Sudden News

After careful consideration, Yun Lan ultimately left a letter behind before making his escape.

The letter read: "The Yi Family has invited me to attend the debut concert of their prized jewel, Eden. As a renowned musical dynasty, I must show them this respect. Therefore, I am going to attend; the three of you need not worry."

It was true that the Yi Family had invited Yun Lan to Eden's concert, and it was also true that he needed to show them respect. So, what was the only lie?

In truth, it was Yun Lan using the concert as an excuse to run away. At the very least, it was not appropriate to remain at the center of this emotional vortex any longer...

The tide of memories, carrying with it the lights of the past, the texture of letter paper, the chill of the night air, and those three faces, each filled with their own obsession, was dragging Yun Lan into deeper waters. Those chaotic emotions, helpless choices, and the guilt and resolution he felt while slipping away flashed through his mind like frames of a silent film.

Just then, a clear, concerned voice, like a beam of sunlight piercing deep water, pulled him back to reality.

"Brother Lan?"

The voice was very close, accompanied by the sensation of his arm being gently shaken.

Yun Lan's unfocused eyes suddenly snapped into clarity. Before him was no longer the night mountain path or the quiet study of his memories, but a bright classroom bathed in afternoon sunlight. The air was filled with the scent of chalk dust and paper, while in the distance, the faint sound of sneakers squeaking on the court and the shouts of boys could be heard.

What met his eyes was the face of Honami Ichinose, leaning in slightly. Her long, tea-colored hair draped softly over her shoulders, and her clear blue eyes reflected his image, currently filled with a mix of curiosity, worry, and a hint of... something subtle and uniquely feminine that was hard to detect. She seemed to have called his name several times already.

"Ah... Honami?" Yun Lan responded instinctively, his voice still carrying a trace of the daze from having just broken free from a distant time and space. He blinked, quickly adjusting his expression to make that momentary lapse seem less obvious. "Sorry, I was just spacing out for a second. What did you say?"

Honami Ichinose did not answer immediately, instead observing his face closely as if trying to find lingering traces of his thoughts. She pursed her lips, and that hint of sourness, previously masked by worry, became slightly more apparent.

"Brother Lan was just..." She tilted her head, her tone softening, yet she asked every word with clarity, "thinking about those... three junior sisters of yours?"

She pronounced the words "junior sisters" with an exceptionally soft, yet inexplicably emphasized tone. Her gaze locked onto Yun Lan's eyes, not missing a single subtle change. The look clearly read, I saw it, you were completely immersed in another world just now, along with a hidden, slight jealousy over him thinking of someone else.

Sunlight filtered through the window, casting small shadows on her long eyelashes and making her fair cheeks look even more vivid. The noise in the classroom seemed to recede at this moment, leaving only her jealous inquiry, which precisely pierced the thin film Yun Lan had just constructed to separate himself from reality.

Yun Lan's heart skipped a beat. He had been caught. But he remained composed on the surface, offering only a gentle, helpless smile as he tried to brush it off: "Why ask so suddenly? I was just remembering some... things from the past."

"Things from the past?" Honami repeated, clearly not entirely convinced by the vague answer. She did not press further, but her slightly puffed-out cheeks and the way she looked away while still glancing at him from the corner of her eye silently expressed her concern and her little bit of frustration.

Yun Lan sighed inwardly. The old debts hadn't been settled yet, and new "troubles" seemed to be brewing without him realizing it. It seemed the title "Brother Lan" wasn't just a simple gesture of politeness after all.

"It's really nothing." He tried to change the subject, pointing to the empty lunch box on the table. "I'm going to wash my lunch box. Do you want to come along, Honami?"

Honami looked at him, then at the unwashed lunch box, seemingly accepting the exit he offered for now. However, she still muttered a sentence under her breath—not loud, but clear enough for Yun Lan to hear: "Anyway... Brother Lan's expression is always so complicated when you talk about them. I'm... a little curious."

Curiosity, perhaps mixed with other, more hazy emotions. Yun Lan caught the implication, and his head began to ache faintly once more.

The winds of the past seemed to have blown into the present, and the sunlight before him was not entirely pure or warm. Beneath this seemingly peaceful school life, the undercurrents never truly stopped surging. Just then, the phone in his pocket vibrated ever so slightly, as if to confirm his premonition.

At this hour, who would be messaging me? There are only a few people at this school who have me as a contact.

Yun Lan took out his phone and glanced at it. An avatar that had no business appearing on this device surfaced before his eyes—it was a rabbit.

It was Mao Rabbit. Why is she looking for me? Could it be that something happened to those three little ones?

He did not head toward the nearest restroom, but instead detoured to the faculty-only restroom on the other side of the building, which was rarely used at this time of day. It was quieter here, and the stalls were more private.

Pushing open the heavy door, he found it empty, save for the low hum of the exhaust fan and the faint scent of cleaning agents. Yun Lan pulled the door shut behind him, leaving it unlatched to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. He walked to the sink at the far end and set his clean lunch box down on the cold marble countertop with a soft clack.

Silence descended. He took a deep breath, as if he were not facing a small screen, but a bomb about to detonate.

He pulled out his phone and unlocked it with his fingerprint. The screen lit up, and that out-of-place rabbit avatar remained glaringly at the top of the notification bar, like a silent, watching eye.

Yun Lan's fingertips felt cold as he tapped it.

There were no rigorous data analyses or probability projections, no long-winded background explanations. All that Fufu had sent was a single line of text, so concise that it felt exceptionally cold and heavy:

"Young Master, your three junior sisters have already learned that you are attending Advanced Nurturing High School. If nothing goes wrong, they will arrive in Japan in the coming days."

The text remained frozen on the screen, the black characters standing out against the white background with cruel clarity.

Yun Lan's fingers stiffened above the screen, and for a moment, even his breathing seemed to stop. The pale light of the restroom poured down from above, illuminating his suddenly bloodless profile and slightly dilated pupils. The monotonous hum of the exhaust fan was amplified infinitely, filling his eardrums, yet it felt as if it were separated by a thick film of water, becoming distant and unreal.

To be honest, Yun Lan had never felt that words could be so cold.