"A doorbell?"
Lin Xiaolu, who had been resting her chin in both hands, looked up and sat straight. "At this hour?"
Xia Liang poked her head out from the side. "A delivery?"
"I don't know. I didn't buy anything." Lin Xiaolu immediately denied it.
"Then maybe your dad bought something?" Xia Liang suggested another possibility.
"Him? I've never seen him shop online for anything."
Still doubtful, Lin Xiaolu had just spoken when she hesitated again. "But I guess it's not impossible..."
"So, should we open it?"
Looking toward the front door, Xia Liang seemed eager to try. "It's daytime, so it should be fine, right?"
"Day or night, security in our complex should be fine." Lin Xiaolu seemed persuaded.
Xia Liang beckoned with one hand, and purple magic condensed into a wand in her grasp. "Then I'll transform into a magical girl and stand to the side. If it's a bad guy, I'll hit them?"
Lin Xiaolu lowered her eyelids and stared at her for a while. She had wanted to ask, "Why don't you go?" But then she remembered this was her home, and she should show some responsibility. Suppressing the thought, she stood up from the couch. "That seems okay."
With a wave of her hand, Lin Xiaolu dispelled her magical girl transformation. Wearing slippers, she took small steps toward the entrance; Xia Liang, meanwhile, held her wand and knelt on the couch, peeking over it with only her head exposed as she secretly watched the situation.
Frowning, Lin Xiaolu walked to the door. Her hand hovered over the handle for a moment before pressing it down and carefully opening the door.
—What met her eyes was a completely unfamiliar woman.
The woman looked to be in her twenties, relatively tall, with bright features and jet-black hair styled in a simple C-curl. She wore a printed white cardigan T-shirt on top and a high-waisted denim maxi skirt below, with a small crossbody bag in hand. She gave off the impression of a capable office worker.
"Who are you?" Lin Xiaolu was dumbfounded.
"Ah, so this is Senior's... She's so cute!"
But the woman before her seemed not to find Lin Xiaolu unfamiliar at all. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw her. "I'd only seen photos before, but you're even cuter in person!"
Her unreserved monologue only made Lin Xiaolu more confused. "So who are you?"
"Who I am isn't important. What's important is that this is our first time meeting, Lin Xiaolu, right? Come, let Auntie give you a hug!" The woman enthusiastically spread her arms.
"Why? No!" Lin Xiaolu could not help backing up two steps.
Her intense confusion left her momentarily at a loss for words. The commotion drew Xia Liang and Moko from the living room as well.
When Xia Liang saw the two facing off, she first froze, then swiftly pieced together the situation. Facing the woman at the door, she smiled and spoke.
"Ah, hello, Miss? Who are you looking for?"
Her poise and manners were impeccable, as though she were the child of this household instead.
Her words immediately delighted the woman at the door. "Huh? You actually called me Miss? Hahaha, you sweet-talker."
Since she was wearing outdoor shoes, she could not enter the apartment, so she could only stand in the hallway and wave. "You come over too. Let big sister give you a kiss!"
"Um, well..."
Even Xia Liang could not help showing a troubled expression in the face of the woman's overwhelming enthusiasm.
"So who exactly are you?!" Lin Xiaolu, who had been squeezed to one side, asked once again.
Only after she asked the question for the third time did the woman at the door seem to snap out of her excessive enthusiasm. She carefully examined the two girls before her, and only when she saw their lost expressions did she realize she had not introduced herself yet.
After all, when a stranger acted that familiar right away, it really did leave people at a loss. So she cleared her throat twice and slightly reined in her expression.
"Ahem. It seems neither of you knows who I am, so let me give a brief introduction first."
She lifted her shoulder bag, took out a small black ID card, and waved it in the air. "I'm Hong Siyu, a liaison for the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau. I'm responsible for coordinating with your senior, Larkspur. Besides that, ten years ago, I was also a resident magical girl in Fangting City."
Her movements were crisp and capable, and her smile was warm and approachable. Yet that simple statement carried an enormous amount of information, leaving the two girls behind the door somewhat stunned.
"Larkspur's... liaison?"
"A magical girl from ten years ago?"
Clearly, the girls each focused on different things.
Lin Xiaolu was naturally more concerned about Larkspur's interpersonal connections. It was impossible for her not to be curious about what kind of person Larkspur's liaison was.
As for Xia Liang, she naturally had the same question as Lin Xiaolu, but the latter half of Hong Siyu's statement was clearly much more significant.
Seeing that her introduction had successfully caught the girls' interest, Hong Siyu knocked on the doorframe. No longer as overly enthusiastic as she had been at first sight, she asked suggestively, "After saying all that, aren't you going to invite me in for a seat?"
The two girls exchanged a glance. Xia Liang gave a meaningful blink, and only then did Lin Xiaolu somewhat reluctantly fish out a pair of shoe covers from the shoe cabinet by the entrance and hand them to Hong Siyu. "Here."
"Hehe, then I won't stand on ceremony, big sister."
Taking the shoe covers from Lin Xiaolu, Hong Siyu lightly slipped them over her square-toed shoes and entered the apartment with a sort of excitement no one else could understand.
Stepping into Lin Xiaolu's home, she instinctively looked around. Her gaze moved from the dining room to the living room, taking in the dining table, the clock, the cabinets... and then the neatly arranged sofa. A trace of nostalgia flashed across her face.
It really had been a long time.
Her strange behavior made Lin Xiaolu stare at her curiously, and Xia Liang was somewhat puzzled as well. But out of courtesy, they quickly led Hong Siyu into the living room.
Xia Liang turned and went to the kitchen to make tea, while Lin Xiaolu casually pointed toward the sofa, her expression somewhat tense. "Here. Please sit."
"Are you shy around strangers?" Hong Siyu turned back and asked her.
"That's not it."
Lin Xiaolu replied stiffly, "Please don't treat me like a child."
"Being shy around strangers isn't really a child's trait."
Hong Siyu found an empty spot on the sofa and sat down casually. "We adults can be like that too, you know? We just give it a more serious-sounding name: social anxiety."
"...No means no."
"Alright, alright. No."
Hong Siyu smiled teasingly and patted the empty space beside her. "Then could you come sit next to big sister and let me get a good look at you?"
"Um..." Faced with this request, Lin Xiaolu still stood frozen in place, not moving at all.
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