（Mom, what is she doing? On the phone?）
Stepping back a pace, Lin Yu looked up at the “Working, Do Not Disturb” sign hanging directly above the door.
The unknown girl’s voice inside gradually grew louder:
“No way! I absolutely won’t wear this!”
“What? You just wore the Catgirl Costume a moment ago.”
“But this one is just too much! I’m really mad! Ha! Old Wu, Old Wu, Old Wu, Old Wu—”
“Hehehe, I’m your Boss now, and I’m going to use my power to bend the rules. Who dares stop me!”
Standing at the doorway, Lin Yu listened to the increasingly loud voices inside and couldn’t help but cover her mouth, letting out a surprised:
“Eh?!”
The meaning of these words was clear: Mom is using her position to exploit her employee?!
Lin Yu’s mind tried to deny this possibility, because from what she had seen, her Father and Mother’s relationship had always been very good. Though they’d been married many years, they hardly ever quarreled — the number of arguments could be counted on one hand.
But the situation right now made her imagine some strange possibilities.
It must be mentioned that although Lin Yu’s personality was a little aloof or perhaps withdrawn, she was still a normal high school girl who knew how to use the internet.
And since she had no real-life friends, Lin Yu could be said to have a slight case of Net Addiction (of course, she had never felt it strange that as a normal girl without any real friends, she spent every day using the online handle “Miss Ao Shi Xie Long Kuang Shao” on forums to make friends).
(By the time Lin Yu realized she had been deceived all along, she was already graduating from middle school.)
(But now, she was no longer good at making friends… sad.)
Through the internet, she had witnessed the astonishing diversity of humans on this world.
Good or bad, Lin Yu had long since developed enough tolerance and discernment.
And in this world, there were some people who simply could not be understood by ordinary people, or who deliberately sought to be bizarre for profit—we called this kind of people “Abstract.”
There were so many Abstract people online that it gave the impression “these kinds of people might even be around me.”
Therefore, Lin Yu couldn’t help but start doubting her own family.
(Could my family be like something out of an Abstract Little Theater?)
Yes, it was possible that a couple who never argued did so because they loved each other deeply, shared interests, and had no conflicts.
But it could also be another scenario!
Lin Yu’s little head started constructing a melodramatic theory: maybe Mom was a lesbian who, due to societal pressure, couldn’t marry a woman, so she married Dad as a cover, and Lin Yu’s birth was a complete accident.
Wait—if Mom was into girls, then Dad must have known and just endured it all these years? Is that normal? Could it be… Dad was also?
Lin Yu’s ponytail shook as she gasped:
“Wait, is there an expert hiding here too? Σ(゜ロ゜;)”
Inside, there was a rustling of something, while outside, Lin Yu found herself torn in a fierce internal battle.
First of all, what Mom was doing was definitely wrong, no matter how you thought about it.
From a moral perspective, she should immediately rush in and rescue the girl about to be victimized.
Since childhood, Lin Yu had always been different from her Mom, who switched TV channels whenever a Magical Girl appeared, and averted her eyes from short Magical Girl videos on her phone as if she disliked them.
Lin Yu had always admired Magical Girls, fantasizing countless times about becoming the Light Divine Dragon Magical Girl herself.
Lin Yu was truly unwilling to engage in immoral behavior.
But personally, from a selfish perspective, if she barged in now, she would undoubtedly tear apart the delicate harmony her parents had worked so hard to build.
Afterwards, could she still return to the previous family atmosphere? Lin Yu couldn’t imagine what chaos such a drastic change would bring.
Maybe pretending nothing happened and entering later would be the “best” choice.
Yet her conscience wouldn’t allow her to see anyone suffer such pain—even if the perpetrator was her own mother.
(Why… why must I be put in such a dilemma?)
At this moment, Lin Yu was the only one who could save the innocent girl inside.
Her inner balance teetered.
For someone who had always struggled to manage interpersonal feelings and had already exhausted herself just apologizing to Jiang Yao, Lin Yu truly had no way to decide this on her own.
Nervously, she took out her phone and easily found Jiang Yao’s chat window among the few contacts she had.
【Xiao Yao.】
【There’s an emergency situation.】
—It was time to call for backup.
Jiang Yao replied instantly:
(You’re taking the initiative to find me? That’s rare, Kuang Shao.)
【…Not the time to mention that.】
Since Jiang Yao had once accidentally found Lin Yu’s untended embarrassing past through the Discovery Friend Function on the forum, she had nicknamed Lin Yu “Kuang Shao” in her contacts.
Lin Yu had complained many times, but this was one thing Jiang Yao refused to change.
Luckily, due to Mom’s strict vigilance, Lin Yu had long given up on cleaning up her own black history.
【There’s something much more urgent!】
【Right now, I hear a girl who seems to be getting exploited by my Mom.】
After sending those two messages, the “typing” notification suddenly vanished, then after a few silent seconds, two messages popped up:
(???)
(Wait, wait, what are you talking about? I don’t understand.)
【I don’t know either.】
【(crying emoji)】
【(another crying emoji)】
【Tell me, should I stop my Mom right now…?】
(Calm down, calm down.)
(Maybe you heard it wrong?)
【No way, I definitely didn’t!】
(No, think carefully. Is Aunt that kind of person? No matter what, this is too absurd. Go listen again—maybe it’s a misunderstanding.)
【!】
Seeing Jiang Yao’s reliable advice at this crucial moment, Lin Yu squeezed her phone tightly and felt a glimmer of hope.
Right, if it was all just her misunderstanding, then there was no problem at all.
So, she pressed her ear against the door again, this time the voices were a little broken.
She heard her mother say: “Hehehe, let me touch your Great Staff~”
“That’s not allowed! I’m not fully… a girl yet… who knows if touching it will…”
“No way… Let me touch it so I can judge if now…”
Hearing this conversation, Lin Yu’s mental “string of reason” snapped completely.
Without much thought, she could guess exactly what “Great Staff” was a euphemism for.
Even Jiang Yao’s message asking “How’s it going now?” on her phone was ignored as Lin Yu fell silent.
At this moment, she seemed to enter some ethereal state, a voice echoing in her mind over and over:
“I’m out… still Southern Liang…”
“I’m out… still Southern Liang…”
“I’m out… still Southern Liang…”
……
When she finally snapped back to reality, she shouted, “Mom, please let her go!” and pushed the door open.
Bursting inside, Lin Yu’s eyes took in a floor scattered with various outfits.
There was a Maid Outfit, Catgirl Costume, and even many Lolita Dresses.
Standing in the center of the living room was her mother, smiling as she held tightly onto a half-dressed black-haired girl and said, “Coming home so early today, huh.”
The girl seemed to have just hidden something rod-shaped behind her back and was wearing the outfit Mom had previously custom-made—the Dark Flame Dragon Magical Girl Modified.
A dress embroidered with a black fire dragon, which according to Mom was the dark fallen side of the Light Divine Dragon.
“Anyway… Magical Girls never… I’m just trying it on!”
The black-haired girl shouted as she pulled up her clothes and dashed toward the door. When she passed Lin Yu, she glanced up at her.
Her cheeks, flushed from the earlier play, and her shy, hesitant eyes made it hard for Lin Yu not to be deeply impressed.
Most importantly, Lin Yu seemed to sense something strange about the girl.
It was as if some kind of “aura” was swirling around her body.
Watching the girl’s retreating figure, Lin Yu carefully checked, but found no place to hide the rod-shaped object, making her wonder if what she saw earlier was just an illusion.
“Don’t forget to come to work tomorrow~”
Waving and shouting behind her, Wen Yaqian said:
“…Mom.”
Lin Yu whispered, “Who is she?”
“She’s Mom’s best friend. Phew… In front of her, I somehow went back to being my silly old self. We played too hard.”
“Playing?”
“Yes, it’s been a while.” Wen Yaqian said plaintively, “My beloved precious daughter started high school and stopped being my dress form, so I had to bring a friend instead.”
“Got it, that’s good.”
Lin Yu breathed a big sigh of relief. Seeing Wen Yaqian tidying up the messy floor, she quickly went to help.
“Hmm~ Did you just think I was bullying my friend? My Yu is kind~ I’m telling you, this girl probably enjoyed it too, just a bit uncomfortable with Magical Girl… themes.”
Wen Yaqian didn’t look back, bending down to continue tidying.
Seeing Mom didn’t think in a twisted way, Lin Yu hurriedly waved her hands: “No, no.”
Then, nervously, she changed the subject:
“Hey? Since she’s Mom’s friend… how old is she?”
“Shh… I can’t say that.” Hearing this, Wen Yaqian winked, looked at her lively daughter, and put a finger to her lips:
“That’s a secret between girls.”
“Eh? But Mom, are you really a girl too?”
“…..”
“Ouch ouch ouch! Mommy, I didn’t mean it, don’t pinch my face—”
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