Magical Girl Fan Bingbing

Early Sunday morning, Jiang Li packed her luggage and stood in the entryway to change her shoes.

"Dad, hurry up, Mom's waiting for me."

"They're here."

Jiang Ran grabbed the car keys, closed the door, and took her daughter downstairs.

The stairwell in the old residential building was still as dark as before. Jiang Ran was walking ahead when she suddenly stumbled and bumped her shoulder against the wall.

"Dad?" Jiang Li reached out from behind to support him. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just didn't see the steps clearly." Jiang Ran straightened up and patted the dust off her shoulders.

Jiang Li didn't let go immediately. She looked up and examined Jiang Ran's face, her gaze lingering on his eye bags and slightly pale lips for a moment.

"Dad, have you been feeling unwell lately?"

"No, it's just that I've had a lot of classes lately, so I'm quite tired." Jiang Ran smiled and gently pushed her hand away. "Let's go, don't keep your mom waiting."

Jiang Li followed him downstairs, not saying anything more, but her brows remained furrowed.

Once in the car, Jiang Ran started the engine, and the used car, as usual, coughed twice before starting.

As the car drove out of the residential area, Jiang Li sat in the passenger seat. After a moment of silence, she suddenly spoke up: "Dad, why did you and Mom get divorced in the first place?"

"Why are you asking this again?"

"I just want to know." Jiang Li turned to look at him. "You two clearly don't dislike each other. Every time I mention you to my mother, she never says anything bad about you. It doesn't seem like you can't get along."

Jiang Ran did not answer, her gaze fixed on the road ahead.

"Did you do something to upset Mom?" Jiang Li pressed. "Or did Mom do something to upset you?"

"No, none of them."

"Then why...?"

"Adult matters are complicated," Jiang Ran interrupted her, her tone not harsh. "From now on, listen to your mother and study hard."

Jiang Li pouted, turned her head to look at the scenery outside the car window, and remained silent.

After driving for about twenty minutes, a gray-white building appeared in front of us, with a prominent sign on the front: Tianhai City Biological Research Institute.

Jiang Ran parked the car on the side of the road and saw through the windshield that Song Mingyue was already standing at the bottom of the steps in front of the building, waiting.

Song Mingyue was wearing a white lab coat, but the loose work clothes did nothing to conceal her figure. Her chest was so large that the two lapels of the lab coat were pushed open in an arc, and the buttons of the shirt inside seemed to be under tremendous pressure. Her waist was very thin, and the difference between her upper and lower body was unforgettable.

She wore a tight-fitting black mini-skirt, and her two long, slender legs, encased in black stockings, emerged from under the skirt, clad in stiletto heels.

She casually tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, revealing her fair neck. In her early thirties, she exuded the charm of a mature young woman.

Jiang Li didn't get out of the car immediately. Instead, she turned around, lowered her voice, and whispered in Jiang Ran's ear, "Dad, I have something to tell you."

"Um?"

"When I last came to see my mom, I found several men at her workplace who were both rich and handsome. The way they looked at my mom, it was obvious that something was off," Jiang Li said seriously. "If you keep doing this, they'll really start sleeping with your wife, beating your kids, living in your house, and driving your car."

Jiang Ran couldn't help but laugh and reached out to rub her head.

"After so many years of separation, your mother would have found a new father for you long ago, she wouldn't have waited until now."

Jiang Li's expression immediately fell. She lowered her head and muttered softly, "I don't want any new dad."

Jiang Ran looked at her profile, paused for a moment, then gently patted her shoulder, "Hurry up and get out of the car, don't keep your mother waiting."

Jiang Li picked up her schoolbag, opened the car door, and after taking two steps, she turned back and leaned against the car window.

"Dad, remember to get some rest and stop working overtime so often."

"understood."

Jiang Li then turned and ran towards Song Mingyue, shouting as she ran, "Mom! I've noticed that Dad comes home very late every day while I'm at his place. He must be sneaking out to see other women in the middle of the night!"

This sentence sounded particularly clear and bright on the empty roadside.

Jiang Ran was about to roll up the car window when she stopped.

Song Mingyue also raised her head, her gaze passing over her daughter and landing on the old car parked by the roadside.

Their eyes met for a fleeting moment, separated by a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

Jiang Ran's expression was calm, no different from usual.

But Song Mingyue's eyes were much more complicated. Her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't speak. She just lowered her head and put her arm around her daughter's shoulder.

Jiang Ran withdrew her gaze, rolled up the car window, shifted gears, and stepped on the gas.

In the rearview mirror, Song Mingyue led Jiang Li into the building, their figures growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared into the gray-white building.

……

After dropping her daughter off, Jiang Ran didn't go home. Instead, she turned her car around and headed south of the city.

Yesterday he went to the bank and withdrew his meager savings from the past few years, along with last month's salary and part-time income, all of which he exchanged for cash. He put it in a black sports backpack, which is now on the passenger seat.

The car stopped at the entrance of Leng Qiaoqiao's alley, and Jiang Ran knocked on the door with her backpack.

Leng Qiaoqiao was still yawning when she opened the door, clearly having just woken up.

"So early?"

Jiang Ran didn't say anything, put the backpack on the coffee table, and unzipped it.

Leng Qiaoqiao looked down and yawned.

The backpack was stuffed with bundles of cash sealed with bank seals, neatly stacked.

"Is this enough to buy a motorhome and the first batch of raw materials?" Jiang Ran asked.

Leng Qiaoqiao picked up a bundle of banknotes, flipped through it, then looked at the total amount in her backpack and nodded: "It's enough, but just enough."

She put the banknotes back, zipped up her zipper, and looked up at Jiang Ran.

"are you serious?"

"I've always been serious."

Leng Qiaoqiao stared at him for a while before speaking, "Teacher Jiang, you have a respectable job at the school, you're a good teacher in the eyes of your students, and a good man in the eyes of outsiders. Why do you want to get involved in this mess?"

"For the money," Jiang Ran answered truthfully.

"I don't believe it." Leng Qiaoqiao shook her head. "If it were just for money, there would be no need to do something that could cost me my head."

Jiang Ran was silent for a few seconds, looked at Leng Qiaoqiao, and asked in return, "And what about you?"

Leng Qiaoqiao was slightly taken aback.

"Why did you choose this path at such a young age?"

Leng Qiaoqiao's expression changed; she turned her head and looked out the window.

Sunlight streamed in, falling on half of her face, making her amber eyes appear exceptionally bright in the light, but the emotions within them were dark.

"For revenge."

"To whom?"

"Warcraft." Leng Qiaoqiao turned to look directly at Jiang Ran. "You saw in the file that I'm an orphan, right? Do you know why?"

The answer is obvious. With the frequent attacks of Warcraft, almost every household has an old scar these days, and there are quite a few families like Leng Qiaoqiao's where only one member remains.

"At sixteen, you've passed the peak awakening period. If you haven't become a magical girl, there's no point in continuing to stay in the special talent class."

Leng Qiaoqiao pursed her lips and said, "But as an ordinary person, I am too weak and have no power."

Jiang Ran understood. In order to gain the power of revenge, a young girl in the prime of her life had gone astray.

"However, it would be very risky for an ordinary person to forcibly use magic essence. If you act rashly, you might explode first." Although she understood, Jiang Ran still had to advise against it.

"I don't care as long as I can gain the power to kill monsters."

Leng Qiaoqiao picked up the backpack from the coffee table, weighed it in her hand, and then said to Jiang Ran, "I'll take care of the RV. I'll also re-establish contact with the suppliers of raw materials. It should take three to five days. I'll contact you then."

"Okay." Jiang Ran stood up, ready to leave.

As he reached the door, Leng Qiaoqiao called out to him again.

"Teacher Jiang."

"Um?"

"Are you sure you've mastered the skills enough?" Leng Qiaoqiao asked, still looking somewhat suspicious as she hugged her backpack. "I don't mean anything by it, I just hope I don't get hurt in the explosion."

"No comment."

"Do you have some secret technique of yours?"

Jiang Ran did not answer the question and turned to walk into the alley.

Leng Qiaoqiao stood at the door, watching Jiang Ran's back, still feeling uncertain about this collaboration.

A physical education teacher, a complete novice who has never even stepped into a kitchen, is suddenly about to plunge into the wave of entrepreneurship.

"I hope they don't drag me down with them," Leng Qiaoqiao muttered to herself, then closed the door.