It was a routine meeting held about half a month after the team had been formed.
“Let’s start by filming some videos.”
Bai Qiu held a camera and said this to the little girls in front of him.
“Sounds good, meow~”
Shang Mengyou had completely succumbed to the meowing habit.
She flopped down and looked at Bai Qiu as if to say, “Hurry up and film me, meow~”
Bai Qiu crouched down and flicked her on the forehead.
“Not that kind of video. I mean longer, higher-quality videos. Do you think everyone likes watching you sleep?”
The videos on their official account were all short clips lasting a few dozen seconds, showing snippets of their daily lives, breaks from training, downtime at work, or exciting monster battles.
Occasionally, they posted videos that were around two or three minutes long.
As for Shang Mengyou, almost every video on her account showed her sleeping.
Even so, her account had nearly 200,000 followers.
Magical Girl accounts were just too easy to grow.
“I was thinking I’d film one for each of you and post it on your own account. As for the group account… let’s wait a little longer. I’ll make one once I come up with a name.”
If possible, he really wanted to avoid making a group account and keep putting it off forever.
But the little girls trained so diligently.
They worked hard on talents like singing and dancing, as well as combat training.
Even giving them a day off was useless.
They still got up early every morning and trained diligently.
Even Bai Qiu couldn’t keep ignoring them, especially since he’d made a promise to them before.
Whenever he saw them working so hard, his conscience reprimanded him for slacking off.
That was assuming he still had a conscience.
“You’re willing to film videos for us… That means!” Alice’s eyes lit up.
“Teacher approves of us!” Jiu couldn’t hide her excitement.
“Yay!”
Bai Qiu smiled faintly as he watched them happily high-five, then secretly took a picture with his phone.
Maybe he’d print one out for each of them later.
For some reason, he thought of his childhood.
When he was little, his parents had always loved taking pictures of him, saying they wanted to record his growth.
He remembered that there were still a few pictures on his phone.
He hadn’t liked seeing pictures of himself as a kid and kept saying he’d delete them, but he never did.
What annoyed him was that his parents took pictures of him at every possible moment.
They recorded him getting taller, losing a baby tooth, getting sick, his little sister being born, his little sister becoming a Magical Girl, and his little sister defeating a monster for the first time.
They even recorded the time she got so mad at him that she beat him until he was flat on the ground.
It seemed he’d remembered something strange.
Ahem, back to the point.
Wasn’t a newly formed team like a child whose growth was worth recording, too?
That’s right.
He’d secretly record their growth and show it to them once they reached the top.
Just imagining their reactions made him excited.
Bai Qiu applauded his own plan in his heart.
That’s right, he’d keep it a secret and surprise them.
They’d be so moved that they’d want to take care of him for the rest of his life.
Once he’d brought them to the top, he could resign, having completed his mission.
His little sister shouldn’t have anything to say then.
“Senior, what kind of videos are we going to make?”
“Huh? Oh…” Alice’s question brought Bai Qiu back from his thoughts.
“I haven’t decided yet. I… My brother likes making longer videos. They’re more satisfying for the audience to watch. But what we can film right now… Singing and dancing wouldn’t make for a long video, but Li Ai could probably teach cooking for ten minutes or more. Li Ai, you can go first. What do you think?”
“I’d be honored.” Li Ai stood up without hesitation.
Alice immediately raised her hand.
“Senior, can we be the audience?”
“Sure.” Bai Qiu made an OK sign.
“We need to get the audience involved, so the taste testers’ reactions are essential, too. Just do your part as taste testers.”
“Mm…”
Li Ai smiled and tilted her head, tapping her cheek with her index finger.
“Oh, right, Senior. Could you help out in the kitchen?”
“Hm? Can’t you do it by yourself?”
“Because we’re a team. Everyone else will be on camera, so it wouldn’t be fair if you were the only one behind the scenes.” Li Ai pouted slightly.
“It’s fine.”
Bai Qiu breathed a sigh of relief.
He’d thought she had some unavoidable reason, but it was only that.
“I like working behind the scenes. Besides, that’s important, too. I’ll help my brother edit the videos, so I don’t need to be on camera.”
“That’s not the same.”
Li Ai shook her head, took Bai Qiu’s hand, and looked at the others.
Drawn along by her gaze, Bai Qiu looked at them, too.
“Unlike Teacher, Senior is a Magical Girl, too. So he should be with us. Don’t you agree?”
“…”
No one answered.
It was a calculated move.
They all knew what Li Ai was up to, but they couldn’t refute her.
“Mm… She’s got a point.” Jiu nodded reluctantly.
“I think I can help out, too,” Xilalite said at once.
“But Xilalite can’t cook at all, can she?”
“Uh… well… I can’t cook either.” Overwhelmed by Li Ai’s forceful presence, Bai Qiu carefully pulled his hand free.
“That’s different.” Li Ai spoke without a hint of hesitation, like a strict parent.
“Xilalite likes playing with ingredients and can’t even peel things properly, so she can’t help.”
Li Ai pretended to be angry.
“Honestly, how can you play with food?”
Xilalite huffed in displeasure but didn’t argue.
Bai Qiu thought, ‘Considering Xilalite’s personality… that’s true. But all I can do is peel things. Even chopping vegetables is a life-or-death situation for me…’
He remembered the miserable time he’d nearly lost a finger while chopping vegetables.
Alice clapped her hands together, beaming.
“Since Xilalite can’t help, then let me, Mengyou, and Jiu help.”
Li Ai’s smile froze.
“Alice…!” Xilalite glared at her.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” Alice tilted her head, looking innocent.
Xilalite glanced at Bai Qiu, who was idling nearby, then reluctantly said, “…It’s nothing.”
“That won’t do.” Li Ai wore a troubled smile.
“I’ve already asked you to be taste testers. How could I make you help in the kitchen, too?”
“It’s no trouble.” Alice returned a considerate smile.
“Being a taste tester doesn’t take much effort. And if we all help, we’ll finish faster, right? The longer the video is, the harder it’ll be for Teacher to edit, won’t it?”
“That’s true,” Bai Qiu chimed in.
If possible, he wanted to lighten his workload, too.
“W-well, all right.” Since Bai Qiu agreed, Li Ai didn’t insist.
If she pushed any further, her intentions might become too obvious, and Bai Qiu might catch on.
“We’re out of vegetables,” Xilalite said just then.
“Then let’s all go buy some,” Li Ai said, preparing to lead everyone out.
“Maybe we should just get them delivered,” Bai Qiu suggested.
If possible, he really didn’t want to go outside.
Part of it was that he didn’t like going out, but more importantly, he couldn’t disguise himself like they could.
They could turn back into their civilian forms, but he couldn’t.
What’s more, he was one of the more famous Magical Girls.
Fans coming up to ask for pictures was one thing, but what if someone followed him home?
Plenty of people disliked him.
Who could guarantee they wouldn’t do something outrageous?
It was something he had to be careful about.
The others might not have realized it, since they were still innocent little kids, but he was the only adult in the house who’d been beaten down by society.
He was also the only man, and quite a big shot online.
“Oh…” Li Ai looked as if she’d figured something out.
“Senior, do you not like going outside?”
“Yeah…” Bai Qiu scratched the back of his head, trying to think of how to convince Li Ai.
“If that’s the case, let’s have Teacher go buy groceries with us.”
Unexpectedly, Li Ai had come up with the perfect solution.
Bai Qiu seized the opportunity and nodded rapidly.
“Great, great. I’ll go get my brother right now.”
Without giving Li Ai a chance to change her mind, he rushed upstairs.
Before long, Bai Qiuchen came downstairs in casual clothes.
“I understand the situation. Let’s record a short clip to use as the video’s opening.”
As Bai Qiuchen spoke, Li Ai’s phone chimed with a notification.
After looking over the lines and directions, Li Ai hesitantly looked at Teacher.
“Do I really have to say it like this?”
“That’s right.” Bai Qiuchen gave a thumbs-up and raised the camera.
“…All right.”
Zhen Hong took a deep breath and transformed into Magical Girl Zhen Hong.
After Bai Qiuchen came over and signaled that she was ready, she looked straight ahead, walked forward, and said:
“Just how much can 200 yuan buy in Dust Fate City? Today, Magical Girl Zhen Hong will show you how to make ten dishes and two soups for 200 yuan.”
“That doesn’t really suit Zhen Hong,” the others said after watching.
“That’s fine. We don’t have to use that one. I came up with a few other openings, too. We can try them all later.”
“Forget that. Let’s go already,” Xilalite urged them.
She’d already changed into her shoes at the door.
They looked at one another and smiled in unison.
Zhen Hong transformed back.
After changing his shoes and leaving the house, Bai Qiuchen walked at the back of the group.
Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed what looked like someone standing by the wall.
But the figure disappeared in the blink of an eye.
‘…Was it just my imagination?’
He didn’t think much of it and followed the group out of the house, heading for the supermarket.
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