Magical Girl Heavy Dependence

Chapter 8, I'm very curious

"The producer's job is to mold the magical girl into a qualified idol from the inside out, from magic usage skills to lifestyle habits, work mentality, and even love for her profession, no matter how small the detail."

As soon as the two stepped out of the restaurant's main entrance, a cool night breeze swept over them.

"But in the end, they are just colleagues. No matter how much they give, they can't build the trust that a traditional master-disciple relationship can. Once a disagreement arises, the unity and love they show on a daily basis will collapse."

As Jiang Fei spoke, she subconsciously hugged her arms tighter.

Cheng Chen, standing beside her, asked, "Was Gu Wu a betrayer of you?"

"Job hopping in the workplace doesn't constitute betrayal."

Jiang Fei said dejectedly, "It was just wishful thinking on my part that Yinfu Entertainment was not simply a commercial company, and that magical girls should have a bond that transcends traditional worldly conventions."

It was because of this idea that she did not use the "Heart Container" to coerce the magical girl into working for the company.

Only after generously providing enough heart containers to completely suppress the number of "beastification" could those magical girls who followed Gu Wu leave without any worries.

If it were Cheng Chen, he would probably choose this as a bargaining chip, and only after squeezing out all their remaining value would he give them enough to barely curb the number of "beastification"—this is precisely the reason why the Xianmeng Group wants the "Heart Container" manufacturing technology.

Jiang Fei brought him back to prevent things from escalating to this point.

Cheng Chen didn't want to accuse her of being wrong.

He slowed his pace, squinting as he gazed at the distant city lights: "I can deal with those magical girls however I want, right?"

"Generally speaking, that kind of thing is called 'guidance'."

Jiang Fei mumbled a correction, saying that she had drunk quite a bit of alcohol and her cheeks still had a slight flush.

"So."

Cheng Chen slowed his pace to walk alongside her, squinting as he gazed at the distant city lights: "If in the end, I can't control those magical girl trainees I've been handed over to, and they don't meet my expectations... what should I do in the worst-case scenario?"

"The worst-case scenario."

Jiang Fei's voice instantly changed from languid and tender to icy and chilling, "If their existence threatens you, you can strip them of their power, destroy them, kill them, or do whatever you want with them."

She uses the cutest expressions to say the scariest things; she's probably really become a capitalist.

But the next second, she swayed again, the coldness in her eyes dissipated, and a fine mist returned to cover them:

"But I hope we don't have to do that one day... To be honest, it's a little embarrassing to say, but now, the only official idol left at Yinfu Entertainment is Songlan."

The impact of the partner's departure was greater than imagined.

"Such a luxurious company office building, and all that's left is an idol? It's all show and no substance."

Cheng Chen sighed with emotion.

Jiang Fei narrowed her eyes. "Big capital has offered Gu Wu generous terms. The idols and trainees who follow her can earn dozens of times more than they do now... They are different from me; they can't be magical girls forever."

After the magic disappears, reality will eventually return.

In reality, the only thing we can rely on is money.

Yinfu Entertainment is, after all, a small company that has grown from humble beginnings, and it is nothing compared to truly wealthy large enterprises.

"Matsuran celebrated her fifth anniversary as a magical girl last month... Graduation is just around the corner, but the company hasn't found a suitable successor to be her role model. Meanwhile, I've wasted a lot of meaningless resources in the process of dealing with the internal strife and conflicts with the Senmeng Group."

"Both I and Yinfu Entertainment need a new superstar."

Jiang Fei took a deep breath and said.

Yinfu Entertainment is first and foremost a company.

If the company doesn't make money, it can't continue to exist.

"I have absolutely no idea what a producer is supposed to do."

Cheng Chen supported her slightly swaying shoulders.

We can't exactly teach them how to commit evil and become villains, can we?

"Um…"

Jiang Fei leaned comfortably on his shoulder: "Leave the details to me. After all, it's a company I founded myself... You just need to teach them, seduce them, and make sure our future superstars can't live without you, won't betray you for profit, and won't back down because of threats. Isn't that what the 'Evil Lord' is best at?"

Our superstar, not "me".

Cheng Chen fully understood her thoughts. Putting emotions aside, the two needed to have shared interests in order to cooperate in the long term.

It seems that Guwu taught Jiang Fei a very profound lesson.

"How do we get back?" Cheng Chen asked.

"Hmm..." Jiang Fei waved her hand drunkenly, "Don't worry, someone... is coming to pick us up."

He can't even speak properly anymore.

Seeing this, Cheng Chen didn't ask any more questions and helped her stand by the roadside to wait.

A few minutes later, a white, fluffy little dog appeared from around the street corner, frolicking around.

"Woof!"

Bai Guo suddenly braked in front of Cheng Chen, sticking out its tongue and wagging its tail like an electric fan.

After it met the kitten in the afternoon, the two fluffy creatures disappeared to play somewhere.

"Baby~ You're such a fluffy baby~"

With a dazed look in her eyes, Jiang Fei opened her arms to hug the puppy.

Cheng Chen's lips twitched, and he grabbed her: "You said the person who would come to pick us up... uh, the thing, is it this?"

"Woof!"

Ginkgo barked loudly, glancing sideways to indicate to its owner not to worry, seemingly quite used to this situation.

It shook its fur, and its entire body suddenly swelled up.

From a gentle and adorable Samoyed, it transformed into a giant white wolf, approximately five meters tall and with a lithe build. Beneath its wolfish jaws, sharp, dagger-like teeth were revealed, and the harmless kindness in its scarlet eyes vanished, replaced by a terrifying aura that sent chills down one's spine.

The Moon Wolf, a former servant of the Demon King and a Star Calamity-level monster.

The enormous beastly shadow blocked out the moonlight over half the street. The ferocious beast swallowed Jiang Fei's Morning Star X7 whole, then precisely grabbed her collar and tossed the drunken magical girl into its thick mane.

It lowered its head and whimpered, as if asking its true owner.

—Going home?

Cheng Chen sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

How did Jiang Fei raise her puppy like this?

He leaped onto Baiguo's back; its spotless silvery-white fur felt like a warm blanket, so comfortable that it made one want to groan.

The next instant, the enormous wolf disappeared from the center of the street.

Only a few wisps of smoke remained, drifting slowly in the night breeze.

……

The dance studio at Yinfu Entertainment.

After get off work, the entire skyscraper was deathly silent, except for a faint light shining through the window here.

There was no music, no spotlight, only the ticking of a metronome and the shadow of a girl practicing in front of a mirror to the monotonous rhythm.

Her high, gradient pink ponytail, which cascaded down to her waist, swayed from side to side, resembling a fairy's tail, making it impossible to look away.

"...5, 6, 7, stop!"

The metronome stopped, the girl exhaled her fragrant breath, and ceased her movements.

Her assistant stood at the door, timing the clock: "Ms. Songlan, your practice has exceeded the allotted time again. Overexerting your physical strength is harmful to your body. I have reminded you many times."

"Don't worry, Sister Xiao."

Song Lan didn't turn around. Looking at Gao Xiao in a gray business suit in the mirror, she smiled brightly, "I'm still in my transformed state. Even a Fiery Feather-level magical girl's physique can't be torn apart by a calamity beast. It's not as fragile as you say."

On either side of her well-defined collarbones, there was a rich, almost tangible, magical glow that clung to her skin like light patterns tattooed on her body.

These are the magical girl's "wings," and also the origin of the name of the third rank.

"I'm just wondering how much longer you're going to make me work overtime."

Gao Xiao sighed and stepped forward to hand over a coat. It wasn't the extremely eye-catching red jacket Cheng Chen had seen before; it was a somewhat cute spring women's trench coat.

The magical light swirled away from Songlan, revealing a well-behaved girl with black hair and black eyes.

She thanked Gao Xiao, then picked up the water bottle, brought it to her lips, and asked:

"Did you find out about the man you ran into in the CEO's office today?"

"Yes, I asked the HR department, and it turns out to be a new colleague who joined today."

Gao Xiao helped her pack her belongings. "President Jiang's assistant, Cong Cong, personally handled his onboarding registration. His name is Cheng Chen, and his position is Vice President and COO... but it's just a title. His real role should be producer. His business card is already on the company's OA system."

"What's their background?"

"I don't know, but it was General Manager Jiang who personally came to lead it. Currently, the only project under his authority is the 'Nirvana Project'."

"The Nirvana Project?"

Song Lan's delicate eyebrows relaxed slightly. She remembered that this was a temporary project to temporarily house trainees who had nowhere to go after losing their producer.

In fact, since the company's upheaval, the personnel relationships among the remaining trainees and producers have been redistributed. Those who are left unattended are all problematic magical girls who were previously feared within the company.

"Sister Xiao was also a producer for the Nirvana Project, right?" she asked with a smile.

Gao Xiao sighed helplessly, as if recalling some unpleasant memory: "Back then, I had nightmares every day, and I was so anxious that I almost lost all my hair... My transfer to be your full-time assistant was, in a way, a form of compensation for that experience."

"Is it really that exaggerated?"

Songlan chuckled.

A thought flashed through her mind, and she pursed her lips: "It seems that Sister Feifei is also out of options. This time, the producer is actually a man? And he was given such a high position."

"It must be some kind of freak that President Jiang found from somewhere. An ordinary man couldn't possibly be the company's producer."

Gao Xiao frowned, feeling instinctively uncomfortable with this personnel arrangement as a former magical girl.

She stubbornly believed that all a magical girl company needed was magical girls, and that adding other random things would lower the company's purity.

"Is that so?"

Songlan remained noncommittal; she was more curious than anything else.

Only a handful of people know Jiang Fei's true identity. "Magical Girl Sakura" is not only the former president of the association, but also the greatest legend in Yincheng.

It wasn't just because she consistently held the top spot on the association's published roster, but also because she was already twenty-four years old and still a magical girl. In the entire Southern Federation, only Fairy Demoness was like her, able to retain her power even after the age of twenty-two.

Everyone in the know has been more or less curious about what method Hiyori used.

Songlan looked at herself in the mirror.

A magical girl's career lasts at most six years; she's been with the company for over five years, and her career is almost over. Although, given her current status and contributions, she could immediately rejoin the company with a new identity and a good position after "graduating"...

But wouldn't you gain more by continuing to be a magical girl?

No one is willing to give up what they have worked so hard to obtain.

Jiang Fei is her producer, and she knows best that Jiang Fei has always been indifferent to men.

The only people who would receive such special treatment from her are those who are equally special.

"Keep an eye on Project Nirvana for me. I want to sit in on the new producer's lessons for the trainees."

"it is good."

Gao Xiao didn't even ask for a reason and readily agreed, "Do you need me to find a suitable excuse for you? Like mentoring a junior colleague or something."

"No need for any excuse. Just tell them directly..."

Song Lan stretched languidly, her graceful figure fully revealed under the light. She relaxed completely, squinting her eyes like a lazy fox.

"I'm very curious."

……