Trying to connect basketball and chickens

When you lost something as a child, how would your parents handle it?

If it was something unimportant, perhaps they would scold you for being careless and remind you to be more careful next time?

If it was something particularly important, like the house keys or a bank card, you probably couldn't escape a beating from both parents.

Of course, every family was different. That was just how Yan Huan remembered it.

In any case, there was no way they would drive back to the Shopping Center over a lost keychain and help their child find it without a single word of blame.

Yet that was exactly what Ye Lan did.

After hearing Ye Shiyu's request, she had the driver turn around and take them back to the Shopping Center where they had eaten earlier.

The car had barely stopped before Ye Shiyu got out, even forgetting the coat she had taken off earlier because the heater was on.

Yan Huan glanced at the coat, quietly picked it up, and got out too.

After getting out, Ye Lan exchanged a few words with the driver. The driver seemed to want to get out and help her search, but Ye Lan told her to go home first.

After some back-and-forth, the car finally drove away.

Although the Shopping Center was still brightly lit at eight or nine on an early spring evening, a chill had inevitably settled over it.

With a wrap over her shoulders and high heels on her feet, Ye Lan gave Yan Huan, who was walking ahead, a helpless smile and said,

"Let's go. Sorry for the trouble, Xiao Huan, but help Shiyu look. She'll probably retrace today's route while trying to remember, right?"

Today's route, huh...

Yan Huan blinked and looked at Ye Shiyu, who was far ahead.

She stood at the edge of the Shopping Center, looking toward the distant Aquarium, its lights out and its silhouette blending into the night. There was no telling what she was thinking.

"Sister Shiyu."

Hearing Yan Huan's voice, she turned her expressionless face toward him and watched him offer her the coat.

"It's gotten cold tonight. Put your coat on."

She looked at his hand holding the coat. It was touching the spot where she had attached her name label.

"Thank you."

After a slight pause, she took the coat but didn't put it on.

Yan Huan didn't insist. He simply came to her side and began analyzing the situation seriously.

"Sister Shiyu, do you remember when you opened your bag? Was it at the Aquarium or in the Shopping Center?"

"I haven't opened my bag since buying the keychain today."

"Huh?"

Yan Huan raised his eyebrows and looked at Ye Shiyu, whose tone was utterly certain after thinking it over.

"Could there be a hole in your bag?"

Ye Shiyu picked up her handbag and inspected it, then shook her head.

"No."

That's strange...

A supernatural incident?

He had indeed watched her label the keychain with her name and put it in her bag that morning. Or had she opened it sometime afterward and forgotten?

"...The Aquarium is closed already. I'll look along the route to the Shopping Center."

Her expression slightly cold, Ye Shiyu turned and left, carrying her coat.

Seeing this, Yan Huan and Ye Lan could only follow her, retracing the route they had taken into the Shopping Center at noon.

"Dear visitors, the Shopping Center will close in twenty minutes. All visitors remaining inside, except those in the cinema area, please leave as soon as possible."

"After closing, please take elevator 7A at the seventh-floor cinema to the first floor or underground parking garage. All other elevators will be shut down."

The announcements echoed through the seven-story Shopping Center as its lights gradually dimmed. The sounds of shops shutting their doors and pulling down their roller shutters rose one after another.

Coming down the escalator from the second floor, Yan Huan saw Ye Lan sitting on a bench on the first floor, her high heels off as she rubbed her ankles.

Her long skirt spread out like flower petals, and there was weariness in her eyes.

Seeing Yan Huan, she looked up and asked with a smile,

"How did it go, Xiao Huan? Did you find it?"

Yan Huan shook his head and said,

"We've searched several times already. We asked at lost and found too, but the staff haven't seen it. Splitting up to search afterward didn't help either."

"Hmm, this really is strange..."

Ye Lan pursed her lips, moved the high heels by her feet a little farther aside, and patted the seat next to her.

"Tired? Sit down and rest a while. Sorry for the trouble, Xiao Huan. You came out to have fun, and here we are making you run around helping your older sister find something..."

"Not at all. Besides, we already had our fun, Auntie."

Yan Huan sat down beside Ye Lan and watched her hug her knees while massaging her calves and feet.

Her ankles were bright red now. After all, she had spent the whole day walking in high heels. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been sitting here resting while the two of them searched.

Yan Huan let out a breath. His eyes shifted slightly as he looked around the gradually quieting Shopping Center.

Beside him, Ye Lan studied his profile with her chin in her hand, then suddenly asked,

"Do you think this is a bit much, Xiao Huan?"

"A bit much?"

Yan Huan came back to himself and looked at Ye Lan, who was still smiling.

"Coming all the way back and searching for an hour over one little keychain sounds a little stupid, doesn't it?"

"Not really."

Yan Huan blinked and said,

"I thought you'd send a whole bunch of subordinates over, Auntie. Make the Aquarium reopen if it was closed, then have a whole crowd help Sister Shiyu look."

Ye Lan covered her mouth, thoroughly amused.

"Now that's going too far!"

"Is it? That's how all those novels I read write it..."

Yan Huan smiled slightly, then put on the cold expression of a domineering CEO. Pointing, he commanded,

"If you can't find her belongings, I'll have every last one of you buried with them!"

"Hahahaha!"

Ye Lan burst out laughing, holding her stomach as her toes swung in the air.

"You've really got the manner down. You should go into movies, Xiao Huan~"

Yan Huan watched her with a smile. Then she reached out and tapped his head, chiding him,

"But it's just a keychain. How could I waste that much manpower?"

Yan Huan held his head and dodged Ye Lan's utterly painless little fist.

"That's why I said it was something from a novel. But Auntie, you're not so different from those CEOs who make millions an hour. Isn't being willing to spend your time finding a cheap keychain essentially the same thing?"

Ye Lan's smile deepened. She reached out and rubbed Yan Huan's hair without mussing it.

"Shiyu rarely loses things. If nobody touches them, she almost never slips up. It might seem troublesome, but this has hardly ever happened. And you've probably noticed that apart from dolls, jellyfish are her favorite."

"Yes, but we checked the surveillance footage just now too. No strangers went near her bag along the way."

"Exactly. That's why it's so strange this time. Maybe she really did accidentally drop it in the Aquarium? Still, I couldn't possibly trouble other people over something like this."

Smiling, Ye Lan stroked his head and told him,

"What she lost matters. It's something she cherishes, something labeled with her name-[her possession]. I know that once she puts her name on something, buying another one can't replace it. But that's only true for her and me.

"To anyone else, it's just a cheap keychain.

"I'm willing to come back and help her look because I'm her mother. That makes something special to her special to me too. You can't measure that in money, and we didn't have anything else to do tonight anyway.

"How could I ask other people to come running out late on a weekend and busy themselves over this just because it's special to me? So I really do feel bad about troubling you to help us look this late, Xiao Huan."

Yan Huan didn't particularly mind. Going home late would keep Ye Shiyu from ambushing him with hypnosis anyway.

It was just that the air around him seemed warmer now. He didn't know whether it was because of Ye Lan's smile.

"No wonder you turned down that driver, Ms. Liu, when she offered to get out and help."

"Yes. She was supposed to finish work after taking us home. When it's time to clock out and rest, she should do just that. So we'll take a taxi home later~"

Working this weekend counts as overtime for that driver. And all she needed to do was bring Ye Lan here in the morning and pick her up tonight. She didn't have to stay on standby all day to get a full day's overtime pay...

For some reason, hearing Ye Lan say that suddenly brought Yan Huan close to tears.

Perhaps it was because he had died suddenly from overwork in his previous life. Hearing a boss who wouldn't order people around after normal working hours actually gave him the fleeting illusion that he had met her far too late.

"Auntie, if I get the chance, I'm definitely coming to work for you."

Overcome, Yan Huan suddenly declared this in complete earnest.

Auntie, if you'll have me, I pledge myself to you as my boss?

"Hahahaha."

His solemn expression made Ye Lan laugh again. She affectionately rubbed his head and said,

"Mm, given how capable you are, Xiao Huan, that shouldn't be difficult. But don't regret it when the time comes~ I'm fairly lenient about this, but in other respects... hehe."

"..."

Looking at Ye Lan's suddenly rather sinister smile, Yan Huan wondered whether he had spoken too soon.

Still, he was only in his first year of university. He didn't urgently need to choose a career yet, so there was nothing wrong with filling his head with possible future paths.

It was rather like saying, "Grandpa, Grandma, I'm going to be an astronaut when I grow up."

Just as Ye Lan was rubbing Yan Huan's head, Ye Shiyu came down the escalator, expressionless and looking displeased.

The result was obvious. She still hadn't found it.

Seeing her, Yan Huan stood and volunteered,

"Sister Shiyu, shall I go upstairs and look again?"

Ye Shiyu glanced at him, then shifted her gaze slightly toward Ye Lan, who was rubbing her feet.

Her mother had already spent all day walking in high heels, and he had kept following her through so many searches.

Besides, it was only a keychain. Although she liked it very much, even if she lost it or gave it to someone else...

At that thought, her brows suddenly creased slightly. She didn't know why such an idea had abruptly entered her mind.

It was faint, no more than a passing thought, yet she normally treasured every single thing she owned.

In the past, after losing something, Ye Shiyu had considered giving up the search out of consideration for her mother, not wanting to trouble her...

But!

Her desire for a cherished possession had never diminished like this. If anything, losing it only made her regret it more.

And because of that thought that had suddenly surfaced, her expression now turned extremely cold and angry, as though she felt sick.

The phone in her hand suddenly lit up. This time, the glow it gave off was a sinister deep purple.

Yan Huan raised his eyebrows.

Is she... angry?

Just because she can't find that keychain?

But why has the modifier lit up too? Who can you hypnotize over a lost possession?

Seeing her unhappy expression, Ye Lan put her high heels back on, fastened the straps, and stood up.

"The Shopping Mall closes in twenty minutes. How about Xiao Huan and I help you look one more time?"

The icy look on Ye Shiyu's face eased slightly at her mother's gentle voice. Then she shook her head and said,

"Forget it, Mom. Let's go home."

"Then I'll buy you another one tomorrow."

"No need. Let's go."

Ye Shiyu shook her head and prepared to leave. Ye Lan gave Yan Huan a helpless glance and said in puzzlement,

"Your older sister is even more bad-tempered than before today. She never used to get this angry, even when she couldn't find something."

Yan Huan kept staring at her retreating figure, his thoughts unknown.

Ending a fairly cheerful day on something like this was inevitably unpleasant. Even in the taxi, the mood grew quieter.

Back home, Ye Lan and Ye Shiyu went upstairs to rest, while Aunt Chen was in the first-floor laundry room, preparing to wash the clothes the driver had brought back earlier.

Seeing this, Yan Huan felt a little curious.

Ye Shiyu had already put her name on them. How would they handle that when washing them?

After watching for a moment, he discovered that Aunt Chen removed the name labels first.

Noticing his interest, Aunt Chen explained,

"These name labels are only temporary. Later, she'll sew her name onto them herself. Shiyu is extremely good with needlework. Miss hired a very skilled tailor to teach her before..."

As she sorted Ye Shiyu's clothes, preparing to put them into a separate washing machine, Aunt Chen continued,

"She made all the clothes on the dolls in her room herself too. Oh, Xiao Huan, you haven't seen them yet, have you? Have Shiyu show you tomorrow..."

"Sure, if there's a chance."

Yan Huan smiled and gave a couple of noncommittal replies. In truth, he didn't think Ye Shiyu was likely to agree.

She had refused to wear her coat earlier merely because he had touched it, and he hadn't seen it among the clothes handed to Aunt Chen for washing either...

She really hated other people touching her things.

At least, that was how she treated outsiders like Yan Huan. With Aunt Chen and Ye Lan, it was completely different.

Aunt Chen could wash her clothes, and the wrap Ye Lan had worn earlier belonged to Ye Shiyu too...

Thinking about this, Yan Huan prepared to return to his room and rest.

"There's milk in the kitchen, Xiao Huan. Remember to take it upstairs and drink it."

"Will do. Thanks, Aunt Chen."

Carrying the milk, Yan Huan went up to his room on the second floor.

He switched on the light. A black cat was already sitting primly on the sofa.

"Meow~"

"Meow-chan."

"You're back. How was today?"

Setting down the milk, Yan Huan flopped tiredly onto the sofa, sending a tremor through it. But Meow-chan was so fat that she didn't budge at all.

"What else? Same as always."

When he turned around, Meow-chan had already jumped onto him and asked as the cat looked at him,

"Did something happen?"

"Yeah, how should I put it..."

Just as Yan Huan was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed again.

He hurried to the door and locked it.

Click.

Only after doing all that did he relax a little, walking back to lie down on the sofa again.

Drinking his milk and looking at the black cat with its head tilted in front of him, he asked,

"Meow-chan, what connection do you think there is between dolls and jellyfish?"

"Is this a riddle?"

"It's Ye Shiyu. Those are the two things this Modifier host likes most. One is dolls, and the other is actually jellyfish. Is there any connection between them?"

Meow-chan tilted its head and asked,

"Is there?"

"Am I asking you, or are you asking me?"

"But humans like all sorts of complicated things, don't they? There doesn't necessarily have to be a connection between the things they like."

Yan Huan drained his milk in one gulp and sighed.

"She's not normal to begin with. Her love for dolls and jellyfish clearly goes far beyond ordinary things, so I keep feeling there's a reason. Besides, going there today felt strange too, like something spooky was going on."

Ye Shiyu's belonging had suddenly gone missing. Ye Lan had said she was very careful with her possessions and rarely lost anything, and even after thinking back several times, Ye Shiyu herself felt she had never opened her bag.

Yet the keychain had inexplicably vanished just like that.

Although it could still have been left at the Aquarium, something still felt wrong.

What a day...

The dolls and jellyfish Ye Shiyu liked.

The inexplicably missing Jellyfish Keychain and her inexplicable anger.

Those two things and those other two things were like basketball and chickens.

They seemed utterly unrelated, but if he connected them, he vaguely felt he could make out a strange figure in overalls from behind.

That was roughly how it felt.

Just then, something suddenly occurred to Yan Huan, and he picked up his phone to take a picture of Meow-chan beside him.

Click.

The adorable Meow-chan appeared, captured by the camera. Yan Huan opened Plane and sent it to Vice President Sakuramiya, whose profile picture was a white cat.

After sending a meme that read, "Here's today's friendship fee," Yan Huan typed,

"Vice President Sakuramiya, are you free right now? There's something I wanted to ask you."

Vice President Sakuramiya loved cats and knew a lot about them, so asking her usually yielded something useful.

After a few minutes, the name on the other end first changed to "The other person is typing," then Yan Huan's screen went black and switched to an incoming call.

Yan Huan switched on his Bluetooth Earphones, put them on, and tapped to answer.

He smiled slightly and asked the person on the other end,

"Cute, isn't it? The kitty?"

"Yes, very cute. Is it a cat your aunt keeps at home, President?"

The woman's melodious voice drifted softly from the other end, smooth as silk.

"No, it's a stray I picked up. I've been keeping it lately. I call it Meow-chan."

Beside him, Meow-chan gave a huge yawn upon hearing that.

"I see."

Hitomi Sakuramiya offered no comment on the fine name Yan Huan had chosen, instead guessing at what he really wanted to ask.

"Did you want to ask about looking after cats, President?"

"Ah, not that either..."

Yan Huan chuckled, then asked anyway,

"I wanted to ask, why do you like cats, Sakuramiya?"

"..."

The other end suddenly fell silent.

"Vice President Sakuramiya?"

"Because they're cute, I suppose."

Just as Yan Huan was about to press her further, Hitomi Sakuramiya suddenly spoke with zero-frame timing, catching him completely off guard.

"Erm..."

Cats are certainly cute, but are jellyfish cute?

I suppose they are, really, but that still doesn't feel like the right answer.

The illusory figure in overalls before his eyes gradually faded from sight, seemingly telling Yan Huan that this was not the correct connection between basketball and chickens.

"Besides that?"

"President, are you asking what qualities cats have that make me like them, aside from their appearance?"

Right, could it have something to do with a quality jellyfish possess?

"Mm-hmm. What qualities do you like in cats, Sakuramiya?"

"Hmm... because cats are very independent, but they can still act sweet toward their owners when their owners need them. Strong yet fragile, like children. They're clearly independent individuals, yet they can't help relying on their parents... Other than being cute, that's the only reason."

Vice President Sakuramiya sighed and explained,

"But, President, everyone has different reasons for liking something.

"Perhaps it possesses qualities they long for and lack themselves. Perhaps the thing itself resembles them. Perhaps it makes them feel safe and at ease. And so on and so forth.

"So there are always a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes. Rather than saying people like the thing itself, it would be more accurate to say they like the selves that reside within it."

Listening to Vice President Sakuramiya's lovely voice, Yan Huan suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Qualities they lack...

The breathtaking profile of Ye Shiyu watching the jellyfish today involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

She had gazed blankly at the glowing jellyfish in the tank, watching them propel themselves through the water by expelling jets of water.

Movement, that movement so full of life.

The glowing jellyfish in the tank were reflected in her black eyes, like glimmers of tears...

Looks like the chicken feet are showing.

"Thank you so much, Sakuramiya."

Yan Huan abruptly sat up and said that to the woman's voice in his Bluetooth Earphones.

Although it was only a guess, he finally had something to go on.

Of course, that was something to act on tomorrow.

Hearing Yan Huan's thanks, the woman on the other end fell silent instead.

Then Hitomi Sakuramiya ventured another guess.

"President, why do I get the feeling that what you really wanted to ask wasn't why I like cats?"

"I'll remember that, Sakuramiya."

Yan Huan was a copycat too, imitating her Zero-Frame Start when he spoke.

"Huh?"

"I'll remember why you like cats."

Hitomi Sakuramiya sighed helplessly.

"...Well, never mind. It probably has something to do with your family matters anyway, President, so I shouldn't offer any opinions. Get some rest early, President. I'm glad I could help."

"You too. Good night."

"Mm."

The call ended. He took off his Bluetooth Earphones and looked toward the door.

Hmm, no knock at the door.

Looks like tonight will be peaceful?

That can't be right. I thought she'd definitely take it out on me tonight after losing her stuff and getting frustrated.

But she actually hasn't?

All the better. As if anyone enjoys being hypnotized.

Yan Huan shook his head, stood up, and stretched, ready to wash up and go to bed.

Meanwhile, on the staircase outside his room, Ye Shiyu, who had changed into pajamas, was coming upstairs with her phone and some milk.

When she reached the second floor, she glanced toward Yan Huan's room.

"..."

She seemed to hesitate, but after a moment of silence, she turned and headed for the third floor.

Because she had something else to do tonight.