Chapter 57 Another Invitation

Jingle bell—
The after-school bell rang.
Upon returning to his office, Bai Yuze sent a text message to Bai Youqing, asking if she wanted to go grab dinner together, but she turned him down.
If it were in the past, the big-eater Bai Youqing would never have refused a free meal.
However, ever since she became a magical girl, she rarely freeloaded anymore, which had once caused Peng Liang to suspect that he had somehow offended the little spitfire.
Since Bai Youqing had declined,
having no other choice, Bai Yuze sent the pre-prepared magical girl weekly quiz questions into the group chat, tagging everyone to prevent these magical girl juniors from wandering around outside.
Violet: "I'm busy today. Print out the test papers and hand them over to me tomorrow after you finish."
Bai Youqing: "Received."
Xia Qing: "Okay."
Han Xue: "Okay."
The night breeze was tranquil, feeling wonderfully comfortable and mesmerizing against the face.
Stepping out of the school, Bai Yuze scanned his surroundings outside. Most of the students had already gone home, and officers in blue uniforms were still on duty along both sides of the road.
In his past life when he was in middle school, he had also enjoyed this kind of treatment, though the meanings were completely different. The former was to protect students from being attacked by disaster beasts, while the latter was to protect students from being bullied by scum inside the school.
Ever since the disaster incident at Silver Lake Barbecue last time, many people had not dared to go out at night.
After a while, a pitch-black Volkswagen Magotan drove up from the opposite direction and stopped by the roadside. A voice filled with a hint of grievance called out, "Our bond has faded. Now it takes three invitations just to get you out for some skewers."
Ignoring him, Bai Yuze pulled open the front passenger door and sat in. "Stop barking like a dog. Didn't I come right over as soon as work ended?"
After getting off work, Peng Liang wasn't wearing his uniform, but rather a black T-shirt. At first glance, he looked extremely sturdy, exuding a unique and steady aura that gave everyone around him a deep sense of security.
If the nighttime environment hadn't been rather unpleasant lately, the admirers around him would definitely have been numerous.
"What do you want to eat?"
"Whatever. Anything is fine with me."
Peng Liang opened the mapping app and casually scrolled through nearby eateries. "Then let's go have dog meat. I remember that place is exceptionally delicious!"
While reversing the car, Peng Liang glanced at Bai Yuze. "How come your vibe feels much more relaxed and cheerful lately? You always used to hang your head and look so depressed; I was terrified you'd do something foolish."
"Get lost, baldie. Since you haven't been chopped into pieces by Xiao Lu and the others yet, how could I possibly do something foolish out of nowhere?" Bai Yuze retorted irritably.

Entering the dog meat restaurant, neither of them drank alcohol. Peng Liang had to drive later, and Bai Yuze disliked drinking—unless it was for business banquets, he generally avoided touching the stuff at all other times.
At the dining table, the two didn't discuss major national affairs; it was all just boasting and chatting idly.
There was no way Peng Liang had simply invited him out just for a meal,
and Bai Yuze didn't bring it up either, merely curious about what medicine the guy was selling in his gourd.
After finishing the meal, Peng Liang claimed he was taking Bai Yuze for a drive in the suburbs of Yeqiu City. On the highway, only a few streetlights flickered on and off, and the nearby residential buildings were pitch dark, virtually devoid of people.
The car sped through the dark night. Bai Yuze cracked the window open by a sliver, quietly watching the serene world outside the glass window.
"I'll show you something good." Peng Liang mysteriously pulled out a small, rectangular box.
"For me?" Bai Yuze took it, grinning broadly.
"In your dreams."
Bai Yuze unwrapped the box. Inside was a pitch-black fountain pen carved with golden patterns, looking extremely precious.
"Tch, isn't it just a fountain pen? What's there to show off about?"
"This is no ordinary fountain pen."
Hearing him say this, a hint of curiosity arose in Bai Yuze's heart. He took the pen from the other's hand, looking it over from left to right, dismantling and reassembling it several times.
He could confirm that this was simply a very ordinary fountain pen, not the memory eraser from Men in Black.
He let out an expression of disappointment and disgust.
"Tch, and here I really thought you guys had invented the memory eraser from the movies."
"What do you know? The leadership valued me a few days ago and gave this to me."
Reaching out, Peng Liang snatching it back from Bai Yuze's hands with mock annoyance and carefully putting it back into the box.
"Oh ho, looks like you're about to make it big, congratulations. I don't have much to give, so take this limited-edition lighter that has accompanied me for many years as my gift."
With a reluctant expression, Bai Yuze placed a bright green plastic lighter on the car's dashboard guardrail.
Peng Liang took one look and instantly raged, "Isn't this fucking just a two-yuan lighter, and it's even out of fuel? Brother Bai, you are truly damned."
"What are you barking for? I'll compensate you sometime later."
"Let me state this in advance: I won't accept anything less than Soft Zhonghua cigarettes."
"In your dreams, you still want Soft Zhonghua? Getting you a pack of Liqun is already pretty good."
"That won't do, it has to be at least a pack of Hard Zhonghua to start, otherwise our friendship is over." Peng Liang shook his head repeatedly, emphasizing the point.

"You really can't stand losing out on anything, kid."
"It's all thanks to Brother Bai's good education over the past few years."
With that, Peng Liang pulled out a pack of Liqun and generously handed it over.
"I took your advice last time and quit. So why'd you call me out today? You look like you've got something on your mind that you're hesitating to say." Bai Yuze yawned and cut straight to the chase.
"What's your take on magical girls?"
"Open my phone and look on JM Comics," Bai Yuze joked.
Peng Liang was slightly startled, reaching out to slap Bai Yuze lightly as he smirked, "Who's talking to you about those? I'm talking about the Arbitrators."
This time, Bai Yuze didn't respond, silently gazing out the window.
After a long while, he finally spoke slowly, though the atmosphere had grown much heavier.
"If possible, I hope they only need to be live streamers and national idols like in anime, rather than facing abyss monsters that even adults are terrified of. Most of them are still at the prime age of youth; they should be studying in school and catching up on television dramas."
"Who's to say otherwise? What's even more fucked up is that magical girls can only be girls; we still haven't found a single boy who can turn into a magical girl." Peng Liang had an unlit cigarette clamped between his lips.
Bai Yuze tilted his head to look at him. "Did you call me out because you want to tell me you've developed a device that can turn men into magical girls too?"
"How is that possible? I'm just back to my previous question: are you willing to become a member of the Abyss Handling Security Bureau?"
Bai Yuze: "......"
"Don't rush to refuse yet. My idea is that you'll just hold a roster position at the Security Bureau while actually remaining at Qiuyuan No. 1 High School, which won't affect your daily life at all."
"Then what do you need me to do?"
"Become the liaison for the Gladiolus Arbitration Squad. Your task is very simple: when disaster beasts appear somewhere, we will have you notify the magical girls, and additionally record the disaster beast ranks and numbers they eliminate to facilitate team rating evaluations and reward distributions in the future..."
"The Gladiolus Arbitration Squad is that magical girl team reported on the news yesterday?"
"Yes."
"What you said is very tempting—who wouldn't like a job where you can slack off every day? But I refuse. I'm planning to take Bai Youqing away from Yeqiu City after a while."
Bai Yuze looked into Peng Liang's dark, clear eyes, as if trying to read something from them.