Miss Witch, even if we're poor, we can't sell ourselves!

It's so cold in December.

Yu Citing nestled on the sofa, her pink pigtails hanging listlessly over her shoulders, all traces of her usual arrogance gone.

On the coffee table in front of her was a tablet computer, three different models of mobile phones, two half-eaten bags of potato chips, and a row of empty energy drink cans. The tablet computer was playing a frame-by-frame analysis video of Miya's battle in Corona Borealis on a loop, with the barrage of comments such as "Miya-sama is so amazing".

Three knocks sounded at the door.

Yu Citing, wearing slippers, shuffled over, glanced through the peephole, and then opened the door.

The girl outside squeezed in sideways, enveloped in the chill of the outside air.

Her red side ponytail was tied casually, with the ends draped over her shoulder. Her dark gray eyes resembled the early morning fog of winter, with a light blue ring under her eyes. The corners of her mouth were slightly downturned. She wore a cotton coat and carried a supermarket plastic bag in her hand.

"Sister Jian Qiuluo? What brings you here?"

Yu Citing took a half step back, somewhat incredulous.

"Let's see what earth-shattering secret you've uncovered."

Jian Qiuluo placed the plastic bag on the coffee table; inside was a can of hot cocoa and a bag of marshmallows. Then she sat down on the sofa armrest, crossed her legs, and glanced at the mess on the coffee table.

"It seems they haven't found anything."

Yu Citing's eyes reddened at a visible speed.

She sniffed, then threw herself into Jian Qiuluo's arms and began to pour out her grievances, starting from the first time she sent someone to follow Mi Ye, and ending with Mi Ye winning first place in the martial arts competition.

She became more and more excited as she spoke, and simply grabbed the tablet and opened the martial arts test video highlights. The image froze on the moment when Mi Ye stood by the lake, her two tentacles fully extended, and her dark red petals opened in the rainstorm.

"As you saw, she's the strongest, and even a direct hit from a skill like 'Thousand Stars Barrage' can't kill her!"

She threw the tablet onto the sofa and covered her face with her hands.

"Sister Lythrumsa is right. She is the perfect fit for flesh magic, but I can't find any trace of her, let alone the many people protecting her."

After listening to this long string of complaints, Jian Qiuluo did not interrupt. Instead, she unzipped the hot cocoa and put it in Yu Citing's hand, then patted her head.

"You've had a hard time these past few days."

She stood up and walked to the window, her back to Yuciting, and looked through the glass at the snow-covered rooftops in the distance.

"Even so, she is still an opportunity for us. Putting aside her relationship with Flores, just the fact that she is Professor Bie Chenye's student is enough for us to win her over."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Yu Citing held the hot cocoa and sipped it slowly, tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes from when she had poured out her bitterness.

"I'll go to the bar tonight."

Jian Qiuluo rolled up the hood of her sweatshirt to cover half of her face, put her hands in her pockets, and walked towards the door.

"I want to see for myself what's so special about this little witch."

After she finished speaking, she pushed open the door, and the cold wind after the snow rushed in, causing several pieces of paper on the coffee table to swirl and fly up.

Yu Citing, wrapped in a blanket, huddled on the sofa, watching Jian Qiuluo's figure disappear at the top of the stairs, the door slowly closing in front of her.

……

Jian Qiuluo stood on the steps below the apartment building and looked up at the sky.

The clouds hung low, a hazy gray, as if someone had laid a layer of old cotton wool across the sky.

The snow had stopped, but the wind was still cold, seeping into my collar.

She pulled the zipper of her cotton coat up a little, and her red side ponytail peeked out from the edge of the coat's hood, the ends of her hair swaying gently in the wind.

Another year.

She always feels a strange melancholy in this kind of weather.

The original plan discussed with Qianqucai was simple: let Yuciting observe Miye from a distance for a period of time to get a clear picture of her, and then she would personally approach her to see if she could win her over to her side.

This plan should have taken several months or even half a year, giving them ample time to gradually lay the groundwork.

But Mi Ye's performance in the martial arts test was like a bomb dropped into still water, shattering everyone's plans.

First place by a wide margin, trending on the entire internet, the last disciple of Biechenye—every label is shortening their window of opportunity.

Now it's not just them who are watching Mi Ye; the academy officials, various forces, and even the government may also get involved.

If they delay any longer, and Mi Ye officially enrolls, their long-planned scheme will become even more difficult to execute.

So they have to go to the bar tonight. Jian Qiuluo has already prepared for the worst. If all else fails, they'll fight to the death. At the very least, they absolutely cannot let Mi Ye stand on the opposite side of them.

She slowed her pace, her footsteps crunching softly on the snow-covered sidewalk.

One by one, the streetlights lit up, casting halos of dim yellow light on the snow.

The whole street was preparing for the Christmas festival in December. Strings of lights were hung in the shop windows, silver ribbons were wrapped around the crooked trees, and snowflakes cut from cotton wool were pasted on the glass of the bakery at the intersection, gently fluttering in the warmth of the heating inside.

She stopped for a moment as she passed the bakery.

A plate of freshly baked gingerbread figures was displayed in the shop window. The sugar icing on the cookies was crooked and messy, like the work of a child who wasn't very good at drawing.

Ruixiang used to like drawing smiley faces like this. After she finished drawing them, she would hold them up in front of her and ask if they looked good. Ruixiang would always say they looked good, and then she would run to show them to her older sister, Blue Daisy.

She lowered her head and continued walking forward, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her cotton coat even more.

The phone lay quietly in my pocket, with an undeleted message still on the screen.

That was a voice message I received this morning from Lythrum salicaria.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Jian Qiulu did not reply. Qianqucai is the person in charge of the [Flower Group] and is also her older sister.

She leaned against that familiar streetlight, took her hand out of her pocket, and breathed warm air on it.

My fingers touched something in the pocket of my cotton coat: a small piece of dried flower tied with a thin hemp rope. The petals had long since faded, but the shape was still there. It was a very small daisy.

This flower was included in the package that Sister Blue Daisy sent last time, along with a letter asking when you would be coming back.

Jian Qiulu didn't know how to say that she might not be coming back for the holiday.

A crack appeared in the clouds in the sky, and moonlight shone through the crack onto her face.

She looked up at the blurry moon and suddenly remembered a winter night many years ago, with similar weather, when Flores stood at the door of her distant home and only glanced back at her.

Jian Qiuluo was still young then, but she remembered that look in her eyes for a long time.

After that door closed, she never went near Flores again until tonight.

Jian Qiuluo lowered her hand from her mouth, put it back in her cotton coat pocket, and gently pinched the stem of the faded daisy with her fingernails.

It's okay, it's okay.

Everything will be alright once it's all over.

She breathed white air into herself, stood under the streetlight for a while, and then disappeared into the snow.