Chapter 35: Heart

“Checkmate.”

Jiang Lingwei raised her hand, making a move that completely trapped Wen Yanquan’s king, instantly breaking into a triumphant smile. “Hehehehe, looks like my prowess hasn’t diminished one bit since back then.”

“Tch.”

Wen Yanquan packed away the chess pieces and pouted. “I lost because I was goofing off. I haven’t really touched this game in years, except for that one time when a pawn crossed the river. My old man Lin is a terrible player too. Let me practice a bit more, and then we’ll have a real rematch!”

Jiang Lingwei, still grinning crookedly, suddenly shifted into a Dio-like expression:

“Too weak, too weak. Jiang Lingwei is the strongest Xiangqi player. Even after all these years, my ‘skills’ and ‘strategy’ will beat your little Yanquan star every time.”

“Hoho… your so-called strategy is just distracting me with idle chatter? What a pity for my one hundred and fifty thousand ebony pieces.”

As for why these two smoothly switched into chess mode…

Well, it’s obvious. Jiang Lingwei’s situation could be described as stuck in a deadlock.

Pushing forward on any front — whether personal feelings or the reality of the situation — had hit a bottleneck.

Jiang Lingwei was not the scholarly type. She knew very well that if something couldn’t be solved for the time being, worrying about it was pointless.

Just like in the past when, even after failure, she could rally herself first and inspire others to do the same, she preferred to think about the future rather than get stuck on the powerless present and what had already happened.

Wen Yanquan shared a similar temperament. Putting aside some of her… extreme ideas, she was overall a reliable researcher.

When it came to confirmed matters, Wen Yanquan was cautious and serious, but she wouldn’t stubbornly dig herself into a dead end.

That’s probably why she kept herself in good shape now instead of worrying over projects until her hair fell out like many in the lab.

— Of course, her “money powers” also played a part in that.

So, since the problem couldn’t be solved and all the necessary checks had been made, confirming that aside from Jiang Lingwei herself being fully human — which was a unique issue for a magical girl — there was nothing else out of the ordinary.

What else could they do? The situation was as it was. Time to play chess.

“The vast horizon is my love~”

Just as they were about to start another game, Wen Yanquan’s phone suddenly rang.

She instantly switched to business mode, took out her phone, and straightened up slightly.

“Hello? Who’s this?”

“…”

“Oh, alright. You want to leave it with the front desk? Have them put it in the warehouse. I’ll be there soon.”

Hanging up, Wen Yanquan stood up.

“Game’s off. I’ve got work now. The stuff I ordered just arrived. Follow me to that shop on Commercial Street — we can test something out there.”

“What is it?”

Jiang Lingwei also stood, a bit puzzled, following Wen Yanquan toward the steel gates they had entered through.

“Hehe.”

Wen Yanquan took off her white lab coat and hung it on the rack near the door, grinning mischievously.

“Let’s see how long you can maintain your transformed state without exerting any effort.”

“Huh?”

Opening the door, Wen Yanquan added,

“Oh, by the way, about your feeling that the demons are weak… I hadn’t really noticed since I hadn’t gone up to fight them myself. I’ll investigate these days, and if I find anything, I’ll let you know.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Lingwei nodded and followed behind. Just as they were about to step out, she suddenly grabbed Wen Yanquan’s arm, something she’d been hesitating over for a while.

“What’s wrong?”

Wen Yanquan looked back, noticing the stiffness in Jiang Lingwei’s expression, feeling a strange unease.

“Though it might be sudden, I thought about it and decided that before leaving here, there’s something I want to say to you.”

“…..”

“Can I?”

“…Go ahead.”

With permission, Jiang Lingwei looked into Wen Yanquan’s slightly anxious brown eyes and said softly:

“Sister Xiaoquan… you can keep doing what you need to do. I believe you understand much more than I do, but I want to remind you that some things cannot be accomplished with a researcher’s ‘heart.’”

(!!!)

The moment the words left her mouth, Wen Yanquan’s mind flashed with the image of that ninja-clad girl — kunai in her left hand, cross-shaped sickle in her right — the eyes above the black mask silently, yet intently watching her.

That was Yunxia.

Her cross sickle named 【Extinction】 had stayed with her since she picked it up, while the kunai named 【Light】 was nowhere to be found.

She seemed to also see the old man sitting on a cushion, setting aside the chips and gently shaking his head.

(This fool… she figured it out? My experiment… that’s why I didn’t take it away back then…)

“I understand.”

Wen Yanquan’s voice became a little dry, even a bit timid.

She seemed to shrink slightly before Jiang Lingwei. Then, suddenly struck by a certain radiance emanating from her, Wen Yanquan lowered her head and quietly said:

“Little… Little Aurora… do you… still believe in me?”

“What are you talking about?”

Jiang Lingwei’s hand reached out and patted her head, sending a familiar, warm feeling through Wen Yanquan.

When she looked up again, the woman before her and that girl’s image gradually merged, smiling as they said:

“That goes without saying. Just do what you want to do.”

“No matter if there’s magic or not, we’re…”

“Partners fighting side by side.”

“Punishing all the darkness and evil in the world!”

“Magical Girl — 【Aurora】, reporting for duty!”

With a spirited announcement and a two-second transformation animation, the white and pink lights faded away, revealing the pink-clad magical girl standing in a small room on the top floor of a coffee shop.

Clap clap clap.

Beside her, Wen Yanquan applauded enthusiastically.

“No matter how you look at it, this form is more familiar. Welcome back, Little Aurora.”

“It’s still me…”

Jiang Lingwei helplessly blocked Wen Yanquan’s eager hands. “So, what’s next?”

“Hm… you’ve seen the barista girl stuff before, right?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Lingwei nodded. “I watched most of the barista girl videos and training available out there. It doesn’t seem like a big problem.”

“The main thing is, I don’t know which direction I should focus on. Those barista girls all have themes and personas that suit their cafes, so it’s just a matter of maintaining them.”

Although she was working for Wen Yanquan, who was practically her friend, Jiang Lingwei didn’t want to slack off just because of old friendships.

She had done her homework — practiced facial expressions, prepared for various psychological scenarios — all during the relatively calm days last week.

Even if Wen Yanquan didn’t care about the money, Jiang Lingwei had to maintain a proper attitude.

“In that case — tada~”

Wen Yanquan pulled out a set of clothes from a box. “No time like the present. Let’s try these on today.”

“Eh?”

Jiang Lingwei was surprised. “Going straight for the real deal?”

“Of course. Since I haven’t seen them, I don’t know how to train you. You’ll just have to wing it.”

Wen Yanquan put her hands on her hips confidently.

“Huh?!”

Meanwhile, two schoolgirls carrying backpacks were walking toward Commercial Street.

The street wasn’t far from their school — just a fifteen-minute walk. Many students, especially on Friday after school, would come here to shop, eat, or play various murder mystery games.

“So you want to check out the new staff your mom hired? I was wondering why you suddenly invited me out for coffee.”

Jiang Yao shrugged her backpack straps. “Your mom’s such a big boss, doesn’t she have plenty of employees? Why suddenly care about this one?”

“It’s different.” Lin Yu shook her head. “Actually, I want to keep an eye on my mom. She’s been working on some barista girl project these days. That girl — my mom says she’s a good friend, but I know she’s unreliable in many ways. What if she scares everyone off and the whole thing falls apart? I saw it last time I came.”

“You mean that one you talked about? The one your mom says is her friend even though she’s our age?”

“Yeah.”

“…And she made such an impression on you you even dreamed about her at night? Weird — you never dreamed about me.”

“Who said I never dreamed about you… don’t mind me!”

Lin Yu shook her head, pushing the absurd dream of her old friend turning into a magical girl knight out of her mind.

“Anyway, even if I didn’t find that girl impressive, I still want to come help my mom.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Yao nodded, starting to think.

“What are you thinking about?”

Seeing her so quickly getting into the mood, Lin Yu asked curiously.

“I’m thinking about whether you’ll buy me matcha cake or chocolate cake later.”

“Hmph.💢”

“See? Mainly because you mentioned that person and I haven’t met her yet. When I do, I’ll help you check her out.”

Seeing Lin Yu sulk, Jiang Yao said helplessly,

“…Let’s go.”

With that, Lin Yu quickened her pace.

After a while, she suddenly asked:

“Which cake do you like?”