Tong Yingying:
"I fell asleep last night. What's up?"
Seated in the understated yet luxurious black electric car outside, enjoying the air-conditioning, Yan Huan looked at the Plane messages on his phone and considered the possibility that Tong Yingying possessed the fourth Modifier.
It had originally been a perfectly reasonable explanation, but the more Yan Huan looked at it, the more something felt off.
Because Tong Yingying had sent this message at 8:28 in the morning.
With Tong Yingying's reversed sleep schedule, there was no way she would message him this early unless she had stayed up all night.
Yet she said she had fallen asleep last night and missed his message?
What exactly had she been doing last night?
"Such a normal sleep schedule. That's rare."
"Kids really haven't seen much of the world."
Well, she still talked exactly the same way.
Yan Huan sent over a speechless reaction image and stopped replying.
As for Bai Yi...
He opened Bai Yi's chat again and looked at their conversation from that morning.
"Are you Bai Yi?"
He followed it with a cat sticker.
"Yes~"
The reply to Yan Huan was a chibi girl sticker, nodding adorably over and over.
Only afterward did her words follow.
"Mom told me to add you so we could stay in touch. She said if you want to come to Sunday's event, we have insider tickets."
Then she sent him a QR code.
"Just have them scan this when you get there, and you won't have to queue~"
"Thank you so much!"
"No problem."
"Keep up the good work. I'll be there."
"Okay, thanks for your support~"
Beyond that, they hadn't exchanged anything else.
Inside the electric car, Meow-chan, wearing a yellow scarf, silently appeared on his shoulder. Looking at the messages on his phone, it asked in confusion,
"Didn't you say you were going to pretend to be a fan of her singing? Is it really okay to sound this bland in your messages, meow?"
It couldn't understand why Yan Huan had greeted her without starting a conversation.
Yan Huan didn't look at Meow-chan. After all, Ye Shiyu was sitting beside him, looking at her own phone, seemingly messaging Ye Lan.
And of course, there was a reason for how he had replied to Bai Yi.
"Meow-chan, there are lots of different kinds of fans. Distance makes things beautiful. Only fans who keep an appropriate distance from their idols are good fans."
Since he had been enthusiastic in person earlier, being a little cooler online was more appropriate.
"Meow?"
Meow-chan didn't understand at all, and Yan Huan offered no further explanation, merely turning off his phone.
Beside him, Ye Shiyu tapped her screen a few times, also communicating with Ye Lan on Plane.
"Mom, Xiao Huan is in the car now. I want to invite him to dinner tonight."
If things continued like this, once Xiao Huan returned to the house, she could privately express how welcome he was, and her mother could invite him to stay. Wouldn't everything fall naturally into place?
Her breathing gradually quickened. The reason in her heart, holding the reins of the runaway horse called desire, suddenly exerted itself and began cursing furiously inside her head.
Reason: Ye Shiyu, I think you're absolutely filthy. Don't you know what would happen if Xiao Huan moved back into the house?
Desire: What could happen? Xiao Huan won't lose a chunk of flesh. This way, Mom and Aunt Chen can take care of him. He won't have to work, he can rest properly, and he won't look exhausted. As his older sister, isn't it normal to take care of the younger brother you like?
Reason: You call that liking him? You just lust after his body, you shameless thing! Didn't you promise not to use hypnosis on him again?
Desire: Please, wouldn't leaving such a convenient tool unused be a terrible waste? It was created to fulfill your wishes, wasn't it?
Reason: Bullshit! That kind of twisted thinking is absolutely not the right way to get along with people! Ye Shiyu, calm down. You know hypnotizing Xiao Huan is wrong, don't you?
Desire: Besides, Shiyu, think about it. If you don't do this, won't that vice president, Hitomi Sakuramiya or whatever, snatch Xiao Huan away soon?
Reason:
Desire: Xiao Huan's sleeping face, his smiles at you, the care he gives you-all of it! It'll all vanish once Xiao Huan gets together with someone else for good.
Reason:
Desire: At the end of the day, you only get his care because Xiao Huan is kind to everyone. You aren't anyone special, and he doesn't belong to you. Once Xiao Huan has someone he loves, you'll be nothing!!
Reason:
Desire: Think about it. That Hitomi Sakuramiya dared talk to you like that before she's even together with Xiao Huan. Does she have mothers to spare?
Reason:
Desire: If you ask me, you should use hypnosis to possess Xiao Huan completely, the way you possess those dolls. He won't have to think about anything. Whatever you think, he'll think too. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Reason: I think desire has a point.
Ye Shiyu's struggling reason suddenly collapsed at the thought of Hitomi Sakuramiya earlier. She had originally intended to suggest to her mother that they "eat out."
That way, Yan Huan would still have a chance to leave after dinner.
But at this thought, desire had already driven the message she was about to send to become,
"I'll let Aunt Chen know. How about eating at home tonight?"
Once dinner's over, Xiao Huan can forget about leaving.
It's a long way back to the South District from Jinghe District at night. As long as he stays, I...
Wait, I already used hypnosis once on Tuesday when Xiao Huan helped fix my computer.
Does that mean I only have one fifteen-minute use left this week?
But there's still an entire weekend left!
At this thought, Ye Shiyu's expression as she looked at her phone grew dissatisfied.
If only I could increase the number of uses and the duration...
As she thought this, that black aura called desire began rising again, making Meow-chan give a "meow" from Yan Huan's shoulder.
Hearing Meow-chan, Yan Huan turned to look at Ye Shiyu.
Sensing Yan Huan's gaze, the black aura surrounding Ye Shiyu instantly dissipated.
She also turned to look at Yan Huan. Her expressionless face looked rather adorably blank, as though she were silently asking,
"What's wrong, Xiao Huan?"
"..."
Yan Huan glanced at Meow-chan, his eyes saying:
"Meow-chan, why do I feel like she's up to something?"
"It's not just you. I think so too, meow."
That was what Meow-chan's returning look meant.
Yan Huan smiled faintly and could only take the initiative to ask,
"Sister Shiyu, are we going back to Jinghe District for dinner tonight too?"
Ye Shiyu was just about to nod when the female driver in a suit up front suddenly turned her head slightly and spoke.
"Yes, Shiyu and Yan Huan are both in the car."
Someone had called, and the driver was speaking through her Bluetooth Earphones.
"Ah, all right. Okay, understood, President Ye."
As she spoke, she lightly pressed the Bluetooth Earphones at her left ear, then turned to address Ye Shiyu and Yan Huan.
"President Ye happens to be in the South District today. She said she had already planned to visit Yan Huan. Since you're both in the car now, she said to drive to the South District for dinner."
"Ah, that's great. Though I always feel like there isn't much to eat in the South District."
Yan Huan said this to Ye Shiyu, while Ye Shiyu opened her mouth, finding herself momentarily unable to speak.
"..."
Mom?!
Right, it was Friday today, and Mom had some free time too!
Before, when she hadn't returned his clothes yet, her mother had kept saying she wanted to see what Xiao Huan's home in the South District looked like. She was very concerned about his living conditions.
But since Ye Lan had made arrangements, Ye Shiyu couldn't find any reason to refuse.
There's still a chance...
And so, the electric car originally heading toward Ye Lan's mansion in Jinghe District turned around midway and headed for the South District.
Along the way, Yan Huan chatted on and off with Ye Shiyu, but she really wasn't good at talking to people.
Even when Yan Huan brought up a topic and she tried hard to respond, their conversations inevitably ended after a few exchanges.
In the end, he could only spend some time on his phone instead.
The Student Council management group chat had already gotten lively.
"Everyone, I'll introduce you to some friends in the scene at Sunday's game expo!"
Yatsuhashi Ki also sent an anime girl reaction image, a character from who knew which of his games, the kind with Oppai that bounced.
The first to reply was the secretary, You Anlina.
"Sure! This is my first time attending an event like this! Can I go in cosplay?"
"No problem. There'll be lots of cosplayers there. But it's only two days away. Do you have time to buy a costume, You Anlina?"
"Hehe, I'm really close with the school's Anime Club. I'll get them to lend me a few outfits. What about you guys? Want to cosplay together?"
She tagged everyone.
Hitomi Sakuramiya: "I'll pass. I don't know much about this stuff. I'll just look around when we get there."
Yan Huan: "I'll pass too. There aren't any characters I want to cosplay."
Aishili: "Wait, didn't you all completely forget to invite me?! And now you're tagging me to cosplay?!"
You Anlina sent a "falling apart" reaction image.
"I-I-I-I forgot! I bought two bundled tickets from a scalper. I was going to invite you because I thought Sakuramiya wouldn't go, but then Sakuramiya actually said yes!"
Sakuramiya stayed home on weekends to look after kittens and was generally uninterested in events like this.
That idiot You Anlina had probably intended to go with Aishili all along.
She had invited Hitomi Sakuramiya in passing, only for her to unexpectedly accept.
Then, busy being delighted, she had forgotten all about Aishili.
Yan Huan didn't even need to think to know how her mind had worked.
Yatsuhashi Ki sent a black-and-white reaction image of a startled little anime girl.
"I bought bundled scalper tickets too. I gave one to the president."
His phone was full of anime girl reaction images in precisely this style.
At this point, Hitomi Sakuramiya sent a message.
"Aishili, you should go. I'm not particularly interested in this stuff. I thought You Anlina had an extra ticket, so..."
Aishili also began declining.
"Vice president, it's fine. You guys go. I happen to have something to do this weekend anyway."
"D-don't! This kind of thing... Sakuramiya, Aishili! Waaaah! You guys go, I won't! Don't be like this!!"
That idiot You Anlina had sent a voice message outright!!
Aishili: "Are you an idiot?"
Hitomi Sakuramiya: "An idiot after all..."
Amused by You Anlina, Yan Huan sent a cat reaction image saying "Stop fighting."
"Sakuramiya, I have an extra ticket for you. Let's all go together."
"President?! Where did you get a ticket?"
"Yeah, we all had such a hard time getting them! This game expo is super popular. Scalpers have driven the online prices through the roof."
Yan Huan thought for a moment, then offered an explanation.
"A friend gave it to me. Anyway, there's an extra ticket, so all five of us can go together."
"Hehe, great! I can go have fun in cosplay~"
"Where should we meet up?"
Looking at Aishili's reply, Yan Huan thought for a moment and said,
"Near the subway station. Yatsuhashi Ki and I will take the subway over. You probably will too, right, Aishili?"
"Sure thing."
The carefree You Anlina was immediately satisfied, and Yatsuhashi Ki also breathed a sigh of relief. Aishili hadn't actually minded the ticket situation much.
Only Hitomi Sakuramiya, on the other side of her phone, suddenly sat up straight in the Student Council office.
She blinked, hurriedly opened her laptop, and searched for ticket prices for the Linmen Game Expo.
Scalpers had driven bundled tickets up to over two thousand, and now even those were sold out.
Thinking carefully, Yatsuhashi Ki had given the president his ticket in the office this Wednesday. Her Room Barrier had recorded it perfectly.
The president had accepted it then, which meant he hadn't had this ticket at the time.
So he had obtained this new ticket within the last two days.
Did that older sister, Ye Shiyu, give it to him?
No...
The president was taking the subway. If Ye Shiyu were going, they would definitely go together by car.
In other words, someone else gave the president the ticket?
Who else could it be?
I know the president's every move like the back of my hand.
When he leaves home every day, comes to school, enters the classroom, enters the Student Council office, goes to work-I know all of it!
When had the president made another friend who could give him tickets like these?
Hitomi Sakuramiya looked at her computer, opening the camera recordings one by one, following the footage of Yan Huan.
His desk had been splashed with paint out of nowhere?
Who had done that? Who had the nerve?!
Frowning, Hitomi Sakuramiya went back and forth through the recordings but found no clues at all.
All she saw was footage of police entering through the school gates and leaving soon afterward. Later, she learned from You Anlina that they seemed to have come looking for a student named "Bai Yi."
A supernatural incident?
It bore quite a resemblance to the turtle drawn on the math teacher's face last Friday.
But suddenly, an idea came to her.
On Monday, when I used the Room Barrier to shut the president in with me, he seemed to suspect it was a supernatural incident too.
Although the president has forgotten now because of the memory correction after leaving the Barrier, still...
Could the person behind those seemingly supernatural incidents be someone like me?
In other words, I might not be special. There could very well be other people with some kind of superpower, just like me!
Hitomi Sakuramiya's heart tightened, and she felt relieved that she had kept herself hidden instead of recklessly using her Barrier.
That Spencer, who could shatter my Barrier with a single kick.
This mysterious person who drew on Zhou Bin's face and splashed paint on the president's desk.
Could they both have some kind of superpower?!
And could they have set their sights on the president, who knows nothing about any of this?!
At that thought, Hitomi Sakuramiya's breath caught.
Even with my Barrier, all I've done is monitor the president without any blind spots and shut him in with me to confirm our feelings. I haven't done anything out of line at all!
But there's no guarantee other people won't do something to him!
No, I have to protect the president!
At that moment, Hitomi Sakuramiya seemed to have fallen into a kind of "dark forest dilemma."
She pulled up the camera recordings on her computer faster and faster, her gaze constantly tracing Yan Huan's movements.
At the footage from outside the Tavern where Yan Huan worked on Wednesday night, her mouse suddenly stopped dragging.
She saw a number of police cars make an unprecedented appearance in the South District, stopping in front of the Tavern.
Yan Huan escorted a girl outside and handed her over to the police and a middle-aged woman.
Even as the girl left, she kept looking at Yan Huan.
Hitomi Sakuramiya paused slightly, then scrolled the mouse wheel, zooming in on the camera footage little by little.
The cameras she had bought were all high-end, so the footage was not blurry at all, even at night.
And so, she clearly saw who that pretty girl was, her head lowered and tears seemingly still in her eyes.
Hitomi Sakuramiya frowned and narrowed her eyes.
Then, as though to verify her idea, she opened a drawer and took out the ticket You Anlina had given her.
In the sunlight, her gaze quickly swept over the invited Guests listed on the back of the ticket.
Finally, it stopped on a particular name under "VIP seating."
"Bai Yi."
Hitomi Sakuramiya murmured the name aloud.
Everything fell into place.
Almost instinctively, she guessed that the so-called "friend" who had given the president his tickets was Bai Yi.
Hitomi Sakuramiya set down the ticket, fell silent for a moment, and looked at the folder full of camera footage.
Then, with a few light taps on the keyboard, she created two new folders outside it.
One was named "Aria Spencer," and the other "Bai Yi."
Once she was done, she dragged those two folders into another folder.
That folder was called:
"Priority watch list"
"Xiao Huan, I haven't seen you in so long! Have you lost weight again?!"
Inside a spacious private dining room at a luxury hotel in the South District, Yan Huan had only just entered when he saw Ye Lan rise from the seat of honor.
She wore a women's suit and looked capable and dashing, but upon seeing Yan Huan, her expression turned into that same delicate, touching look from a week ago.
Her expressions were even livelier than those of her daughter, Ye Shiyu.
"Aunt Ye, we only saw each other last week. How is that a long time?"
Yan Huan smiled helplessly, then spread his arms and looked down at his body as he said,
"Besides, not only have I not lost weight, I feel like I've gained a little. It's probably the different clothes. My school uniform last week looked a little looser."
Ye Lan smiled as she looked Yan Huan over. Seeing that he was still his sunny self, she let out a relieved breath and sat back down in the seat of honor.
There were only the three of them in the large room.
"I was planning to go see where you live tonight. I never expected your sister to take the initiative and invite you home for dinner~"
Yan Huan knew that Ye Shiyu herself had invited him earlier, and he had intended to come anyway.
Mainly because he had seen her phone light up.
Ye Shiyu sat down and smoothed her black hair a little bashfully, not daring to look at Yan Huan.
Yan Huan, on the other hand, sat down at ease, glanced at Ye Shiyu with a smile, and then said,
"Whether it's you or Sister Shiyu inviting me, Auntie, I'll come."
"Hehe, such a sweet talker."
Ye Lan covered her mouth and chuckled.
"But Aunt Ye, you really shouldn't come see where I live. I don't clean it much, so it's as messy as a dog's kennel. It'd be pretty embarrassing."
"That won't do. Even boys need to pay attention to hygiene. You can't be so slovenly. Otherwise, Xiao Huan, what will you do if you invite friends over?"
"Growing up, I've pretty much never had any friends in the South District."
Yan Huan smiled and was just about to speak when the image of a petite girl following behind him with her head lowered suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Usually, in the afternoon, she would reach out her little hand like that and hold on to the back hem of his clothes, never letting go, making her presence known to Yan Huan.
As though afraid of getting lost, she would always follow obediently behind him.
And whenever he turned back to look at her, her face would flush red, and she would hurriedly withdraw the hand holding his clothes.
Then she would say to him in a soft, sweet voice,
"Xiao Huan, do you want to come over to my house? Mom bought popsicles. She said they're really sweet. I left mine in the freezer and didn't eat it. I wanted to eat it with you."
"..."
At that memory, Yan Huan paused slightly, and even the words he had been about to say came to a halt.
"Xiao Huan?"
Ye Lan spoke in puzzlement, and Yan Huan's thoughts were pulled back to reality.
"Sorry, Aunt Ye."
"What did you think of?"
"Nothing, just a friend I was close to when I was little, back at the orphanage."
Ye Shiyu suddenly raised her eyes, looking at Yan Huan before her with a sharp glint in her gaze.
Ye Lan, meanwhile, covered her mouth and asked,
"Oh, a Childhood Friend? Are you still in touch?"
Yan Huan smiled helplessly and shook his head.
"She moved away from Linmen a long time ago. We might never see each other again."
Ye Shiyu lowered her head as though relieved, but Ye Lan cupped her chin regretfully and sighed.
"That's such a shame."
"Yeah, such a shame."
There'll be another update later, bringing the total up to ten thousand characters.
But it'll be pretty late, so get to bed early, everyone, and read it tomorrow morning.
Before you continue