“In short, you don’t want others to know your identity, right?”
Xia Che had to put in a great deal of effort to coax the girl into a state where conversation was possible.
He felt like he had used up all the flattering vocabulary he’d learned in his entire life.
“Mhm…”
Hui Jin sniffled and gave a light nod, a faint blush coloring her cheeks that she herself wasn’t even aware of.
After completely regaining her composure, she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into right then and there.
‘What on earth was I doing just now…!’
After her defenses had been breached, her head had become all fuzzy.
Not only did she throw a tantrum at her daughter’s childhood friend, but she was even comforted by him!
Ugh…
The girl roughly rubbed her head, messing up her gray hair.
“So, let’s cooperate!”
Seizing the moment while Hui Jin was still recovering, Xia Che took the opportunity to propose his idea.
“Huh?”
“Simply put, I can help you hide your identity. For example, covering for you, appearing in situations where it’s inconvenient for you…”
Xia Che said with a smile.
“In exchange, you assist me with my investigation.”
Hui Jin glanced at him.
“You… this guy, wasn’t this your goal from the very beginning?”
“How could that be? I just thought Miss Hui Jin would help me.”
Xia Che gradually toned down his smile, looking at Hui Jin with a completely serious expression.
“I’m serious, Hui Jin. This matter is really not right. I looked into the information. Since the first hero livestream, there hasn’t been a single new hero with no background who gained this much attention on their very first day of streaming.
“There must be someone behind this, fanning the flames.”
“Whether this ‘someone’ is friend or foe, I want to get to the bottom of it. This is also for Xiao Chi’s sake.”
His tone was extremely sincere.
Hui Jin, who had been hanging her head dejectedly, gradually sat up straight, listening carefully.
“Xiao Chi just became a magical girl… She wants to become a great magical girl; it’s a dream she’s had since she was little. This path is bound to be very rough. As a new hero, there will certainly be many trials awaiting her in the future”.
To receive this level of attention for her debut battle, to be honest, is more harmful than beneficial for Xiao Chi.
She’s too young, too naive, with only a heart full of passion.
“If a powerful force sets its sights on her, she will have no power to resist. She’d be completely at their mercy.”
Xia Che’s pitch-black eyes gazed at Hui Jin, his tone unwavering.
“As her childh… boyfriend, I want to protect her dream. For that, I am willing to spare no cost.”
“But I’m just an ordinary person. If I’m alone, I probably can’t do anything… I’m too weak…”
As he spoke, the young man brought his hands together at his sides and bowed deeply to Hui Jin.
“So, please lend me your strength, Miss Hui Jin! I need the help of a reliable magical girl!”
After finishing, Xia Che nervously closed his eyes.
He could even hear his own rapid, powerful heartbeat.
To be honest, he couldn’t imagine any reason for Hui Jin to help him at all.
Making this request was entirely his own wishful thinking, but for some reason, he just wanted to try.
Perhaps Xiao Chi was just that important to him.
The small bathroom was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Time passed second by second, but the other party still hadn’t answered.
Just as Xia Che thought Hui Jin wouldn’t agree and was about to give up, a light chuckle suddenly reached his ears.
“Heh…”
Xia Che looked up in surprise, just in time to see the petite, gray-haired girl leaning against the sink, a faint smile gracing her delicate face.
She looked at him, an indescribable emotion hidden in the depths of her eyes.
Under the light, it looked like moonlight reflected in a red well.
The girl took a step, passing by his side, and said lightly,
“Really, it seems Mr. Xia Che is still a child.”
Reminded by her, Xia Che suddenly realized that his speech just now was somewhat chuunibyou-ish.
He immediately felt so awkward he could dig a hole with his toes and hurriedly defended himself.
“That… that was—!”
“In that case…”
Hui Jin cut him off, her tone leaving no room for doubt.
“I have no choice but to help, don’t I?”
“After all, if a child says something like that, as a big… senior, of course I can’t just stand by and watch.”
Xia Che’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Miss Hui Jin, does that mean you agree?”
“Mhm.”
Hui Jin nodded and extended her hand to him.
“Pleasure working with you, Mr. Xia Che.”
She suddenly understood why Xiao Chi liked this man.
Perhaps it wasn’t a bad idea to entrust Xiao Chi to him.
“Yes! Pleasure working with you!”
Xia Che reached out and gave her hand a firm shake.
The man’s rough palm made the girl quickly withdraw her hand.
Actually, even if Xia Che didn’t cooperate with her, she would have investigated on her own, since it concerned Xiao Chi’s safety.
But if Xia Che insisted on getting involved, she couldn’t stop him either.
It just meant there was one more child to protect.
After all, protecting children is an adult’s duty.
After speaking, Xia Che pulled out his phone and tapped the screen a couple of times.
Hui Jin’s sharp vision noticed the screen switching to the dial pad.
Her previously calm heart suddenly surged with a bad premonition.
“What are you doing?” she stared intently at the phone.
“Huh?”
Xia Che glanced at her and waved his phone.
“What do you mean, what am I doing… Of course, I’m calling Xiao Chi to come meet up with us…”
“No! I don’t agree!”
Hui Jin suddenly jumped up, like a cat with its fur puffed up.
She absolutely could not meet her daughter in this body.
Absolutely not!
She couldn’t even imagine the scene of interacting with her daughter!
“I’m leaving!”
Hui Jin turned to leave.
“Ah, she picked up.”
Xia Che’s voice from behind abruptly halted her steps.
‘This person… he wouldn’t badmouth me in front of my daughter, would he?’
Hui Jin the kitten pricked up her ears.
“Hey, Xiao Chi? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Listen, I ran into Hui Jin over by the school’s underground passage!”
Xia Che leaned against the wall, noticing Hui Jin not far away occasionally stealing glances over.
He couldn’t help but feel like laughing.
“Yeah, yeah, really! It’s super coincidental! I even convinced her, got her to agree to meet you! Yeah, yeah, hurry over. Okay, bye~”
Beep!
The call ended, and the underground passage returned to silence.
Just as Hui Jin was hesitating, Xia Che’s voice drifted over:
“Are you really going to leave? I promised Xiao Chi. From the sound of her voice, Xiao Chi was really excited.”
He drifted lightly over to Hui Jin’s side, leaned down, and whispered in her ear like a demon:
“Are you really okay with that? If you leave now… Xiao Chi will be very disappointed if she doesn’t see you, right?”
“Miss. Hui. Jin.”
Hui Jin felt her neck turn to stone.
She turned her head with difficulty to look at Xia Che beside her.
The eerie lighting in the underground passage and Xia Che’s direct, unblinking stare made him look truly like a devil tempting someone into hell.
“You…”
“You. Son. Of. A. Bitch.”
Hui Jin said through gritted teeth.
She clenched her fists tightly.
After a while, she managed to suppress the impulse to punch Xia Che and slowly relaxed her hands.
“Fine, fine, I’ll stay.”
The girl said irritably, squatting down against the wall without a shred of grace and starting to scroll through her phone.
“Don’t you laugh! Ugh…”
Listening to the sound of short videos coming from Hui Jin’s phone, Xia Che forced his expression to remain neutral, turned around, and revealed a ferocious smile:
‘Plan successful!’
In the underground passage echoing with the sounds of short videos, two people leaned against the wall, each scrolling through their phones, but their thoughts were completely different.
Hui Jin: ‘Damn it, playing this game? How dare he use my daughter to threaten me! I’ll be the first to object when you and Xiao Chi get married!’
Xia Che: ‘Heh heh… I knew bringing up Xiao Chi would work on her! Hiss… Could it be that Hui Jin really has a crush on Xiao Chi?’
Huh?
Wait…
Did Hui Jin just call me ‘Mr. Xia Che’?
But I never told her my name…
How does she know?