Magical girls traveled fast.
After waiting only a short while, Ye Xiao Chi—or rather, Feizuan—arrived.
The moment she saw Hui Jin, she broke into a dopey, wide grin, like a big dog spotting its owner, and spread her arms to fly into a tackle.
“Senior Hui Jin! Wow—Senior Hui Jin is so cute! Can I hug you? I’m gonna hug you!”
Hui Jin immediately looked troubled and tried to dodge, but she didn’t expect a wicked, large hand to push her from behind.
Thus, she received a full, solid bear hug from Feizuan.
‘Xia Che! Just you wait… Ugh, I can’t breathe…’
She was just about to glare at Xia Che when she was pressed into the ample bosom of the young girl, nearly losing her breath in the process.
She struggled with all her might to break free, even using magical power, but she actually couldn’t even pry Feizuan’s hands apart.
‘How is this girl so strong?!’
Powerless to resist, Hui Jin was subjected to head pats and cheek nuzzling by Feizuan, her small face flushing a deep crimson (from suffocation).
‘Ye Xiao Chi, you unfilial daughter…!’
“Senior Hui Jin, where did you run off to earlier? I turned around and you were gone! How did you end up here? Let me tell you, I just checked my phone, guess what? Our livestream actually had over two hundred thousand views!”
Feizuan’s little mouth kept chattering non-stop like a machine gun, making Hui Jin’s head buzz.
“Let… go…”
“Let go?”
Feizuan tilted her head in confusion, then showed a look of sudden realization.
“Oh! Right! What a relief! Thanks to Senior Hui Jin, I was able to defeat such a strong monster!”
The girl, half a head shorter than Feizuan, was rubbed vigorously like a little kitten, her gaze growing unfocused.
“I said… let! GO!”
Hearing Hui Jin’s gritted-teeth voice, Feizuan looked down and met the girl’s murderous glare.
She hurriedly released her grip.
“Huh? Ah, ah, ah, sorry!”
Then her head received a solid, painful flick.
“No respect for your elders!”
Thump!
“Ow!”
This one held no restraint, bringing tears to Feizuan’s eyes.
She cried out in pain, rubbing her forehead, and hung her head with teary, pitiful eyes.
“Sorry, I was wrong…”
Seeing the aggrieved Feizuan, Hui Jin felt a bit more cheerful.
‘Ye Xiao Chi is my daughter, I can’t bear to hit her. Xia Che is an outsider, I can’t hit him. Feizuan is a junior, I can hit her as hard as I want!’
“Honestly, you have no respect for your seniors at all.”
Hui Jin crossed her arms, putting on airs to scold.
It had been a long time since she’d spoken to Ye Xiao Chi like this.
She felt a slight sense of nostalgia.
Feizuan wiped her tears and argued her case.
“That’s… that’s because Senior Hui Jin is too cute! I couldn’t help myself!”
Hui Jin’s eyebrow twitched.
She raised her right hand again, pretending to deliver another flick.
“So it’s my fault?”
“My fault! My fault! I was wrong, don’t hit me! Any more hits and I’ll get stupid!”
Feizuan quickly scampered behind Xia Che, using him as a human shield, only peeking her little head out to beg for mercy.
Xia Che also spoke up for her.
“Yeah, Feizuan already apologized, Miss Hui Jin, please forgive her.”
Hui Jin shot Xia Che a fierce glare, looking like an irate old father who sees “a delinquent trying to run off with his daughter, and the daughter siding with the delinquent.”
“Scolding her doesn’t mean I’m not scolding you, right? Mr. Xia Che, aren’t we partners? Why were you just watching earlier?!”
Feizuan thought Hui Jin was glaring at her and ducked back down like a groundhog.
Xia Che just thought his childhood friend was incredibly cute.
He reached out and gently ruffled her little head, stating with conviction.
“This is just Feizuan expressing her joy towards her senior, Hui Jin. You’re both magical girls. I’m just an ordinary person; even if I wanted to stop it, I couldn’t, right?”
As he spoke, he shrugged and shook his head, putting on an act of truly being willing but unable.
Hui Jin’s fists were genuinely itching.
‘Why didn’t I realize this kid was so punchable before?’
“Yes, yes! I’m really, really grateful to Senior Hui Jin!”
Groundhog Feizuan popped out of her hole, taking advantage of the chaos to pledge her loyalty to Hui Jin.
Watching the two of them singing in harmony, Hui Jin put her hands on her hips.
A trace of helplessness appeared on her cool face.
“I’m really defeated by you two…”
Seeing Hui Jin relent, the childhood friends shared a smile.
Xia Che spread his hands and introduced to Feizuan.
“Xiao Chi, I’ve already confirmed it. Miss Hui Jin is a reliable magical girl senior. You can trust her.”
“Is that so!”
Feizuan didn’t doubt it in the slightest and accepted it immediately.
She hopped forward a step, grinning broadly, and patted her chest with full of energy.
“Let me reintroduce myself, Senior Hui Jin! My real name is Ye Xiao Chi. Currently, like Xia Che, I attend Yucheng No. 1 High School. Please take care of me from now on!”
Looking at her daughter’s smile, Hui Jin couldn’t help but feel a bit dazed.
‘So this is what my daughter is like in front of others?’
At home, when the two of them were alone, Ye Xiao Chi was always silent and cold, never speaking an extra word to Ye Qianqiu.
‘The last time I saw Xiao Chi smile was seven years ago, right?’
‘Hah, and this time the smile is for Hui Jin, not Ye Qianqiu.’
‘Ah… right. Ye Qianqiu still hasn’t attended Xiao Chi’s parent-teacher conference. She’ll be disappointed again, won’t she?’
‘Or rather, did she ever really expect it?’
Hui Jin felt as if many tiny thorns had suddenly sprouted in her heart, pricking her with a dull ache.
—But, there was nothing to be done about it.
The girl personally plucked out the thorns named guilt one by one, turning a blind eye to her already riddled heart.
The emotions swirling in her deep red eyes gradually faded.
After all, the decision had been made back then.
There was no room for regret now.
—Hui Jin did not permit herself to possess such a weak emotion as guilt.
“Senior Hui Jin?”
Not getting a response for a while, Feizuan thought she had done something wrong and asked anxiously.
Hui Jin snapped back to reality and forced the corners of her mouth upward.
“…Please take care of me too, Feizuan. My code name is Hui Jin. My real identity… is inconvenient to reveal.”
“Mhm!!!”
Faced with this utterly insincere self-introduction, Feizuan nodded her head vigorously, with such force that her whole body wobbled along.
‘Yay! I’ve made friends with my first magical girl senior! So happy!’
The girl’s feelings were pure.
When she felt happy, she naturally wanted to share it with those around her.
She tilted her head toward Xia Che, revealing a sunny, silly smile.
“Hehe! Another step closer to my dream!”
Xia Che looked at Ye Xiao Chi’s smiling face, momentarily stunned.
Then he smiled and encouraged her.
“Yeah, keep it up!”
‘The atmosphere is pretty good…’
Hui Jin observed the two of them suspiciously.
‘Could it be that what Xia Che said was true?’
A certain father who was completely clueless about his daughter naturally also had no idea about his daughter’s interpersonal relationships. In her eyes, such interaction was enough to be called “ambiguous.”
Hui Jin felt somewhat hesitant.
Actually, the simplest and most direct method would be to ask Ye Xiao Chi.
But if she asked as Ye Qianqiu, Xiao Chi would definitely get impatient.
Whereas Hui Jin was a reliable senior to Xiao Chi.
If that was the case, then maybe…
Hui Jin decided to find an opportunity later to probe indirectly.
She glanced at the time on her phone. It was already five-thirty in the afternoon.
The parent-teacher conference was probably about to end.
“I’ll investigate the livestream matter further. If I find anything, I’ll message you.”
Hui Jin waved her phone and said.
“I have things to do, I’m leaving first. Oh, and… don’t call me.”
She had only taken a few steps when she turned back to add.
“Understood.”
Xia Che nodded to Hui Jin, then looked at Ye Xiao Chi.
“Should we go too? The parent-teacher conference is almost over. We skipped a whole class.”
“Ugh… I’m definitely gonna get scolded by the teacher! Let’s hurry!”
The two of them hurried towards the school.
Hui Jin’s destination was also the school, resulting in the three of them walking on the street near the school, one after the other.
After walking for a few more minutes, Xia Che finally couldn’t hold back and asked.
“Um… Miss Hui Jin, could it be that our destinations… are the same?”
Hui Jin didn’t look back and quickened her pace.
“H-how could that be? We’re just going the same way for this stretch, that’s all! Okay, I really have to go now!”
She randomly ducked into a side street and quickly fled.
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