The 30-Year-Old Magical Girl - Chapter 15

Tidal had expected Chen Xi to lash out.

To expose her as a heartless scumbag.

To tell You Xi everything that had happened that day.

One was the woman she had once loved.

The other was the only family member she wanted to protect more than anyone else in the world.

It would hurt.

More than anything.

But Tidal had already prepared herself for the moment when both of them would come to despise her.

Instead…

Chen Xi remained unexpectedly calm.

Her expression was composed.

Almost unnaturally so.

“There really isn’t much to say.”

She smiled faintly.

“We just couldn’t see eye to eye anymore.”

“So we broke up.”

“Nothing dramatic.”

“Ah…”

“What a pity.”

You Xi sighed softly.

“I don’t think it’s a pity.”

Chen Xi shook her head.

As though remembering something pleasant, the corners of her lips gently lifted.

“…Honestly.”

“The years I spent with your uncle were very happy.”

“No, I don’t mean it’s a pity for you.”

You Xi hurriedly clarified.

“Xianjie, you’re beautiful.”

“And kind.”

“You’ll definitely find someone even better.”

“But my uncle…”

She immediately made a disgusted face.

“…Forget him.”

“He comes home late every single night.”

“Always smelling like cigarettes.”

“You know what?”

“More than once I’ve come downstairs in the morning…”

“…only to find him passed out drunk in the entrance.”

“Like a corpse.”

“I couldn’t drag him.”

“I couldn’t wake him.”

“He was seriously annoying.”

“…”

Beside her…

Tidal quietly lowered her head.

Her ears had already turned bright red.

As a middle manager caught between executives and frontline employees…

You Dong often couldn’t avoid overtime.

Or business dinners.

Or endless drinking sessions with clients.

Even after refusing every unnecessary gathering…

There were still nights when he drank himself unconscious.

Looking back…

He couldn’t deny that he’d caused plenty of trouble.

Nor could he deny…

The guilt he felt for never spending enough time with You Xi.

But…

What choice had he had?

There was an old saying.

If I picked up the brick…

I couldn’t hold you.

If I put the brick down…

I couldn’t support you.

Although You Xi’s parents had left behind a considerable inheritance…

As her legal guardian…

You Dong had placed every cent into a trust.

She wouldn’t be able to access it until she turned eighteen.

By then…

Whether she chose university…

Travel…

Or simply taking time to discover her own path…

She would have the freedom to decide for herself.

“Haha.”

Chen Xi covered her mouth as she laughed.

“Your uncle really does have plenty of flaws.”

The two women happily continued listing You Dong’s shortcomings.

Completely unaware…

That the man they were discussing…

Was sitting right beside them.

Disguised as a magical girl.

Quietly eating french fries without saying a single word.

---

After saying goodbye to You Xi…

And the mysterious girl called Tidal…

Chen Xi slowly began walking home.

It was strange.

When You Xi had asked about the breakup…

She had instinctively lied.

She deliberately avoided mentioning the affair altogether.

…Why?

Was I protecting him?

Do I still have feelings for You Dong?

The thought immediately made her angry.

Angry at herself.

Angry at her own weakness.

Yet…

Deep down…

She knew that wasn’t the real reason.

What bothered her wasn’t the betrayal itself.

It was…

How perfectly everything had happened.

Too perfectly.

The anonymous message.

The exact hotel.

The precise room number.

Even the timing had been flawless.

It all felt…

Scripted.

Like someone had carefully arranged the entire scene.

At the time…

Her anger had completely overwhelmed her.

She hadn’t been capable of thinking clearly.

But now…

After the initial heartbreak had settled…

Looking back with a calmer mind…

The entire incident suddenly seemed suspicious.

Who…

Had sent that anonymous message?

And how?

The sender had known everything.

The address.

The room.

The exact timing.

It was almost as though someone had been secretly following You Dong every second of every day.

But why?

You Dong wasn’t rich.

Nor powerful.

Nor influential.

He was just an ordinary office worker.

Who would go through so much effort…

Just to ruin his relationship?

…

None of it made sense.

Questioning the incident didn’t mean Chen Xi had forgiven him.

The hurt remained.

The resentment remained.

But…

Emotion and reason were separate things.

And Chen Xi had always been someone capable of separating the two.

That…

Was exactly why You Dong had once called her smart.

Back home…

Chen Xi switched on her computer.

A chat application connected to an overseas server flashed with a new notification.

Did they finish already?

She immediately opened the message.

The sender’s username consisted entirely of random letters and numbers.

Almost like someone had smashed a keyboard.

【The investigation you commissioned has been completed.】

【That was fast. Barely half a day.】

Chen Xi politely praised their efficiency before getting straight to the point.

【Can I see the results?】

【Certainly. Additional payment is required.】

The other side explained,

【The information was obtained through an internal corporate communication channel.】

【It’s encrypted.】

【You don’t need to understand the technical details.】

【Just know that retrieving it carried additional risk.】

Immediately afterward…

A payment QR code appeared.

The registered owner…

Was a clothing wholesale company.

Without hesitation…

Chen Xi completed the transfer.

Just as promised…

The other side immediately uploaded every document they had gathered.

【Pleasure doing business.】

【This account will now be permanently deleted.】

【If you require our services again, contact us through the anonymous forum.】

The conversation disappeared.

Chen Xi quietly studied the documents.

The anonymous message had originated from Shangjing City.

Nothing unusual there.

What truly caught her attention…

Was something else.

According to the investigation…

The phone number belonged to a batch of business numbers purchased by a company for employee use.

Even more coincidentally…

The company that owned those numbers…

Was You Dong’s employer.

So…

The anonymous informant…

Was one of You Dong’s coworkers?

That was certainly plausible.

A colleague would naturally know far more about his daily schedule than an outsider.

But…

Why?

If someone wanted his position…

Or resented him professionally…

There were countless better ways to attack.

They could expose mistakes at work.

Investigate financial misconduct.

Dig into supplier relationships.

An affair…

Was merely a personal scandal.

Inside a company that cared only about performance…

Such information was practically worthless.

She had already tried calling the anonymous number several times.

Every attempt failed.

The number no longer existed.

Now that she knew it belonged to the company…

Perhaps she could obtain the internal employee directory.

Maybe…

She could identify the sender.

But then…

What would that accomplish?

Other than proving…

That You Dong really had cheated on her…

Would it change anything?

The thought left Chen Xi completely lost.

She couldn’t understand why she continued investigating.

Nor could she forgive herself…

For still caring enough to investigate in the first place.

Finally…

She leaned back in her chair.

Staring blankly at the ceiling.

Trying to empty her mind.

Then…

Without warning…

A tiny detail she’d almost forgotten suddenly resurfaced.

Again.

And again.

Like a looping scene inside her memory.

Back at the restaurant…

While the three of them had been eating together…

When she deliberately lied to You Xi about the breakup…

Pretending nothing significant had happened…

Tidal—

Who had remained completely silent until then…

Quietly looked up from her fries.

Thinking back now…

What had that expression been?

She couldn’t describe it.

The memory felt hazy.

As though hidden behind a layer of mist.

No matter how hard she tried…

She couldn’t grasp it.

Yet…

That single glance continued replaying itself inside her mind.

Again.

And again.

Tidal.

That mysterious blue-haired girl.

She should have had absolutely nothing to do with You Dong’s affair.

So why…

Why couldn’t Chen Xi stop thinking about her?

…

Could it be…

That somehow…

Everything was connected?

For now…

Chen Xi had no way of putting the scattered pieces together.