Awkward

The moment Pan Nannan got a clear look at Bai Hai’s face, she suddenly felt a very strange sensation.

Admittedly, Chengzi’s brother was handsome. He had those sharp, dark eyebrows and bright eyes, a rather handsome image. Also, both his hairstyle and his attire were very well-chosen, just like the male lead in an old-school idol drama, and he was far better in that aspect than Chengzi, who only wore flashy clothes.

However, what left a deeper impression was his physique. Even through the shirt and jacket, she could vaguely see the contours of the muscles, which possessed a great masculine strength…

But what attracted Pan Nannan wasn’t these things.

It was when his gaze fell on her that she felt a sense of familiarity, as if the owner of that gaze had seen her not long ago.

Besides that, there was also a strange sense of security…

In a daze, she suddenly recalled that figure of steel and iron, with its distinct insect-like features.

But when she superimposed the two images in her mind’s eye, she realized—they didn’t line up.

And the reason they didn’t line up was that the other party looked at her with a rather surprised expression and then, with a confident smile, said:

“Little girl, you’re too young, we’re not a good match.”

‘How frivolous!’

That thought came to Pan Nannan.

But it was precisely this thought that suddenly snapped her out of her scattered thoughts.

She looked back and saw Xia Cheng staring at her with an expression of disbelief…

“Wait, Chengzi, it’s not what you think!” Pan Nannan’s face flushed a deep red.

She hurriedly waved her hands to explain, “I just felt that your brother’s face seemed familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before. I have no other ideas! How could I possibly have any improper thoughts about your brother?”

“Ahem!”

Pan Nannan’s attention was drawn by the sound of a cough.

She turned around to see Bai Hai looking at her with a rather strange expression.

“No, brother, that’s not what I meant. I still have improper thoughts about you… Oh my god, what am I saying! What I meant… what I meant is…”

Pan Nannan’s vision went black. Her language module had completely crashed, and she didn’t know what to say anymore.

Xia Cheng, on the side, was dumbfounded.

She had never seen Pan Nannan like this before.

Only Bai Hai twitched the corners of his mouth, unsure what to say.

The three of them were immediately enveloped in an awkward silence.

But fortunately, the awkwardness only lasted for a few seconds before it was broken by a shout:

“Xia Cheng! You’re back!”

The three of them looked over together to see Jiang Yue walking over, her bag in hand and a worried expression on her face.

After looking Xia Cheng up and down and confirming that she was unharmed, she grabbed her ear:

“You brat, you dared to run around outside when it’s so dangerous! Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you!”

Jiang Yue’s actions were swift and decisive.

One could tell she had a lot of practice.

Xia Cheng yelped in pain, holding back her tears as she shouted, “Mom, let go, let go… There are other people here!”

Jiang Yue immediately realized her mistake.

She raised her head and saw Bai Hai and Pan Nannan looking at her with very surprised expressions…

Well, now it was awkward again.

Pan Nannan and Bai Hai averted their gazes together, trying to mask their expressions.

Jiang Yue also immediately let go, saying with a stiff expression, “Ah, Bai Hai, you’re back safe and sound? And Nannan, thank you for taking care of this girl.”

“No problem, no problem,” the two of them waved their hands together in a rather harmonious manner, which made Xia Cheng, who had escaped disaster, look at them strangely again.

“Right.” Jiang Yue paused, perhaps to ease the awkwardness. “Where did you two go? The alert was lifted several hours ago, but we haven’t heard from you.”

“Oh, I went to Nannan’s house to hang out,” Xia Cheng used the excuse she had prepared to gloss it over.

But Jiang Yue glared at her.

“Nonsense, I went to Nannan’s house. They said Nannan went to tutoring class and never came back. We went to the police station together!”

Upon hearing this, Xia Cheng was stunned.

Clearly, she had used this excuse too many times, and because it was so convenient, she had completely forgotten that her mother and Nannan’s family knew each other.

“Auntie, it’s like this. Xia Cheng was on her way to my house, and I ran into her halfway. So, she didn’t go home directly, and then…”

Pan Nannan took over the conversation, trying to smooth things over.

But she also didn’t know how to explain why they hadn’t gone home or informed their families after the alert was lifted.

At this moment, Bai Hai took the initiative and said, “Then Anomalies caused destruction in the city. I found the two of them and took them to a shelter, but because there were too many people and it was too chaotic, we didn’t come out until long after the alert was lifted. And on top of that, our phones died, so we just walked back.”

Jiang Yue nodded in understanding.

The truth was that Bai Hai’s explanation wasn’t completely flawless.

One could find quite a few loopholes if they tried to nitpick.

But the reality wasn’t filled with perfectly flawless reasons.

Besides, everyone had returned safely, so she didn’t need to keep asking questions.

After exchanging a few polite words, Jiang Yue sent Xia Cheng to hail a taxi to take Pan Nannan home.

She then said to Bai Hai, “Come to my study. I have something I’d like to talk to you about alone.”

Xia Cheng and Pan Nannan walked to the main road outside the neighborhood.

And on the way there, Xia Cheng recounted everything that had happened today.

“So I really don’t want to see him now. He doesn’t know how much magical girls sacrifice, and he just wants to run his mouth here.”

Xia Cheng pouted, her face filled with resentment.

But Pan Nannan had a different opinion. “I actually think your brother is right.”

“No way, Nannan?” Xia Cheng widened her eyes. “You’re a magical girl too. Why are you supporting him?”

“It has nothing to do with whether or not I’m a magical girl, but the truth of the matter,” Pan Nannan looked at Xia Cheng, her expression very serious.

“Although everyone says magical girls are omnipotent, the heroes who save the city, we also have many things we can’t do. Because we are not gods. If everyone places their hope in us, relying on us, and then discovers that we too have times we fail, things will get very serious.”

“That’s impossible, we…”

“We, as magical girls, should have this awareness. Sooner or later, we will encounter things that even magic can’t solve.”

As she spoke, Pan Nannan’s mind flashed back to that scene tonight, the feeling of helplessness, the fear… that came with facing an enemy that they could not possibly defeat…

But even more frightening was:

In the end, if Knight hadn’t appeared and saved them, she wouldn’t even be able to stand here to be afraid of this experience.

Xia Cheng said nothing.

She just stood there, not knowing what she was thinking.

Until the sound of a car horn, the two realized that the taxi they had called on their phones had been waiting for them for a long time.

Pan Nannan got into the car, and after some thought, she rolled down the window and said to Xia Cheng outside, “By the way… I think your brother’s kind of handsome.”

“…Huh?”

“Bai Hai… can I call you Xiao Hai? I call Xia Cheng that at home too, only using her full name when guests are around, or if I’m angry.”

Walking into the study, Jiang Yue sat in the office chair, still a little flustered. The change in address seemed to be bothering her.

“Of course, Mom.” Bai Hai nodded in agreement, while his peripheral vision quickly swept over the entire room.

It was filled with books, documents, and instruments related to quantum physics, proving her identity.

Quantum physics.

This was the most esoteric modern scientific discipline.

Since its emergence in the 20th century, it has given everyone the impression of being utterly bizarre.

It even became a key prop in driving the plot forward in subsequent works of culture.

And from the 1920s until now, it was an era known as “The Great Civilization Blockade,” a difficult time where technology, thought, and entertainment had seen no progress, and society stagnated.

Therefore, modern science, both practical and theoretical, had made no advancement up to this point, and naturally, neither had quantum physics.

Professor Jiang Yue, a Ph.D. in quantum physics, had considerable fame both at home and abroad.

And her most outstanding contribution was once again proving that the theories of the ancient sages were still correct.

This was actually a very sad thing.

But what was even more tragic was that the appearance of magical girls and Anomalies now meant quantum physics had lost even its most “esoteric” name.

After all, who could be more esoteric than magic?

“So, Xiao Hai… do you have any memories of the story of your father and me?”