The villainous magical girl's daily mission is to find fault.

Chapter 424 A fox got into the rabbit's burrow

The original meaning of a "shōjō" (手帐) is a common notebook.

However, with the continuous development of surrounding culture, it has transformed from a "notebook" into a type of handicraft made by pasting drawings onto loose-leaf notebooks.

Skilled makers cut and paste stickers into booklets, arranging stickers and writing and drawing on the loose-leaf notebooks to depict scenes and stories on a certain theme.

This requires the creator to have a thorough understanding of the subject matter, as well as a good grasp of the stickers and the materials at hand.

Anyone can make it, but not everyone can do it well. Top-notch makers are even rarer, which directly leads to well-made products being very popular among enthusiasts and often selling for exorbitantly high prices.

Within the magical girl community, due to the abundance of merchandise and stories of magical girls' heroic deeds, a wide variety of journal themes naturally emerge.

"There are stories about magical girl squads in various cities, stories about the experiences of each squad or individual magical girl, and compilations of major battles that are generally considered to be spectacular."

"As long as you're willing to do it, you can always find some interesting directions to explore in depth."

"However, even though magical girl merchandise is so popular, there are very few people who can actually make good handmade journals and similar items."

Strolling along the tree-lined stone paths of the campus, the fox girl stayed close to the cat girl while explaining the relatively small circle of handmade merchandise to Nan Jiayu.

"Is it because it's too difficult to make?"

"That's part of the reason, but the main issue is the selection of ingredients."

Su Tianqing shrugged, her fox tail swaying from side to side.

"For example, if you, Xiaoyu, wanted to create a journal themed around Lily White, what materials would you choose?"

"Um……"

Nan Jiayu pinched her chin, her cat tail held high, lost in thought.

After holding it in for a long time, the catgirl finally managed to utter a sentence:

"...A photo of her crying after I hit her?"

"This is so weird!" The fox girl shuddered and complained.

"Then... the photo of her being hung up and beaten by that weirdo? Or the photo I secretly took?"

"It's not like that! What do you mean by 'taking pictures secretly'?"

Su Tianqing felt that she shouldn't have asked Xiaoyu about Bai Lili; wasn't that just asking for trouble?

On the way from the back gate of the school to Teacher's Apartment No. 2 where Xia Taotao lived, Su Tianqing finally made the cat girl understand the key points of selecting materials for the journal.

"I see... As a handmade item made for fans, it naturally needs to showcase the most appealing aspects of the theme, and then use your own design and craftsmanship to depict various scenes from the theme..."

"That's how it is."

"That sounds really complicated."

Nan Jiayu couldn't help but sigh, as if she now understood why Tian Qing had praised Xia Taotao's notebook so highly in the secondhand shop.

But does it really look the same as in the photos? With this curiosity in mind, Nan Jiayu followed closely behind the fox girl, climbing the stairs of the apartment building and knocking on a sturdy security door.

"Knock knock knock".

"Is Tao Tao home?"

The fox spirit stood by the peephole at the door and spoke into the room.

A series of rustling footsteps in slippers, followed by the sound of a small stool being pulled over, and the bright red eyes of a rabbit behind the cat's eye.

"Ah, it's Tianqing and Jiayu... Wait a minute! I'll be right there—"

Another round of turmoil ensued.

The door opened, and a pink bunny girl with two three-strand braids opened the door to welcome the two in. She was only wearing a warm coat over her nightgown, and her ears were perched on the top of her head, making her look very small.

"Good afternoon~ Have you eaten yet, Peach? We brought some delicious snacks~"

Su Tianqing greeted them with a smile, showing them the large bag of various snacks and drinks she had grabbed from the snack shop.

"I've already eaten... Ah, come to the living room first, I'll prepare some drinks... You don't need to change into slippers..."

The cat and fox entered the house and went straight to the sofa in the living room, where they sat down.

Just as Su Tianqing was about to lay out a large array of snacks on the coffee table, she suddenly noticed a thick loose-leaf notebook on the table, with the cover bearing the words "[Qiu Baiyang's Chronicles]" written in exquisite hand-drawn artistic font.

Next to it was a roll of foam paper, several handmade quicksand acrylic bricks, and a cardboard box.

"Wow, Tao Tao has finished another one?" Su Tianqing asked curiously.

Xia Taotao was fiddling with coconut juice in front of the refrigerator when Su Tianqing asked her a question. She quickly came over with a glass and handed each of them a drink.

"Um... um, it was ordered by a customer last week, and it took a long time to finish. I plan to ship it to them today."

"May I take a look? I promise it won't leave a trace!"

The fox girl skillfully pulled out a pair of thin film examination gloves from her handbag and put them on under the surprised gazes of the cat and rabbit, displaying remarkable professionalism.

But considering that Fox is actually a medical student, it's not surprising that she carries examination gloves with her.

The fox spirit opened the loose-leaf notebook.

The title page features a hand-drawn illustration by Rabbit, a few simple strokes depicting the smiling face of the magical girl Qiu Baiyang, capturing her expression perfectly.

A few lines of small print described Qiu Baiyang's life story, followed by a replica of Qiu Baiyang's debut postcard made using unknown methods. If it weren't for the fact that it was only a single sheet of loose-leaf paper, Su Tianqing would have thought that Tutu had cut out and pasted precious debut merchandise onto it.

"That's amazing!"

The fox spirit couldn't help but applaud.

"This... I remember it's what Qiu Baiyang looked like when he debuted, but isn't that a limited edition item? Tao Tao, how did you... "

"Hehe... This is a technique I just learned recently. It uses magic to retain the ink for copying on paper, and then copies the image through plastic wrap..."

Xia Taotao sat down on the opposite sofa, her face slightly flushed, feeling a little shy at Su Tianqing's compliment.

"So you use magic to help with your homework. Did you keep a journal before you became a magical girl? How did you do it before you became a magical girl?"

"Back then, I used loose-leaf paper covered with plastic wrap to make tracings, and the results were great," Rabbit Girl said without hesitation.

What followed were various dazzling skill-based scenes that left the cat and fox speechless:

From pop-up cardboard books to simulated battle scenes made up of various hand-cut stickers, every page you turn will elicit a sigh of admiration.

"It's so beautiful, it makes me want to make a copy myself." Closing the loose-leaf notebook, the fox's tail swayed vigorously behind her, perfectly expressing the fox girl's feelings.

"It is indeed very beautiful, the kind of work of art," Nan Jiayu said with an appreciative smile.

Xia Taotao carefully wrapped the notebook in bubble wrap and placed it, along with the included quicksand brick, into the cardboard box that was carefully protected by foam board. She then wrapped the four corners with tape for protection.

"Has Tao Tao been doing this for a long time?" Su Tianqing asked curiously while helping to wrap the tape.

Rabbit Girl scratched the back of her head, her rabbit ears already standing up on top of her head, and nodded.

"Yes, I've been doing this for several years now. It helps me earn living expenses and pocket money to buy merchandise, so I've kept up this habit."

"Is that so..."

Su Tianqing seemed to sigh as she spoke, but then suddenly realized something and quickly asked:

"—Tao Tao."

"If it's convenient, could you tell me... how did you become interested in magical girl merchandise?"