Chapter 80: Unfinished

Stretching.

“Hmm~”

After a bit of playful bickering with Jiang Cheng, Jiang Lingwei was the first to step out of the house and stretch.

She could immediately tell that the sleep she had yesterday was a little too comfortable, with lingering effects.

Her bones felt soft and loose now.

“Eh?”

Putting her hand on her forehead, Jiang Lingwei noticed that the weather today was exceptionally clear—

—maybe a bit too clear.

The blue sky stretched endlessly, and the blazing sun was radiating its intense heat.

Not a single cloud in sight.

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Lingwei roughly understood why.

Previously, that dark fairy had created rolling black clouds that shrouded the sky, and it had been raining nonstop.

Later, other dark fairies from the surrounding cities had stirred up trouble simultaneously, draining all the moisture from the entire Tianji Province.

Even though those dark crawlers had been dealt with, it was almost impossible for it to rain again in the short term.

See, even magic isn’t entirely chaotic; in some areas, science still applies.

Solving this issue wasn’t difficult. Following the principle of using magic to defeat magic, if it were to rain again, they could just find a magic girl capable of summoning rain to help out.

But Tianji Province probably wouldn’t do that.

This place wasn’t originally a drought-prone area. If nothing unexpected happened, with the climate cycles, clouds would return in a few days, and rain would start again naturally.

There was no real need to call a magic girl to drain her mana for large-scale artificial rainfall.

Usually, such measures were taken only in important grain-producing regions.

At crucial times when crops needed water but rain didn’t come for various reasons, they had to find magic girls to assist.

Every time Jiang Lingwei read news or reports about magic girls and their relationship with society in modern times, she would silently sigh:

“Magic girls are basically just like college students.”

With the magical world now public, apart from the strict dual secrecy over their identities and magical nature, magic girls were no different from ordinary people.

Look at the stone masons; now that the repair of Mudong City was finished, they were off to another place to mix mortar.

Of course, if she really didn’t want to, no one could force her.

At least she was a magic girl contracted with the fairies, and a large part of her rights were protected by the Fairy Kingdom.

Still, aside from Xiaobai, Jiang Lingwei hadn’t really seen any other fairies, and she didn’t know what the fairy contracted to the masons looked like.

(Oh right, where’s Xiaobai?)

(It seems I haven’t seen it since morning.)

Just as she was thinking about this, a shadow fell over her.

“?!”

Shrouded by the shadow, Jiang Lingwei’s nearly instinctive habit from fighting darkness kicked in immediately.

She lifted her head sharply, her gaze fierce, and her hand was already pressing on the transformation device at her neck.

But there was no enemy—just the inside of an umbrella.

“Don’t be so tense.”

Jiang Cheng held the umbrella and asked with concern:

“Thinking about something?”

“Hmm…”

Coming back to her senses and realizing the situation, Jiang Lingwei relaxed and let her arm drop naturally.

“I’m fine. It’s just that the sudden darkness made me think something happened.”

Looking at Jiang Cheng’s apologetic expression, she quickly added:

“It’s not your fault! I just haven’t fully adjusted yet.”

Raising her arm to help Jiang Cheng hold the umbrella handle, Jiang Lingwei changed the subject:

“Where did you get the umbrella?”

“At the door.”

Walking side by side along the villa district path, Jiang Cheng replied,

“It was just by the shoe rack. When I went out earlier, the sun was really strong outside, so I took it with me.”

“Hmm~”

Too shy to directly praise his thoughtfulness, Jiang Lingwei just gave a happy little hum in response.

Jiang Cheng’s behavior genuinely surprised her.

Looking at her smiling eyes on the other side of the umbrella, Jiang Cheng’s lips curled up as he continued:

“Too bad it’s not a sunshade umbrella, just a rain umbrella.”

“That’s no big deal.”

Jiang Lingwei moved slightly closer—mainly to help hold the umbrella handle.

Since holding the umbrella over two people required Jiang Cheng to keep his arm raised, she didn’t know if he was tired, but she wasn’t about to enjoy the shade for free.

“Anyway, I’ve never been able to tell the difference between sunshades and rain umbrellas except that one looks pretty and the other doesn’t.”

She continued:

“Oh right, rain umbrellas can also block the sun, but some sunshades can’t be used in the rain. If I had to choose, I’d definitely buy a regular rain umbrella.”

“I can’t figure it out either…!”

Adjusting his grip, Jiang Cheng’s hand slid down a bit and accidentally touched Jiang Lingwei’s fingers on the umbrella handle.

Startled by the sudden contact, he quickly looked down at her face.

—She was walking forward naturally, completely unaware of what was happening at the umbrella handle.

(Phew.)

Jiang Cheng let out a sigh of relief.

Lingwei expressing affection and pursuit was his right to hold onto, but if she was too careless and crossed boundaries, taking advantage of others’ kindness to do things that annoyed people, that wouldn’t be good.

Soon, the two arrived at the unmanned taxi.

Jiang Lingwei had already preset the commercial street address, and the vehicle started moving immediately.

This time they weren’t going to see Wen Yaquan; the main goal was to take Jiang Cheng out for a stroll and show him the current world.

“This really feels like science disguised as magic.”

Having already experienced the unmanned taxi yesterday, Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but marvel again as he sat in the back seat with Jiang Lingwei.

“Yeah.”

Jiang Lingwei nodded in deep agreement.

In this era, many things once described in sci-fi novels had been realized and popularized through technology.

She raised her hand and gestured:

“Look, the only technology missing now is flying in the air. If it were magic…”

Suddenly, something heavy settled in her hand.

A weapon appeared amidst several points of magical light.

Jiang Lingwei: “?”

Jiang Cheng: “???”

Both wore puzzled expressions looking at the [Ming] in her hand.

“No, this…”

Jiang Lingwei faltered.

Right now, she wasn’t transformed; theoretically, she shouldn’t have any magic power inside her body!

Then what was this Ming?

As she hesitated, the kunai-shaped magic equipment suddenly emitted a warm glow like a fiery sunset.

The cloud patterns on it shimmered under the light.

Then, in Jiang Lingwei’s mind, a three-dimensional map unfolded.

She seemed to see a city in the distance where beacon-like light shot straight into the sky.

“Uh… um…”

The whole process lasted only a few seconds.

After the light faded, the Ming in Jiang Lingwei’s hand vanished, and she covered her eyes and stumbled backward.

“小薇! What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Jiang Cheng panicked.

He didn’t hesitate and quickly caught her.

“I’m, I’m fine.”

Jiang Lingwei gathered herself, smiling and shaking her head.

“Let’s not think about this today. I’m fine.”

“…”

“I really am fine, Chengzi. Let’s not think about it today.”

“…Okay.”

Leaving Jiang Cheng’s warm and solid embrace, Jiang Lingwei leaned against the car door.

That beacon light still flickered in her mind.

She knew it was the location of the next friend’s power.

It reminded Jiang Lingwei that she still had her mission to fulfill.

After this unexpected incident, the two remained silent, neither saying a word.

“小薇, do you think this counts as a date?”

Looking at the bustling street, Jiang Cheng’s aura was like a lone wolf, cool and aloof.

“Pft, go on!”

Jiang Lingwei chuckled, and the silent atmosphere instantly vanished.

She pushed Jiang Cheng’s back with a mock scolding tone:

“What date? You first fix that neutral gear issue, then we’ll talk.”

“Alrighty~”