On Saturday evening, after finishing work with the Magical Girl Club, Shui Hua changed out of that eye-catching Magical Girl costume in the bathroom, folding it carefully and tucking it into an inconspicuous Shopping Bag.
Her outfit was replaced by the white long T-shirt and black skinny pants she had coordinated yesterday, her long hair left loose, making her look fresh and striking.
She carried the bag downstairs.
As expected, Anpelin was already waiting at their usual spot, hiding in the shadow of the building, absentmindedly spinning her parasol and half-shielding herself from the last rays of the setting sun.
“Perlin.”
“Wow.”
Anpelin looked up at the sound, her eyes immediately lighting up.
She curiously circled halfway around Shui Hua.
“You even changed into casual clothes today? Putting in extra effort?”
Shui Hua felt a little embarrassed under her gaze and subconsciously straightened her clothes.
“How… do I look in these clothes?”
“Of course you look great.”
Anpelin praised without hesitation, naturally linking arms and pulling Shui Hua under her parasol’s shade.
“You look good in anything, but today’s outfit is especially nice. It’s like a whole different style.”
“Thank you…”
Shui Hua relaxed quite a bit, the corners of her mouth curling up unconsciously.
“Let’s not eat noodles tonight. Let’s find a better place—I’ll treat you.”
“Let’s have hotpot, then!”
Anpelin suggested immediately.
“Nothing beats a lively meal.”
“Alright, let me see if there’s a good place nearby.”
The two quickly found a well-reviewed Hotpot Restaurant nearby and sat down.
The place was bustling with voices and steaming hot air, brimming with life.
Shui Hua placed the bag containing the Magical Girl costume carefully at her feet, on the wall side, making sure no one could see what was inside.
After using Scan-to-Order, Shui Hua scrolled through her phone, checking off her usual dishes.
Her eyes paused on “Duck Blood,” and suddenly, a rather nonsensical question popped into her mind.
“Hey, does eating duck blood help vampires suppress their urge to suck blood?”
“Pfft,” Anpelin was amused by the question, immediately putting on a “You’re asking the right person” expression.
“Believe it or not, I actually tried it. Once, I went quite a while without having any blood, and I was feeling a bit uncomfortable, so I wondered if duck blood could be a substitute. But it was useless. I even tried tomato juice later, but that didn’t help either. So far, nothing works as a replacement.”
“Oh… then should we skip the duck blood?”
“It doesn’t replace blood, but I like eating it!”
Anpelin said quickly.
“Alright then, let’s order extra duck blood.”
***
Not long after, the Red Oil Broth and various dishes started arriving at the table.
Shui Hua helped arrange the fresh Meat Rolls and Vegetables, waiting for the Broth Base to boil before they could enjoy dinner.
But as they waited, Shui Hua sipped her drink, eyes drifting.
She saw Wang Zeqi, Lin Ling, and Liu Shixing walk into the Hotpot Restaurant, and with a server’s guidance, sit at a table diagonally in front of them, not too far away.
No way… what are the odds?
Shui Hua almost spat out her drink.
“Yu Hua’s off on another date, leaving us Single Dogs to keep each other company,” Wang Zeqi said loudly as he sat down, slapping the menu onto the table.
“We’re not going to go easy on ourselves today—come on, order extra meat.”
“Yeah, let’s get more,” Liu Shixing agreed, raising her hand and skillfully ordering her usual amount on her phone.
Wang Zeqi watched the rapidly climbing bill and quickly tried to rein her in.
“Hey, are you really ordering that much? Look at your size—can you eat all that?”
“If we can’t finish, we’ll just stuff ourselves. Can’t let anyone go hungry,” Liu Shixing declared righteously.
Their gazes nearly landed on Shui Hua several times.
Shui Hua quickly shrank into the wide back of her chair, relying on her height advantage, and since their attention wasn’t really on the surroundings, they didn’t notice her for now.
Anpelin had already been introduced to them by her roommate under their questioning.
Now, on a date with Anpelin as Shui Hua…
While it could be explained as just friends, knowing Lin Ling’s personality, he would probably keep pestering her about it.
Shui Hua made a split-second decision, lowering her voice to speak quickly to Anpelin.
“Perlin, my roommates are here. I’m going to undo my transformation—if they see you, just say I went to the restroom.”
Shui Hua rushed to the bathroom, checked that the men’s room was empty, immediately locked the door, and softly recited the words to undo her transformation.
With a flash of blue light, Shui Hua turned into Yu Hua, clothes changing back to what he had worn before transforming.
Yu Hua tidied his expression, pretending he had just finished in the restroom, and pushed open the door to head out.
Yu Hua, pretending to have just come from the bathroom, returned to his seat.
By then, Lin Ling, Wang Zeqi, and Liu Shixing had somehow already noticed Anpelin sitting alone.
They now loosely formed a “U” shape behind his seat, three pairs of eyes staring at him.
Thankfully, she slipped away in time.
Otherwise, if Shui Hua and Anpelin were sitting together and Yu Hua was nowhere to be seen, it would have taken a whole night to explain.
“Huh? You guys are here too?”
Yu Hua feigned surprise at their presence.
“Yu Hua…”
Liu Shixing gritted her teeth, angrily thumping Yu Hua’s chair with her fist.
“You’re terrible! Not only do you go on dates yourself, but even when us Single Dogs come out for hotpot to find a little self-worth, you still have to mercilessly take it away!”
Looking at the pink-haired loli pouting in front of him, Yu Hua thought for a moment about how to ease the awkward scene, then suddenly had an idea and offered her a plate of beef rolls.
“Alright, I’ll forgive you.”
Liu Shixing eyed the offering, cautiously accepted it, and was immediately bought off.
“So, this is my girlfriend Anpelin. You guys have probably seen her photo before,” Yu Hua smoothly introduced his girlfriend to his roommates.
“So what do we call her? Sister-in-law?”
Liu Shixing nudged Wang Zeqi with her elbow.
“No idea.”
“Just call me Junior An,” Anpelin said sweetly, waving her hand.
“These are my roommates, like I told you before.”
Yu Hua also turned to introduce his roommates to Anpelin.
“These two are your roommates, but who’s this cute little one?”
Yu Hua had mentioned his roommates to Anpelin before, but hadn’t updated her on “Liu Shixing turning into a loli.”
Yu Hua had no choice but to explain again, “This loli is Liu Shixing, also my roommate. She just got transformed by the Vampire Meme a few days ago.”
“Yep, nice to meet you, Junior. I’m Liu Shixing.”
Liu Shixing freed up a small hand to wave as a greeting.
“Eh, we’re even the same type of meme.”