Restricted Fantasy Invasion

Chapter 4

When Yan Huan came out of the office, he didn't see Meow-chan anymore and didn't know where she had gone.

Ye Lan was still in the office talking with Principal Hermes, and the topic was about that so-called sister coming here to study.

Yan Huan stood at the doorway, having taken leave from his evening part-time job, but all he got was a cold reply: "It counts as absenteeism, 200 deducted."

A few minutes later, another message came in,

"Just remembered, you've never taken leave before. We'll let it go this time, but don't make it a habit."

Yan Huan smiled helplessly and sent a "thank you" emoji, just as Ye Lan happened to walk out. Yan Huan locked his phone and looked up,

"Let's go, Xiaohuan, which way do we head down? Your school is so complicated, I can't really tell the directions."

"This way, Auntie Ye."

Walking downstairs, the outside of Yuanyue campus was extremely quiet, with no other students in sight. The weekend tempted them to escape on the school bus, so the whole campus felt as if only Yan Huan and Ye Lan were left.

They chatted idly and soon reached the school gate.

On the asphalt road among the maple trees by the gate, a low-key black Longguo electric car had been waiting there for a long time. At the entrance stood a woman in a black suit from Longguo,

"President Ye."

"Just take us home."

"Alright."

After Ye Lan ushered Yan Huan into the car and they sat down, the vehicle started up quietly.

Yan Huan curiously took in the spacious interior, while Ye Lan bent down again to pull a cooler out from under the rear air vent.

At a glance, Yan Huan saw it was packed full of yellow cans of banana milk.

Smiling, Ye Lan pulled out a can along with a straw and handed it to Yan Huan, like a squirrel sharing nuts from its den,

"Xiaohuan, have this."

"Thank you, Auntie."

"Good boy, no need to thank Auntie."

Then, as if she couldn't wait, she picked up another can of banana milk for herself, inserted the straw, and began sipping with both hands.

"Mmm."

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

Seeing this, Yan Huan tentatively opened his can and took a sip, finding it was just slightly sweet milk, not too sugary, but with a strong banana flavor.

With banana milk in hand, Ye Lan started chatting,

"By the way, speaking of your sister, back in Longguo I was busy every day and couldn't spend much time with her, so the nanny at home always looked after her. I don't know if it's because of that, but your sister turned out very withdrawn, not fond of talking to others, and didn't have any friends her age.

"And now, moving her so far abroad, even though there are a lot of Longguo people in Linmen and Yuanyue Academy, it's still not where she grew up, so I worry whether she'll be able to adapt."

Yan Huan sipped his milk and looked at her: "What about Uncle? Is he busy too?"

At this, Ye Lan didn't answer. Instead, she gave a polite yet helpless smile, as if Yan Huan had touched on something both awkward and unpleasant.

Yan Huan got it instantly and quickly apologized,

"Sorry, Auntie Ye."

"It's alright. When your sister was very little, her father and I separated and haven't been in contact since."

When Ye Lan mentioned this, she even stopped drinking her milk. She only mentioned it briefly before returning to her straw and changing the subject,

"Xiaohuan seems to have a lot of friends at school, right? The principal said he could ask any classmate to find you and they'd all have your contact info."

That was true. Even if Yan Huan didn't have many close friends, he was in most of the big school group chats, so he could always be reached. The reason was simple,

"Probably because I'm the student council president. It's a troublesome job, and if it weren't for applying to university..."

"That's not it, it's just because Xiaohuan, you're really popular."

Ye Lan cupped her cheeks, smiling as she gazed into Yan Huan's eyes, imagining,

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

"Dolls?"

"Ah, Barbie dolls, figurines, that sort of thing? I don't really get it, but your sister really likes them. Weird, right?"

"."

Yan Huan usually didn't comment on personal hobbies-something he'd learned from Vice President Sakura.

"Anyway, seeing is believing. You'll meet your sister soon. I hope you'll be patient with her for Auntie's sake. She hasn't had friends her age for ages, so if she does anything wrong, I'll apologize for her in advance~"

"How could you say that, Auntie? That's too much for me."

Yan Huan smiled politely, and even while chatting and drinking, his can of banana milk was quickly finished-making Ye Lan, who had barely drunk a fifth of hers, blink in curiosity.

On the ride, Ye Lan and Yan Huan chatted about all sorts of things, and Yan Huan even added her on plane, her profile picture was a can of banana milk.

Ye Lan's house wasn't far from the school; as long as there was no traffic, it was only a half-hour drive.

After all, it was in the pricey Jinghe District, and by the time they arrived, Ye Lan's tiny appetite had only just managed to finish her banana milk.

The car drove into an unfamiliar neighborhood, and through the tinted privacy window, Yan Huan saw many detached houses with gardens, not all lined up neatly.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a well-located Western-style house at the end of the road.

It was quiet here, but not far from the neighborhood's amenities, and compared to the isolated houses in the corners, this one felt more lively.

"We're here, let's get out, Xiaohuan. Aunt Chen has already made dinner-lots of Longguo specialties."

The car stopped outside the house. After the woman in the front passenger seat got out and exchanged a few words with Ye Lan, she got back in and quickly disappeared from Yan Huan's view.

Ye Lan gently took Yan Huan by the wrist and enthusiastically led him into the house.

The interior felt very spacious to Yan Huan, probably because parts of the second and third floors had been opened up, making the living room ceiling very high and eliminating the cramped feeling of an ordinary house.

The lighting was bright too, very much in line with Eastern indoor habits, and for a moment Yan Huan thought he'd entered a palace.

"Aunt Chen, we're back."

"Hey, Miss, was there a traffic jam? You're a bit later than the time Shiyu told me... Shiyu, your mom's back!"

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

While Ye Lan helped Yan Huan change shoes, the main character wearing an apron finally came out.

It was a middle-aged woman with curly hair and a kind smile, wearing an apron. "Aunt Chen, this is Xiaohuan, whom I mentioned before. This is Aunt Chen, who just came with me from Longguo to Linmen. Your parents know Aunt Chen too, so don't be shy, we're all old friends."

"Hello, Aunt Chen."

"Oh my, time really flies. The next generation's kids have grown up so much, and so handsome too... That's wonderful."

Supporting Yan Huan's back, Ye Lan was about to call her daughter out to say hello, but Yan Huan's nose caught a faint floral scent first.

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

Under the hem of her dress, a pair of slightly thick black ankle socks outlined her calves, her feet wrapped in dark gray slippers-who knows when she'd gotten there.

Her long black hair reached her waist, with no hair ornaments or makeup. Her skin was pale as snow, contrasting sharply with her dark outfit.

Unlike Ye Lan's gentle willow-leaf eyes, Ye Shiyu's eyes were a bit more narrow, with long lashes. Her beautiful face showed no emotion, but from her deep black pupils radiated a trace of coldness.

She was tall-just a little shorter than Yan Huan's 184 cm-her figure healthy and well-proportioned, with fair, toned arms exposed under the milk-white chiffon cuffs.

In her hand, for some reason, she still held a long pair of scissors, apparently the tool she'd just been using.

Yan Huan blinked and met the girl's gaze; neither of them looked away.

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

"Sister."

At that title, her lowered gaze trembled slightly, like a bell being struck.

Ye Lan turned and only then noticed her daughter already standing on the stairs,

"Ah, Shiyu, really, you came out but didn't say anything. Let me introduce you-this is the child of one of Mom's old friends, Yan Huan. He's a year younger than you, so he's your little brother. Xiaohuan, this is Shiyu; you can call her Shiyu-jie or Sister."

Ye Shiyu kept staring at Yan Huan, who stood beside Ye Lan, unmoving and silent.

It wasn't until Ye Lan pouted, about to urge her to be more polite, that she finally greeted Yan Huan in a mechanical, slow way,

"Hello, I'm Ye Shiyu."

Just as Ye Lan had described, Ye Shiyu's personality seemed very odd, making Yan Huan feel all the more uneasy inside.

Ye Lan wasn't too happy with Ye Shiyu's reaction, but she knew her daughter well and knew this was just how she was.

Aunt Chen quickly picked up the conversation, wiping her hands on her apron as she said,

"Since Xiaohuan's here, why don't we eat now? The dishes are all ready, made especially for Xiaohuan-though I'm not sure if they'll suit his taste. I don't know much about Linmen, so I don't know what you like to eat."

"I can eat anything, Aunt Chen."

"That's great. Wait a moment, Miss, you and Xiaohuan sit down first, I'll bring the dishes out."

Ye Lan nodded with a smile, then turned to Ye Shiyu and said,

"Shiyu, put your things back in your room and come down to eat."

Ye Shiyu just stared at the sunny-smiling boy. Hearing her mother's words, she nodded slowly, turned with the scissors, and went back upstairs.

Below, the sound of Ye Lan and Yan Huan chatting at the table drifted up intermittently, while Ye Shiyu walked expressionlessly up to the third floor, stopping at the door of a secondary bedroom near the master bedroom at the end of the hall.

She opened the door, and the originally spacious room now seemed crowded with so many things.

Against the wall, glass cabinets displayed all kinds of exquisitely dressed female dolls-some realistic, posable action figures, some anime-style figurines, not to mention countless other wooden, porcelain, and clay dolls.

There was even a life-size doll in a gorgeous Gothic dress sitting on a wooden chair by the bed.

The dolls' finely crafted clothes varied in style, but they all had one thing in common: either on the inside of a hem or a hidden collar, the maker's name was written in tiny letters,

"Ye Shiyu."

With no expression, Ye Shiyu placed the scissors beside the sewing box. On the table lay some high-end fabric yet to be sewn, and on the handle of the scissors, the same elegant name was written,

"Ye Shiyu."

She picked up her phone from the table, unlocked it, revealing a chat app that she hadn't closed before locking the screen. The chat window with Ye Lan, labeled "Mom," was open,

"Baby, I'll bring that Yan Huan I mentioned home for dinner later. Ask Aunt Chen to prepare well."

"Okay, already told her."

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

"Mm."

"He's lived alone in Linmen for so many years-it's been really tough. Mom wants to invite him to stay at our place, just in the guest room downstairs. What do you think?"

Ye Shiyu didn't reply, but Ye Lan sent several messages in a row.

"He's only a year younger than you, so you two should have plenty in common. Plus, you're at the same school, so you can go to and from school together."

"This way, you'll have someone to keep you company, and you won't have to spend every day with dolls like you did back home."

"Having another little brother sounds nice, don't you think, baby?"

"Mom wants to hear your opinion."

Even now, after Ye Shiyu unlocked her phone, there were no further replies.

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

On top of that wallpaper, every app on her phone was neatly organized into finely categorized folders. For Ye Shiyu, using her phone this way seemed entirely natural.

But outside of all those meticulously sorted folders, there was a single, odd app with a purple heart icon, sitting all alone.

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

Ye Shiyu just stared at that app, as if spacing out, until Ye Lan's voice came from outside the door again,

"Shiyu, come eat! Are you ready yet?"

"."

After a moment of silence, it seemed Ye Shiyu made some decision in her heart. She pressed the lock button, put her phone in her pocket, and turned to leave the room.

"Coming, Mom."

(End of this chapter)