Little Pink Hair is in the past; now it's Little Golden Hair's turn to shine

Dahai City Noble Academy.

By the lake.

“What are you two running for?” Dongfang Zhixia stopped as she pushed her little secretary’s wheelchair.

The head maid: “…”

With you putting on this accusatory look, it would be weird if we didn’t run. The head maid’s lips twitched. Before she could say anything, Xia Tongxin’s arrogant voice rang out from behind her.

“Don’t think I’m scared of you! We’re not scared—so there! We ran, and we’ll run again!”

Her voice was full of defiance. If only she could look Dongfang Zhixia in the eye, it would be more convincing. Her whole body was braced, but only her mouth was still tough; her legs were trembling and giving way.

The head maid: “…”

Young miss, you…

The head maid’s scalp tingled. Even at a time like this, their young miss still couldn’t resist provoking the other side. Brave, sure—but why did that courage have to come out now?

Dongfang Zhixia had been a little annoyed at first, worried that her own foolish girl might be getting bullied outside.

But now, seeing Xia Tongxin acting all timid and pathetic, she suddenly laughed—a mocking laugh—and instantly let it go. With Xia Tongxin’s pink-haired, dizzy-headed look, even if she bullied someone, she probably didn’t have any truly malicious intentions.

All talk, no guts. She could only shoot her mouth off.

“Don’t you know you’re not allowed to dye your hair on campus?” Dongfang Zhixia said with a stern face.

Xia Tongxin hid behind the head maid, continuing to “control” her as her shield, acting like a fox using the tiger’s might—as if, as long as she stayed behind her, the words coming out now weren’t really hers.

“Why can’t I dye my hair? It’s my hair, I’ll do what I want! And who are you to talk to me like that? Nyah nyah nyah—no way, no way!”

The head maid: “…”

Dongfang Zhixia: “…”

Dongfang Zhixia’s expression stiffened slightly. Silently, she set her little secretary’s wheelchair down properly and walked over, deliberately softening her footsteps to avoid startling her prey.

When she got behind the head maid, she could still hear Xia Tongxin’s bratty ranting, squeaky and mewling in that über-sweet little voice.

“You think you can just—mmph…”

Xia Tongxin was about to keep going, when suddenly she felt her mouth being pinched—painfully. It was like waking from a dream.

She opened her eyes and saw the devil-like face of the Student Council President right in front of her. In a daze, the memory surfaced again: that time the president had carried a fire axe, smashing down the door, stroke after stroke.

A nightmare she couldn’t escape.

Xia Tongxin: “!!!”

“Xiaxia, save me—boohoo…” The pink-haired, giddy girl instantly deflated like a punctured balloon. She whimpered pitifully, then burrowed her head into the head maid’s chest.

The head maid: “…”

Alright, it’s on me.

The head maid took a deep breath, gathered her thoughts, and tried to speak as calmly as possible to the “terrifying female Tyrannosaurus” in front of her.

That’s right. In the head maid’s eyes, Dongfang Zhixia was nothing short of a pure female Tyrannosaurus—a tough character who could go one-on-one against a fearsome mafia heiress.

Her tone was neither servile nor arrogant, meeting Dongfang Zhixia’s eyes squarely: “Hello, please don’t bully our young miss. If there’s a problem, we can discuss it properly.”

Dongfang Zhixia raised an eyebrow: “Me, bullying your little pink-haired girl? Are you sure your little pink-haired girl didn’t pick on my idiot girl first?”

Dongfang Zhixia pointed at the timid-looking little secretary who was sitting somewhat hunched in a wheelchair not far away.

The head maid: “…”

In an instant, all the memories came flooding back—the amusement park, the bumper cars… it seemed that, indeed, there had been such an incident.

Since Dongfang Zhixia dared to say it out loud, in the head maid’s view, that meant sufficient evidence must exist. In that case, there was no point in making excuses. She decisively chose to admit it and offer an apology.

“There was indeed such an incident, but I believe there were some misunderstandings. Our young lady is kind-hearted and would never do anything to bully others.”

The head maid said this with full confidence.

Their young lady might be a bit arrogant, but she was undoubtedly the kindest person the head maid had ever met—genuinely kind from the heart. She was just… overly protected, which made her easy prey for the bad influences around her.

That was why she learned to act like a hedgehog, bristling her thorns and putting on a fierce face. But in reality, she was just bluffing, trying to protect herself.

Dongfang Zhixia glanced at the timid little pink-haired girl hiding behind the head maid.

Hmm… Honestly, she didn’t really believe this little pink-haired girl was capable of bullying anyone. At most, she might talk tough.

She had only just approached, and the girl was already scared stiff. How could anyone expect her to do something truly malicious or excessive?

“Don’t feed me that nonsense. The facts are the facts. Tell me, how are you planning to resolve this?” Dongfang Zhixia didn’t take the bait and directly demanded a concrete apology plan from the head maid.

The head maid thought for a moment and then laid out a specific apology plan.

In simple terms, it involved paying a shockingly large sum of money, promising never to bully the little secretary again if they crossed paths, and if necessary, even offering some land in the Seaside City.

As long as it was property under their young lady’s name, she had the authority to make the decision directly.

“Pay money?” Dongfang Zhixia laughed—a laugh dripping with contempt.

“Do you think I’m strapped for cash? Or do you think money can solve everything?”

For some reason, as she said this, Dongfang Zhixia’s mind unconsciously flashed back to Ye Cheng. Back in the cafeteria, he had said the exact same thing to her.

Back then, she had been genuinely taken aback. Hmph… if only she’d known that jerk was just putting on an act, she would have thrown a punch right then and there.

Money wasn’t everything, but for Ye Cheng, money was everything. He had done so many shameless things that Dongfang Zhixia’s tolerance had been pushed higher and higher.

Whenever she thought of money, she thought of Ye Cheng.

Judging by how this arrogant little pink-haired girl handled problems—throwing her money around the moment something went wrong—she’d probably fit in perfectly with that scoundrel.

One was rich but clueless, the other loved cash…

No!

As if suddenly realizing something, Dongfang Zhixia snapped back to reality. She understood that if Ye Cheng ever met this Xia Tongxin in front of her and they kept interacting, some strange chemistry might develop.

Especially with how clueless Xia Tongxin was about money—she’d definitely be conned silly by Ye Cheng.

Even with the “brains” of the head maid around, Dongfang Zhixia wasn’t reassured. After all, Ye Cheng might even win over the head maid and keep fleecing the little rich girl of her coins.

The head maid remained silent, simply kept raising the offer and then setting a new price. The price and terms she had just laid out hadn’t even come close to what her young mistress could afford—not even halfway there. Yet even so, the amount was still terrifying, enough to make Dongfang Zhixia frown. These people were just too wealthy.

“Enough. Put your money away. My demand is simple: just apologize to her.”

Dongfang Zhixia waved her hand impatiently, cutting off the head maid’s continued bidding.

The head maid looked troubled. Having their young mistress apologize… that was far harder than just offering more money. Back in the day, an apology wouldn’t have been a problem for her, but now she was in full rebellious mode—an apology was completely out of the question. Even now, her body was completely limp, but her mouth was still as stubborn as ever. That was just her reputation.

Before the head maid could speak, Xia Tongxin jumped out from where she had been hiding earlier.

"No way! You demon, I am not apologizing! I did nothing wrong!" After shouting that, Xia Tongxin quickly dove back into hiding, unable to face the oppressive glare of the student council president.

Dongfang Zhixia furrowed her brows. “Not apologizing? Fine. Then you’re expelled.”

Xia Tongxin: “???”

“What right do you have to expel me!”

"Because I'm the student council president!" Dongfang Zhixia snorted. If Ye Cheng were here, he'd definitely be shouting "It's getting dark," only to be caught by the president and given a proper punishment.

Xia Tongxin was stunned. "Xiaxia, can the student council president really expel me?"

Head Maid: “…”

“Generally speaking… no.”

“See? You can’t expel me!” Xia Tongxin immediately became bolder, her tone quite arrogant.

"Oh, but this school is special. The student council has a lot of power. In other words, Miss, she could indeed have us expelled," the head maid finished what she had been about to say earlier.

Xia Tongxin’s world collapsed—a thunderbolt from the blue. Even her delicate little face turned pale.

“Y-you… this is an abuse of power! I don’t accept it! I’ll report you!” Xia Tongxin remained stubborn.

“Ohhh, didn’t expect someone as dim as you to know the words ‘abuse of power.’ And what if it is abuse of power? So what? You got a problem with that?” Dongfang Zhixia was completely unashamed.

Xia Tongxin: “…”

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! This wasn’t how the anime did things!

“Also, little kid, let me tell you: if you want to report me, you’d have to go to the student council. And guess who’s the student council president?” Dongfang Zhixia said unhurriedly, each word like a knife to the heart.

Xia Tongxin’s world collapsed again.

“Who is the plaintiff accusing the county magistrate!” she muttered to herself.

Head Maid: “…”

Not even pretending anymore, huh. The head maid couldn’t help but crack a smirk. This fierce young mistress in front of her was no pushover—she was the hardest one to deal with.

“Miss… it was me who bumped into her first. It should be me apologizing.”

The little secretary, who had been slacking off in the background the whole time, finally stopped idling. She spoke up hesitantly, indirectly getting Xia Tongxin out of trouble.

The head maid was taken aback. A flicker of surprise crossed the face of Xia Tongxin, whose world had seemed so crushed.

“Idiot! Who told you to say that?” Dongfang Zhixia shot the little secretary a glare. The little secretary shrank her head timidly and muttered under her breath:

“Sorry, Miss.”

Dongfang Zhixia: “…”

Ah, I was going to turn the tables and back up that idiot in her family, but now there’s no chance. Sigh.

Dongfang Zhixia was ready to head back, pushing her little secretary along as she prepared to leave. She planned to ask Ye Cheng about the situation later, since that problem child was way too possessive—once something went in, there was no getting it back out.

The Du family was another tough nut to crack. Going hard wouldn’t work; they’d have to negotiate...

“Um... that... I was wrong too. I shouldn’t have bumped into you...” Xia Tongxin was twisting her hands, tugging at her clothes, her voice soft and full of tangled hesitation as she apologized.

It was an unexpected turn of events—both of them had apologized, one after the other.

The head maid was surprised, and so was Dongfang Zhixia.

With that apology, Dongfang Zhixia’s anger cooled a bit. “Forget it, I won’t stoop to a kid’s level. You’re not fired.”

Dongfang Zhixia pushed her little secretary and started to leave, but behind her came Xia Tongxin’s breaking, delicate shout: “You’re the kid! Your whole family are kids! I’m an adult—I’m a junior in college!!!”

“Oh, and about that hair of yours—I’m giving you three days to dye it back, or you’re fired.”

Dongfang Zhixia’s voice faded as she walked away, leaving only the furious little pink-haired girl and the helpless head maid.

“Miss, stop yelling. They’re gone—they can’t hear you anymore.”

What the head maid really wanted to say was: Miss, you scold people like you’re trying to flirt. If some weirdo with strange tastes heard you, they’d be thrilled, like that one certain lady...

“I’m not dyeing it back! I won’t! Let her fire me if she’s got the guts!”

The head maid: “...”

Half an hour later.

“Xiaxia, how long does this hair dye remover take? Not that I’m scared of her, okay—I just think golden hair looks better...” Xia Tongxin stood in front of the mirror, fiddling with her little pink locks.

The head maid: “...”

That pink-haired girl’s stubborn mouth was tougher than titanium alloy.

...

At the Dongfang family villa.

“Beep, beep, beep...”

“Hello? Zhixia, what’s wrong?” Su Su’s gentle voice came through the phone, full of maternal warmth.

“I need to go to the Du family’s private hospital. Help me figure out a way.”

“The Du family’s private hospital? Zhixia, are you hurt? Or is something wrong with Mengmeng again?” Su Su’s voice on the other end turned anxious.

“No, don’t worry about it. I just need to go to the Du family’s private hospital. Hurry up.”

“Well... all right then. I’ll call your father right away. Oh, Zhixia, do you want Mom to come with you?”

“No need. I’m hanging up.”

“Beep, beep, beep...”

Su Su: “...”