Chapter 97: An Improper Relationship, Meow?

“Xinglan, how about we go to that Western restaurant for lunch… eh?”

Inside the mall, Sweet Xin, who was discussing lunch options with Ye Xinglan, suddenly stopped in her tracks and pointed ahead with surprise.

“Xinglan, isn’t that Xiaoxi?”

Ye Xinglan followed Sweet Xin’s finger and looked through the floor-to-ceiling window of a restaurant, spotting two figures sitting by the window.

One of them was wearing a maid outfit and looked exactly like Xiaoxi.

Sweet Xin squinted. “And the one beside Xiaoxi… is that Muxingge?”

Since Muxingge had taken off her sunglasses and mask while eating, they were easily recognized.

Ye Xinglan frowned. Didn’t Xiaoxi say she had to work this morning? How did she suddenly end up here?

Sweet Xin glanced at Ye Xinglan with some concern. It was strange—Xiaoxi had just told her girlfriend she was heading out to work, but now here she was, sitting with another woman.

This kind of situation looked suspicious… cough, cough.

Sweet Xin wisely kept her thoughts to herself. Come on, these two were such a lovey-dovey couple in everyday life; just having lunch with another girl didn’t necessarily mean anything. Xiaoxi wasn’t the type to do something like that!

Ye Xinglan didn’t take it seriously either. She knew a Magical Girl’s daily duties mainly involved patrol shifts.

Maybe today Xiaoxi and Muxingge happened to be on patrol and decided to grab lunch together?

That said, neither of them moved forward to greet them; instead, they stood still, observing from where they were.

At that moment, Xiaoxi sat down next to Muxingge, resignedly picking up another French fry.

“Don’t make that face! Don’t you know what ‘smile service’ means?”

Xiaoxi forced a smile, but Muxingge wasn’t interested in the offered fry.

“If you love me so much, how am I supposed to eat? Don’t you know you have to cool it down first?”

Xiaoxi carefully blew on the fry twice, silently praying Muxingge wouldn’t make a fuss again. Finally, Muxingge stopped nitpicking and bit into the fry with a sour expression.

Of course, Ye Xinglan and Sweet Xin, standing some distance away, couldn’t hear this exchange.

But from their vantage point, the back-and-forth looked pretty sweet.

Sweet Xin quietly gasped. Having lunch together was nothing unusual between friends, but this kind of feeding interaction was exactly what couples did on dates!

And judging by their expressions, Xiaoxi seemed to be the one doting on Muxingge… Sweet Xin didn’t dare think any further.

Ye Xinglan frowned. Although she firmly didn’t believe Xiaoxi would do anything wrong, she couldn’t help but recall Mo Lan’er’s warning from yesterday.

“A girl as outstanding as the miss rejected her confession before… could it be that she’s secretly maintaining an improper relationship with another girl?”

“Xinglan, Xinglan, look at this!”

Sweet Xin nudged Ye Xinglan and handed over her phone. It showed a new update from Xiaoxi’s author account on the Pineapple Bun Novel app.

The caption read: “Went out with a friend today, also took the chance to learn how to be an obedient maid.”

The photo attached showed Xiaoxi and Muxingge standing together in the commercial plaza.

Muxingge smiled kindly, arm draped over Xiaoxi’s shoulder, while Xiaoxi—wearing the maid outfit—had her face pixelated, her hands making a peace sign nervously.

Ye Xinglan’s eyes widened. She recalled how she confessed to Xiaoxi and was rejected, and the last time Xiaoxi said she was hiding something with a look full of unspeakable troubles.

Now that expression finally made sense.

So that was what she’d been hiding. This relationship wasn’t just improper—it was borderline unhealthy! Xiaoxi actually had this kind of hobby!

Muxingge wanted to publicly punish Xiaoxi, that little rascal, but since she had to maintain her idol image, she couldn’t act rashly.

So Muxingge forced Xiaoxi to post this update as a subtle hint that the author had been severely reprimanded.

Unsurprisingly, the comments blew up instantly.

“Holy crap, did I see that right? Is this Muxingge photoshopped in? First time I’ve seen a fanfiction author actually take a photo with the original character. What kind of background does this author have?”

“Maybe the author and Muxingge are really friends? That’s why the author dares to openly write this kind of story!”

“I think you’re wrong. The caption clearly means the author got caught and punished hard by Muxingge! So there really is a risk of original characters finding out about fanfiction, lol.”

“Why is my focus different? Doesn’t anyone think the author looks pretty cute in that maid outfit? Didn’t expect such a cute girl wrote this fanfiction!”

“How do you know it’s not a cross-dressing guy? What if the author is a guy pretending to be a girl? Hard to imagine a girl writing this kind of fanfic.”

“Replying to the last comment: no need to guess, the author is a girl. There was a book signing at Summersea City Comic Con a few days ago—I went and signed, the author is definitely female!”

The comments erupted in excitement, and the number of bookmarks for Xiaoxi’s book surged as well.

Ye Xinglan just frowned at the photo of Muxingge’s arm around Xiaoxi’s shoulder, feeling an inexplicable discomfort.

Of course, Xiaoxi had no idea about all this. Under Muxingge’s constant nitpicking, she had barely managed to help Muxingge finish the lunch, and then carefully wiped her mouth with a napkin. Only then did the matter end.

“Alright, that’s enough. I’m not the type to cling on endlessly,” Muxingge said as she grabbed her bag. “But don’t use real events to rewrite the story again. Next time, you’re dead meat!”

Xiaoxi nodded vigorously, like a pestle pounding garlic. Actually, she had almost finished writing Muxingge’s backstory. It was hard to come up with more now.

In fact, at first, she wrote like that because she wasn’t familiar with web novel writing conventions.

After some study, she clearly understood how to craft plots that readers liked… in other words, she no longer needed to base the story on real events.

“I should’ve invited Xiaohongmao and Shandie out today too. It’s rare we all get together. Do you have anywhere you want to go?”

“I want to go pick out a ring for my girlfriend as a confession gift…”

Muxingge curled her lips, recalling the girl who told her to hold back in the underground parking lot. These two really were close.

“Fine, I’ll go with you. But you two are already together, so why buy a confession gift?”

“Because… because last time Xinglan confessed to me, so I feel like I should confess to her in return.”

Xiaoxi wasn’t lying—last time Ye Xinglan confessed first, so it made sense for Xiaoxi to return the confession.

Muxingge sneered. Such a hobby… It was already impressive for a fanfic writer like her to have such a beautiful girlfriend, but for the other party to confess first? She really couldn’t understand it.

Still, these two were ridiculously lovey-dovey. Because one confessed, the other had to confess back… To someone like Muxingge, just hearing that sounded like a hassle.

Muxingge accompanied Xiaoxi through the jewelry store for a long while. Xiaoxi finally settled on a pair of moon and star-shaped rings.

They were couple’s rings—perfect for a confession in her opinion—and just within her budget. The unexpected income from the comic con gave Xiaoxi some extra confidence.

“Here are your rings,” the cashier smiled, handing over the boxed rings. “May I ask if these are for a confession?”

“Y-yeah… for a confession…” Xiaoxi stammered.

“Oh, in that case, I recommend the flower shop three doors down to the right. Their flowers and service are excellent. Wishing you success in your confession.”

The cashier winked mischievously.

After thanking her and putting the rings away, Muxingge looked around for the flower shop the clerk mentioned. “So… should we check out that flower shop she mentioned?”

“Eh? No need, right? You already bought the confession gift.”

Xiaoxi’s words made Muxingge’s eyes widen in disbelief.

“You mean, when you confess, you’re only prepared with this ring? No other gifts?”

“W-what else should I prepare?”

Muxingge truly couldn’t believe it. Xiaoxi’s straightforwardness went beyond what she imagined. It was hard to picture someone like that being confessed to first by a girl!

“You… never mind,” Muxingge didn’t know how to explain. “Alright, treat me like your confession target and practice once. I want to see how you plan to confess.”

At that moment, Sweet Xin, who was watching from a distance as the two exited the jewelry store with their purchases, breathed a sigh of relief.

“I think we might be overthinking this. Look, they just came out of the jewelry store. Isn’t it possible Muxingge just came with Xiaoxi to pick out a commemorative gift for you? Like what we do together? So that’s why she lied about the reason at the gate.”

Ye Xinglan nodded. Sweet Xin’s reasoning made sense, but she still felt a lingering discomfort. She had originally trusted Xiaoxi unconditionally—after all, Xiaoxi said she liked her—but…

Biting her lip, Ye Xinglan subtly glanced at Sweet Xin and confirmed that her friend’s spiritual power wasn’t focused on her.

Underneath Ye Xinglan, a small patch of dark shadow began to writhe.

Though Mo Lan’er had repeatedly warned her never, ever to use the Blood Moon Witch’s power outside, today was a special case!

Ye Xinglan just wanted to verify if there really was something improper between them. One secret use of her ability shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Ye Xinglan carefully controlled her magic output. From a corner close enough for Xiaoxi and Muxingge not to notice, a slender tentacle emerged from the swirling black sludge, gently swaying.

Xiaoxi took a deep breath, opened the ring box, and held out the ring directly.

“Um… I-I like you. Let’s go out.”

The slender tentacle recoiled as if struck by lightning, slowly retreating without hearing Muxingge’s reply.

“…Are you afraid Xinglan will accept your confession? Do you really think this is romantic?”