Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

After choosing a bow of a suitable size and stepping in front of the target stand, Emerald Sparrow adjusted her position slightly under Xia Liang's watchful gaze. Then, she held the bow with one hand, nocked the arrow, extended her elbow, drew the bow, aimed, and released—an elegant sequence of actions flawlessly executed in one go.

Swoosh!

The arrow hit the bullseye.

"Oh!" Xia Liang exclaimed, clapping her hands in admiration, "So cool!"

Flicking the ponytail behind her head, Emerald Sparrow glanced at Xia Liang and offered the bow in her hand: "Want to try?"

Seeing Emerald Sparrow's gesture, Xia Liang subconsciously reached out to touch the bow, then blinks in confusion: "Me? But I've never played this before..."

"You don't need to have played before, I'll teach you the movements, and you just need to practice aiming," Emerald Sparrow said nonchalantly.

In truth, Emerald Sparrow couldn't claim to be an expert in archery either, but she had practiced the shooting stance according to the standards, and coupled with the physical qualities of a Magical Girl, the foundation of her strong vision and coordination ability naturally led to a high hit rate.

After correcting Xia Liang's posture to ensure there were no major errors, Emerald Sparrow watched Xia Liang's practice from the side.

During this time, there were also other customers who, for reasons unknown, volunteered to coach Emerald Sparrow and Xia Liang in archery, but Emerald Sparrow flatly refused them with a cold face.

On the other side, Xia Liang started off a bit rusty and tense, but as she practiced shot after shot, making mistakes and correcting them, her hit rate gradually improved—moving from missing the target to hitting the outer rings and then slowly converging towards the center. The speed of her improvement was undeniable.

After watching for a while, Emerald Sparrow returned to her own target stand.

The sight of Xia Liang practicing momentarily blurred the lines between the present and the past for her.

Back in the day, the Fangting City squad of four girls would often head to the archery range after school with their backpacks. To make explanations convenient and to avoid questions about why a group of middle school girls frequented the range, Su Shengzi came up with a clever idea—she told the owner they were there for a club activity.
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As Magical Girls, even in their normal form, they all had certain physical enhancements, so it wasn't long before the girls exceeded the level of average enthusiasts after some practice.

Over time, as they frequented the place, even the circle of enthusiasts came to recognize the high level of Li Xing Middle School's girls' archery club.

This led to some confusion among Li Xing Middle School's sports students when they were later asked about the school's archery club—why didn't they know their school had one?

Of course, all these were stories of the past.

Soon, the one-hour appointment was up, and Xia Liang, slighlty sweaty, put down her bow and smiled contentedly as she looked towards the distant target.

Her arrows had hit the bullseye, and not just once.

"Continue?" Emerald Sparrow also lowered her bow and turned to look at Xia Liang.

"It's quite fun indeed, but I remember we had other plans for today?" Xia Liang asked excitedly, seemingly very engaged from the enjoyment of archery.

"Of course, but if you really like it here, we could continue a bit longer."

"Then... let's continue another time, I guess."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, let's head to our next stop!" Xia Liang beamed.

Without further hesitation, Emerald Sparrow paid the bill and then left the archery range with Xia Liang, opening an umbrella as they headed to the next destination on their itinerary.

The next stop was a bookstore.

The electronics district once boasted the largest book wholesale market in the city, filled with a variety of books and a main gathering point for readers of that time.

Twenty years later, the wholesale market is still there, but it has been transformed from its old form. When Emerald Sparrow and Xia Liang entered the building's entrance, they could immediately see that the interior had been completely renovated, no longer showing signs of age, clearly having undergone refurbishment.

The renovated bookstore, while retaining the main structure from twenty years ago, saw a significant change in its furnishings, décor, and even business model.

The modern bookstore has merged with the beverage businesses of tea and coffee, taking on a form similar to a book bar or a book café.

Customers could relax and find a comfortable spot to sit and drink while browsing books they've just bought or previewing specific reads. This model was very relaxed and pleasant, but compared to the old wholesale market, it was a completely different entity.

The bookstore covered five floors, and although the floors were distinct, the space was open with several escalators interconnecting them, creating a sense of openness. Emerald Sparrow and Xia Liang were in no rush and began their leisurely ascent from the first floor.

After taking their time to look around the bookstore, Emerald Sparrow turned to Xia Liang and asked, "Do you see any books that interest you?"

They posed this question while standing in front of the manga section.

"No, not really."

Gazing at the busier manga section not far off, Xia Liang paused for a moment, then shook her head: "But I guess this is something Lin Xiaolu would like, right?"

"Indeed."

Emerald Sparrow looked ahead, then nodded affirmatively.

She hadn't read manga for many years, but knowing that Lin Xiaolu was still keen on it, she thought to herself and inadvertently began,