Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

"In short, my relationship with Emerald Sparrow and Hong Siyu is not what you think,"

Taking the salt bag, Lin Yun carefully compared it with a spoon before sprinkling it into the pot, summing up, "All this is for work. In fact, whether it's me or Emerald Sparrow, a lot of things have been done considering you, so stop guessing wildly."

"But..."

Lin Xiaolu hesitated again, "If you really have nothing to do with each other, why would Emerald Sparrow consider me?"

"...Because she's your senior."

After a moment of thought, Lin Yun opened his mouth to answer, "The relationship between senior and junior Magical Girls, if unchanged, will last ten years; such a lengthy comradeship often surpasses kinship."

This answer should not have come from him since it involved Magical Girls, and he should not appear to know too much. Even after admitting his current employment at the Abnormal Strategy Bureau, "Magical Girl" remained the primary demarcation of his and Emerald Sparrow's identities, and he should have skirted around it.

However, after the conversation had already reached such a point tonight, to clarify things and resolve misunderstandings was the most important matter. That's why Lin Yun chose to reveal it after careful consideration.

Of course, this is only the superficial reason. While it sounds high-minded and seemingly rational, in truth, it is not very convincing.

Just from Lin Xiaolu's expression, it was apparent that she was not very satisfied with this answer.

In fact, Lin Xiaolu was not oblivious to Emerald Sparrow's previous favoritism; rather, it was precisely because Bai Jingxuan had diverted Emerald Sparrow's attention in recent days that she began to realize she had been favored before.

However, as for the source of this favoritism, even though Emerald Sparrow had explained repeatedly, she did not believe it was because of herself.

In her subconscious, she still felt that this favoritism stemmed from her parents' influence. Perhaps it was partly due to her mother being a team member, but more so because Emerald Sparrow had an unusual relationship with her father.

But now, her father was telling her very plainly that it was not because of any of these reasons, and that there were no romantic or love relationships between him and Emerald Sparrow.

This not only meant that all her previous speculations were wrong, but it also meant that she had voiced these incorrect assumptions, even directly in front of Emerald Sparrow, and had presumptuously started calling her "Mommy"...

If she really had the wrong idea, just the thought made Lin Xiaolu's toes curl in embarrassment.

Yet as she pondered this, if all of these were wrong, then what was the real answer?

The favoritism she felt was no illusion, yet both her father and Emerald Sparrow unanimously denied a deeper connection between them, so which side should she believe?

Was there another answer beyond these contradictory facts?

Since she was doomed not to get any other answer from Lin Yun, after finishing dinner, helping clean up the dishes, Lin Xiaolu fell into deep thought on her own.

She pondered while showering, brushing her teeth, changing clothes, and as she lay in bed.

Then, still pondering, she turned on her phone, opened the game, and found the character supposed to be based on her mother named "Dawn Grass."

"When I asked Emerald Sparrow, she also said it was because of me."

Recalling a summer night's conversation, Lin Xiaolu murmured to herself, "What's so special about me? I'm not particularly talented, have a bad temper, and I'm not cuter than Xia Liang and the others, even my studies have started to lag behind hers..."

"Mom, what kind of relationship did you and Emerald Sparrow really have?"

"If it's really nothing to do with Dad, then what was that dream about the other night? Why did I dream of Emerald Sparrow holding me as a child?"

The virtual character on the screen, of course, could not answer her questions.

No matter how much Lin Xiaolu flipped through the character's voice lines in the game, all she could hear were some trivial greetings and battle cries.

Amid her gradually murky thoughts, she eventually gave up on continuing to think about the issue and instead started playing other game levels.

In recent days, her focus had finally shifted from "Dawn Grass" to other characters in the game, starting to cultivate other Magical Girls.
Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire

And during the process of developing the game characters, she sometimes triggered personal storylines for the characters, signifying a deeper bond forming between the game character and the player's "Fairy."

Thus, Lin Xiaolu casually opened a character's personal story and skimmed through it. Just when she found the story somewhat boring and was about to fast-forward, a particular part of the plot caught her attention.

The reason was that two Magical Girls in the story had a misunderstanding; one of them mistakenly thought the other had a preference for the same sex, leading to an absurdly humorous conversation.

Light jokes and teasing about same-sex preferences were not an important part of the plot. They were merely interspersed in the story for light relief, but for Lin Xiaolu, it seemed like the only key to a locked door.

Such an insignificant plot detail suddenly cleared all her thoughts, connecting all her questions at once and leading her to a brand new answer.

Yes, why hadn't she thought of it before.

She stared blankly at the screen, savoring this new revelation, a tumult of emotions within her refusing to settle.

— Why couldn't Emerald Sparrow have liked my mother?