The Morning After and a Tour of the Laboratory

Qing Zixi felt she had never known such exquisite sleep.

While it was certainly true that exercise could improve sleep, Qing Zixi found herself less than enthusiastic about improving hers through such methods.

Perhaps she had overslept, for despite the profound relaxation her body exuded, her head felt heavy and muddled, and her waist throbbed with an unbearable ache.

More unsettling still, a peculiar sensation persisted in Qing Zixi’s mind, a feeling she couldn’t quite shake.

Gently, she rubbed her own thighs.

‘Could it be… I’m getting a little addicted?’

‘No, no, no! How could a lady like me ever enjoy such things? It’s entirely that idiotic big white rabbit sister’s fault for mistaking this as a game-enhancing potion. Besides, I was completely coerced!’

“Ouch…”

The moment she tried to sit up, Qing Zixi let out a yelp, her hand instinctively going to rub her aching waist. The sound drew Xia Mengying into the room, who, still in her pajamas and rubbing sleep from her eyes, appeared to have only just woken herself.

Consequently, the bed remained unmade, adorned with the ‘trophies’ of their previous night’s activities, resembling a child’s chaotic scribbles. Qing Zixi rubbed her eyes, yet strangely, perceived no vivid colors on the sheets.

“Awake at last? We certainly slept in.”

“And whose fault is that…?”

Drawing on her prior experiences, Qing Zixi wisely chose not to leap out of bed immediately. Instead, she began to gently stretch her legs while still nestled in the sheets.

“Well, who told you to mock me? Besides, hasn’t practice proven my little invention to be quite effective?”

Xia Mengying set the glass of water on the nightstand. Qing Zixi snatched it, guzzled it down in one go, then slammed it back, her face flushing crimson as she declared:

“Useful? Useful for absolutely nothing! I’m never setting foot in your house again!”

“Oh, come on, don’t be like that. I have plenty more fun things here, you know. Just come and try them out! Oh, by the way, Little Xi, are you hungry?”

Qing Zixi had initially planned to make a swift escape as soon as her body felt up to it. However, the moment Xia Mengying asked if she was hungry, her stomach promptly let out a series of embarrassing growls.

‘I truly am a bit hungry.’

‘All that… ‘exercise’ consumed too much energy. Of course I’d be hungry!’

“Mmm…”

“Speaking of which, I also have a potion that makes you feel full instantly after drinking it. It’s nutritionally complete too, though you can’t completely replace meals with it all the time.”

Hearing Xia Mengying’s words, Qing Zixi could only imagine it as some kind of demonic concoction.

‘But eating is the one thing that simply cannot be replaced! Let me properly savor my meals, chewing slowly and enjoying every bite!’

“Still, I only resort to it when I’m so engrossed in an experiment that I forget to eat. Come on, the takeout should be arriving any minute now.”

Only once she was confident she wouldn’t immediately stumble did Qing Zixi slide her feet into her cotton slippers and, using the wall for support, shuffle out of the bedroom.

Xia Mengying’s home boasted a layout much like Lan Mengyao’s; naturally, being in the same residential complex, their floor plans weren’t drastically different. Each featured a spacious living room, a kitchen, a balcony, and two generously sized bedrooms, each complete with its own private toilet and bathroom. A smaller study completed the design. While they waited for their takeout, Xia Mengying led Qing Zixi on a tour of the premises.

The study had been repurposed as a storage room, while the other bedroom was transformed into a full-fledged laboratory. Stepping inside, Qing Zixi couldn’t help but marvel, realizing just how little housework Xia Mengying actually did.

The chaos here far surpassed the mess on the bed, if that were even possible. Thankfully, no clothes littered the floor; Xia Mengying’s lab coat had merely been flung onto a chair. Otherwise, Qing Zixi felt she would have to play a game of ‘Minesweeper’ just to navigate the room.

The first thing that greeted her eyes was an enormous workbench, considerably larger than even Lan Mengyao’s grand piano, haphazardly strewn with all manner of unrecognizable objects. To the far left, bookshelves groaned under the weight of countless volumes, while the right side was dominated by transparent glass cabinets overflowing with an assortment of bottles and jars. Several chairs lay haphazardly across the center, which Qing Zixi promptly nudged aside.

She noticed a futon laid out in a corner of the floor. ‘Yet, with the bed only a few steps away,’ she mused, ‘wouldn’t sleeping there be far more appealing?’

As she approached the cabinet, she observed that these particular medicine bottles were, at least, meticulously labeled.

“Well, isn’t this perfectly fine? Labeling things properly prevents confusion. Oh, and that ‘what’s-it-called’ potion that supposedly makes games better? You really ought to change its name, and fast!”

Noticing Qing Zixi’s pout as she glared, Xia Mengying walked over to her, confidently puffing out her chest.

“Oh, the unlabeled ones are just experimental batches; I remember them all perfectly well~ And what name did you have in mind for it?”

“Aphro, aphro…”

“Eat?”

Watching the white-haired loli in front of her struggle, stammering and trying to force out a word, Xia Mengying feigned an expression of curiosity.

Of course, she knew precisely what her adorable little sister was trying to convey. As an older sister, Xia Mengying’s knowledge in certain ‘delicate’ areas far outstripped Qing Zixi’s.

‘Sigh… we didn’t get enough ‘practice’ yesterday. When can I carve out some more time…?’

“Aphro-ugh-spring… Ah! Never mind, it doesn’t matter if you don’t change it. I’m certainly not going to use it again!”

In the end, Qing Zixi still couldn’t bring herself to utter the word; it was simply too mortifying. She had been utterly pure even as a shota, and as a loli, she was bound to be even more innocent.

“Do you have any slightly more normal potions, something useful for everyday life, preferably with absolutely no side effects?”

Despite her general aversion, as long as it wasn’t one of those peculiar concoctions, Qing Zixi was quite amenable to accepting it.

For in her eyes, such things were akin to magic—no, they *were* magic.

“There actually is! Hey, how about I whip up a Chameleon Potion for you? It allows you to blend seamlessly with your surroundings, making it incredibly useful for hide-and-seek.”

‘Chameleon?’

‘That sounds rather intriguing! Couldn’t I drink it, then secretly vanish, watching my sisters frantically call my name, unable to find me? They’d eventually fall to their knees, weeping and apologizing for all their past wrongs, at which point I’d dramatically leap out and mock them mercilessly.’

“I want it!”

“Let me just find it for you…”

As she watched Xia Mengying bend over, rummaging through a box, Qing Zixi’s gaze suddenly fell upon a white potion lying on the floor. A single, prominent character on its label immediately caught her attention.

Whistling nonchalantly, she sidled across the floor like a crab, then slowly crouched down and picked up the potion.

“Grow bigger, grow taller…”

‘Aha! Isn’t this exactly what I’ve been wishing for?’

The word on the label filled Qing Zixi with an uncontrollable thrill. She was already envisioning herself triumphantly trampling those annoying sisters beneath her feet. Just as she managed to slip the potion into her skirt pocket, a hand suddenly clapped down on her shoulder.

“Eek!”

“What are you doing? Here, take this. But remember, when you use it, either wear clothes that match your surroundings, or just take them off.”

Qing Zixi accepted the potion from Xia Mengying’s hand, nodding her thanks. At that very moment, due to their shared height, Xia Mengying’s gaze fell upon Qing Zixi’s conspicuously bulging skirt.

“What have you got in there?”

With lightning speed, she plunged her hand into the pocket, her fingers closing around something distinctly hard…