Arriving at Canghai City Airport, the mother and daughter stood at the exit, waiting.
These days, taking a plane is even safer than traveling by train, because there are Magical Girls who regularly patrol the airspace, ensuring there are no enemy attacks.
And besides, the dark forces aren’t like terrorists trying to pull off some building-collision achievement—hijacking or destroying a civilian aircraft just isn’t worthwhile for them.
Trains, on the other hand, packed with people, are more likely to be targeted. They could even get corrupted into monsters. Not long ago, there was that incident on the European continent: the train monster codenamed [Mutated Thomas], which disguised itself as an ordinary train and ran amok for nearly a whole year before being put down.
Even though she had heard it all before, Jiang Lingwei still couldn’t help but marvel at the diversity of Magical Girls in this era.
It really has become a proper profession.
So… does this count as employing minors? (Nonsense)
Beside her, Jiang Yao sipped her cold milkshake, breathing in the pleasant fragrance from her mother, secretly grumbling in her heart:
(Mom keeps denying it, but as soon as Dad shows up, her sense of fashion totally changes.)
Because of the hot weather, Jiang Lingwei dressed simply, just a white short-sleeved shirt from some brand and a short skirt.
—And paired it with a bag she’d agonized over for forty minutes, a transformation device necklace around her neck, petite sneakers and over-the-knee socks that took an hour to pick, and, at Jiang Yao’s suggestion, a tiny shooting star hairpin in her hair.
Still, she insisted she was just indecisive and that all the effort was for propriety, not appearance.
After all, she was from the old generation of Magical Girls, so let’s just take her word for it.
Either one of them, mother or daughter, would attract stares on their own, and together, it was even more so.
Compared to the already eye-catching Jiang Yao, Jiang Lingwei drew even more attention from passersby.
Regardless of their psychological ages, Jiang Lingwei and Jiang Yao looked like women in their early twenties standing side by side. No one would guess they were mother and daughter.
Instead, most would probably assume they were sisters.
This time, someone actually tried to strike up a conversation, but before Jiang Lingwei—who wasn’t sensitive to such things—could notice, the attempt was thwarted by Jiang Yao’s frosty glare.
Finally, after waiting for about ten minutes, a tall, silver-haired figure emerged from the crowd.
“Chengzi! Over here!”
Jiang Lingwei raised her hand high, while Jiang Yao stood quietly by her sleeve, making sure she didn’t accidentally reveal anything.
“Xiao Wei!”
Jiang Cheng strode over, carrying his suitcase like a small briefcase in one hand, and a little bag in the other.
His actions made quite a few nearby young women and middle-aged ladies, who had been sneaking glances, sigh in disappointment and abandon their thoughts.
What Jiang Lingwei didn’t know was that on his way here, Jiang Cheng had already received plenty of requests from women—and even a few men—to add him on WeChat.
His striking silver hair and unique aura were just too eye-catching. Even in the most ordinary clothes, he stood out. Thanks to his hair color, many mistook him for a foreigner, greeting him with a “hello” that left him at a loss.
So, when he saw Jiang Lingwei, the first thing he said was:
“Reporting! I didn’t add a single WeChat contact on the way here! Please check, Xiao Wei!”
“Pfft.”
Jiang Lingwei had been about to help him with his things, but choked on his words, coughed a few times, then shot him a look and said,
“What are you even talking about? What does adding people on WeChat have to do with me?”
She reached for Jiang Cheng’s bag, but he held it a little tight so she had to give it an extra tug before she managed to take it, smiling as she did.
While letting the man carry the heavy stuff is a lady’s prerogative, Jiang Cheng already had the suitcase. She wasn’t exactly weak, so how could she just stand by and make him do everything?
“Sounds like you were quite the hit on your way here?”
Switching the bag to her other hand, Jiang Lingwei teased him.
“No, no.”
Jiang Cheng quickly explained,
“They must’ve mistaken me for someone else. Some people even thought I was a foreigner and greeted me.”
“Alright, alright.”
She didn’t pay much attention. Jiang Cheng wasn’t about to fall for someone else so easily. Pah, pah, pah!
Jiang Lingwei meant, after all, they were living together, had a daughter, and—
—shared a bed every night as just fr!ie!nds! Jiang Cheng could add whoever he liked, it had nothing to do with her.
As she spoke, Jiang Lingwei glanced at a few people who seemed ready to try their luck, and with her free hand, she quietly took Jiang Cheng’s, pulling him outside.
“Hurry, let’s go. The crowd’s only getting bigger.”
Even Jiang Lingwei, oblivious as she usually was to these things, could feel the growing number of eyes on them.
She could understand men looking at her, but why were so many women staring too? And not very kindly, by the look of it.
(You can look at Chengzi if you must, but what did I ever do to you?!)
(Hmph, stare all you want… hmm… Chengzi’s hand is pretty warm… I’ll hold it a little longer…)
With this very reasonable justification in mind, Jiang Lingwei held on tight in the sweltering summer heat.
Jiang Yao quickly caught up to them, pouting as she said,
“Dad, Mom! I’m starting to really doubt you two. Is it really as complicated as you claim? You’re not secretly pretending to have lost your memories just to prank me, are you?”
The girl spread her hands, feigning helplessness,
“Especially Dad, ever since you showed up, you only looked at me once! Then it’s been all eye contact with Mom the whole time.”
“I really don’t want to be a third wheel, but hey, I’m still here! Parents are true love, and the kid’s just an accident, right?”
“Yao Yao, sorry.”
When it came to dealing with his daughter, Jiang Cheng had zero fatherly authority. He quickly explained, “It’s just that people kept trying to add me on the way here, I didn’t realize that’s how things are these days, so I thought I should mention it…”
“Yeah, and who was making eyes at him?”
Jiang Lingwei suddenly realized she was still holding his hand and quickly let go in an attempt to act calm, taking Jiang Yao’s hand instead.
“Come on, let Mom lead you.”
(Oops.)
Jiang Yao groaned inwardly.
(Shouldn’t have said that… oh well.)
(There’ll be other chances.)
The girl’s reason for coming on this trip, aside from taking a break, was mostly to help nudge her parents closer and watch the show.
Like seeing her mom insist she didn’t care, but the moment someone tried to swoop in, she’d stake her claim faster than anyone else. It was so satisfying.
(My goodness, my ship is real!)
After her little inner drama, Jiang Yao refocused:
(Ahem, anyway, it’s just the three of us. Xiaoyu and the others won’t arrive until the day after tomorrow. We’ve got this!)
When the conspicuous family of three finally left the airport under the complex stares of the crowd, they hailed a self-driving taxi to return to the city. As they unloaded the suitcase from the trunk, a sudden vibration came from inside.
LYASRELSF
Thump thump~
Jiang Lingwei hurriedly opened the suitcase to check.
A little black-bearded furball was curled up inside, looking up in annoyance,
“Didn’t you promise to wake me up after the flight? Also, the luggage compartment was freezing. Ugh, you humans really…”
Locking eyes with Jiang Lingwei, the little ball’s voice gradually faded, and by the end, it changed to a tentative:
“…Uh, woof woof woof?”
“Mm.”
Jiang Lingwei nodded in satisfaction, neither confirming nor denying, and just picked up the little furball, turning to the father and daughter:
“Why did you bring Xiaobai along too? Weren’t we leaving it at the pet shop?”
She was genuinely surprised to see Xiaobai, because Jiang Cheng had told her before the trip that Xiaobai wanted to stay in Mudong City to keep investigating something and wasn’t interested in traveling.
Why the sudden change of heart?
“I thought about it, and decided to bring it anyway.”
Seeing that Jiang Lingwei wasn’t exposing him, Jiang Cheng took the blame himself,
“After all, a trip might be good for Xiaobai too.”
“Mm hm.” Xiaobai nodded enthusiastically in Jiang Lingwei’s hand. “Yeah, woof, exactly.”
Then, Xiaobai’s eyes met Jiang Yao’s, who wore a stormy expression, and it shivered all over. “Woof…”
(Um, Crystal, did I do something wrong? Don’t look at me like that, haha, ahahaha…)
The Magical Girl known as Crystal was now seriously contemplating how hard and in what position she’d have to kick this little gremlin to make sure she wouldn’t miss out on any of Mom and Dad’s precious romantic moments because she was stuck looking after this unexpected guest.
No more loving gremlins TV for me.
Now I really have to…