Chapter 48: The Senior's Junior

"Is there a doorbell?"

Lin Xiaolu, who had been resting her chin on her hands, looked up and straightened her back: "At this hour?"

Xia Liang poked her head out from the side and asked: "Is it a delivery?"

"I don't know, I haven't bought anything." Lin Xiaolu denied it outright.

"Then did your dad buy something?" Xia Liang proposed another possibility.

"Him? I've never seen him buy anything online."

Still maintaining a skeptical attitude, Lin Xiaolu had just finished the sentence when she hesitated: "Though, I can't rule out that possibility..."

"So, are you going to open it?"

Looking at the door in the Xuanguan, Xia Liang seemed eager to try: "It's daytime anyway, it should be fine, right?"

"Regardless of whether it's daytime, the security in our residential complex should be fine." Lin Xiaolu seemed swayed.

Xia Liang gestured with her hand, and purple magic condensed into a wand in her grasp: "Then I'll transform into a magical girl and stand to the side; if it's a bad person, I'll strike them, okay?"

Narrowing her eyes to stare at her for a moment, Lin Xiaolu wanted to ask "Why don't you go," but remembering this was her own home, she felt she should show some responsibility. So, she suppressed that thought and stood up from the sofa: "I suppose that works."

Waving her hand to dispel her magical girl transformation, Lin Xiaolu shuffled in her slippers and walked with small steps toward the Xuanguan; meanwhile, Xia Liang knelt on the sofa with her wand, only her head visible, secretly observing the situation.

Lin Xiaolu frowned as she walked to the door, her hand lingering on the handle for a moment before she pressed down and cautiously opened the door.

—What met her eyes was a completely unfamiliar woman.

This woman looked to be in her twenties, relatively tall, with bright, attractive features and dark hair styled in a simple C-curl perm. She wore a printed white open-front T-shirt, a high-waisted denim skirt, and carried a small crossbody bag, giving off the impression of a capable white-collar professional.

"Who are you?" Lin Xiaolu was dumbfounded.

"Ah, so this is the senior's... how cute!"

But the woman before her didn't seem to find her unfamiliar at all; her eyes lit up upon seeing Lin Xiaolu: "I'd only seen photos before, but you're even cuter in person than in the pictures!"

Her self-absorbed confession left Lin Xiaolu even more confused: "So, who are you?"

"Who I am isn't important; what's important is that this is our first meeting. Lin Xiaolu, right? Come, give your auntie a hug!" The woman enthusiastically opened her arms.

"Why? No way!" Lin Xiaolu couldn't help but take two steps back.

Intense confusion left her at a loss for words, and the commotion drew Xia Liang and Moke over from the living room.

Seeing the two of them at a stalemate, Xia Liang was stunned for a moment, then quickly grasped the situation. She faced the woman at the door and spoke with a smile:

"Ah, hello, Miss? Who are you looking for?"

Her demeanor and etiquette were impeccable, leaving no room for criticism, as if she were the child of this household.

Her words made the woman at the door beam with delight: "Oh? You called me Miss? Hahaha, you're such a sweet-talking child."

Because she was wearing outdoor shoes, she couldn't enter the room and had to stand in the hallway, gesturing: "You come over too, let Miss give you a kiss!"

"Um, that's..."

Overwhelmed by the other party's excessive enthusiasm, even Xia Liang couldn't help but show a troubled expression.

"I'm asking, who on earth are you!" Lin Xiaolu, pushed to the side, asked again.

It wasn't until she asked the question for the third time that the woman at the door seemed to snap out of her overly enthusiastic state. She scrutinized the two girls before her, and seeing their bewildered expressions, she realized she hadn't introduced herself yet.

A stranger acting so familiar right off the bat would indeed leave anyone at a loss. So, she coughed twice and slightly composed her expression.

"Ahem, it seems you don't know who I am. I should start with a brief introduction."

Lifting the bag in her hand, she fished out a small black ID card and waved it in the air: "I am Hong Siyu, a liaison from the Extraordinary Strategy Bureau, responsible for coordinating with your senior, Cui Que. Besides that, ten years ago, I was also a resident magical girl of Fang Ting City."

Her movements were crisp and professional, and her smile was approachable, but the simple sentence spoken with that expression contained so much information that both girls behind the door were left stunned.

"Cui Que's... liaison?"

"A magical girl from ten years ago?"

Clearly, the girls had different points of focus.

Lin Xiaolu was naturally more concerned with Cui Que's interpersonal relationships; it was impossible for her not to be curious about what kind of person Cui Que's liaison was.

As for Xia Liang, she naturally thought of the same question as Lin Xiaolu, but the latter half of what Hong Siyu said clearly held more significant information.

Seeing that her self-introduction had successfully captured the interest of both girls, Hong Siyu knocked on the door frame. No longer as overly enthusiastic as when they first met, she asked suggestively: "I've said so much, don't you plan on letting me come in and sit for a while?"

The two girls exchanged a look. Xia Liang gave a slight wink, and Lin Xiaolu reluctantly fished a pair of shoe covers from the shoe cabinet in the Xuanguan and handed them to Hong Siyu: "Here."

"Hehe, then I shall humbly accept your hospitality."

Taking the shoe covers from Lin Xiaolu, Hong Siyu deftly slipped them over her square-toed shoes and walked into the apartment with a sense of excitement that others couldn't quite understand.

Stepping into Lin Xiaolu's home, she subconsciously looked around, her gaze moving from the dining room to the living room, taking in the dining table, the clock, the cabinets... and then the sofa placed neatly there, a flicker of nostalgia crossing her face.

It really has been a long time.

She whispered to herself in her heart.

This strange behavior made Lin Xiaolu stare at her curiously, and Xia Liang was also puzzled. However, out of courtesy, they soon led Hong Siyu to the living room.

Xia Liang turned to go to the kitchen to make tea, while Lin Xiaolu gestured casually toward the sofa, her expression somewhat tense: "Here, please sit."

"Are you shy?" Hong Siyu asked her, turning back.

"Not at all."

Lin Xiaolu replied with a stiff expression: "Please don't treat me like a child."

"Being shy isn't actually a trait exclusive to children."

Hong Siyu found an empty spot on the sofa and sat down casually: "We adults get like that too, you know? And we even give it a more serious-sounding name: social anxiety."

"...I'm not, I'm just not."

"Alright, alright, you're not."

Hong Siyu laughed teasingly, patting the empty seat next to her: "Then can you come sit next to me and let me get a good look at you?"

"Um..." Faced with this request, Lin Xiaolu remained frozen in place, not moving an inch.