Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

By nine o'clock at night, Lin Yun dragged his exhausted body through the front door of his home.

When he returned to the company in the afternoon, his superior had reminded him about his increasing absenteeism recently. Then, back in his office, he turned on his work cell phone only to find it flooded with missed calls from subordinates and clients.

It was a good thing he had turned off his phone and left it in the office, or he might have been harassed by calls even while dealing with the Remnant Beasts.

Busy for half a day, he finally left work under the cloak of night, rushing home on the electric train.

As he walked into the living room, he saw Xia Liang sitting on the couch, playing with her phone.

Since she didn't bring any change of clothes, she seemed to be wearing Lin Xiaolu's pajamas. What was somewhat loose on Lin Xiaolu appeared quite form-fitting on her.

Alerted by the noise at the entrance, Xia Liang looked over in Lin Yun's direction and, after a moment's hesitation upon seeing a strange uncle enter, she quickly grasped the situation. Standing up, she greeted him with a politely sweet smile,

"Hello, Uncle!"

With her appearance easily giving off a "gentle" and "well-behaved" vibe, Xia Liang enhanced these aspects for the moment, indeed casting a very favorable impression. She matched the stereotype of the "good child from someone else's family" perfectly in the eyes of most parents.

She did put on quite a convincing act.

Lin Yun loosened his tie and made a mental note.

However, in this situation, he didn't have the right to call her out, as currently, he was Lin Xiaolu's father, not Emerald Sparrow, so he had to pretend that he didn't recognize Xia Liang at all.

"Oh, are you Xiaolu's classmate?"

He wasn't used to smiling, but he tried to lift the corners of his mouth to appear kinder, and he managed it.

"Are you here to play with Xiaolu?"

"Yes, we were just doing our homework together!" Xia Liang said cheerily, blatantly lying.

"And you've finished?"

"It's so late; aren't you going home?" Lin Yun asked, his expression unchanged, with no intention of exposing her lie.

"Xiaolu asked me to stay over and keep her company, so I took the liberty!" Xia Liang said with both sentiment and politeness.

"I see, have you talked to your family about it?" Lin Yun asked, his tone mild.

"I've explained the situation, but it's not confirmed yet. I'm waiting on your approval, Uncle," she replied.

"Heh, why wouldn't I agree? You young people should hang out more..."

With that, the two of them chatted amiably in the living room.

Lin Yun, taking advantage of his status as a parent, asked her a number of questions about family and education, trying to glean information about her home life. But Xia Liang's responses were similarly watertight, giving nothing away while acting the part perfectly.

Before long, the head of a girl with a single ponytail peeked out from a nearby room.

Lin Xiaolu leaned against the doorframe, curious about what the two were discussing in the living room, and spied covertly.

However, her attempt at stealth was rather amateurish, and Lin Yun, with his keen eyes, quickly noticed her. He didn't indulge Lin Xiaolu and called out directly,

"Xiaolu, have you been a good host to your classmate tonight?"

"Uhm..."

Caught in the act, Lin Xiaolu had no choice but to step out from behind the door. She glanced at Lin Yun, then at a snickering Xia Liang and responded reluctantly,

"We ordered takeout."

"You invited your classmate to stay the night. Have you thought about where she's going to sleep?"

"Er..."

Once again, Lin Xiaolu got stuck, umming and ahing without being able to articulate a response, eventually murmuring discontentedly,

"Not yet."

In fact, what Lin Yun didn't know was that until half an hour ago, Xia Liang was still lingering in Lin Xiaolu's room.

But because Xia Liang had been idling by as Lin Xiaolu was doing her homework, occasionally pestering her, she ultimately got chased out of the room.

Not to mention preparing a place for Xia Liang to sleep, Lin Xiaolu wished she could drive this person out of the house entirely. However, she couldn't bring herself to do something so heartless, and in the end, she simply banished Xia Liang to the living room and stayed alone in her room.

"Just wait a moment, there are spare blankets in the master bedroom, I'll go look for them."

Fortunately, Lin Yun didn't expect his daughter to be very thorough in her hospitality — he was already surprised she was willing to lend her clothes to someone. In keeping with the most common rules of hospitality, he felt obliged to prepare a place for Xia Liang to rest.

Upon returning to the master bedroom, he found several sets of rarely used bedding in the top of the wardrobe. He picked out one that was the right size and had a suitable pattern, shook it out to confirm it was clean and usable, then folded it up and carried it to Lin Xiaolu's bedroom door.

"Leave these here for now, I'll go find a soft pad to bring over."

After handing the blankets to Lin Xiaolu, he gave her these instructions.

"...Thank you, but this is enough,"

Lin Xiaolu said, holding the blanket and slightly lowering her head: "This is my responsibility, I will take care of it."

"Do you know how to make a bed on the floor?"

Accustomed to this by now, Lin Yun didn't feel slighted at all, but simply raised an eyebrow and asked, "Or do you plan to share the bed with your classmate?"

"I know how, it's no problem, go do your own thing," Lin Xiaolu insisted.

Clearly, she did not wish for Lin Yun to continue playing host to Xia Liang.

Having interacted with his daughter as Emerald Sparrow for so many days, Lin Yun had begun to guess her thoughts a little.

Perhaps, even though she disliked Xia Liang, Xia Liang was, after all, connected to her identity as a Magical Girl. Lin Xiaolu had her own ideals and aspirations about being a Magical Girl and thus wished not to let these matters intersect with her detestable old dad.

What a stubborn child, it's hard to tell whom she takes after.

If he were Emerald Sparrow at the moment, then she probably would have been quite happy to accept his help, right?

With a sigh in his heart, but without any alternative, Lin Yun could only step back, raising his hands to show he didn't intend to interfere further, "Alright then, let's do it your way."

The somewhat strange and stiff atmosphere at the bedroom door also caught Xia Liang's attention.

She had been sneakily paying attention to the situation nearby, and after witnessing the exchange between Lin Yun and Lin Xiaolu, she finally realized that the relationship between the father and daughter seemed a bit too cold and rigid.

She needed to help mediate a bit.

So, she put away her phone, pretending to be unaware and oblivious, and approached them:

"Ah, are Xiaolu and Uncle preparing my bedding? I'm really sorry, thank you both!"

A somewhat forced thank you broke the frozen mood, allowing the father and daughter's tense conversation to soften.

Lin Xiaolu didn't like Xia Liang or her own dad, but with both of them in front of her, she couldn't manage to be too rejecting towards either of them, so she could only echo dully, "Mhm."

"That's great! I'm actually a bit tired."

With an exaggerated clap, Xia Liang laughed and pushed on Lin Xiaolu's back, nudging her toward the room: "Then I'll help you; let's make the bed together."

Lin Yun stood still, watching as the two of them walked step by step into the room, during which Lin Xiaolu looked back at him, and he simply waved with one hand, silently saying, "Good night."

Well, may as well hope the young ones get along better.