Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

The chocolate Xia Liang made was eventually devoured amidst heaps of praise.

Although gnawing on chocolate shaped like one's own Heart's Gem felt a bit strange, after the first bite, both Bai Jingxuan and Lin Xiaolu gradually let go of that feeling of awkwardness and quickly stuffed the chocolate into their mouths without hesitation.

Emerald Sparrow, however, savored hers slowly, nibbling little by little, seemingly soaking in the cheerful atmosphere around the table. Her composed expression betrayed no obvious thoughts.

And so, after the chocolates prepared by the other three were distributed, the finale belonged to Lin Xiaolu.

Hesitatingly, she pulled out three large cardboard boxes from beneath the table. Placing them on top, she fiddled briefly with the ribbons tied around them, then showed a troubled expression:

"Ah, I forgot to label the names."

She rummaged through the boxes for a while, seemingly trying to deduce the contents based on the patterns on the packaging, muttering to herself things like "Who was this one meant for?" But it didn't take long before she threw in the towel and announced: "I forgot which box was meant for whom, so I'll open them and decide after!"

Thus, under the silent gaze of the others, Lin Xiaolu began unwrapping her own chocolate packaging.

Fortunately, despite the large size of these boxes — easily several times bigger than Xia Liang's — their packaging was relatively simple, just a few ribbons wrapped around them. Unwrapping them was straightforward. After a bit of effort, Lin Xiaolu pulled out her first chocolate creation from the first box:

— A plate of chocolates shaped into candy-like bows.

In terms of craftsmanship, Lin Xiaolu's designs were objectively more amateur compared to Xia Liang's. Not only was the level of detail relatively basic, but even this simpler design had some uneven spots here and there. Yet, it was clear no one present cared much about such nitpicky details — they were all waiting for Lin Xiaolu to speak.

"Ahem."

Clearing her throat under everyone's watchful gaze, Lin Xiaolu slid the plate of chocolates toward Bai Jingxuan: "This one's yours."

"This is for me? It's candy-shaped!"

Bai Jingxuan picked up a piece curiously for closer inspection, her expression growing quizzical as she turned to Lin Xiaolu: "But why?"

"Why? You ask me that kind of question…"

Pursing her lips, Lin Xiaolu seemed as if she wanted to say something, but the intense awkwardness from being the center of attention made her insist stiffly: "No special reason! I just felt inspired, so I made this shape!"

"Oh, I see…" Bai Jingxuan's disappointment was almost palpable.

"Hey, hey."

Beside her, Xia Liang nudged Lin Xiaolu's arm: "Now's not the time to act all sulky. If you don't use moments like this to say something heartfelt, when exactly do you plan to speak up?"

"What do you mean, sulky?"

Lin Xiaolu shot Xia Liang an annoyed glance: "Weren't you the one who said the shape of the chocolate should remain a secret between the giver and receiver? Wouldn't explaining it just make things weird?"

"But look at Xiao Xuan—she clearly doesn't understand."

Xia Liang gave Lin Xiaolu another nudge: "Don't play the enigmatic riddler here. Just explain it."

"Ugh, fine…"

Lin Xiaolu glanced at Bai Jingxuan again, noticing her looking back with a hopeful expression. She drew in a deep breath through her teeth.

She paused, folded her arms, rocked back and forth as though organizing her thoughts, and after a few moments, began slowly:

"It's like, uh…"

"Hmm." Bai Jingxuan held the candy-shaped chocolate, nodding to show she was listening.

"I thought, you know, I always eat the candies you give me."

As if she had abandoned some internal struggle, Lin Xiaolu exhaled lightly and looked at Bai Jingxuan: "I did some mental math — from that first piece you gave me to the ones I had just a few days ago, I've actually taken quite a lot from you."

"Hmm, hmm." Bai Jingxuan hummed in agreement.

"So I felt… since we both really like this candy, maybe making the chocolates in this shape might best represent our bond."

Lin Xiaolu's voice grew softer and softer: "As for why I gave it a bow-like shape — I thought it suited you. You don't seem to wear any hair accessories, and this shape could work perfectly as a hair clip…"

"Hmm… like this?" Bai Jingxuan held the candy up to her brow, mimicking the placement of a hair clip. She parted her bangs, simulating how the "clip" could pin her hair back.

"Kind of like that?" Having awkwardly poured her heart out like spilling beans, Lin Xiaolu was visibly overwhelmed, but she still looked at Bai Jingxuan and murmured: "This style should look pretty cute, right?"

"It does. I think it's adorable too." Xia Liang nodded in agreement.

"Adorable."

Emerald Sparrow chimed in: "Maybe you should actually buy a bow-shaped hair clip like this."

The comments instantly brightened Bai Jingxuan, who moved quickly to Lin Xiaolu's side and pulled her into a hug: "Thank you, Sister Xiaolu!"

At this point, everyone present had officially received a hug from Bai Jingxuan.

"Don't smear chocolate-covered hands on my clothes, okay?"

Lin Xiaolu warned her, feigning mild reluctance as she awkwardly hugged back. However, her poker face cracked within three seconds: "Honestly… you're such a little brat, always acting spoiled!"

After a moment spent hugging, Lin Xiaolu moved on to unwrapping her next chocolate box.

She stood, untied the ribbon from the second cardboard box, and retrieved a somewhat irregularly shaped oval chocolate.

"What's this?" Bai Jingxuan hadn't returned to her seat yet and stuck close to Lin Xiaolu, observing the oval from various angles: "A fried egg?"

"I think it's a bush." Xia Liang offered her guess: "It looks like the kind of shrubbery you see in roadside landscaping."

"Could it be an animal's face, or maybe a fairy's face?" Emerald Sparrow, still chewing on her remaining chocolate, joined in: "See those two protruding bits? They look like ears."

After each of the three gave their guesses, they turned all their attention to Lin Xiaolu, anticipating the correct answer.

"It's a mirror." Lin Xiaolu remained silent for a while before averting her gaze gloomily.

"…Ah, so it's a mirror!"

Xia Liang immediately declared loudly in exaggerated fashion: "I looked at it wrong earlier — it really does resemble a mirror!"

"Yes, yes, it looks just like one!" Bai Jingxuan echoed enthusiastically.

"I'm sitting kind of far, so I couldn't see clearly." Emerald Sparrow quickly dismissed her earlier assumption: "Don't mind me."

"It's fine. I know it doesn't look like one."

Lin Xiaolu sighed, resigned, and placed the uneven oval in front of Xia Liang. Flipping it over revealed a hollowed-out indentation:

"I initially planned to make it look like a mirror surface, then pour over a chocolate frame, but I misjudged the amount of chocolate for the frame and ended up with this… Anyway, this one's for you."

"Eh, it's for me?"

Xia Liang's smile froze for a second but quickly resumed naturally: "A mirror-shaped design — is it meant to reference my magic armor? That's quite a thoughtful idea."

"That's just part of the reason."

Lin Xiaolu hesitated briefly: "There's more."

"More?" Xia Liang perked up, intrigued: "What does that mean?"

"It's… um…"

Lin Xiaolu scanned the room, noting how everyone's eyes remained fixed on her, clearly waiting to hear her next words. Drawing in a deep breath to bolster her courage, she continued: "To me, you're like a mirror too."

"Oh!" Bai Jingxuan exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh?" Xia Liang covered her mouth in shock.

Emerald Sparrow blinked in amazement.

"Because, weren't we practically magical girls of the same generation? Well, technically, you started two months later than me."

Lin Xiaolu didn't look at Xia Liang, gazing instead at the chocolate on the table: "But your talents are obviously better than mine. Your growth and progress after becoming a magical girl were much faster too, and honestly, in the beginning, I felt envious—almost jealous."

"But since our tutorials were always together, spiritual practices were together, and even combat training was together, I saw clearly how you grew, how you surpassed me. Watching your progress, I began to understand what I was lacking."

"You see, even language classes teach phrases like 'using others as a mirror.' In academics, magical training, relationships—with you as my mirror, I gained a sense of my shortcomings and was able to become who I am today."

With that, Lin Xiaolu finally lifted her gaze, meeting Xia Liang's eyes: "So, thank you. I hope we can keep walking this path together."

For a brief moment, everyone fell silent in response to Lin Xiaolu's speech.

Soon after, Emerald Sparrow and Bai Jingxuan broke the silence with applause, and Xia Liang lowered her hands, slowly standing up.

She stepped up to Lin Xiaolu, arms open, head slightly tilted: "Come on."

"Come on what?" Lin Xiaolu asked, confused.

"Let's have a hug—like how you hugged Xiao Xuan." Xia Liang still wore her usual calm smile, but her tone carried a faint nasal quiver: "I'm really touched, so come on, limited-time hug session."

"…No way." Lin Xiaolu stepped back: "That's so cheesy."

"Don't act shy now; you just finished saying such heartfelt words."

Xia Liang wasn't deterred by Lin Xiaolu's reluctance and approached her with a playful grin. "I can tell you want this hug too. Best friend hug time!"

"Who's your best friend?! I already told you I was jealous of you—didn't you get that?"

Lin Xiaolu backed several steps away: "Don't flatter yourself! You're not a little kid; stop acting spoiled!"

"You… You just said all those touching things, and now you're running away again."

Xia Liang sighed: "Fine then, I'll just initiate it myself."

"What do you mean by initiating—hey, don't come any closer! I'm warning you!"

"Come on, hug time!"

"No!" Lin Xiaolu started running around the room.

"Don't be shy, come here!" Xia Liang chased after her.

And so, the duo began playing a playful game of cat and mouse around the room.

"Such a great bond."

Emerald Sparrow finished the final bite of her chocolate, watching the two running around. Though she felt gratified, there was a faint tinge of sorrow in her heart.

Exchanging chocolates on days like this wasn't unique to the present. Back during her first two years as a magical girl, the Fangting City squad had done similar things.

But back then, since everyone in the squad was a student, An Ya and Su Shengzi would brazenly hand him chocolates right in the classroom. The surrounding classmates would erupt into whistles and teasing chants of "Get married!" and other silly remarks. Later, envious boys would joke about it endlessly, and rumors like "Class 2's Lin Yun is a player" spread rampantly and left Lin Yun thoroughly exasperated.

Although, in the end, he really did marry An Ya.