Chapter 29: Little Secret

Unknowingly, time arrived at Friday. The Saturday Lianying had been looking forward to drew closer and closer. For some reason, Wuhua felt this had been the busiest and most fulfilling week in her entire life—

Not only had she become a magical girl’s adopted daughter, but she had also been half-pushed into becoming a real magical girl herself. Even now, she felt it was all too sudden, like a dream.

“Alright, big sis is off to school now. See you at noon, Xiaohua.”

After seeing Lianying off, Wuhua sat on the sofa as usual, enjoying a brief moment of leisure and rest. Morning sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, filling the room with quiet peace.

—

“Good morning, Wuhua meow.” Yawning, Miao Ke drifted slowly out of the room and naturally sat down beside Wuhua.

“Good morning, Miao Ke. Lianying just left for school.” Wuhua pointed at the door.

“I know meow. Otherwise, if I talked to you in front of her, it’d give us away meow.” Miao Ke nodded matter-of-factly.

“That’s true. By the way, yesterday was really close.” Wuhua recalled last night’s events. “Good thing Lianying couldn’t recognize me after I transformed.”

“I was the one who got scared meow. I didn’t expect you to follow me meow.” It glanced at Wuhua. “And then you suddenly joined the fight.”

“Ah… at that moment, I saw Sister Lianying in danger and just acted on instinct—” Wuhua rubbed her head awkwardly. “Anyway, I’m glad I could help her.”

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“Is that the reason you’re willing to become a magical girl meow?” Miao Ke suddenly asked.

“…Well, I suppose that’s not wrong.” Wuhua brushed it off casually. “A big part of it is also because Sister Lianying is someone I admire and feel grateful to.”

In truth, she wasn’t entirely sure about the reason she had half-heartedly agreed.

‘Is it to get closer to Lianying and complete the mission entrusted to me?’

‘Or is it because I don’t want to waste a precious opportunity, driven by curiosity and novelty, wanting to experience the fun of being a magical girl?’

‘Maybe sometimes, you don’t need so many reasons.’

Just like what Wuhua said to Lianying while bathing. Those words were genuine, without a shred of deception or fabrication.

“Wuhua, you really are a special child meow.” Miao Ke opened its usually closed eyes. “No matter what you do, you always stay calm and adapt meow.”

“Is that strange? We humans, adults and children alike, are more complicated than fairies imagine.” Wuhua swung her calves back and forth as she leaned against the sofa.

“Not overthinking things. Sometimes, I make decisions that even surprise myself. Then I just accept them.” Wuhua was also talking to herself as she smiled at Miao Ke.

“In other words—just follow your heart.”

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“I owe you for the intel yesterday, Wuhua.” Mingji’s voice on the other end of the communicator was excited and joyful. “No one expected magical girls to appear in that abandoned industrial park.”

“Yeah. I was pretty surprised myself yesterday.” Still strolling through the neighborhood, Wuhua reported the situation while killing time. “So, how did it go on your end?”

“Heh, we sent people over immediately and got perfect first-hand data. It even trended on social media for a while.” Mingji said. “By the way, you didn’t see it?”

“…I didn’t watch TV last night because it was too late. And I don’t have a phone either.” Wuhua was practically a caveman.

“That’s true. I could prepare one for you, but it would raise Lianying’s suspicions.” Mingji suddenly thought of something. “Oh, right. In the first-hand data they relayed yesterday, there was an unfamiliar magical girl who appeared midway. Do you remember her?”

“Who?” Wuhua thought for a moment but didn’t recognize her.

“It was, uh, a girl wearing a lolita dress, hair the color of epiphyllum, with twin pigtails tied at the back of her head. She seemed to use firearms.” Mingji added with confusion.

“Our colleagues searched online for a long time but found no information. She only appeared yesterday at Binhai Park. Seems like a newly born magical girl.”

“Hmm… Xiao Ming, what if I told you there’s a possibility.” Wuhua thought for a moment before deciding to discuss it with her. After all, hiding things did no one any good.

“That girl is actually me after transforming.”

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“You—are you serious? That girl must be a magical girl, right?” As expected, Mingji said in disbelief. Without even seeing her, Wuhua could picture the puzzled expression on her face.

Just as Wuhua was thinking about how to explain it to her, she unknowingly walked into the children’s playground area within the neighborhood—

“So this part has to be built like this, gosh.”

Two unfamiliar girls around her age, whom she had briefly met before, reached Wuhua’s ears.

“You idiot, Jasmine… Huh? Ah, look… it’s yesterday’s Wuhua!” The blonde girl stood up from the sand pit, brushed the dust off her clothes, and jogged over to Wuhua.

“I’ve got something going on here—I’ll tell you later—” Wuhua quickly hung up the communicator and put it away. Subconsciously, she softened her voice to greet her. “Good morning, Anna~”

“Why are you so late? We’ve been waiting for you forever.” Anna took Wuhua’s hand with her little fingers still covered in sand and led her back.

“Wait, waiting for me?” Wuhua scratched her head, not remembering agreeing to meet today when they parted yesterday.

“Yeah. You didn’t come out yesterday afternoon either. Where did you go play?” Anna puffed out her cheeks at Wuhua.

“Ah… that time.” Wuhua remembered she had gone to Binhai Park to eliminate the anomaly. That was also when she met Qianhan. “Um—I went to Binhai Park to play.”

“Ehh, so lucky.” Anna’s words were full of envy. But then she suddenly stopped and faced Wuhua.

“But I remember, wasn’t there a monster outbreak at Binhai Park yesterday afternoon?”

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‘How—how does she know that?’

‘Would a girl her age pay attention to that kind of news too?’

Wuhua’s surprise was written all over her face, but Anna just tilted her head and didn’t press further.

“Forget it. Instead of that, let’s play a game.” Anna walked over to the sand pit, where a checkered blanket was spread out, and sat down.

“…Good morning, Jasmine.” Relieved to have dodged the question, Wuhua also sat down and asked the girl beside her. “What are you guys playing?”

“The game Anna loves the most, and I hate the most. Using sand to build various patterns.” In a calm tone, Jasmine intended to demonstrate for Wuhua.

She first piled up the sand, pressed a mold, then brushed away the excess. Soon, a sand pile resembling a gingerbread man appeared.

“Tsk tsk tsk, you’re still too green, Jasmine. That’s the most basic method.” Anna scoffed scornfully.

She then gathered all the sand together and pressed different molds in various spots—ordinary square molds of different shapes.

“First like this, then like this, and finally like this!” Anna spouted nonsense that amounted to nothing, then moved the sand with blinding speed. Dust flew everywhere.

“Cough, cough, Anna!” Wuhua covered her mouth, nose, and eyes in complaint. When the dust settled—

In the center of the sand pit stood a quietly towering sand castle, as high as Wuhua’s shoulder.

“So impressive.” Wuhua praised from the bottom of her heart at the instantaneous completion.

“Heh heh. I’m a genius at this.” Anna puffed out her chest—which didn’t have much to boast about—as if her nose was in the air.

“Yeah, yeah! …Though.” Wuhua examined the “castle” in front of her. Honestly, the shape and details looked more like an office building in the city, square and rigid.

“Ah, I used to remember how to build castles, but now I can only build these big houses.” Anna looked down a bit awkwardly, a hint of melancholy in her expression. “After all, it’s been a long time since I went home.”

“Home…” Wuhua’s attention once again fell on Anna’s almost mixed-race features, lost in thought.

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“Hey, Anna.” Just as Wuhua was spacing out, Jasmine suddenly spoke up. “What happened to that big house you built yesterday?”

“Huh? Ah… that thing.” Anna shrugged nonchalantly. “Someone else broke it. No big deal, I was just messing around anyway.”

“Hmm? You also built a house yesterday? In this sand pit?” Wuhua asked in confusion. “It must have been some naughty kid.”

“…I guess so. Hey! Jasmine.” Anna put her hands on her hips and shot Jasmine a dissatisfied glance. “That’s our secret, I told you not to mention it to Wuhua.”

“Alright, alright.” Jasmine answered casually.

“Come on—Wuhua, I’ll teach you how to build even bigger, bigger houses.”

Anna stepped forward, as if to make up for what she had just said, and warmly invited Wuhua to join.

Accompanied by two girls her age, Wuhua spent a joyful time.