Chapter 22: Forgot the Clothes, Meow?

A Busy Evening

After dinner that evening, Xiao Xi sat on the couch, scrolling through her phone. Ye Xinglan, feeling bored, wandered into the living room and caught a glimpse of her screen.

“Xiao Xi, didn’t expect you to be into that kind of clothing, huh~” Ye Xinglan teased.

Xiao Xi slammed her phone face-down on the table. “It’s not like that! I’m not wearing it for fun—it’s for work, okay?!”

Su Ying had discussed holding an opening event for the café’s launch. Since it was an anime-themed maid café, she wanted Xiao Xi to cosplay as a maid character for the day.

They’d settled on Bocchi-chan from Bocchi the Rock!, specifically her maid outfit from the cultural festival episode. That’s why Xiao Xi had been browsing Taobao.

“What kind of job requires a maid outfit?”

“It’s just a regular server job… Ugh, forget it. A rich girl like you who doesn’t need to work wouldn’t get it.” Xiao Xi waved dismissively.

“Who says I don’t work?” Ye Xinglan said, her tone serious. “I have to collect rent every month, you know? Dealing with tenants who don’t pay on time, checking what’s up—it’s hard work!”

Xiao Xi: “…”

Her fist clenched instinctively.

A Hectic Week

The next few days were surprisingly busy for Xiao Xi. Miss L called her in twice for follow-ups on the Mang Wolf Gang investigation, but Cang Lang still hadn’t fully recovered from his villain transformation, so questioning him was impossible.

Her editor had scheduled a recommendation for her novel and urged her to update more during the promotion period. Already swamped and struggling to brainstorm, Xiao Xi hit a serious writer’s block.

But no matter how busy, she had to finish everything before the café’s opening, or she’d be even more overwhelmed after.

Meanwhile, Ye Xinglan… had bought a top-of-the-line desktop PC, delivered and installed same-day. Her excuse? She’d discovered the magical girl game she was playing had a PC version.

Comparing her years-old laptop she couldn’t bear to replace with Ye Xinglan’s shiny new rig, Xiao Xi, dizzy from her workload, felt the gap between herself and the rich girl keenly.

In times like this, she had to find joy in misery. She thought of the Blood Moon Witch. Since Miss L said she’d escaped Bone Vault, that fugitive must be living in constant fear, always on the run, right?

No matter how busy Xiao Xi was, her life was surely better than that!

Opening Day Chaos

On opening day, Xiao Xi didn’t even have time for a nap. After rushing to finish her daily writing update, she glanced at the clock and realized she was nearly late.

Oh no! Being late on her first day would definitely leave a bad impression on Su Ying!

Xiao Xi hurriedly changed, shouted “I’m off to work!” toward Ye Xinglan’s room, and dashed out.

Luckily, she made it to the café just in time. Since it was opening day, she and Su Ying had agreed to arrive forty minutes early for prep, so the café wasn’t open yet when she arrived.

A small crowd had already gathered outside, and a signboard announced the opening event. Su Ying’s promotions had clearly worked.

“Xiao Xi, you’re here! Go change in the back, then I’ll do your makeup!”

Xiao Xi froze, as if turned to stone.

She’d just realized something—she’d been in such a rush, she forgot her cosplay outfit!

After explaining, Su Ying looked worried too.

“There’s only half an hour until we open. That’s not enough time to go home, grab the clothes, and come back for makeup.”

“Should we delay the opening? Or push the event back by half an hour?”

Xiao Xi glanced at the door—the crowd outside had grown larger.

The first event was for customers to take photos with the cosplayer, then post them on three social media platforms to get a free dessert.

Feeling guilty, Xiao Xi knew the opening day was crucial. Even if she rushed home, she wouldn’t make it back in time… Wait! Ye Xinglan was home!

A spark of inspiration hit. “Manager, I’ll ask my friend to bring the clothes. We should make it.”

“Great!” Su Ying sighed in relief. “I’ll start your makeup then. We’ll have to do it before you change. Your friend can get here in time, right?”

Xiao Xi nodded. With half an hour until opening, a one-way trip from home to the café was doable.

No time to waste—she called Ye Xinglan.

“Xinglan, help me out! Can you grab the cosplay outfit from my closet? It’s in…”

She hesitated briefly about letting Ye Xinglan into her room. Last time, Ye Xinglan had seen her spicy fanfiction. With only Ye Xinglan home now…

But Xiao Xi couldn’t worry about that. Besides, she’d changed her computer password since then. There shouldn’t be anything incriminating in her room, right?

A Gamer’s Interruption

When Xiao Xi’s call came, Ye Xinglan was deep in her magical girl PVP game on her new PC.

Why would someone who hated magical girls play a magical girl game? Because it was PVP! Sure, she had to control a magical girl character, but the thrill of crushing opponents was worth it.

Losing? Not an option. Even if she lacked skill, she had money. Maxing out gear and characters was just a matter of spending.

In her dim room, the clatter of her keyboard mixed with her gleeful “Heh heh heh!” laughs, creating an oddly eerie scene.

Xiao Xi’s call came mid-battle, her phone ringing three times before Ye Xinglan, wearing headphones, noticed and picked up, eyes still glued to the screen.

“Xinglan! Help! Can you bring the cosplay outfit I bought? It’s in my closet…”

Through the headset, Ye Xinglan barely caught Xiao Xi’s words but noted her urgent tone. She yanked off her headphones, paused the game, and let her character’s health bar drop to zero.

“Bring it to the café where we had our blind date? Another date? …Oh, work. Got it, I’m on it.”

Hanging up, Ye Xinglan stretched lazily, ready to grab the clothes.

This was, what, the first time she’d been in Xiao Xi’s room while she was out?