Tower after tower flashed past her eyes, the buildings dissolving into wind, snow, and hurried pedestrians, leaving only blurred afterimages behind.
There were still ten minutes left before reaching Eternal Plaza. As the destination drew closer, Lin Xiaojue found that no matter what, she could not muster even a trace of anticipation.
Maybe I guessed wrong? Maybe the other person isn’t Su Yaqing at all, just someone who happened to recognize me.
Lin Xiaojue swallowed.
“Um, how did you recognize me? I didn’t look like this before. Am I that easy to recognize?”
After a long silence, she finally broke the quiet.
Hearing that, Xia Yao suddenly lifted her head, her eyes darting between the two of them.
“So Predecessor already knew the driver? Since when? How come I didn’t know?”
“It’s not that we know each other that well. We just met once a few days ago. Xia Yao, don’t overthink it.”
“Really? I only remembered after seeing this beauty’s face. Beauty, your temperament is really outstanding. I recognized you at a glance.”
The driver turned the steering wheel through a curve. Lin Xiaojue suddenly leaned forward, nearly losing her balance.
“Isn’t COS popular among young people these days? So I figured you must have been doing COS before. Plenty of pretty girls your age do it. I’ve driven quite a few.”
“And you’re not wearing makeup at all, beauty. That makes you easy to recognize.”
The driver added another sentence. Faced with such flawless reasoning, Lin Xiaojue truly could not confirm whether the other party was Su Yaqing.
Without evidence, she naturally could not accuse anyone.
“Heh.”
Suddenly, the driver laughed. The sound was eerie and chilling, instantly cutting off Lin Xiaojue’s train of thought and making cold sweat break out across her body.
“Ah, sorry for scaring you. I managed to grab a Tianyu figurine. I’m just a little excited.”
The driver released one hand from the steering wheel and waved her phone. Lin Xiaojue caught a glimpse of herself on the screen.
A silver-haired, golden-eyed girl dressed in a black-and-white maid outfit. Lace garters beneath the skirt hem tightened around her thighs.
Her legs, wrapped in white stockings, looked even fuller. The corset cinched tight, accentuating an overwhelming F-cup curve to the fullest.
As the images scrolled, there were even accidental glimpses of exposed skin. Not only that, there were animated shots of Tianyu lifting her skirt with a look of disgust.
“Gulp…” Lin Xiaojue swallowed instinctively.
This merchant made it way too explicit… No, way too expensive!
A quick glance at the price showed that at least five thousand yuan were required to get one figurine.
If she wanted the collector’s edition—figurine plus Tianyu art book plus battle recordings—it would cost at least twenty thousand.
A competitor’s success always highlighted one’s own poverty.
As a magical girl, Lin Xiaojue’s income was destined to be unsuccessful.
Sometimes she even considered suing these merchants who abused her portrait rights to earn some money.
After all, there were simply too many derivative products of her online, not to mention countless AI face swaps.
If she opened a certain little red car shopping app, she could even find a dedicated section for magical girl Tianyu under a certain category.
The magical girl section could not exist without Tianyu, just like the 3D section could not exist without Tifa.
Such comments always ignited Lin Xiaojue’s anger.
Of course, before sending anyone to prison, she would first have to prove that Lin Jue or Lin Xiaojue was actually magical girl Tianyu.
That was something destined to be impossible.
Lin Xiaojue did not want a troublesome life. Her greatest wish was simply to remain lifelong good friends with these magical girl teammates whose minds were always full of problems.
Although reality often went against her wishes, she would still try her best.
As for merchandise, she would let it be.
“I see. Then congratulations, Driver.”
Pulling her gaze away from the deposit payment page, Lin Xiaojue offered a faint blessing.
“Mm-hmm, right? Tianyu-chan is very cute. Speaking of which, do you two beauties have a favorite magical girl? By the way, I’m a Tianyu fan.”
“Uh, just call me Miss Su. You can call her Xiao Yao. As for me, I guess I count as a Tianyu fan too. I like every magical girl more or less.”
“Every one? Miss Su isn’t very loyal, huh.”
The driver exited the overpass. A wide road came into view.
“My partner at home is like that too. Not very loyal. Always running around. She says she doesn’t cheat outside, but who knows? Who knows whether she’s been unfaithful? Lovers really aren’t honest with each other.”
“Uh, haha…” Lin Xiaojue narrowed her eyes, forcing an awkward smile.
“Then… does your partner have anything worth keeping? If someone’s that dishonest, maybe it’s better to end things early. At least it’ll be easier to part as friends.”
“Oh my, sorry. My partner isn’t a man. She’s a woman. Relationships aren’t as rigid as they used to be. Everyone’s very open now. When I’m with her, no one says anything.”
They probably just don’t dare say anything.
The corners of Lin Xiaojue’s eyes twitched, though her trademark smile remained on her face.
Two minutes left. As long as we get there. As long as we get there…
“Haha, I see. I once met someone like that when I was buying clothes. She was the manager of that shop and used to do voice acting for yuri anime. Her—”
Lin Xiaojue stopped abruptly when she noticed Xia Yao’s increasingly strange gaze and shut her mouth at once.
So Predecessor also watches that kind of anime?
Caught between the two of them, Xia Yao had obtained crucial information. Since Predecessor shared the same hobby as her, maybe she could try something too.
If Predecessor could accept her…
“Anyway, that manager is a really nice person.”
Lin Xiaojue hurriedly ended the topic. The driver, however, made a curious sound, as if she was very familiar with the manager.
“Manager? Which manager? My partner makes clothes too.”
“Huh? Th-this…” Lin Xiaojue recalled the high-end custom clothing store beside Su Group, the smiling eyes of the Clerk Lady, and that sentence—
You two might as well just do it.
Heat suddenly rushed to Lin Xiaojue’s cheeks. She patted her face and continued.
“It’s the shop next to Su Group. It’s called…”
“Orange Fragrance Memory? That one?”
The driver immediately picked up the name. In the rearview mirror, Lin Xiaojue nodded stiffly.
“Heh, what a coincidence.”
The driver stepped on the brake and stopped by the roadside.
In the distance, rows of electric scooters already filled the plaza. Only narrow paths were left for pedestrians.
“We’re here.”
She got out and opened the back door. Lin Xiaojue held her breath, staring at her.
Not pretending anymore? Finally dropping the act?
Lin Xiaojue clenched her fists, already prepared to transform and run at any moment.
For some reason, she instinctively wanted to flee. Knowing that the other person was Su Yaqing frightened her more than the thought of dying.
Is… is this what it feels like to be caught cheating?
“Mm-hmm. Thank you for supporting my shop.”
After speaking, the driver removed her cap and gave a slight bow.
“Huh? You, you are…”
Looking at a completely different face, Lin Xiaojue still instinctively thought it was camouflage.
“I’m the one who usually lies upstairs. Just call me Sister Bai.”
Sister Bai introduced herself seriously. Before marrying the manager of Orange Fragrance Memory, she had run around in recording studios.
But the work was too exhausting, so recently she quit and planned to focus on supporting her lover’s career.
Recently, because a certain great lady had brought a white-haired girl and cleared out all the shop’s clothes, they now had enough funds to buy a house and a car.
For the new year, they even planned to go on a hot spring trip. They had started preparing two days ago.
Picking up Lin Xiaojue was just something done along the way during their trip.
“Look, she’s sleeping soundly.”
Sister Bai opened the trunk.
With a white stocking stuffed in her mouth and her body tightly bound, the Clerk Lady was revealed. Her face was flushed, as if she were experiencing something pleasurable.
“Mmm… mmm…” Seeing the missing stocking on Sister Bai’s foot, the Clerk Lady grew even more excited.
Lin Xiaojue was speechless.
So I really misunderstood? That’s great.
Her heart pounded violently, a trace of relief rising within her. For the first time, she felt a dangerous thrill of narrowly avoiding disaster.
After sending Sister Bai off, Lin Xiaojue held Xia Yao’s hand and walked toward the unfamiliar plaza.
“Ah, yes, Great Lady, it’s like this.”
Inside the car, the Clerk Lady had already been untied and was now sitting in the passenger seat, continuing a phone call.
Beside her, Sister Bai freed one hand from the steering wheel and slid it along her thigh, sending waves of tingling sensation.
“Mm, okay. Please take care of Great Lady.”
Beep—beep—
The busy tone sounded. The Clerk Lady put away her phone and looked at Sister Bai with affection.
“Xiao Bai, isn’t it inappropriate in the car?”
“What’s inappropriate? Didn’t you just— Ah! What are you doing?”
“Mm-hmm. The car isn’t bad at all.”
“Ah… honestly…”