novelraw Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Chapter 31
As the sky darkened beyond Yuanyue's campus gates, a strikingly handsome boy carrying a backpack found himself suddenly joined by a black cat no one else could see.
Meow-chan blinked her emerald eyes, occasionally glancing back at someone trailing not far behind. The figure wasn't translucent—just a girl in a fisherman's cap, sunglasses, and mask who'd been following Yan Huan since he'd left school, maintaining that same careful distance.
"Meow~"
With a soft cry, Meow-chan aimed for Yan Huan's shoulder. After a little wiggle of preparation, she sprang up and landed feather-light on his collarbone. Her liquid form flowed from his right shoulder to his left, then stretched her fuzzy head forward to peer at his face. The silky fur brushed against his neck as her curved tail traced his Adam's apple.
Yan Huan blinked. "Bai Yi seems to still be following you, meow," Meow-chan said.
"I know. If she wants to play stalker, let her."
As he conversed mentally with the cat, Yan Huan reviewed what had happened in the classroom, piecing together his thoughts. "I understand her modifier's effects pretty well. I've read plenty of similar... materials, so I get the general mechanics. She can manipulate more variables than Ye Shiyu, and the gender-swap aspect isn't as extreme—assuming there aren't hidden features."
Indifference mainly affected Bai Yi herself. Essentially, Yan Huan just needed to pretend he couldn't see her. No hard controls or forced effects—probably the easiest modifier to handle.
"But I don't know much about her as a person. Her personality, habits, or why she holds such a grudge against me."
Meow-chan glanced back at the furtive Bai Yi. "So were you planning to use the same approach as with Ye Shiyu? Appeal to her conscience?"
Yan Huan shook his head. "Just testing the waters to see what kind of person she is. Gave her a little sob story. When people see the consequences of their actions, some feel remorse, others don't care, and some... get excited."
By now he'd reached the bus stop. Checking his phone, he murmured, "Different people require different social strategies. Same goes for dealing with modifier hosts."
Meow-chan tilted her head sagely. "Understood!"
She understood absolutely nothing! But it sounded impressive! Just listen to Yan Huan!
"You understand my foot—I don't even understand. She's been standing behind us in complete silence, using Indifference and wearing a mask. I can't read anything."
"Meow!"
Meow-chan patted his cheek while noticing he'd opened his browser to a search engine. "She's half a public figure. There should be information online."
Before he could type, the suggested searches appeared:
"Bai Yi movies"
"Why is Bai Yi's acting so bad"
"Bai Yi iconic photos"
"Is Bai Yi male or female"
Clicking through to her profile, the first thing he saw was a side-profile photo of her in a JK uniform, her airy bangs perfectly curved. Her eyes seemed to meet his through the screen—like when your crush's gaze accidentally locks with yours in class. You'd normally look away shyly, but the photo froze that moment into pure heart-fluttering potential.
"Bai Yi: Linmen's teenage actress, rising idol, singer. Discovered at 11 by Eight-Saka Talent Agency through auditions, transitioned after two years. Her appearance on 'Youth' variety show stunned audiences, hailed as 'the most youthful idol' by domestic and international fans."
Eight-Saka Talent Agency... brought back uncomfortable memories.
Scrolling down: "First film: artistic romance 'Love After Dusk,' where she played dual roles as introverted Ah Meng and rebellious Ah Ning from parallel worlds who fall in love."
"Synopsis: Ah Meng, from an unhappy family, meets Ah Ning from a loving but rebellious background. Their worlds intersect at dusk, sparking romance."
"Box office: Released in East Zhou excluding Longguo, poor reception. Bai Yi's portrayal of Ah Ning was called 'disaster-level acting' by some media. However, the film got nominated at West Zhou's Rainbow Film Festival a year later."
Rainbow Film Festival... oh right, that award. Last year's winner was a historical drama about a Black samurai avenging his lord, where the villain asked why he was so obsessed, and the samurai, coughing blood, shouted: "Even between men, don't underestimate my love for my lord!!" That kind of award.
Most entries were about variety shows and events until the very end mentioned her songs: "Youth Crisis," "Stars Not Moon"—typical pop tracks.
After reading everything, Yan Huan found only two possible connections: Eight-Saka Talent Agency and Yuanyue Academy. The school seemed less likely since she rarely attended.
Eight-Saka... earlier, Yan Huan had tried many ways to escape South District, including child acting. He hadn't planned to pursue it—didn't like performing or being in the spotlight. But Eight-Saka's scout offered paid training sessions during summer break, good money.
He went just for living expenses and tuition. Unexpectedly, his natural advantages made everything absurdly smooth. No audition needed—Eight-Saka insisted on signing him, making outrageous offers.
Everything seemed perfect, right? If you ignored the boss's hungry eyes that looked ready to devour him. Yes, Eight-Saka's boss was a notorious old man with a taste for young boys. The type who'd demand demons possess his young talents first.
Could Yan Huan not run? Run or get... well, you know.
So the straight-as-steel boy refused all offers and fled.
"Beep beep beep—"
"Jinghe-Yuanyue station, arriving."
The bus announcement pulled Yan Huan back to reality. He looked up, still puzzled. Could it really be about Eight-Saka? How could that have offended her? Unless 11-year-old her was already into twisted shipping?
Pondering this, he pulled out his earbud case and put on headphones. Opening his music app, he searched "Bai Yi." Available—good.
"Passengers, please board in order~"
"Meow~"
Meow-chan, faster than her cute sound, leaped from his shoulder into the bus. Yan Huan queued up Bai Yi's "Stars Not Moon" before boarding.
The bus was nearly empty. He took a back window seat.
"Lonely night, stars scattered"
"Winking playfully"
"Galaxy spills across the moon's view"
"Each shines uniquely—why compare?"
Mmm...
It actually sounds really nice—clean, too. Maybe she's taken vocal lessons on her own.
Bai Yi's clear voice drifted over the strumming of her guitar. Leaning against the bus window, Yan Huan glanced at his phone again:
"Lyrics: Bai Yi, Composition: Bai Yi, Arrangement: Bai Yi."
Just then a masked figure in full tactical gear stepped aboard. The newcomer shot Yan Huan a quick look, then slipped past him to the very last row.
Stare~
Yan Huan didn't react. He kept his head against the glass, earbuds in, watching the silhouettes scroll by outside, lost in thought.
A plump black cat sat primly in his lap, paws folded; it twisted to look up at him.
"Meow~"
He smiled, eased one earbud out, and tucked it into the cat's upright ear.
The cat heard none of the song—only an itch. It shook its head furiously, hind leg scratching its ear while it protested aloud.
"Meow!"
Ding.
Ding.
The pings finally roused Bai Yi from her dozing haze. The ride from Jinghe to South District was long; after yesterday's panicked flight and a full day outside, even a tilt of her head felt like a lullaby. She straightened, glanced forward, and relaxed when she saw the boy still by the window.
A quick look at her phone showed several new messages.
Yi Nuo sis:
Xiao Yi, the police just called me.
Your mom's turning the city upside-down looking for you.
The words snapped Bai Yi awake. She sat bolt upright, frowned, and typed rapidly:
Don't tell her anything, Yi Nuo sis. Say you have no idea where I am.
The chat bubble changed to "typing..."
I won't rat you out, but you can't keep running. You and your mom have to talk.
Where are you?
I'm—
I'm tailing that guy.
Before she could fire off another half-hearted excuse, the bus eased to a stop. Ahead of her, Yan Huan slung his backpack over one shoulder and stood.
They'd arrived.
Bai Yi locked her phone and followed him off, keeping her distance.
The stop sat at a busy crossroads in South District, neon already blazing, the air thick with street food and music. The glow seemed to escort the boy as he disappeared into a bar called "Tongyao."
Masked and hooded, Bai Yi felt utterly out of place. Passers-by kept staring; she ducked her head and fidgeted with the pocket watch she hadn't realized she was holding.
Does he work here?
While she hovered at the doorway, her phone buzzed again—this time a voice call on Plane.
Yi Nuo sis.
She answered without hesitation. "Yi Nuo sis, you—"
"Bai Yi, where on earth are you?!"
It was Zuo Jiangqin's voice.
Bai Yi froze. "Mom?"
"So you do remember I'm your mother? Out all night, no word—do you have any idea how worried I've been?!"
Hearing the tremor in her mother's voice, Bai Yi bit her lip, guilt pricking her heart. Yet the old wounds throbbed too, rejecting any truce, goading her to fight back—even though every revolt only ended in a bigger explosion.
After a long silence she said, tight-jawed, "I'll come home on my own. Don't come looking."
"What do you mean don't come? If I hadn't looked, I wouldn't know you're still talking to that Li Yinuo!"
Predictably, Zuo Jiangqin's temper flared.
"I told you to stay away from those riffraff! That tattooed girl's a bad influence. You turn your nose up at the easy road and just want to mess around. We'll see how that ends. Where are you?!"
The accusation lit the fuse inside Bai Yi. She cupped the phone and shouted, "Everything's my fault, everyone else is to blame—have you ever admitted a single mistake?!"
"Tell me what I've done wrong! I gave birth to you, raised you, fed and clothed you—what more do you want?"
"You—"
Bai Yi's face burned. Passers-by were staring; mortified, she blinked back tears and hurried down a side street.
Her brief silence only stoked her mother's fury. From last night till tonight, Zuo Jiangqin had searched the whole city, convinced her daughter's stubbornness was to blame.
"Look at you—skipping classes, half-hearted in every activity. Am I supposed to applaud? I scold you a bit and you sulk. Should I set up an altar and worship you instead?!"
"I never asked for that! You never once asked what I want. Clubs, Yuanyue—every choice is yours. If you've decided everything, go do it yourself. Why do you need me?"
"Who do you think this is for? Your own good! Others would kill for these chances. Do you know how many favors your uncle pulled for you? You think show business is a cakewalk?"
In a tattoo parlor above a shop, a cluster of police officers and a rainbow-haired, lip-pierced tattooist all sighed in unison. They'd warned Zuo Jiangqin: coax the kid home first. But the chaos in the background—and the memory of Bai Yi's defiance—fanned her rage higher.
"You have me and Uncle Jiang running around for you. Look at that Yan Huan—no parents, working part-time for tuition! If you don't want the path we paved, fine—then show some other achievement!
"You've always been a mess at school. You love writing songs—who's buying them? Good songs need distribution, exposure, not your half-baked ditties! You can't succeed at anything, yet you nit-pick everything. Tell me, what's left to complain about?!"
The mask muffled Bai Yi's breathing; her mother's every denial felt like a vise. When the tirade reached her music, anger surged—yet tears came faster than words.
"Zuo Jiangqin, I really hate you the most."
The next second she hurled her phone.
Bang!
The un-cased phone slammed against the wall, glass spider-webbing before it clattered to the ground. A fractured voice leaked out:
". . . you . . . listen to me . . ."
Then the screen went black and the voice died.
Bai Yi slumped against the wall, head bowed. Behind the lenses of her sunglasses, tears gathered, spilled, soaked the mask. Slowly she slid down until she sat on the pavement, knees hugged to her chest.
A broken sob escaped.
"I don't know what to do . . ."
She knew she hadn't studied hard enough, knew stardom was uncertain. Was that so incompatible with what she asked?
She only wanted to stop being compared to Yan Huan, to stop hearing how brilliant others were. She wanted her mother to listen to her songs—just once—and say, "Not bad."
But everything she wanted had always been denied.
From beginning to end, all she ever received
was rejection.
"Sob... sob sob sob."
Click.
Just as Bai Yi was crying on this anonymous little path, the side door beside her suddenly opened.
She hurriedly lifted her head. Through the double blur of tears and dark lenses she could only make out the hazy outline of someone in bartender blacks, a garbage bag in hand.
The figure froze—clearly startled to find anyone crying back here.
Then a familiar voice said,
"Hey, sis, this is the trash drop. You can't sit here, okay?"
What the hell—I'm sitting here heartbroken and you're lecturing me about seating rules?
Bai Yi stared up. Shifting her angle, she caught a clear patch of lens not yet smeared by tears, and through it she saw the smiling face of the boy.
Yan Huan?!
This... this was the back door of the bar where he worked!
He'd already stepped up beside her, tossing the bag into the bin next to her seat.
Bai Yi scrambled to stand, but he spoke first.
"Want to come inside and rest a bit?"
She sniffed, shaking her head almost imperceptibly.
She lifted a finger to wipe the inside of her sunglasses, then pointed awkwardly at her phone.
"Screen's busted. I can't pay."
"No worries. Sitting costs nothing."
Yan Huan flashed a small smile, bent, and retrieved her phone—its glass spider-webbed—from the ground. He placed it gently in her hand.
"There's space inside. If it fills up later you can leave then."
Bai Yi looked up at him, unsure what to choose.
Yan Huan simply pressed the phone into her palm and walked ahead, beckoning.
"Follow me."
"...Okay."
She trailed him through the rear entrance into the bar's inner nook: two tables, usually empty, patronized only by Tong Yingying when she wanted a covert drink.
Yan Huan seated her and added,
"This is the South District, sis. These alleys aren't safe alone. Remember that."
He fetched a cup of warm water and, thoughtfully, a straw.
"Some guys around here treat uncovered faces like mystery boxes—thrill of the unknown."
"Mm-hmm."
She left the water untouched, turning instead to study him. Up close she saw why the station chiefs had snapped him up on first sight.
Top grades, student-council president...
The thought twisted the knife deeper. Her mother's words had been surgical, slicing open everything she loved. Even singing—her one joy—had been dismissed.
What am I supposed to do...
Ding-ding.
A bell rang somewhere in the bar. Bai Yi didn't know what it meant; Yan Huan merely said,
"Stay as long as you like. When you leave, be careful."
Head down, she asked hoarsely,
"You're... really good-looking. No scouts ever tried to make you an idol?"
"A few did."
"...So why didn't you go?"
Yan Huan blinked, about to answer, when the bell chimed again. He glanced over his shoulder, then back at the girl curled into herself. She looked shattered.
He'd overheard the argument with her mother. When she hadn't followed, he'd wondered where she'd gone—though he hadn't gone looking. Now here she was, bonus drama included.
He could see why she disliked him. Could he blame her entirely? Yan Huan wasn't sure. From a Modifier-cleaning standpoint, though, a little kindness now was strategic.
He considered, then smiled.
"Being scouted feels nice, but it's not what I want. That's why I stayed."
Ding-ding.
"But that's because you had a choice, right?"
Ding-ding.
"Does washing glasses here count as choice?"
Ding-ding.
Bai Yi hiccuped a laugh in spite of herself.
She dropped her gaze again, about to speak, when a stunning redhead materialized beside Yan Huan, eyes oscillating between "I'll murder you" and "I'll murder myself."
In her hand she held the bell—a "magical capitalist device" for summoning labor.
The moment she spotted the masked, tear-streaked girl, her expression skewed firmly toward "I'll murder you."
Tong Yingying sized Bai Yi up. From the instant Yan Huan had led her in, she'd smelled trouble. Now—confirmed.
Trying to quit drinking and smoking was hard enough. You rescue someone out of kindness, next thing you know a bad woman latches on. One Plane request, some cash... bam, you're her pet.
And you're only a first-year, zero dating experience, catnip to girls. Bad women love that type.
Little Huan, the South District is deep water. You can't handle it.
Protecting my pure employee is part of the job.
Yan Huan blinked at her.
"Sis... Sis Tong?"
Before he could say more, Tong Yingying slid onto the bench opposite Bai Yi, shooing him with a flick of her wrist.
"Back to work, the customers are waiting."
She turned to the still-sniffling girl, produced a cigarette pack, and said,
"I'll take it from here."