"Is she going to be okay?"
Su Wanyan asked it under her breath, eyes fixed on the figure working the open fields. Mo Xingxue moved along the tilled ground with quick, precise hands—seeds placed, spacing checked, with no wasted motion. Competence was not the question, Su Wanyan knew exactly how capable her Xuexue was. But knowing did nothing to quiet the itch in her feet.
Maybe I should go help.
She shifted her weight, one step already forming, when—
"If another guest helps a guest with their task," a staff member said beside her, tone mild and pointed, "it counts as failing the task."
Su Wanyan stopped cold. From farther out in the field, Mo Xingxue lifted her head as if she had heard the exchange through pure instinct and sent a single warning glance across the distance, as if to say, Don't you dare.
Su Wanyan nodded fast, almost tripping over herself to show she understood. Only then did Mo Xingxue look back down again and continued working without further comment.
