to learn driving from my mother," Taozi said.

"Having a car will make it easier to take my younger sisters out to play."

Ye Shuang fell silent for a moment. What an all-around capable older sister.

Where exactly did you find the time?

Taking classes during the day, working part-time as a librarian, and then working as a bartender at Fugui's bar at night... and she still found time to learn driving and get her license?

"Taozi, you're amazing," Bai Yuyou couldn't help but say.

"Indeed."

After all, Taozi's academic grades were also excellent.

"It's not that exaggerated," Taozi said, feeling a bit shy from the praise. No matter how she acted outside, she was very bashful and easily embarrassed in front of her friends.

"Do you want to hike up together?"

"Hmm... we were just about to head to the next platform."

"Let's go together then."

The four of them continued toward the next platform. But to Ye Shuang's surprise, even though An Shiyaya was tall and had a good figure, her stamina was absolutely terrible. As soon as they reached the rest area of the next platform, she leaned on her knees and gasped,

"Hah! What a heart-wrenching hike."

Taozi laughed from the side. "You mean heart-pumping, right?"

"Aren't you a ninja?" Ye Shuang asked with a smile. This level of stamina didn't look like a ninja at all, did it?

"As the saying goes, the most important thing for a ninja is to endure," An Shiyaya immediately replied.

"Even though I'm very tired right now, I'm still pushing through. This is 'endurance'!"

Then An Shiyaya muttered something in her hometown dialect. Although Ye Shuang couldn't understand it, it sounded like a line from some anime.

However, when she spoke in her dialect, she did sound quite a bit like that virtual idol.

But Ye Shuang had no intention of interfering with someone else's online life. While Taozi and An Shiyaya searched for bottles on this platform, Ye Shuang and Bai Yuyou continued their way up.

This wasn't Ye Shuang's first time at the summit; he had been here with An Shiyu before.

But bringing Bai Yuyou here gave him a novel experience. Perhaps because the person beside him was different, the scenery he saw felt different too.

At this moment, the girl looked curiously at the scenery beyond the fence and saw the ocean in the distance.

"Ye Shuang."

"Hmm?"

"I want to go to the seaside again," Bai Yuyou said.

"Is that so?"

"The seaside is beautiful. Ye Shuang said... after experiencing more things, the scenery will look different too." Bai Yuyou looked at the distant view.

Ye Shuang was slightly taken aback, then smiled and nodded. "I did say that."

"I want to go and feel the difference," Bai Yuyou said softly.