Chapter 30: Both Feeling Guilty, Meow?

A Suspicious Group Name

“Huh? This group…”

Mu Xingge stared at the “Send Me 50 for Crazy Thursday Insights Group” name on Xiao Xi’s phone, her face showing genuine confusion.

Was Sirius secretly reading her spicy fanfic? That felt so weird!

Or, worse, could Sirius be the one who…

At that thought, Mu Xingge eyed Xiao Xi suspiciously, scanning her up and down.

Oh no! Xiao Xi kept her expression neutral, but her mind was racing. She couldn’t let Mu Xingge find out she wrote that fanfic!

Stay calm. Playing dead wasn’t an option—Mu Xingge had posted in the group yesterday and knew what it was for.

Lying to her would backfire. Xiao Xi had to take the lead and address it… but how?

“Your group name’s pretty unique. What’s it for?” Mu Xingge probed.

“This… this group is for a spicy fanfic based on you, Senior!”

Xiao Xi bit the bullet and went for a full confession, immediately putting on an indignant act.

“I stumbled across this novel a few days ago, and the content was outrageous! Senior Mu Xingge, you’re a magical girl protecting people. How could someone write that about you?”

“I joined the author’s reader group out of curiosity… not for the story, but to see what kind of shameless person would write something like that!”

Xiao Xi’s face radiated righteous anger. Mu Xingge studied her for a few seconds before nodding, convinced.

Fair enough. She’d overthought it. Sirius, who’d only just met her, wouldn’t know her well enough to write that.

But this kid was sticking up for her—pretty sweet of her. Mu Xingge felt a warmth in her chest.

“It’s fine. Just ignore that stuff,” Mu Xingge said with a gentle smile. “It’s not like they named me directly. I don’t care about that kind of thing.”

Her current nonchalance was a stark contrast to her gritted-teeth fury in Miss L’s office. If Xiao Xi didn’t know Mu Xingge had joined the group with her private account, she might’ve believed her.

“Let’s add each other as friends…”

As Mu Xingge lowered her head to confirm the friend request, Xiao Xi realized something and grabbed her wrist.

“No, don’t!”

She’d just remembered—if Mu Xingge checked the group’s member list, she’d see who the owner was. Even if she hadn’t noticed yesterday, she might later.

And if Mu Xingge added her as a friend, she’d soon realize Xiao Xi’s account was the group owner’s!

Xiao Xi was kicking herself. Why didn’t she use a burner account for the group? Shady stuff like this needed to be done discreetly!

“Sirius, you okay? Why can’t I add you?”

Seeing Mu Xingge’s puzzled look, Xiao Xi realized she’d overreacted and awkwardly withdrew her hand.

“Because… I just remembered this QQ is my alt account. I don’t use it much.”

“I wouldn’t join a sleazy group like that with my main account. I forgot to switch back after joining yesterday.”

Xiao Xi tacked on an explanation to make her story sound more plausible.

“Oh, got it,” Mu Xingge nodded. “Then I’ll add your main account.”

But faced with Mu Xingge’s expectant gaze, Xiao Xi froze.

Where was she supposed to get another QQ account from?

“I, uh, just remembered… I forgot my main account’s password. How about I add you later?”

A flimsy excuse—Mu Xingge wasn’t that dense. Xiao Xi’s evasiveness was obviously suspicious.

But just as Xiao Xi scrambled for another excuse, Little Red Riding Hood’s energetic voice cut in.

“I’ve collected all the monster seeds! Logistics is cleaning up. What are you guys talking about?”

Little Red Riding Hood’s sudden appearance gave Xiao Xi an out. She quickly changed the subject, explaining the situation to her—carefully leaving out the reader group.

“There’s something like that?”

Little Red Riding Hood frowned, mirroring Xiao Xi’s indignation, though Xiao Xi’s was fake while hers was genuine.

As a magical girl fan, she couldn’t stand this.

“I want to see what shameless jerk would write that!”

She downloaded the Pineapple Bun novel app and started searching.

“It’s this one, right? Let me see…”

Little Red Riding Hood angrily opened the first chapter… then, after thirty seconds, went quiet, like a deflated balloon.

This was the shameless, sleazy novel Sirius and Senior Mu Xingge were talking about?

Why did it look so familiar? It was… her sister’s writing, wasn’t it?

So, her sister not only pissed off Senior Mu Xingge but got caught?

Haha, so the shameless jerk you’re talking about… is my dear sister.

Little Red Riding Hood deflated, sharing the same thought as Xiao Xi.

I absolutely can’t let Senior Mu Xingge find out I (my sister) secretly wrote her fanfic!

“Oh, let’s add each other too, Little Red Riding Hood.”

“Sure, Senior Mu Xingge…”

Mu Xingge added Little Red Riding Hood, then casually opened the “Send Me 50 for Crazy Thursday Insights Group” to check the owner’s profile.

She recalled what Xiao Xi’s profile looked like. A quick glance… hm, they didn’t seem to be the same person.

Sneaking a peek at Mu Xingge’s expression, Xiao Xi sighed in relief. Good thing she’d changed her username, avatar, and bio while Mu Xingge was adding Keke, or she’d have been exposed.

Xiao Xi and Little Red Riding Hood both clammed up, avoiding Mu Xingge’s gaze, both gripped by the same guilt.

“Let’s go. Logistics can handle the rest.”

Mu Xingge found the atmosphere weird but couldn’t pinpoint why.

“Senior Mu Xingge, are you tired? I can carry the monster seeds.”

“Senior Mu Xingge must be busy. I’ll write the mission report.”

Seeing their overly respectful attitudes, Mu Xingge felt a twinge of frustration.

Was bonding with teammates this hard?

She knew she had a fiery temper in private, but she’d been approachable just now, hadn’t she? Why were they both so scared of her?