Chapter 67: Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Fairy and the Friend

The First Social Welfare Institute of Fang Ting City is located in the Li Xing District and is one of only two large-scale welfare institutes in this city.

Numerous children who have lost their parents due to accidents and have no one to raise them, or elderly people who have no one to care for them after growing old, are, with their own consent, guided by the municipal government to this place to receive relatively comprehensive care.

The welfare institute covers a large area, has nearly 3,000 beds within its grounds, and employs as many as 400 staff members; it possesses relatively superior medical conditions, sufficient to provide rehabilitation therapy for every elderly person or child with a disability.

Bai Jingxuan has been living here for three years.

Over these three years, she has gone from being ignorant to being able to distinguish right from wrong. Most of the other children in the welfare institute came and went; after a brief stay, they were adopted and entered new families. Only she was left here, like a substandard product left over at a vegetable market.

In fact, speaking purely of personality, Bai Jingxuan was not a difficult child to get along with; she was very quiet and very sensible. Compared to other eleven-year-olds, or even older children, her speech and conduct appeared somewhat precocious.

As for her appearance, she was also quite cute: fair-skinned and clean, with delicate features, wearing a bob cut that reached her chin; because of her clothing and manner, she appeared somewhat boyish, yet she was truly lovable.

However, the medical eye patch she wore over her left eye revealed a fact to outsiders: there was a problem with that eye.

In fact, she indeed lacked one eye.

Moreover, she suffered from a congenital disease that could not be diagnosed and was difficult to cure; its symptoms manifested as intermittent dizziness and weakness, and in severe cases, even partial loss of control over limbs.

Such a series of problems caused the couples who attempted to adopt her to hesitate upon learning the truth, and there were even those who gave up directly. Back and forth, in the end, no one was willing to take Bai Jingxuan away.

Thus, three years passed, and Bai Jingxuan still lived here.

Occasionally, people would ask if she felt sad, but she actually did not feel that such days were bad in any way: the caregivers at the welfare institute were all friendly and took good care of her; the grandpas and grandmas in the institute also liked her very much and often invited her to chat with them; including the director of the welfare institute, Aunt Liu, who also frequently looked after her.

Perhaps the only drawback was a certain loneliness.

In the afternoons of recent days, she always liked to go alone to the shady spot in the courtyard and read books quietly there.

This was a habit she had not had before; in the past, she would not specifically seek out such a secluded place alone; she preferred bustling places. No matter who it was, chatting a few words with someone would make her feel a bit more fulfilled in her heart.

The reason she did this now was that she had a little secret.

Or to be more specific, she had a new friend.

— "Xiao Xuan! I'm here!"

Accompanied by the call coming from overhead, on this agreed-upon afternoon, Bai Jingxuan welcomed the object of her waiting.

So she put down the book in her hand, looked left and right to confirm no one saw, then secretly waved to the "friend" above and called out softly: "Good afternoon, Young Lady Fairy."

She had a fairy friend.

This friend looked like a pink cat on the outside, but was only the size of two of her palms. It had a pair of transparent wings on its back, fluttering as it floated in the air, with tiny orbs of light floating around its body, truly like the fairy spoken of in fairy tales.

"I've said it many times, just call me 'Moko'; calling me 'fairy' is too distant!"

Gradually descending from the air, the fairy who called herself "Moko" said on her own: "Just as I would not call you 'human,' such a title is actually very rude, you know."

"Mm, I understand, Moko." So Bai Jingxuan obediently nodded her head.

Her acquaintance with Moko occurred on an afternoon a few days ago.

At that time, she had merely passed by this place by chance; just because of the hot weather of midsummer, she suddenly felt like staying in the shade for a while, and it was this action that led her to meet the fairy flying down from the sky.

At that time, she did not even know what a fairy was; she only saw a cat flying in the air, found it very novel, and so could not help but strike up a conversation with the other party.

What surprised her even more was that this cat could actually speak.

Then she learned that such an existence was the legendary "fairy."

The fairy who called herself "Moko" was very witty, willing to chat with her for a long time, telling her many stories like fairy tales; later, words like "magical girl" began to appear in its descriptions.

Bai Jingxuan knew about magical girls.

Rather, her life had been saved by a magical girl.

When she was eight years old, her parents took her out together; while going to the hospital for a routine check-up for her difficult-to-treat congenital disease, they happened to encounter a Rampant Beast.

At that time, Bai Jingxuan did not even fully understand what was happening; she only remembered sitting in the hospital lobby with her parents, laughing and talking, when suddenly a powerful impact occurred around them.

A out-of-control Rampant Beast crashed into the hospital and, like a mad beast, began destruction and slaughter.

The hospital suffered damage under the Rampant Beast's attack, and a large number of medical staff and patients lost their lives in that attack. Later, Bai Jingxuan heard others say that this was the most tragic casualty event in Fang Ting City in nearly ten years.

In this incident, Bai Jingxuan lost her parents and also lost her left eye, yet she alone survived.

A magical girl arrived in time, saved the remaining people, and defeated the Rampant Beast.

Although Bai Jingxuan was still young at that time and her perception of life and death was not so strong, as she gradually grew up, she understood what kind of grace it was to have her life saved.

Therefore, she held a favorable impression of magical girls.

However, in Moko's words, the magical girl seemed to shed the halo seen by others, becoming more real and more down-to-earth.

It told many interesting little stories about magical girls and even claimed to know the magical girls of this city. According to the examples it gave, the magical girls of Fang Ting City: some failed school exams; some were so stupid they could not even learn how to use magic; and some bullied the weak and liked to bully fairies.

Although she did not know how much of these words was true or false, and even included quite a few negative evaluations, it did not prevent Bai Jingxuan from finding what it said very interesting, and because of this, her admiration for magical girls increased a bit more.

Because she felt that precisely because magical girls were actually just ordinary people, their willingness to fight and to save others made their actions all the more precious.

It was just as she began to think this way that, two days ago, while she and Moko were enjoying the afternoon together and chatting happily, Moko suddenly made this proposal to her:

"Xiao Xuan, do you know? You can actually become a magical girl too!"