Chapter 238

Chapter 238: Malfunction

“Hey, is this Old Gao—I mean, Professor Gao? I’d like to take a day off. The reason? Uh… wait, let me think…”  

He hung up.  

Did that count as a successful leave request?  

Tiger Girl set down the phone and turned to look at the twin-tailed little girl lying on her bed.  

She couldn’t exactly stuff her into a backpack and take her to school—it wouldn’t fit anyway.  

This kid was trouble.  

It wasn’t like she had a bad habit of randomly bringing things home. The problem was, this girl had been sleeping right in front of her doorway—so much so that she’d accidentally stepped on her when leaving. Ignoring her was impossible.  

But that wasn’t the main issue. Zhang Huba recognized this outfit—the Black-Clothed One from the viral internet trend a few months back.  

She’d even jumped on the bandwagon, fangirling over what she assumed was definitely a hot guy. It was a shame there hadn’t been any updates lately.  

Probably just a cosplayer, right? If the cool, righteous Black-Clothed One was actually a middle-school girl, that’d be way too disappointing.  

The girl hadn’t even reacted to being stepped on. If not for her steady breathing, Zhang Huba would’ve thought she was some kind of bizarrely pretty… local souvenir.  

She poked Mi Xiaoliu’s cheek, her finger sinking slightly into the enviable collagen-rich skin.  

An adorable little loli, like a doll.  

She wanted to hug her.  

When she’d carried her inside, she’d noticed how light she was—her arms and legs were almost impossibly slender. How did she do it? She really wanted to ask.  

Her face was prettier than any beauty filter, yet far more natural. Was she wearing makeup?  

Zhang Huba tried rubbing Mi Xiaoliu’s face to see if any foundation would come off.  

Mi Xiaoliu’s eyes cracked open halfway.  

Facial skin was extremely sensitive—those prank videos where people drew on sleeping faces were funny, but unrealistic.  

Tiger Girl quickly backed off.  

She was a little spooked.  

Not because of something unrealistic like “a flash of killing intent in her eyes,” but because being stared at by those eyes gave her an inexplicable sense of discomfort.  

An indescribable pressure, even though there was nothing outwardly frightening about her.  

If she had to compare it to something, it was like her elementary school homeroom teacher coldly criticizing a student while staring directly at her, saying, “I won’t name names.”  

Mi Xiaoliu sat up, fixing her gaze on Zhang Huba, who’d disturbed her sleep.  

Despite how beautiful her eyes were, Zhang Huba felt an inexplicable irritation bubbling up from deep inside. She simply stopped making eye contact.  

“Uh… hi?”  

Tiger Girl awkwardly greeted her.  

Mi Xiaoliu raised her hand.  

Meow-meow fist attack.  

The rapid, paw-like patting motions reminded Zhang Huba of her childhood cat.  

“What are you doing?!”  

She retreated.  

She’d just gotten randomly slapped—though it didn’t hurt.  

Rolling up her sleeves, she glared indignantly.  

Mi Xia remained seated in a perfect seiza, unmoving, just staring up at her.  

Zhang Huba rolled her sleeves back down.  

…No, she was too cute.  

Attacking her would feel like abusing a kitten.  

“Why were you sleeping in front of my door? Running away from home?”  

She reached out to touch Mi Xiaoliu’s forehead.  

And got another round of rapid slaps.  

Zhang Huba withdrew her hand, aggrieved.  

“I wasn’t gonna hurt you…”  

What was up with this kid? So cute, yet so bad-tempered.  

Just like a cat—even the half-lidded glare was spot-on.  

She sat down beside Mi Xiaoliu and deliberately placed her hand on top of the girl’s.  

Mi Xiaoliu pulled her hand out and put it on top of Zhang Huba’s.  

Zhang Huba did the same, reclaiming the top position.  

Mi Xiaoliu repeated the motion—she absolutely refused to be on the bottom.  

Zhang Huba was stunned. She hurriedly moved the mug on her nightstand further away.  

Did my childhood cat turn human to repay me? At least turn into a hot guy, damn it!  

Hesitating, she reached out and scratched under Mi Xiaoliu’s chin.  

No reaction. Mi Xiaoliu just sat there quietly, watching her. No slapping this time.  

…Right, of course a cat wouldn’t actually turn human to repay her.  

She felt a little down. She wouldn’t have minded if her cat had turned into a cute loli—at least that’d mean they could spend the rest of their lives together.  

“Do you live around here?”  

Mi Xiaoliu didn’t answer. She got off the bed and headed for the door.  

It wouldn’t budge.  

Angry.  

Meow-meow fist attack on the door—only to hurt her own hand.  

Mi Xiaoliu clutched her right hand and crouched down.  

“You gotta open this door a little harder—the bottom’s warped. You’re really that weak?” Zhang Huba walked over and opened it for her.  

Even without opening it, it’d just take a bit more effort and make some noise.  

If she couldn’t even push it open, being petite clearly had its downsides.  

This confirmed the kid wasn’t the Black-Clothed One. That guy had gone toe-to-toe with one of the Black Skulls guys—no way he’d be this frail.  

Zhang Huba watched as Mi Xiaoliu walked out.  

Her leave request had been for nothing.  

Not like she could’ve made it to school on time anyway—her place was a full 20 kilometers away.  

She kept watching as Mi Xiaoliu took a few steps, then suddenly jumped—only to faceplant onto the ground.  

A completely unexpected trip over nothing.  

“Hey, you okay? Don’t cry.”  

Zhang Huba rushed over to help her up, brushing off the dirt.  

She couldn’t help suspecting the loli was doing this on purpose. Who just jumps and falls on flat ground?  

Weird kid.  

Mi Xiaoliu looked up at the wall around Zhang Huba’s house.  

She’d been trying to jump over it.  

The new combat suit had malfunctioned.

Sasha immediately knew what was going on. This only happened when there was an excessive deviation in appearance and clothing. If it happened, there had to be something wrong with the eyes.

Just a moment ago, she was still able to run at high speed between buildings.

“Eyes—what do they look like?”

Mi Xiaoliu pointed to her own eyes and asked Zhang Huba.

So she can talk after all…

Zhang Huba quickly figured it out, probably a kid who had just awakened her powers and ran away from home because she didn’t dare let her parents know.

Although she was puzzled as to why the girl didn’t look in the mirror, Zhang Huba still suppressed her discomfort and stared at her eyes for a moment.

“Purple, with several rings, and they seem to glow.”

At that point, she stopped looking and turned her eyes away.

“……”

Mi Xiaoliu returned to Zhang Huba’s room and quietly sat on the bed.

Sleepiness hit her again.

Zhang Huba’s room was very messy—so messy there wasn’t even a place to step on the floor. Even though it was a girl’s room, it had a faint smell of stinky socks.

The walls were covered with photos of Yiwen, so much so that it was impossible to tell whether the wall underneath was tiled or painted.

There were photos of Yiwen sweating on the sports field, clearly taken from secret angles.

Some of the photos originally had Mi Xiaoliu in them, but she had been mosaicked out.

“That’s the guy I like. Isn’t he really handsome?” Zhang Huba said shyly.

“Mm.”

Yiwen was very handsome.

Mi Xiaoliu looked down at the straw mat under her.

Lying on it was more comfortable than a haystack—and cooler.

She looked up again at Zhang Huba.

Not familiar.

Mi Xiaoliu lay down and accepted the sleepiness within her, continuing to sleep.

The drowsiness grew stronger with each passing day.

She decided to sleep at Zhang Huba’s house.

She couldn’t fall asleep.

“Sasha.”

“Mm?”

“Sing.”

“Huh? Oh. A flock of ducks swam past the bridge in front of the gate…”

Mi Xiaoliu: Zz(︶｡︶✽)

“Don’t fall asleep. Where do you live? I can take you home.”

Zhang Huba nudged Mi Xiaoliu.

No response—she had already fallen asleep on the straw mat. Looks like this girl really was exhausted.

She didn’t dare wake her. What if the girl lashed out in a panic? That would be bad.

Maybe she was a neighbor’s relative? A cute little troublemaker, sleeping on someone else’s bed without even taking off her shoes.

Zhang Huba unhappily helped her take off her boots, only to find she wasn’t even wearing socks inside.

Barefoot in boots in the middle of summer—and yet there was no smell. She was the kind of girl others would be jealous of.

Seeing how cute she was, she decided to forgive her.

Zhang Huba took a photo of Mi Xiaoliu sleeping and posted it on her social feed: “Picked up a kitty, family.”

Yiwen gave it a like.

Yiwen sent a location-sharing request.

Zhang Huba: ??

Yiwen sent another location-sharing request.

Yiwen spammed location-sharing requests.

Zhang Huba agreed immediately.

Then it hit her—how could she let Yiwen see her messy room?

Her heart started pounding, and she got so excited that she lost all feeling in her phone-holding right hand, causing it to drop to the floor.

It wasn’t just her imagination—she really couldn’t feel it. Her right hand all the way up to her upper arm had gone numb and couldn’t move. The numbness was spreading.

“What the hell?”

Zhang Huba never would’ve dreamed that someone would actually poison the water used to wash their daughter’s feet.

[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]

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