Chapter 152

Under the bright, clear light, the porcelain-white plates reflected a faint sheen of oil. On the wooden dining table, scattered cutlery lay either neatly arranged or in disarray. Senior Cuique leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, tapping her right fingers slowly against her elbow.

Across the table, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang sat upright and proper.

Between them on the table sat several plates of still-warm home-cooked dishes that looked tasty. Yet most of these dishes remained largely untouched. Everyone at the table wore tense expressions; even Senior Nini sat rigidly upright, while Moko at the corner of the table ate heartily without a care.

After dinner, Senior Cuique made the two girls recount the whole story in front of everyone. Upon learning that all the textbook funds she had given them had been misappropriated, she pressed her lips together and remained silent for a long time.

This made the already guilt-ridden Lin Xiaolu even more nervous. Though her posture was upright, her gaze stayed fixed on her knees as if some treasure lay on the floor there. Xia Liang, though not as terrified as Lin Xiaolu, clearly knew she had truly done wrong; a flattering smile hung on her face, and her eyes full of pleading stared at Senior Cuique.

Senior Cuique's gaze swept back and forth between the two girls. After a while, she closed her eyes and sighed helplessly: "So, you both spent the textbook funds I gave you, but did not buy any books."

The two girls sat motionless and silent, clearly admitting it.

"What more can I say? You are big children now; the basic principle of spending money reasonably does not need me to teach you."

She narrowed her eyes, her tone gradually softening: "I am your senior, not your parents. I have no obligation to lecture you on right and wrong in such matters. Although I am somewhat dissatisfied and a little disappointed, it is not enough for me to criticize or blame you severely."

"I am just slightly helpless. After all, in matters of study, I am also half your teacher, yet the things I entrusted to you have been forgotten rather thoroughly."

"Perhaps the burden I gave you was too heavy? After all, you did not need to patrol alone before. Now you must attend school during the day, conduct safety patrols after school, and upon returning home, you are still urged by me to study. Compared to your peers, it is a bit too hard. Should I give you more personal time?"

"If you have any dissatisfaction with these matters, you may speak up at any time, and I will reduce some of your work... Hmm? What's wrong with you, Bai Mei?"

Before Senior Cuique could finish speaking, she noticed the daughter before her had an unusual expression.

Lin Xiaolu's shoulders trembled slightly at first, then her eyes and the tip of her nose turned red. After two sobs, tears began to stream down her face.

"I... waa-waa, I didn't..."

She seemed to want to explain, but her words were choked off in her throat, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.

This reaction also attracted the attention of several girls nearby. Xia Liang wore a helpless smile that said "I knew it," while Bai Jingxuan's expression was full of confusion and puzzlement.

"What's going on?"

This made Senior Cuique, who had looked serious just two seconds ago, suddenly panic. She quickly jumped down from her chair, ran to Lin Xiaolu's side, turned sideways, and looked at Lin Xiaolu, saying: "Why are you crying? Why cry? Did I speak too harshly?"

"No... I, I didn't forget what Senior Cuique said, and I didn't want to complain to you. How could I not value or dislike what you said? I clearly never thought that, not even a little..."

Lin Xiaolu covered her mouth and nose, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably, speaking in fits and starts: "I really just accidentally clicked the wrong thing. I'm sorry..."

"Really just an accident? Then fine, I misunderstood you."

Senior Cuique tried to soften her voice: "I understand. I won't blame you anymore. Anyway, don't cry first, okay?"

"I, I didn't mean to cry..."

Lin Xiaolu tried hard to suppress her sobs: "I just, I just couldn't help it."

"It's okay. If you can't help it, just cry for a little while. It's fine."

Senior Cuique held her hands out slightly and waved them gently: "No need to hold back. Cry first; I don't mind."

"Crying looks so ugly..."

"No, it doesn't. A magical girl crying is also very cute."

"I don't want to do bad things. Don't dislike me." Lin Xiaolu sniffed twice.

"I don't dislike you. You don't need to worry about that." Senior Cuique tried hard to make her answer sound serious enough.

Under her half-coaxing, half-persuading efforts, Lin Xiaolu finally stopped crying. Yet even after finishing, she still tugged at Senior Cuique's sleeve, acting as if she feared the other would run away.

Only after such a chaotic episode did the dining room finally regain its calm. After comforting Lin Xiaolu, Senior Cuique remembered she hadn't finished speaking. But with the atmosphere having reached this point, it was hard to put on a stern face even if she wanted to.

She could only look around somewhat wearily, finally fixing her gaze on Xia Liang: "Bai Mei has already explained. Do you have anything to say?"

"I'm sorry, Little Senior. I won't dare do it again." Xia Liang immediately clasped her hands together and lowered her head: "Spare my life, I beg you."

"... Sigh, then let it be."

Senior Cuique sighed, looked at Bai Jingxuan beside her, and pointed at Xia Liang: "See? You must never learn from them in the future."

Bai Jingxuan nodded obediently, looking as if she had been educated.

Seeing that the youngest child had not suffered any bad influence from this matter, Senior Cuique felt a slight relief in her heart. She turned her face back to the girls who had made mistakes: "In any case, let this be the last time. Tomorrow I will transfer another sum for buying books to you. I hope you will keep your word this time."

"I will delete the game immediately."

Lin Xiaolu frowned and wiped her eyes: "I will never top up money in games again."

"I won't spend money recklessly either. I promise."

Xia Liang, sitting nearby, raised her hand and then her head: "However, regarding Xiaolu's game, maybe there's no rush to delete it? Mobile games usually have refund channels. There's also the reason of impulsive spending by minors. I think trying might get the money back, you know?"

Lin Xiaolu nodded: "Then, then let's get the money refunded first..."

"Stop, you two hold on."

Senior Cuique lightly tapped the table twice and waved her other hand: "I am not so unfeeling as to that extent, nor do I mind you touching games at all. Just as when Xiao Jin got her hair done, I couldn't straighten your curled ends; Bai Mei is the same. Since you spent money in the game, it means there are game items you want? The money is already spent, so just keep playing."

"But playing games is bad in the first place," Lin Xiaolu mumbled.

"So play games appropriately and manage your time well."

Senior Cuique raised one finger: "And, I have another requirement: show me the game you play. I need to know exactly what game made you want to spend money, and ensure the game's content is suitable for your age."

Actually, this was her original purpose. Rather than criticizing her daughter for spending money in games, she wanted to know why her daughter spent money in games.

Young Lin Yun also played games, but most of the time he went to arcades with squad members or played cooperative party games together. He himself had almost never played long-term online games.

Lin Yun also knew that in the current Material World, games are an unavoidable part of adolescent growth. Although many parents view them as a flood or a fierce beast, his attitude was relatively open-minded. In his view, blocking children from playing games is worse than guiding them. Rather than guarding strictly and tightly, which might eventually cause the child to feel unbalanced at school or secretly play behind their backs, it is better to seriously understand what the child likes and then manage it openly.

However, Lin Xiaolu had previously shown little interest in games, usually being addicted to animated programs on television. Now that she had rarely discovered her daughter playing games, and even topping up money in them, Senior Cuique was quite curious about the reason.

"Then I might as well delete the game..." Lin Xiaolu muttered softly.

"Hmm?" Senior Cuique hummed a reminder.

"... I know. I'll show you." Lin Xiaolu had to obediently take out her phone.

Taking her daughter's phone, Senior Cuique immediately saw the icon for "Magical Girl Squadron" on the last row, and her doubts were reduced by a third.

She knew her daughter had long harbored an aspiration and obsession with "magical girls" since childhood. She had also discussed these matters with Lin Xiaolu while walking home through the night together. If it were a game about magical girls, it could indeed attract her daughter. Read books la

Opening the game interface, she carefully examined the game's art style again, discovering it was a fresh, picture-book style. The magical girls in the game also seemed to wear quite proper outfits, with nothing too indecent or scandalous, so her subconscious approval rose a bit more.

And when she opened the character encyclopedia, her eyes scanning the preview images of the magical girls in the game at a glance, her actions slowed down more and more. Finally, her gaze stopped on several of the characters.

"This game..."

She raised her eyebrows slightly: "Used real-life magical girls as prototypes?"

"Our hypothesis is that."

Lin Xiaolu was unwilling to speak, so Xia Liang explained on the side: "After all, we even saw a magical girl who looked somewhat like Senior Sakura."

"Which one?" Senior Cuique asked.

"Named Asagusa." Xia Liang answered bluntly.

Not noticing Lin Xiaolu's expression, who wished she could disappear into the ground, Senior Cuique swiped twice in the character encyclopedia and found the character with the codename "Asagusa".

And when she tapped the avatar and heard the other party's lines and greeting, her expression became slightly dazed.

"The one you want... is this character?"

She couldn't help but ask Lin Xiaolu: "Because you saw her? So you put money into the game?"

"... Mm." Lin Xiaolu nodded.

Senior Cuique's expression immediately became complex.

It was an expression mixed with various emotions that anyone could not distinguish. Even a child like Xia Liang, who was good at reading people's expressions, could not fully understand it.

"I understand."

After a long while, Senior Cuique handed the phone back to Lin Xiaolu: "I agree. Just consider this money as my allowance for you."

"Give me... allowance?"

Lin Xiaolu looked up in some surprise: "Is this really okay?"

"Just consider it a gift from an adult." Senior Cuique patted the back of the phone with her hand, "A gift for you all patrolling for so many days."

— "So what is it? I haven't seen Senior Sakura herself, so only you, Junior Senior, know clearly. Is it really similar?"

The conversation between the two made Xia Liang very curious; at some point she had moved closer to Senior Cuique: "Or did they just borrow the name?"

Bai Jingxuan on the other side of the dining table also perked up her ears; probably because she heard the codename "Sakura", her attention was especially concentrated.

"... Not similar."

Under the expectant gazes of the two girls, Senior Cuique gradually closed her eyes: "But, there are indeed many places that make people associate."

"Not similar, but why would it make people associate?" Bai Jingxuan asked immediately after.

"It is not only similarity that makes people associate."

Senior Cuique's expression was complex: "If you are truly familiar enough, just a segment of dialogue, an idea, a preference, could all make you think of a certain specific person."

"I still don't understand..." Bai Jingxuan shook her head, but did not ask anything more.

Both she and Xia Liang could see that, after involving this character in the game named "Asagusa", which actually mapped to "Sakura", neither Senior Cuique nor Lin Xiaolu were in high spirits.

"Let's not talk about this for now! I suddenly thought of something. Since there are so many characters in this game whose prototypes are real-life magical girls..."

Xia Liang raised her voice, trying to change the topic as if to liven up the atmosphere: "Then, could there be a character whose prototype is you, Junior Senior?"

Her words immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.

Whether it was Bai Jingxuan who had been curious before, or Lin Xiaolu whose emotions were somewhat low, they all looked up at her at the same time, and then looked at the phone carrying the game.

"How did I not think of that!"

Lin Xiaolu immediately became somewhat excited: "There might really be a Senior Cuique in here!"

"... If the prototype is me, it would be meaningless, right?"

Senior Cuique refuted from the side: "After all, I myself am here. Why must we go find another me in the game?"

"That's different!"

While speaking, Lin Xiaolu tapped open the encyclopedia: "I really want to see what Senior Cuique in the game looks like!"

"I want to too!" Bai Jingxuan quickly jumped down from her chair, ran over to Lin Xiaolu's side, and with Xia Liang who had already walked over, the three immediately crowded together.

Senior Cuique could only watch the behavior of the three girls from the side, and for a moment didn't even know what to say.

The three little ones scanned the encyclopedia line by line like this, but the initial excitement and interest slowly faded with time. After they completely scanned a circle of the encyclopedia, they all strangely fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Now it was Senior Cuique who felt curious.

"Nothing..." Lin Xiaolu spoke somewhat unhappily: "Didn't see a magical girl like Senior Cuique."

"There is one magical girl whose style and color are somewhat like you, Junior Senior." Xia Liang spoke while thinking: "But that magical girl is not short, and her codename is 'Silver Grass', so it should refer to another magical girl, right? Could it be Senior Lanxing from Tianshi City?"

"Why is there no Mom?" Bai Jingxuan obviously wasn't in high spirits either, so much so that she didn't notice how the address she blurted out drew surprised glances from those around: "After all, Mom is a big shot in the Magic Kingdom, right?"

"No... that, you..."

Lin Xiaolu was clearly the one most concerned about this address. She first opened her mouth to ask something, but suddenly remembered the mix-up a few days ago, so she swallowed the latter half of the sentence back into her stomach:

"Forget it, just pretend I didn't say it."

Several girls continued to huddle by the phone screen searching for a while, found indeed there was no magical girl whose prototype was suspected to be Senior Cuique, and finally gave up that thought, scattering apart.

Lin Xiaolu was originally like this too, but realizing Senior Cuique had already agreed to let her recharge, she suddenly remembered she still had 12 pulls away from the pity guarantee to redeem, so she pressed her lips together again, returned to the game's main menu interface, and wanted to continue pulling cards.

However, when she returned to the main interface, the game suddenly popped out a notification.

It was a preview for future in-game events.

【Dear and cute fairies, hello. "Magical Girl Squad" will start a new round of plot events on November 28. The event is named "Arrival! Claws". Read the event plot, challenge event dungeons and bosses, and thereby obtain rich rewards!】

【Plot summary: After defeating the super-giant residual beast that attacked the city, the Magical Girl Squad obtained a peculiar crystal. However, at this time they did not know that this crystal had already attracted the attention of a certain special organization. A battle for the crystal is about to unfold. And for this, new enemies have appeared before them...】

【Event participation scope: Completed all plot stages of Chapter 22 main story.】

【Event maintenance time: November 28, 9:00~13:00】

【Event bonus characters: 【Weight of Longing】 banner characters: 【Super Rare】 Morning Glory】

"... What the heck?"

Looking at this announcement, Lin Xiaolu suddenly felt something was wrong somewhere for a moment, but couldn't say exactly where.

After a brief thought, seeing that everyone else had already started clearing the dining table, she no longer dwelled on this matter, but cast it aside along with her unfinished card-pulling business.

So, she turned off her phone screen.

(End of this chapter)