Chapter 5: Friends, Lilies or Rivals?

This kid, how dare he test me?

Hui Jin felt her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

For some reason, being stared at by Xia Che made her feel even more nervous than being stared at by her boss.

Although she had never been very good at social interactions, having muddled through the workplace for so many years, she quickly calmed down.

She looked directly into Xia Che’s eyes and said:

“I don’t know her. Why do you ask? What’s your relationship with Feizuan?”

Hui Jin tried to seize back the initiative, unaware that she had already stepped into Xia Che’s trap.

Xia Che smiled, as if thinking of something pleasant:

“To put it bluntly… her boyfriend?”

Of course not.

This was just a risky move he was making to test Hui Jin’s identity.

He hadn’t detected anything from Hui Jin’s expression earlier, but someone who knew Ye Xiao Chi would most likely also know him.

So, he simply stated an absurd relationship to observe Hui Jin’s reaction:

Come on, Miss Hui Jin.

If you’re Xiao Chi’s friend, you should refute me.

If you’re just an acquaintance, you probably won’t have much of a reaction… Huh? Wait?

Why are you looking so shocked?

Hui Jin’s red eyes were wide open, her pink lips forming a perfect “O.”

Now Xia Che was confused: what kind of person would show such an expression upon hearing this news?

His brain began rapidly searching through the people he knew who fit the criteria.

A Magical Girl first had to be a girl, right?

Then, a classmate?

A friend?

Or maybe a coworker from a part-time job?

The more he thought about it… the more it seemed the possibility of a love rival was greater?

Yikes, could Hui Jin be… into girls?

Just as Xia Che’s brain was about to overheat, Hui Jin was completely dumbfounded:

Huh!?

Ye Xiao Chi and… Xia Che are dating?

Since when?

How did she not know at all?

Although her relationship with her daughter wasn’t great, something like dating should at least be mentioned to her father, right?

Hui Jin rubbed her temples, sizing up the young man she had watched grow up since childhood:

Even though she had seen him less as he got older, she could still see traces of his younger self… He’s grown so much.

Time really flies.

To be fair, Xia Che was a fine young man.

Not only was he handsome with good character, but his academic performance was excellent, and he had a strong sense of responsibility.

He and Xiao Chi grew up together.

It wasn’t impossible for Xiao Chi to develop feelings for such an outstanding boy.

But why did she feel so complicated about it?

The more she looked, the more Xia Che’s hair seemed to turn yellowish.

Would he someday park a flashy scooter under her building?

No, matters of dating really needed careful consideration.

Ye Xiao Chi wasn’t an adult yet and didn’t understand many things.

Let your old man help you test the depths of this boyfriend!

Ye Qianqiu’s identity wasn’t convenient, but this “Hui Jin” persona was perfect.

“Ahem…”

Having settled on her plan, Hui Jin calmed down.

She coughed twice and resumed her usual poker face:

“So? Why are you telling me this?”

Hui Jin’s question pulled Xia Che back to reality.

He was momentarily dazed, unsure how to answer.

It was a spur-of-the-moment idea, a plan to test Hui Jin’s true identity and then end this absurd lie.

He hadn’t expected Hui Jin’s reaction to be so unexpected.

Now, Hui Jin had rebuilt her psychological defenses.

It was probably impossible to test anything further.

He really lifted a rock only to drop it on his own foot!

For now, he could only go along with what she said:

“Because I’m her boyfriend, so I want to protect her.”

The latter half was Xia Che’s genuine feeling.

He was now mostly convinced that Hui Jin was on Ye Xiao Chi’s side.

So, he recounted everything he saw and heard during the live stream to Hui Jin in detail:

“…That’s roughly the situation. Don’t you find it strange too, Miss Hui Jin? Uh… Miss Hui Jin?”

“Are you okay? Why do you look so pale?”

At that moment, Hui Jin felt her head buzzing, her vision even blurring slightly.

She could only see a figure bending over and waving at her.

What… what kind of joke is this?

“Ten thousand concurrent viewers? Two hundred thousand… popularity?!”

Hui Jin’s voice trembled uncontrollably.

Two hundred thousand people watched her entire fight? Didn’t that mean she was completely exposed to the public eye?

If the folks from the Magical Girl Bureau noticed, her exposure would just be a matter of time!

This was precisely why Hui Jin had always been extremely cautious in her activities as a Magical Girl:

Magical Girls were different from other heroes.

Some heroes might look ordinary or even rough, but Magical Girls were all super beauties, born with idol-like attributes.

In this era where traffic is king, they were objects of everyone’s pursuit.

Once targeted, no matter how careful you were, you’d eventually slip up.

She couldn’t even imagine what would happen if people discovered that the true identity of Magical Girl Hui Jin was actually a middle-aged man.

It would be social death, right? Ah, maybe I should just die now.

I really want to die.

Receiving two explosive pieces of news within half an hour was too much for the middle-aged man’s soul in a young girl’s body.

Hui Jin felt like she was about to have heart failure.

Ah, so tired… but I still have to work tonight…

Maybe I should quit? No, better to just get off work early…

But if I quit, where would I find another job?

The more Hui Jin thought about it, the more despair she felt, and the calmer she became.

The reason adults are adults isn’t because they are particularly capable, but because they have the resolve to bear and solve problems no matter how great the pressure, even if the solution isn’t particularly honorable.

“Ha…”

Hui Jin let out a weary sigh.

For some reason, in that instant, Xia Che felt the girl in front of him seemed to have aged several years.

“Are you okay?”

Xia Che was a bit nervous.

He thought the situation had developed to a point where even a Magical Girl like Hui Jin, who could handle D-class monsters, found it.

That would be far beyond his capabilities.

“Don’t rush. I’m thinking.”

Hui Jin rubbed her aching temples.

Calm down, Ye Qianqiu, calm down… It’s not completely over yet.

There’s still a chance.

Thanks to her usual caution, she almost never used magic in combat.

Even with the live stream, it wasn’t certain anyone could tell.

If they couldn’t tell, then in the eyes of the world, she was just an ordinary hero.

That would simplify things a lot.

Ordinary heroes don’t have high commercial value.

As long as I find a place to lay low for a while, it’ll blow over once the hype dies down…

The mature adult quickly arranged an escape route for herself.

Little did she know Xia Che’s next words would block that escape route:

“Miss Hui Jin? If you don’t know where to start, how about beginning with the Special Dispatch Bureau? You’re a Magical Girl, right? You should know a few people from the Special Dispatch Bureau…”

“Wai—wait a minute! Hold on!”

Hui Jin raised a hand to stop him.

For some reason, Xia Che felt the girl’s gaze now held a hint of pleading.

“How do you know I’m a Magical Girl?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she seemed to realize something and quickly covered her mouth, staring at him with an incredulous look.

Ah, so that’s the main point…

Xia Che helplessly took out his phone and showed her the AI analysis report on it:

“I wasn’t trying to trick you into saying it. It was analyzed by AI. Probably quite a few people in the live stream have seen it by now.”

Hui Jin leaned her small head over, her eyes scanning back and forth.

The further down she looked, the worse her expression became. Finally, she slumped onto the sink counter like a deflated ball, muttering weakly:

“Humans should just hurry up and be ruled by AI. Let’s just end it all, quickly…”

Such a dated meme…

Could Miss Hui Jin actually be an auntie?

While guessing, Xia Che asked with concern:

“Are you alright, Miss Hui Jin?”

Hui Jin shot him a glare, slowly pulling herself up from the sink counter with a defeated look:

“Do I look alright to you? And so what if the AI analyzed it? What does ‘Weakest Magical Girl’ mean? Who do they think they’re looking down on?”

“Yeah, Miss Hui Jin can even handle D-class monsters. You should at least be C-class, right?”

Xia Che decided to try and placate this Magical Girl a bit.

After all, from what he knew, Magical Girls were creatures very easily influenced by emotions.

If their emotions became abnormal, they could become more extreme than normal people.

After he said that, he saw Hui Jin’s body sway, perfectly described as “teetering,” looking like she might fall off the sink counter at any moment.

Then, the girl tightly hugged her knees with both hands, curling into a small ball.

“Huh?”

Xia Che’s outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

After a moment, a soft, somewhat muffled voice came from inside the gray-haired ball:

“The most frustrating part is… the AI isn’t wrong…”