After finishing her morning wash, while Jiang Cheng was also freshening up, Jiang Lingwei took the opportunity to gently probe, asking what exactly had happened last night.
As the owner of the magic core herself, she had fiddled with it for quite a while without any response.
Could it be that the magic inside was a one-time thing, and whoever triggered it first wouldn’t let others replay it? Or was it specially prepared for Jiang Cheng?
Wasn’t it her own magic core! How outrageous!
(Damn it, I’m so curious. What in the world was it?)
When Jiang Lingwei asked, Jiang Cheng just fell silent for two seconds before giving some vague, “I really haven’t figured out how to say it yet, sorry, little Wei,” kind of answer.
So what could Jiang Lingwei do? Of course, she forgave him.
If there really was something she needed to know that would help her now, Jiang Lingwei believed Jiang Cheng would definitely tell her.
Since it wasn’t much help to her, and he didn’t want to talk about it but promised to tell her later—
Then what was the point in forcing him? Enjoying the last holiday was the real truth.
She had decided to fulfill her friend’s entrustment, but at least, until she had taught her daughter everything she could, Jiang Lingwei wouldn’t truly set out on her journey and leave.
She just changed into a new set of clothes and stuffed some sunscreen and the like into her crossbody bag.
Sometimes, school uniforms were fine, but women’s mature clothes either had no pockets, fake pockets, or pockets so tiny as to be useless.
It forced Jiang Lingwei to buy a crossbody bag for her phone and other things. As for luggage, there was no need to bring any—the hotel room was already booked for two days, and when Wen Yaquan arrived, they could adjust as needed. Glancing at her phone, her daughter seemed to already be waiting on the first floor, so she and Jiang Cheng just needed to head down.
Anyway, it was easy to book hotels or guesthouses in Canghai City, so there was nothing to worry about.
Even now during summer vacation, which was indeed peak travel season.
But with the magical side threats looming in the broader environment, no matter what, the number of people traveling was nothing compared to times of peace.
Many people simply chose to stay in their own cities—after all, there were City Magical Girls there to protect them.
As for the tourist spots and highways and railways, since Magical Girls were constantly working hard, there hadn’t been any serious casualties, but every year, those dark bugs still kept trying to launch sneak attacks.
Especially those reckless folks who wandered off to deserted places and then got caught by Dark Fairies or Magic Beasts.
If the victims in the former situation had certain talents, they might be corrupted and turned into demihumans or the like, causing even greater chaos.
If it was the latter, well, you basically ended up as Magic Beast poop.
That could be considered dying as you deserved.
Some people must wonder—knowing full well there are all these dangers in this world, why do these people still seek out trouble?
All that can be said is, humans are just like that. With such a huge population base, there will always be many people whose brains work differently than most.
You have to remember, even before the dark side invaded Earth, there were always people who saw the [No Trespassing] signs on the roadside fences and still arrogantly climbed over into deep forests or areas with dangerous wild animals.
And in the end, it always required teams of rescuers with medics to expend time and effort to scour the mountains to save them.
In summary, it always ends in either causing trouble for others or ending up as poop. From this angle, with or without the dark invasion, these people were always going to seek trouble, so nothing’s changed.
Canghai City isn’t some famous big city—normally, not many people come here for vacation.
0
When Jiang Lingwei picked this place, she had exactly this in mind. If you had to say, the only real advantage here was the sea.
A rather safe sea.
But even that sense of safety was ruined by the lost Great Shark King that wandered in.
The Canghai City Bureau of Culture and Tourism must be absolutely livid.
Fortunately, she and Jiang Yao were here… and count in Sha Chong, who suddenly swooped in at the end and snatched some credit.
Thankfully, there were three Magical Girls here, or it wouldn’t just be the tourism bureau going crazy.
That’s how it is in small cities: while they’re unlikely to be targets of dark invasions, Magical Girls do come by to patrol, and some lucky places even get assigned a rookie Magical Girl.
But attacks aren’t impossible.
Big cities are a different story.
For the dark trash, big cities are more conspicuous targets. The many Magical Girls and the magical tools created by Light Fairies, all the human information and emotions, and the Bureau’s secrets and knowledge all make them drool. But big cities have top-tier defenses and a better standard of living, too.
And here’s a counterintuitive fact: because of how supplies are distributed, living expenses in big or priority cities are actually lower than in ordinary cities.
So, most people want to live in big cities.
If the strict residency registration system hadn’t been reinstated after the Dark Cataclysm, limiting population movement and with the total population plummeting, those cities would probably have burst at the seams by now.
“We’re out.”
Having rescued the bored little Bai, who was spinning herself on Jiang Lingwei’s fingertip like a ball, Jiang Lingwei had changed into a fresher dress and walked up to her daughter.
“Sorry, we woke up late.”
“It’s fine, Mom.”
Hearing Jiang Lingwei apologize too, Jiang Yao said:
“You too, and Dad too, you don’t need to apologize to me. We just slept a little longer, that’s all. It’s nothing, there’s plenty of summer vacation left, and it’s not like I’m going to do my summer homework… uh.”
“Ah?”
“No, I mean…”
The girl, realizing she’d let something slip, felt a pang of anxiety.
(Oh no! If Mom thinks I’m a bad kid…)
She hurriedly looked up at Jiang Lingwei and explained nervously:
“It’s not that I’m not going to do it, I’m just going to do it slowly, steadily, with rhythm and planning, coordinating the big picture, writing responsibly…”
“Alright, alright.”
Jiang Lingwei grinned and flicked her daughter on the forehead.
“Ow!”
Watching her daughter rub her head, she said proudly:
“Don’t worry, Mom never did that stuff either.”
“Wow, really!”
Jiang Yao hadn’t expected not to be scolded and, on top of that, discovered a surprising similarity with her mother. She looked at her in admiration:
“What about practical assignments?”
“What’s the point of those? Not doing them, nope.”
“Wow!”
“Heh heh heh heh.”
She shamelessly harvested another round of her daughter’s adoration.
With her hands on her hips, Jiang Lingwei felt refreshed and elated.
“That’s not really a good example.”
Beside her, Jiang Cheng muttered softly:
“That’s not how you teach a kid.”
“Have you ever done summer homework?”
Her moment of pride interrupted, Jiang Lingwei shot him a glance. “What a joke.”
Jiang Cheng immediately changed sides, putting his hands on his hips too:
“Where would I even do it?”
“Let’s go!”
Nodding with satisfaction, Jiang Lingwei pressed down her white lace sunhat, fished sunglasses out of her pocket, and strode ahead through the hotel’s revolving door:
“Let’s head out!”
Their first stop was Canghai City’s famous Maohuili Bun Shop.
A local Canghai brand, and the taste was authentic. (thumbs up)
They took an unmanned taxi, and soon arrived at the bun shop.
The shop was big, and it wasn’t just a breakfast place—it stayed open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
For a local food attraction, there weren’t too many people—just full, but still with empty seats.
Jiang Lingwei spotted several tourists who were obviously from out of town, but about half the customers seemed to be local elderly and middle-aged folks dining there.
That discovery reassured her.
If the locals ate here, that meant Maohuili Bun Shop wasn’t just a trap for outsiders.
She pulled Jiang Yao to find a spot and sat together while Jiang Cheng went to the counter to order buns. — They hadn’t specified what fillings to get; as long as Jiang Cheng could eat it, it was fine to get several kinds and try them all.
If something tasted bad, just hand it to Jiang Cheng, then snatch the delicious ones back over to her side (J”
As ordinary friends who could sleep together and hug together—and who had a daughter—she could eat Jiang Cheng’s or let him try hers, neither minded.
While waiting, Jiang Lingwei suddenly noticed someone.
Next to her, Jiang Yao suddenly straightened up, obviously noticing too.
There was no way not to notice.
After all, in a place with this temperature and in this shop, a tall woman in a trench coat and a cowboy hat really stood out. Not just them—other people kept glancing over, too.
The only one who seemed unaware of how outlandish her getup was, sitting there with her cowboy hat pressed low, munching on buns.
She looked like she wanted to just sprawl out on the table and eat.
Only one person could act like that.
Mother and daughter, one twitched the left corner of her mouth, the other the right, and at the same time, they silently said in their hearts:
(Isn’t that Sha Chong!)