Chapter 4 – The Secret Mission: Operation Night Noises
In Sujin Village, as women played sports and boys learned to sew, cook, and pout adorably, it was common for little girls to be loud, competitive, and downright chaotic.
Lin Yue, now nine, wasn't the leader of her gang for no reason. With her sky-blue hair tied into two high, bouncing pigtails and a mischievous grin always tugging at her lips, she had a knack for dragging people into wild ideas. Her gem-blue eyes sparkled like trouble—and tonight, trouble was exactly what she had in mind.
"Okay, everyone," Yue whispered, sitting crisscrossed on the dusty floor of their 'secret base'—a wooden shed behind her house stacked with hay and half-broken furniture. "We're going to talk about it."
Her three partners-in-crime sat around her: Jia, the "smarty pants" who couldn't keep a secret if it was taped to her mouth; Mei, the daredevil who once wrestled a goat because it "looked suspicious;" and Lian, the softie who always came along even though she clearly wanted to run home.
"It?" Mei asked, tilting her head.
Yue leaned closer, eyes wide. "You know… the noises at night."
Lian squeaked. "The weird moaning?!"
Jia gasped, flapping her hands. "My uncle said it's ghost training!"
Everyone stared at her.
"Ghost training?" Mei deadpanned. "What, are they making ghosts do push-ups?"
Yue snorted, trying not to laugh. "No, silly. It has to do with adults. My mom makes those sounds sometimes when all her husbands are in her room. And the next morning, they all walk funny and act super sweet."
Jia nodded, squinting like a detective. "It must be some kind of adult ritual. Maybe… a love ceremony."
"A love what?" Mei blinked. "You mean like… kissing?"
Lian clapped her hands over her mouth, turning red. "No! We can't talk about kissing! That's... that's like… sacred!"
Yue smirked, tossing one of her pigtails over her shoulder. "It's just lips touching lips. How sacred can it be? I've kissed my mom on the cheek!"
"That's different!" Lian cried.
"Well," Yue said with a dramatic sigh, "there's only one thing to do."
The gang leaned in.
"We test it."
Jia raised an eyebrow. "You mean… kiss someone?"
"Exactly," Yue declared. "We find a boy. A cute one. One who won't cry or run to his mommy. And then one of us tries the kiss."
"Not me!" Lian raised both hands immediately.
"Not me either!" Mei added quickly. "I'll supervise."
"I'll do it," Jia said bravely—then turned pale. "Wait. No. Actually, I have homework. Like… a lot of homework. Forever homework."
Yue shook her head with a sigh. "Cowards. Fine, I'll do it! But we'll plan it first. Operation Night Noises is a go."
The girls nodded in solemn agreement, completely unaware of how ridiculous they looked—faces serious like generals, but all wearing mismatched pajamas with cartoon animals on them.
They spent the rest of the night whispering and arguing over which boy was innocent enough to be their "test subject." They eventually settled on a quiet boy named Bo, known for blushing at everything. One time a girl handed him a rice ball and he dropped it from panic.
Perfect.
By the time they finished their planning, they were rolling on the floor with giggles and mock kisses, Jia accidentally kissed the air too hard and fell over, and Lian had her head in a pillow squealing, "I can't watch! I can't watch!"
That night, as Yue laid in bed, her pigtails flopped over her pillow and her cheeks still sore from laughing, she thought about how strange adults were.
One day, she'd understand what all the moaning was about. But for now? It was way more fun being nine, loud, nosy, and the queen of pranks.