The next day, Su Xiaocheng lifted her head out from between the soft mounds, gulping down fresh air.
Her movements woke Lu Yinxi, who discontentedly pressed Su Xiaocheng’s face back into its original position and launched a face-washing assault.
“Mmm… Bad woman, let me go!”
Su Xiaocheng’s protest was completely ineffective.
“Xiaocheng, you want to get stronger faster too, right? Let me help♀you~” Lu Yinxi’s hands began to misbehave. Replenishing magic power for magical girls didn’t only happen after magic was depleted.
Paying the contract’s price was itself one of the main ways magical girls could increase their strength and raise their magic power limit.
Outside the bedroom, Xiaotuan lazily lay on the carpet, stretching out a paw to grab a piece of spicy dried fish.
Feeling the small amount of magic power flowing from Su Xiaocheng so early in the morning, it sighed contentedly.
“These past two days I’ve eaten so well, meow~”
An hour later, Su Xiaocheng leaned half against Lu Yinxi as the two of them, now fully dressed, walked out of the bedroom.
On days without witch disasters, a magical girl’s life was quite leisurely.
There was no work pressure, no office politics, and no voluntary overtime.
“This one looks good too. Wrap it up,” Lu Yinxi said with great satisfaction as she watched Su Xiaocheng walk out of the fitting room, speaking to the sales assistant.
Su Xiaocheng fiddled with the hem of her skirt. “Isn’t this enough, Xiaolu? You’ve already bought so much.”
In the distance, two professional female bodyguards in suits were already carrying more than a dozen shopping bags.
For magical girls, ordinary bodyguards obviously couldn’t provide any real protection, but there was no need to carry the bags themselves while shopping, right?
Lu Yinxi checked the time and said reluctantly, “Alright then, let’s check out.”
The sales assistant beamed as she brought over the bill.
“I’ll pay for it myself,” Su Xiaocheng said.
She had been freeloading on food, drinks, and lodging every day and felt like she was being kept.
Since yesterday’s mission bonus had arrived, she now had plenty of confidence.
A few pieces of clothing shouldn’t be a problem.
“Are you sure, Xiaocheng?”
Lu Yinxi looked at Su Xiaocheng’s clear eyes and handed her the bill.
Su Xiaocheng took the bill with one hand and pulled out her terminal with the other, ready to pay. But when she clearly saw the number on the bill, her hand holding the terminal froze in mid-air.
“Wait… one, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand… five hundred thousand?!” What kind of situation was this—fighting hard all night only to find out she couldn’t even afford a few clothes the next day?
“That’s enough dried fish to feed Xiaotuan for how long, meow!”
Su Xiaocheng suddenly felt a toothache. But she had already said it.
She couldn’t go back on her word and cling to Xiaolu’s thigh now, could she?
“Pfft.”
Lu Yinxi couldn’t hold back her laughter. She took out a card.
“Here, use this card. Xiaocheng, how can you be so cute?”
Before Su Xiaocheng could refuse, Lu Yinxi added, “I had this card made specifically for you.”
Su Xiaocheng asked curiously, “What kind of card is it?”
“A black gold credit card issued by the Lu Corporation. No spending limit. Only three were ever issued. The other two are with me and the current chairman of the Lu Corporation—my mother,” the lark explained for Su Xiaocheng.
Su Xiaocheng felt for the first time how heavy even a small credit card could feel.
“Isn’t it too valuable to give something like this to me?”
“What did the lark just say? Lu Corporation? That super conglomerate that single-handedly drives Anning City’s entire GDP? Their main businesses are real estate and cutting-edge magical girl equipment R&D, right?”
Su Xiaocheng felt like the world had become unreal. What was this? The rich young lady of a trillion-yuan group picked her up after falling in love at first sight? Was this some kind of light novel world?
Lu Yinxi noticed Su Xiaocheng’s unease.
She pulled the girl into her arms and whispered softly in her ear, “Xiaocheng, do you believe in love at first sight?”
Su Xiaocheng’s face instantly flushed bright red. Her mind spun wildly.
Is this a confession?
Who am I?
Where am I?
“Um, Xiaolu, I…”
Su Xiaocheng’s heart was in chaos.
A rich, beautiful young lady she had only known for three days had suddenly confessed to her.
How was she supposed to answer?
She needed advice, and she needed it urgently!
Lu Yinxi knew she might have been a bit hasty, but who was the one who pounced and kissed her the first time they met?
“Seriously, you tease me but won’t take responsibility,” Lu Yinxi thought with some dissatisfaction. “Sooner or later I’ll show you what I’m capable of.”
She unconsciously flexed her fingers.
Discreetly slipping the black gold card into Su Xiaocheng’s pocket, Lu Yinxi said gently, “You must be tired, Xiaocheng. You don’t have to answer me right away. I’ll have someone take you home.”
**”
Su Xiaocheng lay on her small bed, irritably tossing aside her terminal.
A soft, sweet voice came from the voice playback: “Lu Yinxi, well-known teenage idol singer, sole heir of the Lu Corporation. The Lu Corporation is one of the top ten global enterprises…”
No matter which angle you looked at it from, Lu Yinxi was an almost perfect existence.
In comparison, she was just an ordinary person.
Their encounter had been pure coincidence.
Strictly speaking, she had even been the one receiving help.
After hesitating for a long time, Su Xiaocheng dialed a number.
With her limited social circle, the only person she could confide in right now was her younger sister, who had relied on her for so long.
But before that, Su Xiaocheng transformed into her magical girl form and cast a voice-changing spell on herself.
Maintaining magic power usage in normal form required A-rank, and in Anning City, only Lu Yinxi had reached that level.
The call was picked up almost instantly. Su Xiaowei’s sweet voice came through.
“Why do you have time to call me?”
“Xiaowei, I think I’m about to fall in love.”
Crash! The sound of something shattering came from the other end.
“Xiaowei, what happened?”
“Ahaha, it’s nothing, nothing at all.”
Su Xiaowei stared expressionlessly at the broken glass on the floor, feeling like her good mood for the day had been completely ruined.
Yet her voice remained sweet and cute without any change.
“Who is the other person? Do I know her?”
Before becoming a magical girl, Su Xiaocheng had been a very innocent boy with a natural, boy-next-door charm.
Quite a few girls had liked him, but he had remained single all these years.
Besides the poor family situation after their parents’ passing, Su Xiaowei had played a major role in that.
What Su Xiaocheng didn’t know was that since junior high, Su Xiaowei had been telling people that Su Xiaocheng already had a childhood fiancée.
They had grown up together and were childhood sweethearts.
Unfortunately, she had been in an accident and became disabled, unable to walk again.
Yet Su Xiaocheng had never abandoned her and had taken care of her devotedly.
She had made the story as touching as possible, so no one had ever confessed to Su Xiaocheng.
Everyone around him knew about it, but no one mentioned it in front of him for fear of making him sad.
“You don’t know her. She’s a really cute and kind person, very capable, and comes from a great family. She said she likes me, but I feel like I don’t deserve her. Sis, what do you think I should do?”
Su Xiaocheng rambled.
After saying all that, it looks like you’ve completely fallen for her.
This won’t do~ Su Xiaowei thought, but she said something else instead.
“It’s fine. I’ve always thought you were amazing. It’s totally normal for a girl to like you.”
“How could that be? After all these years, this is the first time a girl has ever confessed to me.”
Su Xiaocheng was touched. As expected, your own little sister was the best—she always took your side.
“That’s because they have bad taste,” Su Xiaowei declared righteously.
Internally, however, she was cursing furiously.
What the hell?
How could this person be so shameless?
I’ve only been gone for a few days and she’s already making a move while I’m not around, hooking him completely.
No way. I have to go back immediately and expose that bad woman’s true face!
Over the phone, Su Xiaowei gave Su Xiaocheng the highest form of encouragement.
“Believe in yourself. You’re the best. You should boldly pursue love. Xiaowei will always support you!”