“Miss Xiaoxi, do you have any other jobs or sources of income?”
Xiaoxi gritted her teeth but finally straightened her back and said, “No… I don’t have any other income at the moment.”
What she said wasn’t exactly a lie. Her novel hadn’t been published yet, and she wouldn’t start earning money until next month.
So where would any income come from now?
Muxingge narrowed her eyes slightly upon hearing this but didn’t press further.
Instead, after asking a few trivial questions about her personal information, she went straight to the main point.
“Miss Xiaoxi, may I ask you to check your phone?”
“Don’t worry, the Association doesn’t intend to invade your privacy. We just want to confirm if there are any suspicious messages.”
Here it comes! Xiaoxi froze in her chair at those words. She knew all those earlier questions from Muxingge were just a smoke screen—the real test was waiting for her now!
She of course understood Muxingge’s ulterior motive. The tricky part was that Xiaoxi didn’t know how to refuse.
After all, Muxingge was using the Association’s interrogation as an excuse to check her phone, and she didn’t have the right to refuse!
“Miss Xiaoxi?” Muxingge smiled kindly. “Don’t worry, it will be over quickly. You can watch me as I check your phone—I promise I won’t snoop around.”
“Since this is official business, I hope you can cooperate.”
It was so underhanded! What good would supervising do? As soon as Muxingge opened her chat list, she’d see the pinned Group Chat right away.
Xiaoxi nodded with difficulty, slowly pulling out her phone. For the moment, she couldn’t think of any excuse to avoid Muxingge’s inspection.
Besides, if she acted too unwilling, she’d raise suspicion… She couldn’t exactly say she forgot her phone password all of a sudden, or that the phone was dead.
Just as Xiaoxi was forced to unlock her phone screen in front of Muxingge, the door to the Interrogation Room suddenly burst open.
“Xingge? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in charge of the interrogation?”
Standing in the doorway, Miss L adjusted her glasses. Xiaoxi’s eyes lit up—this was the first time she felt Miss L’s presence literally sparkling.
“I… just wanted to handle this personally, since it concerns the previous Monster Attack Case,” Muxingge replied.
Seeing someone disrupting her plan, disappointment flashed across Muxingge’s eyes. But she couldn’t reveal her true intentions, so she just smiled at Miss L.
“No need, Xingge. It’s already been confirmed that Su Ying has nothing to do with the previous Monster Attack Case. She and her employees were just innocent bystanders, so there’s no need to continue the interrogation.”
“You should go rest, Xingge. I’ll handle the rest.”
Muxingge was only one step away from getting Xiaoxi’s phone, yet she didn’t insist and simply nodded before leaving the Interrogation Room willingly. Xiaoxi hadn’t expected her to give up so quickly.
“All right, Miss Xiaoxi. If there’s nothing else, just sign here and you’re free to go…”
As Muxingge’s footsteps faded away, Miss L’s tone shifted from businesslike to casual.
“If I’d known, I might have brought [Sirius] along for this mission. You’re pretty unlucky, A Xing, getting singled out by Xingge like this.”
“Phew… You arrived just in time, Miss L.”
Xiaoxi let out a sigh of relief and sank back into her chair. That was close—she was only one step away from unlocking her phone.
At this moment, the cameras and microphones in the Interrogation Room were all switched off, so their conversation wouldn’t be overheard.
“But how was Xingge so perceptive? She met you just once and already suspected you’re [Eternal Star]?”
Xiaoxi forced out an awkward chuckle. She was of course too embarrassed to admit that Muxingge actually suspected she was writing School Romance Novels!
“By the way, is the store manager okay?”
“She’s fine. Miss Su Ying just bought a set of Magic Devices capable of camouflage from someone else. She’s not involved in the Monster Attack Case, and definitely not a criminal.”
“She’s currently having a checkup in the Medical Room. If there’s nothing wrong, you can both leave after that.” Miss L waved her hand and gave a casual ‘bye’ gesture.
“I’ll go see her.”
Xiaoxi stood up and left the Interrogation Room. Hurrying down the corridor, she didn’t notice Muxingge hiding just around the corner, watching her silhouette fade away.
Muxingge narrowed her eyes slightly. Of course, she wasn’t going to give up that easily… Xiaoxi must not think those personal questions were asked casually.
In fact, Muxingge had memorized every detail Xiaoxi just gave her. With such thorough personal information, wasn’t it easy for her to find a way to box in this person?
If Xiaoxi knew Muxingge planned this, she probably would have regretted it—she might as well have let Muxingge discover she was writing School Romance Novels back then, at least that way Muxingge wouldn’t continue digging so deeply.
Because if Muxingge boxed Xiaoxi’s past experiences, the things she found would likely be far more serious than just writing School Romance Novels.
As a former teammate, Muxingge wouldn’t fail to notice that Xiaoxi was actually [Eternal Star].
—
Twenty minutes later, Xiaoxi stepped out of the Magical Girl Association’s main gate and immediately saw Ye Xinglan a short distance away, boredly kicking stones.
Though Xinglan had come along, she refused to enter the Association, insisting on waiting outside until Xiaoxi was done. When she saw Xiaoxi, her eyes brightened and she ran over.
“Done? Can we go home now?”
Xiaoxi rolled her eyes. Xinglan really had no sense of self-preservation—did she have any idea how badly she had gotten herself into trouble today?
“Wait, we’re not going home yet,” Xiaoxi said, turning to look at Su Ying as she came out of the Association with her head lowered. “Let’s take the store manager back first.”
Back at the Café, Su Ying immediately used the Magic Devices to disguise and hide her Monster traits again before finally exhaling heavily.
“Sorry for dragging you into such trouble today. Looks like the Café won’t be open for business. You two should just head home for now…”
Su Ying’s voice grew quieter as she suddenly realized that her Monster identity had been exposed to Xiaoxi and Ye Xinglan.
Thinking back on all the strange looks she’d gotten because of being a Monster, Su Ying couldn’t help but wonder if Xiaoxi would still be willing to work here after knowing her secret.
Would she still want to work alongside a Monster like her?
“Hmm, store manager, you should rest early today too,” Xiaoxi suddenly gave Su Ying a small hug. “I’ll be on time for work tomorrow.”
Su Ying was momentarily stunned, her eyes glistening with tears.
Xiaoxi naturally didn’t care about Su Ying’s Monster identity. Besides, Miss Su Ying had a great personality and paid well.
Now that Xiaoxi was practically broke, she might even be willing to work alongside the Blood Moon Witch if she had to.
Ye Xinglan chimed in from the side, “See you tomorrow, store manager~”
Being a Monster herself, Xinglan naturally sympathized even more with Su Ying’s situation. Today’s ordeal actually made her more eager to be friends with Su Ying.