Chapter 52: At the Elevator Entrance

As night fell, Lin Yun walked out of the office building with a weary expression. Gazing at the bustling, traffic-filled streets, he turned and stepped onto his usual path home.

After walking through the sparsely populated residential streets and lingering in the commercial district near the light rail station, he dodged the reaching hands of scantily clad women in the crowd and stopped in front of a shopping plaza.

The vast, brightly lit building made him feel as if he were in another world.

The conversation with Hong Siyu from that morning seemed to still echo in his ears, and he had already reached a preliminary decision regarding whether to resign and fully return to the path of a magical girl:

——Once the mid-month summary meeting was over and the tasks on hand were handled, he could apply for his resignation.

Before leaving, he had specifically gone to the general manager's office. He brought up his resignation and negotiated who would take over his tasks before finally leaving the company.

The reason he hadn't headed straight to the station after work, but instead took a detour to the commercial district, was actually because some dates were approaching soon.

For instance, his and Anya's wedding anniversary.

This year marked the 15th year of his marriage to Anya; in more romantic terms, it was called a "crystal wedding," a day worth celebrating for couples at this stage.

It was precisely because of this that he had suddenly remembered the date, wondering if he should buy Anya a gift she would like when the day arrived.

He remembered that Anya liked jewelry. She had treated every piece of jewelry he ever bought her as a treasure, and since it was a "crystal wedding," giving her a piece of crystal jewelry seemed very appropriate.

He could wait until the wedding anniversary to buy the gift, wrap it carefully, and place it in Anya's vanity box.

——And then, on the day of her death anniversary, bring it to her grave and present it to her in person.

Because Anya's death anniversary was exactly one week after their wedding anniversary.

This was, in fact, a very sad and ironic thing to hear. But for Lin Yun, aside from revenge, this was already the best way for him to pay tribute to Anya.

As for revenge, whenever he picked up this thought, Lin Xiaolu's face would appear in his mind. This did not make him abandon the idea, but it let him understand that, at least for now, it was not the time.

Taking a deep breath and composing himself, Lin Yun gripped his briefcase tightly and stepped forward.

Walking into the shopping plaza, he wandered silently between the various storefronts. He listened to the enthusiastic introductions and sales pitches from many clerks, keeping them as references, then nodded politely to express his gratitude.

It took him about an hour to roughly look through the jewelry stores on the first floor of the shopping center, finishing his scouting, and then he walked out of the mall entrance with a hint of disappointment.

It wasn't that he was dissatisfied; he just felt something was missing.

It wasn't until he walked from the commercial district back to the station that he suddenly felt hungry, realizing he had even forgotten to eat dinner.

Standing on the light rail platform, Lin Yun watched the train approaching from afar. The lights at the front of the train grew brighter, piercing through the dense, moving crowd, shining toward his journey home after a tiring day.

"I'll heat up some leftovers when I get back," he muttered to himself, then followed the crowd into the carriage, finding a moment of peace for his soul while holding onto the handrail.

On the way home, he calculated what he would say at the evening study session. The knowledge from his middle school textbooks was reviewed over and over in his mind, unexpectedly reminding him of his life in middle school.

It was the same: continuing daily life while being a magical girl; the same: thinking about textbook knowledge on the way home. How similar, yet how vastly different.

Amidst these thoughts, he returned to the high-end apartment building where he lived.

Walking into the hallway, he intended to head straight to the elevator area, but he happened to run into a woman walking from that direction.

It was Hong Siyu.

"Ah, finally off work?"

Seeing Lin Yun, she greeted him quite naturally.

"Off work, and in a few days, I probably won't have to work anymore."

He replied quite straightforwardly: "In any case, thank you for today."

"What's there to thank me for? Being able to see a cute junior is a treat for an old senior like me, whose phantom limb heart-flower is about to wither."

Hong Siyu waved her hand dismissively: "It's you who should mind that I said some unnecessary things."

"Unnecessary things?" Lin Yun raised his eyes slightly, clearly catching the point of her words.

"It's nothing, don't take it to heart, don't take it to heart." Hong Siyu laughed it off casually, "Anyway, I've stayed long enough today, so I'll be heading back now."

"So what exactly did you say?"

"I told you not to take it to heart; it's not something you were deliberately hiding anyway." Hong Siyu winked at him, "You, just get along well with the children from now on."

After saying this, she waved goodbye to Lin Yun and walked toward the nearby parking space.

Watching her back, Lin Yun pondered for a moment, then shook his head and walked toward the elevator area again.

However, when he reached the entrance of the elevator area, he happened to see an elevator door close, followed by it going all the way up to the floor where his home was located.

This made his heart skip a beat for no reason.

The scene at the apartment entrance from a moment ago flashed through his mind, and in an instant, he grasped where this unease came from:

"...Just now, no one should have walked in from the outside."

After dinner time and some idle chat in the living room, Hong Siyu said goodbye to the two girls and left Lin Xiaolu's home from the entryway.

Walking back to the living room and collapsing onto the sofa in one go, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang were speechless for a moment, entering a state of exhaustion and fatigue.

"If I had known, I should have just eaten some leftovers at noon," Lin Xiaolu muttered quietly while lying on the sofa.

"Even if she said she wanted to cook in person, I should have stopped her," Xia Liang sighed as well, "I just didn't expect it to be that terrible."

Even after dinner, the two were still thinking about that "unforgettable" lunch.

If Hong Siyu meant to show off her culinary skills by torturing the diners, then she had succeeded.

In terms of knife work and heat control, the food she made had no major problems, but when it came to seasoning, it was a disaster. It wasn't just a matter of being unpalatable; only someone with a broken sense of taste could make such chaotic food.

It was as if the ratios of all the flavors in the food had been swapped; what should have been salty became sour, and what should have been sweet became bitter. The final result was completely inedible.

In the end, Hong Siyu was the only one at the table who could finish the meal, and she kept asking the two girls, "Why aren't you eating?"

Consequently, at dinner time, at the joint request of Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu, they took out the leftovers from the refrigerator to make do.

Ending the day's practice in such a noisy atmosphere, Lin Xiaolu was about to take a nap on the sofa to prepare for the evening study session when she suddenly felt something stuck under her thigh.

Shifting her body to the side, she suddenly discovered that it was actually Hong Siyu's identification badge.

She didn't know when Hong Siyu had casually tossed this badge here and then never thought to take it back.

Picking up the small decorative badge, Lin Xiaolu couldn't help but look at Xia Liang and ask in confusion: "What should we do?"

"Did you keep her contact information?" Xia Liang was also quite astonished after seeing what was in her hand.

"No." Lin Xiaolu couldn't help but grab the hair on the side of her head.

"Then let Cuique return it to her when the time comes... what's wrong?" Xia Liang was thinking of a solution, but Lin Xiaolu's actions startled her.

Because the other girl had already stood up from the sofa and stuffed the badge into her pocket: "She should only just be going downstairs; I can still catch up if I go now."

"Is it really that urgent?" Turning to lie on the back of the sofa and watching Lin Xiaolu walk toward the entryway, Xia Liang said helplessly, "Cuique is coming over tonight anyway, so you could just return it to her tomorrow, right?"

"There's no reason for a guest to lose something on their first visit."

Walking to the door, Lin Xiaolu waved at her quite breezily: "It's fine, I'll be right back."

She put on her sandals, stepped out of her home, pressed the elevator button, and rode the elevator to the first floor.

Walking out of the elevator car, she heard Hong Siyu's voice not far away. She immediately pulled the badge from her pocket, held it up, and wanted to walk straight out of the elevator area to quickly return the item.

However, her footsteps stopped the moment she stepped out of the elevator area.

Because she saw Hong Siyu standing with someone she would never have expected, and they seemed to be talking quite familiarly.

That person was no stranger; it was her father, Lin Yun.