Chapter 39: A New Audience?
As Night Lan left the conference room, she was on her way back to Zero Meow’s room.
Passing through the hall square, she spotted a certain black-haired girl—it was Xi Xia!
Right now, she was chatting with a loli whose height was just a smidge taller than Night Lan, with rare blonde hair that looked a bit less than healthy, making her walk all soft and wobbly.
“Ooh, a blonde loli~ Well, maybe I’ll get to know her another time.”
With that, Night Lan averted her gaze and continued on her way.
Xi Xia seemed oblivious to Night Lan passing by, still deep in conversation with the blonde loli.
“Uni, we need your power this time. If everything goes well, we might just solve this quickly and get a hefty reward,” Xi Xia said.
“That’s good! I just hope I can get it done quietly. I don’t like noise,” the loli named Uni replied, her golden bangs hiding one eye, while the other was surprisingly bland.
“Uh-huh.” Xi Xia responded with a smile.
……
“Hmm-hmm~ Mmm~”
Night Lan hummed a cheerful melody as she returned to Zero Meow’s room, where White Fish and Zero Meow seemed to be waiting for her.
White Fish beamed adorably.
“Night Lan, welcome back! What was the meeting you went to about?”
Night Lan sat down beside White Fish, pouting slightly.
“Ugh, just some guy’s prank. I really didn’t need to go.”
But despite her words, Night Lan felt grateful that Mo Tu had called her along.
After all, this meeting let her in on who the Night Watchers mainly target.
She’s just a weak little Audience Performer; she can’t handle this!
“Oh, I see~”
Suddenly, Night Lan remembered something and turned to White Fish and Zero Meow. “Hey, Zero Meow, White Fish, are you interested in puppet shows?”
“Puppet shows?”
“What’s that, meow?”
Night Lan was momentarily at a loss for words.
Well, puppet shows were indeed a bit too ancient for this era.
It’s likely that most young people nowadays don’t even know what a puppet show is.
So, Night Lan slowly started explaining the puppet show concept that Lianhua had told her.
After a while, the two lolis—who didn’t have a clue about puppet shows—finally got a basic understanding of this performance art.
White Fish pondered and seemed intrigued.
“Oh, I get it! It’s about controlling tiny wooden puppets to portray all sorts of stories on stage? Sounds like fun!”
As for Zero Meow, her enthusiasm was lacking.
Night Lan continued, “I have a friend who performs puppet shows, but right now, she only has me as an audience. I want more people to see her shows. Are you interested?”
White Fish raised her hand with a smile.
“I’m in! Since you like it, Night Lan, I’ll try it out too and get to know your friend.”
Hearing White Fish’s response, Night Lan internally cheered.
Yay! Helped Lianhua gain an audience!
Then Night Lan turned to Zero Meow.
“And you, Zero Meow?”
“Ugh, meow~ I’m really busy lately. I’m in a drawing contest for a website. I slacked off too much before, and now I’m behind schedule. The deadline’s coming up, so I have to stay here and finish my work. Sorry, I can’t join you guys.”
Even though Zero Meow wasn’t particularly excited about the puppet show, she would’ve loved to go with the two lolis.
But alas, she was trapped by the dreadful deadline, like a thousand tentacles wrapping around her dainty little legs, keeping her stuck in this room.
Geez, all this slacking off is coming back to bite me!
Night Lan could only sigh in disappointment.
Looks like only White Fish can attend the puppet show.
Since that’s the case, let’s find a time to invite White Fish and Lianhua over to her house.
After all, the theater is way too creepy; it might scare White Fish, so her house is the better venue.
If she tells Lianhua this good news, she’d surely be thrilled!
Thinking of this, Night Lan couldn’t help but smile, already eager to message Night Star about it.
“Well, enough chit-chat! Let’s go to my house now!”
“Your house?!” White Fish’s eyes lit up, looking super excited.
She had been curious about Night Lan’s home and was looking forward to visiting—now, she finally had the chance!
Night Lan nodded.
“Uh-huh~ I’ll get in touch with my friend who does puppet shows, and we can meet at my place.”
“Yay~!”
White Fish cheered loudly.
Meanwhile, Zero Meow let out a mix of proud tears.
She wanted to visit Night Lan’s house too!
But!
But she still had a drawing to finish, and if she had known, she wouldn’t have slacked off.
Before long, Night Lan and White Fish stood up, ready to leave.
“Zero Meow, we’re heading out!”
Zero Meow had a flat expression, waving her little hand. The moment she picked up her sketchpad, all emotions were gone; it was just her and her art now.
“Go ahead, meow! Remember to say hi to your friend for me.”
“Yep, will do.”
Night Lan nodded and took White Fish with her as they left the room.
Now, Zero Meow was all alone, holding her sketchpad and drawing tool, her pace quickening as she concentrated on her work.
“Wahhhh, meow!”
At this moment, Zero Meow transformed her frustration into productivity, ready to start from scratch to finish her artwork!
Oh, the horror!
Slacking off has doomed me!
……
At the Rising Sun Theater.
Night Star had just shared some good news with Lianhua, who had just finished performing a puppet show on stage.
“Lianhua, I have exciting news for you~!”
Lianhua put her puppets away, tilting her head with a smile. “What’s the good news?”
“Congratulations! You’re getting another audience member!”
“An audience member?”
Lianhua’s expression paused for a moment, then something seemed to click.
“Is it your friend?”
“Uh-huh~ She said she’s really interested in puppet shows, so let’s head to my house now.”
Without hesitation, Lianhua nodded eagerly.
“Yep~”
She was quite curious about this so-called audience member.
Even though having no audience wouldn’t have been the end of the world, who wouldn’t want a new spectator when they hoped for their puppet show to be seen by more people?
And besides… Night Star’s friend, hmm?
Maybe she could meet her and then…
Perform the story of how Night Star saved her right in front of her!
……
On the other side, Night Lan took White Fish back home.
As they walked through the door, White Fish curiously surveyed everything in the room.
“Wow~ This is Night Lan’s house?”
“Uh-huh, pretty ordinary, right?”
“Well, it’s ordinary~ but with Night Lan around, it’s anything but ordinary for me.”
Upon hearing that, Night Lan felt like hugging White Fish and giving her a gentle squeeze!
Do all lolis talk like this nowadays?
But thankfully, Night Lan’s “defenses” were pretty high; she wouldn’t get flustered by a few sweet words—action was required for that!
As Night Lan got lost in her thoughts, White Fish continued her exploration.
Little did they know, a ghost girl with a very low profile was floating above them, watching closely.
“Shocking! Night Lan’s brought another adorable girl home.”
Wait, why does she say “again”?
