“…Um, Sister Lianying?”
The sun gradually set, and the horizon visible in the distance marked the boundary between dusk and evening. The city’s scattered lights flickered to life.
At this hour, it would normally be dinner time at Lianying’s house. But instead, a unique “parent-child interaction” was playing out in the living room.
“What’s wrong, Little Hua?”
Wuhua was currently lying across Lianying’s lap in a strange position, face and body toward the floor. Her legs dangled in the air.
“You, you just said you weren’t going to punish me!” Wuhua pouted, adding a coquettish tone to her already childish voice.
Lianying sat upright on the sofa, pouting a little, just like she had been before Wuhua came home.
“I meant this time. Who would’ve thought you’d mess up again so soon?” Lianying crossed her arms and explained, “Why didn’t you tell me about the anomaly at Binhai Park? Not listening is one thing, but keeping secrets and lying? You’re such a naughty kid.”
Hearing this, Wuhua could guess at least part of the reason Lianying was angry again. As for why she was told to lie across her lap…
‘I shouldn’t have turned on the TV!’
‘…No, this is clearly the news program’s fault.’
‘The timing was too perfect, and they broadcast exactly what happened this afternoon.’
Wuhua pondered who was to blame while thinking of how to beg for Lianying’s mercy.
“Hmph. Good, you understand. Now obediently accept the punishment called education.” Lianying, seeing no response, assumed she had acquiesced. Slowly, she raised her right hand—
But it stopped midair, hesitating. A faint blush spread across Lianying’s cheeks, her previous dissatisfaction and anger turning into hesitation.
“Sister Lianying…?” No response came after a while, so Wuhua tilted her head and looked at her in confusion.
Lianying didn’t speak. Instead, she gently patted Wuhua’s butt twice as an answer. It felt more like comforting a child than corporal punishment.
“How could I bear to hit you, you little dummy.” Saying this, Lianying lifted Wuhua off her lap and gave her a tender kiss on the forehead.
“Next time, no matter what happens—big or small—you have to tell me. I don’t want Little Hua to hide things from me. I want to be the family you can share with and rely on, okay?”
—
With a sincere tone and clear eyes, even without the ability to read minds, Lianying’s feelings undoubtedly reached Wuhua’s heart.
At that moment, Wuhua realized how childish her own thoughts had been. Even as an adult, she was shallower than a high school girl.
The reason Lianying was angry wasn’t just that she came home late or kept secrets. Those were just common family frictions.
Rather, it was because Lianying wanted to build a better trust and relationship with Wuhua, but Wuhua had ignored that—intentionally or not. It felt like giving without receiving.
Even if Lianying hadn’t said it outright, even if she hadn’t fully realized it herself.
In the few days they’d spent together, Wuhua had only ever received the other’s warm and even excessive care and tenderness.
But deep down, she had probably never truly accepted a completely unfamiliar high school girl as her family—or even as her nominal “mother.”
Inner resistance and role reversal were far more than Wuhua could handle.
‘First, I have to become a seven-year-old girl, then a high schooler’s adopted daughter, and finally a Magical Girl, huh.’
“Mm…” Whether from shyness or shame, Wuhua couldn’t meet Lianying’s eyes. She turned her face away and nodded.
Then, silently, she made a decision to start changing step by step.
…
…
Half an hour later, a starry night fell over the bustling city where Wuhua and Lianying lived.
Despite many small incidents and some unpleasant experiences along the way,
“Then, let’s eat!”
The two girls sat facing each other at the dinner table at the appropriate time, enjoying the only warm dinner of the day.
Except something was off.
“Little Hua, try this. And this.” Lianying was even more enthusiastic than usual, not only piling food into Wuhua’s bowl but also handing her own chopsticks over.
There were two possibilities: either the food was poisoned, or—
“Th-Thank you, Sister Lianying.” Realizing something, Wuhua still opened her mouth as wide as possible and swallowed the home-cooked food from the chopsticks.
The moment it touched her oral mucosa, her mouth instantly showed resistance and disgust.
‘Th-This taste!?’
‘She definitely made this herself this time. For some reason, I just have that feeling.’
Although it looked fine, the taste was completely different from yesterday’s. The most obvious difference was the seasoning and texture.
The sour, sweet, and salty flavors weren’t prominent—they seemed to fight for dominance, and all were excessive.
As for the texture, Wuhua could hardly imagine how Lianying turned cucumbers—crisp before cooking, soft after—into something mushy like potatoes.
Forcing down the nausea and discomfort, Wuhua didn’t even chew. She swallowed hastily, as if going through the motions, leaving it to her stomach acid.
“It’s… really delicious, Sister Lianying…” She could barely squeeze out a smile as she gave Lianying a shaky thumbs-up.
“No… you don’t have to force yourself that much. I know my own cooking.” Lianying awkwardly rubbed her hair and clasped her hands together in apology. “Ah, I’m really sorry, Little Hua. I forgot the last time I cooked. I’ve been living alone all this time.”
“Living alone… Then Sister Lianying, how did you handle dinner before?” Wuhua asked in confusion.
“For lunch, I eat at the school cafeteria. For dinner… takeout and pre-made meals, that sort of thing.” Lianying answered.
“At first, I was confident about my cooking, so I asked Little Hua to taste it.”
“So it wasn’t a poison test after all.” Wuhua complained, drinking some rice-water-thinned rice to neutralize the taste.
“I’ll keep trying! Next time, I’ll taste it myself before asking others, hehe.” Hiding something with a smile, Lianying then brought out a backup plan from the kitchen—
In the end, with the help of pre-made meals, Lianying and Wuhua successfully got through another dinner.
.
.
After dinner, with Lianying’s help, Wuhua took a bath and then lay down on Lianying’s bed. While Lianying was still busy in the bathroom, she thought about and re-evaluated her relationship with Lianying and the future.
“Good evening, meow, Wuhua. How’s Lianying doing?” A voice suddenly came from the bedside—Miao Ke.
They only talked like this when Lianying wasn’t around.
“What else could it be… Got scolded.” Wuhua couldn’t think of another word to describe it. “Come to think of it, you abandoned me halfway and came back early. Did you tip her off?”
Wuhua grabbed Miao Ke and rubbed and twisted its doll body out of shape.
“Th-This isn’t my fault, meow! I kept an eye on your mission, meow. But Xiao Ying can’t find out we know each other, meow. So I came back early to tell her you were on your way, meow.” Miao Ke said in fits and starts.
After hearing its explanation, Wuhua let it go.
“Rather, you’ve ruined me, meow. I got scolded for nothing, meow. You kids are so troublesome, meow. One won’t let me talk to you, the other makes me keep secrets—what a pain, meow.”
“Alright, alright, then I’ll trouble you to keep enduring as the middleman. (yawn)” Maybe transforming into a Magical Girl had drained her energy and stamina, plus she had overexerted herself in the afternoon.
“As for now…”
Sleepy, Wuhua’s eyes blinked slowly. By the time Lianying came out of the bathroom, she was already asleep.
Returning to the room, Lianying looked at the sleeping Wuhua. She turned off the light, left the room, and closed the door.
“Good night, Little Hua… my only family.”
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