Chapter 49: Mother-Daughter Bonds and Unexpected Friendships

When Su Qingyao clarified to Fang Xiaobai that she and Su Muxue were mother and daughter, Fang Xiaobai seemed less shocked than expected.

Taking this opportunity, Su Qingyao casually inquired about the interactions between Fang Xiaobai and Su Muxue.

“Hmm… well, this is tricky.”

Fang Xiaobai appeared to be wrestling with her words as she replied, “Should I call her a friend, or a like-minded comrade?”

“Absolutely not, Mama.”

Su Muxue interjected, her voice sharp.

Unlike her usual docile demeanor in front of Su Qingyao, Su Muxue now resembled a cat provoked into a fury, her metaphorical fur bristling.

“Mama, this child often harasses me.”

Adopting a tone she seemed to have learned from Su Qingyao, Su Muxue burrowed into her mother’s embrace, her voice laced with accusation.

“Oh? What do you mean?”

Su Qingyao looked down at the ‘frazzled’ kitten in her arms.

Su Muxue, uncharacteristically, voiced her displeasure.

“Ever since I joined the training program, this older sister keeps seeking me out after class.”

“Eh, but didn’t I treat you to ice cream, Muxue?”

“‘Durian-flavored ice pop,’ wasn’t it?”

Su Muxue glared back.

“Tsk, is durian flavor not delicious, then?”

Fang Xiaobai also seemed to get a little annoyed. “What about the time we watched the stars together? Surely you can’t dislike stars too.”

“Senior Fang, have you forgotten?”

Su Muxue wore an expression that was half-disgusted, half-helpless. “Who was it that fell asleep while flying home and crashed into me?”

“Eek, I suppose that’s true—no, wait.”

“Even if stargazing was like that, then…”

Su Qingyao watched Fang Xiaobai and Su Muxue bicker, feeling a little dazed. She turned her head to glance at the other trainees.

Though the two girls’ voices had unknowingly grown louder, they didn’t attract any attention from the other girls.

It was as if they were long accustomed to it.

Even Jiang Jiuli, who was huddled in her seat gazing at Su Muxue, seemed unfazed, merely lost in thought while looking towards Su Qingyao.

“Mama, look.”

Her daughter’s call pulled Su Qingyao back into the midst of the dispute. “Help Su Muxue arbitrate this, whose fault is it, okay?”

“Yes, let Su Muxue’s mother decide.”

Fang Xiaobai declared, puffing out her cheeks.

She showed no concern whatsoever for the nepotism between Su Qingyao and her little Muxue. How brave of her, Su Qingyao thought internally.

‘Though complaining aside,’ Su Qingyao mused.

“It seems your relationship is quite good.”

“Right?” Fang Xiaobai confidently puffed out her chest, where the first signs of development were just beginning to show.

Su Muxue, meanwhile, looked up with a pitiful expression, as if her worldview had been completely upended.

‘Don’t look at Mama like that, dear. Mama… just wants you to make more friends.’

Su Qingyao felt a pang of guilt and rubbed her face against Su Muxue’s forehead, offering it as a form of compensation.

“Alright, Mama must have her reasons for doing this,” Su Muxue mumbled softly.

“Ooh-ooh-ooh.”

For some reason, Jiang Jiuli had the strongest reaction, her flailing hands nearly knocking Booboo, who was dozing with closed eyes, off the seat.

****

Su Muxue’s talent had been evident to all in the few simulation battles she had participated in.

Yet, the first to discover her aptitude was that conspicuous green-haired girl in class.

“Hee hee hee, you must be a genius magical girl!”

“Interested in joining my group~”

After class, Fang Xiaobai confidently stood before the desk of the girl seated at the back.

Her eyes sparkling with ambition, she attempted to project the reliability of a senior student.

Instead, she was met with a gaze from Su Muxue that barely registered her presence.

During their first encounter, Fang Xiaobai was completely ignored.

It wasn’t until many persistent displays of ‘sincerity’ thereafter that Su Muxue would occasionally accept Fang Xiaobai’s invitations.

She would participate in brief after-school activities.

The girl made no effort to hide her admiration for Su Muxue’s talent, rather than Su Muxue herself.

‘Yet, compared to the seemingly fervent adults who surrounded her mother, she seemed more genuine,’ Su Muxue thought.

Su Muxue, in turn, did not hide her ‘disdain’.

This was the only repayment she offered for Fang Xiaobai’s efforts.

****

“Oh…”

Listening to Su Muxue’s account, Su Qingyao’s expression shifted to one of understanding.

Unlike Xu Yiyi and Xu Yanqing, Su Muxue had no desire or motive to conceal anything from her mother.

Naturally, she recounted her interactions with Fang Xiaobai in crystal clear detail.

“Don’t put it so coldly.”

Fang Xiaobai chimed in abruptly, “You do occasionally smile, Muxue.”

“I didn’t allow Senior Fang to eavesdrop,” Su Muxue retorted, shaking her head. While she didn’t outright deny it, her words remained sharp.

The result was Fang Xiaobai happily scampering off to greet her ‘good bestie’.

“I’m determined to form my own Peacekeeper team, cool, cool, cool, cool.”

She left them with only that declaration.

If Su Muxue were an ordinary child, or if Fang Xiaobai’s focus on ‘Su Muxue’ had even a slight lean towards ‘utilization’.

Su Qingyao would have unhesitatingly revealed her ‘thorny’ side.

However, given the complexities of the current situation, Su Muxue and Fang Xiaobai had created a ‘just right’ and peculiar chemical reaction, turning them into friends who were ‘not quite friends’.

Su Qingyao sighed.

“You really keep me on edge, little Muxue.”

“It’s not Muxue’s fault, though,” Su Muxue murmured, nuzzling her hand against her mother’s arm, completely oblivious to the stares of her classmates.

In truth, the striking resemblance between mother and daughter when seen together was already enough to spark wild imaginations among the other trainees.

“Alright, are you still mad at Mama?”

Su Qingyao helplessly embraced Su Muxue, listening as the latter let out a soft ‘hmph’.

“What if I just wanted to use this as an excuse to get more hugs from Mama?”

“Then Mama will just have to give more hugs to her adorable Muxue,” Su Qingyao chuckled softly, setting down the blushing Su Muxue.

“Alright, Mama has serious business to attend to now.”

****

Not far away, the last magical girl trainee, a piece of toast dangling from her mouth, was hastily extricating herself from a couple’s embrace and rushing towards Xu Yanqing’s sign-in desk.

“He Qianqian, you’re only one minute away from being late.”

Xu Yanqing called out her name, causing the trainee to shrink her shoulders awkwardly and explain, “I overslept at noon.”

“Understood.”

Xu Yanqing nodded, allowing her to pass.

With the last magical girl seated, the once lively girls had already consciously returned to their places.

“Alright…”

Xu Yanqing stood up and counted each magical girl trainee, ensuring there were no ‘disguises’ or tricks, before clearing her throat softly.

“Now, the class monitor will begin roll call.”

“Understood!” Fang Xiaobai sprang to her feet from her seat.

****

The vehicle used for the magical girls’ collective transport was parked in the lot near the high tower.

It appeared to be a section of a train car from the Iron Vow Army, yet the emblem of Dawn City on its side indicated its affiliation with the ‘City Defense Army’ under the Council.

Xu Yanqing patiently waited for everyone else to board, one by one, before she was the last to step onto the vehicle. She then walked to the ‘co-pilot’ seat reserved for the team leader.

Suddenly, she froze.

The face in the driver’s seat was entirely unfamiliar, not the amiable middle-aged man who had been responsible for transport for nearly a decade.

She quietly asked the new driver, “Where is the usual liaison driver?”

“I’m not sure,” the young man replied, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Perhaps he took leave.”

With that, in a spot where Xu Yanqing couldn’t see, the man subtly tugged at his slightly ill-fitting uniform.