When the Astrologer told them to find a way to get on Silver Bell’s good side quickly, Xiaoxi didn’t take it to heart at all.
After all, nobody knew better than she did how to deal with Silver Bell.
But she didn’t expect that being too at ease would lead to suspicion. Facing Ye Xinglan’s questioning gaze, Xiaoxi coughed twice, feigning composure.
“I… I just guessed. She clearly has social anxiety, right? People like that are usually afraid of rejecting others.”
“Then how did you know her hobbies?” Ye Xinglan’s confusion only grew. “You can’t just guess something like that.”
“That was… well, Eternal Star Senior told me during special training! I really admire the other S-Rank Magical Girls besides her, so I pestered her with questions.”
Ye Xinglan still frowned. Although Xiaoxi’s answer was reasonable, it still felt off.
After all, telling an outsider a teammate’s personal information wasn’t exactly right.
Was Eternal Star really that kind of person?
But soon, her logic corrected itself, and her eyes lit up… That’s right, Eternal Star was exactly that kind of person!
Didn’t this just prove that Eternal Star was a scumbag with a terrible character?
“Hmph, telling someone else’s private business to an outsider — see, Xiaoxi, I told you long ago that Eternal Star is no good!”
“Haha, she really isn’t…”
Xiaoxi followed along with Ye Xinglan’s lead with a sheepish laugh, feeling a quiet sense of relief.
Luckily, she wasn’t just familiar with Silver Bell; she also knew Ye Xinglan’s character perfectly.
Her little girlfriend would trust Eternal Star unconditionally in this regard… that she was ‘no good.’
Twenty minutes later, Silver Bell knocked timidly at the door. It was clear she wanted to show she took the invitation seriously, as she had specially changed into very formal clothes.
But Silver Bell quickly realized that her outfit was out of place.
Both Xiaoxi and Ye Xinglan were wearing ordinary lounge clothes, and steaming food was already on the table.
Xiaoxi had put some effort into making three meat dishes, two vegetables, and one soup. It was a hearty spread, but still well within the realm of home-cooked meals.
“Um, that, I’m really sorry. Maybe I should go back and change my clothes before coming back…”
“No need, no need! We’re just happy you took us so seriously, Senior!”
Xiaoxi quickly grabbed Silver Bell’s arm and helped her into a seat.
She knew Silver Bell’s character too well; if she let her go back now, heaven only knew how long she would hesitate at home before coming back again.
In someone else’s home, eating a home-cooked meal with people she wasn’t familiar with — for Silver Bell, the debuffs were fully stacked.
If the Astrologer hadn’t been pressuring her so hard, Xiaoxi certainly wouldn’t have done this.
‘Wh-What should I do? Since it’s a home-cooked meal, should I compliment the food first? Or should I wait for them to pick up their chopsticks before I start… Ugh, no, I want to go home…’
Ye Xinglan watched Silver Bell curiously. Although Xiaoxi had warned her not to be too enthusiastic to avoid putting too much pressure on her, she still hadn’t quite believed that the Silver Dragon Princess would be this timid. But now, she believed it.
She and Xiaoxi hadn’t even done anything yet, and Silver Bell was already terrified. Perhaps it was to maintain her image in front of her juniors? Silver Bell forced herself to keep her back straight, looking almost… pitiful.
Xiaoxi really had guessed right. Even if they didn’t say anything, Silver Bell would create an awkward silence all by herself!
Catching a look from Xiaoxi, Ye Xinglan immediately followed the pre-arranged plan. She picked up a piece of meat, stuffed it into her mouth, and then stuck out her tongue.
“It’s not good. Xiaoxi, how have your cooking skills regressed so much?”
“What? You’re just too hard to please! What do you think, Senior?”
Silver Bell hurriedly stuffed a mouthful of vegetables into her mouth and nodded rapidly before she had even finished chewing.
“Mmm, I think it’s very delicious!”
The most difficult part had passed naturally. Xiaoxi didn’t try to get close to Silver Bell right away.
At the dining table, she only engaged in casual small talk on topics that were easy to respond to, such as “The weather is nice today” or “Work at the Association must be exhausting.”
Gradually, Silver Bell lowered her guard. Soon, Xiaoxi steered the conversation toward personal hobbies, but Silver Bell only gave vague responses.
“Well… I just play games or read books when I’m resting. I don’t really have any special hobbies, haha…”
Silver Bell had also been quietly observing the two of them. To her, Xiaoxi and Ye Xinglan were undoubtedly normies of the highest order.
She definitely couldn’t talk seriously about her shut-in hobbies; if she did, her juniors would look down on her, wouldn’t they?
‘After all, they are such a sweet little couple; they have to be normies. Talking to people like this really is stressful…’
“Oh? You like playing games too?” Ye Xinglan followed the pre-planned script with a smile. “What do you usually play?”
“Just… some anime-style Magical Girl games. It’s nothing worth mentioning.”
“What a coincidence! I play those too! I usually like to play…”
Hearing Ye Xinglan rattle off several currently popular Magical Girl games and a few galgames that only veterans would know, Silver Bell was visibly stunned.
These things shouldn’t be coming out of a normie’s mouth, right?
No, wait. What was even weirder was that this Ye Xinglan was the Blood Moon Witch, right?! Would she really be willing to play so many Magical Girl-themed games?!
Xiaoxi had the most to say about this. Initially, Ye Xinglan had indeed started playing with the intention of beating up Magical Girls.
But after playing for so long, the little rich girl, who lacked self-control, had long since been bewitched by gacha games.
She had now become a hardcore gacha fan who whaled on every new version to max out characters.
To put it bluntly, Ye Xinglan was now a total gacha addict.
Silver Bell actually felt even more pressure now. What if Ye Xinglan was the type of normie who liked to pretend she knew things?
Chatting with that kind of person was even more likely to result in a social landmine!
Ultimately, Silver Bell seemed to have a certain stereotype about normies.
She refused to believe that a sweet couple in real life could be into anime culture… Of course, Xiaoxi hadn’t expected it herself either.
Honestly, before meeting Ye Xinglan, she had no intention of finding a partner at all.
‘I-I guess I should just go along with what Ye Xinglan says. If I start a topic myself and they can’t keep up, won’t it be awkward?’
“Um, don’t you think the new character in this version is a total wheelchair character? The mechanics and stats have power-crept into another dimension! And they’re locking mechanics behind duplicates — it’s clearly just a cash grab!”
“The Abyss attributes released these past two weeks are the same. It’s obvious that no old characters can handle it except the new one. They’re doing it on purpose to annoy people…”
Ye Xinglan tapped the table, her tone quite indignant.
Silver Bell was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes instantly lit up.
‘Sister, you really do know your stuff!’