Restricted Fantasy Invasion

Chapter 3

"Meow~" In the corridor of the teaching building, glowing red in the evening light, a handsome boy carrying his schoolbag was followed by a black cat, while Yaqiao Mu had already disappeared without a trace.

It was already after school, and what happened next had nothing to do with him. After replying in the group chat and thanking Yaqiao Mu, Yan Huan didn't let him escort him any further.

When he reached the floor where the principal's office was located, the air was extremely quiet, but he could vaguely hear some voices coming from inside the office.

He didn't go forward immediately, but instead turned his head to tidy his appearance in the window, changed the way he carried his schoolbag to a single-strap over the shoulder, and then looked back at the black cat sitting on the floor licking its fur behind him.

"Meow-chan, wait for me to come out and get you, okay? Don't wander around, it'll be bad if someone finds you."

"Don't worry, you don't need to mind me."

Meow-chan seemed not entirely satisfied with the name Yan Huan gave it, but it didn't seem the type to fuss about such things.

It blinked its clear emerald eyes and spoke in Yan Huan's mind,

"If needed, I can make it so only you are aware of my presence. You also don't need to worry about where I go-just call me in your mind and I can appear before you at any time."

"That amazing? Good to know."

"Meow~"

Getting a reply, Yan Huan nodded, no longer paying attention to the black cat behind him, and walked toward the principal's office he'd been to countless times.

As he reached the door, the faint conversation inside made Yan Huan hesitate a little.

Mainly, an orphan suddenly having someone show up claiming to be his "mother" was either an urban legend or had something to do with the modifier.

So, he couldn't help but move a little closer to the door, listening in on the voices inside.

"Yes, yes, he's extremely outstanding. He's the president of the Yuanyue Academy student council. Although he needs to handle some school affairs, whether it's tuition reduction, recommendation letters, or guaranteed admission quotas at related universities-"

That was the voice of Principal Hermes of Yuanyue Academy. His voice was rather thin and easy to recognize.

"But as I recall, even with all the reductions, it only covers up to two-thirds of the tuition, right? What about the rest of the money-how is he supposed to manage?"

The principal was speaking with a gentle, soothing female voice, ageless, but the tone was so gentle it felt like a breeze caressing the cheek.

"Well... Though the school doesn't forbid part-time jobs in one's spare time, I am indeed considering applying to the board to set up a scholarship to ease the financial burden on families, especially for such rare outstanding students."

"That's perfect. I actually came this time to establish a special scholarship fund for Longguo immigrants at Yuanyue Academy in the name of Ye International, hoping it can help with your application, Mr. Hermes. As for the donation, someone will contact you later-"

"You're too generous, Ms. Ye. Ah, sorry to keep you waiting. All the students have exams today, so he might have put his phone on airplane mode."

"It's fine."

Not getting anything useful out of listening, Yan Huan decided to face the storm head-on.

Immediately, he raised his hand and knocked softly on the door.

"Knock knock."

"Principal, you wanted to see me?"

"Ah, he's here." The principal chuckled and spoke again to the woman he'd been talking to, then raised his voice to Yan Huan outside the door, "Come in, Yan Huan."

Yan Huan pushed open the door and saw that inside the luxuriously decorated principal's office, Principal Hermes was sitting on a leather sofa facing him.

He was dressed formally, his hair white and neatly combed, just like the long goatee at his lips-he looked very classical.

And sitting in front of him was a woman with her back to Yan Huan, her black hair tied up in a bun.

Yan Huan's gaze was quickly drawn to a seemingly natural jade hairpin in the bun at the back of her head, and at the same time to the subtle grace that suffused her silhouette.

A lock of black hair was tucked behind her ear at her temple, while the other ear was exposed, revealing her fair ear, and beneath the earlobe, a jade earring swayed gently.

As Yan Huan opened the door, she immediately turned around, revealing a beautiful face right at the intersection of maturity and youth, and slightly shrinking pupils.

A very beautiful lady.

She parted her lips, lifted the skirt of her dark green cheongsam with floral patterns, and stood up, her eyes carefully scanning the somewhat confused Yan Huan, focusing especially on his face.

In just an instant, her eyes reddened, and she hurriedly raised her hand to cover her mouth.

"So alike... so, so alike... sob..."

What the heck, how can two people look so similar?

Yan Huan's eyes widened as he stared blankly at the beautiful woman in front of him, then glanced at the smiling Hermes, still not understanding what was going on.

But once again, the feeling he had when he'd met Bai Yi before popped up in his mind.

And who are you supposed to be?

I don't think we've ever met, have we?

Yan Huan looked inquiringly at Principal Hermes, who had also stood up alongside the woman, and the principal introduced her with a genial smile,

"Yan, this is Ms. Ye Lan from Ye International, newly appointed as the person in charge of Haishang Linmen."

Haishang Linmen, the massive independent city-nation on the sea where Yuanyue Academy was located, famous for its high modernization, thriving economy, and large immigrant population-a place that didn't exist in his previous life.

Ye International, one of the top 100 enterprises in Longguo in this world. As for Longguo, just from the name, you could tell it had a lot in common with the Celestial Empire from his previous life.

That alone was enough to show that the woman before him was someone of considerable importance.

Yan Huan understood all of this, but he still hadn't figured out what she meant by calling herself his "mother."

"Uh, Ms. Ye, hello... but, have we met before?"

Ye Lan wiped the corner of her eye with the hand covering her mouth, quickly walked toward Yan Huan, and seemed about to say something else.

But as her throat tightened, her words turned into a sob.

She couldn't hold back any longer and reached out to hug Yan Huan, pulling him into her arms.

Feeling the warmth and softness pressed tightly against him, Yan Huan was so startled he almost jumped away, even beginning to suspect if she had a modifier that required close contact to activate. Just as he was about to react, Ye Lan's trembling voice sounded in his ear,

"Sorry... sob... you look so much like your mother... sob..."

"...Mother?"

Yan Huan paused, his body relaxing a little, but still not daring to move.

After a moment, Ye Lan finally managed to compose herself a bit. She gripped Yan Huan's shoulders and stepped back a little, her eyes rimmed red as she looked at him,

Yes, your parents were very dear friends of mine in Longguo, especially your mother, Wang Yulu-she was my best friend back then.

"Your parents and I attended the same university. After graduation, they came to Haishang Linmen, while I stayed in Longguo. We lost touch for so long, who could have known they... sob..."

So she was a friend of his parents in this life.

Hearing that both unfamiliar and familiar mother's name, Yan Huan finally understood, and a weight was lifted from his heart.

Honestly, ever since he transmigrated, Yan Huan hadn't paid much attention to his connections with the previous generation.

The reason was simple: he'd only spent a very short time with his parents in this life.

His brain wasn't fully developed as a baby, so when he first arrived he was in a daze. It was only much later, after not seeing his parents for a long time, that he realized they'd died in a plane crash.

A baby, far away in a foreign land, with no close relatives-only a bunch of distant, greedy relatives showed up in Linmen, all wanting a piece of his late parents' estate.

There was even an unflattering name for this: "devouring the orphan's inheritance."

By the time he grew up and his transmigrated soul was fully awake, the relatives had long since stripped everything and run off, leaving Yan Huan to start his hard life in the orphanage.

For over a decade, he'd grown used to being alone. It wasn't until today that a true friend of his deceased parents finally appeared, though he still didn't know why it had taken so long for her to find him.

At this thought, Yan Huan immediately changed how he addressed her,

"Auntie Ye."

"Aww, what a good boy."

Ye Lan withdrew her hand from Yan Huan's shoulder, wiped away her tears, and said happily,

"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought up such sad things. Ever since arriving in Linmen, I've been trying to find you. I didn't expect you to be so strong, and to have become so outstanding. Not only can you take care of yourself, but you also got into such a good school. If your mother could see you now, she'd be so proud..."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but bring up Yan Huan's mother again.

Yan Huan could only go along with her words,

"I think my mother would also be very happy to see Auntie Ye again."

But as soon as he said that, Ye Lan's eyes reddened again, and even her lips started to pout, as if she was about to burst into tears.

Seeing that look of childish grief on her otherwise mature face, Yan Huan quickly waved his hand and said,

"Sorry, I know we said not to bring up sad things."

"Sob... Xiao Huan, can Auntie call you that?"

"Of course."

He glanced at Principal Hermes behind Ye Lan, whose wrinkled face was smiling like a blooming chrysanthemum. Yan Huan knew this was the principal's trademark investment-winning smile-he always put on this look whenever someone donated money.

Sensing Yan Huan's gaze, Principal Hermes belatedly grabbed a few tissues from the table and handed them to Ye Lan,

"Ms. Ye, please."

"Thank you, Mr. Hermes."

Ye Lan wiped her tears with one tissue and blew her nose with another, then looked up at Yan Huan with her lips still pouting.

But as soon as she saw Yan Huan's face, so similar to her old friend's, she couldn't help the corners of her mouth from turning down again.

Fortunately, at that moment, Yan Huan's newly acquired Perfect Expression Management skill kicked in.

He considered his emotions for a second, then pressed his lips together, furrowed his brows a little, and let his gaze dart nervously around her reddened eyes,

"Auntie Ye..."

He seemed touched by Ye Lan's emotions, yet also lost due to the blankness in his memory of his deceased parents.

He could sense how much she cherished her relationship with his parents, but he himself couldn't find that same deep resonance in his heart, so his confusion and emotion mixed together and finally turned into just the right amount of bewilderment.

Seeing his expression, Ye Lan's heart ached a little. She realized she'd been too emotional and put too much pressure on her old friend's son. Quickly composing herself, she suggested to Yan Huan,

"It's alright, Auntie is in Linmen now, and from now on, I'll help you with everything. Things here are almost settled, so later I'll take you home for dinner. Principal Hermes, thank you for your help this afternoon."

Seeing Ye Lan finally calm down, Yan Huan was able to relax a bit inside.

This elder seemed to have been very close to his late parents, which was why she was so emotional.

Although Yan Huan really wasn't good at dealing with such elders, the good news was, it seemed Ye Lan had nothing to do with the modifier and was just here to find him at school.

"It's no trouble at all, Ms. Ye. It's Yuanyue Academy that should be grateful for Ye International's recognition and support."

Ye Lan pulled herself together, took out her phone and unlocked it, apparently preparing to send a message. At the same time, she smiled at Yan Huan and said,

"It just so happens that your sister has only recently arrived in Linmen as well, and doesn't know any friends her own age. Tonight, let Xiaohuan and her get to know each other-you'll definitely make her happy. I'll tell her right now."

Wait a minute, what did you say?

There's another expert?

The heart that had just relaxed a little tightened up again. Yan Huan blinked and precisely picked out a certain word from Ye Lan's sentence,

"Sister?"

Ye Lan nodded cheerfully, thought for a moment, and said,

"That's right, Auntie's daughter. She should be a year older than Xiaohuan, and she was in her second year of high school in Longguo before. You'll be schoolmates soon, so Auntie will introduce you to her in a bit."

Looking at the anticipation sparkling in Ye Lan's eyes, Yan Huan couldn't find any reason to refuse such a reasonable arrangement.

However, perhaps because of Meow-chan's earlier description, an ominous premonition suddenly welled up in Yan Huan's heart.

But on the surface, he still maintained a polite smile,

"Alright, Auntie Ye."

(End of this chapter)