Hearing that they were from the Moxie Association, Su Ying hurriedly left the counter and jogged over, her face marked with nervousness.
“I—I’m the manager here. How can I help you all?”
Soon, Xiao Xi standing nearby figured out the situation.
After the café had been attacked by monsters before, the Association had given Su Ying compensation to help rebuild it.
This time, the Association’s people had come for a follow-up investigation.
Su Ying relaxed upon hearing this and put on her usual warm smile, welcoming them into the shop.
But Xiao Xi sensed that what the staff member said wasn’t entirely truthful. She discreetly glanced at the two magical girls trailing behind.
Why would a routine follow-up need magical girls to accompany them?
Since combat members like magical girls were present, it had to be to guard against potential battles… Xiao Xi immediately recalled what Miss L had told her about the Association planning a thorough search of places previously attacked by monsters.
Hmm, it seemed these people were here to investigate the monster attack.
Miss L hadn’t informed her of this mission probably because she knew Xiao Xi was working at the café and didn’t want to unnecessarily disrupt her shift.
Not far away, Ye Xinglan overheard the staff’s words and breathed a sigh of relief—it wasn’t her they were looking for.
Ye Xinglan actually wanted to leave immediately, especially since among the magical girls present was the Lark Songstress [Mu Xingge], someone she had interacted with many times before.
But she was also worried that leaving now would raise suspicion.
Since the others definitely wouldn’t recognize her as the Blood Moon Witch, it was better to just stay seated and keep her guard.
Before long, Su Ying led the staff behind the counter for the routine inspection, while the rest stayed in the café on standby.
Xiao Xi smiled and invited the remaining few to take a seat, then brought over some lemon water, putting on a top-notch customer service act.
When she set the water down in front of Little Red Riding Hood and Mu Xingge, Xiao Xi’s face held the usual professional smile.
Little Red Riding Hood only responded with a faint “Thank you,” her tone polite but distant, and both acted as if they were complete strangers.
Unfamiliar.jpg
After serving the water, Xiao Xi quietly returned to assist Ye Xinglan with the rest of the maid duties, never once letting her gaze linger on Mu Xingge.
Come to think of it, this was her first meeting with Mu Xingge without transforming. As long as she acted normal, Mu Xingge wouldn’t leave any impression on her as a mere café maid.
When Xiao Xi sat back down, she noticed Ye Xinglan staring at Mu Xingge not far away.
“Xiao Xi, that’s the [Lark Songstress] Mu Xingge.”
“Oh? I didn’t even recognize her,” Xiao Xi feigned surprise.
Ye Xinglan scoffed, You were writing fanfic about her last night, but now you can’t even recognize her during the day?
Xiao Xi scooped a small spoonful of cake and fed it to Ye Xinglan. While chewing, Ye Xinglan spoke in a normal voice.
“By the way, that person in your chat group is really annoying, Xiao Xi. I just gave some minor suggestions last night, and she jumped out asking if I had antisocial personality disorder.”
“Can’t you just kick her out?”
Xiao Xi’s eyes went wide instantly. What the heck, why are we suddenly talking about this?!
But if she didn’t reply, it would be odd, so she frantically gestured at Ye Xinglan with her eyes while trying to steady her voice.
“Ah ha… kicking people out just like that isn’t right, is it? Didn’t you argue back at her too?”
Ye Xinglan spoke loudly enough that her words floated into Mu Xingge’s ears. Normally, what others chatted about wasn’t her concern, but then she immediately thought of last night.
Last night, when she was idly scrolling through the “v Me 50 Crazy Thursday Insights” chat group, she happened to see someone post asking if there could be more scenes of Mu Xingge’s defeats, even listing several examples, which infuriated her enough to argue with the person.
Hmm… she did say to that person last night, “Do you have antisocial personality disorder? Why do you have to read this kind of content?”
Was it a coincidence? Mu Xingge glanced toward where the two were sitting.
Ye Xinglan noticed Xiao Xi’s frantic blinking. This time, instead of loudly asking if her eyes were hurting, she lowered her voice.
“What are you afraid of? We didn’t name names, and she’s not even in your reader group. How would she know what we’re talking about?”
Damn it…
Xiao Xi was at a loss for words.
She really wanted to tell Ye Xinglan that the person she argued with last night was Mu Xingge, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it—purely biting her tongue.
Before Xiao Xi could think of an excuse to shut Ye Xinglan up, Ye Xinglan continued with the same tone—still at normal volume.
“But your recent plots have been a bit boring. Your slime monster storyline was actually pretty good, you know?”
“Especially the part where the protagonist, because of carelessness, lost to the slime and got completely covered in its slimey body. And also, that tentacle monster plot before…”
Stop it! Don’t say anymore!
Xiao Xi’s face ached from all the eye signals she was throwing at Ye Xinglan, but the other clearly had no intention of stopping and kept chatting away.
“Why are you so timid?” Ye Xinglan lowered her voice again. “We’re just chatting normally.
She hasn’t read your work, and someone like her probably doesn’t even know you write fanfic about her.
What are you afraid of?”
Ye Xinglan was right. Right to the point where Xiao Xi couldn’t argue back.
The words “Mu Xingge has actually read it” stuck in her throat like a dry bun she couldn’t swallow, almost choking her.
You did that on purpose! You know perfectly well that the person in the chat is Mu Xingge, and you just want to get me into trouble, don’t you!
Ye Xinglan did it intentionally, but not to cause Xiao Xi harm.
After all, she didn’t actually know the person in the chat was Mu Xingge, nor that Mu Xingge had seen Xiao Xi’s fanfic.
Her only goal was to badmouth Mu Xingge right in front of her.
As the Blood Moon Witch, Ye Xinglan naturally hated everyone on the Eternal Stars team just as much as their enemies—let alone someone like Mu Xingge, with whom she had clashed countless times in battle.
She certainly couldn’t storm up and punch Mu Xingge now, but she could talk smack about her fanfic right in front of her, and Mu Xingge wouldn’t even realize what was being said.
Isn’t that awesome? It’s such a satisfying feeling—badmouthing your enemy right in front of them, while they remain clueless.