Off Work, Then I Become a Magical Girl
Book 2: Chapter 124: Thank-You Chocolates

Vol 2 Chapter 124 – Thank-You Chocolates

From the mount stop at the entrance of Caiyun Wetland, Veronica walked at a leisurely pace for over ten minutes before finally arriving at the door of the small cabin where the Fangting Squad was staying.

Although she didn’t feel physically tired, the hours-long tug-of-war with Mo He had left her somewhat mentally drained. So she took a moment to stand in the shadows and adjust her expression slightly, making sure no one could see any signs of fatigue in her face. Only then did she silently deactivate her spell and walk into the cabin.

Inside, the three juniors were all huddled around the sofa, clustered near Xia Liang’s phone. Veronica could hear the music and dialogue coming from the phone and guessed they were watching some kind of video, so she didn’t say anything when she entered. As a result, none of the juniors noticed someone had come in.

Bai Jingxuan was the first to spot Veronica. Her eyes had grown tired from staring at the screen too long, so when she looked away, she saw Veronica. While the other two were still engrossed in the video, she already rushed over, calling out, “Teacher!”

“Teacher, you’re back so late!” Though the words sounded like a complaint, Bai Jingxuan had already wrapped her arms around Veronica’s, showing no actual sign of blame. She was clearly just acting coy.

“Mhm, some unexpected things came up and delayed me a bit.”

Veronica didn’t intend to talk about Mo He with the juniors just yet, so she brushed over her day lightly, then patted Bai Jingxuan’s arm and asked, “How was your day? What are you three doing now?”

“We’re learning how to make egg—”

Bai Jingxuan started to spill it without hesitation, but before she could finish, Lin Xiaolu, who had rushed over aggressively, cut her off.

“Veronica, you’re back!” she said while subtly tugging on Bai Jingxuan’s sleeve, signaling her to keep quiet.

“Welcome back, little senior.” Xia Liang took the opportunity to move to Veronica’s other side and greeted her gently.

Greetings like this had long become routine for Veronica. Back in Fangting City, whenever she came home late due to work or patrol, if the juniors were in the living room, they’d always chat with her for a bit. But today felt different. Usually, after a few words, they’d go back to what they were doing. Yet this time, especially Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang, stayed gathered around like they were waiting for something. The atmosphere felt strangely tense.

They kept exchanging glances, as if each wanted to say something but none wanted to be the first to speak. Bai Jingxuan looked like she was about to talk, but Lin Xiaolu held her back tightly, causing the situation to stall.

Veronica saw this odd behavior and was naturally puzzled. But then she recalled what day it was today—and also remembered the message Lin Xiaolu had sent to Lin Yun earlier—something about the juniors making chocolate to give to her.

She knew their personalities well. After a quick thought, she figured out what they were probably up to. Rather than waiting for Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang to sort it out, she decided to take the lead herself. Amid the awkward tension, she raised her hand slightly in a pressing-down motion and said, “Ahem, you all wait here for me a sec—I’m going to grab something real quick.”

With that, she turned and walked over to her luggage cabinet under the surprised stares of the juniors. Opening the door, she rummaged through and pulled out several beautifully wrapped boxes.

She scanned the boxes a couple of times to confirm they were indeed what she had prepared. Then she brought them back to the entrance and handed them out to the juniors one by one.

“Here, chocolate.”

These boxes of chocolate were something she had picked up yesterday after trying some samples from a roadside shop. At the same time, she had also bought some Qiyun Cakes for visiting the Martyrs’ Cemetery. The Qiyun Cakes had already been used at the memorial, but the chocolates were brought back to the hotel.

When she bought them, she hadn’t thought too much—just figured they tasted good and would be nice to bring back for the kids. But after buying them, she remembered that Valentine’s Day was coming up. So she decided to wait a day and use them as gifts for the occasion.

“Since I bought them directly from a roadside dessert shop, they’re not anything super meaningful. Just treat them as snacks and try them if you like.”

As she handed them over, she explained, “Anyway, I personally thought they tasted pretty good.”

“Wow! Teacher gave me chocolate!” Bai Jingxuan beamed with simple, genuine happiness.

“Thank you, little senior.” Xia Liang returned to her usual polite self, bowed slightly in thanks, and carefully stowed the chocolate away.

Only Lin Xiaolu, after taking the chocolate, went silent at first. Then she looked pleased, then confused, and finally blurted out in surprise, “Eh? Wait a minute, why did Veronica give me chocolate first?”

“What do you mean ‘why’... It’s Valentine’s Day today, isn’t it?”

Veronica looked at her in slight confusion. After all, she knew Lin Xiaolu had secretly prepared chocolate as well—she’d seen the message sent to Lin Yun. Logically, Lin Xiaolu should fully understand the significance of Valentine’s Day. Still, she didn’t expose her junior’s plan since “Veronica” technically had no reason to know that: “Giving out chocolate is just a common custom, that’s all.”

“But, but technically speaking, on Valentine’s Day, you’re supposed to give chocolate to someone you like…”

Lin Xiaolu’s voice grew quieter and quieter. “Even if it’s in the broader sense of liking someone, it still feels kind of…”

“Oh, that.”

Veronica still didn’t get why the girl was bringing this up now, but she gave a serious explanation anyway. “Originally, this holiday was just for couples and young people who wanted to confess to their crushes. But over time, traditions evolved. Now it’s common to give chocolate to friends, family—even acquaintances. Celebrations are more fun when more people participate.”

“Besides, in the Magic Kingdom where sweets are popular, chocolate is just a regular part of the diet. By now, the holiday’s more like a national chocolate sale day.”

She pointed at the box in Lin Xiaolu’s hands. “As for the material world—it might not be as casual as the Magic Kingdom, but among Magical Girl squads, giving chocolate is a really common tradition. It’s a way to say thanks for your support, and also to make a kind of mutual encouragement pact.”

“Most Magical Girls have a hard time dating during their service terms if they want to fulfill their mission quota. So a lot of them miss out on the youthful excitement of giving chocolate to someone they like. Over time, the tradition evolved into giving chocolate to teammates as a way of saying, ‘I get it. Let’s keep going together.’”

“Originally, it probably started as a way to find joy in hardship. But later, as it spread, it became a really inspiring tradition—one that symbolizes team spirit. Eventually, it got so common that people started calling it ‘Thank-You Chocolate.’ That’s about it.”

By the time Veronica finished explaining, Bai Jingxuan had already opened her box and popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang both still looked thoughtful—especially Lin Xiaolu, who looked a little conflicted and muttered, “I see… Veronica really does know all kinds of random stuff.”

“It’s not that obscure, really. I only know about it because I had a teammate who was into studying these things.”

Veronica crossed her arms, almost doubting herself a little. “When I first heard about the idea of ‘Thank-You Chocolate,’ that’s how she explained it to me.”

“…Ugh.”

Lin Xiaolu sighed out of nowhere.

She hugged the box from Veronica and turned to Xia Liang, eyes drooping and sounding half-annoyed. “This is your fault. If you hadn’t filled my head with all that confusing nonsense, I would’ve given my chocolate a long time ago.”

“My fault?”

Xia Liang blinked, then chuckled wryly. “You were the one who came to me all worried, saying ‘I don’t know how to explain why I want to give her chocolate,’ and then begged me to help you out, weren’t you?”

“You should’ve just told Veronica straight up.”

Lin Xiaolu mumbled, “I even pushed you to go, and then you kept going back and forth with me. Now look—surprise ruined.”

“I didn’t know how to say it either…”

Xia Liang sighed. “Who knew there was something like Thank-You Chocolate? I spent so long trying to figure out how to explain it.”

“You sure didn’t have trouble talking about ‘like’ and ‘not like,’ did you?” Lin Xiaolu shot her a side-eye.

“That’s different…” Xia Liang faltered, then looked away.

As the two of them kept bickering and tossing blame back and forth, Veronica sat there completely lost. From what she could tell, they were arguing over not saying something sooner—but she couldn’t quite figure out what else was going on.

“So… what exactly are you two arguing about?” She’d already decided to play dumb, so she kept up the act and pretended to be clueless.

This time, the juniors didn’t bother hiding anything anymore.

Lin Xiaolu let go of Bai Jingxuan, who then took the cue and spoke up brightly:

“We made chocolate for you too, Teacher!”