Chapter 40: Summer Night Study Session

In the eyes of ordinary people, magical girls are synonymous with the extraordinary. Although some view them as a conspiracy or a scam, most are willing to believe that magical girls must be mysterious, powerful, and radiant.

They drive away terrifying monsters for others and never ask for anything in return; their existence is pure and beautiful.

If one were to randomly distribute a survey at a primary or middle school asking girls about their dreams, "magical girl" would certainly be among the top choices.

Among these, longing and admiration are the primary motivations, but there is actually another reason that is rarely spoken aloud:

Once you become a magical girl, you have an excuse to convince yourself to stop studying.

I am already a hero protecting humanity, engaged in such dangerous battles—is studying really still necessary?

Holding this belief, it is not uncommon for magical girls to abandon their studies.

And although those magical girls cannot publicly reveal their identities after retirement, some hearsay on the internet is enough to confirm that for those who retire normally, life after returning to normalcy is quite comfortable.

Subjugating remnant beasts can earn contributions and rewards through echoes, and after completing a normal ten-year term of service, one receives a massive wealth subsidy, which means retired magical girls can live very affluent lives even without working.

Cui Que’s unique experiences meant she could not enjoy these benefits, but that does not mean she cannot imagine them.

The reason she wants Lin Xiaolu to study hard is that she believes: in the future, when Lin Xiaolu returns to society, she may not need to work, but she must never lack the ability to work, or worse, degenerate into an uneducated, illiterate person in the broad sense.

This is a simple expectation of a parent.

She had once seen just how decadent the life of a shut-in retired magical girl could become.

It was a senior retired magical girl she had once visited, who lived in a luxurious studio apartment filled with a strange odor. It was piled high with all sorts of trash: takeout boxes all over the floor, beer cans, and dirty clothes thrown everywhere.

Because her standards were too high, she could never find a suitable marriage partner; she spent her days addicted to video games, enjoying the feeling of being fawned over on the internet as a wealthy woman; she ran a livestream with few viewers using a virtual avatar that resembled her past transformed self, and her entire state of life was like a puddle of mud.

Just thinking about Lin Xiaolu becoming like that, and associating it with the news stories about shut-in youths treating their parents like servants, made Cui Que feel like she was suffocating.

"You can't solve for the angle here?"

Sitting by Lin Xiaolu’s desk, Cui Que saw Lin Xiaolu looking troubled while pointing at a problem, so she leaned in close.

During his student days, Lin Yun maintained decent grades; although he didn't get into a top-tier school, he read all the way through a master's degree, so handling junior-level science knowledge was not difficult.

She briefly reviewed the problem, thought for a moment, and then began to solve it, writing out every step in detail to avoid leaps in logic that might confuse the two children.

As for the handwriting, she wasn't worried; it was just a slight variation from her usual style. Besides, Lin Xiaolu hadn't seen much of Lin Yun’s handwriting growing up, so it wasn't enough to trigger any associations.

The ballpoint pen clicked on and off against the workbook, making a "tap, tap" sound. Beside her, Lin Xiaolu rested her chin on her hands, while Xia Liang supported the back of her chair; the two maintained this posture, watching Cui Que solve the problem together.

"Hmm... speaking of which, why are angle AOE and angle DOE equal here?" After staring for a long time, Xia Liang suddenly asked.

Hearing this, Cui Que paused, lifted her pen, and traced a line along OE: "Because OE is the angle bisector of angle AOD."

"Why?" Xia Liang pressed.

Looking up at her, Cui Que pointed her pen at a line of text in the problem: "Look, it's written right here in the problem; this is a given condition."

"But, the sizes of these two angles don't look the same at all?" Pointing at the diagram on the test paper, Xia Liang remained confused.

"...This is just a problem with the illustrator's drawing; they are actually the same." Cui Que explained patiently.

"But they look different?" Xia Liang looked puzzled, and this confusion was different from her usual playful feigned ignorance; she clearly didn't understand.

Realizing this, Cui Que could only sigh helplessly: "Yes, in cases like this, rely on the text."

She finally understood how Xia Liang managed to get single-digit math scores.

It wasn't that she was being deliberately difficult, nor was it an accident; she really didn't know, and even when she didn't know, she had a lot of strange ideas in her head.

As the saying goes, the solutions of top students all lead to the same destination, while the mistakes of poor students are strange and varied; every poor student has many unique interpretations of the things they don't understand.

Fortunately, although Xia Liang was a hopeless student, under Cui Que’s supervision, she at least had some desire to learn, and she was quite smart; as long as Cui Que explained the problem clearly, she could understand it quickly.

As for Lin Xiaolu, her grades were better than Xia Liang's to begin with. Although her mind wasn't particularly sharp and her understanding speed was noticeably slower, relying on a slightly stronger foundation, it wasn't difficult for her to study with Cui Que.

Cui Que sat at the desk, urging the two to start learning the knowledge for each subject from scratch, explaining the points they didn't understand herself, and things went quite smoothly.

Her voice was cold and crisp, sounding like a warbling nightingale; even when explaining math problems that the two usually couldn't grasp, it sounded quite pleasant.

The moon hung in the blue sky, and the girls listened to Cui Que’s voice, sometimes pondering, sometimes having moments of realization. This night study session gradually got on the right track.

Just like that, when the time reached ten o'clock, noticing that Lin Xiaolu had started to get sleepy and yawn, Cui Que closed the textbook in her hand and said softly: "Alright, let's stop here for today."

"Ah, finally over..."

"So tired."

The sentence sounded as if they had been "released from prison," and the two girls, who had been looking serious just a moment ago, immediately began to wail.

Seeing the two of them looking so miserable, even though she knew they were likely feigning pity, Cui Que couldn't help but sigh: "If you two had this efficiency every night, you wouldn't have to study like this every day."

She had already looked over their middle school textbooks; if she only listed the key and difficult points, finishing all of this over one summer vacation would be more than enough.

As soon as these words were spoken, the two girls, who had been full of sorrow, became joyful again; the speed of their mood change was enough to show they had no intention of hiding it.

But never mind, who told them to be her "juniors" after all.

Cui Que thought to herself as she looked at them, her expression softening slightly.

The long night of tutoring and study ended, and Lin Xiaolu needed to wash up and rest, so it was time for them to part ways.

After smiling and saying goodbye to the two, Xia Liang walked out of the apartment building where Lin Xiaolu lived alone.

Looking at the road, where only a few dim streetlights remained bright, the smile that had been on Xia Liang’s face gradually faded, and she couldn't help but show a somewhat lost expression.

If there was nothing else, she should have transformed into a magical girl and flown straight home. That was how it had been every time she left Lin Xiaolu’s home, but now, she didn't want to do that.

She wanted to walk along this night road.

The study session with Cui Que and Lin Xiaolu, while not feeling bad, had made her notice a subtle sense of irritation.

Becoming a legendary magical girl like a dream, having like-minded companions, and even having a senior to guide her—for the past her, this was a happiness she wouldn't have dared to imagine. Yet, over these past few days, she had increasingly felt an inner emptiness.

The void in her heart remained unfilled; she was still craving something, and as time passed, it continued to expand, asserting its existence and making it impossible for her to ignore.

What exactly was this sense of emptiness?

Xia Liang walked forward on the night road with her head down, constantly examining herself. As she moved forward, her shadow under the lights grew long and then short, repeating the cycle.

She walked in silence past several intersections, and just as she was about to step into another block, she suddenly noticed something and stopped in her tracks.

"Um... I've been wanting to ask since just now."

She turned back, looking somewhat confused, and smiled helplessly: "Little Senior, why have you been following behind me?"

Under a streetlight not far away, Cui Que was standing there openly. In the dark of night, bathed in the light, she was so conspicuous.

She, who should have left from another direction, was now following behind Xia Liang, not even intending to hide her tracks.

Hearing Xia Liang’s words, she didn't seem to mind, only saying in a flat tone: "I’m planning to go to your place."

"...Why?" Xia Liang was slightly stunned.

"If you ask why, there’s nothing special about it." Cui Que stood with one hand on her hip, her face devoid of extra expression, as if the matter she was about to mention was truly not worth mentioning.

But when the words were actually spoken, they made Xia Liang’s heart race:

—"It’s just that I’ve suddenly decided to run away from home, too."