Chapter 253: Thank-You Chocolate

Walking from the mount parking area at the entrance of the Colored Cloud Wetland, Senior Cuique strolled leisurely for over ten minutes before finally reaching the door of the small house where the Fang Ting squad was located.

Although she felt no physical fatigue, the hours-long tug-of-war with Mo He had left her mentally drained, so she took some time to stand in the shadows, slightly adjusting her expression to ensure no one could detect signs of weariness from her face before silently releasing the spell and stepping into the house.

Inside, the three juniors were all gathered by the sofa, huddled around Xia Liang's phone; Senior Cuique could hear the music and conversation coming from the device and could tell they seemed to be watching some video, so she made no sound upon entering. Consequently, the juniors remained completely unaware that someone had come in at the door.

Bai Jingxuan was the first to notice Senior Cuique; she had been staring at the screen until her eyes felt tired and spotted Senior Cuique when she shifted her gaze. Then, taking advantage of the fact that the other two were still focused on the phone, she shouted "Teacher" and pounced.

"Teacher, you're back so late!" Although her words sounded like complaints, Bai Jingxuan's hands had already wrapped around Senior Cuique's arm, her actions showing no sign of blame at all, making it look entirely like she was just acting spoiled.

"Mm, there were some unexpected situations that caused a delay."

Senior Cuique had no immediate plans to tell the juniors about what happened with Mo He, so she merely brushed over her itinerary lightly, then raised her hand and patted Bai Jingxuan's arm: "How was today? What are you all doing right now?"

"We're learning exactly how to make egg..."

Bai Jingxuan had no intention of hiding her actions and was about to blurt it out, but before she could finish half her sentence, she was interrupted by Lin Xiaolu, who came charging fiercely from behind.

— "Senior Cuique, you're back!" While saying this, Lin Xiaolu also secretly tugged at Bai Jingxuan's sleeve twice, signaling her to shut up.

"Welcome back, Junior Senior." Seizing the opportunity, Xia Liang stepped to Senior Cuique's other side and softly expressed her welcome.

Such greetings had long since become a daily sight for Senior Cuique; usually in Fang Ting City, whenever she returned late due to work or patrol, as long as the juniors were in the living room, they would all come to exchange pleasantries with her. However, unlike what Senior Cuique remembered, in the past, after exchanging greetings and chatting a few words, the group would go back to their own business. But today, especially Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, remained huddled together after the greetings, as if waiting for something, creating a rather strange atmosphere.

The two of them looked at each other, as if everyone had something to say, yet no one made the first move. Bai Jingxuan looked as if she wanted to say something, but was firmly held back by Lin Xiaolu, causing the situation to reach a stalemate.

Seeing this strange behavior, Senior Cuique naturally felt confused. However, she quickly recalled what specific day it was today, and what Lin Xiaolu had said in the message she sent to Lin Yun's phone during the day—the juniors seemed to have specially made chocolate intended for her.

She already knew the temperaments of these girls before her very well; after a moment's thought, she realized what they might have done. Thinking it better to take the initiative rather than continue waiting for Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang to waste time there, she raised her hand amidst the somewhat eerie atmosphere, making a slightly downward pressing gesture: "Ahem, wait here for me a moment, I'll go get something from the side."

Having said this, she turned and left under the somewhat surprised gazes of the juniors, then walked over to her luggage cabinet, opened the door, and rummaged out several quite exquisite packaging boxes.

She scanned the packaging boxes back and forth, confirming these were indeed the items she had prepared, then took the boxes back to the door and stuffed them one by one into the juniors' hands:

"Here, chocolate."

These boxes of chocolate were bought by her on a whim while taste-testing at a roadside shop yesterday; at the same time, she also bought Cloud-Prison Cakes for the memorial visit to the Martyrs' Cemetery. The Cloud-Prison Cakes were consumed right there at the memorial cemetery, but the chocolate she brought back to the inn.

At the time of buying the chocolate, she hadn't thought much about it, simply thinking the taste was good and she could bring some back for the kids to try. But after buying them, she remembered there was such a day as Valentine's Day, so after some thought, she decided to wait an extra day and present them as a holiday gift on Valentine's Day.

"Since I bought them directly from a roadside dessert shop, they aren't anything particularly thoughtful; just consider them snacks and taste them casually."

As she handed out the chocolate, she explained: "Anyway, I personally think the taste is quite good."

"Wow! Teacher gave me chocolate!" Bai Jingxuan, having received the chocolate, displayed a very simple joy.

"Thank you, Junior Senior." Xia Liang, looking like a well-behaved girl as rarely seen before, politely bowed to express thanks, then neatly put the chocolate away.

Only Lin Xiaolu, after taking the chocolate, fell silent first, then felt a bit happy, followed by confusion, and finally exclaimed in surprise: "Eh? Wait, why is Senior Cuique giving me chocolate first?"

"What do you mean 'why'... because today is Valentine's Day?"

Senior Cuique looked at Lin Xiaolu somewhat bewildered, after all, she knew Lin Xiaolu had also prepared chocolate "behind her back," so logically she should definitely know the meaning of Valentine's Day. However, she didn't point out Lin Xiaolu's plan, since that was a message sent to Lin Yun, and "Senior Cuique" currently had no reason to know those details: "Giving chocolate and such is, well, considered a very common courtesy."

"But, but theoretically, giving chocolate on Valentine's Day should be for someone you like?"

Lin Xiaolu's voice grew quieter and quieter: "Although liking in the broad sense should be fine, when actually giving it, it still feels a bit..."

"Ah, that."

Although she still didn't understand why the other party was asking such a question at this point, Senior Cuique still gave a serious answer: "Although this festival originally applied only to couples and young men and women wanting to confess to their crushes, as time passed and customs evolved, it gradually became a day where chocolate could be given to friends, family, and even acquaintances. After all, for a festival, it's more lively when more people participate."

"Furthermore, the Magical Realm is after all a place where sweets are prevalent, and chocolate itself is part of everyone's daily diet, so in the later stages of this festival's development, its main function became simply a promotional day for chocolate."

Saying this, she pointed to the packaging box in Lin Xiaolu's hand: "As for the Material Realm, although it hasn't evolved to the casual extent of the Magical Realm, among Magical Girl squads, giving chocolate is also a very common courtesy. This courtesy is used to express gratitude for a teammate's care and to form a mutual encouragement pact."

"After all, most Magical Girls, to ensure they complete their duties during their term, often find it very difficult to fall in love during that term; the experience of giving chocolate, which is so thrilling during youth, is out of their reach. Over time, the practice of teammates exchanging chocolate to express 'I understand you, let's all work hard together' emerged."

"Although the Magical Girls who first did this must have done so with a mindset of finding joy in bitterness, later, as this behavior became more widespread, this practice actually turned into a very inspiring, positive action symbolizing team spirit. Eventually, it unknowingly became a new tradition, and people even specifically call this kind of chocolate 'Thank-You Chocolate'; that's roughly the gist of it."

By the time Senior Cuique finished speaking, Bai Jingxuan had already opened the outer packaging, picked out a piece of chocolate, and eaten it without hesitation.

Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, however, still looked thoughtful, especially Lin Xiaolu, who evaluated with a complex expression: "I see... Senior Cuique really knows a lot of obscure knowledge."

"Not that obscure, really? Of course, the reason I know these things is because a former teammate liked researching such matters."

Senior Cuique crossed her arms, seeming to doubt her own conclusion herself: "The first time I heard of the concept of 'Thank-You Chocolate', she explained it to me exactly like this."

"... Sigh."

Lin Xiaolu suddenly let out a sigh.

Holding the packaging box Senior Cuique gave her, she looked at Xia Liang, drooping her eyelids, and said somewhat reproachfully: "It's all your fault; if you hadn't kept telling me all sorts of nonsense, I would have given the chocolate already."

"My fault?"

Xia Liang widened her eyes slightly, then couldn't help but give a bitter smile: "It was clearly you who suddenly told me 'I don't know how to explain why I want to give chocolate', and then pestering me to speak for you?"

"Then why didn't you just tell Senior Cuique directly?"

Lin Xiaolu muttered: "I told you to go, and you kept passing the buck back and forth with me here; now look, the atmosphere of surprise is completely gone."

"I didn't know how to say it either..."

Xia Liang helplessly said: "Who knew there was such a thing as 'Thank-You Chocolate', making me think for ages about how to explain giving chocolate."

"When you were talking to me about 'like' and 'not like', weren't you quite smooth?" Lin Xiaolu glanced sideways at the other.

"That's different..." Xia Liang's breath hitched slightly, then she averted her gaze.

The two of them had been passing the buck and speaking in riddles to each other for a long time; Senior Cuique listened in utter confusion, only understanding that they seemed to be blaming each other for not speaking up in time to give the chocolate, but she didn't know what else they were arguing about.

"So, what are you two arguing about?" Having decided to play dumb, she might as well play it through to the end, so Senior Cuique continued to act as if she knew nothing.

This time, the three juniors had no intention of hiding anything further.

Lin Xiaolu let go of the hand holding Bai Jingxuan, so Bai Jingxuan, having received the signal, spoke directly:

"We also made chocolate for Teacher!"