Volume 1 Chapter 130: It's Not a Big Deal to Eat Some of Your Family's Rice!
Near noon, in a narrow alley somewhere in Wangdu.
In sharp contrast to the noise of the streets outside, this alley was unusually quiet. A faint old smell lingered in the air, as if time itself had stopped here.
A completely black stray cat skillfully jumped over the bottles and cans blocking its path and landed on a slightly wider section of the steps.
The door above the steps was slightly open, leaving a narrow gap, but the inside was completely dark.
Perhaps looking for food, or perhaps simply driven by a cat's natural curiosity, the black cat cautiously wandered around the doorway.
The only thing it could smell was a faint trace of alcohol.
Suddenly, a series of crisp footsteps came from the entrance of the alley.
A pretty young girl wearing a white lab coat and a beret appeared, carrying several plastic bags. She watched the sneaky little animal with an amused expression.
"Huh? How did a stray cat get in here? Come here~"
The girl slowly bent down and crouched on the ground.
She broke off a piece of a biscuit-like snack from one of the bags, placed it in her palm, and softly called to the cat.
Hearing her voice, the cat's amber-colored eyes showed fear and uneasiness.
The two remained in a standoff for quite some time.
Only after being tempted by the food did the cat lick its lips and cautiously move closer.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps...
The girl remained crouched the entire time, patiently waiting for the cat to approach.
But in the end, it seemed to notice something.
As the distance between them grew smaller, the cat, which had slowly lowered its guard, suddenly puffed up its fur.
Its tail stood straight up.
After baring its teeth at the girl, it turned and ran away in panic.
"Ah..."
The cat's escape was clearly not what the girl had expected. She unconsciously moved her fingers, as if wanting to stop it.
Unfortunately, it had already run far away.
With a disappointed expression, she pulled her hand back, sighed, and slowly stood up.
"Oh dear. I already washed all the bloodstains off before coming out. It seems I still can't fool this little guy's sense of smell."
The girl looked down at her fair right hand as she spoke to herself.
The strangely dressed girl in the white lab coat was none other than Lin Luoyu, the self-proclaimed detective who had previously crossed paths with Bai Muxue.
At the moment, however, she did not look her best.
Several messy strands of hair poked out from beneath her beret, and her delicate face was filled with signs of exhaustion.
Anyone could tell she had not gotten enough sleep last night.
Still, Lin Luoyu did not care much.
She rarely needed to socialize, and the people who came to her for business were not concerned about her appearance.
Blinking her slightly dry eyes, she yawned and pushed open the door to her office.
With a creak, the door opened.
Previously, the room had been lit only by a small desk lamp. As sunlight streamed inside, some of the darkness lingering in the room was driven away.
"Hehe... You can come to me for autographs and photos anytime..."
A soft mumbling voice came from nearby.
Lin Luoyu turned her head and saw a slender figure lying across a desk covered with messy piles of documents.
The girl's pretty face wore a silly smile.
Her lips moved slightly as she remained completely absorbed in what was obviously a pleasant dream.
"Xingwan? Still dreaming?"
Lin Luoyu waved a finger in front of the girl's face.
The only response was a slight frown. She showed no intention of opening her eyes.
"Miss Tang Xingwan, are you planning to spend your whole life dreaming on top of my desk?"
Lin Luoyu casually placed the plastic bags beside the desk, raised her voice a little, and tossed a pack of tissues over.
It flew through the air and hit the girl right in the face.
"Ow!"
The girl cried out in pain and finally opened her eyes groggily. She quickly looked around in panic.
"Hah!? What low-level fool dares to ambush me—"
Then she noticed Lin Luoyu standing nearby with her arms crossed.
"Ahaha... So it's you, Luoyu. Good morning."
The girl had been ready to explode in anger, but after noticing Lin Luoyu's gaze, she awkwardly scratched her head and forced out an embarrassed smile.
"Stop grinning and wipe your drool first."
Lin Luoyu let out a long sigh and pointed at the desk.
"Huh?"
Tang Xingwan froze for a moment before realizing that the spot where she had been sleeping was covered with a shiny puddle of drool.
A blush instantly spread from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.
Panicking, she hurriedly grabbed several tissues and lowered her head, frantically wiping the desk.
"Waaah... Sorry, sorry!"
Drooling while sleeping on a desk was understandable.
But this was not a classroom desk, and it was not her own room either.
The more Tang Xingwan thought about it, the more embarrassed she became. The blush on her face grew even deeper.
In her dream, she had finally become the magical girl she had always wanted to be.
She gained amazing powers beyond anything her classmates or friends could imagine.
Then she traveled all across Wangdu, beating up disaster beasts, monsters, and criminals until they were completely defeated.
"W-W-We were wrong! Please forgive us, Lady Magical Girl!"
In the end, under the admiring gazes of ordinary citizens and the fearful looks of those troublemakers, she reached a level that no other magical girl could achieve.
Not only did she no longer have to attend school, but she even brought her father back to life.
As her fame grew, she became Wangdu's newest hero.
"So, what kind of daydream was Miss Tang having this time?"
Lin Luoyu took a cup of soy milk from the plastic bag and asked through the straw.
"Did you become a magical girl? Or did you pull an SSR card from a card pack?"
There was no way Tang Xingwan could tell anyone about such an embarrassing dream.
Knowing how awkward it would sound, she scratched her cheek and had no idea what to say. But staying completely silent felt awkward too.
Her brain, still half asleep, worked slowly for a while before she finally managed to squeeze out a response.
"Ah, n-no, nothing like that. By the way... have you eaten yet, Luoyu?"
Since she was never good at socializing, all she could do was awkwardly change the subject.
"Nope. I figured somebody hadn't even eaten breakfast, so I brought some food back for you."
Lin Luoyu could not be bothered to continue such a pointless conversation.
She carried the plastic bags over, picked up the tissues covered with drool from the desk, and threw them all into the trash can with a look of disgust.
Then she grabbed a cloth and wiped down the desk again.
Looking at the newspapers on the table, now stained with water marks, the corner of her mouth twitched.
Tsk. Better throw these away too. None of the information on them is usable anymore.
I thought I was already a pretty messy person... Who knew there was someone even worse?
Letting out a sigh in her heart, Lin Luoyu removed her beret, shook out her slightly messy hair, and looked back at Tang Xingwan, who was now completely focused on eating her sesame flatbread.
"By the way, when are you planning to go home? You can't keep hanging around here eating and drinking for free forever, can you? I still have a business to run."
Hearing that, Tang Xingwan wrinkled her nose and let out a dissatisfied snort.
"Tsk, tsk. That's way too heartless! We've been through life-and-death situations together, haven't we? What's the big deal about eating a little of your rice?"