Chapter 18: If It Were He Qin, Falling in Love Wouldn’t Be Impossible?

When Jiang Cha returned the books she had finished reading to their original places, He Qin had very few books to return, so she quietly followed behind her.

Her gaze rested on the beautiful girl who was seriously standing on tiptoe, carefully placing the books back on the shelves.

He Qin felt a bit confused.

Why could this girl, who had no past memories, integrate into life so quickly?

Generally speaking, suddenly losing one’s memory, having no family nearby, and waking up to face a completely unfamiliar world—wouldn’t that be very painful?

Of course, she wasn’t saying Jiang Cha was bad. Being able to leave the past behind was something she had dreamed of, but…

Why could she do it so easily?

Really…

So amazing.

“Jiang Cha-chan, you don’t seem lost at all.”

She spoke softly, her eyes serious and earnest.

The girl seemed not to notice the unusual tone in her voice; she methodically handed the books to the little blue ball, the library’s spirit.

She carefully placed the books back on the shelf within easy reach, half-squatting, meticulously smoothing the gaps between the books.

“Hmm… maybe it’s because I lost my memory?”

“Huh?”

The girl’s gentle voice made He Qin pause. Just as her distracted gaze refocused on Jiang Cha, who was immersed in her own world.

That beautiful girl turned around, hands behind her back. In the large library filled with floating magical light particles, she looked like a girl suddenly turning back beneath a starry sky—both graceful and gentle.

“This world is very interesting. I really like it, so I want to work harder, be more serious, and… understand this world better.”

“Don’t you think it’s beautiful?”

The girl smiled subtly, raising her index finger playfully to point toward the dome above.

The interior of the library was indeed beautiful.

He Qin lightly looked up in the direction the girl pointed, gazing at the dome stretching endlessly like a deep night sky—second floor, third floor, fourth floor… countless tiers, countless magical books emitting faint magical light particles like stardust drifting down. Colorful magical sprites floated or busily darted beneath the dome, like a moving starry sky—beautiful like a living painting.

Jiang Cha turned her head, her eyes passing over He Qin to look at the rows of antique wooden bookshelves and exquisite, beautiful medieval magical lamps nearby.

Through the reflection in the girl’s eyes, He Qin seemed to see the world outside the window.

Vast and colorful.

This was a scene He Qin was used to. She had come to the grand library almost every day since starting school a month ago, but she had never carefully admired this beautiful view.

“The past is ultimately just the past. Whether you remember it or not, it doesn’t matter.”

Jiang Cha slowly walked over to He Qin, her thin, moist lips slightly parted, her delicate nose gently breathing. Her red eyes, sometimes appearing aggressive, were now filled with tenderness.

Her neck was gently embraced by the girl, warm and fragrant, pulling He Qin’s wandering thoughts back. Jiang Cha’s voice, slightly warm and moist, whispered into her ear.

“Although I don’t know what He Qin’s past was like, for us, now is the beginning.”

“So…”

The girl released her hold, smiled, and gently poked He Qin’s soft cheek, lifting the corners of her mouth:

“With such a pretty face, why not smile more freely?”

“What a pity.”

“…”

She noticed.

After just one day of interaction, it seemed that this witch named Jiang Cha had seen through everything about her. In her previous environment, that would be dangerous and unacceptable.

But…

Only this once, she felt inexplicably at ease.

It was a strange feeling, as if Jiang Cha in front of her was someone she could completely trust—no matter what happened in the future, she would be there to support and help her, even if in danger.

But they had known each other less than twenty-four hours.

“All right~ Let’s go. If we don’t hurry, Lina will be waiting impatiently.”

Jiang Cha took He Qin’s hand and pulled her along.

This was another test by Jiang Cha to get closer to this Yamato Nadeshiko-like girl.

Fortunately, He Qin did not refuse; she just lowered her head and let herself be led.

“Ah, Sister Moer, I want to borrow these five books. Could you help me check them out?”

In front of the librarian lady, Jiang Cha showed a sweet smile and acted cute.

But Moer glanced at He Qin, who was silently looking down behind Jiang Cha, then looked at their linked hands, showing a mischievous smile:

“Hm… Although youthful vibes are lovely, you can’t do that kind of thing in the grand library, okay?”

He Qin didn’t understand, but Jiang Cha immediately reacted:

“No way! We’re just pure friends!”

“Such friendships do exist among witches.”

Moer looked a bit troubled, giving off the vibe that young people these days really know how to play.

But she was clearly teasing on purpose.

Jiang Cha saw through her mischievous mind and rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Moer, don’t tease me! We’re in a hurry here!”

“Yes, yes. Sigh~ I’m old and faded. I definitely can’t compare to a young little witch~”

…

Teasing aside, Moer was efficient at work. Jiang Cha quickly borrowed the books and stuffed them into a special bag for the grand library.

Calling it a bag was a bit of a stretch—it looked like an ordinary silk thread bracelet but was actually a magical item.

It could only store things like books, and the space wasn’t large. The best feature was that it could prevent the magic within the books from dissipating.

Since it was mass-produced, it wasn’t top-tier.

After leaving the grand library, the two didn’t head straight back to the dormitory.

Instead, He Qin, who had recovered somewhat, led Jiang Cha to the academy’s shopping street.

As the crowd thickened and surprised glances from passing witches reached them, the Yamato Nadeshiko lady shyly withdrew her hand from Jiang Cha’s grasp.

“What am I reluctant to let go of?”

The lingering touch made her blush lightly, but under Jiang Cha’s puzzled gaze, she pretended casually:

“Holding hands in the academy could be mistaken for a romantic relationship, so I… um…”

“Is that so?”

Jiang Cha still looked indifferent but took note of this social rule.

Then she suddenly pretended to be shy, lowering her head and sneakily glancing at He Qin’s expression, like a little witch in love carefully checking her beloved’s face:

“Actually, if it were He Qin, I wouldn’t mind~”

“…?”

“Just kidding~”

She stuck out her tongue, then suddenly grinned mischievously:

“I’m totally bad at buying groceries, so I’ll leave it to you~”

“…Then it’s up to me.”

He Qin sighed in relief. Jiang Cha’s acting was too convincing; for a moment, she even thought Jiang Cha might actually like her.

Good thing she didn’t.

She wasn’t in the mood for love right now; if she rejected her, the carefully built dorm atmosphere would be destroyed.

What is a witch’s market like?

Simply put, it had everything imaginable.

“He Qin, He Qin! What’s this!?”

Jiang Cha, curious about everything in this strange world, immediately fixated on a strangely shaped fish as soon as they entered—a very ugly one, like a lantern fish mutated by nuclear radiation, with scales more like rocky lumps, rough and uneven, leisurely swimming in boiling hot water.

“Hell Lava Fish, a specialty from Hell. The taste is okay, but it’s troublesome to cook… Jiang Cha-chan, do you want to try?”

“No way! It looks so ugly, totally kills my appetite.”

The girl looked disgusted, poked the fish with her finger, and lost interest as soon as it showed its terrifying sharp teeth. She turned and ran to the next interesting ‘ingredient.’

‘Then why are you so interested…’

“What about this one? What about this one?”

Jiang Cha looked at another item for sale—a thick tail emitting a faint cold aura.

“Mutated Earth Dragon’s Tail Meat. It’s probably from an ice-type earth dragon. Eating it can slightly enhance ice traits and magical power.”

“Can we buy it?”

The girl blinked.

Earth dragons! They often appeared in ‘common knowledge’ novels!

“Lina doesn’t like this meat. Maybe I’ll make it just for Jiang Cha-chan sometime. Let’s skip it today.”

Witches had no mixed bloodlines, only trait inheritance, so dragon meat wasn’t taboo for dragon witches, but eating ice-type dragon meat would clash with Lina’s fire dragon traits.

A little is fine, but too much is like eating a big bucket of ice cream for a normal person—it would definitely cause diarrhea and disrupt magic circulation for a while.

Under Jiang Cha’s endless questions and curiosity, He Qin took twice as long as usual to finish buying groceries. Seeing Jiang Cha still wanting to keep shopping, she firmly pulled her away.

“Time to go home, Jiang Cha-chan! We’ll come again next time!”

“Eh—!”

Jiang Cha pouted unhappily, looking around curiously, but obediently followed He Qin.

No choice—her pockets were empty, and her cooking skills were almost zero with all these unfamiliar ingredients. Besides the academy cafeteria, she could only rely on He Qin’s cooking.

Facing the ‘head of the household’ who controlled the kitchen, the girl had no strength to resist.

“Cha Bao, wuuuu!”

As soon as they entered home, a golden-haired little girl jumped off the living room sofa and threw herself onto Jiang Cha.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

Jiang Cha was a bit confused, but Lina wasn’t heavy, so it didn’t matter.

He Qin took the shopping bags from Jiang Cha’s hands—it was just a normal bag; witches weren’t extravagant enough to enchant shopping bags.

She nodded and headed straight to the kitchen:

“I’ll start cooking first. You guys don’t make too much noise, don’t disturb Estelle-chan.”

“Got it, got it, Mom He Qin!”

Lina turned around with a sweet smile, calling her mom like a little child.

“I told you, I’m not your mom!”

He Qin got a bit flustered but it was mostly habitual protest, rolling her eyes and going straight to cook.

Lina then turned her face, put on a pitiful expression like she was about to cry, and started whining.

Jiang Cha: “…..”

Witches are pretty good actors, huh?