Chapter 23: Tang Nai’s Accurate Intuition

After the sweat on her body gradually evaporated, Su Mu felt a wave of thirst.

But Luo Jialan had brewed a pot of hot tea, preventing her from drinking it directly.

It wasn’t intentional to make things difficult for Su Mu; it was just Luo Jialan’s personal habit.

Su Mu carefully extended her hand towards the teacup.

The rising steam gradually melted the numbness between her fingers, and along with the warmth came a piercing pain.

“Sss——”

Su Mu flipped her hand over and noticed that on her fair hand, the four protruding knuckles had been rubbed raw.

Fine cracks seeped blood.

It wasn’t scary, but it hurt a lot.

The girl’s skin had become much more delicate and sensitive than before.

Due to the adrenaline, Su Mu hadn’t noticed the wounds at first and was now hastily licking them with her small tongue.

Whenever she got hurt, she would instinctively do this, as if it could alleviate the pain.

Seeing Su Mu’s cat-like, endearing actions, Luo Jialan felt a softening in her heart and quickly took out alcohol and cotton swabs from the drawer.

“Stop licking. It won’t disinfect. Let me clean it with alcohol.”

Su Mu warily pulled her hand back and glanced sideways at the transparent alcohol bottle.

Using alcohol would hurt terribly.

“Is there any iodine tincture?”

“Look at you, such a wuss. It’s just a little pain. These are minor injuries. Come on, give me your hand.”

Seeing Su Mu still hesitating, Luo Jialan resorted to a familiar tactic.

“Hurry up, I’m counting to four, one, two…”

For Su Mu, what had always accompanied this countdown was the flying doors and shattered windows.

It was nothing short of a nightmare.

So, before the word “three” could come out, she obediently placed her hand in front of Luo Jialan again, her body taut and not daring to move.

Luo Jialan felt both annoyed and amused.

Indeed, this little squirrel was the type who only responded to tough measures.

She soaked the cotton swab thoroughly in alcohol and then gently dabbed it on Su Mu’s tender skin.

The cool sensation made Su Mu shiver slightly, close her eyes tightly, and force herself to start daydreaming to distract herself and ease the pain.

It was rather embarrassing for an adult to react like a little girl getting her first injection.

Su Mu was indeed quite timid.

She often stammered when communicating with elders or strangers, her mind in chaos, wishing she could find an excuse to slip away.

She was a true social phobe.

How could someone like her become so fierce and bold online?

Thinking this, Luo Jialan quickly rolled the cotton swab over Su Mu’s wound.

The latter’s shoulders immediately hunched, her toes clutching at her socks, acting as if she had been flayed alive, which was quite exaggerated.

“Done. It’s not that painful, is it? Keep it ventilated and don’t tuck your hand in, to avoid bacterial infection.”

Hearing this, Su Mu finally let out a sigh of relief and began to sip the tea in small gulps.

“By the way, what major are you in now, and why did you think of transferring here?”

Su Mu, looking at Luo Jialan who was tidying up the clutter, voiced her doubt.

“Because I found what I’m studying now too perplexing. Um, I’m in the philosophy department now.”

That does sound perplexing.

Su Mu cast a sympathetic glance at Luo Jialan.

If she had chosen the philosophy department, she would probably want to transfer out as well.

But she didn’t really like journalism either.

To be honest, she had little interest in studying at all.

It was just that her mother had pushed her hard, and her memory was indeed quite good, which is why she ended up here.

But her life took a turn for the strange when she became a “weird person,” gradually diverging and intersecting with the magical girls, creating an “inescapable bond.”

If Su Mu were to look for a job in her major now, relying on her experience managing the genius girl Irina account, her resume would be both substantial and legendary.

But the only boss who might hire her would probably be Tang Nai.

“By the way, hasn’t Tang Nai paid you guys?”

“I did get paid, but this month’s already been deducted.”

Mentioning this, Luo Jialan became indignant.

The remuneration Tang Nai gave each magical girl seemed to vary.

As for the two who were not often in the city, Luo Jialan wasn’t very clear.

But at least there was a significant difference between what Miti and she received.

What Miti got seemed to be a lot of magical power, while she received more money.

Luo Jialan indeed needed a lot of money to manage the martial arts school and cover her many expenses.

“So that’s why you’re working at Snow King now?”

“It’s not that. I used to work at Snow King even before I became a magical girl.”

As for why Luo Jialan had to work so hard, Su Mu didn’t ask directly.

Luo Jialan herself said it was her family’s martial arts school, but now it was so desolate with no one coming and going, and the owner had disappeared.

Perhaps something had happened.

Such a sad and troublesome topic should not be discussed now.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come by every day to add to your ice cream cone sales.”

Luo Jialan glanced at Su Mu.

“Tch, I can guess what you’re planning to do. You’re just going to keep finding fault with me and tease me.”

“Hehe, no way…”

Su Mu guiltily turned her head, not daring to look into Luo Jialan’s eyes.

When did this girl become so perceptive that she could guess this?

“Alright, that’s enough for today. I still have to work at the convenience store tonight.”

With her hand already injured, Su Mu couldn’t continue pounding the sandbag today.

The two had only stayed at the martial arts school for about two or three hours, but at least they had brought some liveliness to the place, preventing it from seeming too desolate.

Back at the café, Su Mu still couldn’t help but feel the urge to punch whenever she saw Tang Nai’s face.

Come to think of it, it would probably feel quite satisfying.

“Are you thinking something very rude?”

Tang Nai, who was playing with a hard drive, looked at Su Mu’s sly expression and became slightly interested.

“Nothing, just saw something interesting at Lando’s today.”

“Interesting? I guess Little Lando must have made some dolls or sandbags similar to me at the martial arts school and has been beating them up every day.”

Tang Nai chuckled.

So that’s what it was.

Now Su Mu became uncomfortable.

Her eyes started to wander, trying to cover up.

“You’re overthinking. There’s nothing that outrageous.”

“You’re right, Little Lando probably wouldn’t waste money on such nonsense… So you tried beating them up too, didn’t you?”

As Tang Nai shifted the conversation, the atmosphere immediately became subtle.

Su Mu casually wiped away the cold sweat from her forehead.

This girl was way too perceptive!

Please don’t let Lando know that I leaked this out…

“Hey, your hand is bleeding from pounding. Impressive.”

Tang Nai’s gaze suddenly focused on the bloodstains on Su Mu’s hand, and she was now completely certain of her guess.

But Little Lando wasn’t easy either, so she decided not to tease her.

“I even helped you recover the data from the hard drive. It seems that Irina has a deep misunderstanding of me. I guess I’ll just keep this hard drive for myself.”

“I’m sorry! I was being petty and judging you unfairly. Please, a gentleman doesn’t hold a grudge against a petty person. Forgive me!”

Seeing Su Mu’s complete turnaround in attitude, Tang Nai finally revealed a satisfied smile.

That’s more like it.