Among the dolls, the girl picked up her phone

When Yan Huan came out of the office, Meow-chan was nowhere to be seen. He had no idea where she had gone.

Ye Lan was still in the office talking with Principal Hermes about the matter of his supposed older sister coming here to study.

Standing outside the door, Yan Huan asked for the night off from his part-time job. All he got back was a cold reply: "Counts as an unexcused absence. 200 deducted."

A few minutes later, another message arrived.

"Just remembered you've never asked for time off before. I'll let it slide this time. Don't make a habit of it."

Yan Huan smiled helplessly and sent a "thank you" sticker. Ye Lan happened to come out just then, so he locked his phone and looked up.

"Let's go, Xiao Huan. Which way do we go down? Your school is so complicated, I'm having a little trouble finding my way."

"This way, Aunt Ye."

They went downstairs. Outside, not a single other student could be seen on Totsuki's utterly quiet campus. The weekend had tempted them to flee on the school buses, leaving the entire campus so quiet that it felt as though Yan Huan and Ye Lan were the only two people there.

Chatting as they walked, they soon reached the school gates.

On the asphalt road among the maple trees outside the gates, an understated black electric car from the Dragon Nation had been waiting for quite some time. A woman from the Dragon Nation in a black suit stood beside its door.

"President Ye."

"Just take us home."

"Understood."

Once Ye Lan had ushered Yan Huan into the car and they were seated, the vehicle started quietly.

Yan Huan curiously surveyed the spacious interior while Ye Lan bent down again and pulled out a refrigerated compartment beneath the rear air vents.

Yan Huan glanced inside and saw it packed full of yellow cans of banana milk.

Smiling, Ye Lan took out a can and handed it to Yan Huan with a straw, like a squirrel sharing the nuts in its hollow.

"Here, Xiao Huan. Have this."

"Thank you, Auntie."

"Good boy. No need to thank Auntie."

Then, seemingly unable to wait, she took another can of banana milk for herself, inserted a straw, and began sipping with the can held in both hands.

"Mmm."

Ye Lan gave a satisfied little hum, seemingly because the banana milk tasted so good.

Seeing this, Yan Huan tentatively opened his own can and tried some. It turned out to be low-sugar sweetened milk, not particularly sweet, but with a rich banana flavor.

Over the banana milk, Ye Lan began to talk.

"Oh, speaking of your sister, back when we were in the Dragon Nation, I was busy every day and couldn't spend much time with her. The nanny at home was always the one looking after her. I don't know if that's why your sister became so withdrawn, disliking talking to others and having hardly any friends her own age.

"And now I've brought her abroad, so far from home. There are plenty of people from the Dragon Nation in Linmen and at Totsuki Academy, but it's still not the place where she grew up. I'm a little worried about whether she'll adjust."

Drinking his milk, Yan Huan looked at her. "What about Uncle? Is he very busy too?"

Ye Lan didn't answer. Instead, she gave a polite, helpless smile, as though Yan Huan had mentioned some existence at the intersection of awkwardness and disgust.

Yan Huan understood instantly and immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Ye."

"Not at all. It's just that her father and I separated when your sister was very young, and we haven't had any contact since."

Ye Lan had even stopped drinking her milk while speaking of this. After that brief mention, she put the straw back between her lips and changed the subject.

"Xiao Huan, you seem to have lots of friends at school. The principal said he could ask any student to fetch you, since they all had your contact information."

That was true. Even those who hadn't added Yan Huan as a friend could reach him through the various large school group chats he had joined. Getting in touch with him was certainly possible, and the reason was simple.

"Probably because I'm the student council president. It's a troublesome job. If it weren't for university applications..."

"Who says so? It's simply because you're so popular, Xiao Huan."

Cupping her cheeks, Ye Lan smiled into Yan Huan's eyes and pictured it.

"I don't expect your sister to be as popular as you, Xiao Huan. I just hope she can interact normally with people instead of staying alone in her room every day, fiddling with those dolls."

"Dolls?"

"Ah, Barbie dolls, figurines, things like that? I don't really understand them either, but your sister loves them. Strange, isn't it?"

"..."

Yan Huan generally refrained from commenting on personal preferences. It was a good habit he had learned from Vice President Sakuramiya.

"Anyway, seeing is believing. You'll understand once you meet your sister. I hope you can be a little more patient with her for my sake, Huan. She hasn't made friends with anyone her age in a very, very long time. If she does anything wrong, let me apologize to you for her in advance~"

"Not at all, Auntie. You really don't need to go that far."

Yan Huan smiled politely. Even though he had been talking while drinking, his can of banana milk soon ran dry, making Ye Lan, who had finished less than a fifth of hers, blink curiously.

Ye Lan chatted with Yan Huan about this and that in the car, and he also added her on Plane. Even her profile picture was a can of banana milk.

Ye Lan's home wasn't too far from school. Without traffic, the drive only took half an hour.

After all, both were in Jinghe District, where land prices were outrageously high. By the time they arrived, Ye Lan and her tiny appetite had only just managed to finish her banana milk.

The electric car entered an unfamiliar residential complex. Through the gray-black privacy film on the windows, Yan Huan saw numerous detached houses with gardens outside, arranged in no particularly neat order.

Eventually, the car stopped in front of a Western-style Mansion in an excellent location at the end of the road.

It was quiet here, yet not far from the complex's amenities, and felt more lively than the detached houses in secluded corners they had passed on their way in.

"We're here. Let's get out, Xiao Huan. Aunt Chen has already made dinner. It's all Dragon Nation specialties."

The car stopped outside the Western-style Mansion. The woman in the front passenger seat got out, exchanged a few quiet words with Ye Lan, then returned to the car and soon disappeared from Yan Huan's view.

Ye Lan gently took Yan Huan by the wrist and warmly led him into the Western-style Mansion.

The Western-style Mansion felt very spacious to Yan Huan, perhaps because parts of the second and third floors had been left open, making the living room ceiling very high and naturally removing the confined feeling of an ordinary single-story home.

The lighting was bright as well, very much in keeping with Eastern indoor habits. For a moment, Yan Huan thought he had entered a palace.

"Aunt Chen, we're home."

"Oh, miss, was there traffic? You're a little later than Shiyu told me. Shiyu, your mother's home!"

The voice came from one side of the first floor, seemingly the kitchen.

While Ye Lan was helping Yan Huan change his shoes, the apron-clad speaker finally emerged.

She was a middle-aged woman with curly hair and an apron, wearing a kindly smile.

"Aunt Chen, this is Xiao Huan, whom I mentioned before. Xiao Huan, this is Aunt Chen. She's just come from the Dragon Nation to Linmen with me too. Your parents know her as well, so don't feel shy. We're all old acquaintances."

"Hello, Aunt Chen."

"Oh my, time really flies. The children of the next generation are already so grown up, and so handsome too. How lovely, how lovely."

With a hand on Yan Huan's back, Ye Lan was just about to call her daughter out to greet him when his nose caught a faint scent first, seemingly the fragrance of some flower.

Following the scent with his eyes, Yan Huan saw a girl in a black chiffon dress halfway up the spiral staircase connecting the living room to the second floor.

Beneath the hem, a pair of slightly thick black ankle socks outlined her calves, covering feet tucked into dark gray slippers. He had no idea when she had come to stand there.

Her long black hair reached her waist, without a single accessory, and she wore no makeup. Her skin was as fair as snow, forming a stark contrast with the inky black of her clothes.

Unlike Ye Lan's gentle, willow-leaf eyes, Ye Shiyu's eyes were slightly narrower and longer. Beneath her long lashes, her exquisitely beautiful face showed no flicker of emotion, lending an air of coldness to her deep black eyes.

She was tall, only a little shorter than Yan Huan's 184 centimeters, with a healthy, well-proportioned figure. Beneath her ivory chiffon cuffs, her fair forearms were toned rather than overly slender.

For some reason, she was holding a long pair of scissors, seemingly a tool she had just been using.

Yan Huan blinked and met the girl's eyes. Neither looked away.

After a slight pause, just as Ye Lan was about to call to her, Yan Huan's face shifted flawlessly into a bright, polite smile, and he greeted her first.

"Big Sister."

Hearing him address her that way, her lowered gaze trembled slightly, like a great bell struck.

Ye Lan turned around, only then noticing that her daughter was already standing on the stairs.

"Oh, Shiyu, honestly, you came out without saying anything. Let me introduce you. This is Yan Huan, the son of an old friend of mine. He's a year younger than you, so he's your little brother. Xiao Huan, this is Shiyu. You can call her Sister Shiyu or just Big Sister."

Ye Shiyu kept looking at Yan Huan beside Ye Lan, silent and motionless.

Only when Ye Lan pursed her lips, about to prompt her to be more polite, did she greet Yan Huan like a sluggish machine.

"Hello, I'm Ye Shiyu."

Just as Ye Lan had prepared him for, Ye Shiyu seemed to have a very peculiar personality, making Yan Huan feel increasingly uneasy.

Ye Lan was somewhat dissatisfied with Ye Shiyu's response, yet she understood her daughter very well and knew this was what she would say.

Seeing this, Auntie Chen hurriedly picked up the faltering conversation, wiping the water from her hands on her apron as she spoke.

"Since Xiao Huan's here, shall we eat now? Everything's ready. I made Dragon Nation Cuisine especially for Xiao Huan, though I don't know if it'll suit his tastes. Aunt Chen isn't very familiar with things here in Linmen, and I don't know what you like to eat."

"I can eat anything, Aunt Chen."

"That's wonderful, then. Just a moment. Miss, you and Xiao Huan sit down first. I'll bring the dishes out."

Ye Lan nodded with a smile, then turned to Ye Shiyu.

"Shiyu, put that back in your room, then come down for dinner."

Ye Shiyu merely stared at the boy with the sunny smile. Hearing her mother's words, she slowly nodded, then turned and went back upstairs with the scissors in hand.

The sounds of Ye Lan talking as she showed Yan Huan to his seat drifted up intermittently from below. Expressionless, Ye Shiyu followed the stairs to the third floor and stopped outside a Second Bedroom near the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

She pushed open the door. The room, originally spacious, looked somewhat crowded because so many things had been placed inside.

Glass cabinets along the walls held all manner of female dolls dressed in exquisite outfits, including realistic articulated action figures and anime-style articulated figurines, not to mention untold numbers of wooden, ceramic, and clay dolls.

There was even a life-size doll in an elaborate Gothic dress sitting on a wooden chair beside the bed.

The finely made clothes on these dolls came in all sorts of styles. Their sole common feature was a name their maker had written in tiny characters, either inside a corner of the garment or on a concealed part of the collar.

"Ye Shiyu."

Expressionless, Ye Shiyu set the scissors beside a sewing box. High-quality fabric that had yet to be sewn lay on the desk, and the same name was written in elegant handwriting on the scissors' handle.

"Ye Shiyu."

She picked up the phone on the desk and swiped to unlock it, revealing the chat app she hadn't closed before locking the screen. It showed her conversation with Ye Lan, saved under "Mom."

"Sweetheart, I'll be bringing that Yan Huan I mentioned home for dinner soon. Tell Aunt Chen to prepare a nice meal."

"Okay, I've told her."

"His mother used to be my best friend. When you were little, I often showed you pictures of her. Do you remember?"

"Yes."

"It's been very hard for him living alone in Linmen all these years. I'd like him to come and live with us, in the guest room downstairs. What do you think?"

Ye Shiyu hadn't replied, but Ye Lan had sent several more messages in succession.

"He's only a year younger than you, so you should have things in common. And you go to the same school, so you can travel to and from school together."

"That way, you'll have someone else for company, instead of spending every day with dolls like you did back home."

"Having a little brother sounds nice. What do you think, sweetheart?"

"I'd like to hear your opinion."

Even now, as Ye Shiyu opened her phone, there had been no further reply.

Ye Shiyu closed the chat app, revealing a home screen wallpaper of a doll dressed in elaborate clothes.

Against that background, every phone app was neatly arranged in meticulously categorized folders. For Ye Shiyu, this seemed to make the phone easier to use.

Yet outside all those carefully categorized folders, one strange app with a purple heart icon sat alone.

The app had no name either, floating on the phone's home screen like a bug.

Ye Shiyu simply looked at the app, seemingly lost in a daze, until Ye Lan's voice came from outside again.

"Shiyu, come eat! Aren't you ready yet?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Ye Shiyu seemed to make some decision inwardly. She pressed the lock button, put the phone in her pocket, then turned and left the room.

"Coming, Mom."