Looking at the shocked expression in Xiaokeke’s eyes, Xiaoxi quickly spoke up to explain.
“Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This is my current roommate, Miss Ye Xinglan.”
“That can’t be!” Xiaokeke stared at Ye Xinglan for a long moment, then gave her own sister an elbow. “Isn’t this the matchmaker Mom introduced to you before? Mom even showed me her photo. And now she’s your roommate? Don’t try to fool me!”
“So… you’re already living together?”
Xiaokeke swallowed nervously, and the slightly rude follow-up question—“Isn’t that moving a bit fast?”—remained unspoken.
She really hadn’t expected this! Xiaoxi used to be rather dull and unremarkable; Xiaokeke never imagined any girl would like her. But now that her big brother had become her big sister, she suddenly got so impressive?
Xiaokeke had also checked Ye Xinglan’s basic information—purely a rich heiress. Even someone like this little wealthy lady was taken by her sister? Xiaokeke admitted she was starting to see her sister in a new light.
“No, we’re not living together because of a matchmaking thing… Roommates! Roommates, you know?”
Xiaoxi’s face flushed as she stammered to explain, but Ye Xinglan simply smiled gently, stepped forward, and wrapped both arms around Xiaoxi’s neck from behind.
“Yes, we’re living together now. Xiaokeke, right? I heard from your sister that you’re coming to Xiahai City for university. Please take care of me from now on~”
Xiaoxi stiffened.
Though they had been living together for a while, this was the first time Ye Xinglan had been so intimate—and she was the one who took the initiative.
No, this wasn’t how they had agreed things would go at all!
A faint, barely perceptible gleam flashed in Ye Xinglan’s eyes. She was hiding here under the pretense of “falling in love at first sight with a matchmaking partner and living together,” so naturally she couldn’t let any slip-ups show.
Besides, Ye Xinglan now found it quite fun to tease Xiaoxi. From her vantage point, she could see Xiaoxi’s reddened earlobes and the nape of her neck—it just made her want to bully her a little.
“By the way, Keke,” Xiaoxi suddenly remembered something, “why does the university require early registration…”
“Ah, sorry, I need to take a call.”
The vibration of a phone cut off Xiaoxi’s sentence. Xiaokeke grabbed the phone on the tea table, and upon seeing the caller ID labeled “L Minister,” stuck out her tongue and quickly dashed out to the balcony.
“Xiaokeke, do you have a computer on hand right now?”
A strict female voice came through the receiver. Xiaokeke lowered her voice: “Yes, Minister. What’s up?”
“There was a mistake in the electronic file you submitted earlier. The Association needs it urgently. Please redo it and send it to me as soon as possible.”
Hearing that it was a request from the Magical Girl Association, Xiaokeke didn’t dare delay, repeatedly saying “Yes” before hanging up.
Meanwhile, Xiaoxi had already gone to the kitchen to start cooking, with Ye Xinglan following behind her, eyes sparkling like stars.
“Sis, can I borrow your computer? Um… the school teachers want us to submit a personal info file electronically!”
“Oh, sure, go ahead,” Xiaoxi replied without suspicion, busy at work in the kitchen. “The computer password is still the same as before. I haven’t changed it.”
Xiaokeke deftly opened the laptop in Xiaoxi’s room. Seeing the desktop wallpaper—a scantily clad anime character—she couldn’t help but sneer in distaste.
Even though her brother had become her sister, she was still the same as before. Xiaokeke really couldn’t understand how Ye Xinglan could be interested in such a hopeless otaku like Xiaoxi.
Xiaokeke had disliked the things Xiaoxi liked from the very beginning, and Xiaoxi understood. Her little sister was a lively, outgoing JK; it was only natural she looked down on her two-dimensional otaku sister.
That feeling only intensified after Xiaokeke became obsessed with [Eternal Star]. Strong, just, warm, and never compromising with evil—that was why Xiaokeke admired Eternal Star and magical girls, while Xiaoxi, the otaku, was basically the human opposite of all those words!
Opening the WPS document on the computer, Xiaokeke quickly revised the personal file as requested by the L Minister. After thoroughly checking to confirm there were no errors, she finally sent the file and slumped back in her chair with a sigh.
Ah, right!
Suddenly remembering something, Xiaokeke bounced back up.
She had to delete the local document she’d just edited on Xiaoxi’s computer. Otherwise, if her sister saw her personal file, her admission into the Magical Girl Association and becoming a magical girl would be exposed!
She opened the document list, deleted the file, emptied the recycle bin—all in one smooth motion. Only after confirming her personal file was completely gone did she relax.
But soon, Xiaokeke noticed that all the documents in Xiaoxi’s folder were resumes, which made her frown slightly.
Well, although it hadn’t changed much from before, her sister had been working hard. Maybe she could consider treating Xiaoxi a little better… Huh? What’s this?
Xiaokeke moved the mouse over the document list, stopping on a file titled with the words “Magical Girl.” Among a pile of resumes, those four characters stood out way too much.
Magical Girl? Why would her sister’s computer have documents related to magical girls? In Xiaokeke’s impression, her sister was always indifferent toward magical girls.
Although snooping was bad, curiosity drove Xiaokeke to double-click on the mysterious file.
….
“Sister—why do you have stuff about magical girls on your computer?!”
Xiaokeke’s sharp exclamation echoed from her room into the kitchen, where Xiaoxi was fiercely stir-frying vegetables right in front of Ye Xinglan.
Xiaoxi had wanted to scold Xiaokeke for being so jumpy, but when she heard the words “magical girl,” her hand shaking as she held the spatula.
Damn, it had been too long since she’d operated as [Eternal Star]. She’d forgotten that her computer stored plenty of files related to her previous magical girl work!
Back then, Xiaoxi and her teammates occasionally took part in magical girl events to earn extra money. But she was clueless about all that—Mù Xingge and Minister L always prepared the event plans or schedules and sent her the documents.
Xiaoxi had never organized or deleted her old files. After three years of no longer being a magical girl, she completely forgot about all this. She really shouldn’t have let Xiaokeke mess with her computer!
Ignoring the vegetables she was frying and leaving the stove on, Xiaoxi rushed to her room with a single thought in her mind—
This is bad. After hiding my identity as [Eternal Star] for so many years, it’s finally exposed today in this way!
“What’s wrong?”
Ye Xinglan was startled too. After helping turn off the gas stove, she curiously followed Xiaoxi.