Bang!
A sudden knocking sound echoed in the previously quiet living room, causing Lin Xiaolu, who was holding a rag, to lift her head.
"What the heck?"
Harboring full-blown confusion, Lin Xiaolu surveyed the glass in front of her and finally spotted a splotch of black dirt above the window. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a bug that had smashed into the glass.
"Ugh, that's really disgusting!"
Complaining with a hint of annoyance, she climbed onto the windowsill, hands and feet working together, and opened the window's safety latch. Standing on tiptoe and craning her neck, she reached the rag outside to try to wipe off the stain on the window.
However, just as she stretched her hand out the window, her feet suddenly slipped, and her entire body tilted backward, falling away from the window.
"Aaah!"
The short cry of alarm didn't last long because a pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind and steadied the about-to-fall Lin Xiaolu.
——"Be careful, Xiaolu sis."
The newcor spoke, "Actually, you could have transford if you couldn't reach."
Blinking, Lin Xiaolu tilted her head back and saw Bai Jingxuan standing behind her, looking at her with a sowhat concerned expression.
"Umm..."
It took her a while to recover from the shock of nearly falling, and after a bit of sulking, she organized her thoughts and stood up pretending not to care, "It's fine, it's fine! Anyway, falling from this height wouldn't have mattered much. Always relying on a magical girl's powers doesn't lead to personal growth!"
"Is that really so..."
Taking a few steps back after letting go, Bai Jingxuan looked skeptically at Lin Xiaolu, "But I think that even if you learn to stand on tiptoe to wipe windows, it won't lead to any substantial growth."
"You can't consider it labor if the body isn't exerting effort!"
Lin Xiaolu raised her index finger, pontificating, "Besides, I read in a book that frequently standing on tiptoe and jumping is the way to grow taller!"
Her statent left Bai Jingxuan at a loss for words.
After being silent for a while, she first glanced at Lin Xiaolu's height and then thought about herself, unable to co up with any relevant words for the current situation.
After a mont's pause, Bai Jingxuan hesitantly began to speak, revealing an encouraging smile,
"Well, when you put it that way, it does make sense!"
"It's too late for that kind of talk after being silent for so long!"
Lin Xiaolu sighed while holding her forehead and then hung her head as if admitting defeat, "Let's just drop it."
"Ah, well... I think that height developnt is sothing that you can't really tell about until soone is an adult."
Seeing her mood plumt instantly, Bai Jingxuan hastily tried to offer comfort, "After all, there's the saying, 'A girl changes eighteen tis between childhood and womanhood,' right? Height is included in that!"
"I don't need to be comforted about my height by a grade-schooler who's about as tall as ! And about changing eighteen tis as a girl, I'm almost fifteen, soon there won't be any chance left!"
Lin Xiaolu vented in frustration, "I've been drinking milk and exercising, and I get a full 8 hours of sleep, what gives!"
"Xia Liang is already taller than , what's the deal with you? Are you taking hormones or sothing?"
"I'm considered short in the academy..." Bai Jingxuan explained in a soft voice.
"Ugh!"
As the saying goes, lies do not hurt people, but the truth is a sharp knife. Bai Jingxuan's explanation left Lin Xiaolu without words, choking on what she had been about to say.
Unable to vent her surging emotions, Lin Xiaolu beca more and more frustrated until she could only pick up the rag she had dropped, angrily scolding the bug stuck to it, "It's all your fault! You made look like a fool!"
Heaven help the insect; the dead bug probably never imagined that it could be blad for such a mishap.
"A bug? Did it hit the window?"
Bai Jingxuan turned her head towards the rag in Lin Xiaolu's hand and asked in confusion, "Is there one here too?"
"'Also'?"
Her words drew Lin Xiaolu's attention, prompting her to turn around, "You encountered one too?"
"Yeah, a moth crashed into the kitchen window," Bai Jingxuan pointed towards the kitchen, chirping, "It was probably attracted by the lights inside the house, right?"
As if to prove her point, an insect was flying around the living room light, occasionally bumping into the lampshade and making a slight noise.
Both girls were captivated by the insect, watching its movent until it gave up hitting the lampshade and flew away.
"...Speaking of which, there have been more bugs around these past few days. Even though the weather is cooling down and it's autumn, I keep finding clothes moths on the walls inside the house. Are they coming in to warm up?"
"Could it be that sothing's gone rotten in the kitchen?"
"That's impossible. We've only moved here a month and a half ago. There's no way food goes bad that quickly," Lin Xiaolu pondered with one hand on her hip, "$$$ "Looks like we need to get so insect repellent."
"How about trying mothballs?"
Bai Jingxuan suggested, "I rember the teacher prepared a lot of cleaning supplies in the storeroom."
"The teacher... huh."
Lin Xiaolu sat down listlessly by the windowsill and sighed deeply, "Erald Sparrow has been gone for almost half a month now. When will she co back, I wonder."
"Didn't you ask the teacher in the group chat before, sis?"
"I did ask, but what I asked was whether she would co back for the Full Moon Festival."
"I rember the teacher said she wouldn't be coming back, right?"
"...Yes."
Lin Xiaolu stared at the floor, subconsciously kicking her feet a couple of tis: "She said her work isn't finished, so she won't be coming back."
That had been Lin Xiaolu's answer from the ssage two days prior.
She had sent ssages to both her father and Erald Sparrow, asking about their plans for the Full Moon Festival.
In the end, Erald Sparrow indicated she wouldn't be returning and told her to spend a good festival with her family; Lin Yun, however, told her he would co back for the celebration.
That was indeed an answer sowhat beyond Lin Xiaolu's expectations.
Originally, she was sowhat troubled, pondering what she should do if both were to co back for the festival—how she should arrange her schedule.
It's a tradition in Donghua Region, the Full Moon Festival is a ti for family reunions, and in most cases, being with one's blood relatives takes precedence. If Erald Sparrow and her dad were both to return to Fangting City for the festival, she might need to celebrate first at the secret base and then go ho to spend the festival with her dad. Even though she actually preferred celebrating at the secret base with her friends.
Now the problem had beco simple; with Erald Sparrow not returning, she naturally only had the option of going ho for the festival.
"It's a bit disappointing," Bai Jingxuan said softly.
"Isn't that the truth?"
Lin Xiaolu agreed: "But you must be the most disappointed, after all, the surprise you prepared has to be postponed again."
Bai Jingxuan and Xia Liang treated this secret base like a second ho. If Erald Sparrow didn't return and Lin Xiaolu went back to her own ho, their Full Moon Festival would indeed be a lot lonelier.
"No, it's not about the surprise or anything. I just want to wait for the teacher to co back so I can tell her properly..."
Bai Jingxuan waved her hands frantically: "After all, it's really not proper to talk about this kind of thing over the phone."
"What is it? It's not like it's anything bad."
Lin Xiaolu sighed: "You've even surpassed , who beca a Magical Girl two months earlier, by being the first to awaken your Magic Dress, so be a little more confident."
"Lin Xiaolu..."
The sorrow in her tone left Bai Jingxuan sowhat at a loss: "Am I making you unhappy?"
"Unhappy?"
Looking at Bai Jingxuan, Lin Xiaolu squinted and propped up her chin: "How could I be happy? I've been a Magical Girl for almost five months and still just a seed class, even a primary school student who joined later has mastered Magic Dress, how could I be anything but discontent?"
"This, I..."
Bai Jingxuan opened her mouth but didn't know what words of comfort to say.
The two fell into silence, looking at each other wordlessly.
---"Pfft, what's with that expression of yours!"
Seeing her reaction, Lin Xiaolu burst into laughter after a while and pinched Bai Jingxuan's cheek: "I'm not such a petty person. I wouldn't hold a grudge over sothing like that. Don't look so glum, as if I'm bullying you."
"It's true I'm not happy, but it's because I feel too incompetent, and it has nothing to do with you."
"But Lin Xiaolu isn't incompetent at all."
With Lin Xiaolu pinching her face, Bai Jingxuan said earnestly: "I think you are amazing."
"I've already said that being consoled by a primary schooler doesn't cheer up."
Letting go helplessly, Lin Xiaolu grinned: "On the contrary, thinking about my current situation makes feel even more defeated."
"But I..."
Bai Jingxuan tried to persuade her further, but her words were soon interrupted by the noise from the entrance.
Thud!
Accompanied by the crisp sound of a door closing, two cheerful greetings reached their ears: "I'm back!" "I've returned!"
It was none other than Xia Liang and Moke.
Xia Liang entered the house dressed casually with sparkling earrings, looking quite fashionable, and was carrying large and small plastic bags: "Can soone help with these things? They're so heavy!"
"Ah, yes!"
Bai Jingxuan imdiately went to help, with Lin Xiaolu casually following behind. Seeing Xia Liang, she quickly suppressed the slight smile on her face.
"What's with that expression?"
As Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan walked into the living room together, she saw Lin Xiaolu with the sa sullen face as always and was puzzled: "Is it that ti of the month?"
"What are you talking about, you're the one on your period! I'm just in a bad mood!"
Countering irritably, Lin Xiaolu approached Xia Liang with a cloth: "What took you so long just to buy so stuff?"
"Well..."
Hearing this, Xia Liang grinned with delight: "I happened to run into two classmates at the mall, and after giving them so advice, we got to talking, and had lunch together."
"Eh---"
Lin Xiaolu groaned: "So you left the two of us at ho to do the chores while you went off to be the social butterfly?"
"What do you an chores, you were the one who played rock-paper-scissors with , saying whoever lost had to go buy groceries."
Xia Liang also pouted, sowhat aggrieved: "I haven't forgotten the triumphant look on so people's face when they won. Now you're going back on your word?"
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