Chapter 85: Annie’s Offensive, Can you withstand it?

“Are there any commission orders~?”
The girl sang in a whimsical tone as she opened the notice board at the entrance and stepped excitedly into her little shop.

Since there were no other staff, when Jiang Cha, who was both the owner and the sole employee, left, her witch shop would operate in a semi-self-service mode. If customers saw the notice board and felt their commission wasn’t urgent, they could fill out a blank commission form themselves, writing their name, address, contact information, and the commission details, and then wait for Jiang Cha to return.

These temporary commission forms didn’t require an advance payment, so they essentially had no cost. The specific commission could be finalized later when Jiang Cha contacted each customer to confirm the order details.

It wasn’t uncommon for a client to leave commission forms at multiple shops simultaneously, which would then come down to luck and speed. Usually, the first shop owner to contact the client would secure the commission.

Compared to other small shops in similar situations, Jiang Cha had an advantage: Annie from the neighboring shop occasionally helped watch over her store. This greatly increased the chances of securing commissions.

“Nope, none…”
“Wait, didn’t Senior Mephist give me an order?”
Jiang Cha rubbed her wrist, a magical question mark appearing above her head before quickly turning into an exclamation mark. She roughly understood what this commission was about.

“Annie~ I missed you so much~”
The girl skillfully moved to the neighboring milk shop and made a shushing gesture at the cute milk shop girl she saw. She tiptoed quietly and hugged the shortest red-haired maid in the shop from behind.

“Hmm, I missed you too.”
Annie’s body shivered as she was suddenly hugged. She initially thought it was a rogue customer and instinctively condensed magic, almost triggering a fire spell, but upon hearing Jiang Cha’s voice, she relaxed like a small cat greeting its owner.

Annie was soft and cute~
The store manager almost accidentally cast a fire spell just now, right?
Another maid exchanged a glance with her colleague, conveying information through hidden magic.

As expected of Miss Jiang Cha, she could calm down the frightened store manager immediately.

The other maid shrugged and replied helplessly:
“I heard that, you know?”

Jiang Cha immediately cracked their secret magical conversation and cheekily inserted a comment while still pretending to chat with the soft red-haired girl.

“I’ve only been gone three days, do you think I’m lying about missing you?”
Though it sounded doubtful, the soft tone made everyone hear it as cute girlfriend-style teasing. Even though Jiang Cha and Annie were just friends.

“Annie, do you know?”
The girl didn’t answer directly, instead speaking about something seemingly unrelated:
“Meeting people is like the beginning of a life, and every day spent in between is part of that life.”
“The concept of time is relative to life.”
As a child, even a few hours felt long; in old age, a year can feel short.
And our life together has just begun, so even just three days, for our just-started ‘life,’ feels like a long time.

The black-haired, red-eyed girl wrapped her arms around Annie’s neck, gently looking at her side profile. The breath she exhaled carried a hint of citrus scent, brushing against Annie’s cheek, making her shy.

But a girl’s intuition quickly detected the ‘flaw’ in Jiang Cha’s words. She tilted her head, meeting Jiang Cha’s eyes, and curiously asked:
“After knowing each other for a long time, Jiang Cha won’t miss me if we don’t see each other for three days, right?”

A worrying thought—but she also knew Jiang Cha was the trap, waiting for her to fall in it, one strike lethal.

“Because you’re too cute, Annie. No matter how long we spend together, our life will always be as passionate as our first meeting.”
“I will always miss you, until the end of truth.”

“Wah—!”
This was probably the most romantic and subtle confession between witches, romantic enough that even younger maids eavesdropping couldn’t help but cover their mouths in surprise.

Annie was so shy she couldn’t even speak.

Only the two third-year senior maids, who had just secretly used magic to communicate, exchanged a helpless glance while holding a tray.

“If you learn Jiang Cha’s flirting skills, how would you still be single?”
“No, I think Miss Jiang Cha’s ending is either with a machete or being dismembered. I don’t want to be chased by a crazy witch.”

“Hey, I heard that!”
These two essentially vented in front of Jiang Cha, although others couldn’t hear, but she heard everything clearly.

Luckily, they saw through Cha Bao’s little scheme but had no intention of exposing her. After all, their store manager had already fallen for her; persuading her was pointless.

And… would Annie in the future fragments not know Jiang Cha’s personality?

“Jiang Cha is the best at lying.”
Annie’s soft words confirmed this suspicion.

She slightly withdrew from Jiang Cha’s embrace, her expression a mix of happiness and helplessness that Jiang Cha couldn’t understand.

“But I like it, so…”
The red-haired witch tiptoed closer, almost nose-to-nose with Jiang Cha, her soft, pink lips nearly touching Jiang Cha’s faintly reddened thin lips.
Her gaze was dreamy as she softly whispered:
“Can you keep lying to me forever?”

“!”
Cha girl was startled. She hadn’t expected Annie’s counterattack to come so quickly and intensely. She almost stepped back to create distance but held herself in check, though her tone remained slightly flustered.

“Ah… that’s… okay?”

“By the way, Lil’ Na told me I had a commission, right? Annie, do you know about it?”
Then she quickly changed the subject.

She couldn’t handle it.

The red-haired little witch was already beautiful and lively, gentle and understanding. A perfect sunny girl who occasionally revealed a slice-of-life, everyday side.

And when such a girl suddenly leans in, tiptoes, and asks, ‘Can you lie to me for a lifetime?’ even Cha girl’s heart would race.

Luckily, her inherent magic allowed her to calm down quickly, and Annie didn’t continue pressing.

The flirty atmosphere dissipated, and they turned to business.

“Hmm, but it’s not a commission from your shop. It’s a specific request from the maid shop.”
“Jiang Cha, will you take it? If not, I can help you refuse.”

Though asking for Jiang Cha’s opinion, Annie’s tone and expression subtly suggested she didn’t want the girl to take this commission.

“What a mischievous little devil. Looks like I still don’t understand her well enough.”

Cha girl quietly reflected, almost messing up earlier.