Chapter 52: At the Elevator Entrance

Night fell, and Lin Yun stepped out of the office building with a listless expression. Gazing at the street teeming with cars and pedestrians, he turned and, as always, set off on his journey home.

Having walked through the sparsely populated residential streets, he lingered in the commercial district near the light rail station. Avoiding the hands of the scantily clad women reaching out from the crowd, he stopped before a shopping plaza.

The vast, brightly lit building made him feel as though he had been separated from this world for an eternity.

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

—Finish the monthly summary meeting, handle the few tasks currently on his plate, and then he could apply for resignation.

Before leaving, he had specifically gone to the General Manager's office. After mentioning his resignation and negotiating who would take over his tasks, he finally departed the company.

The reason he hadn't headed straight for the station after work but instead took a detour to the commercial district was that, recently, some days were approaching.

For instance, his wedding anniversary with Anya.

This year marked the fifteenth year of his marriage to Anya. In more romantic terms, it should be called a "Crystal Wedding," a day worth celebrating for a couple at this stage.

Precisely because of this, he suddenly remembered such a day, thinking that when the time came, he might buy Anya a gift she would like.

He remembered that Anya liked jewelry; every piece of jewelry he had bought her she had treasured. Since it was now a "Crystal Wedding," giving her a piece of crystal jewelry should be very appropriate.

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

—Then, on the day of her death anniversary, he would personally take it to her grave and give it to her.

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

This was, in fact, something that sounded terribly sad and ironic. But for Lin Yun, aside from revenge, this was already the best way he could pay tribute to Anya.

As for revenge, every time he picked up that thought, the face of Lin Xiaolu would appear in his mind. This would not make him abandon the thought, but it made him realize that at least now was not the time.

Taking a deep breath and composing himself, Lin Yun tightened his grip on the briefcase in his hand and stepped forward.

Entering the shopping plaza, he moved silently from one storefront to another. Facing the enthusiastic introductions and sales pitches from numerous clerks, he listened to them all, keeping them for reference, then nodded politely to express his gratitude.

After spending roughly an hour and a bit, he had roughly toured the jewelry stores on the first floor of the shopping center, considering the reconnaissance complete, and then walked out of the mall's main entrance with a touch of disappointment.

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

Only after walking from the commercial district back to the station did he suddenly feel a bit hungry, and then realized he had actually forgotten to eat dinner.

Standing on the light rail platform, Lin Yun watched the tram approaching from the distance. The lights at the front of the car grew brighter, piercing through the dense, surging crowd to shine upon the weary journey home.

"Heat up the leftovers when I get back," he muttered to himself, then followed the crowd through the train doors, finding a moment of inner peace on the hanging straps inside the carriage.

On the way home, he mentally calculated what content to cover in tonight's study session. Knowledge from junior high textbooks was reviewed over and over in his mind, momentarily making him recall life during junior high.

Similarly continuing daily life while being a Magical Girl; similarly worrying about textbook knowledge on the way home. How similar, and yet how different.

Amidst such thoughts, he returned to the luxury apartment building where he lived.

Walking into the corridor, he intended to head straight for the elevator lobby but happened to meet 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 go to work anymore."

He answered quite bluntly: "Anyway, thank you for today."

"What is there to thank me for? Being able to see a cute junior is a treat for an old senior like me whose flower of the phantom limb heart has almost withered."

Hong Siyu waved her hand casually: "As for you, just don't mind if I said some unnecessary words."

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

"Nothing, don't take it to heart, don't take it to heart." Hong Siyu casually laughed it off. "Anyway, I've stayed long enough today, so I'll head back now."

"So what exactly did you say?"

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

Having said this, she waved goodbye to Lin Yun and walked toward the parking spot not far away.

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

However, when he walked into the entrance of the elevator lobby, he happened to see an elevator door closing, and immediately it went all the way up, reaching the floor where his home was located.

This made his heart jump for no reason.

The scene at the apartment entrance from a moment ago flashed through his mind. In an instant, he pinpointed where this unease came from:

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

After dinner time, and after chatting for a while in the living room, Hong Siyu bid farewell 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 breath, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang were momentarily speechless, falling into a state of exhaustion and weariness.

"If I had known, I should have just eaten some leftovers for lunch," Lin Xiaolu murmured softly while lying on the sofa.

"Even though she said she would cook personally, I should have stopped her," Xia Liang sighed as well. "I just didn't expect it to really be that bad."

Even though it was already after dinner, the two of them were still thinking about that lunch which left such a "fresh memory."

Hong Siyu said she wanted to show off her culinary skills; if that meant torturing the diners, then she had succeeded.

Judging solely by knife skills and heat control, the food she made had no major problems. However, when it came to seasoning, it was nothing short of a disaster. It was no longer just a matter of being unpalatable; only someone with a loss of taste could create such chaotic dishes.

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

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

Thus, when dinner time came, at the joint request of Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu, they took the leftovers from the refrigerator and made do with a meal.

Ending the day's cultivation amidst this somewhat chaotic atmosphere, Lin Xiaolu was about to take a short nap on the sofa to prepare for the evening study session, when she suddenly felt that something seemed to be stuck under her thigh.

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

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

Picking up this small decorative badge, Lin Xiaolu couldn't help but exchange a glance with Xia Liang, then asked in confusion, "What should we do?"

"Did you keep her contact information?" After seeing what she held in her hand, Xia Liang was also quite shocked.

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

"Then let Senior Cuique return it to her then... What's wrong?" Xia Liang was thinking of a solution, but Lin Xiaolu's actions made her pause.

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

"Is it really so urgent?" Turning to lean against the back of the sofa, watching Lin Xiaolu walking toward the entrance, Xia Liang said helplessly, "Anyway, Senior Cuique will come over tonight; we can return it to her tomorrow, right?"

"What guest would lose something on their first visit?"

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

She put on her sandals, stepped out of her own door, then pressed the elevator button, taking the elevator down to the first floor.

Stepping out of the elevator car, she heard Hong Siyu's voice speaking not far away. She immediately took the badge out of her pocket, raised it, and wanted to walk straight out of the elevator lobby to quickly return the other party's item.

However, her steps stopped the moment she stepped out of the elevator lobby.

Because she saw Hong Siyu standing with someone she absolutely would not have expected, and they seemed to be conversing quite familiarly.

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