Chapter 60 – My Place Is Pretty Big

The Friday afternoon dismissal bell was, in essence, no different from a horn sounding liberation.

The moment that “horn” rang out, the students were overjoyed.

Lin Xi was very satisfied with the fact that high schoolers in this world didn’t have to attend extra classes.

That said, the office workers in this world still got to enjoy the “blessing” of 996.

In any case, at least their student years weren’t quite so miserable.

“Miss Lin Xi-” Yang Shanshan mustered her courage and asked, “Are you free this weekend… to go hang out together?”

“Sorry, not this week.” Lin Xi had already promised Zhao Xinning that they would go out together for both days this weekend.

Zhao Xinning had said that unless the world ended, Lin Xi had to go out with her this weekend.

Lin Xi told Yang Shanshan she already had plans, so Yang Shanshan could only give up. “That’s a relief. I thought maybe you just didn’t want to hang out with someone boring like me.”

“How could that be? You’re clearly really interesting.” Lin Xi wasn’t just being polite.

She was a socially anxious homebody Otaku, and Yang Shanshan was an even more heavyweight case, but in reality, the two of them had a lot to talk about.

Recently, aside from teaching Yang Shanshan how to solve problems, Lin Xi had also been chatting with her about anime, manga, novels, games, figures…

In that regard, Yang Shanshan was practically another version of herself.

“See you next week, then.” Yang Shanshan shouldered her bag and waved goodbye.

“Mm. See you next week.”

Lin Xi couldn’t leave right away. She was on classroom duty today.

Even though some classmates had rushed to offer help, Lin Xi still refused to use her “privilege.”

After everyone else had left, Lin Xi only needed to give the classroom a quick cleaning, then close the doors and windows.

Simple enough. It wouldn’t take much time.

“Hey! Lin Xi!”

Someone came in through the back door and called out to her.

Lin Xi turned around. “Xia Xun, you… did you need something from me?”

“Can’t I come see you if I don’t need something?”

“Uh, no, that’s not…”

Xia Xun burst out laughing. “Why are you always a little nervous whenever you see me? Am I that scary?”

Lin Xi: “…”

Wasn’t she ever!

“No, Xia Xun, how could you be scary? I was just a little surprised.”

“What’s so surprising about it? We’re friends. Isn’t it normal for me to come see you?”

Xia Xun told Lin Xi that because Dark Realm Disaster incidents had been happening so frequently lately, she’d been incredibly busy. It wasn’t until now that she’d finally found the time to come see Lin Xi.

“So, what did you come to see me for?”

“Come on! Let’s go to my place and play games!” Xia Xun said happily. “I’ve been so busy lately that I actually earned a nice chunk of overtime pay, so I bought a hundred-inch LED giant-screen TV!”

“It got delivered today. Playing games and watching movies on it is definitely going to feel amazing.”

“I want to try it out with you!”

Lin Xi thought about it. She didn’t really have anything to do after going home today, so she might as well go to Xia Xun’s place and play games for a while.

“All right. Wait just a bit.”

“I’ll help you with classroom duty!”

Xia Xun jumped in to help, and before long, the duty work was done.

Xia Xun had a private car to take her home, and Lin Xi got in with her.

Going to a Magical Girl’s home… Honestly, she was a little nervous.

…

“Whoa-” Lin Xi was extremely envious of the duplex high-rise apartment Xia Xun lived in.

Standing up high and admiring the sunset through the wide floor-to-ceiling windows had a charm all its own.

“Lin Xi, would you like black tea or green tea? I also have oolong.”

“Thanks, but I don’t drink tea.”

Xia Xun: “…”

“Um, do you have any soda?”

“I do.” Xia Xun opened her large refrigerator, which was filled with all kinds of drinks.

At a glance, Lin Xi spotted her most loyal companion-cola.

Click! The two of them popped open their cans at the same time.

The first sip of cola would always be the best.

Xia Xun, the Ice Sprite, easily kept the cola ice-cold.

The two of them sat down on the soft, comfortable sofa in the living room, facing Xia Xun’s newly bought giant-screen TV.

After connecting the console and finishing the settings, each of them picked up a controller.

“Lin Xi, are you ready?” Xia Xun asked like a commander checking whether her soldiers were prepared to charge.

Lin Xi was the soldier about to rush out of the trenches. “I’m ready.”

Xia Xun pressed the start button. “Game start!”

…

“Lin Xi, you’re seriously amazing!”

“So are you.”

“Hahaha-“

The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Once they threw themselves into the game world, time slipped by without them noticing. Outside, night had long since fallen.

Xia Xun hit the pause button. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to keep playing-it was just that both of them were hungry.

“Let’s keep going after dinner.” Xia Xun picked up her phone to order takeout. “Lin Xi, what do you want to eat?”

But Lin Xi said, “When you got the drinks earlier, I saw ingredients in the fridge. Why don’t we cook?”

“Ah, that.” Xia Xun looked a little embarrassed. “The housekeeper had something come up today and asked for the day off, so I can only order takeout or eat out.”

Xia Xun didn’t know how to cook.

The so-called ultra-perfect magical beauty girl actually couldn’t cook? She didn’t want Lin Xi to find out, but unfortunately, Lin Xi had already noticed the ingredients in the fridge. It wasn’t like she could lie to her good friend, right?

Lying was the worst.

“I know how to cook,” Lin Xi said, rolling up her sleeves, ready to get started. She had been cooking at home every day lately, and her culinary skills had improved by leaps and bounds. “What do you want to eat?”

“Thank you. You can cook too? That’s amazing,” Xia Xun said. “I’ll eat whatever you make.”

Not a picky eater? As expected of a Magical Girl! Lin Xi carefully checked the ingredients in the fridge. Fruits, vegetables, all kinds of meat-it had everything.

“Then I’ll just make three simple home-style dishes.”

Lin Xi took out the ingredients and headed into the kitchen.

Just as she was about to snap her fingers and light the stove, she hurriedly stopped herself.

This was Xia Xun’s home!

Lin Xi had nearly used her witch powers to light the flame out of habit, and the realization made cold sweat break out across her back.

If her identity was exposed, this place would absolutely become her grave.

“What’s wrong, Lin Xi?” Xia Xun had never cooked before, so when she saw Lin Xi standing frozen in the kitchen, she thought maybe something was missing.

“Nothing,” Lin Xi said. “Just wait a bit. It’ll be ready soon.”

“Okay. If you need anything, just call me,” Xia Xun said.

…

“It smells so good!” Xia Xun showered her with praise. “Your cooking is even better than my housekeeper’s!”

“It’s not that great~” Lin Xi felt embarrassed from all the compliments. “Hurry and try it.”

Xia Xun picked up a slice of meat. “It’s delicious!”

“It’s really delicious!”

“Lin Xi, whoever marries you in the future is going to be so lucky!”

“Haha, it’s not that exaggerated…” Lin Xi felt secretly delighted.

Her cooking had now received four-fold certification from Zhao Xinning, Shi Yu, Lu Yi, and Xia Xun!

Xia Xun picked up another piece of meat and brought it to Lin Xi’s mouth.

“Ah~”

Lin Xi picked up her chopsticks. “I can do it myself.”

But Xia Xun insisted. “I didn’t help at all while you were cooking. At least let me feed you!”

Lin Xi: “…”

What kind of bizarre logic was that???

In the end, under Xia Xun’s insistence, Lin Xi let her feed her one bite.

The two of them happily finished dinner.

After resting for a short while, they went back to gaming.

By the time it was almost ten at night, Lin Xi was ready to head home.

“Head home?” Xia Xun was still reluctant to stop. “Why do you have to go home?”

“You can just stay at my place, can’t you?”

“Look, my place is pretty big, right?”

“Ah, well-” Lin Xi said, “I should still go home.”

“You really won’t stay the night?” Xia Xun said. “I was planning to watch a movie together later too.”

“Uh, next time for sure. It’s just that I’m going out with a friend tomorrow-“

“With who?!”

“With Xinning. You met her at the amusement park last time.”

“Oh- that girl. I thought you had a boyfriend and were planning to go out with him.”

“No, no, no. How could I possibly have a boyfriend?”

“All right. Have fun, then. When we have time, let’s go out together too, just like that afternoon-spend the whole day having fun!”

“Okay.” Lin Xi turned to leave. “Bye.”

“Mm. Bye.”

After Lin Xi left, Xia Xun picked up the game controller again, but after only a few minutes, it felt boring.

She didn’t feel like watching the movie she had prepared to watch with Lin Xi either.

She walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked downstairs. After waiting for quite a while, Lin Xi’s figure finally appeared.

Watching Lin Xi walk farther and farther away, Xia Xun felt an impulse growing stronger inside her-an impulse to keep her here.

“What… is wrong with me…”

“Being alone is so boring. I’ll just wash up and sleep.”