When Yan Huan left the office, Miao Jiang was nowhere to be seen—no telling where she'd gone.
Ye Lan was still inside, discussing with Principal Hermes about the so-called sister coming here to study.
Standing by the door, Yan Huan sent a message to his evening workplace to ask for time off. The reply was a cold, "Counts as absenteeism. Deduct 200."
A few minutes later, another message followed: "Just remembered—you've never asked for time off before. We'll let it slide this time. Don't make it a habit."
Yan Huan chuckled wryly and sent back a "Thank you" sticker. Just then, Ye Lan stepped out, and Yan Huan locked his phone, looking up.
"Let's go. Which way should we head, Xiao Huan? Your school's so complicated—I can't quite get my bearings."
"This way, Auntie Ye."
As they descended the stairs, the campus of Yuetsuki Academy was eerily quiet, devoid of any other students. The weekend had lured them all onto school buses to escape, leaving the grounds so silent it felt like only Yan Huan and Ye Lan remained.
They chatted idly as they walked, soon reaching the school gates.
On the asphalt road between the maple trees outside the gates, a sleek black Dragon Country electric car had been waiting for some time. A woman in a black Dragon Country-style suit stood by the door. "President Ye."
"Let's just go home."
"Understood."
Once Ye Lan ushered Yan Huan into the car and they settled into their seats, the vehicle started up soundlessly.
Yan Huan curiously surveyed the spacious interior while Ye Lan leaned over and pulled a refrigerated compartment from beneath the rear air vent.
A quick glance revealed it was packed full of yellow cans of banana milk.
With a beaming smile, Ye Lan handed one to Yan Huan along with a straw—like a squirrel sharing nuts from its stash. "Here you go, Xiao Huan."
"Thank you, Auntie."
"Good boy, no need to thank me."
Then, as if unable to wait any longer, she grabbed another can of banana milk for herself, inserted the straw, and began sipping from it with both hands.
"Mmm~"
Ye Lan let out a contented hum, as though the banana milk was exceptionally delicious.Seeing this, Yan Huan tentatively opened his can and took a sip, finding it to be lightly sweetened banana-flavored milk—not too sugary but with a strong banana taste.
As they drank the banana milk, Ye Lan began to open up.
"Speaking of your sister," she said, "back in Dragon Country, I was always too busy to spend much time with her. She was mostly raised by our housekeeper. I wonder if that's why she became so withdrawn—she doesn't like interacting with others and never had many friends her age. Now it's even worse. Moving her all the way overseas, even though there are many Dragon Country natives at Scale Gate and Totsuki Academy, it's still not the place she grew up in. I worry about whether she can adjust."
Yan Huan sipped his milk and looked at her. "What about Uncle? Was he also busy?"
At this, Ye Lan didn't respond immediately. Instead, she offered a polite yet strained smile, as if Yan Huan had touched on something awkward—an intersection of discomfort and distaste.
Yan Huan instantly understood and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Auntie Ye."
"It's alright. It's just that her father and I separated when she was very young, and we haven't been in contact since."
Ye Lan paused, setting her milk aside as she mentioned this, only briefly acknowledging it before taking another sip and changing the subject. "You seem to have a lot of friends at school, Xiao Huan. The principal mentioned that any student he asked to fetch you could do so—they all have your contact info."
That much was true. Even if someone wasn't Yan Huan's friend directly, he was in most of the major academy group chats, so reaching him was never an issue. The reason was simple. "Probably because I'm the Student Council president. It's a troublesome role—I only took it for university applications..."
"Nonsense," Ye Lan interjected, cupping her cheeks and smiling warmly at him. "It's just because you're naturally likable, Xiao Huan. I don't expect my daughter to be as popular as you, but I do hope she can at least interact normally with others instead of staying cooped up in her room all day playing with those dolls..."
"Dolls?"
"Ah, you know—Barbies, figurines? I'm not really sure, but she loves them. Strange, isn't it?"
"..."
Yan Huan usually refrained from commenting on personal preferences—a good habit he'd picked up from Vice President Sakura Palace.
"Well, seeing is believing. You'll understand when you meet her later. I hope you'll be patient with her, Xiao Huan, for my sake. It's been so long since she's made friends with someone her age. If she does anything awkward, I'll apologize in advance."
"Please don't say that, Auntie. You're being too formal."
Yan Huan smiled politely. Even as they talked, he finished his banana milk quickly, while Ye Lan had barely made a dent in hers, prompting her to blink in surprise.
During the ride, Ye Lan chatted with Yan Huan about various things, and he even added her on Plane—her profile picture was a can of banana milk.
Her home wasn't too far from the academy—just a thirty-minute drive without traffic, given that both were in the prohibitively expensive Jinghe District. By the time they arrived, Ye Lan's small appetite had only just managed to finish her drink.The tram entered an unnamed residential area. Through the gray-black tinted windows, Yan Huan saw rows of somewhat irregularly arranged detached houses with gardens outside.
Eventually, the tram stopped in front of a well-located Western-style mansion at the end of the road.
The place was quiet yet conveniently close to the community's amenities, making it far livelier than the isolated houses they had passed earlier.
"We're here, Xiao Huan. Let's get off. Chen Yi has already prepared dinner—all Dragon Country specialties."
The car stopped at the mansion's outer perimeter. The woman in the passenger seat stepped out, exchanged a few quiet words with Ye Lan, then got back in and soon disappeared from Yan Huan's sight.
Ye Lan gently took Yan Huan's wrist and warmly led him inside the mansion.
The interior felt spacious to Yan Huan, likely because parts of the second and third floors had been hollowed out, making the living room ceiling unusually high and eliminating the cramped feeling of an ordinary bungalow.
The lighting was bright, fitting Eastern indoor habits so well that for a moment, Yan Huan felt as if he had stepped into a palace.
"Chen Yi, we're back."
"Ah, Miss, was there traffic? You're a bit later than the time Shiyu told me. Shiyu, your mother's home!"
The voice came from the side of the first floor, likely the kitchen.
While Ye Lan helped Yan Huan change his shoes, the apron-clad woman emerged. She was a middle-aged woman with curly hair, her face adorned with a kindly smile.
"Chen Yi, this is Xiao Huan, the one I mentioned before. And this is Chen Yi—she just moved with me from Dragon Country to Scale Gate. Your parents know her too, so don't be shy. We're all familiar faces here."
"Hello, Chen Yi."
"Oh my, time flies so fast. The next generation's children are already this tall—and so handsome too. Wonderful, just wonderful."
Ye Lan placed a hand on Yan Huan's back, about to call her daughter out to greet him, but Yan Huan's nose caught a faint floral scent first.
Following the fragrance, he lifted his gaze and saw a girl in a black chiffon dress standing midway up the spiral staircase connecting the living room to the second floor.
Beneath the hem of her dress, slightly thick black ankle socks traced the shape of her calves, her feet tucked into dark gray slippers. It was unclear how long she had been standing there.
Her long, straight black hair cascaded to her waist, free of any accessories or makeup. Her snow-white skin contrasted sharply with the deep black of her dress.
Unlike Ye Lan's soft willow-leaf eyes, Ye Shiyu's were slightly more elongated. Beneath her long lashes, her stunning face showed no emotion, yet an icy sharpness emanated from her deep black eyes.
She was tall—only slightly shorter than Yan Huan, who stood at 184 cm—with a well-proportioned, healthy figure. Beneath the white chiffon sleeves, her toned but not overly slender arms peeked out.
Strangely, she held a long pair of scissors in her hand, as if she had been using them just moments before.
Yan Huan blinked, locking eyes with the girl. Neither looked away.
Slightly startled, just as Ye Lan was about to call out to her, Yan Huan's face effortlessly shifted into a bright, polite smile. He greeted her first:
"Sister."Hearing Yan Huan's address, her lowered gaze trembled slightly, like a great bell struck by a hammer.
Ye Lan turned her head and only then noticed her daughter standing on the stairs. "Ah, Shiyu, really, you came out without saying a word. Let me introduce you—this is the child of Mom's old best friend, Yan Huan. He's a year younger than you, so he's your little brother. Xiao Huan, this is Shiyu. You can call her Shiyu-jie or just sister."
Ye Shiyu kept staring at Yan Huan standing beside Ye Lan, motionless and silent.
It wasn't until Ye Lan pursed her lips, about to urge her to be more polite, that she mechanically greeted Yan Huan as if delayed,
"Hello, I'm Ye Shiyu."
Just as Ye Lan had hinted earlier, Ye Shiyu's personality seemed quite peculiar, making Yan Huan feel increasingly uneasy inside.
Ye Lan was somewhat dissatisfied with Ye Shiyu's reaction, yet she knew her daughter well enough to understand this was typical of her.
Seeing the awkwardness, Chen Yi quickly picked up the conversation, wiping her hands on her apron as she said,
"Since Xiao Huan is here, shall we start dinner now? The dishes are all ready—specially prepared Dragon Country cuisine for Xiao Huan. I'm not sure if it suits his taste. I don't know much about Scale Gate's preferences, so I wasn't sure what you'd like..."
"I can eat anything, Chen Yi."
"That's great! Just wait a moment, Miss. You and Xiao Huan take a seat first—I'll bring out the dishes."
Ye Lan nodded with a smile and turned back to Ye Shiyu. "Shiyu, put your things away and come down for dinner."
Ye Shiyu merely kept her eyes fixed on the boy with the sunny smile. After hearing her mother's words, she slowly nodded, picked up the scissors, and turned to go back upstairs.
The intermittent sounds of Ye Lan and Yan Huan settling down at the table drifted up from below. Expressionless, Ye Shiyu walked up to the third floor and stopped before the door of the secondary bedroom near the master bedroom at the end of the hallway.
Pushing open the door, she revealed a room that should have been spacious but now felt cramped due to the excessive number of items inside.
Against the wall stood a glass cabinet filled with an array of exquisitely dressed female dolls—some realistic action figures, others anime-style posable figurines, not to mention an uncountable number of wooden, ceramic, and clay dolls.
Even on the wooden chair by the bed sat a life-sized doll dressed in an ornate gothic-style gown.
The meticulously crafted outfits on these dolls varied in style, but they all shared one common detail: hidden either inside the hem or along the collar, the maker had inscribed tiny characters spelling out a name—
"Ye Shiyu."
Expressionless, Ye Shiyu placed the scissors beside the sewing kit on the table, where high-quality fabric lay unfinished. On the handle of the scissors, the same delicate name was inscribed: "Ye Shiyu."
She picked up the phone on the table, swiped to unlock it, and the chat app she had left open before locking the screen reappeared—displaying a conversation window with Ye Lan, whose contact name was "Mom."
"Sweetheart, I'll be bringing that Yan Huan I mentioned home for dinner later. Ask Chen Yi to prepare properly."
"Okay, already told her."
"His mother was my best friend back then. I often showed you her photos when you were little—do you remember?"
"Mm.""He's lived alone at Scale Gate for so many years, it must have been very hard. Mom wants him to come stay with us, in the guest room downstairs. What do you think?"
Ye Shiyu didn't reply, but Ye Lan sent several more messages in succession.
"He's just a year younger than you, so you should have things in common. And you attend the same school—you could commute together."
"This way, you'd have company instead of spending all your time with dolls like you did back in Dragon Country."
"Having another little brother sounds nice, doesn't it, sweetheart?"
"Mom wants to hear your thoughts."
Even now, when Ye Shiyu opened her phone, there were no further replies.
Ye Shiyu closed the messaging app, revealing a wallpaper of a doll dressed in elaborate attire.
Against this background, every app was meticulously organized into neatly categorized folders. For Ye Shiyu, this arrangement made using the phone much more intuitive.
Yet, outside all these carefully sorted folders, there was a single anomalous app—its icon a purple heart—left alone on the home screen.
The app had no name, floating on the screen like a glitch.
Ye Shiyu stared at it, seemingly lost in thought, until Ye Lan's voice called from outside the door, "Shiyu, come eat! Are you still not ready?"
"..."
After a brief silence, as if making a decision, Ye Shiyu pressed the lock button, slipped the phone into her pocket, and turned to leave the room. "Coming, Mom."