Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Chapter 124: Before the Day

Bang!

A sudden thud broke the quiet of the living room, making Lin Xiaolu, who was holding a rag, look up.

“What the h*ll was that?”

Frowning in confusion, she looked around through the glass in front of her. Eventually, she spotted a black smear above the window. On closer inspection—it turned out to be a bug that had crashed into the glass and died.

“Ugh, seriously? That’s disgusting!”

Grumbling, she clambered onto the windowsill, unlocked the window latch, and reached out with the rag, standing on tiptoes and craning her neck in an attempt to wipe away the grime.

But just as she stretched her arm out, her foot suddenly slipped, and her whole body tipped backward, falling away from the window.

“Waaah!”

Her startled yelp didn’t last long—because a pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind and caught her just in time.

“Careful there, Xiaolu-jie,” came a gentle voice. “If you couldn’t reach, you could’ve just transformed.”

Lin Xiaolu blinked and tilted her head back. Bai Jingxuan stood behind her, looking worried.

“Mm…”

It took her a while to shake off the fear of nearly falling. She puffed her cheeks, trying to act nonchalant as she got to her feet. “I’m fine, I’m fine! Even if I did fall from that height, it’s no big deal. Relying on magical girl powers all the time doesn’t help you grow as a person!”

“Is that really true…?”

Bai Jingxuan stepped back a few paces and gave her a doubtful look. “But I don’t think learning to clean windows on tiptoes really counts as personal growth.”

“If your body’s not putting in any effort, it’s not labor!”

Lin Xiaolu raised her index finger like a teacher making a point. “Besides, I read somewhere that standing on tiptoes and jumping a lot helps you grow taller!”

Bai Jingxuan was momentarily speechless.

She looked at Lin Xiaolu’s height, then thought of her own, and couldn’t come up with any response that felt appropriate.

After a brief pause, she finally offered a hesitant, encouraging smile.

“Well… when you put it that way, I guess it makes sense!”

“You took way too long to say that, and now it’s too late!”

Lin Xiaolu groaned and pressed a hand to her forehead, dropping her head like she was surrendering. “Forget it. Let’s not talk about this anymore.”

“Ah, well… I think with height development, you can’t really tell until adulthood.”

Trying to cheer her up, Bai Jingxuan quickly added, “You know what they say—‘Girls change a lot as they grow up.’ Height’s part of that too!”

“I don’t need someone my height who looks like an elementary schooler trying to comfort me about my height! And besides, ‘girls change a lot’? I’m almost fifteen! I’m running out of time!”

Lin Xiaolu was starting to spiral. “I drink milk! I work out! I get my full eight hours of sleep! Why isn’t it working?!”

“Okay, fine, I get why Xia Liang’s taller than me—but what about you? Are you on growth hormones or something?”

“I’m actually one of the shorter ones at the academy…” Bai Jingxuan mumbled.

Oof.

So much for comforting lies—reality hit like a knife. Lin Xiaolu choked on her words.

Frustration bubbling inside her, she couldn’t even vent properly. In the end, she could only pick up the rag she’d dropped and glare at the squashed bug stuck to it.

“This is all your fault! Making me look like a total idiot!”

Poor bug. Even in death, it probably never expected to take the blame for something like this.

“A bug? It crashed into the window?”

Bai Jingxuan tilted her head toward the rag in Xiaolu’s hand, looking puzzled. “There was one over here too?”

“‘Also’?”

That got Lin Xiaolu’s attention. She turned to look at her. “You ran into one too?”

“Mm-hmm. A moth flew into the kitchen window.” Bai Jingxuan pointed toward the kitchen. “Probably got drawn in by the light.”

As if to confirm her theory, a flying insect buzzed around the ceiling light in the living room, occasionally bumping into the decorative cover with soft little taps.

Both girls turned their eyes toward it, watching the bug until it gave up on the lamp and fluttered off elsewhere.

“…Come to think of it, there have been more bugs lately. It’s getting cooler and autumn’s here, but I keep finding moths on the walls. Are they sneaking in for warmth?”

“Maybe something spoiled in the kitchen?”

“No way. We only moved in a month and a half ago—nothing’s rotting that fast.”

Lin Xiaolu put one hand on her hip and lowered her head in thought. “Looks like we need something to keep the bugs away.”

“Wanna try using mothballs?” Bai Jingxuan suggested. “I think Sensei stocked a bunch of cleaning supplies in the storage room.”

“Sensei, huh…”

Lin Xiaolu slumped down onto the windowsill with a sigh. “It’s been nearly half a month since Veronica left. When’s she coming back…”

“Didn’t you ask her in the group chat?”

“I did, but I asked whether she’d be back for the Full Moon Festival.”

“I thought she said she wouldn’t be?”

“…Yeah.”

Lin Xiaolu stared at the floor, kicking it lightly. “She said she still had work and wouldn’t be back.”

That was the reply she’d gotten two days ago.

She had messaged both her dad and Veronica, asking if they’d be around for the Full Moon Festival.

The results: Veronica said she wasn’t coming and told her to enjoy the holiday with her family. Lin Yun, on the other hand, said he would be back.

It wasn’t the answer Lin Xiaolu had expected.

She’d actually been kind of conflicted—if both of them came back, how was she supposed to split her time?

In Donghua Province, the Full Moon Festival was a time for family reunions. Blood relatives usually took priority. If both Veronica and her dad returned to Fangting City, she’d have to celebrate at the secret base first, then head home to be with her dad.

Even though she really wanted to spend the whole day at the base with her squad.

Now the decision was easier—Veronica wasn’t coming, so she’d just go home for the holiday.

“That’s kind of a shame,” Bai Jingxuan said quietly.

“Tell me about it.” Lin Xiaolu agreed. “But I bet you’re even more disappointed. Your surprise is gonna have to wait, huh?”

Bai Jingxuan and Xia Liang treated the secret base like a second home. With Veronica gone and Lin Xiaolu going home, their Full Moon Festival was going to be pretty lonely.

“No, it’s not really a surprise or anything. I just wanted to wait for Sensei to come back so I could tell her in person…”

Bai Jingxuan waved her hands nervously. “It just feels too awkward to say something like that over the phone.”

“It’s not even anything bad. What’s the big deal?”

Lin Xiaolu sighed. “You awakened your Magical Armor before I did, even though I became a Magical Girl two months earlier. Be a little more confident!”

“Xiaolu-jie…”

Her tone made Bai Jingxuan panic a little. “Did I upset you?”

“Upset?”

Lin Xiaolu narrowed her eyes and rested her chin on her hand. “You think I’d be happy about this? I’ve been a Magical Girl for nearly five months and I’m still Seed-tier. Meanwhile, a kid who joined later than me already has Magical Armor. How could I be happy?”

“I, uh…” Bai Jingxuan opened her mouth, but didn’t know how to respond.

The two fell into silence, unsure what to say.

“Pfft—what’s with that look on your face!”

Lin Xiaolu burst out laughing after a while, having seen Bai Jingxuan’s expression. She reached out and pinched her cheek. “I’m not that petty, okay? I’m not gonna hold a grudge over something like this. Don’t look so miserable—you’re making it look like I’m bullying you.”

“I am upset, but it’s because I feel like I suck. It’s got nothing to do with you.”

“But you’re not sucky at all, Xiaolu-jie.”

With her face still squished, Bai Jingxuan said seriously, “I think you’re really amazing.”

“I already said, being comforted by a kid doesn’t help.”

Lin Xiaolu let go of her and gave a lopsided smile. “Honestly, the more I think about my situation, the more I just feel like a loser.”

“But I—”

Bai Jingxuan started to say more, but was interrupted by a noise from the entryway.

Thump!

The front door closed with a crisp sound, followed by two cheerful voices drifting in:

“I’m back!”

“Hellooo~!”

The newcomers were none other than Xia Liang and Moko.

Xia Liang walked into the house dressed in casual clothes, flashy earrings glinting at her ears, arms full of plastic shopping bags. She looked stylish as ever.

“Someone come help me carry this! It’s too heavy!”

“Ah, coming!”

Bai Jingxuan rushed to help, while Lin Xiaolu trailed behind at a more leisurely pace. When she saw Xia Liang, the faint smile that had crept onto her face vanished immediately.

“What’s with that look?”

Xia Liang stepped into the living room with Bai Jingxuan and spotted Lin Xiaolu’s trademark grumpy face. “Is it that time of the month or something?”

“What are you talking about?! That’s you! I’m just in a bad mood!”

Snapping back, Lin Xiaolu waved her rag at her. “What took you so long? You were just getting groceries, weren’t you?”

“Oh, that—”

Xia Liang smiled happily. “I ran into two classmates at the mall. We started chatting, I gave them some advice, and then we grabbed lunch together.”

“Ehhh—”

Lin Xiaolu groaned dramatically. “So you left the two of us here to do chores while you went off to be a social butterfly?”

“Chores? You were the one who lost at rock-paper-scissors, remember? You said whoever lost would go shopping!”

Xia Liang puffed her cheeks in protest. “I still remember how smug you looked when you won. Now you wanna play the victim?”