“No? Where did you get that conclusion from?”
Feng Ling was almost amused to the point of anger.
At first, she was almost fooled by her, thinking she was about to face social death, but it turned out to be such a baffling conclusion.
But Feng Ling’s reaction, in Lian Ge’s eyes, was textbook guilt.
Even if Feng Ling retorted, it only proved she was well-trained in pretending to be calm.
Lian Ge thus unilaterally judged Feng Ling’s behavior and instead became even gentler, trying to comfort her.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
“But I’m really not…”
“Then can you undo your transformation?”
She tilted her head slightly, looking at Feng Ling as if it were obvious.
“You already know my real identity, so it’s fine for me to know yours, right? Just to make it even.”
“I, I…”
Feng Ling had been about to mock Lian Ge for getting the doxing wrong, but her voice soon caught in her throat as she realized a serious problem.
She really couldn’t prove that she wasn’t a Demon Beast.
“I, why should I prove to you that I’m not a Demon Beast? Who do you think you are?”
Although Feng Ling acted righteous, in Lian Ge’s eyes it was pure guilt.
Feng Ling’s answer played right into Lian Ge’s hands.
If Feng Ling weren’t a Demon Beast, she could easily undo her transformation.
But she refused, and couldn’t give a credible explanation.
Lian Ge reinforced this logical chain in her mind, becoming even more convinced of her judgment.
Feng Ling herself knew her explanation was unconvincing, and she couldn’t shake off the clinging Lian Ge, so she simply landed on a random rooftop and pointed at her, warning fiercely:
“Don’t follow me anymore! Even if I am a Demon Beast, does that give you the right to monitor me?”
However, in Lian Ge’s eyes, such a warning was clearly just pouting.
It was like the kind of person often seen in novels: afraid of hurting others and afraid of being hurt, so they build a high wall around their heart, not allowing anyone to enter.
She faced the world with thorns, not because she didn’t yearn for warmth, but because she yearned too much, to the point of fearing loss.
And a companion like that should be reformed with the love of a Magical Girl.
Lian Ge’s eyes lit up at that moment, and the sense of mission as a Magical Girl enveloped her.
She strengthened her conviction: she would use the purest love and friendship to melt the high wall built around Feng Ling’s heart.
“No, I followed because I wanted to be friends with you.”
She walked forward a few steps.
Feng Ling instinctively stepped back half a step, but she didn’t anticipate Lian Ge’s movement and didn’t firmly step back further, so she was embraced by Lian Ge.
Lian Ge’s arms wrapped around Feng Ling’s back, her hand circling to gently rest on the opposite shoulder.
Feng Ling’s body stiffened in her embrace, her hands still hanging in the air.
Their bodies were pressed so close in that moment.
Lian Ge’s heartbeat and warmth came through their chests pressed together…
Feng Ling’s face instantly flushed red.
Feng Ling shook her head and quickly reacted, wanting to resist Lian Ge with action, but Lian Ge released her hands at that moment and stepped back several steps.
Feng Ling’s elbow strike hit nothing.
Lian Ge, ignoring Feng Ling’s puffed-up expression and her gesture of wanting to hit her, just spoke to herself, even becoming self-impressed again.
“Sorry, I know you might still have reservations about me, maybe you can’t yet open your heart to me, but…”
Lian Ge showed a bright smile.
“I’ll always be on your side.”
“Who wants to believe you? Who wants you on my side?”
“Still willing to share rent with me?”
“Get lost! No!”
But Feng Ling was the one who got lost first.
Taking advantage of Lian Ge’s relentlessness easing up, afraid that if she didn’t leave she’d be interpreted in even stranger ways by Lian Ge, she fled almost in panic.
With a push of her foot, she shot off like an arrow toward the distant horizon.
This time Lian Ge didn’t follow.
She stood on the rooftop, watching the fleeing cyan figure grow smaller among the buildings until it became a speck of light, finally merging completely into the perfect dusk.
The wind brought faint chimes from afar, blowing through her blue hair.
The sound soon faded away, leaving only the city’s clamor.
Indeed, to melt the barriers in someone’s heart, deeper friendship is needed.
“Feng Ling, I will definitely save you.”
Lian Ge looked at the sky where Feng Ling had disappeared, murmuring to herself.
…
This was the most stressful time since Feng Ling became a Magical Girl.
She circled over the city several times, repeatedly confirming Lian Ge hadn’t followed, before carefully landing on an empty rooftop.
She didn’t dare undo her transformation as casually as before.
She entered the stairwell, leaned her back against the door leading to the rooftop, and gripped the blue gem on the bow at her chest.
After undoing the transformation, Jiang Zhu was drenched in sweat.
He covered his head and slipped into the rental room, locked the door, drew the curtains, and collapsed onto the bed.
But even though Lian Ge gave him such a headache, he still had no solution.
But… actually, there was a way.
Since Lian Ge had already decided that he was a Demon Beast, he could simply go along with her train of thought.
Whatever Lian Ge thought, that’s what it was.
Pretend that he really was a small Demon Beast with a rough background, hiding his identity nervously in the human world, gain her sympathy, lower her guard, and maybe even use her protective instinct to secure more freedom for himself.
With luck, he could even rope Lian Ge into working together.
The captain’s popularity was much higher than his.
Bundling them together would mean double the traffic, double the income…
But even Jiang Zhu wasn’t thick-skinned enough for that.
So unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to treat his childhood friend this way.
He didn’t want to be that kind of person—at least, not toward Lin Ciwei.
So the only feasible solution was the delaying tactic.
As long as he kept his distance from Lian Ge, waited for this hype to die down, waited for Lian Ge to realize that Feng Ling wasn’t some pitiful soul needing rescue, and when things returned to normal and she started cursing him again, maybe this matter would fizzle out.
After barely coming up with a plan for this major headache, Jiang Zhu had the leisure to think about other things.
Jiang Zhu lit up his phone.
On it was today’s meager earnings from gig work—a pathetic hundred bucks.
If Lian Ge kept clinging to him like today, he wouldn’t be able to earn money.
Jiang Zhu looked at his pitiful income and was mentally refining the details of the “Avoid the Plague God” operation when his phone suddenly lit up.
The caller ID on the screen made him sit up reflexively.
It was his mom again.
“She’s not calling about the matchmaking again, is she?”
Jiang Zhu swallowed his saliva, swiped to answer, and mentally rehearsed how to reply.
“Mom, what’s up?”
“How did things go with Xiao Lin yesterday?”
Jiang Zhu sighed inwardly, weighed his words, and finally chose an answer that neither lied nor committed: “Uh… hard to say.”
“Hard to say?”
Seeing that his mother was about to get angry, Jiang Zhu quickly handled it:
“Mainly we haven’t seen each other in too long, there might be some conflicts in values… Of course I want to get along with Xiao Lin, but she probably has a pretty bad impression of me…”
Jiang Zhu said, half-truthfully.
“So, regarding the marriage with Xiao Lin, you’re willing subjectively, right?”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Jiang Zhu nodded vigorously at the air.
“As long as you have no problem…”
The voice on the other end relaxed.
“Today I exchanged information with Auntie again, Xiao Lin has a pretty good impression of you too. Let’s arrange another get-together this weekend.”
“Good impression of me? How is that possible?”
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