Chapter 33: Tangled Bonds and Hidden Truths

When Jiang Lingwei lay down inside the instrument chamber, someone in a prestigious high school located nearly half a city away was calculating how much time was left until lunch.

“Gurgle…”

Leaning on the desk, Jiang Yao rubbed her stomach.

Hmm, a bit hungry.

(When does class end…)

Not exactly the image of a beautiful girl, she rubbed her cheek against the desk. Turning onto her side and propping her head up with one arm, Jiang Yao decided to try and nap a little longer.

The effect of the peach blossom brew seemed to still linger. Normally, she could fall asleep quickly in class, but this time it just wasn’t happening.

It made the girl somewhat nostalgic for her own pillow.

Yes, she usually brought a pillow to class. Keeping her arm pressed down was not only uncomfortable but also made her arm go numb.

But since her mother had woken up, she had to put away such comforts and restrain herself more in class, unable to be too unruly.

Although her mother never really asked about her grades, if she went too far, the teachers would definitely call home, and that wouldn’t look good.

Losing face in front of her mother… she couldn’t just assassinate the teacher over that.

That would be far from the image of a magical girl!

“Yawn.”

She yawned, not because she was tired, but simply trying to summon sleepiness.

Besides, she needed to get through the day quickly—she still had to go to the bureau and pick up Xiaobai.

Yesterday, she had promised Mingxin to pick Xiaobai up, but she was too busy rushing home to check on her mother’s condition. Her mind was full of worry and completely forgot about Xiaobai.

And then? Naturally, she had been watching her mother’s beautiful sleeping face until dawn!

After falling asleep, her mother was very peaceful—probably because she was sleeping on the sofa, and after all she had gone through, there was a serene yet delicate beauty about her, tinged with a subtle tension.

Several times, her mother’s brows furrowed slightly, as if struggling not to open her eyes.

It scared Jiang Yao terribly. She hurried to fetch a handkerchief to wipe sweat and stared at her mother, afraid she might have nightmares like on TV dramas—cold sweats, trembling, vomiting, and so on.

This went on until around midnight. After watching her mother for a long time, finally, after a stiff moment, her mother fully relaxed, her head tilted to the side.

Her breathing evened out.

Only then did the girl truly relax.

Because except for her childhood years living with her grandmother downstairs, Jiang Yao had lived alone for a long time and had little experience taking care of others.

Her mother’s previous coma… was hard to describe. Apart from the faint but stable breathing, no matter how much she hated to admit it, sometimes Jiang Yao felt like she was talking to a corpse.

That was why she was so shocked and overjoyed when her mother woke up—like a dead loved one resurrected, a miraculous wonder.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but mutter silently that the demon’s death was well-deserved. That Aurora should have been reduced to ashes by light magic; that would have been a humane destruction.

You see, it even caused her mother to have nightmares! Adding insult to injury!

“Plop.”

A small paper ball landed by her desk, interrupting her thoughts.

“?”

Jiang Yao reached out with her right hand for a pen and tore open the paper ball with her left:

【What’s wrong with you?】

“???”

Jiang Yao looked at the tiny writing on the paper, tilting her head slightly. She glanced at Lin Yu, who was still attentively listening to the lesson, throwing her a questioning look.

Lin Yu was still focused on the teacher’s board notes, holding a pen and jotting down notes from time to time, as if she hadn’t just thrown a paper ball.

As if she couldn’t stand Jiang Yao’s gaze any longer, she finally turned her head, furrowing her brows and quickly giving a “hurry up and reply” look before turning back to be the good student.

“Hmm.”

No big deal. Lin Yu often acted strangely—more spirited than Jiang Yao, who was a magical girl. She was used to it.

Since she had nothing better to do, she decided to answer honestly.

So, she picked up her pen and wrote in the blank space below:

“To Crazy Master, this young lady is currently fine, no issues.”

“Plop.”

The paper ball was tossed back, but the reply would take some time.

Unlike Jiang Yao, who relied on her good grades to act completely unfazed in class—never causing trouble but firmly refusing to listen—Lin Yu, though also sneaky, still maintained her good student image in public.

She fully respected classroom discipline and teacher dignity (thumbs up).

Sure enough, after a while, when the teacher turned to write on the blackboard again, the paper ball arrived right on time.

【This class is math, and the last one before noon. You usually fall asleep quickly. Why are you sleeping so slowly this time? Is something bothering you?】

Below that was another line:

【Also! Don’t call me Crazy Master! (angry little round face drawing)】

Holding the paper ball, Jiang Yao scratched her head, stunned for a moment, then wrote:

“Are you really that concerned about whether I sleep in class?”

After tossing it back, she was met with Lin Yu’s glare of anger.

After a long time, she threw another paper ball over:

“Forget it—I! Don’t! Care! I mainly want to ask if you want to go for coffee after school?”

“Mm~ mm~”

Stretching inside the chamber-like instrument, Jiang Lingwei lifted her head, opened the lid, and rubbed her eyes, speaking groggily:

“The repair effect is good, but it doesn’t feel as good as recovery magic. Big Brother North Wind, Big Brother North Wind? Sister Xiaoquan? Where’s Sister Xiaoquan?”

“Sister Xiaoquan is here.”

Wenya Quan, resting her leg clad in black stockings on the fully reclined ergonomic chair, said:

“But… sigh, look at my hands, what year is it now?”

“It’s the second… I’m awake, I’m awake.”

Jiang Lingwei rubbed her face with her fists a few times to fully clear her head, then climbed out of the machine, realizing the time and place:

“What a long dream… how long did I sleep?”

“Not long, three hours—the checkup took half an hour scanning everything, the rest was just a lazy cat refusing to get up. Didn’t sleep well last night?”

“Ah… a little.”

Jiang Lingwei put on her shoes:

“You know, I’ve always been used to sleeping alone.”

“Not used to sleeping with your daughter? Well, psychologically, your personality type apparently makes it easier for you to fall asleep in small spaces.”

Though mostly she had avoided living with others to keep distance—except in special situations using “personal habit” as an excuse—Jiang Lingwei really did prefer sleeping alone. Having someone else around made it harder to sleep, especially when feeling the burning gaze even without their eyes open.

But, as a magical girl, a clear personality was normal, and people mostly accepted and respected it even if they didn’t understand.

The main thing was that Jiang Lingwei hadn’t expected Yao Yao to be so energetic. (Half annoyed)

After getting up, she looked down at the instrument that could accommodate her entire body:

“This thing is like the medical pod you made back then.”

“Correct, it’s a modified version of that.”

Wenya Quan handed over a stack of papers:

“This is your report.”

“Uh… I don’t understand. Dr. Wen, can you just tell me the result? I can handle it.”

Jiang Lingwei was overwhelmed just looking at it and pushed it back.

“Alright, the result is, patient Ha Jiwei… you really are something…”

Wenya Quan said slowly, her serious expression making Jiang Lingwei hold her breath.

“You’re basically human.”

“….”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be!” (annoyed)