The Gaze of the Radio Girl (GL) - Chapter 5

Xue Ran certainly knew, because she was the “Deep Space Witch” herself!

But this wasn’t Wu Lele’s fault; it was her own for playing all these little tricks.

More importantly, she couldn’t let Wu Lele go home yet, because her voice changer hadn’t arrived.

Yes, a voice changer—she’d impulsively ordered it last night.

Xue Ran stared at the order details on her phone for a long time, unable to recall why she’d placed it. The only possibility was that she wanted to fulfill Wu Lele’s request.

Wu Lele was indeed a witch, casting some spell on her.

Perhaps fearing Xue Ran would back out, the seller shipped quickly, but the distance between cities only shortened to two days.

Since she’d promised Wu Lele, she had to keep her word. The next time they communicated, she couldn’t use Morse code—she had to talk with her voice.

The voice changer hadn’t arrived yet, so the Deep Space Witch couldn’t break the promise unilaterally. She needed “unavoidable” factors to delay communication and maintain trust.

That was why Xue Ran condescended to personally tutor her.

Heaven knew how hungry she was right now.

Xue Ran abruptly stood from the chair, gripping Wu Lele’s hand through her uniform sleeve, guarding her closely: “I’m hungry.”

Wu Lele was confused: “Um… you’re hungry…”

“Let’s go eat noodles.”

“No… really, no!” Wu Lele was stubborn, trying to break free from her grasp.

But Wu Lele had no strength, no match for her. Xue Ran easily pinned her down, leaving her red-faced.

Xue Ran thought for a moment and asked Wu Lele: “Dare to make a bet?”

“Huh?”

“Bet that even if you stood up your friend tonight, she won’t be mad.”

“…Huh?”

“Not only will she not be mad, she’ll praise you.”

“…How’s that possible?”

“I bet she will.”

“What if she gets mad?”

“As an apology, whatever you want, I’ll give it to you. But if you lose, you have to agree to one condition.”

“What condition?”

“I won’t tell you yet.”

“…Anything I want?” Wu Lele was clearly tempted. The Deep Space Witch’s charm wasn’t so great after all.

“Yeah. You’re too late to go back now anyway.”

“Alright…” Wu Lele nodded.

Finally resolving the issue, Xue Ran raised an eyebrow at Tao Tao nearby.

Tao Tao was stunned, then shook her head with some disdain: “Let’s go, let’s go. I won’t count on you two to save me money.”

When it came to food, Xue Ran didn’t hold back, picking the most expensive item on the menu to spite Tao Tao’s cleverness.

Tao Tao didn’t care—it was just a regular noodle shop; it couldn’t bankrupt her. She waved her hand grandly: “Order!”

Xue Ran handed the menu to Wu Lele and started picking tea bags for herself.

By the time she’d brewed her tea, Wu Lele still hadn’t decided.

Wu Lele looked nervous, hesitant. Xue Ran took the liberty of brewing her a cup of barley tea and pushed it to her: “Decided yet?”

“Ah…” Wu Lele always seemed lost in thought, as if waking from a dream.

She closed the menu, smiling at Xue Ran: “Same as you.”

Xue Ran froze.

Did she know what she’d picked? That was hell-spicy.

Xue Ran eyed Wu Lele’s long sleeves and pants. One bowl of hell-spicy, and she’d not only shed her clothes but a layer of skin too.

Though, she was a bit curious about what Wu Lele looked like without her jacket…

“I changed my mind. Just a bowl of tonkotsu ramen.”

“Oh, not going for the hell-spicy?” Tao Tao laughed. “No need to save me money. Tonkotsu’s so plain.”

“Who said I’m saving you money? I’m just worried about breaking out…” Xue Ran looked at Wu Lele. “What about you? What do you want now?”

Wu Lele blinked: “Same as you.”

Xue Ran glanced at her and waved to the owner: “Two bowls of tonkotsu ramen!”

“Got it.”

Even without the hell-spicy, eating ramen in long sleeves in the summer heat was tough for Wu Lele.

Seeing her sweating profusely, Xue Ran kindly suggested: “Take off your jacket.”

Wu Lele shook her head and kept slurping her noodles.

Xue Ran inwardly scoffed, her gaze unintentionally sweeping over Tao Tao across the table.

Tao Tao’s bowl was barely touched, her attention fixed on Wu Lele eating, her eyes showing an emotion Xue Ran couldn’t read.

Xue Ran took it all in but stayed silent.

Tao Tao, ever dutiful, drove them home.

Wu Lele’s place came first—an old row of apartments, not even a proper complex.

Few streetlights worked, flickering eerily. Xue Ran debated whether to walk her up, but Wu Lele had already hopped out, slamming the car door.

“Teacher, class monitor, you guys go back. I’m fine.”

“Go on up. Teacher’s watching.”

Wu Lele stood for a moment, head lowered, then turned and left.

The iron staircase clanged. Xue Ran followed the sound upward. It stopped on the fourth floor, followed by a long silence. A light flickered on, and a slender arm waved to them in the dim yellow glow.

The car’s headlights flashed, as if responding to Wu Lele. Tao Tao turned the car toward Xue Ran’s house.

The car’s air conditioning was on full blast, giving Xue Ran goosebumps, but neither suggested turning it down.

Her fingers trembled slightly on her knee, as if sending Morse code. After an unknown number of letters, Xue Ran finally couldn’t hold back and asked Tao Tao: “Teacher Tao, why does Wu Lele always wear long sleeves?”

Tao Tao didn’t answer. After a long pause, she asked Xue Ran: “Do you know why she suddenly transferred in during the second semester of Sophomore Year?”

Indeed, this was the second biggest mystery about Wu Lele. The class had endless theories, but Xue Ran dismissed them as rumors.

She shook her head: “Don’t know.”

She thought saying this would get Tao Tao to reveal the truth.

But Tao Tao didn’t, only saying faintly: “You’ll find out… By the way, keep an eye on her. That friend she mentioned doesn’t sound like a good person. Don’t let her get led astray. It’s dangerous.”

Xue Ran: “…”

The mystery remained unsolved.

Lying in bed, Xue Ran’s fingers repeatedly refreshed the shipping info on her shopping app.

Finally, on Sunday, the package arrived as promised.

Xue Haichao and Lin Ran were tending to plants in the yard, about to answer the door for the delivery, when Xue Ran rushed down.

Before they could react, she grabbed the small box, dashed back to her room, and locked the door.

On her desk was the microphone she’d stolen from Xue Lin’s room.

She connected it to the computer, hooked up the voice changer per the instructions, and flipped the switch. Xue Ran’s voice instantly shifted from female to male.

“Hey, kinda cool. This voice sounds like a total heartthrob.”

Xue Ran never had trouble choosing. With a slap of her thigh, she settled on the voice.

Mature, gentle, with a hint of playful charm—Wu Lele would surely fall for it… her?

No, the Deep Space Witch should be female. A male voice felt off.

Suddenly, Xue Ran recalled Tao Tao’s words from last night—that friend doesn’t sound like a good person…

“…”

To avoid seeming like she was luring a schoolgirl, Xue Ran switched the voice back to female.

First, a girlish voice. One “hello” gave her goosebumps.

No, no, no, not her style.

To get Wu Lele to listen obediently, something mature and commanding was better.

She pressed the button, shifting the girlish voice to a mature, authoritative tone. It felt better, but why did it sound so much like her sister?

No, no, no. Xue Ran tweaked it back, finally finding a middle ground between girlish and mature.

It sounded great, she thought, probably a voice Wu Lele would like.

Everything was ready. At 8:30 p.m., Xue Ran, with microphone and voice changer, sneaked into Xue Lin’s room again.

Xue Haichao and Lin Ran were out shopping and wouldn’t bother her—nor did they usually.

She locked the door cleanly, turned on the desk lamp, and tuned the radio by its faint light, soon connecting to Wu Lele’s frequency.

Wu Lele’s troubles hadn’t stopped. Not only did Teacher Yao pile on homework, but the English teacher, Old Chen, joined in.

Xue Ran figured Wu Lele was still struggling.

Sure enough, her voice came through the headphones, reading English questions.

Then, the dice-pen rolled across the desk again—this kid was leaving it to fate.

When Wu Lele’s voice faded, Xue Ran chuckled softly: “Why are you messing around again?”

She expected a quick, lively response, like the other night, but Wu Lele didn’t reply.

Xue Ran waited a long time, but nothing.

She didn’t know what went wrong and asked tentatively: “BD6WLL, this is Astral Witch. Are you still there?”

No answer.

“Did… I disturb you?”

“No, no!”

This time, Wu Lele sounded frantic, as if afraid she’d leave.

Xue Ran enjoyed the feeling.

Wu Lele said: “Um, your voice is so nice, I couldn’t react for a moment.”

Xue Ran didn’t notice, but her grin nearly reached her ears.

She teased Wu Lele on purpose: “Why didn’t you show up last night?”

Wu Lele was clearly flustered: “I-I was at school late, got punished by the teacher, had to do test papers, so… sorry.”

“What grade are you in?”

“Starting Senior Year 3 next week.”

“And you still play with radios?”

“I… don’t have other hobbies.”

“No phone? No games?”

“I… don’t have a phone.”

That was unexpected.

Compared to the delinquents she’d met, Wu Lele was almost wickedly pure.

Xue Ran didn’t hold back her praise, as if fulfilling the bet: “You’re awesome. Where do you find such a cute student these days?”

“You… you’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“I mean… I stood you up last night… sorry.”

Xue Ran laughed it off, steering the conversation back: “Are you doing English homework? Anything you don’t understand?”

“Um… pretty much everything…”

“No problem, we’ll take it slow.”

“…Sorry.”

“Don’t keep saying ‘sorry.’”

After a long pause, the other side fell silent again.

Xue Ran didn’t know what was wrong and started searching for English practice questions online.

She’d seen the papers Old Chen gave Wu Lele and had some recollection of the questions, but wasn’t sure which version, so she asked: “What year is that test paper?”

“…”

“Hey?”

“…”

“Why aren’t you talking?”

“I…”

Wu Lele said a single word faintly and stopped. Xue Ran felt irritated and couldn’t help urging: “What’s wrong?”

“I… I suddenly feel… you sound like my class monitor.”